March 12, 1770, Toulon, a seaport city in the southeast of the Kingdom of France.
It is the capital of the Var department in southern France and the most prosperous port city in France on the Mediterranean coast except Marseille.
Due to its special geographical location and excellent geographical environment, the home port of the French Mediterranean Fleet was also located here. Even until the 21st century when Lawrence lived, the Port of Toulon was still the largest military port in France.
A small schooner that departed from Ajaccio and was originally scheduled to sail to Florence was slowly approaching the port of Toulon.
Lawrence walked out of the cabin and stood on the deck facing the sea breeze, overlooking the hazy Toulon Port in the morning fog.
Although it is still dozens of kilometers away from the port, many sailboats like them can be seen around this sailboat sailing towards Toulon.
There are many French warships flying the fleur-de-lis flag, but most of them are small frigates, probably chasing pirates and escorting merchant ships.
"Mr. Bonaparte, how was your rest last night?"
The captain of the schooner came up behind Lawrence and asked with a friendly smile.
Lawrence leaned against the side of the boat, tilted his head slightly, and said casually:
"It's not bad, but I'm bothering you by asking you to change your destination temporarily."
In order to avoid Paulie's suspicion, Lawrence specifically instructed Grosso to bribe a merchant ship captain scheduled to sail to Florence and let him sail to Toulon after setting sail.
"No, you are Mr. Grosso's commander."
The captain laughed twice, waved his hand and said.
Lawrence glanced at him and knew that it was not Grosso's face that played a role. For these profit-seeking businessmen, only gold coins could drive them to serve him.
As the golden light of the rising sun pierced the morning fog on the sea, the schooner gradually sailed into the port of Toulon.
After the tax official at the dock learned that the ship was not unloading here, he impatiently asked Lawrence to get off the ship quickly, and then waved the schooner out of the harbor.
However, as for Lawrence himself, given that he was dressed as a gentleman, the tax collectors were very understanding and did not make things difficult for him. They simply questioned him and left after a few questions.
"This is the Port of Toulon..."
Lawrence held his luggage and stood on the pier watching with interest for a moment.
This place is far more prosperous than the Port of Ajaccio, and you can even see people from all over the world with various statuses on the pier.
From Corsicans like Lawrence, whose appearance is indistinguishable, to Swedes from Northern Europe with full beards, there are even Arab businessmen wearing bulky turbans, and shackled black slaves.
Including the ship throughput of the Port of Toulon, during the period when Lawrence stopped to observe, it was estimated to be more than ten times that of the Port of Ajaccio.
After observing for a moment, Lawrence quickly left the port. He was not here for on-the-spot investigation. The most important thing at the moment was to meet Count Malbeuf as soon as possible.
Taking out Carlo's recommendation letter, Lawrence glanced at the address on it, and then asked several locals for the address in not fluent French.
After learning that Count Malbeuf lived in the manor in the countryside of Toulon, Lawrence was not surprised.
Unlike his brother Carlo's empty-name count, Count Malbeuf actually had his own fief.
And for nobles like him, living in the city and crowding together with the smelly poor and uneducated citizens is an insult to their status.
Therefore, although these nobles also have their own real estate in the city, they still stay in their manor in the countryside most of the time, enjoying the service of dozens or even hundreds of servants.
This trend that has been prevalent since the Middle Ages will gradually dissipate until the process of urbanization further increases.
In desperation, Lawrence had to pay to hire a coachman who was sitting idle on the street to take him to the manor of Count Malbeuf.
...
"Thank you, generous sir, and God bless you."
The coachman took the two livres thrown by Lawrence with a smile on his face, took off his hat and bowed repeatedly.
Lawrence nodded, and then couldn't help but touch his sore butt.
The carriages of this era, except for the spring shock absorbers installed on the cars of the rich, had no buffering system at all. Coupled with the poor road conditions in the French countryside, these few hours of bumps really made Lawrence feel like his bones were falling apart.
Not long after Lawrence got out of the car, a middle-aged man wearing a silver wig, dark green vest and trousers came up to him.
"Good afternoon, sir, I am the steward of this manor, are you...?"
The manor housekeeper bowed politely and said that in his schedule, there were no guests to visit today, so he quickly came out to greet a gentleman dressed as a gentleman like Lawrence when he arrived.
Lawrence handed Carlo's letter of recommendation to the butler and said in return:
"I want to visit Count Malbeuf, please let me know."
"Ah, please come with me."
The manor housekeeper glanced at the envelope of the recommendation letter and kindly led Lawrence into the manor. After placing Lawrence in a small wooden room and arranging for servants to serve tea, he immediately went to inform the master.
In just a moment, the manor housekeeper came back with a much more respectful attitude, and led Lawrence to a carefully decorated courtyard with fountains and busts.
There was only one man in the courtyard, about thirty years old, tall, with a slightly raised mustache, wearing a white and clean singlet and scarf, a very typical traditional aristocratic dress.
At this moment, he was lazily looking at the newspaper in his hand, as if he was very dissatisfied with the content inside. Every time he read for a while, he would close the newspaper angrily and throw it aside, and then take it back to his hand.
"Ah, you must be Lawrence. I heard Carlo mention you. You are indeed a handsome young man."
The man noticed Lawrence walking in, threw the newspaper on the table, smiled and asked Lawrence to sit down.
Laurence also bowed slightly, and then sat down next to Count Malbeuf.
For these country manor owners, there are not many ways to entertain themselves. Chatting with visiting guests is a very common pastime. Therefore, Count Malbeuf immediately started chatting enthusiastically with Lawrence:
"Ha, dear Lawrence, how long do you plan to stay here? Don't be restrained. Your brother and I are good friends, real friends. By the way, why do you want to come to Toulon? Are you tired of staying in Ajaccio? I quite want to.
If you want to go there to have a look, you can tell me about things there in advance."
After listening to Count Malbeuf's series of questions, Lawrence smiled bitterly, shook his head and said:
"I won't stay in Toulon for too long. I'm visiting you this time mainly to ask for your help with something."
"Help? Just tell me what you need, dear Lawrence."
Count Malbeuf said, patting his chest.
Lawrence slowly took out an exquisite gilded envelope from his arms, placed it gently on the table, and said in a deep voice:
"I would like to ask you to send me a letter."
"Deliver a message?"
Count Malbeuf shrugged and said somewhat strangely:
"Although I'm not a postman, I'm happy with such a small thing. Who do you want to give it to?"
"king."
"King? Which king?" Count Malbeuf froze on the spot and said subconsciously.
"King Louis," Lawrence said softly.
"This..." Count Malbeuf couldn't help but frowned and said:
"Dear Lawrence, I can indeed communicate with the king, but... I have to know the content of this letter in advance, and I can't disturb him with trivial matters."
"The content of the letter is very simple. I want to give King Louis a gift."
"Gift? With all due respect, there is no shortage of anything in the king's court." Count Malbeuf frowned even more and gradually lost interest in the letter on the table.
"Believe me, King Louis will be interested, and of course you will benefit from being my introducer."
"Okay, what kind of gift is it, dear Lawrence?" Count Malbeuf asked, but he no longer had any expectations for Lawrence's gift.