If the south of France is a hilly mecca for grape growing, then the countryside of the north is a farmland that every farmer would be proud of.

In summer and autumn, the wheat fields stretch like a sea of gold. As far as the eye can see, the plump ears of wheat are gently swaying in the breeze, making it a picturesque sight.

In the midst of this vast sea of gold, there are some houses that stand like islands in the middle of the farmland. These rooms are very quiet, with mottled walls and few people, perhaps they themselves are lonely and silent witnesses of centuries of history.

If he were an artist, he would probably be fascinated by the splendor of the village scenes, wandering through these huts lest he miss a single hint of inspiration, and for those unfortunate enough to be forcibly brought into them, being imprisoned in this monotonous sea of gold would be too boring punishment.

A slightly chubby old man with a white comb feels like this. After looking at the wheat field for an unknown amount of time, he finally could not bear the anxiety of the endless waiting, and he lifted his legs and wanted to step out of the room.

Ever since they had been secretly escorted here two days earlier, they had been confined to the manor surrounded by farmland. Although the living conditions are okay, the freedom is restricted, and he is not allowed to go anywhere, and he can only roam around the country house every day, like a prisoner under house arrest.

"Please stop, sir!" However, the sudden shouting sound next to him, and the gun raised in the man's hand, instantly cut off his untimely thoughts.

The old man stopped, but turned his head to glare at his caretaker. The eyes behind the lenses were slightly red from anger.

"I protest against your disposition of us! If you want to work against us. Then you should kill us now, if you want to treat me like a guest. Then I should be given freedom of movement! I protest against your detention of us! ”

"Sir, protest." His caretaker didn't care at all, "I've been given the task of keeping you here and keeping you safe, and as for your emotions, there's no requirement from above, and I don't care." ”

This slightly sarcastic answer made the old man even angrier.

He has been pampered at home for so many years, and he has never been accustomed to such treatment.

"Let me go see Treville! This...... What kind of words is this?! I have so much to do. How could he have caught me here? This bastard! In anger, he scolded regardless of it. Go and tell him that I want to see him, and that I don't have time to wait! ”

"Now that he's got you here, I think he'll be able to get you." The caretaker replied philosophically, "Sir, why do you think you can ask him to do this and that, when you know that you have been caught and deprived of your freedom?" ”

Such a sharp rebuttal. The old man was suddenly at a loss for words, and he glared at the other party fiercely, but he couldn't say anything.

"Alright, you better wait. Mr. Tréville isn't that nice, and you don't know how much he has to do in a day? The caretaker laughed, "Anyway, there's nothing lacking here but women and freedom." Why don't you take a look at the scenery again? ”

"I ...... I ...... "What else did the old man want to say."

At that moment, a horse-drawn carriage loomed out of a distant wheat field. It's like a small black dot in a sea of gold. Then the carriage galloped in this direction.

The old man's heart began to fill with hope again.

Soon. The carriage stopped in the open space outside the house, and a young man in a black coat and velvet top hat stepped out of the carriage, surrounded by two retinues with weapons.

Just by the first glance at him, the old man was sure that this tall blond young man must be the one he was waiting for, for he was too conspicuous and too young.

The young man also looked at the old man with interest, and then approached with a smile.

"Count Bezukhov?" He asked the old man tentatively.

"Yes, I am!" The old man replied in French in a straight voice, "Then you are Monsieur de Treville, aren't you?" ”

"Yes, I am." Charles took off his hat and bowed to him, "I am honored to meet a nobleman of such great repute as you. ”

"And yet you gave us an unexpected welcome, Mr. Treyville!" The old man's face froze, and then he said to Charles in a stern tone, "I thought you would have enough respect for us. ”

"Oh, I'm sorry, your request is urgent and embarrassing, and I reluctantly agreed for your sake, but I have to take a necessary measure to be on the safe side......," Charles smiled and bowed to him again, and then extended his hand, "I beg your understanding that you want me to bring a large group of people safely into France, and although I trust your credibility and assurances, in the event that any of them is dizzy and causes any regrettable incident in France...... It is impossible for me not to be held accountable, and I would like to ask you to understand the necessary caution on my part, since I really helped you to get them to France safely. ”

Xia Er's polite but not humble and arrogant answer made the old man stiffen slightly.

He hesitated, but still stretched out his hand, but it was only a slight touch before it retracted.

"So you really don't intend to hand us over to the Tsar?"

"Yes, of course I'm not going to do that, or I wouldn't have bothered to bring you and them in the first place." Charles immediately nodded, "While you may be an enemy to the Tsar, it is by no means to me. ”

The old man finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, at least I'm getting my money's worth."

