In the editorial office of "British", it has never been more lively.

The editors were rescued from their dull review work by a guest from Paris, and the various events that popped out of his mouth one after another made everyone scream in shock.

Due to the cholera epidemic currently raging in Europe, France's port controls are tightening day by day, and news that used to reach Britain in a few days can now be weeks late.

And some of the shocking rumors that have occurred in many cities in the interior of France are even less known to Alexandre Dumas and others in London.

Alexandre Dumas hurriedly added a little more for the guest with the coffee pot, but before he could put the pot back, the fat man impatiently asked, "How is the situation with Lyon?" At the end of last year, I heard that the textile workers of Lyon had revolted, but then it was suppressed? ”

The guest questioned by Alexandre Dumas wore an old, faded dark coat that was supposed to be made of wool or wool, but which had lost its luster and texture due to wear and tear and repeated repairs.

Although the shirt underneath is clean, it is made of cotton and linen blended fabric, and the color is pale and dull due to repeated washing.

His collar is high, but the fly in the ointment is that he can't get a new one in time and looks a little saggy.

As for the clothes and accessories that the French gentleman valued the most, all he could find on his body were a simple silver cufflink and a ring that looked like an ancestral heirloom on his left index finger.

The guests held coffee cups to warm their hands, and their deep voices were not too loud, but they made everyone present hear clearly.

"Hmm...... The textile workers in Lyon began to revolt in October last year, before they thought about revolting, but only demanded a wage increase.

They complained: 'We silk weavers, who work fourteen or fifteen hours a day, sometimes eighteen hours, are so poor that we are naked. And those who are high officials wear good coats and brocade scarves. We weave these, but even if we starve to death, we don't have a cloth to put them on. ’”

When the lady who came to deliver the manuscript heard this, she couldn't help but be moved, and she couldn't help but think of something about this situation.

She recited:

"People of England, why should they give

Ravaging your lords to plow the fields?

Why do you have to work hard to weave endlessly?

Dress up the bodies of tyrants with splendor?

Why, from the cradle to the grave,

Feed with food and clothing, and defend with your life

That bunch of ungrateful parasites,

They are soaking your sweat and drinking your blood!

……

You sow the seed, and others reap it;

You have found riches and possessed them by others;

You weave cloth and garments and wear them on others;

You forge weapons and hold them in the hands of others. ”

When the guest heard this poem, he couldn't help but smile and ask, "Is it Shelley's Song to the English?" I also enjoyed this work. ”

The lady couldn't help but weep when she heard this: "Thank you for your support, it is the existence of supporters like you that I will continue to organize and publish Percy's posthumous works." ”

When the guest heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned: "Who are you?" ”

Tennyson, who was on the side, couldn't bear to glance at the lady, and introduced the guest in a low voice: "Mr. Stendhal, this is Mr. Shelley's wife, Mrs. Mary Shelley." ”

When Stendhal heard this, he hurriedly took off his hat and stood up, and said, "Madam, I'm sorry, I really didn't know it was you. I don't mean to bring up your sad story, but your husband is indeed a very remarkable person, not just a brilliant poet. ”

When Dumas saw this, he hurriedly glanced at Tennyson.

Tennyson also helped Mrs. Shelley to get up and said, "Madam, the air here is too stuffy, why don't I go out with you for a walk?" You've been under too much pressure lately, and you don't need to rush to sort out your posthumous work, so it's okay to take your time. Whether it's me, Charles, or Alexander, we can help you with some of that. ”

Alexandre Dumas also smiled and said, "Although I may not be as good at arranging poetry as Alfred, I am a good hand at adapting screenplays. It just so happens that my new book "Anthony" has recently been closed. Madame, if you can trust me, I can be responsible for the adaptation of the subsequent script of your "Frankenstein". ”

Dickens, who had been listening quietly to the story on the side, also raised his hand: "I have also accumulated a little experience in the script recently, although I can't do it as well as Alexander, but I can also help with it." ”

Mrs. Shelley raised her handkerchief and wiped away her tears, and replied with a smile: "Thank you for your help from such enthusiastic gentlemen, but I am no longer the weak woman beside Percy back then. If you really want to help me, then don't meddle, Brit has done enough for me and Percy. Although I have to reiterate my gratitude to the editorial department every time I visit the office, this gratitude is endless. By the way, when will Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Hastings be in the newsroom, and I would like to thank them in person. ”

"What ...... the two of them?"

