flower and sword and france

Chapter 3: Grandparents Dialogue

After getting the permission of the old marquis, Charles opened the bedroom door and walked in.

The furnishings in the bedroom are surprisingly simple, nothing special except for a few painted cabinets beside the walls, a bed with white sheets, and an oil lamp on the teak bedside table, emitting a dim light .

The old man, who was half lying on the back of the bed, looked at Charles, then raised his hand and pointed to the side of the bed, "My grandson, sit there and tell old Victor well..."

Charles explained to the Marquis in detail today's experience and the content of the secret meeting, including the subsequent shootout.

The old marquis listened to his story without interrupting, but frowned slightly to show that he had been thinking.

"So, the subsequent accident has nothing to do with you?"

"From what I see personally, it should be so." Charles nodded. "Paris has not been peaceful recently. I'm afraid the police are chasing the robbers."

For security reasons, when Bonapartists hold secret meetings, they always choose slums with large crowds and generally poor people, such as the 17th district this time. Not particularly strange.

Although the old marquis also held the same view as Ciel, but out of the old man's unique cautiousness, he continued to ask a lot of details before he was relieved.

Then, the old man rubbed his hands lightly, then put his right hand on his forehead, and stroked his short hair lightly—although his expression was still calm, these actions still exposed his excitement in front of close people.

"So, this time they have decided to do it?"

"I think it will be soon." Charles nodded. "The current dynastic government is unpopular at all."

"This government has been unpopular since the first day," replied the old man coldly, "and yet it has survived to this day. The survival of a regime is not because of how popular it is, but how much it makes people fear, France. Just like a government that can whip her."

Ciel was stunned by the old man's snarky comments.

The old marquis continued, "However, I agree with the view over there, now is indeed a good time! The collateral boy of the Bourbon family (referring to the current King Louis-Philippe, who is from the Orleans family of the Bourbon royal family) is now There's not much energy left to take care of the France he's worked so hard to get, and the bad son of Soult is too old now - without this bad son, we would have sent the king to Germany again! Behind them Who else? Who else can support this regime?"

Ciel nodded again and agreed with his grandfather.

"Now those people who are at the top of France, they look down on ministers who came from a cold background as in those days, but they can't have children who are enough to be ministers. When things come to an end, they want to make up and run away as a b***h!" The Marquis commented sharply. "The decline of France began with them."

[Refers to the Count of Montmoran, one of Louis XVI's most favored ministers, and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1792, he disguised himself as a woman and tried to escape and was arrested. He was sent to the guillotine in September. The patriarch of the Moran family, the Marquis of Montmoran, was also sent to the guillotine]

It's almost like the revolutionaries of 1789! It is hard to imagine that it was said by a famous nobleman. The resentment of being suppressed and cast into idleness for many years is fully revealed at this moment.

The Marquis of Treville was always fiery and fiery on certain topics, out of sullen resentment over the years. Although his words and deeds were always highly applauded by the Bonapartists, the French authorities after the fall of the empire must have seen them as rebellious, thus strengthening their will to suppress him.

Charles let his grandfather vent, but looked at the marquis with gentle eyes and lightly grabbed his hand.

The old man, who had been taunting the current regime, suddenly changed his eyes to look at Ciel with a kindly and serious look on his bright and ruddy face.

"However, my grandson, you are not like them. I can assure God that you are the best young man in France."

Even Ciel felt a little embarrassed to be praised like this by his relatives.

"Everyone says I'm boasting, bah! Old Victor never exaggerates. You have knowledge, education, and the will to do great things. How many can you find in France?"

"Grandpa..." Ciel couldn't stand it anymore, and his face was a little red.

"Okay okay," the marquis laughed, "my grandson, how old are you this year?"

Ciel was a little surprised by the sudden change in the old man's topic. After a while, he replied, "It's 20 years old."

"Twenty years... Twenty years have passed!" The old man sighed, "You crawled around my feet when you were young, but it still looks like it happened yesterday. Time flies by so fast. !"

Then the Marquis drew his hand and gently stroked his grandson's face, "Is there already a girl who is infatuated with it? Look at you, you are so handsome, you are almost as good as mine!"

Charles blushed even more. "No, not yet."

"Then you should be careful. When you see a girl, hurry up and pursue it. Don't lose the old cavalry Victor's face!" The old man patted Ciel on the shoulder.

"Then it has to be seen by others, right?"

"Is there anyone who can't look down on my grandson?" The Marquis smiled disdainfully. "You have such looks, such talents, and you have the surname of Treville! There is something else in France that you are not worthy of. A woman? Even the princess of the Wang family, you are worthy of it!"

"You'd better save me some face..." Charles was finally overwhelmed by his grandfather's blind praise.

"I'm just telling the truth. To tell you the truth, my grandson, you already have everything a young man can have, except for a wealthy family..." Then his eyes dimmed and he repeated softly. Again, "But we don't have any money."

Ciel laughed bitterly in his heart. In this day and age, isn't money not miserable enough?

The most horrific consequence of the Revolution—or its greatest achievement, depending on the position of the individual—was that since then all Frenchmen, even the aristocracy, have come to understand the truth: God did not predestinate certain people by nature Noble, if not accompanied by power, blood is worthless.

When Louis XVI and his queen died by the guillotine, and his dauphin died in the mud due to hunger, cold and disease, everyone found that no matter how noble the blood was, the neck could not be hardened by the guillotine, so the French The admiration and obedience of the former nobles and lords had all but disappeared, and even the nobles themselves no longer believed that they were destined to rule France.

Not only that, but now even the word "noble" is depreciating.

Although the Bourbon dynasty regained power in France with the help of foreign bayonets, they couldn't turn back the clock, and they had to admit that France had changed beyond recognition, and they had to admit the upstarts who came into being in the Great Revolution. Most of the nobles who were canonized by the emperor in the Napoleonic era were still preserved intact, and some were even conferred by Louis XVIII into the French aristocracy because of their surrender.

When people who were originally peasants, fur traders, soldiers and even robbers won the title of nobility and even sat in the seat of the French aristocracy, how much admiration was left for the nobility?

Bloodline used to be the passport of high society. Without a good surname, a person would never walk into those famous living rooms and salons for a lifetime. A newly appointed duke is far less respected than an earl that has been passed down for hundreds of years. And now, in this day and age, money has replaced family as the pivot of society, and everything revolves around money. A noble that has been passed down for hundreds of years? Hey, hey, congratulations on you being able to escape the storm of the Great Revolution. It's really not easy to survive, eh? wait, are you rich?

The old man was silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed, the light in his eyes dimmed.