Crown Prince Louis looked at Lawrence with admiration and said excitedly: "Excellent, Lawrence, you are really my most powerful friend." "Ask yourself, Crown Prince Louis boasted of having a better position and connections than Lawrence, but he was not confident that he could raise the seven million livres so easily.

"It is my pleasure to serve you, Your Highness." Lawrence smiled humbly.

"But—" In addition to admiration, the Crown Prince Louis also stared at the vacant seat of Monsieur Montmartre for a while, and said slowly: "They bankers are really rich, they can come up with seven million livres at once, and he said that there are many people who are richer than him..."

"Oh? What do you mean, Your Highness? Crown Prince Louis sighed: "I heard that the kingdom's financial problems have not been solved, and they are gradually getting worse, if you can use these people's money to solve it, isn't it..."

"Well, I don't want it, Your Highness." Lawrence forcibly resisted the urge to twitch the corners of his mouth.

"Really? Why is that? The crown prince asked curiously. Lawrence, of course, could not say that it was this decision that led to the outbreak of the Revolution and sent Your Highness to the guillotine, so he patiently explained: "Your Highness, this time we are going to touch the bourgeois cake only for temporary expediency, but if you want to plunder the bourgeoisie's share of social wealth for a long time, it is tantamount to killing chickens and eggs; Industry and commerce will only wither under your suppression, and the wealth you plunder will dwindle more and more, and the country's finances will collapse completely with the economic crisis brought about by the decline of industry and commerce. ”

"That's terrible," Crown Prince Louis nodded as if he didn't understand, and there was a rare hint of deep concern on his white face.

Even for the pampered and carefree Dauphin, France's fiscal deficit was already a problem that could not be ignored, and he was preoccupied for a moment, and then continued to ask: "But France's financial problems... What do you think, Lawrence. Lawrence didn't speak rashly, he looked up at the rose window overhead, and looked at the beautiful transparent glass, and watched it emit a colorful hazy light in the afternoon winter sun.

"I have also mentioned this issue to the Duke of Choiseul, Your Highness." Lawrence recalled, shaking his head, and sighed with a smile: "When I proposed to the Duke of Choiseul the simplest per capita tax on the nobles and clergy, the Duke said that my idea was simply crazy, that it would plunge France into a civil war in less than three months. ”

"Taxation of the nobility and the clergy? Hahaha, it's really not like a smart idea you'd come up with. Crown Prince Louis did not approve of Lawrence's meaning, but instead took it as a funny joke, and couldn't help laughing: "I think the Duke of Choiseul is right, tax exemption is their inherent power, and the stable rule of the kingdom is inseparable from their help, they are their own people." ”

"No one is your own in front of the national interest, Your Highness." Lawrence gradually suppressed his smile and said in a deep voice.

Hearing this, Crown Prince Louis took a small breath of cold air, frowned and asked, "Are you serious?" Lawrence? I don't think I should offend the lords of the fiefdoms and the churches, for I need them to help rule France. "It is clear that His Royal Highness the Dauphin, who has lived in Versailles since childhood, does not want to encroach on the interests of his noble companions.

Like the historical Louis XVI, although he was diligent in government at the beginning of his succession, and promulgated several drastic reform plans in a short period of time, none of these laws were related to the abolition of the interests of the first and second estates.

In addition to Louis XVI's own private feelings, he was probably also incapable of touching the two deep-rooted classes.

Lawrence, who knew this, sighed silently, and did not say anything more, nor did he expect a conversation after dinner to change the traditional concept formed by the court education that His Royal Highness had received for more than a decade.

Moreover, even if His Royal Highness the Dauphin does not choose the right path in the future, the people of France will make the right choice for him.

After all, if a reform cannot be carried out from the top down, it can only be carried out from the bottom up. And whatever form that change will take, Lawrence vows to make himself the master of it all.

...

"Ahem..."Crown Prince Louis also sensed this slightly embarrassing and tense atmosphere, so he took the initiative to change the topic and said: "Oh yes, Lawrence, since the banker has already agreed to funding, are we going to release the news immediately?" I read in the newspapers that the people of Paris are going to make a big fuss these days about the subsidy, and they need to get the good news out as soon as possible, so that they can be reassured as soon as possible. ”

"I understand your love for the people like a son." Lawrence rolled his eyes and smiled, "But please don't be too anxious, this money needs to be used a little bit to achieve the best results, of course, it won't take long, I swear this money will be distributed to all the poor people in distress before the cold wave comes." Unlike Crown Prince Louis, Lawrence did not want this boiling public opinion in Paris to end soon.

After all, only muddy waters are good for fishing, and only when the moon is dark and the wind is high is it suitable for killing people and setting fires.

