June 10, 1770, two days after Lawrence made a deal with Monsieur Montmartre.

Paris today is no different from the past, except that the weather is much more gloomy, the streets are covered with a thick fog in the early morning, and the street lamps that have not yet been extinguished emit a dull orange light like small lighthouses.

Even though it's summer, the air is still a little chilly in the early morning.

However, the industrious citizens and shopkeepers apparently did not care about this, and even when it was dawn, they opened early, and the streets of Paris gradually came back to life.

In a street-facing café, Lawrence, dressed in a black woolen coat, sits silently at a round table in the open air, watching the crowd come and go in the morning mist.

"I've been waiting for a long time, sir, your coffee and cake are... One Livre ten Sur. ”

The waiter, dressed in a shirt and vest, meticulously walked up to Lawrence with a tray and said politely, while gently placing the bill and coffee cake on Lawrence's table.

The Sur is also an officially issued currency, minted mainly from brass, and has a twenty-to-one exchange relationship with Liver.

Since it was only sunrise, Lawrence was the only customer in the shop, but the waiter's attitude was still very respectful and there was no slack.

It's not because the waiters recognize Lawrence, but because the café is located on Place de la Bourse, the financial center of Paris.

Many banks and financial institutions have branches in the vicinity, as well as the headquarters of the Paris Stock Exchange.

A man like Lawrence, who was well-dressed and came and went in and out of Exchange Square, knew that this waiter must have been a gentleman of great value without guessing.

Lawrence nodded slightly, glanced at the mediocre coffee on the table and the red velvet cake that was less than the size of a palm, and was a little helpless that such a thing would cost a livrel and a half, the same price was a few days' food expenses for a poor citizen.

However, Lawrence still took out two livres from his pocket and put them in the palm of the waiter's hand, and the extra ten surs were naturally the waiter's tip.

"Thank you, Mr. Kang, and have a good day." The waiter held the silver coin in his hand and said happily.

"That's right."

Lawrence stopped the waiter who was about to leave, and asked casually:

"What's the interesting thing here?"

The waiter stood still and thought for a while, this café is a place for many financiers to rest and chat, so he can often hear some of the latest news from the financial world.

"Recently... It's nothing special, a certain gentleman made a lot of money by speculating and then became rich overnight, and a certain gentleman went bankrupt and finally left Paris in embarrassment, this is the news every day. ”

The waiter shrugged and said, then added:

"But there is one thing that I have heard many of our guests discuss, that Monsieur Montmartre of the Commercial Bank of France has asked ... What silver company came, invested a lot of money, I heard that there are millions of livres! Yesterday the customers in the store were almost all discussing it. ”

Lawrence smiled and nodded, and continued to ask:

"It's interesting, what did those people talk about?"

"Uh... Let me think..."

The waiter didn't seem to be interested in the financial industry, but since he had received Lawrence's tip, he had to meditate for a while, and said:

"I've heard a lot of people talk about what cash flow to gather, and it seems that they want to follow up on the investment in Montmartre; The rest is just to talk about the silver company. Oh I remember, it's called Corsican National Silver Company, and they all say that this company may have a royal background, and I don't know the rest. ”

Then the waiter pointed to the street outside and said:

"I think you can buy a newspaper and read it, this matter will definitely appear in the newspaper today."

Lawrence nodded slightly and said:

"I will, thanks for the message."

And just as the conversation between the two ended, a shrewd boy immediately came up.

He had apparently heard the waiter's suggestion to ask Lawrence to buy the newspaper.

On the boy's head is a low-brimmed newsboy hat, so that the iconic hat already indicates his profession.

He also carried a huge satchel on his shoulder, which was not proportional to his size.

Even though it was full of newspapers, the weight seemed to weigh the little boy down enough.

"Do you want to buy a newspaper, sir? This morning's El Fibre, but also the Paris Morning Post, the French Review..."

The boy expertly uttered a series of newspaper names while looking at Lawrence expectantly.

Lawrence looked at the boy with interest and focused his gaze on the large bag of newspapers on him.

