After several games in a row, lunch finally started around 2 p.m.

Jérôme. Bonaparte, Vaillants, Nière, and Madame Aleende entered the dining room one after another, and at the warm invitation of Chancellor Vayan, Jérôme was the guest. Bonaparte sat in the main seat, a position that only Minister Vayan, the master of public relations, could sit.

Then, the butler brought another bottle of unopened wine, judging from the body and mouth of the wine, this bottle of wine should be taken out of the cellar of the mansion.

The butler carefully places the unopened wine on a trolley and uses a corkscrew (invented in 1795) to pull out the dusty wooden cork.

The next step is to decant the vintage wines.

I saw a servant carefully carrying a glass decanter to the butler, and after the steward took the servant's decanter into his hand, he picked up the opened wine and carefully poured it down the wall of the decanter into the decanter.

The red wine slowly flowed into the decanter, until the wine in the grape bottle was less than a tenth of the original wine, the butler stopped pouring it in, then put the wine decanter on the trolley, picked up the wine bottle and smiled at the crowd, and then left the restaurant.

After another 5 minutes or so, the key came again.

At this moment, he no longer has wine bottles in his hands, and behind him are four small carts with three tiers, each of which has two covered dishes.

The housekeeper re-arrived in Jérôme. Bonaparte's side, deferential to Jérôme. Bonaparte said, "Your Majesty! ”

"Let's get started!" Jérôme. Bonaparte replied with a surging sentence.

The servant in charge of pushing the cart heard Jérôme. After Bonaparte's reply, he took the dishes from the trolley and placed them in Jérôme. In front of Bonaparte and the others, he opened the lid that was still on it.

The first course is foie gras, a traditional French delicacy, with a constant aroma that pours into the nose, Jérôme. Bonaparte carefully squirmed the Adam's apple.

From the beginning of the morning until now, Jérôme. Bonaparte hadn't eaten for almost half a day.

This is followed by the second and third courses, all of which are very traditional French cuisines, but now they are particularly tempting.

When all the dishes have been served, the butler holds the handle of the decanter in one hand and drags the decanter with the other, and carefully pours the wine that has been placed in the decanter for nearly 10 minutes into each person's glass.

Everybody's glass is full of a large glass of red wine, Jérôme. Bonaparte raised his glass and said to the crowd: "Let us toast to the prosperity of the Second Empire and the prosperity of our army!" ”

Minister Vaillants, Chief of the General Staff of Niel, and Madame Aleende raised their glasses at the same time, and Minister Vaillants, as the host, also opened his mouth to add, "And for France to have an excellent monarch like His Majesty the Emperor, you!" Cheers! ”

"That's right!" The Chief of the General Staff Niel likewise chimed in, "Cheers to His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

Jérôme. Bonaparte smiled slightly, and the four goblets collided with each other in a pleasant sound.

Jérôme. As soon as Bonaparte drank the red wine in his glass, he immediately felt the fruity aroma that remained between his lips and teeth.

He turned to the butler beside him and asked, "What year did this wine enter the cellar?" ”

The butler's face showed a look of surprise, and then he hurried to respond to Jérôme. Bonaparte said: "Your Majesty, this bottle of wine is the wine that the (Vayan) minister buried in the ground in the third year after the (first) empire was subjected to the conspiracy of the puppet king (Louis XVIII) to take the throne!" ”

Jérôme. Bonaparte couldn't help but smack his lips after hearing this, "It's been almost 40 years!" ”

"That's right!" The butler said respectfully.

"What a pity!" Jérôme. Bonaparte sighed and muttered to himself.

"Your Majesty, the wine itself is for drinking!" Minister Vayan also thought that Jérôme. Bonaparte was in pity that forty years of red wine was spoiled, and he hurried to Jérôme. Bonaparte responded, "Only by tasting it like you can it make it more meaningful and valuable!" ”

"Nope! I'm not saying it's a pity for this! "Jérôme. Bonaparte shook his head and said to Minister Vayan, "It's a pity that such a fine wine has waited thirty years to be opened!" What a shame! ”

Chancellor Vayan instantly understood Jérôme. Bonaparte was borrowing a metaphor for man, and he hurried to Jérôme. Bonaparte responded: "Your Majesty, it's not a pity, it's not a pity at all!"

The older the wine, the more memorable it will be. ”

"That's right!" Jérôme. Bonaparte chuckled, turned to the butler beside him, and responded, "Give me another drink!" ”

"Yes!" The housekeeper hurried for Jérôme. Bonaparte poured another glass of wine.

Chancellor Vayan and Niel poured each a glass of wine at the same time, and then the group clinked glasses again.

