In the middle of the night, Aigron said goodbye to Edgar and returned to his home to rest, hastily ending this meaningful and unexpected day.
When he woke up again, it was already the next morning.
He washed up hastily, then walked out of the barn and came to Lieutenant Favre's farmhouse to prepare for breakfast.
Now that he had met the Trevilles, there was no need for him to continue to hide himself. He came to the dining table in a swagger. At this time, the Trevilles and Agnes happened to come over, so Agron smiled.
Nod to them and say hello.
Edgar de Treville was smiling and waved to Aiglon in a smart way, while his wife Alice saluted and said hello to the young man gracefully.
"Good morning, Mr. Memmingen."
"Good morning, Mrs. Treville." Aigron also said to Alice with a smile.
As for Agnes, who was sitting next to Alice, her expression was completely different. She was obviously a little embarrassed, but she still nodded gently to the young man.
"Good morning...Mr. Memmingen..." she said reluctantly.
"Good morning, Miss Agnes." Agron still maintained a decent smile and comforted the other party, "I have forgotten what happened last night, so now is the first time we meet, and I hope you will do the same."
"Thank you for your magnanimity." Seeing that the young man was so easy to talk to, Agnes obviously cheered up.
"Agnes, what is past is past. Since Mr. Memmingen won't pursue it, you are lucky, but you must learn from it and never do such a reckless thing again." Alice said seriously.
He said to his sister, "We are now in a foreign country, isolated and helpless. We cannot easily make grudges with others and cause trouble. If we rely on force to cause trouble everywhere, it will only make us more dangerous."
After listening to her sister's lesson, Agnes didn't dare to talk back. She lowered her head and didn't dare to speak. Compared with her awe-inspiring look in the middle of the night, she seemed to be a completely different person now.
Although she drew a sword when they first met, but now it seems that Agnes only overreacted due to a misunderstanding. In daily life, she still understands etiquette and is not a arrogant and willful young lady.
"Well, yesterday's topic is over. Now it's a new day. Let's drink to the good weather given by God." Aigron came to Agnes' rescue.
Then he picked up the glass filled with milk, greeted Edgar in a decent manner, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Cheers." Edgar also picked up the cup and drank it in one gulp.
The breakfast on the table is very simple, just bread and milk, plus some pickled vegetables.
However, Aigron didn't care and swallowed to satisfy his hunger.
Alice didn't eat much, she just kept looking at the young man, paying attention to his every move, thinking deeply in her heart.
"Mr. Memmingen, are you a local?" She suddenly asked Aiglon when he was halfway through the meal.
"Why do you ask that?" Aigron asked.
"By foreign standards, you speak French very well, and your accent is completely different from the locals here. It seems like you have been taught by a private tutor." Alice explained her reasons, "And you
Your behavior and words all show that you are extremely well-educated... I don't think that, at least, it can be cultivated in the environment here."
Smart, it seems that she was already suspicious when she met him last night.
A trace of curiosity suddenly flashed in Aigron's heart - how far had Alice guessed?
However, he had already discussed Alice's matter with Edgar, and even if she completely guessed it, it would be an affordable price, so he did not panic.
After all, can she still send her husband to prison?
"You are right. I am not a resident here. I have been living abroad before. I just came to Switzerland recently for some things." Aigron replied with a smile.
"Then you should have heard of the big news that has caused a sensation in Europe recently, right?" Alice asked.
"What news?" Aigron asked.
Alice glanced at her sister, and after hesitating for a moment, she still asked,
"There is news about Duke Leichstadt." She tried to make her words more obscure. "As far as I know, he seems to be... much the same age as you."
"Oh! This is indeed a surprising coincidence." Aigron nodded cordially.
Seeing Aigron's reaction, Alice knew that all her guesses had come true.
She felt dizzy for a moment, but she quickly controlled herself.
She knew that without permission, she could only ask so far.
If you continue to ask questions, you will make things difficult for everyone.
