On 15 August 1770, Lawrence's convoy traveled south from Paris to Marseille, where it was to rest for two days before sailing to Ajaccio.

"Marseille, I used to come here with ships when I was at sea, and it was a great place to have fun, and a place full of silver."

While the convoy was still on the outskirts of Marseille, Grosso leaned half of his body out of the window of the carriage and looked out at the buildings and coastline in the distance and said:

"But this is the first time I've come to Marseille in a troika like this."

Lawrence, who was in the same carriage, also stuck his head out of the window and followed Grosso's gaze to the dense buildings and the blue ocean in the distance, where he seemed to have heard the sound of the waves crashing against the reef.

Marseille in the 18th century was the third largest city in France, after Paris and Lyon, and was also the largest gateway to French foreign trade and an important port of residence for the French Mediterranean fleet.

Toulon, the home port of the Mediterranean Fleet, is also more than 60 kilometers southeast of Marseille.

And as early as the thirteenth century, the French discovered the great role of free trade zones in expanding entrepot trade, so they opened up a free trade zone in Marseille at that time; This was even earlier than the Republic of Genoa's designation of the world's first free trade port in 1547.

Due to the preferential tariffs and the fact that it is not subject to customs control, Marseille has also quickly become an important port in the Mediterranean and throughout Europe.

It is not uncommon to find merchant ships from almost half the world, from North Africa and the Americas, to Arabia and Persia, and even from the more distant East Indies and Canton in China.

After all, the French had set up a trading hall in Guangzhou in 1721, and before that, they had imported porcelain, tea and silk from the East, and Louis XIV even had a set of porcelain custom-made from China decorated with the coat of arms of the Bourbon royal family.

In addition to being a bustling port, Marseille itself is a thriving industrial and innovative city.

Tens of thousands of craftsmen and workers toiled here, and quick-witted factory owners and inventors searched for any profitable innovation with their greedy eyes.

Before Watt perfected the steam engine, an inventor in Marseille built a steam-powered vehicle that was said to run for fifteen minutes with a single addition of water. Unfortunately, the steam car was too slow to be of any practical value, and was banned by the city of Marseille after it lost control and crashed into a wall.

"It's a great place indeed."

Lawrence glanced at the blackened buildings that radiated along the shore in the distance and nodded.

That's a lot more prosperous than Toulon where Lawrence has been before, and even more so compared to Ajaccio, the largest port city in Corsica.

Grosso laughed lewdly twice, as if recalling some romantic past, rubbed his hands together and said:

"Hey, hey, hey, it's definitely a good place. Let me tell you, the prostitutes of Marseille are the best, and they will let you stay with her all night, not to mention the low price. If you're interested..."

Lawrence glanced at Rousseau, who was sitting opposite Grosso with a frowning brow, and said helplessly:

"I'm not interested in women, but we're going to have to deal with the city a lot in the future."

"I think so, Your Excellency Bonaparte."

In order to alleviate the embarrassment, Rousseau hurriedly answered:

"Corsica itself has limited resources and a sparse population, so if such an island wants to become rich and powerful, it must be helped by the outside world, and Marseille is the best window for Corsica to seek development."

During these years of work on the constitution of Corsica, Rousseau also received a great deal of information about Corsica from Pauli, so that although he had not yet set foot on Corsican soil, he probably knew more about the island than many people who had lived in Corsica all his life.

"Yes, that's right."

Lawrence nodded approvingly, saying that he had only managed to extract 10 million livres of liquidity for the Corsican government.

As far as the state treasury is concerned, it is a complete waste to leave a sum of money on the books, and only by spending it can this money be transformed into the total wealth of the people.

And Marseille, a rich and prosperous port city, is naturally an excellent platform to spend money and earn money.

"Well, I said it earlier."

Grosso scratched his head, and didn't care about the strange way Rousseau, a man of culture, looked at him, and whistled and said:

"I'm quite familiar with many merchants here, although they are not giants, but there are many ways, maybe they will be used in Corsica for trade."

"Well, let's go back to Corsica about trade and construction. We're going to Marseille soon. ”

Lawrence leaned against the window, looked at the blue of the water and sky in the distance, and nodded.

...

The long convoy drove along the rough official roads, which were much worse than those around Paris, but Marseille was a financially rich city, so the gravel roads were much better than the muddy and narrow country roads.

After half an hour's journey, the convoy approached the city limits of Marseille.

At this moment, the march of the convoy came to a sudden halt, and then a guard came to Lawrence's carriage and reported inside:

"Sir Bonaparte, there is a group of men in the middle of the road ahead, who claim to be the party of Josip Araus, the mayor of Marseille, who is here to welcome you."

"The Municipality of Marseille? I see, I'll go see him in a moment. ”

Lawrence nodded in surprise, then poked his head out the window to take a look.

I saw about 40 officials in bright uniforms waiting on both sides of the road with fluttering flags, all of them standing solemnly, their eyes firmly fixed on the front, not even the slightest tilt.

In the middle of the road was a small group of cavalry in a neat formation, but judging from the flashy armor on their bodies and the beautiful horse clothes on their hips, this was definitely not a cavalry squad capable of charging on the battlefield, and it might be more appropriate to call them honor guards.

Divided into two groups by the cavalry, he was surrounded by a man of nearly forty, who wore no wig, a large three-cornered hat with gold tassels on his head, long cavalry boots, and two medals on his chest, one gold and one silver, but it did not look like a medal issued by the army.

He held the reins in his hand and led a gray-maned steed behind him and did not ride on horseback, which was also a sign of respect.

It seemed that he was the mayor of Josif who had just been informed by the guards to greet Lawrence.

