As soon as these words came out, all the ministers instantly turned their eyes to Louis XV.

It was clear to everyone that letting the Duke of Richelieu preside over the negotiations with Baron Betula would mean allowing the Duke under house arrest to return to politics and to the top of French power.

Not to mention the fact that Louis XV had entrusted the Duke of Richelieu with such a heavy task under house arrest, and his Majesty would have to compensate the Duke of Richelieu from a purely emotional and moral point of view.

If this is the case, there is no real chance that the Richelieu faction, which has been devastated by the loss of Mrs. Dubarry, will really re-emerge.

And the last thing to see this situation is undoubtedly the Chowasselle faction, which is already making enemies on all sides.

On the throne, Louis XV's originally uncertain face gradually dissipated, and became very playful, as if seriously considering the proposal of the Duke of Aeguion.

Frankly speaking, the Duke of Aguilon took the initiative to stand up at this point in time and said that the Duke of Richelieu could perfectly solve the shelling of the port of Calais, which really made Louis XV feel a little strange.

However, at such a critical juncture, His Majesty the King does not care.

As long as the Duke of Richelieu could really come to an agreement with Baron Betula, or even complete the non-aggression pact between England and France in one fell swoop, Louis XV didn't care if there was still an unknown conspiracy between them.

Moreover, bringing the Duke of Richelieu back into politics against the Duke of Choiseul was originally a move in Louis XV's plan, but the king did not expect it to come in handy here.

Looking at the determined and confident expression on the face of the Duke of Ageillon, a smile finally appeared on the corner of Louis XV's mouth:

"Come, go and ask the Duke of Richelieu how he is doing, and if he is well, invite him to dinner with me tonight."

Although it was not explicitly stated, the king's order undoubtedly made it clear to all the ministers present that the Duke of Richelieu would soon return to the game of thrones.

The Duke of Agilon was even more proud, grinning and saluting Louis XV, and then returned to his place.

As long as the Duke of Richelieu intervened, the shelling that he had planned with the British ambassador would be resolved, and His Majesty would have reaped the long-awaited Anglo-French non-aggression pact.

At that time, the Duke of Richelieu, who had distinguished himself, would naturally let Louis XV see clearly who was the one who could be trusted and entrusted with great responsibilities.

Of course, not everyone is happy to see the Duke of Richelieu's return:

"Please wait a moment, Your Majesty."

I saw the Duke of Choiseul, who was full of gloom, took the initiative to walk out of the queue, stood in front of Louis XV, and said righteously:

"I do not believe that the Duke of Richelieu can achieve anything with one mouth, and it has come to this, and if we insist on finding a solution at the negotiating table, it will only make the greed of the English even more unbridled; And how will the public perceive our decisions, and will we bow down to the British after we have successfully thwarted their conspiracy? What we have to do is stand up to France and tell the British that we will not back down!"

Lawrence in the crowd nodded slightly, and it seemed that public opinion was indeed controlled to a great extent by Duke Choiseul.

And instead of immediately dealing with Lieutenant Colonel Cavill, who was the culprit, he was praised as a war hero in public opinion, which is probably also a deliberate attempt by Duke Choiseul to use the power of the army.

Louis XV's tone instantly became cold, and by the time the struggle between the two sides entered a fever pitch, the king's words had omitted those false politeness:

"Straighten your back? Never back down? It's all because of a fork in your War Department today, and you still dare to talk about what you are talking about to stand up for now?!"

The Duke of Choiseul was about to respond, but Louis XV interrupted him with a wave of his hand:

"And if I'm not mistaken, the Lieutenant Colonel Cavill who attacked the British was transferred to Calais by your own order, right?"

Obviously, in de

Knowing what had happened in the port of Calais, Louis XV immediately conducted a small investigation and learned that Lieutenant Colonel Cavill had been sent to the port of Calais by order of the Duke of Choiseul himself.

