flower and sword and france

Chapter 11: Incident Resolution

"So, you refuse to accept my terms of settlement?"

The Duke's ultimatum question shocked Charles.

To be honest, before coming to visit, Ciel was worried that the other party wanted to fight by force instead of text, and use physical education instead of persuasion education, but after thinking about it carefully, he still felt that he should not tear his face and move for this matter. hand.

Moreover, during the conversation, the distance between Ciel and the duke was extremely short, and even if there was a wall or secret passage with hundreds of musketeers, Ciel could rush forward immediately to capture the king.

That being the case, even if the worst happens, it should be no problem for Ciel to preemptively deal with his already dying cousin.

Thinking of this, Ciel relaxed a little,

"You are right." Then Ciel chose to directly showdown, "I came to visit you today, just to discuss a solution with you - of course, the premise is that Miss Leoran must be welcomed back immediately, in her own capacity. live on."

"Can."

"If you don't agree, I'll..." Charles continued according to the plan in his heart, and then finally came back to his senses, "Huh? You..."

"Okay, I don't care about the destination of Miss Leoran and I. She will come back as soon as she likes it. I don't care." The Duke's old face was full of indifference, as if he was wearing a delicate mask.

"But isn't it that you are working hard and seeking to deprive her of her property rights?" Ciel questioned.

The Duke did not answer, but continued to look at Ciel with an indifferent expression.

After a while, Charles suddenly realized. "You mean that as long as you get what you deserve, it won't prevent me from returning Mademoiselle Leoran to Paris?"

"It's none of my business in the first place. I just need to reach the agreed upon marriage and then get the money that's my own." The Duke looked right.

"But if you don't get the inheritance, will the Leoran family still marry you?" Ciel was still questioning.

After a moment he understood the unspoken subtext of the Duke.

"As long as Miss Leoran agrees to transfer her inheritance to her brother..."

The Duke did not answer, which seemed to be the default.

Charles groaned. It seems that this is the bottom line of negotiation thrown by the Duke.

"Generally speaking, no matter how tame and kind-hearted, a person will not easily give up the millions of wealth that has been in his pocket?" Ciel seemed to be muttering to himself.

"It seems so." The Duke nodded in agreement.

In the end, didn't you say anything?

Charle's heart flashed with anger. He doesn't want to talk nonsense with each other anymore.

"Then we'll have nothing to talk about, and it looks like I'll have to take my leave. By the way, starting tomorrow, the press will shake off your business with the Leoran family, and I'll see what else you can do. To deprive her of the property she deserves!!"

Ciel started threatening, then turned and walked away.

When he reached the door, the Duke finally spoke as he wished. "Too anxious, young man."

"Do you have anything else to say?" Charles walked back.

"Sir, you got our hands on us--I don't know how you did it, but you did. You could really make a big fool out of us. And, it seems, you might want to Destroy my plan..." The Duke analyzed calmly. "So what do you mean, you want me to bear this loss silently?"

"Of course I didn't mean that."

"But that's what you said."

Charles laughed suddenly.

"In the end, why do you have to marry Sister Charlotte to Count Leoran? I know that he is neither talented nor handsome, and he is not a reliable marriage partner at all."

"But at least he has a good surname, and he doesn't want a dowry." The Duke did not refute Charles' comments on Count Leoran.

"You said something wrong just now." Charles suddenly changed the subject.

"What?" The Duke raised his eyebrows.

"You say that poor Mademoiselle Leoran does not know to this day that she is the heir to a large estate. That is wrong," said Charles, calmly.

The Duke looked at Charles.

"That's right, it was me who let her know." Charles smiled, "This young lady is very scheming. Although she was rushed to the convent, she still used the private money she brought with her to buy the old nun inside. Send her a message. That's how my sister got her letter for help..."

"You went to her?" asked the duke with great interest, the taste was no longer as bland as it had been.

"The lady has promised me that as long as anyone can rescue her from the terrible tragedy of fate, she is willing to pay three hundred thousand francs."

"Just a promise?"

"She wrote an IOU."

"She wrote you an IOU directly?"

"Yes, she's in this situation now, isn't she afraid of me breaking her promise? She won't be any worse anyway." Ciel explained with a chuckle. "I told her that now her parents were on the verge of successfully depriving her of her rightful rights, and that if she did nothing, she could only continue to die in a convent; if she did as I said, I could let her live in Paris. The life of a millionaire. A girl with a little brain knows how to choose, especially after suffering so much... So she wrote this IOU as I said to fund my activities - of course , I never mentioned your name..."

"300,000?" The duke repeated, as if thinking about something.

"You've earned 300,000 francs just by sitting here. What's the hesitation? Charlotte doesn't have no other marriage partner, and there are opportunities, don't they?"

"What about you? You don't want anything?"

"Yes, I don't want anything, I just need to complete the task given to me by the client." Charles looked directly at the Duke. "I don't know the composition of this inheritance yet, so I can't give you an exact payment method and payment date - after all, it is a bit troublesome to realize real estate. However, since there is an unquestionable IOU, the lady must be Can't deny it?"