Alexandre Dumas scratched his face: "The two of them are a little difficult, although we promised you before that we would find an opportunity for everyone to sit down and talk together." But as you know, Benjamin is now a member of parliament, and he's been so busy on the party side lately. Not to mention coming to the editorial office, he has been struggling to give birth to even new works now.

However, it's not like you haven't had a chance to meet him, he's quite active at various social dances. In addition to sorting out your posthumous work, you can also attend more social occasions, and you may just meet him one night. ”

Dickens, who was on the side, followed up and said, "It's a similar situation on Arthur's side. He had recently been promoted to Assistant Superintendent of Police, and he was needed to preside over the work at Scotland Yard, as well as to set up a new police agency and even get some front-line work on the streets. Not to mention you, even we haven't been with him in a while. ”

"Is that so......"

Mrs. Shelley could not hide her disappointment, but she finally expressed her understanding: "Mr. Benjamin's side is not in a hurry, but on Mr. Hastings's side, I boasted in front of one of his ardent supporters, that I would be able to help her meet Mr. Hastings......"

"She? Ardent supporters? ”

When Dickens, who was new to the drama circle, heard this, he couldn't help but tease Alexandre Dumas: "Madam, if it were Alexander, she would have gotten what she wanted." But Arthur ...... We can only look further back. ”

Dumas glared at Dickens and secretly pointed a middle finger at him behind him.

But he really can't refute the other party, after all, the news of his illegitimate child has spread all over the editorial office of "British".

Even Blackwood, the rival of "British," didn't know where to go. The gang ran several columns on the page, saying that the fat man had brought a bad French ethos to the London theatre scene, and had left a stain on the glorious résumé of British theatre since Shakespeare.

In order to prevent everyone from shifting their attention to themselves, Alexandre Dumas hurriedly turned the topic to France.

He asked Stendhal, "Let's go back to the workers of Lyon." ”

Stendhal nodded, recounting what he had heard: "The workers demanded a wage increase, but the authorities reacted quite strongly, and the senior official Bouvier Dumora refused to negotiate anything, and said: 'It is wishful thinking for me to ask my employer to raise wages and reduce working hours. Seeing that the government and the factory owners would not budge, the workers hatched an insurrection.

After a month of tugging, the authorities and the factory owner finally decided to sit down at the negotiating table and see the situation. But they don't really want to solve the problem, but use the negotiations as a delaying tactic. But what they didn't expect was that on the day of the negotiations, 6,000 textile workers went on strike, and they gathered outside the negotiation hall to sing "La Marseillaise".

Negotiators from the government and the factory owners were scared, so they were forced to accept the negotiated agreement. At the time, everyone thought the workers had won, but the situation took a turn for the worse in the next few days. The factory owners sent directly to Paris to intercept the messenger who delivered the message, and they also signed a joint letter to the prime minister to oppose the implementation of the wage agreement that had just been negotiated. ”

When Dumas heard this, he immediately sneered: "Needless to say, Louis Philippe's government must have chosen to support the factory owners, am I right?" It is true that he does not represent the hereditary aristocracy, but behind him is the group of bankers and factory owners, the group of millionaires. ”

Stendhal did not answer Alexandre Dumas's question, but calmly recounted.

"All I know is that General Rogue said: 'If the workers dare to revolt, then I will make their bellies bloom.'" Not only that, but he also sent his lieutenant to Paris to ask Louis Philippe to send more troops to Lyon. But before his reinforcements could arrive, the textile workers of Lyon revolted.

In just three days, Lyon's town hall, police stations and streets were all under the control of the rebels. Rogue tried in vain to organize a counteroffensive, but after a night of fighting, he was left with only a cavalry squad, the arsenal was occupied, and the logistics transport team was ambushed.

Seeing this, Rogue could only take advantage of the night to lead this cavalry squad to break through in the direction of Paris. At that time, the literary scene in Paris was jubilant, and both the republicans like you and the Bonapartists like me thought that a new revolution was a foregone conclusion.

But it turns out that our forecast is still too optimistic. Louis Philippe's government was not as fragile as we thought, there were still many loyal people in France, and the workers' councils in Lyon were too stupid and naïve.

They did not want to get into too much trouble with the government, so they released the captured high-ranking official, Bouvier Dumorrah, and reinstated most of the officials of the city government and the police department, and even invited the chief of police to participate in their legislative discussions.

They should have thought that in France, you either don't revolutionize, or you have to revolutionize to the end. Enemies don't thank you for your soft-heartedness and magnanimity, they just grin at you and wait for revenge behind your back.

