Bang!

The mahogany cue club slammed into the cue ball with a loud thud, but the cue ball missed its target and hit the edge of the table, nearly bouncing off the edge of the table due to the blow that had been hit too hard.

"Very powerful shot, Lord Duke, it's just a pity that the accuracy is a little worse."

The nobleman, who was playing billiards with the Duke of Choiseul, said regretfully, and then coated his club with lime powder and prepared to start batting.

"Whew..."

Duke Choiseul took a deep breath and shook his head twice, as if trying to shake off all the unhappiness in his heart, but such an action only made him more irritable.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little unwell, who's going to finish this game for me."

The Duke of Choiseul sighed, then shoved the club directly to a nobleman next to him, and walked away from the table, finding Lawrence on the bench in the corner of the billiard room.

The banquet in the Hall of Mirrors has been over for half an hour.

Both Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul had to admit that they had been put together by Lord Mopp, or rather, by Lord Mup and King Louis.

It was for this reason that the Duke of Choiseul was so irritable that even his beloved billiards could not calm him.

As a stubborn and self-serving minister, this feeling of being at the mercy of others was difficult for the Duke of Choiseul to accept.

Lawrence didn't have any special emotions about this, the political struggle was as offensive and defensive as the real sword duel, and if the Duke of Richelieu and his faction could only passively accept the suppression of the Duke of Choiseul, they would not become a problem for the Duke of Choiseul.

"Alas, I envy you so calmly, Governor Bonaparte."

The Duke of Choiseul sighed and shook his head, sat directly beside Lawrence, crossed his legs and said:

"Damn Mopp, he did this. The main thing is that the king also supports him, otherwise his little tricks are not enough to see. ”

"This Justice Mopp is really shrewd."

Lawrence thought back to the banquet and analyzed it carefully:

"The two choices he has laid out for you are what the king would like to see, and he will naturally have the support of King Louis."

"Huh...? Two options? What good is it for the king to hand over the negotiation to Justice Mopp? ”

The Duke of Choiseul was stunned for a moment, perhaps because he was in an irritable mood, and did not reflect the interests involved for a while.

Lawrence patiently explained:

"King Louis probably doesn't want me to get too close to you, he wants me to simply move closer to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, without being affected by your struggle with the Duke of Richelieu."

"It's... There is some truth to that. ”

The Duke of Choiseul frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded in acknowledgment that Lawrence was right.

Since Louis XV had appointed Lawrence as the first chamberlain to the crown prince, he certainly hoped that Lawrence would serve the royal family wholeheartedly, rather than get involved in the partisan struggle between the two factions.

In this way, it would have been very desirable for King Louis to leave the task of signing the treaty to Lord Mopp, a staunch defender of royal power.

"Still, I suppose Governor Bonaparte, your position is quite firm, isn't it?" Duke Choiseul turned his head to look at Lawrence and asked.

Lawrence also nodded solemnly twice, indicating that he would still be on the side of the Duke of Choiseul.

Although Lawrence would gain further confidence from King Louis if he took the initiative to get out of this storm of struggle, Lawrence needed to use the authority of the Duke of Choiseul for his own benefit and Corsica.

Although building a relationship with the royal family is a surefire investment, it is feared that the real return will not be achieved until Louis XVI succeeds to the throne, and Lawrence obviously cannot wait so long.

After receiving Lawrence's affirmative reply, the Duke of Choiseul also nodded with satisfaction, sighed and said:

"That Justice Mup's role is actually very similar to yours, although he supports the Duke of Richelieu, he is also close to the royal family."

Lawrence then analyzed:

"So it seems that Justice Mope is not completely in favor of the Duke of Richelieu, right? He's really on the side of the royal family. ”

If Lord Chancellor Mope had only been a subordinate or subordinate of the Duke of Richelieu, Louis XV could not have confidently agreed to transfer the treaty to him.

Because it would only make Lawrence fall from the Duke of Choiseul to the Duke of Richelieu.

Judging from today's results, it is likely that Lord Mup only maintained a loose cooperative relationship with the Duke of Richelieu, and he did not get too close to the Duke of Richelieu.

The Duke of Choiseul nodded and said:

"I don't know exactly what happened to them, but logically speaking, it is. The combined status and power of Lord Mup are actually not inferior to the Duke of Richelieu, and he will certainly not be willing to be a gunman for Richelieu. What's more, there is a conflict of interest between them, both of them have some coveting my position, and they should just cooperate to deal with me. ”

"If that's the case... Maybe it's our chance. ”

Lawrence tapped his head twice and said slowly.

