After saying goodbye to the club, Lawrence didn't stop long and rode straight back to his mansion in a carriage.

Judging by the greed shown by Mr. Gaita, he must have given Lawrence a satisfactory result in exchange for the company's consultant, so Lawrence was relieved to hand over the appraisal report to him.

At the same time, Lawrence and Gaita had this relationship, and Mr. Gaita agreed that it would be a small gesture to recommend Lawrence to the Royal Academy of Sciences.

In this way, Lavoisier only needs to mobilize his own connections and find a colleague or friend to recommend Lawrence to join, which must not be difficult for him.

The reason why Lawrence went to great lengths to join the Royal Academy of Sciences was to use the Royal Academy of Sciences to continue to hype up the National Silver Company by using the Royal Academy of Sciences' signboard; In the long run, Lawrence also wanted to build a good relationship with the scholars among them, so that he could motivate them to contribute to the development of Corsica in the future.

If there were any major changes and upheavals in the French society, Lawrence might have taken the opportunity to move the entire Royal Academy of Sciences to Corsica.

After all, no matter what era it is, talent is a rigid need for development.

It's just that in the process of joining the Royal Academy of Sciences, the final committee vote was something that Lawrence himself could not handle for a while. Initial Update@

And the committee itself would certainly not approve of the addition of Lawrence, a young man who had been unknown in the academic field.

However, Lawrence is not worried about this issue, there are still many figures in Paris who can have a decisive influence on the committee of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and the Duke of Choiseul is undoubtedly one of them.

Although the Duke of Choiseul had not yet sent someone to inform Lawrence of the time of the banquet at Versailles, Lawrence had sent him a letter of visit this morning, preparing to go to Versailles to meet him on his own initiative.

There are still a lot of problems in front of Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul, not to mention the matter of joining the Royal Academy of Sciences this time, the Duke of Richelieu and the National Silver Company alone are enough to keep the two busy for a while.

Lawrence, in line with the principle that change is later, did not want to put these things off until after the banquet, so he decided to take the initiative to go to Versailles.

The distance between Paris and Versailles was only forty miles, and Lawrence estimated that he would receive a reply from the Duke of Choiseul the day after tomorrow at the latest.

......

Time passed slowly, and soon the first day of June came.

On the official road from Paris to Versailles, a neatly arranged procession of carriages drove steadily, all of them in luxurious troikas, and the horses were all fed fat and strong.

The side of the carriage at the head of the carriage is not painted with the coat of arms of any noble family, but the side face of a man with a turban in pure black.

Occasionally, knowledgeable citizens on both sides of the road can be surprised to recognize this as the flag of the Republic of Corsica.

"Damn, the roads here are really smooth enough, and it doesn't feel like there's any bumps, and I was going to shake off my butt in a carriage in Paris a few days ago."

In the carriage at the head, Grosso still looked interested, poking his head out of the window to observe the neat and smooth stone path below, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

Lawrence, who was sitting across from him, was reading something intently, and casually chimed in:

It is not surprising that under Louis XIV, the French began to renovate the official roads. Here again is the road between Paris and Versailles for dignitaries and even kings, of course, of the highest standard. ”

Seeing that Lawrence was always looking at the letter in his hand with a solemn face, Ya'an in the carriage couldn't help but ask worriedly:

"My lord, what are you looking at, is something going on?"

Grosso was also keenly aware of the strangeness of today's trip, and then said:

"Speaking of which, we came out this time with all the guards, and you kid even asked a painter to draw the Corsican logo on this carriage. What's going on so grandly? ”

Lawrence shook his head slowly, then put away the letter in his hand and explained:

"This is a reply from the Duke of Choiseul, who, in addition to accepting me to visit him, invited me to join him when I arrived at Versailles. (This chapter is not finished!) )

Chapter 151: The hunt in which His Royal Highness the Crown Prince participated

Add a hunt. ”

"Hunting? No wonder they had to bring all the guards over. Grosso nodded in realization.

"Huh? Is it to prevent wild beasts from attacking in the forest? Ya'an, as a native Corsican citizen who knew nothing about the hunting activities of the nobles, asked a little blankly.

"Don't be stupid, boy."

Grosso put his arm around Ya'an's shoulders and said with a smile:

"There is a fart danger in this kind of aristocratic lord's hunting, and the beasts within a radius of several miles will be driven out in advance, unless the lord drank high last night and fell off his horse and died."

"This..."

Ya'an tilted his head slightly, looked through the window at the carriage behind him with twenty precision archers, and asked puzzledly:

"So what are we going to do with these people?"

"This hunting is essentially a social occasion."