"Yes, it seems that the world is really full of coincidences. Of course you have nothing to do with him. You are just a relative of the owner of the farm." Alice forced herself to smile, "But, you
You have a graceful demeanor and extraordinary manners. I would not be surprised if someone said you have the bearing of a prince."
"You think highly of me too much." Aigron replied with a smile, "Mrs. Treville, if someone said that you are the smartest lady in Paris, I would agree with it with my hands raised."
Alice's face turned slightly red. She was not sure whether this "Your Majesty" was sincerely complimenting her or joking.
But she clearly felt that her husband and her father-in-law, General Treville, had sincerely submitted themselves to the young man's service, so she must maintain decent respect for him in every aspect.
"You are flattering me. I am not smart at all. I am just a poor person who hopes that my family will be safe." She lowered her head slightly and answered him in a very soft voice, "I am the daughter-in-law of the Treville family. My husband
Wherever you go, I will follow you."
Of course Aigron could hear it. What she said was tantamount to a promise to herself that she would never report her.
"Smart people always know themselves correctly." He nodded and gave Alice his compliment. "I wish you a happy life."
"Thank you!" Alice sighed, feeling melancholy and uneasy, but also helpless recognition.
After finishing breakfast, Aigron called Edgar to his side again.
The two of them walked together and came to the woods again.
Walking by the forest during the day brings a different view. What comes into view is a lush green area, full of the vitality of spring.
"Edgar, when do you plan to leave?" Aigron asked.
"I'll leave after staying here for a few days. After all, I'm nominally on a wedding trip with my wife, and I'm going to Italy next." Edgar smiled and replied, "Your Majesty, do you have any instructions?"
"I have an idea, and I hope you can cooperate with me next." Aigron looked at Edgar, "Edgar, I need to borrow your talent."
"Huh?" Edgar was obviously surprised, "You...what do you want me to do?"
"You are good at painting, so I hope you can help me create a set of simple picture albums." Aigron expressed his thoughts. "After the paintings are completed, I will prepare to print them on a large scale and then distribute them throughout France, especially in the countryside——
The painting must be concise but contagious, so that even illiterate people can understand it."
Although the conversation last night had proved that Edgar was indeed not an ambitious man suitable for big things, in line with the principle of making the best use of everything, Aigron would not let him go.
"Why did you suddenly think of this?" Edgar was obviously still confused. "Is there any point in giving the album to the farmers?"
"I need to create a god." Aigron answered simply. "The farmers need a god, so I will help them establish one. Although these farmers are scattered and powerless, their numbers are huge. As long as someone can gather them and give full play to their abilities,
With the manpower and material resources we have, we will definitely be able to achieve great things. Now I am ready to start gathering them."
"...Is this really okay?" Edgar was obviously in a dilemma.
Huh, what do you know? Aigron smiled disdainfully in his heart.
The peasants would of course support the Bonaparte family.
Although in the ruling system of the Napoleonic Empire, farmers were the class that suffered the most oppression.
The empire's successive wars have brought about endless military service for more than ten years. While the aristocracy and the urban bourgeoisie can rely on spending money to buy people to serve on their sons' behalf, peasants have no capital to evade military service. They are the most conscripted.
Groups - By the end of the empire, many peasants even committed suicide in order to avoid military service.
The question arises, why did the peasant class, which endured the most exploitation and military service during the imperial era, miss the empire the most and loyally support the Bonaparte family after the collapse of the empire?
Various historical coincidences often lead to ridiculous phenomena.
Before considering this issue, we must first understand a premise - this was the beginning of the 19th century, and French society had just emerged from a static agricultural society. Most farmers were not even literate, let alone had any political consciousness. Those "freedoms" during the Great Revolution era
The slogan "Equality, Fraternity" is so far away to them that they cannot even feel its meaning.
Most of these "country bumpkins" whom Parisians look down upon have never had the opportunity to visit neighboring provinces a few times in their lives, nor have they had the time to read a few books in their lives. France's splendid culture and art are luxuries enjoyed by city dwellers.
