Half an hour later, 10 Champs-Élysées. When the old butler returned to the mansion, he did not bother to strip off his shirt and hat, but went straight to the study and reported to Lawrence, who was writing at his desk: "As you expected, Colonel Giovanni has agreed to your request. ”

"A wise choice." Lawrence smiled and nodded, believing that the colonel was not a stupid fool.

Although this must have been a painful choice, he gave up the position and power in Paris that he had worked hard for most of his life, and went to the remote Corsica to become a rich man.

But it's better than being a leaderless ghost on the guillotine, in which case even the colonel's own family might be involved.

Lawrence stopped what he was doing and asked, "By the way, is there any news from Montmartre at the Commercile de France these days?" ”

"Strictly speaking, he has a lot of moves, Your Excellency." One of the great duties of the old butler was to gather information, and he knew all about the affairs of Paris, large and small, and replied without thinking: "He sold a number of properties, put up a few shops and land for sale, and even sold a lot of shares in his hands, and he also applied for interbank loans from several other banks, and investors thought that Montmartre had some inside information, and the stock price on the stock exchange was very depressed yesterday." "Since leaving the Tuileries Palace that day, Monsieur de Montmartre has been working non-stop to raise the seven million livres that Lawrence has requested.

After all, this was a real opportunity to make a leap forward in the family's class, and the wealthy banker could not tolerate a little sloppiness, and devoted all his energy to raising funds, and he took care of everything himself.

"He's really hardworking, too." Lawrence chuckled and shook his head, knowing that Monsieur Montmartre would not miss this golden opportunity, and that the seven million livres could be raised in three days, as he said.

However, as Lawrence and Crown Prince Louis said that day, instead of starting the winter allowance directly, he still had to use this huge amount of money for political purposes to make a small operation.

After all, the act of doing good deeds without leaving a name is morally noble, but politically it is not a wise thing to do.

For such a great opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the people in the spotlight, Lawrence is not willing to act as a simple behind-the-scenes promoter.

And Lawrence also believed that the majestic mountain of silver piled up by the seven million livres would eventually be able to crush the money-hungry Countess du Barry.

"If you take the trouble to send these two letters to the Palace of Justice and the garrison of the city defense force, you must let Justice Mope and Lieutenant General Philip receive them in person." Lawrence leaned over and pulled open a secret drawer at the bottom of his desk, took out two envelopes from them, solemnly handed them to the old butler, and commanded: "Also, send to the Tuileries Palace to inform His Highness the Dauphin that he will be ready to attend a civic event at the Paris Comédie." ”...... A few days later, the weather in Paris on 12 January was even more difficult than the previous days.

The snow that covered the entire city of Paris was a completely different sight in the eyes of different classes of citizens.

Wealthy, middle-class citizens would snuggle up to the warm fires on snowy nights, sipping tender tea while admiring the moonlight shining on the white snow, a beauty that could only be seen in winter.

And the poor people who huddled under the leaky huts could only wrap up their linen coats and pray in the constant snow wind that the snow covering the streets would soon turn into warm spring water.

But in fact, many poor people simply can't wait for the day when the snow melts into spring water and the winter breeze turns into spring breeze.

Hunger, fever, frostbite, dysentery, there are so many things in the slums of Paris that can put these poor people to death that for most of the poor, being able to see the sun tomorrow is their greatest goal today.

But at the end of the day, there's only one thing that kills them – poverty. As long as you have money, even if it is only two or three silver coins, the fire and bread are not an unattainable luxury.

Even so, even if you rummag through the shriveled wallets of the poor people, you can only find a few tons of pulped Sur copper coins at most.

The townspeople cursed the damned Dubarry bitch a few times every torturous winter night, cursing the vicious woman who had embezzled the subsidy funds and had been summoned back to hell by Satan sooner.

However, just as the poor were struggling to survive in the metropolis of Paris, a sudden, almost surprising piece of good news spread throughout Paris: "His Excellency Lawrence Bonaparte is going to hold a charity auction at the Paris Comédie Theatre, and all the proceeds of the auction will be donated to the citizens of Paris; The grand finale of the auction will be the diamond necklace of the Countess du Barry. Suddenly, this news immediately became the focus of attention among the low-level citizens, after all, this is a major event related to their vital interests.

