Chapter 168 The unexpected arrival of Justice Mopu
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The Duke of Richelieu, leaning on a walnut cane with a silver head, staggered into the Hall of Mirrors with the support of Baron Bertula, like a drunken man.
He did not wear a wig and hair to follow the trend, but wore a somewhat retro early Clark dress.
Duke Richelieu, who was already seventy-four years old, was obviously not in good health. Even during this journey, he had to be supported by Ambassador Bertula who accompanied him during this journey.
But he insisted on driving from Paris to attend this banquet. This abnormality also made Lawrence a little suspicious.
"If it was just to accompany Ambassador Bertula...it shouldn't be like this..."
Lawrence, like other guests, cast their gaze on the Duke of Richelieu, silently guessing:
"It seems that he is either here for me, or he has other plans in Versailles."
Duke Richelieu slightly curved the corners of his mouth, narrowed his eyes and showed a kind smile, waved to everyone to say hello, and said with emotion:
"Ah, the Hall of Mirrors, I haven't been here for a while. This place has changed a lot since the late king. I still prefer the way the Hall of Mirrors looked when I was a kid."
Duke Richelieu, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, really has the confidence to say this. After all, he was born in the Palace of Versailles, and the late King Louis XIV was his godfather. When he was young, he probably dreamed of visiting many of these people.
The Hall of Mirrors serves as a playground.
The Duke of Choiseul, who was in the center of the crowd, glanced at the Duke of Richelieu with squinted eyes, and whispered in Lawrence's ear:
"Looking at how close he is to Mr. England, my instinct tells me that this old immortal must have some conspiracy. Hmm, no matter what it is, just let it go."
Lawrence didn't speak, just nodded slightly. He couldn't figure out what Duke Richelieu wanted to do until he had enough convincing information.
However, seeing such a close relationship between him and Ambassador Bertula gave Lawrence an idea.
"Your Majesty the Duke, I admire your intuition very much. It would be great if everyone could think like this." Lawrence tilted his head to the Duke of Choiseul's ear and said with a chuckle.
"Oh?" Duke Choiseul's eyes lit up. He was extremely looking forward to the proposal of Lawrence, a resourceful young man, so he asked repeatedly:
"Since you said that, what do you have in mind?"
"You know, people don't really care about the truth, and they don't have access to the underlying truth."
Lawrence stretched out his finger, pointed secretly at Duke Richelieu, and said in a low voice:
"All their cognition comes from public opinion. As long as we control public opinion, we can mold their cognition into the shape we want like clay."
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"Hmm...it's interesting." Duke Choiseul smiled and nodded, but still said with some rigor:
"But public opinion is not so easy to control. You also know that it is difficult to reconcile everyone's opinions. There will always be different voices in society."
Lawrence shook his head and said:
"No, we don't need to agree on everyone's opinions. As long as the voices supporting us outweigh the voices opposing us, we can graffiti repeatedly on the canvas called truth. For example... the Duke of Richelieu
Did he have any affair with the British?"
….
Duke Richelieu pondered for a long time, then nodded heavily and slowly twice, and asked:
"Governor Bonaparte, do you have a plan?"
"It's just an idea now. I will discuss this matter with you after I return to Paris." Lawrence nodded and said.
"Very good." Duke Choiseul licked his lips and patted Lawrence on the shoulder with great approval:
"I look forward very much to your plans, Governor Bonaparte."
While the two were talking in a low voice, the reporter at the door shouted again in a loud voice:
"The Grand Chancellor of France, the Marquis René-Nicolas de Maup!"
This voice was much lower than that of Duke Choiseul and Lawrence just now, so it did not attract too many people's attention.
Notice.
However, Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul, who were talking, stopped at the same time and turned their attention to a middle-aged man in a red robe with a serious face at the door.
Although he is a marquis, he is obviously out of tune with the nobles in the Palace of Versailles. This is not only reflected in his lack of clothing and high heels, but also in his bookish bureaucratic temperament.