"Operation? Well, I trust you, Lawrence, but make sure the poor people get the money as soon as possible. After all, this huge amount of money was won by Lawrence, and Crown Prince Louis did not say much, but only kindly asked a few words: "If there is anything that needs my help, just say it, Lawrence, I do want to do something for those people." Lawrence nodded, smiled and said, "You are really a merciful lord, and in fact, in a few days, there is indeed one thing that I hope to get your help from, Your Highness..." More than half an hour later, this simple lunch for two officially ended.

The two of them, who were full of wine and food, chatted and got up from the dining table, and walked towards the outside of the hall together with a smile. This is not so much a pair of lords and attendants, but a pair of truly intimate friends.

And just when the two of them stepped out of the gate of the side hall, they saw a servant in the palace impatiently greet them.

He had apparently been waiting here for a long time: "Your Excellency Bonaparte! One of your retinues arrived at the Tuileries Palace twenty minutes ago, and he wants to see you immediately... But since you're dining with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince... I'll let him stay in the waiting room in front of the garden..."

"Followers?" Lawrence also looked pale, and directly waved his hand to interrupt the long-winded servant and asked, "Which attendant?" What's his name? ”

"A very strong Italian, he calls himself Grosso Bruno."

"Grosso? Is there anything urgent about him?" Lawrence frowned slightly, but he didn't have time to think about it, and after simply saying goodbye to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he walked quickly in the direction pointed by the servant to the waiting hall.

At the door of the waiting hall, not far from the gates of the Tuileries, Lawrence saw Grosso with a serious face.

"Lawrence, there's something wrong with that little newspaper of yours." As soon as Grosso met, he directly motioned Lawrence to walk outside, and explained with a grim face: "The president sent people to the Champs-Elysées for help, saying that they were targeted by the police force, and other people didn't know your relationship with this newspaper, so they could only wait for you to make your own decisions." Lawrence was slightly stunned, and then immediately reacted, this must be the angry Madame du Barry instructed the Paris police force to take revenge on President Haython.

However, Lawrence did not have the slightest worry on his face, but chuckled and muttered to himself

"It's just right to come, I'm worried that they won't come, so that the overall plan can be pushed one step further........." Almost at the same time, Miles Boulevard.

The remote and barren street where the Observer's daily office is located is now surrounded by water, and hundreds of police officers and soldiers are bardicating the entire Maine Avenue with live ammunition.

There are even three large prisoner vans converted from horse-drawn freight wagons parked on the streets, indicating the determination of the police force in this operation.

The people who live in the neighborhood are watching the street from their windowsills in horror and curiosity, and the police and soldiers seem to have only one goal in mind – their beloved daily newspaper Observer.

Because of its low price and ability to give a voice to the people at the bottom, the Daily Observer has been a favorite daily reading item for small citizens in recent days.

But now, people on both sides can only watch as the police soldiers rush into the small two-story building of the newspaper office, listening to the heart-wrenching sound of smashing coming from inside.

The people sighed for a while, as if they wanted to say goodbye to a rare friend, and as for the brutal and rude police soldiers, residents and passers-by complained about their barbaric behavior.

I don't know if he didn't want to face the accusations of the people, but as the commander of the operation, Colonel Giovanni did not come to the Avenue of Maine in person.

He sat in a café around the corner, looking low and waiting for the absurd arrest to end.

Although he knew that it was to protect his family, this feeling of doing things without conscience still made Colonel Giovanni feel like he was tormenting for many years.

The command of the scene had been delegated to a non-commissioned officer, after all, this time it was just to capture a group of harmless newspaper agents, and if it were not for the Duke of Ageillon's request to make a huge noise, Colonel Giovanni would not have even brought more than a hundred police soldiers.

At this moment, inside the Observer Daily. President Haythami, who was tied up with five flowers, looked at the mess in front of him in a daze, and two lines of tears unconsciously slipped down his cheeks.

The once clean office has long since become a garbage dump of shredded paper and wood chips, and the printing area on the first floor is even more human-like, with foul-smelling ink spilling all over the floor, and even the large printing press, which is worth a lot of money, has been smashed to pieces.

Even so, the police soldiers refused to give up, they searched the ruins, smashed everything that could still be used with batons, and the small items of value ran into their own pockets.

Seeing that the hard work he had been doing for more than ten years had turned into a puddle of mud and ruins, President Haytham could no longer suppress his emotions and buried his head in his knees and cried bitterly.

"Fuck, crying, crying, crying, crying?" The fat-headed, big-eared captain officer glanced at President Haytham's tears, smiled contemptuously, and directly put his baton against Halthen's chin and sneered: "Why didn't you think of today when you used those reactionary remarks to attract people's attention? Well? ”

"Reactionary rhetoric?" President Haytham had red eyes and gritted his teeth: "Is there any deviation in our report!" Isn't the harsh truth the truth! You just don't admit it, you don't admit that there is such a suffering group of people in this country, you can't even accept that they appear in black and white in the newspapers! ”

"Who the cares about you! I'm on orders. The captain snorted coldly and kicked Haytham in the ribs so hard that he retched and curled up in pain.

