The bishop glanced at the parliamentarians, struck the speaking table twice with his gavel seriously, and said:
“The bill to expand the Ajaccio patrol passed.”
The congressmen applauded symbolically to celebrate, and Lawrence also raised his hand and patted it twice, but his expression was very solemn.
"Ciro Russell... set a trap for me in the first confrontation."
Lawrence glanced at Ciro, who was still going his own way, and felt that he had previously despised this conspirator, one of the few in the underground world of Ajaccio.
"But...Silla's design can be regarded as an opportunity." Lawrence held his head and began to formulate the next plan.
In any case, the number of soldiers under Lawrence's command has doubled. This is a real increase in authority, and this must be taken advantage of.
"As for financial problems, we can only hope that the leaders of the Xicheng District will be as wealthy as One Eye. In addition, we must find a way to hold on to the unexplored silver mines on Corsica."
A flash of light flashed in Lawrence's eyes, and he nodded and confirmed his plan.
However, the most important thing at the moment was to persuade Pauli to order the withdrawal of troops as soon as possible, so Lawrence put aside his future plans in Xicheng District and focused on the current parliament.
After passing the bill to expand the patrol team, several proposals were made inconsequentially, and very few of them were unanimously approved by the members.
Lawrence waited patiently, knowing that only the last item on the agenda would be the highlight of the day.
Finally, after vetoing a ridiculous proposal to force all Corsicans to wear uniform clothing, the bishop cleared his throat and looked more serious than ever.
Some members who got wind of the news couldn't help but sit up. Even Siro, who had been lazily leaning on the back of his chair, dragged his chin with his hand with a solemn expression. It seemed that the main purpose of his coming to the parliament today was to issue a motion to withdraw troops.
.
"Gentlemen and ladies, the last motion at today's meeting is the proposal to withdraw the northern Corsica front to the south. It was proposed by the country's General Pasquale Paoli."
"What?! Absolutely not!"
After hearing this, a congressman from the northern region stood up immediately and said excitedly:
"The people in my constituency are all in the north. If we withdraw our troops, are we going to let them be ravaged by the Genoese?"
"That's right!"
"Unacceptable!"
Two other congressmen with the same constituency in the north also stood up one after another and firmly expressed their opposition.
The congressman who stood up first said loudly to Pauli:
"Governor Pauli, please accept my inquiry! We have driven the Genoese to the northern coast, why should we withdraw!"
Paulie did not stand up, but gestured to Lawrence to explain.
Lawrence nodded and stood up, facing all the members, and said:
"As the governor's staff, please allow me to explain: This is due to strategic considerations. The specific details are confidential and cannot be disclosed."
"But..." The congressman was speechless for a moment. Military power and intelligence had always been controlled by Pauli, and they didn't know what the strategic need was.
Seeing that Lawrence blocked the mouths of the congressmen with a military secret and the situation reached a deadlock, Ciro suddenly straightened his clothes, stood up and said with a smile:
"Can I interject a few words?"
"Of course." The congressman who was speechless just now was worried that he had nothing to say. Seeing that Silla wanted to speak, he quickly sat down.
Lawrence frowned, the feeling this Silla brought to him was always unpredictable, and he didn't know what he wanted to do.
"I would like to ask Mr. Staff Officer, although I very much support Governor Pauli's judgment, how should we deal with the people living in the northern region?"
Silla asked the question that everyone was concerned about.
Lawrence was well prepared for this and responded confidently:
"People at the front of the new front will be evacuated by us and given corresponding financial compensation."
"Can all of them be evacuated?" Silla asked in a sharp tone, directly pointing out the crux of the problem.
Lawrence shook his head and said frankly: "No guarantee."
"Look! Fellow congressmen." Siro's voice became excited, waving his arms and looking around at the congressmen present:
"How can we accept such disregard for the lives of the Corsican people? Today the Parliament promised to withdraw the troops from the north, and tomorrow it can agree to withdraw the troops from the south, and all this requires only a slogan of military secrets."
After that, Silla stared at Lawrence again and exaggeratedly pretended to be panicked and said:
"Mr. Staff Officer, you won't dissolve the parliament the day after tomorrow on the grounds of military secrets, will you?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't and don't have the right to say more."
After Lawrence dropped these words, he ignored Silla, returned to his seat, sat down, and then whispered to Pauly:
"I'm sorry Governor, but there's really nothing more to say about the plan itself."
Paulie nodded, but suddenly said casually:
"That's true, but I heard that your eloquence is much better than just now."
Lawrence smiled awkwardly and said carelessly:
"Maybe it's just a misinformation."
"Really..." Paulie glanced at Lawrence seemingly thoughtfully.
Lawrence sat on his seat, gritted his teeth calmly, and thought:
"This old fox must have noticed it. I don't want the parliament to agree to withdraw the troops at all."
Yes, after talking with Paulie, Lawrence has determined that Paulie will definitely implement the plan to the end, and if the Congress objects to withdrawing troops, then Paulie and Lawrence can only use other methods to bypass the Congress privately.
At that time, in order to prevent the plan from being exposed, Pauli will most likely put Lawrence in charge and lead the withdrawal.
In this way, Lawrence will have the opportunity to extend his hand into the army, a forbidden land completely controlled by Pauli.
While Lawrence was thinking, there were several more arguments, but all the congressmen from out of town expressed strong opposition to the withdrawal.
During this process, as the initiator of the motion, Paulie always leaned on his chair, closed his eyes and meditated, without saying a word, as if whatever was being discussed on the floor had nothing to do with him.
"The next step is to vote by show of hands." The bishop clapped his hands and interrupted the speeches of the MPs, indicating that the voting stage had entered.
After a brief inventory, the bishop announced loudly:
"Three votes were in favor, one abstained, and five were opposed. The proposal was not passed!"
All the opposition votes came from MPs outside Ajaccio. Even MPs from the southern region were touched by Ciro's words and worried that the interests of their own constituencies would not be guaranteed if such a precedent was set.
As for the deputies of Ajaccio, except for Ciro, who abstained, all voted in favor. They are basically people who lean towards the Poly faction.
Listening to the bishop announcing that the motion had been rejected, Pauli just sighed slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.
Lawrence remained calm and raised the corners of his mouth slightly. Everything was in his plan. It was impossible for the MPs other than Ajaccio to agree to such a proposal.
After the last motion was opposed by the parliament, today's meeting came to an end, and the members walked out of the auditorium chatting in pairs.
"Lawrence, come to my study." Paulie opened his eyes and said to Lawrence.
The two of them returned directly from the auditorium to Pauli's study. Pauli then closed the door to ensure that no one would suddenly break in, and was the first to speak:
"What can you do?"
Lawrence directly pulled out a chair and sat down, saying:
"It's still the same sentence, the army is in your hands, not in the hands of Parliament."
"But I need to listen to the council." Paulie rubbed his forehead tiredly.
"But your army doesn't use it."
"Alas..." Paulie sighed, and then fell into a long silence.
Lawrence was the same as at noon. He didn't speak or move. He just waited quietly for Paulie to think.
Time seemed to have stopped, and the two men who were about to influence the fate of Corsica were as motionless and silent as two stone sculptures.
I don’t know how long it took before Pauli slowly spoke, as if he had exhausted all his strength, and said:
"You are right, for Corsica, it must be like this."