"This inheritance is mainly bank deposits, long-term treasury bonds and bank notes. If it is paid or transferred, it is quite convenient..." The Duke fell into deep thought.

[French long-term government bonds are bearer and transfer is very convenient. 】

This old guy really finished his investigation long ago!

Ciel stopped talking and let the other party think about it.

It didn't take long for the duke to smile, and the old face showed the kind smile that elders see when they see outstanding sons and nephews.

"Charle, well done."

It was the first time he called Ciel that.

"I hope I can help you, cousin." Ciel replied with the smile his nephew gave his elders.

"Since the big event has been decided, let's hurry!" The Duke's smile quickly faded away. "I will contact the court immediately to confirm Miss Leoran's inheritance as soon as possible..."

Charles took out a piece of paper from his pocket and put it on the Duke's desk.

For this piece of paper, he will implement Miss Leoran's inheritance more actively than Charles.

"Very good." The Duke put the note in his drawer, then raised his head and looked at the tall, thin, slightly gentle grandnephew in front of him. "Charle, you are worthy of Treville's surname."

Charles bowed and bowed. "thanks."

"Would you like to stay for dinner tonight?" the duke asked suddenly. "Actually, Charlotte looks pretty good..."

Has this guy turned his attention to me?

"I have an appointment with someone tonight, let's talk about it next time..." Ciel declined with a smile, "Then, I'll leave first."

"Be careful on the road."

Just like that, under the faint moonlight, Charles left the Duke of Treville's mansion.

What Ciel wanted was not a reward, or rather, thanks from his sister, it was already the best reward for him.

Besides...there is a hidden reason.

Relying on this relationship, Ciel felt that the realization of the plan "to win over the Duke of Treville and others" agreed upon in the secret conversation before was no longer out of reach. Buying himself a favor with someone else's 300,000 yuan, Ciel suddenly felt that his recent luck was extremely good. Could it be that he has already begun to transfer?

If you can get France as a reward, the risk this time is really insignificant, right?

In the future, in order to realize our dreams, there will definitely be many life-and-death junctures that need to be passed, and difficulties and obstacles that are more risky than this must also be overcome.

However, the realization of the dream of leading the French nation through the doomed doom of 1870 is getting closer and closer and more hopeful.

May God bless France!

Charles looked up at the hazy night sky.

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After reading the book review, I found that some readers thought it was too rash for the protagonist to go to see the Duke for a showdown. I think that the two have different positions and are originally enemies, and if this happens again, I am afraid that their lives will be in danger.

It's a good thing to have a discussion, but you must refuse to say abusive.

Actually the problem is not that serious.

First of all, it has been explained in the book that the duke has basically withdrawn from the political arena, and now he is equivalent to the role of a state adviser - he has no decision-making power, he is far away from the political core leadership, and he has not killed anyone he wants because of money. level (even without regard to kinship).

As for the assassination or something, I can only say that this is a gangster movie that you have watched too much. If you are a protagonist, you will have no party or friends. If the Bonapartists are all soft persimmons who can be killed if they want, how can they rebel? Hearts are not over...

In addition, it is a fact that the protagonist and the duke have opposing political positions, but it is not to the point of life and death.

The b****y storm of the French Revolution gave the upper class too terrifying memories, so later on, the upper class had a natural vigilance against the rebellion of the poor.

Later, in the political struggle, the French upper class formed a kind of fighting and not breaking, you have me and I have you (there are nobles who support the Bonaparte family, and the bourgeoisie who support the king. This is the case with the Treville family.), the power struggle within the upper class has become much more restrained compared to the era of the Great Revolution, and it is no longer so b****y.

In the revolution of 1830, the Orleanists who seized power did not kill the Bourbon royal family, but only announced that they were exiled from France. The characters lost their power and became idle. For example, several leaders of the Orleans faction (Thiers, Guizot, etc.) lived well through the era of the Second Empire; in the new revolution of 1870, the Bonaparte royal family only Just leave France.

However, please do not misunderstand, the internal compromise of the upper class does not mean that the upper class has given up the sword, but to the lower class, they are more willing to raise the butcher's knife and unite more to suppress.

The French Second and Third Republics were both oligarchic republics established after the s*******r of the poor. Especially in 1871, they bloodied Paris street by street and district by district, massacred tens of thousands of people. In order to get 100,000 people to suppress the m******e of proletarian soldiers, they surrendered to Prussia and paid 5 billion francs in indemnity, which is more than 650 million taels equivalent to silver than the huge indemnity (because the value of silver fluctuated wildly in the 19th century. The lowest value, in fact, can be much higher than the figure of 650 million taels), higher than the "Xin Chou Treaty" - the French also have their own political logic of "preferring to friends with domestic slaves".

Therefore, in the eyes of the current Duke, although the protagonist is an annoying Bonapartist, it is still a "contradictory among the people" of the upper class, and it will not rise to the height of a life-and-death struggle.

If the protagonist says, "Labor and capital are a hardcore revolutionary party, long live the great union of the proletariat!", then his cousin, who has a b****y feud with the revolutionary party, will really be desperate to get rid of it, because this is a "life-and-death class struggle".