, almost insulated from them.
Among such a group of people, the spiritual life can only be described as "poor".
The more spiritually poor people are, the more they need spiritual support to get rid of the fear of poverty, death and illness. Before the era of the Great Revolution, the Catholic Church assumed the responsibility of the spiritual life of French farmers, and those churches that went deep into the countryside
The priests guided the lives of the peasants and witnessed their births, marriages and deaths.
However, the Great Revolution destroyed this entire model of life. The Republic was full of hostility to the church from the beginning. In order to alleviate the financial crisis, the government confiscated a large number of church assets, massacred priests, and temporarily drove the two ruling classes of nobility and priests away from France.
soil of.
The Republic divided and sold off a large amount of land owned by the nobility and the church. As a result, the peasants obtained land during the revolution, but they lost the lifestyle they had followed for generations, and a vacuum of faith emerged.
The turbulent revolution destroyed the old life, but ended before it had time to establish a new life model, leaving a group of confused farmers standing in the vast wilderness of France.
The church suffered heavy losses during the Great Revolution and had not yet had time to rebuild its original strict church system. However, the peasants did not wait for the spiritual vacuum, but found other ways to fill it on their own.
What they used to fill the spiritual vacuum was the name "Napoleon".
The Republic could not touch the peasants, and the restored Bourbons were just the kings of Paris, too far away from them. Only Napoleon, the great emperor, existed in each of them orally, and was a rare spirit in their poor lives.
adjust.
After a hard day's work, one of the few ways farmers have left for entertainment is to gather around the veterans of the Napoleonic era, listen to them tell about their glorious expeditions following His Majesty the Emperor, and experience a world they have never had the opportunity to
The world I have come into contact with is a world full of brilliance.
Therefore, "Napoleon" was given a sacred halo by the Corsican people from the abdicated emperor to the Corsican people who died in a foreign land, and became the belief in their poor life and a real idol.
The old society that had been shattered into pieces and the new society that had not had time to be built were fiercely torn over France, and they created this Napoleonic faith in the cracks in the countryside.
At this time, who Napoleon himself was, and whether his rule did more good than bad for France, or whether it did more harm than good, are no longer important questions. His death just made him even greater - because a dead idol will never be destroyed again.
My own dignity is high.
It is precisely because of this belief of the farmers that in original history, in 1848 (that is, 27 years after Napoleon's death), Napoleon III participated in the first directly elected presidential election in French history, with 5.5 million votes to 1.5 million votes.
Won an overwhelming victory by 10,000 votes and became president.
During the election, Napoleon III traveled to various places to canvass for votes, and wherever he went, the farmers cheered.
Napoleon III had been abroad for decades before and was penniless at this time. Why could he receive such enthusiastic support?
There is no doubt that there is only one reason - he has the name of an idol.
He only has this kind of capital, but as long as he has this capital, he will be unbeatable in the election.
Later, Napoleon III finally launched a coup and became the emperor of the Second Empire, realizing the restoration of the Bonaparte family. In 1852, he launched a referendum again and held a referendum across France on whether to restore the monarchy. The results showed that
, the result was 7.824 million votes in favor and 253,000 votes against. The French once again cheered the return of their idol with an overwhelming vote.
——What happened in history also gave Aiglon guidance with great accuracy.
For Aiglon, his greatest reliance is also the name he inherited. His legitimacy is even higher than that of his cousin, because he was originally the only heir to the empire.
He needs to use the idol fanaticism in the countryside to help him restore his empire.
If foolish fanaticism is useful to him, then he will embrace foolish fanaticism.
"I want to make up myths. No matter how outrageous the myth is, it will be useful to me." Looking at the woods in the distance, Aigron said calmly, "For farmers, the most direct means of publicity is picture albums, and you are said to be a genius.
Painter——Edgar, I hope you will not disappoint my expectations."