Chapter 202： March of Suffering

"Republicans are waiting for me at the Elysee Palace? What do they want?"

Jerome Bonaparte looked at Pesini in confusion, as if asking him.

Logically speaking, the relationship between the republican congressman and him is not to say that they are close to each other, but also that they do not communicate with each other.

At the beginning, he acquiesced in the suppression of the republican faction by the party of order, which made the force of the republican faction decline to the point where it was inferior to the faction of the Elysee Palace.

Do they want to win over themselves to be the vanguard of the party of anti-Order?

Jerome Bonaparte turned down the idea.

If the republicans really wanted to, they wouldn't mind acting as a republican in the period after they abandoned the party of order.

But after he ousted Odilo Barro, the Republicans didn't do anything, so it was a little too late to try to win him over at this time.

"Your Majesty!" Pesini carefully said his guess: "Could it be related to martial law? The election time is coming soon!"

"Martial law? General election!" After Pesini's reminder, Jerome Bonaparte instantly remembered the regulations that the Legislative Assembly had to postpone during the martial law period.

"The republicans still want to make a comeback in the general election?" Jerome Bonaparte showed a mocking look on his face. In his opinion, the end of the republicans will come completely after martial law is lifted.

Thiers' order to restrict universal suffrage was a lore against the republicans and the Montagnards.

Of course, they didn't know Thiers' plan now.

Since they insisted on courting death, Jerome Bonaparte certainly didn't mind giving them a slight push in the back.

The life of the Legislative Assembly is about to enter the countdown stage!

"Let's go! Back to the Elysee!" Jerome Bonaparte responded to Pessini.

"Yes! Your Majesty!"

Accompanied by Pessini, Jerome Bonaparte gathered all the members of the Ministry of War in the Chamber to convey to them his love for the army.

After several successive purges, the Ministry of War has completely turned into a hall of Bonapartists, and both the administrative and military bureaucrats applaud Jerome Bonaparte at the same time.

At the end of the meeting, Jerome Bonaparte said with a smile: "Everyone, a new era has come, we should arm our army with new army building ideas, and new equipment will strengthen our combat effectiveness! I hope that the Ministry of War and the Office of the Secretary Can be more active in cooperation with other departments to jointly deal with this change. The future European continent must belong to the whole of France! Long live France!"

"Long live France, long live Bonaparte, long live the Empire!" The members of the War Department cheered together.

Jerome Bonaparte looked contentedly at his colleagues in the War Department, and he waved away from the War Department.

Minister Reno, who had watched Jerome Bonaparte leave the Ministry of War, returned to the minister's office and ordered his secretary to call for the Secretary of State, Saint Arnaud.

"Sit down!" Minister Reño did not take the attitude of a superior, but invited Saint Arnault to sit down in a peaceful manner.

In Minister Reno's view, although San Arnault's position is half lower than Minister Reno's, his military rank and future potential are indeed the same as his own.

Reynold has heard more than once from the president that he should separate executive orders from war orders, and San Arnault, who controls the Military Secretary Office, will undoubtedly separate the War Department to become an existence at the same level as him one day. Attitude towards a soldier of the same rank.

"Your Excellency Minister!" General Saint Arnault maintained a respectful attitude towards Minister Reno, and it was also beneficial to him to strictly enforce the etiquette of the upper and lower ranks of the army.

"Have you heard what His Majesty said just now?" Minister Reynold asked Saint Arnault.

"You mean cooperation with other departments?" The alert Saint Arnault instantly grasped the focus of Jerome Bonaparte.

"That's right!" Reño nodded with satisfaction: "The president's intention is for us to strengthen cooperation with the Ministry of Railways. I hope this cooperation can be started by the Military Secretary's Office!"

"Minister, what do you want me to do?" Saint Arnault asked Minister Reno.

"The Ministry of Railways has been established, and I hope that the Office of the Secretary can set up a resident agency in the Ministry of Railways to strengthen the connection between the military and the Ministry of Railways!" Minister Reño put forward his own suggestion.

"This..." General Saint Arno hesitated for a moment.

No one knows the crooked melons and cracked dates (affectionately called) of his subordinates better than him. As a group of military elites with a bright future, let them honestly stay at the Ministry of War to make plans for marching in the Near East and draw up close-up maps. It is already for the sake of the immeasurable future of the Military Secretary's Office, and what is the future of going to the stationed agency?