Because the middle of January is fast approaching, the vast majority of citizens have given up on the illusion of receiving winter subsidies, and they have almost all acquiesced and accepted this cruel reality.

No one could have imagined that things would turn around just as a cold spell was approaching, especially since it was a Corsican from a foreign country.

For these small townspeople, they did not have the same high society as they did from the beginning, and they had a lot of interest in this Corsican political star, and in their eyes, this Corsican foreigner was just an ordinary member of the elite.

Many of the poor people at the bottom even heard of the name of Lawrence Bonaparte for the first time, after all, whether it was the gamble of Lawrence and Madame du Barry, or the various performances in the Palace of Versailles, this was a matter of politics at the top, and it had nothing to do with them as poor people at the bottom.

And it was only when the citizens heard the news that they suddenly realized that this Bonaparte seemed to be different from those powerful people who pretended to be deaf and dumb and disregarded human life.

At least, in their opinion, among the thousands of nobles and ministers, this Bonaparte was the only one who really stood up and did something practical for them, and not turned a deaf ear to the misery of the people at the bottom, as the officials of the Ministry of Finance and the royal family did. ”

"I hadn't heard much of that name before... It seems that he was the same one who gambled against the Countess du Barry last time? It seems that this Corsican was also the same in the Battle of Malta. ”

"That's right, and Lord Bonaparte is going to auction that million-dollar trophy and that diamond necklace, my God, what a generous man."

"Hey, really? That necklace is worth two or three million livres, right? Even if the Duke and Prince take out all this money at once, it is estimated that he will die of distress. ”

"This can be fake, tsk, it's unbelievable, what a saint."

"Oh my God, in this case, the money for the winter subsidy may be settled!" People were almost always shocked that His Excellency Bonaparte had taken a million-dollar diamond necklace for a charity auction.

It was, after all, the spoils of Lawrence's righteousness, and it was difficult for the citizens to understand that Lawrence would devote such a large amount of his personal fortune to charity, and in the end he had to interpret it as a great Excellency who was truly generous, benevolent, and genuinely good.

But this did not prevent the poor from rekindling their hopes of life after receiving the news, and they looked forward to the beginning of the charity auction with joy while chanting the name of Lawrence Bonaparte.

... However, it is conceivable that not all Parisians were pleasantly surprised by this charity auction.

Two days ago, inside the Medici Gardens in the Tuileries Palace. Rarely, the Comtesse du Barry did not accompany Louis XV, but stayed in the garden, inviting the Duke of Aguiillon alone to the meeting under the guise of a tea party.

Of course, it was not so much a discussion with the Duke as Madame du Barry, with her sharp voice, who repeatedly challenged the Duke of Aguion: "Emmanuel Armand! What the hell is going on! I heard that damn newspaper is still publishing newspapers, didn't I ask you to send someone to smash that place to smitherenation?! As soon as the Duke of Agilon entered the garden, Madame du Barry cried out at the top of her voice, not at all as enchanting as she had been with Louis XV.

The Duke sat helplessly on a wicker chair and couldn't help sighing: "Madam, this is my mistake, I didn't expect that the newspaper office turned out to be an industry invested by the Corsican National Silver Company, that is, it was an industry in the name of Lawrence Bonaparte. "Although the general public is still unaware of Lawrence's relationship with the Observer Daily, an upper-level figure like Duke Egillon, after learning of the seizure of the newspaper office a few days ago, also knew that the newspaper was actually controlled by Lawrence.

"Bonaparte? It's that damned Bonaparte again! I knew it! Madame Dubari was stunned for a moment, and then she became angry again: "It must be those rumors that he instructed the newspaper to publish, this bastard who deserves to go to hell!" I, I'm going to His Majesty the King to sue him. The Duke of Ageillon rolled his eyes slightly, and said slowly: "Please calm down, ma'am, we have no evidence that Lawrence Bonaparte instructed a wealthy silver company to invest in some industries across borders, and—" The Duke paused, and cautiously added: "I have heard that His Majesty does not want to do anything to the press, and this rash seizure of the newspaper office has already made him a little displeased." ”

"Your Majesty knows that you instructed it?" Madame du Barry calmed down at this time, frowned and asked, of course she didn't want Louis XV to know that these things had something to do with her.