I saw Justice Maupe entering the Hall of Mirrors, meticulously returning greetings to several nobles who greeted him, and then went straight to the Duke of Richelieu and joined him in the conversation with Ambassador Bertula.
"Justice Maupe...he actually attended this banquet." Duke Choiseul frowned and muttered to himself with some displeasure.
Lawrence looked at Duke Choiseul, but did not ask for information about Justice Maupe, because this Justice Maupe was also a famous figure in history.
After the Duke of Choiseul fell and lost his political power in history, it was Chancellor Maupp who succeeded him as the chief minister of France.
However, he did not serve for long, because Louis XV passed away in 1774, and he also stepped down.
Of course, Justice Maupp is most famous for his suppression of the French High Court.
In the French judicial system at this time, the high courts, especially the Paris Superior Court, were the final court of appeal for the entire system and enjoyed great powers in many matters, especially taxation.
Even the edicts issued by the king only have legal effect in the jurisdiction of each court after they are officially recognized and issued by the high court.
It can be said that the High Court is on the front line of opposition to the royal power and is also the most direct means used by the first and second classes to oppose reforms.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Therefore, the High Court has become the most direct resistance to France's fiscal reform. The decision of the Versailles court to tax the privileged class has not even been resolved.
Paris will be directly rejected by the High Court.
The Marquis de Maupe, who once served as President of the Paris High Court, after taking over his father's position as Chancellor of France, in order to please Louis XV and consolidate the royal power, he in turn suppressed the High Court.
Although Maupe's suppression work achieved considerable results, it was a pity that after Louis XVI came to power in 1774, the king, who had just succeeded to the throne and was still weak in political power, ordered
Restore the powers of the High Court and force the then Chief Minister Mopu to step down.
….
"The Marquis de Maupe...this justice is on the opposite side of the Paris High Court."
Lawrence glanced at Duke Choiseul, who looked a little ugly, and said aloud.
The reason why the Duke of Choiseul did not like to see this justice was also very simple. At this time, Justice Maupp had already coveted the position of the Duke of Choiseul, and the Paris High Court that he suppressed belonged to the Duke of Choiseul.
Strong allies.
In 1762, the Duke of Choiseul ignored the king's objection and forcibly supported the Paris High Court's resolution to dissolve the Jesuits. This incident also made Louis XV quite angry at the time.
"That's right, although he has a noble title, he is actually a noble in court service. He was considered a centrist before, but now it seems that he is leaning towards Richelieu."
Duke Choiseul stared closely at Justice Maupe who was chatting and laughing with Duke Richelieu, bit his lip and said.
The so-called court-dressed aristocrats, also known as bureaucratic aristocrats and robed aristocrats, refer to the privileged group with hereditary official positions like Justice Maupu, who inherited the position of chief justice from his father.
Lawrence also frowned and said:
"His political power is not weak, especially his suppression of the Paris High Court, which probably made him very popular with King Louis."
Duke Choiseul looked at Lawrence with some surprise, nodded and said:
"You do know the political situation in Paris quite well. Yes, he has a considerable position in the judicial system."
After that, Duke Choiseul shook his head and added:
"Huh, no matter what, the High Court is on my side. If he wants to use the law to deal with me, he must go through the High Court procedure. This is completely unreasonable. He is the one who is under King Louis
The influence in the aristocratic circle is really not low."
Lawrence nodded in approval of Duke Choiseul's judgment. Justice Maupe's main role was in his influence and suppression of the Paris High Court. It was impossible for him to directly use litigation to bring down Duke Choiseul.
However, both Duke Choiseul and Lawrence noticed that the justice appeared in the Hall of Mirrors today, and it was definitely not just for eating, drinking and having fun.
Lawrence and Duke Choiseul looked at each other, and both of them could see the suspicion of Duke Richelieu's group from the other's frown.
"Father, what are you looking at there? It looks like a wooden stake."
