And while Lawrence was in the Tuileries Palace, he was drinking with Louis XV. Located on the Île Saint-Louis in the heart of the Seine, the command post of the Paris City Defense Forces.

However, this brick and stone building next to the Seine is more of a small palace of gold than a command post for an army. The building's courtyard even has a marble fountain and sculpture garden.

After all, the noble generals and officers of the city defense force could not accept to stay with ordinary soldiers in the muddy suburbs for a long time, and they had to stay in the city to attend the party and salon of singing and dancing.

This is also partly due to the fact that the city defense of Paris is the most idle organization in the entire military system.

The small matters in Paris are handled by the police soldiers, and as for the serious situations that even the police force cannot handle, I am afraid that such things will only happen once in twenty years.

This is also the heart of the entire Kingdom of France, and peace and stability are the norm in Paris.

For the senior officers of the city defense force, staying in this luxurious command post drinking tea and reading newspapers is a true portrayal of most of their working time, and many officers do not even go to the military garrison in the suburbs in person for an entire year.

Even for the Supreme Commander of the City Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe. ...

"Lawrence, this kid is really well done." Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe was leisurely half-lying on the sofa, holding in his hand a few copies of this morning's morning newspaper and reading with relish.

Although Lieutenant General Philip was one of the first people to learn that Lawrence was going to hold a charity auction, he did not expect Lawrence to invite His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to the scene, and to dedicate the majority of this reputation to Crown Prince Louis.

However, after savoring Lawrence's approach, Lieutenant General Philip couldn't help but sigh that this young man's cautious and meticulous style really did not match his age.

At this time, there were suddenly two knocks at the door of the command room. I saw a lieutenant colonel adjutant politely knock on the door of the hidden room twice, and then walked into Lieutenant General Philip's office with a stack of papers: "General, there are some documents that need your approval. Lieutenant General Philip sat up and glanced at the two-foot-thick stack of paperwork with some headache.

Although the city defense force of Paris was idle enough, Lieutenant General Philippe, as the supreme commander, still had to deal with this tedious paperwork and administrative work.

The lieutenant colonel's adjutant seemed to be very familiar with Lieutenant General Philippe, and he put down the papers in his hand, then glanced at the newspaper in Lieutenant General Philippe's hand, and joked with a smile: "Ah, are you watching the news of that charity auction, that is really amazing, I dare say that most of Paris knows about it; I've seen your name in a lot of newspapers, and the reporters said that you donated a lot of the items at that auction, and they praised you too. ”

"I don't really care about these false names." Lieutenant General Philip stretched his waist with great effort, moved his muscles, and then sat down at his desk, glanced helplessly at the mountains of official documents, and sighed and asked, "Okay, which ones are signed directly, and which ones need to be reviewed by me?" ”

"These are the budget sheets for the procurement of the Quartermaster Logistics Department, which you need to review personally, this is the expansion plan of the camp station, you can sign it directly if you think there is no problem, and these are..."The lieutenant colonel adjutant expertly explained to Lieutenant General Philip: "Finally, this is the joint exercise plan sent by the Royal Guard, which needs your confirmation and signature. ”

"Joint exercises of the Royal Guard? With which troops this time? Lieutenant General Philip glanced at the exercise plan with interest and asked casually.

"Swiss Guard." The lieutenant colonel's adjutant pushed the glasses on the tip of his nose and said skillfully: "His Majesty the King has come to Paris this time to be accompanied by the Swiss Guard, and it is also a routine move to conduct a joint exercise with us. Lieutenant General Philip flipped through the exercise plan, and without putting on a show, he quipped very casually: "Tsk, Swiss, as long as the money is in place, they are even more loyal than the Scottish Shepherd." ”

"I suggest you confirm this exercise plan as a matter of priority, the people of the Royal Guard need this document today." The lieutenant colonel adjutant thoughtfully reminded.

With that, the lieutenant colonel's adjutant did not bother much, and left the command room of Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe.

"Do you need this document today?" as the lieutenant colonel's adjutant's footsteps gradually disappeared, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe's expression gradually became solemn, he looked at the document in his hand and muttered: "Since Lawrence Bonaparte has already started to act, I can't hold him back, let's start with this document." ”... At 4 p.m., the command post of the city defense troops, in the public rest area.

All the officers gathered in this hall, smoking cigarette pouches and drinking small wines, chatting and laughing and waiting for the end of the working day.

The hall was filled with peace and harmony, and even a major could sit with the general and laugh at some upper-class gossip.