Although the actual purpose of the Duke of Choiseul was to send the lieutenant colonel, loyal to Richelieu, to the remote frontier, it seemed to Louis XV that this was a major testimony that the Duke of Choiseul had secretly carried out the bombardment.

The Duke of Choiseul took a deep breath, he certainly knew that Louis XV was doubting himself.

No, it should be said that Louis XV had already decided that he was behind the scene the moment he learned the news, after all, in the entire kingdom of France, the only one who was most eager for war was him, the Duke of Choiseul.

Therefore, the Duke of Choiseul also understood that all quibbles and refutations were useless, and that he had no way to prove in such a short period of time that there was someone else who was in charge of the incident, and that he had no way to prove his innocence.

Even if the real mastermind left some horses, it would not take half a year or a few months to investigate strong evidence, and by that time, the outcome of the battle between the duke and the king would have already been settled.

"All important personnel transfers are my own hands, Your Majesty, but I regret that I misjudged Lieutenant Colonel Carville's abilities."

The Duke of Choiseul defended himself very simply, answering Louis XV's question, and then turned the conversation to the question of the war against England:

"It would be extremely unwise to negotiate with the British, they were not prepared for war at all, the British ambassador was just bluffing, and our army has been preparing for ten years, and there is no need for France to make any concessions!"

"Enough! Schwartle!" Louis XV roared angrily, his expression was already extremely out of shape:

"Throw your war plan in the box, lock it, and throw the key into the sea! France does not need war, the army exists to keep the peace, not to provoke another bloody storm!"

Anyone can see that His Majesty is furious.

But the Duke of Choiseul still did not back down, he shook his cloak, but stood directly on the throne, stood less than three feet in front of His Majesty the King, clenched his fists and shouted:

"With all due respect, it is not in the interest of France to blindly seek peace, and I should lead an army capable of the shame of seven years of war, not an army that behaves like a coward in front of the British!"

"If that—" Louis XV stood up in a fit of rage, and took two trembling steps forward, his eyes fixed on Schuiseul:

"If you insist on bringing a war to France, you should not continue to lead the army!"

The Duke of Choiseul did not take a step back, not even a little away:

"The army still needs me!"

"No, it doesn't need from now on."

Louis XV's voice suddenly became louder, and he watched the Duke of Choiseul announce word by word:

"I now deprive you of the post of Minister of War, of all your positions and titles in the Cabinet, of the Court, of the Government, Choiseul, my brother, there is nothing left for you to bother with, and I will give you twenty-four hours to return to your fiefdom."

The ministers were all dumbfounded, looking at the two people on the throne in a daze.

The powerful Duke of Choiseul, is he going to be dismissed from office in public by His Majesty the King?!

Justice Möpp was even more shocked, not at all expecting that his worst enemy on the road to judicial reform would end up on the political stage.

Lawrence was also surprised, and the scene was almost identical to the historical scene of Choiseul's demotion in history.

The historical Duke of Choiseul was also dismissed by His Majesty the King and expelled to his fiefdom in the autumn of 1770 for instigating France to unite Spain and declare war on Britain through the outbreak of the Falkland Crisis, thus angering the war-weary Louis XV.

However, in addition to his surprise, Lawrence quickly noticed a detail, that is, Louis XV only announced that Chowasser had been dismissed

Duke of Le in the government position.

That is, the duke still retains the rank of army general.

"It seems that His Majesty the King doesn't dare to do too much..."

Lawrence frowned slightly, retaining the rank of Duke of Choiseul showed that Louis XV still left a line and did not completely offend the army to death.

On the throne, the Duke of Choiseul, who was publicly dismissed by Louis XV, was extremely calm, nodded slightly, and seemed to have expected the current result:

"If you insist."

With that, the Duke of Choiseul took off the seal of the Minister of War, the key to the palace, and the sword in full view of everyone and handed them to a nearby courtier.

Then, before everyone could react, the Duke strode out of the Apollo Hall without looking back.

The Duke of Aegion did not look at the Duke of Choiseul, but the corners of his mouth could not help but rise proudly, I don't know if it was because of the end of this powerful political opponent, or for other reasons.