At this time, I saw Miss Elvy walking forward angrily, poking Duke Choiseul's back, and puffed her mouth and said:
"It's rare for me to come to the Hall of Mirrors. Many sisters are here today, and I want to introduce you to them."
For an unmarried lady like Miss Elvy, when interacting with people in such social situations, she usually introduces her father to the other person, firstly to show her identity and family background, and secondly to
Be cordial and polite.
"Okay, okay, my little Elvie, I'm coming."
The Duke of Choiseul had nothing to do with this arrogant daughter. He quickly took a glass of white wine from the silver tray of the passing waiter and said quickly to Lawrence:
….
"Dear Lawrence, please enjoy this banquet organized for you. Let's put aside the matter of the justice. We don't have any information now anyway."
Lawrence smiled bitterly and nodded, watching Duke Choiseul being almost dragged aside by Miss Elvy.
Before Miss Elvy left, she did not forget to look at Lawrence with interest and said:
"Oh, by the way, Mr. Bonaparte, would you like to come and chat for a while? My sisters are interested in you. They all think you are a very good man."
The Duke of Choiseul on the side pinched his nose angrily and said:
"Come on, they didn't even say a word to Lawrence before they knew he was a good man? These women don't all care about appearance. If Judas is a handsome man, the women will definitely defend Judas.
.”
"Father!" Miss Elvy squealed, mercilessly poking the Duke of Choiseul on the waist.
Seeing this, Lawrence smiled, shook his head, waved his hand and said:
"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Elvy, but I still want to hang out here. After all, this is my first time in the Hall of Mirrors."
"Ah, that's a pity. I wish you a happy party."
Miss Elvy said with some disappointment. At the same time, she glanced at Lawrence shyly from the corner of her eyes, then tiptoed close to Duke Choiseul's ear and said:
"Hmph, father, you really should learn from M. Bonaparte's demeanor. I feel embarrassed every time I bring you to my new sisters. If only I could bring M. Bonaparte there, they would definitely be envious.
dead."
"Hehehehe! Little Elvie wants to get married? You are indeed not young, but I have never found a suitable marriage partner before. If it were not for the sake of good relations with Austria, I would have planned for you to marry Crown Prince Louis
What about marriage?"
Duke Choiseul laughed twice, looked at Lawrence’s back and said:
"But I think this Lawrence is pretty good except for his status."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Father! Shut up!"
Miss Elvy's face flushed, she turned her head to the side shyly, and quickly pulled Duke Choiseul aside.
...
Lawrence, who was wandering around the Hall of Mirrors, naturally couldn't hear this conversation. After briefly toasting to the guests present, Lawrence also wanted to take a closer look at this pearl of the Palace of Versailles.
"The mural on the dome is really good. It should be Louis XIV, right...?"
Lawrence stopped where he was, looked up at the thirty giant murals on the top of the Hall of Mirrors, couldn't help but nod, and said to himself with emotion.
At this moment, an old but clear voice suddenly sounded from behind Lawrence, saying slowly:
"You are right
Governor Bonaparte, in fact, this painting is a war scene of the former king's conquest of the Dutch lowlands. What is particularly noteworthy is that in this series of murals, the painter did not deify the former king, but regarded him as a person.
This is quite rare among palace murals."
Lawrence did not turn his head, nor did he make any response to these words. He looked up at the mural above his head as if he didn't hear it.
The old voice continued:
"If you know anything about painting, you must have noticed that the tones of these murals are greener and cooler. This is in quite contrast to the splendid Hall of Mirrors, which is very eye-catching. The person who painted these murals is
Charles Le Blanc, the court painter of the late king, once told me about his creative inspiration. Unfortunately, I was still very young at the time and may not remember it clearly. However, if you are interested, I can also tell you about it.
.”
Lawrence slowly lowered his head, but did not turn his head to look at the speaker. Instead, he faced the front and said in a deep voice:
"Thank you for your kindness, His Excellency the Duke of Richelieu, but no need."