After all, in the Qingshui Yamen of the city defense force, the difference in rank and rank is not so important, anyway, the officers of the city defense force either came here to cultivate their resumes, or returned to Paris to retire on a temporary basis.

And just as everyone was enjoying this leisurely and leisurely afternoon, I saw Lieutenant General Philip's lieutenant colonel adjutant suddenly run into the public rest area with an anxious look.

The lieutenant colonel's adjutant searched among the crowd for a while, and then asked anxiously, "Ladies and gentlemen, has anyone seen General Philip?" The officers all looked at each other blankly, shaking their heads one after another, how could they always keep track of the whereabouts of the Supreme Commander.

A major general in the crowd stood up and frowned at the lieutenant colonel's adjutant, his name was Mani, he was the chief of staff of the Paris city defense force, and the deputy commander of the entire army: "What? Need to find General Philip in a hurry? ”

"Yes, that's right, very anxious." The lieutenant colonel's adjutant also had to look at Major General Mani for help: "We have a joint exercise with the Royal Guard, and the people of the Royal Guard are now asking us to provide us with the confirmed exercise plan, but I just went to Lieutenant General Philip's desk to look at it, and found that he has not signed the exercise plan... Really, I warned the general, and now I can't even find his people. When Major General Mani heard this, he smiled and waved his hand: "I thought it was a serious accident, just a trivial matter, I just signed for General Philip to confirm it; This kind of exercise is not a big deal, it happens once every few months. ”

"It's... Not so good. The lieutenant colonel's adjutant looked a little hesitant: "That plan supposedly requires the approval of the Supreme Commander." ”

"Well, Lieutenant General Philip is an easy-going man, and you don't know it." Major General Mani generously patted the lieutenant colonel's adjutant on the shoulder twice, and said confidently: "He must be able to understand, and he is indeed not in the command post at this time, with Lieutenant General Philip's open-mindedness, he must not care about anything." Listening to Major General Mani's words, even the officers subconsciously nodded in agreement.

In their impressions, Lieutenant General Philip was indeed an unruly, bold and easy-going general, although he was born into a famous family like Schwartle, he was always gentle and patient with his subordinates, and he was also deeply supported by many officers.

"Uh... Well, I guess too. The lieutenant colonel's adjutant pondered Lieutenant General Philip's personality and seemed to think that the easy-going general would not say anything more about the matter, so he agreed to Major General Mani's solution.

...... The episode did not break the mood of the officers, and as Major General Mani handed over the signed exercise plan to the officers of the Royal Guard, the crowd continued their tea party as if nothing had happened.

After half an hour of wasted time, the officers' work for the day was over. They either return home to spend time with their wives and children, or they change into dresses and wigs and go to banquets and salons.

Just as everyone was packing up and waving goodbye to each other, they saw a dull sound of footsteps suddenly sounding at the entrance of the public rest area.

And with the sound of that footsteps approached was Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe, with a grim face and no smile at all.

He stood at the door of the hall with a cold expression, his knife-like gaze mercilessly sweeping over the officers inside.

"Yo, General Philip, where are you going in the afternoon?"

"Didn't you bet on horses again? Hahaha You said you lost a lot of money last time. ”

"You're not going to the bathhouse, it's not a place for a family man like you hahaha." Several officers who were not good at reading words did not seem to realize what Lieutenant General Philip's expression meant, and continued to joke with Lieutenant General Philip as usual without scruples.

Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe paid no heed to the jokes, he straightened up and shouted in an almost roaring voice: "Major General Mani Alexandre-Guillaume de Clermont, give me a rank!" The roar made the floor-to-ceiling windows of the hall tremble slightly, and one couldn't help but wonder if the whole piece of glass would shatter in response to General Philip's shouting.

Major General Mani, who was named by Lieutenant General Philip, trembled, threw away the wine glass in his hand, and suddenly jumped up from the sofa like a frightened hare, and stood in front of Lieutenant General Philip in horror.

Even the rest of the officers widened their eyes, and quickly and consciously got up from the sofa and stood upright.

They had the impression that Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe was almost never so angry, they had no idea what had provoked the lieutenant general so much, and even the lieutenant colonel's lieutenant was panicked at this time, completely unaware of what was happening.

As for Major General Mani, he didn't dare to breathe at the moment, and even the shirt on his body was instantly soaked in cold sweat.