As Lawrence's motorcade came into view and slowly approached, a smile of eagerness and kindness immediately appeared on Mayor Jospp's face.

The guards, who had finished briefing Lawrence, turned back to the front of the line and said to the mayor of Josip:

"Mr. Mayor, Your Excellency Bonaparte will have your side, but you will have to wait a while."

"Okay, okay, of course." Mayor Johip rubbed his hands together with some excitement and replied in a loud voice.

When the guard had returned to Lawrence's convoy, a deputy-like man said unhappily behind the mayor of Jospp:

"Mr. Mayor, that Lord Bonaparte is such a big shelf, you have to wait a little longer to see him, and I have seen it all when his carriage is there."

"You idiot!"

The mayor of Johip turned his head slightly, glared at the deputy viciously, and reprimanded without moving his lips:

"It was not me who asked to see His Excellency Bonaparte, it was His Excellency Bonaparte who agreed to meet me!"

"It's... Isn't he the governor of Corsica? As for how you treat it that way? You are the ruler of the land. ”

The deputy cringed and said carefully:

"And you've been waiting here early in the morning, and there's even undried morning dew on our flag."

The mayor of Johip sighed and said angrily:

"Just that governor of Corsica? I think you lived a hundred years ago, and I command you to shut up now, and to inquire about what has happened in Paris when you go back. ”

"Yes, yes, yes..."

The deputy hurriedly nodded in agreement, stared at the only troika in the opposing convoy for a while, quickly took a few steps back, lowered his head and didn't dare to say anything more.

On the other side, Lawrence simply sorted out his clothes in the carriage and said casually:

"This Marseille magistrate was one of the most attentive on this trip."

"It's true, the other mayors and lords waited for us to enter the city before they came out to greet us." Grosso yawned and said:

"I think he can't wait to put a banquet on the road for you."

"This is also to please Lord Bonaparte."

Rousseau also glanced at the mayor of Josip, who was waiting in front of him, from a distance, and answered:

"Judging by his name and clothing, the municipal magistrate was certainly not of noble origin. In the land of France, the most that a person's efforts can lead him to the position of local governor, and if he wants to go up, it is not something that a person can win by himself, so..."

Lawrence nodded approvingly, as middle-class commoners were already prevalent in the French political system of this era.

With the exception of those positions such as ministers and ministers, which required a prominent family to fill them, most of the remaining vacancies were filled by the middle class, who were also the backbone of the bureaucracy.

After all, most middle-class bureaucrats have been selected and eliminated, and are far more skilled and capable than the unmotivated, lazy, and inactive descendants of the aristocracy.

Even in a sense, the court-dressed aristocrats in the High Court and local government were actually middle-class bureaucrats, because they did not have a title of nobility, except for the top court-dressed nobles like Lord Mopp.

However, for the commoners who were not of aristocratic origin, the French political system basically only allowed them to reach the highest level of local governors, and in fact, there were only a handful of commoners among the local governors.

The prosperous city of Marseille was originally governed by a special governor, but there was a rebellion suppressed here by Louis XV himself, and since then Marseille has only a city governor and not a governor.

In other words, the mayor of Johip has little political chance, unless he can be favored by some of the top political figures.

"In other words, that fellow has a request for you." Grosso suddenly said that he didn't know much about politics, but he could also tell that Mayor Joshipp was trying to curry favor with Lawrence.

"Hmm... The mayor of Marseille should be able to help Corsica a lot. ”

Lawrence groaned and analyzed:

"If you can make him your own... Not only Corsica, but also in the south of France. If we want to consolidate our power in France, we must not limit ourselves to maintaining power in the center, but we must have our power at the local level. ”

For Lawrence, he was able to conclude that the Revolution was inevitable, and that it would be an armed revolution that would affect all of France.

And at that point, not to mention manipulating the revolution, it will be a problem for Lawrence to preserve himself in the midst of the Revolution alone.

Because Lawrence's current power in France is in fact a castle in the air, and his power comes from the king and the Duke of Choiseul, not from the support of the lower and lower ranks.

If this situation is not changed, then if the royal family and the aristocratic class were destroyed in the Revolution, as in history, Lawrence would simply lose all power and be purged as an appendage of the royal power and the aristocratic class.

Even if Lawrence took the initiative to join the third estate to rebel against the royal family and the aristocracy, then he would be equivalent to voluntarily giving up the powers given by the royal family, and after losing these powers, Lawrence would not be too prominent in the ranks of revolutionaries, and it would be difficult to take advantage of any advantages and benefits in that revolution.

"No... The eyes must not be fixed only on Paris and Versailles, but must establish a political base in various parts of France, especially in the southern part of the country, near Corsica. ”

Lawrence's expression was extremely serious, and he gradually lowered his voice, and turned to his head to think:

"At the very least, you have to hold the guns and money bags in the southern region in your own hands, so it seems that starting in Marseille is a good choice."

After making up his mind, Lawrence narrowed his eyes and glanced at the mayor of Josif who was waiting eagerly not far from the window, and nodded to himself.

"You want to take advantage of this mayor?" Grosso said with a smile.

"I didn't want to take advantage of anyone."

Lawrence casually found a small mirror, rummaged the scarf twice in front of the mirror, shrugged his shoulders and said:

"I'm just going to work with people in a friendly way and take what they need. Since the mayor wants to go further politically, I will do my best to give him this opportunity. ”

"What about you, what do you want?" Grosso said with a look of believing you as a ghost, and pouted with his legs crossed.

Lawrence opened the car door, took a deep breath of the fresh air outside, and said with a relaxed expression:

"I just want Marseille."