Newspapers were undoubtedly the most common and important news media at the end of the eighteenth century.

The most straightforward way for a Parisian to find out what's going on in Marseille, thousands of miles away, is to buy a newspaper.

Even for those who can't afford newspapers, their news is largely heard from those who read it.

In other words, the access to information for ordinary people is quite limited, and newspapers are almost all of their sources of information.

And as long as you control the newspaper, you are equivalent to controlling the news and public opinion.

Lawrence is well aware that whether it is this era or the era of previous lives, public opinion is much more important than the so-called truth.

How many people like Louis XV have seen him and dealt with him personally, and the peasants who worked in the countryside probably never saw their king in their lifetime.

But they would always discuss the king's deeds with relish after dinner, and these deeds were only inquired about in the arena of public opinion, and no one had ever seen the real king.

In other words, it doesn't matter what a person's true nature is, as long as his public opinion image is a loving father, then the people think he is a loving father, and his public opinion image is a tyrant, and the people think he is a tyrant.

Just like Mario Sr., the director of the Ajaccio Orphanage who was once used by Lawrence, ordinary people can't get in touch with the truth, and only think that he is really a kind and kind old man who has worked all his life for his children.

And what can control all this is the stacks of fluttering newspapers in the little newsboy's satchel.

"If I can control the public opinion of Paris and the whole of France in my hands... That's just..."

Thinking of this, Lawrence's eyes narrowed slightly, and a long-term plan gradually came to his mind.

"Uh... Mr...? ”

Seeing that the gentleman in front of him suddenly lost his mind, the little newspaper boy couldn't help waving his hand strangely in front of his eyes, and asked carefully:

"Do you want a newspaper...?"

Lawrence woke up in shock, put these thoughts aside for a moment, looked at the newsboy with soft eyes, took the initiative to reach out and carry his heavy satchel to the table, and said with a smile:

"Of course, of course, just give me a copy of that... You just said financial news. ”

"Howler, sir."

The boy excitedly opened his satchel, took out a thick, beautifully printed newspaper from it, handed it to Lawrence, and at the same time stretched out his hand and said:

"A Liver, sir."

Lawrence was stunned for a moment, and blurted out:

"A Livre? A newspaper? ”

The boy froze in place, and looked at Lawrence's clothes again, thinking that it was impossible for such a well-dressed gentleman not to be able to afford even a livre.

Of course, Lawrence's current net worth is not that he can't afford a newspaper, but he thinks that this price is not at all acceptable to ordinary people, and I am afraid that only financiers who come and go in Exchange Square will buy such newspapers.

"The pricing of the Financial News has always been this price, sir, I definitely did not deliberately raise the price."

The boy thought Lawrence was doubting himself, and quickly waved his hand to explain.

Lawrence frowned, glancing at the boy's satchel, which looked like there were quite a few kinds of newspapers inside, and asked:

"Is this the price for other newspapers?"

"Others..."

The boy scratched his head, but patiently explained:

"Other newspapers are not so expensive, like the Paris Morning Newspaper costs ten surs, and the French review costs twelve sours..."

Lawrence listened silently as the boy quoted the price of almost all the newspapers in Paris, but even the cheapest of them cost five sures a piece.

The price of five surs is enough to feed a poor family for a day, and they will definitely not take the initiative to buy it.

Even the slightly wealthier citizens are not expected to subscribe to a newspaper throughout the year, but several people subscribe to a newspaper.

"In other words, the popularity of newspapers in the lower classes is far from enough..."

Lawrence whispered to himself.

In fact, such a result is not surprising, in addition to the higher price, the newspaper itself does not meet the entertainment needs of the masses at the bottom.

Those poor people who do not have a high literacy rate and are struggling to make ends meet, even if they have spare money, will not buy jerky newspapers to read, and they will prefer to throw their money in taverns or casinos.

And the editors of the various newspapers do not seem to regard such people as their audience.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with such a decision, after all, newspapers are meant to make money, and if they publish a newspaper that is specially compiled for the masses at the bottom, I am afraid that they will not even be able to recover the cost.