Lawrence frowned at the back of the Duke of Choiseul, and he did not believe that this Duke would really spend the rest of his life in the fief according to the orders of Louis XV:

"Schoiseul... What the hell is his backhand?"

...

After the Duke of Choiseul swaggered out of Versailles, the meeting was soon declared closed.

Although many ministers reacted as if they had just woken up from a dream, persuaded His Majesty to calm down, and said that it was not appropriate to act against two cabinet ministers in such a short time, let alone such a powerful minister as Duke Choiseul.

However, Louis XV apparently had made up his mind, and turned a deaf ear to these objections, and dissolved the meeting and returned to the King's suite.

Seeing this, Lawrence and the Count of Vergegue had no choice but to leave the Palace of Versailles and get into the carriage back to Paris.

And when the carriage of the two men drove to the outskirts of Versailles, suddenly, more than a dozen riders on galloping horses chased up from the rear and stopped their carriage.

The Earl of Vergeg was a little nervous at first, but Lawrence quickly recognized that the rider at the head was none other than the Duke of Choiseul's estate steward, and the two had met on a hunt organized by the Duke of Choiseul.

"I'm sorry to disturb you."

The housekeeper of the manor took the initiative to turn over and dismount, first bowed politely and apologized, and then pointed to the convoy not far behind and said:

"Sir Bonaparte, my master's carriage happens to follow this path, and the Duke invites you to go to his carriage for a while."

Lawrence glanced at the carriage behind him, it was indeed the car of the Duke of Choiseul, but Lawrence naturally did not believe the statement that the housekeeper of the manor happened to meet.

Lawrence also did not expect that the Duke would meet him by name before leaving Versailles, after all, Louis XV only gave him twenty-four hours to return to the fiefdom.

Now that the Duke had put down his posture and waited not far away, Lawrence had no choice but to follow the housekeeper to the Duke of Choiseul's carriage.

Louis XV would not have been obsessed with a meeting between the two men before parting, after all, the king had already entered a state of disagreement at the end of his life, and as long as a minister could help the king in action against the Duke of Choiseul, the king did not care what the minister really thought.

...

"Long time no see, Lawrence."

The Duke of Choiseul took the initiative to lend a hand, pulled Lawrence into the carriage, and greeted him with a smile.

At this time, the duke was not at all like the Minister of War who confronted the king in the court, but instead felt like a simple and trustworthy old friend for many years.

However, the face of a politician is ever-changing, and Lawrence will not be affected by this basic technique, but nods lukewarmly:

"Actually, we just met at Versailles."

"Hahaha, you've gotten a lot more humor, Lauren

Si."

The Duke of Choiseul smiled and poured Lawrence a cup of tea from a small silver teapot, and took a box of refreshments himself and placed it on the table, and his carriage was as spacious and luxurious as the king's bedroom:

"No, no, no, I mean it's been a long time since we've talked privately like this, so don't be so inhibited, Lawrence, and don't get too inhibited by Caesar Gabriel."

Lawrence narrowed his eyes slightly, of course he knew what Duke Choiseul meant by mentioning Caesar Gabriel - "You still owe me a favor for the Foreign Office."

Admittedly, the Duke of Choiseul did not fight back against Lawrence's betrayal, but tacitly allowed Lawrence and Count Vergegaux to take control of the Foreign Office, which was indeed a clever move.

After all, even if Lawrence didn't make a move, Louis XV would get rid of Caesar Gabriel and take back the Foreign Office through the hands of others.

"You didn't just invite me to catch up, did you?"

Lawrence chose to speak first, he knew that the Duke of Choiseul was asking for himself, so Lawrence neither denied nor admitted the favor that the Duke implied, as for whether to repay this favor, it still depends on the Duke's request that it is not in his own interests:

"Besides, this is not a good place to catch up, and if His Majesty knows that we have been talking for too long, I am afraid it will be detrimental to you and me."

Free to read.