Lawrence's expression was still very solemn, and he shook his head and explained:

"Carrying a guard is just a way to show your identity. And if it was just a normal hunt, I wouldn't have taken it so seriously. ”

Grosso's face also became a little serious, and he frowned and asked:

"What's the matter, this hunt is very unusual?"

Lawrence looked at Grosso and Yaan, nodded heavily, and said:

"The letter from the Duke of Choiseul says that His Royal Highness the Dauphin and the Dauphin of France will participate in this hunt."

"Shhhh The crown prince and the crown princess? ”

Grosso and Yaan both couldn't help but take a breath, and looked at each other and then at Lawrence, a figure they had never thought they would come into contact with.

And Lawrence also knew very well that the crown prince and crown princess mentioned in the letter were the future King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.

Because Louis XV's only son, the Dauphin Louis, died early in 1765, the grandson of Louis, who was now only 16 years old, became the first heir to the French throne.

This is very similar to Louis XV, who also inherited the French throne from his grandfather Louis XIV.

Although the current grandson of King Louis still has two younger brothers, that is, Louis XVIII and Charles X during the Bourbon Restoration in history, considering the increasingly weak health and sixty years old of Louis XV, the grandson of King Louis still has a good chance to inherit the French throne from Louis XV.

However, Lawrence was not sure whether his appearance would bring some variables to this logical succession to the throne, and before the situation became clear, Lawrence decided to take the crown prince seriously as a future king.

As for Marie Antoinette, the crown princess mentioned in the letter, she was the youngest daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Franz I and the famous Maria Theresa.

In order to reconcile France and fight together against the rising Prussians, Maria Theresa chose to marry her youngest daughter to the future French king, who had only arrived in Paris in April.

"No wonder, this is a big shot. Tsk, the future king, those little nobles probably want to participate in this hunt even if they squeeze their heads, that Duke of Choiseul is really interesting. ”

Grosso touched his chin and said excitedly that when he decided to follow Lawrence, he did not expect to see such a character one day, and Grosso had already begun to fantasize about the scene of himself boasting to everyone in the tavern that he had seen the King of France.

Although Lawrence nodded slightly, he probably guessed in his heart that the Duke of Choiseul did not give himself this benefit out of thin air, and he should have known about his meeting with the Duke of Richelieu, so he decided to increase his efforts to win himself over, so he allocated this precious place to Lawrence.

Otherwise, Lawrence, the governor of Corsica, really didn't meet the threshold for participating in this hunt.

......

Lawrence and his party set out from Paris at dawn and arrived at the estate of the Duke of Choiseul, on the edge of Versailles, almost noon.

Although it is still some distance from the Palace of Versailles and can be regarded as a country estate, Lawrence looked at the endless wheat fields in front of him and learned that these were the lands owned by the Duke of Choiseul, and he couldn't help but feel the Frenchman. (This chapter is not finished!) )

Chapter 151: The hunt in which His Royal Highness the Crown Prince participated

The financial resources of the ministers.

It is said that after the fall of the historical Duke of Choiseul, Madame du Barry suggested that Louis XV pay him a lump sum of 600,000 livres and give him an annuity of 30,000 livres in order to let him stay in the fief with peace of mind.

Although the hunt would only begin tomorrow, many nobles could already be seen in the manor house of the Duke of Choiseul, dressed in splendid clothes and surrounded by retinues.

Even many of the carriages on this road were bound for the estate of the Duke of Choiseul, and there were seven or eight of them arriving at the same time as Lawrence alone, and all of them were troikas.

The steward of the manor, apparently having received countless visitors, knew the process well enough, and skillfully sent his servants to guide the coachman to park the carriage in the predetermined vacant seats, and to entertain the distinguished guests in the carriage to the manor.

The open space next to the manor was already full of carriages of different styles, and there were hardly two identical carriages to be found in them, and the nobles also took great pains to put their own carriages into order to highlight their individuality.

The use of gold and silver ornaments has become a bit cliché, and only those vehicles with the most avant-garde Rococo lines are admired by all.

Lawrence stepped out of the carriage under the guidance of the manor's servants, and looked around, and estimated that there were almost a hundred carriages here, and it seemed that tomorrow's hunt would not be a small scene.

"Damn it, that manor steward doesn't know what's going on!"

A young nobleman, disgusted, shook off the hand of the servant who had led him out of the carriage, and complained with great displeasure:

"I don't think it's rude for him to pick me up in person, and he even let these mud legs come!"

However, his complaint did not elicit echo among the surrounding nobles, and several of the older nobles shouted at him with mocking looks:

"Hey! Forget it, brother, you don't look at whose manor this is. The butler here may be more noble than yours in terms of noble blood. ”

"But—" The young nobleman retracted his face under the taunts of several people, but said with dissatisfaction:

"That butler is also too arrogant, I just asked him for directions, and he turned a complete blind eye to me, it's so hateful!"