It's just that for Lawrence, who wants to enter the world of public opinion, this is undoubtedly the best entry point.

As early as a few days ago, when attending a dinner at the Palace of Versailles, Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul had mentioned a plan to manipulate public opinion.

There was nothing important today, and Lawrence decided to take the opportunity to put the plan into action.

"Okay kid, bring me a copy of the financial news, and the cheapest newspaper you just said, no change."

Lawrence pulled out two livres and handed them to the boy and said.

The boy excitedly took the silver coin, tapped it twice in his hand, and then neatly handed the two newspapers to Lawrence, bowed, and ran away.

"The ability of these newspapers to find out the news is really good."

Lawrence unfolded the thick financial news newspaper and took a few casual glances, and soon found on it the news of Monsieur Montmartre's investment in the Corsican National Silver Company.

Although the article is not on the front page, it is quite high-level, and it devotes an entire page to the report, along with the opinions of several high-profile investors.

Lawrence glanced briefly at the opinions of several investors interviewed:

They all said that there was too little news about Corsican National Silver to judge, but in the light of Mr. Montmartre's bold investment, it was advisable to follow up moderately.

"It seems that the national silver company will become a hot spot in the financial circles of Paris for some time to come."

Lawrence laughed and put the newspaper aside, after all, these high-profile investors usually say ambiguous things in interviews in order to save their reputations, and it is rare to directly recommend investing in a project like this.

Judging from the interviews with these investors, the financial community should be quite optimistic about the national silver company.

And after the inspection report fabricated by Academician Gaita is officially made public, I am afraid that the attitude of the financial community will go to a higher level, and it will directly usher in an explosive carnival.

Lawrence also came to this café in Exchange Square today to test the attitude of the financial community.

After confirming this, Lawrence picked up the cheapest newspaper in Paris, which he had just bought.

Before he even looked at the contents, Lawrence already knew why it was so cheap.

The paper is yellow and brittle, and the printed font on it even has a slight ghosting, which must be seen closely.

If you look at the content of this newspaper, the name is Observer Daily, and the reports are basically editorials about social events.

But Lawrence could easily see that the editorials were grossly lacking in depth and breadth, and that the newspaper was second-rate at best.

And with its inferior paper and printing, even third-rate newspapers can't reach the level.

No gentleman would be willing to read such a newspaper in front of his colleagues at lunchtime, which would only cost them face.

It's no wonder that his pricing is so low.

However, Lawrence's face was not half disgusted, but read the text with relish.

In his eyes, this newspaper and the newspaper behind it are the best way for him to enter the world of public opinion.

If Lawrence wants to manipulate public opinion, he naturally needs a newspaper of his own as a mouthpiece, and it is obviously unrealistic for Lawrence, who is not familiar with the place, to set up a newspaper himself.

Therefore, it is most convenient to acquire an existing newspaper company.

As for the acquisition target, Lawrence did not consider the well-known newspapers in the market at all.

The high financial costs are only one aspect, and more importantly, these newspapers basically have their own political backers.

Only then can they speak freely about the affairs of Paris and beyond, and even the affairs of the royal family.

It was still a little difficult for Lawrence to talk about the people behind the press without using the influence of the Duke of Schwartle, and once he borrowed the power of the Duke of Schwartle, then the newspaper would actually become the mouthpiece of the Duke of Schwartle.

Although the two are still staunch allies, no one can say how their relationship will develop after dealing with the Duke of Richelieu.

As a result, Lawrence needed a press service that was fully accountable to him and fully loyal to him.

In this way, starting with a small newspaper and slowly developing it became the best choice, and the Observer Daily became Lawrence's first candidate.

"78 Marne Avenue..."

Lawrence found the location of the editorial office in a corner of the newspaper, drank his cup of coffee, tucked the two newspapers under his armpit, got up and walked out into the street to stop a public carriage.

He was ready to bring about a revolution in the world of journalism in Paris.