After two glasses of wine, Jérôme. Bonaparte refused the butler's desire to give Jérôme again. Bonaparte's idea of adding wine.

Jérôme who put down his glass. Bonaparte, picking up the knife and fork placed on the plate, carefully cut off a piece of the steaming foie gras and chewed it carefully.

Wait until after swallowing the foie gras, Jérôme. With a satisfied smile on his face, Bonaparte jokingly said, "Minister Vayan, I remember that you told me just now that you don't have anything to eat at home!"

I think this foie gras is very good, and the level is almost better than that of the chef of the Palazzo Douilleri! ”

"Your Majesty, you have a good reputation!" Chancellor Vayan modestly addressed Jérôme. Bonaparte replied.

Seeing this, Mrs. Alayend, who was sitting next to Chancellor Vayan, also spoke, and she warmly greeted Jerome. Bonaparte said, "If Your Majesty wishes, you can come to the mansion at any time to eat!"

You are welcome from all walks of life in the mansion! ”

Hearing Mrs. Alende's response, Jérôme. Bonaparte's expression had become abrupt, and then he casually said perfunctorily: "Well! ”

Minister Vayan, who was sitting on the sidelines, glared fiercely at the restless woman, and Mrs. Alayend, who knew that she was wrong, had to bow her head and not speak.

For the next half hour of the meal, Mrs. Aleende did not say a word.

Jérôme. Bonaparte, too, did not say much because of the presence of Madame Alayend.

Wait until the banquet is over, Jérôme. Bonaparte, Nière, and Vayan ministers came to the study of the mansion, while the warm-hearted Madame de Aleende was in Jérôme. Bonaparte's explicit refusal did not follow them in.

The three people sitting on the sofa began to discuss the current military system and tactical system of the French Empire.

Although Chancellor Vaillant had agreed that the current tactical system was no longer suitable for the French army, he questioned Niel's improved skirmish tactics.

After all, the chaos caused by the skirmisher tactics was obvious to all during the First Republic.

Only in the ensuing battle with the Kingdom of Morocco can the skirmish tactics prove that he is indeed a good tactic, then he will unreservedly choose to support Niel's tactics.

Jérôme. Bonaparte, of course, understood Chancellor Vayan's concerns, and he nodded in support.

Subsequently, Jérôme. Bonaparte discussed the breech-loading rifle with the ministers Niel and Vayan.

The ministers of Nière and Vaillants believed that the French army, although it had a weapon with a fast rate of fire, such as breech guns, could not be neglected in training, so they suggested that a threshold in the army should not be necessary to concentrate on the target, so that the army's hit rate on the battlefield could be effectively guaranteed.

And Jérôme. Bonaparte was not too harsh on the accuracy of the breech guns.

After all, if the future war is a general war, France's existing 550,000 troops (in fact, more than 500,000, because nearly 50,000 people are already in the target of reduction) will be expanded to 5 or 6 times the original at a very fast rate, in which case the original troops will be scattered, and the accuracy of shooting in this case will be meaningless.

However, Jérôme. Bonaparte agreed with Nière and Chancellor Vayan.

It's always good to train a little more on weekdays.

At least the soldiers in the army are not allowed to do nothing, and the army that has nothing to do except buy drunk all day long, only to find customs practitioners to experience the joy of life.

The world has not yet provided the best pleasure for the military.

Thinking of this, Jérôme. Bonaparte once again spoke to Nière and Vayan and made a suggestion: Every military region should have regular exchanges and competitions, so as to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army!

Niel and Vaillan also agreed with Jérôme. Bonaparte suggested.

At the same time, Jérôme. Bonaparte also proposed the establishment of a gendarmerie in the army to manage the discipline of the army, which would be mainly responsible for inspecting the discipline of the legitimate military districts.

This proposal was objected to by Nière and Minister Vayan, who argued that the gendarmerie was not conducive to unity within the army.

Jérôme. Bonaparte, of course, knew that their so-called image of army unity was nothing more than an empty phrase, and that they were nothing more than afraid that the gendarmerie that appeared would become a terrorist organization above them.

I think that the gendarmerie during the Napoleonic Empire was under the control of the famous Fouché, who was like a poisonous snake secretly monitoring everyone in the army.

Of course, including the original Napoleonic Emperor,

So, Jérôme. Bonaparte immediately told Nière and Vaillant that the command of the gendarmerie, which was in charge of discipline, was subordinate to the French General Staff, and that they took over the command of the General Staff and the War Division above.

Niel and Vaillant reluctantly agreed to Jérôme. Bonaparte's suggestion.