"I hope you don't tell anyone else about this." Then, Charles looked around, then smiled and suggested to the old man. "Count, why don't we go find a quiet place to talk?"

"Just what I want." The old man straightened his back. Now his anger has almost subsided, "To be honest, I sneaked over this time to see you. I didn't expect you to meet me in this way, which was really unexpected. ”

"See me?" Charles stopped, a little strange.

"Yes, see you." The Count pushed his eyes on the bridge of his nose, "Although those people are being hunted by the Tsar, I didn't, I just stopped by to meet you." ”

"It was a surprise to me." Charles did come as a bit of a surprise. "This is the manor where my wife got married, and I usually don't bother to take care of it, so the conditions may be a little shabby. Fortunately, it's still safe, I guess...... You should be able to speak your mind here. ”

Then, led by the administrator of the manor, they soon came to a simple room.

"So you can satisfy my curiosity now, right? Monsieur Count, what reason would you have to give up your pampered life in Russia for a while, and risk your life to come to France to see me? I don't think I personally have that kind of charisma. As soon as he sat down, Charles asked the Earl.

"Of course you don't, I'm here for my ideals." The Count replied angrily. "And you, helpful to my ideals."

“…… I don't think I'm an idealist. Charles was still very curious, "Why do you think that?" ”

"You are a rising star in French diplomacy and a man of Bonaparte's trust. In addition, you are very unfriendly to the tsarist government, and, as far as I guess, you are with Bonaparte. is about to become one of the greatest enemies of His Majesty the Tsar, simply because of this. You're all my deserving friends. The count's expression had become very serious, "Yes. Sir, I think one thing is clear to me, that your France will most likely be at war with Russia. ”

"You ......," Charles subconsciously wanted to deny.

"Sir, don't deny it, we have our information channel." The Earl raised his hand and stopped Charles's words, "There is an anti-Russian element in your blood, not to mention that you now have the support of the British. ”

Charles didn't speak for a moment, and continued to stare at the old man, but there was no wavering on his face.

"Whether this is true or not, sir, what does it have to do with you coming to me?" He was still noncommittal about the war with Russia, "I personally love peace, and I have no ill will towards the Russians, and if anything happens, then ...... It's only fate playing tricks on us. ”

"Whatever your reasons for going to war with Russia, if Russia loses, the Tsar's prestige will be greatly damaged, and it will be very good for our cause." The Earl ignored Charles' meaningless words, and went straight on, "And I...... I am willing to play a part in the cause of you and Bonaparte to defeat them, at least I am well acquainted with the situation in Russia, and some people are willing to listen to me. ”

Surprised, Charles was slightly stunned.

Count Bezukhov was one of the richest men in Russia, and he must have been very powerful, and if he could secretly help France, he could indeed make a great contribution, whether it was to transmit information or sabotage.

But...... What reason did he have for that? He himself is a vested interest in Russia?

But it's not like he's joking.

Charles thought a lot, but he still couldn't figure it out.

"Sir, if I understand correctly, are you saying that you intend to betray the country?" After a moment, he looked up and asked the old man.

However, the old man was unmoved, but looked straight at Charles, "I don't think that a country like Russia now, which pursues suffocating **** rule and serfdom, is my motherland, I love Russia, so I need to overthrow the rule of the tsar." ”

"Yet, under his rule, you are a nobleman, and as far as I know of you are one of the richest landowners." Charles pointed out this fact solemnly.

"Yes, I'm a nobleman, and I have untold wealth, but that doesn't make me lose my conscience!" Count Pierre-Bezukhov cried out, "I, like any conscientious and moral person in Russia, oppose this evil that has made our nation bleed for centuries!" And the tsar's **** is the master of this evil and the main defender, and if it is overthrown, we can save this great nation from terrible slavery. ”

"For this reason...... Are you happy to help foreign armies defeat Russia? "Charles was still a little incredulous.

"Yes. I am willing to do so. Count Bezukhov nodded haughtily, "Sir." Maybe it's hard for you to understand what I'm thinking, but I can tell you. I wouldn't do it if there was any other way to succeed - but, let's face it, it's hard to defeat the tsarist government on our own alone, and I need help to break its claws, and in that case, it's worth calling for help, no matter where it comes from. ”

Charles still looked at the other in bewilderment, not understanding what his reason for doing so was.

Count Bezukhov looked at the young man. Then he took a deep breath.