Despite the fact that Jacques Philippe was only one level higher than him in military rank, Major General Mani did not dare to compare his position with that of the Duke of Choiseul's own brother.

Seeing that everyone was standing upright, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe slowly walked up to Major General Mani and scolded sharply: "Major General Mani, recite the 22nd Catch-22 to me!" ”

"Twentie... Two of a kind? I—" Major General Mani was stunned again, but Lieutenant General Philip obviously didn't mean to joke with him, and the Major General had to stubbornly recall the military regulations that only the privates remembered, and stumbled and said: "All soldiers should... Fulfill their duties and resolutely carry out the orders given by the commander... No trespassing; In case of trespassing, the military may be dealt with directly by his superiors in wartime, and in peacetime by his superiors and referred to military courts. ”

"You should be lucky, Major General Mani." Lieutenant General Philip's words were as chilling and desperate as a storm: "If it were time of war, my body would have been buried in the earth by my own hands." ”

"General Philip! I didn't..."Major General Mani tried all his strength to hold back such a pale explanation.

"None? Didn't you sign the plan for the joint exercise? Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe's index finger was like a sharp knife, and he stabbed Major General Mani three times in the chest: "Tell me, who gave you the audacity to exercise my authority on your behalf?" Major General Mani's hands were clinging to the seams of his trousers, and he didn't even dare to wipe the hot sweat on his forehead, but dared to bow his head and justify: "General! You weren't in the command post at the time, and the royal guards were in a hurry..."

"So that's why you dare to trespass on my head?!" Lieutenant General Philippe snorted coldly, and there was no trace of the easy-going boldness of the past on his grim face: "Mani Alexandre-Guillaume de Clermont, do you think that I am about to leave Paris for Lorraine?" Do you think it's your turn to sit in this Supreme Commander's seat?! This series of questions made Major General Mani's face no longer retain a trace of blood, and his voice began to tremble, even with a little crying: "I, I don't dare, General, you know me, how could I..."

"Hmph, you don't dare?" Lieutenant General Philip exhaled heavily, squinted at Major General Mani and shouted angrily: "If you dare to sign an order on my behalf today, will you dare to spare me tomorrow to mobilize the army!" Major General Mani's face turned pale, and he knew that the unauthorized movement of troops was equivalent to the crime of treason, especially in the city defense of Paris at the feet of the king.

All the officers looked at Major General Mani with sympathy and confusion, and they didn't know what happened to Lieutenant General Philip today, and why his temperament had changed so drastically.

But at the moment, no one dared to risk angering Lieutenant General Philip to step forward and dissuade him, after all, logically speaking, this matter was indeed the fault of Major General Mani.

"You, and you!" Lieutenant General Philip took his eyes off Major General Mani, and instead glanced at the officers in the entire hall, and reprimanded him coldly: "I tell you, as long as I wear this military uniform for a day, I will still be your supreme commander for another day, and if this kind of encroachment happens to me again, hmph, then I don't need to trouble the civil servants of the court-martial, I will personally execute your trial." With that, Lieutenant General Philip stabbed Major General Mani in the heart again with his index finger, and then left the hall without looking back.

It was not until it was confirmed that Lieutenant General Philip's footsteps had disappeared into the command post that the officers dared to lift their upright posture and gasp for breath.

None of these idle officers could resist the intense pressure exerted by Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe.

Major General Mani was even more paralyzed on the ground like the rest of his life, like a soulless corpse, his eyes were blank, and his pupils did not regain focus for a long time.

"Oh my God... It scared me to death, and I even felt for a moment that Lieutenant Philip was going to put us all to death. ”

"What the hell is going on, Lieutenant General Philip, who is so funny and easy-going on weekdays, how can he do it today..."

"The general himself said that he is probably about to leave the city defense force and go to Lorraine to serve as the governor, thinking that our subordinates dare to ride on him."

"Alas, this is really a misunderstanding of us, although Major General Mani did not do it right, he certainly did not mean to usurp the general."

"It's useless to talk about this now, at least we should all be at ease with Lieutenant General Philip for the last few weeks in office, if anyone really angers him again... You can go home early to find a priest and a cemetery to preside over the funeral. ”... After leaving the command post, Lieutenant General Jacques Philippe's face slowly regained his composure, and he could not see that he had just angrily reprimanded the officers in the hall.

He walked slowly along the sparkling banks of the Seine, sighed slightly, and then said to himself: "In this way, as long as I do not give orders, the city defense troops will remain immobile no matter what the circumstances." ”