"Oh—you better forget it, out of this manor, the status of the housekeeper is not lower than yours."

...

Lawrence listened to the conversation of these nobles for a while, and couldn't help but smile, it seems that the Duke of Choiseul, who held military and diplomatic power, although a little weak, still has a good position in the hearts of everyone.

Just as Lawrence was about to enter the arranged lodging house with the servants in tow, he was suddenly stopped by someone from behind:

"Bonaparte, please wait."

Lawrence turned his head to look, and saw that he was stopped by an old man in a plain white robe, who bowed to Lawrence politely, and said in a calm voice:

"I am the steward of the manor here, and Your Excellency the Duke wants to see you at once. Error-free updates @"

Before Lawrence could reply, the few people who were still talking about the steward of the manor were stunned, a little dumbfounded to see that the butler, who was arrogant in front of him, was so respectful to the young man in front of him.

"It's... Who's that guy?! ”

The young nobleman who complained just now widened his eyes even more, and said indignantly:

"He didn't even wear a wig, let alone a hat, what kind of countryman is this?"

"Shhhh Be quiet! A few people next to him hurriedly stopped him and said:

"Didn't you hear? The butler called him Lord Bonaparte just now, and this must be the governor of Corsica, and I heard that he had an unusual relationship with the Duke of Choiseul. ”

"I..."

When the young nobleman heard this, he suddenly lost his arrogance, and he did not dare to offend the red man in front of Duke Schuiseul, so he only dared to whisper in the voice he heard:

"Hmph, it's not a townsman from Corsica..."

......

On the other side, Lawrence entered the main building under the guidance of the manor's steward, and waited for one. (This chapter is not finished!) )

Chapter 151: The hunt in which His Royal Highness the Crown Prince participated

After a while, he met the Duke of Choiseul.

"I haven't seen you for a few days, Governor Bonaparte."

With a shallow smile, the Duke of Choiseul sat down beside Lawrence and greeted:

"How's it going, how are you doing in Paris?"

"Everything is fine, thank you for your concern." Lawrence took the refreshments from the servant and nodded to Duke Choiseul. _o_m

"That's good, that's good."

The Duke of Choiseul groaned with a smile, reached out and took a piece of soft cake sprinkled with white sugar and threw it into his mouth, and said slowly:

"You'll be in Paris for a while, and I think you can try to get used to the Parisian way of life. Like salons, clubs, jockey clubs, and, of course..."

As he spoke, the Duke of Choiseul glanced at Lawrence meaningfully, and said slowly:

"And the play, I heard you saw a play at the Paris Comédie the other day, which was good."

Lawrence also chuckled and glanced at the Duke of Choiseul, knowing that he could not hide his actions when he went to see the Duke of Richelieu.

"It's really a very good drama, but it's a pity that the people around me at that time were not very good."

Lawrence shook his head regretfully and said:

"I think it's much better to go to the theater with you next time."

The Duke of Choiseul's face grew even more smiling when he heard this, and it was impossible for him not to hear Lawrence's words of goodwill.

So the Duke of Choiseul waved his hand to the servants in the room, motioned for them to go out, and only when the door was closed did he speak directly:

"In that case, let's get straight to the point, I'm glad you're on the right side. But tell me, Governor Bonaparte, I don't believe that the old bastard of the Duke of Richelieu did not solicit you, why did you not promise him. ”

Lawrence looked at the Duke of Choiseul, and was not ready to say anything deceitful, but said directly:

"I am not satisfied with the conditions he offered."

Duke Choiseul was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile and asked:

"And if his terms are satisfactory to you, are you ready to throw yourself on his side?"

"Of course." Lawrence replied without paying attention.

The Duke of Choiseul didn't speak for a long time, but licked his lips and stared at Lawrence for a long time, and then he toyed with his fingers, narrowed his eyes and said slowly:

"That is, you are on my side just for profit?"

Lawrence shrugged and said:

"That's right, I can't just throw myself into you because I have a good heart to help others, right?"

"Governor Bonaparte, I have come to appreciate you all the more."

The Duke of Choiseul turned half of his body to Lawrence, and said in a deep voice:

"You're right, only interests are the strongest bond that connects people. And I promise you, as long as you take my side and bring down that damn old Richelieu bastard and Dubarly***, I will promise and guarantee those things you want. ”

Lawrence stood up and humbly bowed to the Duke of Choiseul in obedience, while silently reciting in his heart:

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency, but I will take what I want."

Chapter 151: The hunt in which His Royal Highness the Crown Prince participated