"Sir, you should know what Russia is like today, it has a bad reputation and does not deserve a good name - yes it is a big prison of **** and servitude, except for a small group of people who reveled in the glorious halls, everyone else had to suffer in the flames. My wife, a duchess lady, was married to me when she was married. The dowry is a few villages, maybe you feel like your wife, didn't you also get the estate? But you are wrong...... several villages, its land, cottages. Along with the people above, it was transferred to my wife as a dowry, which was a legal transfer of property. Do you understand what that means? People - the same blood as we nobles. Will breathe, will hurt. People who will suffer, in our Russia. It is a property that can be inherited, transferred, bought and sold, and people like us can do with them as they like, and they have to work for us like cattle and horses - God, if they want to run away for freedom, they are committing a crime, and they will be arrested and even executed, even though we can't tell what they are guilty of! The corners of Count Pierre-Bezuhoff's mouth twitched slightly, evidently inciting anger in his heart, "Monsieur Tréville, there are innumerable royal literati in the present government of the Empire, who will defend such a miserable and vicious system, but I can tell you that anyone who defends slavery is either a malicious fool or a bloodthirsty pervert, perhaps both. In Russia, regardless of origin, people with a conscience will admit this, otherwise we will degenerate ourselves to the point of those American lords of the manors and their descendants! Since all this must change, what reason do we have to delay and perpetuate sin for longer? I should work on this. ”

"I see, you're a Decembrist." Charles seemed to have come to his senses.

"No, I was, but I'm not." The old man glanced at him, then looked up haughtily, "My friends, they are all very lovely people, but they are not really people who can get things done. I admire the noble spirit of sacrifice for the sake of their personal moral perfection, but this stupid moral purity, this empty talk of having only ideals but not being down-to-earth, will only lead to nothing in their careers, but some of them may not care about this, because the glory of the martyrs is higher than that of the real revolutionaries in their eyes......"

Perhaps thinking of something, Count Pierre-Bezukhov's expression became a little ugly, "They don't know my intentions, and if they do, they will certainly oppose me, and they want a clean and flawless revolution, even if the hope of success is so slim." However, I cannot be so stupid, for I am their organizer and one of the most important people, and I have spent countless dollars and energies over the years to nurture them, and they can go to martyrdom, but I must make my efforts worthwhile, yes - they want a pure and immaculate martyrdom, and I want a crude and dirty revolution! ”

"Since you have been in France at that time, you should know what we have gained and what we have lost in the revolution, and we will not be confused by a few hot-blooded terms." Charles still looked at him very calmly, untouched by him, "It is clear that no matter how pure the ideals may be and how noble the motives may be, in the end blood and fire will always burn irrepressibly until everything is consumed. ”

"Maybe a lot of people will die in vain, they will die in a fire that shouldn't have burned against them, but so what? If they need to apologize, I'll apologize to them, and spend my whole life apologizing - but only if they apologize for the pain and disaster that the empire had inflicted on the people! So many people who were born without their freedom, who lost their lives early in slavery, and finally died like dogs in obscurity, deserve an apology, but they don't get it! Perhaps because he was in a very excited mood, Count Bezukhov's gray beard jumped to the ground, and his eyes seemed to be on fire, "A righteous one stained with blood is better than a sin drenched in blood every day." Perhaps the coming of justice will mean devouring the lives of many innocent people, but it will not bring a white ruin, and after the fire has burned everything, new grass will grow out of the wasteland, turning it into a fertile field......"

Then, he glanced at Charles, "At least, isn't that what you France is like?" There are all sorts of bad problems, but at least I think it's better than Russia now, and I don't expect me to make Russia a paradise on earth, and never worry about it again, but if Russia can at least become like France, I've done a tremendous contribution, at least enough to put me in a coffin. ”

"You...... That is, you want to help us defeat the tsarist army as much as possible, creating the conditions for you to launch a revolution? Charles finally understood, and then he was silent for a long time, "I admit that this is indeed a logical trick for a pragmatist. ”

"Right? If you did, wouldn't you? The old man laughed suddenly, and then spread his hands, "But I won't admit it to my people, I will give them a white and flawless revolution if they want it." ”

"Clever." Charles praised him heartily, "But have you ever thought that we are not very disgusted with the Tsarist government than we are with the revolution? ”

"Of course I do, so we're only working together this once." The old man shrugged, "At least for now, you shouldn't refuse my help, right?" And...... We don't want the lives of all the royal families, and if someone accepts a constitution, then it's not so unbearable to keep the monarch, and I'm not that pure. ”

"Probably not." Charles nodded, "But later, if His Majesty the Tsar asks us to strangle you, I don't think the French government will refuse." ”

"I thank you for your candor, Mr. Treville, it really surprised me." The old man smiled at Charles, "But if you want to come, come on!" If the West intervenes, I will organize volunteers to resist you. We have our backs to our homeland, and you cannot afford the constant attrition of an army thousands of miles away, and the great practice of the French people has taught me this, and I do not believe that Russia can do any worse. If that day does come, I will give everything to this new country. (To be continued.) )