Lawrence kept smiling, but his mind was constantly searching for information about the Duke of Choiseul.

The negotiations began the moment the two met, and Lawrence represented not only Corsica, but also his personal interests.

In order to get the Duke of Choiseul to make concessions in the next verbal battle, Lawrence must take advantage of the information gap he has at his disposal.

"By the way, if I'm not mistaken..."

Lawrence glanced at the Duke of Choiseul and muttered in his heart:

"He was historically the lead in the negotiations for Genoa to sell Corsica to France, and France didn't get Corsica in this timeline, so he noticed me from that time..."

In spite of the many thoughts in his heart, Lawrence chuckled twice without losing his manners, bowed again, and said:

"It was a surprise to me that it would make you remember my name."

Duke Choiseul squinted at Lawrence, but did not speak, wondering whether he was thinking about words or waiting for Lawrence to speak.

Seeing that the two had just said two words, the Count of Marbov was cold, and quickly coughed twice in embarrassment, and came between the two and said:

"My lord, Lawrence, let's go in and talk about it."

With that, the Count of Marbeeuf led them into the parlor in the main house, and ordered his servants to serve them dessert and tea, and then left the parlour with the others with great amusement.

"Monsieur Bonaparte, your letter is very interesting."

The Duke of Choiseul took a sip of the teacup, then put it aside with disgust, turned sideways at Lawrence, and said:

"The crown of Corsica... The people of the island may not be very willing to restore a republic to a monarchy. ”

Lawrence shook his head slowly after hearing this, and secretly sighed in his heart that the Duke of Chowasel was worthy of being a veteran of French politics, and the first sentence was to think of putting himself in the upper hand.

The Duke of Choiseul's words were nothing more than questioning Lawrence's ability to put this crown on Louis XV's head.

As soon as Lawrence showed the slightest difficulty, the Duke of Choiseul would take the opportunity to say that this would make the French side devote resources to help Lawrence, thus forcing Lawrence to make concessions in the next negotiations.

Now that he has seen through the intentions of the Duke of Schwartle, Lawrence directly diverted the topic and said:

"Since I have sent a letter to the Palace of Versailles, I am naturally capable of doing so. His Majesty the King should be very satisfied with this crown, right? ”

As soon as the words fell, the Duke of Choiseul couldn't help but look at Lawrence twice, a little unexpectedly, this young boy was so clever in his words, and he turned defense into offense in a word, but set a trap for himself.

Once he admits that Louis XV is very eager to obtain the Corsican crown, then the other party can seize on this point and force himself to back down in the later negotiations.

Seeing that he had not taken advantage of his words, the Duke of Choiseul cleared his throat and was not prepared to continue with Lawrence in this way.

After all, the most important thing in negotiations is the strength of both sides.

"Yes, His Majesty is satisfied." Duke Choiseul nodded directly in acknowledgement.

Lawrence also nodded, and such an outcome was also expected by him.

As for the reason, it is actually the same as the reason that Lawrence told him when he first met with Pauly two years ago - Louis XV lost the Seven Years' War and handed over all the fruits of decades of French colonization, which made his reputation plummet.

Now, if he could get a new crown, and one offered by the locals on his own initiative, Louis XV's prestige would be even more satisfying to him than to buy Corsica from Genoa.

Lawrence smiled at the Duke of Choiseul, and if he guessed correctly, it was very likely that the King of Louis had given the Duke of Choiseul a death order before he set off, and he must get the Corsican crown.

"All right, young man."

The Duke of Schwarcel glanced at Lawrence, and this smile in his hand made the Duke of Schwarcel very unhappy, so he said impatiently:

"Say, what do you want? Money or titles? ”

Lawrence shook his head slowly but firmly and said:

"All I want is Corsica."

The Duke of Choiseul was silent, looked at Lawrence with some dissatisfaction, took a deep breath, and said slowly:

"You want autonomy?"

"That's right." Lawrence nodded.

"Young man."

Duke Choiseul's expression was already a little gloomy, and he forcibly suppressed his dissatisfaction and said:

"You pacified Corsica with the help of the power of France, and then you wanted to give the king a hollow crown in return?"

"Alas"

Lawrence sighed deliberately, looked embarrassed, touched his forehead and shook his head, and said:

"You know the situation in Corsica, and even any city in France is richer than it, what can you expect from it?"

The Duke of Choiseul listened silently, knowing how poor Corsica was, and that France would probably not only receive little in taxes, but would also have to pay a large amount of financial subsidies in return.

In this sense, Corsica is a hot potato and a gold-absorbing cave, but it gives the Corsican kingdom full autonomy and allows them to feed themselves and save a lot of financial expenditures.

"Also."

Lawrence struck while the iron was hot, and then said:

"The Corsican customs and traditions are all of Italian origin, very different from the French culture, and they are properly alien. If you insist on sending French officials to govern Corsica, to be honest, I am not sure that you will be able to quell the endless rebellion on the island. ”

The Duke of Choisell also knew that the Corsicans were poorly educated, and were often discriminated against by the countries around them, and were stigmatized as savages and barbarians.

But on the other hand, the Corsicans are fierce and aggressive, and if they were to rule them with high pressure, the people of the island would have rebelled against the French as they did against the Genoese.

"Maybe you're right, young man."

The Duke of Choiseul closed his eyes and pondered for a long time, then shook his head and said:

"But I don't see France getting what it deserves."

"No, France will be rewarded quite significantly."

Lawrence said with a smile, he also knew that he could not blindly put forward his own conditions, and that he would have to make some concessions if he wanted to reach a final agreement.

"Oh? What is it? Duke Choiseul raised his eyelids and asked with a slight interest.

"The French Navy's right to be stationed in Corsica."

"Right to stay in Hong Kong?" When the Duke of Choiseul heard this, he waved his hand again and again, and said nonchalantly:

"There is no shortage of Mediterranean ports in France, we have Toulon and Marseille, who cares about that little fishing port in Ajaccio."

"France may not care, but a certain country does." Lawrence said with a smile and shook his head.

Duke Choiseul frowned, had some bad premonitions, and asked in a deep voice:

"What do you mean? Which country? ”

"England."

"England? In the words of Ajaccio..."

Duke Choiseul's face couldn't help but show a look of surprise, and after a little thought, he reacted to how much of a threat the Royal Navy would pose to France's Mediterranean fleet if the Royal Navy was stationed in Ajaccio.

"Wait... Not long ago, a British warship stayed in Ajaccio, and it should not have left yet. ”

Duke Choiseul's expression was cloudy, his eyes glared at Lawrence, and he said solemnly.

Although the Duke of Choisell knew that the Corsicans were negotiating an agreement with the British, he had not yet found out what the agreement was.

Lawrence's face did not change, but he still smiled, and said briefly:

"I can tell you who that ship is carrying."

"Who?"

"William Pitt."

"William Pitt? Damn William Pitt?! ”

As soon as the Duke of Schwarisel heard the name of this opponent whom he hated in the Seven Years' War, he immediately became out of shape and could not help cursing repeatedly.

Of course, in addition to cursing, the Duke of Choiseul also understood what level of treaty a person of William Pitt's status had come to Corsica to negotiate.