"That's not true, the king thought it was the autonomous action of the Paris police force." Duke Agion spread his hands and smiled: "Anyway, that newspaper office has also caused a lot of trouble to the police force these days, and their reasons are very good, and His Majesty the King has only verbally reprimanded the police lieutenant general a few words, but we don't want to do anything to that newspaper office for the time being." Madame du Barry knocked on the table in dismay, for she had never been so unable to carry out her will since she had become the king's mistress.

She had heard the name Lawrence Bonaparte less than a year ago, but the damned Corsican had already made her feel this frustration more than once.

Looking at Madame du Barry's irritable appearance, the Duke of Ageillon also duly diverted the subject: "Compared with that tabloid newspaper, I think another action of Bonaparte is more worthy of attention. ”

"Huh? What's that damn kid going to do? Madame du Barry frowned slightly, and she was naturally not as well-informed as the outside world when she stayed in the palace.

"He's going to hold an auction, a charity auction, to raise money for the winter subsidy for the citizens of Paris." Duke Aijiyong also restrained his relaxed expression slightly, and said solemnly: "He is going to auction off your diamond necklace as the finale, Madam. As soon as she heard her precious necklace, Madame du Barry exclaimed: "My diamond necklace? Who is he going to sell to! ”

"Who knows." The Duke of Agiyon shrugged: "It's nothing more than a rich banker or an owner, and that's the kind of person invited to that auction." Madame Dubarry was stunned for a moment, and the anger that had not yet been extinguished was rekindled, and she grabbed the ends of her hair on her shoulders and whispered in a hateful voice: "What did you say?!" How can he sell my treasures to those nouveau riche! "Though Madame du Barry had lost the priceless necklace to Lawrence, the brutal woman did not consider the savage Corsican worthy of such a treasure.

In her eyes, the diamond necklace was always hers, and she would one day put it back on her neck.

Moreover, as the saying goes, the more you lack something, the more you care, Madame du Barry, who was born as a prostitute, values class ideas more than anyone else, and she can never accept that the treasure of her own countess, the mistress of the king, should fall into the hands of those lowly nouveau riche.

It felt like a fragrant matsutake cake washed in a dung pit, and even if it was scooped up and returned to herself, Madame du Barry was disgusted: "This is a disaster, the Corsican must be stopped, such a treasure does not belong to the untouchables!" ”

"You have to stop him, ma'am." The Duke of Agillon, in a rare way, echoed Madame du Barry's opinion.

Of course, it wasn't the diamond necklace that he cared about, of course, but the fame that Lawrence had earned through the auction.

The Duke of Aguion was well aware that Lawrence had only two sources of power, one was the support of the Duke of Choiseul, and the other was the attention of Louis XV.

In other words, Lawrence's power and position came from his superiors, and his political roots in France were quite weak, and there was not much support from the people and the bottom to support this strange foreigner who had been in Paris for less than a year.

However, if this charity auction is a success, the Duke of Aguion can be sure that the citizens of Paris will have a lot of praise and support for the Corsican in the short and long term.

After all, taking out a necklace worth millions of livres at a time to donate it to the low-level citizens is enough in the eyes of the Duke of Agillon.

In this way, Lawrence Bonaparte's political shortcomings could be largely compensated, and the Duke of Agilon did not want to see his enemies grow up quickly.

"But what do we do? Forcibly send someone to cancel that auction? Madame Dubarry asked thoughtfully, pinching her chin slightly.

Of course, the Duke of Agion would not adopt such a childish plan, and he smiled confidently: "No, no, no, madam, I will personally attend that auction, and I will also take back the diamond necklace that should have belonged to you." As for you, Madam, I hope that you will mention this auction to Your Majesty when you are next to the King, so that the King may understand that this so-called charity auction is nothing more than a façade for Laurence Bonaparte to sell his reputation. ”

"Ah, I see." Madame du Barry also smiled understandingly, she was already familiar with Louis XV's behavior of blowing the wind on her pillow, and she knew how to use rhetoric to coax Louis XV to think of a result she wanted.

With Madame du Barry's assistance, the smile on the corner of Duke Digillon's lips became even brighter, and he clenched the white porcelain teacup in his hand tightly, and muttered confidently: "Hmph, Lawrence Bonaparte, I really want to see how those who praise you will curse you with the same mouth if this huge auction ends up giving only a few thousand livres to the citizens?" ”