Sure enough, as soon as the news of the occupation of Lyon by the rebels arrived in Paris, Louis Philippe immediately ordered troops in Paris, and the newly formed French Foreign Legion was used in this suppression of the workers of Lyon, in addition to this, he also gathered six infantry wings, a cavalry wing, and an artillery wing, a total of 60,000 men, into the battle.

And the person who was appointed to command this force, except for his son, the Duke of Orleans, there is no other person you can't think of. ”

Alexandre Dumas asked, "Who?" ”

There was a rare fluctuation on Stendhal's face: "Iron hand, Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Sirte." ”

When Dumas heard this, he felt as if he had been stuck in his throat by a fish bone, and he paused for a long time with his mouth half-open before he spoke: "Six infantry wings, one cavalry wing, one artillery wing, sixty thousand people, or the 'iron hand' Soult leads the army." If you hadn't told me what he was doing, I would have thought that Louis Philippe was going to fight with the anti-French army led by the Duke of Wellington in the suburbs. ”

Stendhal was silent for a long time and said, "Monsieur Dumas, this is why I do not approve of your return to Paris now. The atmosphere in Paris is really tense right now, and everyone has a string in their heads, whether it's Bonapartians or republicans, and this trend is worsening after the cholera epidemic. Just before I came to London, there had just been a scavenger riot in Paris. ”

"Scavenger riots? So what's going on? ”

Stendhal began: "I don't know if the authorities are really trying to manage public health or to spy on the restless population, but in short, they have contracted the entire garbage cleaning business in Paris to the company Salavette, and the Grand Paris Police Agency has issued a document reaffirming its monopoly on the capital's garbage, prohibiting rural residents and people other than sanitation companies from picking up garbage or other items on the public roads of Paris."

For the Grand Paris Police Department and the sanitation company, this was of course a happy ending. The Grand Paris Police Department will not only reduce the financial burden, but it will also hopefully improve the sanitary conditions in Paris and take the opportunity to eradicate the stinking urban waste pickers who affect the city's appearance.

In addition to the established contract fees, the Saravit Sanitation Company was able to earn an additional profit of at least 500,000 francs a year by virtue of its monopoly rights over the collection and sorting of waste. But the problem is that the announcement has hit the interests of both groups hard.

One group is the owners of old-fashioned garbage trucks, and the National says their number is around 300. Regardless of the profits from the sale of garbage, each old carriage earns 15 francs per day. Although their numbers are small, the opposition is particularly fierce because of the huge losses.

The other group is the urban waste pickers in Paris, who may number between 8,000 and 10,000. Cholera cases had just appeared in Paris, and the Central Committee of France, in addition to urging the authorities to treat the sick and report the epidemic in a timely manner, issued a decree requiring special cleaning and cleaning up the city's garbage.

At the urging of the government, the company quickly put in their new garbage trucks to clean up. But as soon as the news broke, waste pickers and owners of old garbage trucks became angry, and they gathered to attack sanitation vehicles, beat drivers and set the offices of Saravet on fire.

At the same time as the scavengers were in turmoil, the republicans also took advantage of the opportunity to attack, and on the same night they targeted the Saint-Perage prison in Paris, which was used to hold political prisoners, the same place where Galois was held. Prisoners rioted under the pretext that cholera threatened their lives, while more than 200 republicans attacked from outside. ”

As a typical French republican, Alexandre Dumas was thrilled to hear the news, and he excitedly asked, "Did they succeed?" ”

Stendhal shook his head and said, "Sorry, Mr. Dumas. The police soon received news of the prison riot, and I guess it was most of Vidocq's troublemaker, as he was good at arranging informants in prisons. Not long after the riots in Saint-Perage, reinforcements were already coming from the National Guard and the mounted police of the Grand Paris Police Department, who shot and wounded many prisoners and republicans. The good news is that only one unlucky one was killed. And in the course of the riots, there were still some people who took advantage of the chaos to escape, but Galois was not one of them. ”

When Dumas heard this, he sighed, "If I were there...... That's certainly not going to happen that way. Damn it! I now feel more and more that I should go back to Paris instead of staying in London and writing some goddamn play! ”

"That's not going to work."

Click.

The door of the editorial office was pushed open, Arthur took his pipe in his mouth, raised his hand and touched the brim of his hat: "Alexander, if you want to go back to Paris, you have to apply to your boss first." ”

(End of chapter)