For an excellent elite who is eager to fight on the battlefield, dealing with coal, charts and data all day long, performing tedious calculations mechanically, breathing the air covered with black dust, there is nothing more terrifying than this.

"What's the matter? Is there any difficulty?" Minister Reño asked with concern.

"No problem!" General Saint Arno said decisively.

Since the Minister entrusted the task to the Office of the Military Secretary, Saint Arnault must not be able to live up to the expectations of the President and the Minister.

Isn't it just arranging personnel to be stationed in the agency! It's as simple as compulsively ordering them to go. Who doesn't want to take off their military uniform and go home.

The experience of managing armies in Africa taught Saint Arnault that the more aggressive you are with the army, the more it will obey your control.

On the other hand, if you are weak, the army will take your orders less seriously.

"Okay!" Minister Reño showed a satisfied smile. His work with St. Arnault undoubtedly relieved him a lot. Many places where he did not appear in front of him were people who were inconvenient to dismiss him. The same is done by St. Arnault.

In general, Saint Arnault is a qualified executor (tool person)

The poor members of the Military Secretary Office did not know that they were about to be dispatched by their superiors to the engineering troop of the Ministry of Railways for day-to-day calculations and inspections.

...

The carriage returned to the Elysee Palace with the President of the Republic Jerome Bonaparte and the Secretary-General Pessini.

It was already around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and the sky over Paris was gradually darkening.

In the afterglow of the sunset, the cold winter wind whistled and hit the glass of the Elysee Palace, making a "crackling" sound.

This is the last dawn before darkness.

Led by Pessini, Jerome Bonaparte soon came to the room where the republicans were.

Gently pushing the door open, Jerome Bonaparte saw many of the "old acquaintances" from before.

Cavaignac, Carmartin, Bastide... He walked to Lamartine with a smile and stretched out his hand to shake hands with Lamartine: "Mr. Lamartine, members, welcome to the Elysee Palace!"

"Your Excellency, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet us!" Lamartine immediately complimented Jerome Bonaparte.

After chatting with each other for a while, the two sent to the main topic.

"Mr. Lamartine, what do you want to do with so many deputies coming to the Elysee Palace?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Lamartine with a smile on his face.

"Mr. President, we are here for martial law! My party and I agree that the underworld forces in Paris and the guy who murdered you have been tried, and martial law can be lifted! We don't need to let the people of Paris all the time. Always in a situation of fear," Lamartine said earnestly to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Worry about being afraid?" Jerome Bonaparte restrained his smile and put on a serious expression: "I don't think the people of Paris have anything to be afraid of! Is the current environment more than Was it worse before? Is our army more terrifying than the bedbugs lurking in Paris? Or..."

Jerome Bonaparte looked around and asked: "Some of you are accomplices of those gangsters! Do you want to intercede for those people?"

As soon as this statement came out, many people present did not dare to refute.

It is a politically correct thing to crack down on gangs anytime, and they dare not chew their tongues in the face of right and wrong.

Jerome Bonaparte's questioning made Lamartine speechless Seeing this, Bastide stepped forward again and said to Jerome Bonaparte: "Your Excellency, no one is the black man. Fellow gangsters, we also agree with your decision to crack down on gangsters. Most of the gangsters have now been pulled out by the army, and the remaining gangsters just need to be handed over to the police. There is really no need to waste resources to destroy the gangsters, what Paris needs now It's tranquility."

"You mean that the lifting of martial law will bring peace to the people of Paris?" Jerome Bonaparte asked calmly, changing his stern tone.

"Your Excellency, the people of Paris long for freedom. The control of the army will be appreciated by the people of Paris in a short period of time, but if you stay in Paris for a long time, it will inevitably make the people of Paris feel shackled, and their gratitude to you will be It turned into a complaint. We need to lift martial law before the people of Paris complain, so that Paris can return to peace! The people of Paris will always remember everything you did, President!” Bastide does not mention throughout the whole that lifting martial law can bring What interests do they have, but instead point out the benefits that lifting martial law can bring to the president.

This is the quality of a qualified politician. Compared with Bastide, Lamartine and Cavaignac obviously have some tastes of children playing at home.

After thinking for a moment, Jerome Bonaparte pretended to be unwilling and asked Bastide: "The series of accidents that happened during martial law..."

"Since it was an accident, of course I didn't want to discuss it!" Bastide immediately replaced Lamartine and said that everything during the martial law would be turned over after the martial law.

"I agree to lift martial law!"

Bastide and other republicans all showed joy on their faces.

"but……"