Looking at Haytham's painful and struggling appearance, the corner of the captain's mouth turned into a smile, and he said happily: "Hmph, you should leave this kind of nonsense in prison and talk to your fellow inmates, you have to stay there for the rest of your life... Oh yes, and your staff just mentioned that the newspaper seems to have a shareholder? President Haytham lay on the ground, struggling and asking, "What shareholder?" I don't know..."

"Damn, don't play stupid for me!" The captain picked up his baton and smashed it on Haython's back, and said in a cold voice: "I have been ordered to take down all the people involved in this reactionary newspaper and take them away, and that shareholder will definitely not be able to escape from it. Haytham screamed loudly, but he didn't make any other sounds.

Although Haytham had asked for help from the Champs-Élysées, he did not know if His Excellency Bonaparte would actually come to his aid as a humble little president.

Until then, President Haytham had kept his original promise with His Excellency Bonaparte not to divulge the newspaper's relationship with Lawrence Bonaparte.

President Haytham closed his eyes tightly and spat out a sentence weakly: "I... I don't know..."

"What the, the president doesn't know who his shareholders are? Yes? The captain lost his temper and picked up his baton again to greet Haytham on the head.

At this moment, a police soldier suddenly went upstairs and hurriedly reported: "Sir! A horse-drawn carriage broke into our blockade and stopped downstairs with people claiming to be investors in the newspaper. ”

"Oh? Hahahahaha sent to the door! The captain was stunned for a moment, then laughed and pinned the baton back to his waist, picked Haython's chin and sneered: "You don't know that shareholder?" Hey, I've decided that I'm going to lock you up in the same cell as that shareholder in the future, so that you can get to know each other well. With that, the captain waved his hand and motioned for his subordinates to bring people up.

President Haytham didn't pay any attention to the fat-headed and big-eared captain, just staring blankly at the staircase, and a few tears welled up in the corners of his eyes again.

Soon, Lawrence and Grosso were surrounded by several police officers and soldiers on the second floor of the newspaper office. Looking at the increasingly improving newspaper office into the ruins in front of him, and looking at the scarred President Haytham, Lawrence's face instantly turned cold, and his sharp eyes stared straight at the captain officer.

"Yo, it's still a young man." Since Lawrence only wore casual clothes very casually when dining with the crown prince, the captain's eyes suddenly became contemptuous after looking at Lawrence and Grosso's clothes a few times, and he mocked in a flirtatious tone: "Little ghost, don't look at me with that kind of eyes, if Lao Tzu is unhappy, you will not have a good time in prison." Lawrence ignored the captain, looked directly at President Haytham on the ground, frowned and greeted, "Mr. Haytham, are you okay?" ”

"No... No big deal, Your Excellency. President Haytham smiled wryly and nodded.

"Hey, little ghost!" Seeing that he had been snubbed by the two prisoners, the captain shouted angrily: "Don't be arrogant to Lao Tzu!" Let me tell you, you have made a big deal, and many of the crimes that this newspaper is suspected of are inseparable from you! Hmph, but for the sake of you not being the main culprit, it's not impossible to let you go, it depends on whether you are sincere or not. In the face of this inferior bribery technique, Lawrence snorted coldly and spread his hands: "Then what if I am not sincere?" ”

"Boy, have you thought about it, since you are a shareholder of this newspaper, you must not be short of a few thousand livres, right? If you go to jail... Hum. The captain's face became more and more gloomy, and he couldn't bear this unruly and arrogant little ghost.

"What if I've figured it out?" Lawrence sneered, "I'm standing here, if you have the guts, you can try to catch me." ”

"Good, good!" The captain finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted loudly, "Someone! Come! Tie them up and stuff them in a prison cart with the other prisoners! After giving the order, the officer did not forget to mock triumphantly: "Fool, this order to arrest people was given by the Duke of Ageon, even if you have a little background, why, you are still older than the Duke of Ageon?" With that, the captain looked at Lawrence with his hands on his hips and laughed confidently, betting that the imp would kneel down and beg for mercy in ten seconds.

However, he obviously couldn't see this scene. Lawrence stood calmly in place, allowing the few police soldiers with ropes to approach, and even Grosso, who subconsciously wanted to draw a knife to resist, was pressed in place by him in time, and the two were quietly tied up by the police soldiers like docile lambs.

"Damn, this kid is still pretending, forget it, how do I pretend to see him enter the cell, I have time to play with him." The captain spat in disappointment, and ordered scoldingly: "Listen up! Put the prisoners in the prison cart! Seal the newspaper office, and go and report to Colonel Giovanni that our mission is accomplished. ”