When the Duke of Choiseul heard this, a glimmer of brilliance immediately welled up in his slightly decadent and irritable eyes, and after a moment of contemplation on his back, he whispered:

"Yes, it's a good opportunity, we'll talk about it when we get back to Paris, it's a lot of people here."

After determining the united front of the two men and the general direction of progress, the Duke of Choiseul finally recovered from the defeat in the confrontation.

Seeing this, Lawrence casually asked:

"By the way, when are you going to leave for Dijon?"

Now the Duke of Choiseul is Lawrence's biggest and most direct political supporter, and if he leaves Paris, Lawrence is also very self-aware that with the political power of his newcomer, he may not be able to resist the opposition of the Duke of Richelieu's faction.

The Duke of Choiseul saw Lawrence's concern, patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Don't worry, I have hundreds of reasons to put off this kind of thing for a year and a half, and even if I go, I won't stay there for long; I'll deal with that when you get back to Corsica. ”

"I'm going to be in Paris for a while." Lawrence continued.

"Oh? Still have something to attend to? Duke Choiseul asked casually.

"In addition to the negotiation of the treaty, it is basically the listing and operation of the Corsican national silver company on the Paris Stock Exchange."

Lawrence nodded, as if intentionally and unintentionally.

The Duke of Choiseul also immediately understood what Lawrence meant, and it was the content of the contract between the two to assist the National Silver Company in listing on the Paris Stock Exchange, so he said with a smile:

"You can rest assured, I have invited people from the bank and the stock exchange to lunch, you can choose a suitable time."

"It seems that your face is really good."

Lawrence shook his head with a smile, and after silently calculating the time, he said:

"My idea is that the sooner the better."

"The sooner the better? Well, then we'll rest in Versailles tomorrow and return to Paris tomorrow evening. ”

The Duke of Choiseul shrugged, got up and straightened his clothes, and then took a swift farewell to the others in the billiard room, and left the Palace of Versailles with Lawrence.

......

Early morning of June 8, 1770.

Yesterday evening, Lawrence returned to Paris with the Duke of Choiseul and his men.

The Duke of Choiseul left after dropping Lawrence and his party to his mansion on the Champs-Élysées, and said that he would send someone to invite him before today's lunch.

It was only nine o'clock in the morning, and Lawrence and his men were enjoying their hearty breakfast in the mansion's dining room.

Although Grosso and Yaan have been in Paris for a while, the fragrant cream stew on the table still makes the two of them can't help but gobble up the coarse tea and rice for decades.

Anna was studying French and aristocratic etiquette diligently, and even at breakfast time she was accompanied by a private tutor who was ready to point out any problems with her dining etiquette, and it was evident that the lowly girl was doing her best to serve Lawrence.

Lawrence, on the other hand, had no appetite, and there was a more sumptuous meal waiting for him at noon anyway, so at the moment he was just drinking coffee while casually reading today's newspaper from the old butler.

"I have to say that those newspapers are really well-informed."

Lawrence shook his head and sighed after a cursory reading of the morning newspaper:

"I accepted the king's appointment only the day before yesterday, and today this matter is in the newspapers."

"Hey, hey, isn't that a good thing."

Grosso smiled from the bottom of his heart, he also knew that the rising tide lifted all boats, and the more Lawrence's authority increased, the more he could be rewarded.

Grosso couldn't help but look at Lawrence a few more times, who would have thought that this rising star in Paris in front of him was just a down-and-out little aristocrat who had defected to relatives when he first met him two years ago.

Anna also stared at Lawrence shyly and reverently for a long time, not even noticing the slight redness of her cheeks.

Her personal tutor, an old-fashioned middle-aged woman, stood behind her with a cold face and said solemnly:

"Miss Celestia, please don't stare at others at the dinner table, it's rude."

"Ah, I'm sorry I'll take notice." Anna hurriedly withdrew her gaze, but her face flushed even more.

...

Just as everyone's breakfast was coming to an end, the old housekeeper of the mansion suddenly came to report:

"Sir Bonaparte, two guests have come to visit, claiming to be members of the Royal Academy of Sciences, one is Monsieur Lavoisier and the other is Monsieur Geta."

"Lavoisier and Geta? It was quite a coincidence that they came, and I would save myself from making another trip later. ”

Lawrence stood up with some surprise, and it seemed that the two men were well informed, and knew that he had returned to Paris last night, so he commanded:

"Invite them to the parlour, and I'll be there in a moment."

After a few moments, Lawrence met Lavoisier and Geita again in the drawing room, two of the most famous scholars.

Both were dressed in gray-black gowns and wigs, apparently dressed up for the visit.

Mr. Geita also had a brown paper bag under his arm, which was supposed to be the report on the Ajaccio silver mine that Lawrence wanted.

As soon as Lawrence walked into the living room, the two of them hurriedly stood up and greeted respectfully in unison:

"Good morning, Your Excellency Bonaparte."

"Good morning, gentlemen." Lawrence greeted them with a smile, beckoned them to sit down, and motioned for the housekeeper to bring refreshments and hot tea.

Mr. Gaita, as a mentor, was the first to speak, and said apologetically:

"Sorry to bother you so early, Lord Bonaparte. Or should I call you the Collector now? ”

"You're pretty well-informed, but you don't have to, just call it the way it is."

Lawrence smiled and shook his head, and he could see that Mr. Geita was much more respectful than last time after learning about Lawrence's new identity.

Although Lavoisier was not as snobbish as Geta, he looked at Lawrence with a little more solemnity in his eyes, and took the initiative to say:

"By the way, Lord Bonaparte, I have submitted your application for your admission to the Royal Academy of Sciences, but the final committee vote is not up to me and Tutor Geta."

"Thank you very much for your contribution, Mr. Lavoisier. Correspondingly, your request for the expansion of the tax-inclusive area will be responded to quickly. ”

Lawrence said with a satisfied smile.

Lavoisier nodded reassuringly, knowing that Lawrence could hardly rely on the Duke of Choiseul to help him fulfill his request for an extension of the tax zone.

After all, the royal tax officials also have the power to supervise the tax officials in name, and Lawrence only needs to take the time to go to the Paris tax bureau to say hello, and those tax officials will not even give this face.

As a result, the Lavoisier deal between Lawrence and Lavoisier is temporarily over.

Although Lawrence has a strong desire to recruit the chemical wizard, the next focus will be on Mr. Geta, the famous mineralogist.

Seeing Lawrence turn his gaze to himself, Mr. Geeta also hurriedly handed Lawrence the paper bag he was holding, and said with a very bright smile:

"Hehehe, Sir Bonaparte, I am glad that I have already compiled the report you requested on the silver mines of Ajaccio."

Lawrence nodded twice, took the paper bag and pulled out the report inside, and looked at it casually.

Although Lawrence had only given him ten days, Mr. Geita had clearly put a lot of thought into the report, and the paper alone was fine hard parchment, and the text on it had been specially typeset and printed.

Although Lawrence did not know much about mineralogy, nor did he know the proper terms and calculations in the report, he believed that Mr. Geita must have beautified the data of the silver mine several times as he requested.

So Lawrence flipped the report to the end, the page with the scholar's signature printed, and for non-specialists, the authority of a report depends on whether its author is a well-known scholar.

I saw that there was not only the signature of Academician Gaita, but also nearly ten signatures, although Lawrence did not know these names, but judging from their signatures, all of them were members of the Royal Academy of Sciences.

"What a surprise report..."

Lawrence smiled slightly, carefully put the report back into the paper bag, looked at Mr. Geita and said:

"No one should question its authenticity, right?"

Mr. Geita shook his head confidently and said:

"As you can see, I've got some friends to sign the report, all of them academics in the field of geology. If anyone were to question the report, he would be questioning a small half of the geology academic community, and that would be the case... Hehe. ”

"I believe in the results of your work, Mr. Geita, and I am pleased with this report."

Lawrence smiled at Mr. Gueta and Lavoisier, and said slowly:

"By the way, you two, would you like to have lunch in a moment? A few special gentlemen will also be in attendance. ”

"Oh? Mr. Special? Which ones are you talking about...? ”

Mr. Geita asked excitedly, since he was having lunch with Lawrence, he was undoubtedly in contact with powerful people, which was a great thing for a snob like Mr. Gaita.

"Think about it..."

Lawrence rubbed his temples and said slowly:

"There's the Duke of Choiseul, the president of the Commerzle de France, the chief of the Paris Stock Exchange, and I don't know the rest..."

Before Lawrence could finish speaking, Mr. Gaita nodded his head again and again, and said incoherently with excitement:

"What?! Oh my God, I'm going to faint. I mean, I'm willing to participate, and I'm more than willing to be part of this lunch. ”

"Thank you for having me, and I'm happy to attend." Lavoisier was not so interested in wealth and power, but he was naturally reluctant to let go of such a rare opportunity.

"Very well, you two, please wait here for a while."

The corners of Lawrence's mouth curled, he picked up Mr. Gaita's report and read it again, and said slowly:

"We're going to give a big gift to the Parisian financial community in a moment."