Make France Great Again-Chapter 161: Chronicles of Saint-Denis District
Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Chronicles of Saint-Denis District
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"Conrobel’s Aide, after you reach General Renio’s residence, please inform him that I will meet with him at the Elysee Palace tonight at 8 o’clock. When General Renio comes, let him enter from the back to avoid giving any restless individuals leverage against us. And when you leave, don’t ride a horse. Riding a horse easily attracts attention from others!"
Jerome Bonaparte instructed Conrobel line by line.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Conrobel responded resolutely: "I will relay your words to General Renio!"
With Conrobel’s response, Jerome Bonaparte waved a hand at Conrobel and said, "Go! The sooner you go, the sooner you’ll return!"
"Yes!" Conrobel straightened up and saluted Jerome Bonaparte, who solemnly returned the salute.
Instead of immediately heading toward General Renio’s temporary residence, Conrobel left the Elysee Palace and returned to his rented mansion alone.
After changing into plain clothes again at the mansion, Conrobel’s Aide walked a long distance alone before finally hailing a carriage.
The carriage carrying Conrobel’s Aide continued toward the Saint-Denis District.
After entering the boundaries of the Saint-Denis District, the entire area quickly changed in appearance. The clean streets present in the Saint-Germain District became uneven, with stones and scattered garbage found all over the narrow streets. The buildings on both sides of the road also appeared dilapidated and in disrepair. Between the crumbling buildings were traces of old barricades, and the stalls and passing newspaper boys even temporarily blocked the already narrow streets. The passersby were no longer as elegant and tidy as the Bourgeoisie of Saint-Denis District. The main theme of Saint-Denis District was now proletarians wearing gray liberty caps, slightly shabby Carmagnole clothing, long trousers, and clogs dragging thick wooden clogs.
If the Saint-Germain District represents the best side of Paris, then the Saint-Denis District undoubtedly represents the most real and also the darkest side of Paris.
Nobles feast while there are corpses of the frozen dead on the road.
Since the Great Revolution’s Third Level split, the workers of Paris have never truly existed as "humans" for a single day. They live in single rooms with over ten people, or in places like goblin holes, dark and damp, and outbreaks of epidemics time and again. What’s more, their only place to sleep is even shared with others by time slots.
The proletarians create wealth, and their value is continually squeezed until the Bourgeoisie completely drains their worth, discarding them as mercilessly as squeezing sugar cane juice.
The proletarians of post-revolution Paris have been in constant resistance and struggle, each protest immediately drawing the most ruthless suppression from Paris.
Even former allies (Republican Faction) would turn their blades on them after seizing power.
If Jerome Bonaparte were here, he would certainly lament the difficulties faced by Parisian workers, shed two crocodile tears, and then consider relocating the link between Parisian workers and factories to the outskirts.
In translation: Grandpa can’t bear to see the poor suffer.
Of course, Conrobel seemingly bore no such moral burden, as he had seen far too many similar situations in Algeria. Compared to the Berbers, who lived in constant fear, they seemed like they were living in paradise.
Everything is relative.
The carriage slowly traversed Saint-Germain Street, soon arriving in front of General Renio’s temporary residence.
Unable to find change, Conrobel’s Aide handed a Napoleon Silver Coin to the coachman when opening the carriage door. The coachman, unable to make change either, looked awkwardly at Conrobel’s Aide.
"Keep the change as your tip!" Generously, Conrobel’s Aide said.
The grateful coachman quickly thanked Conrobel’s Aide and asked if he needed a return trip, offering to wait for Conrobel’s return.
"No need!" Conrobel’s Aide shook his head and declined the coachman’s kindness, entering the building where General Renio resided alone.
Treading on the dust-covered stairs, Conrobel’s Aide finally reached the fourth floor, where a red mahogany door stood before him.
Conrobel’s Aide gently knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" A slightly weary voice of General Renio came from inside.
"It’s Conrobel!" Conrobel whispered through the door crack, "I came on the President’s orders to see you!"
Upon hearing the President’s Aide, General Renio inside the room quickly got up to open the door.
Conrobel and Renio met; this was the first meeting between the two.
Prior to this, General Renio only knew from letters that the President had an aide named Conrobel.
The two assessed each other, and Conrobel’s Aide extended a hand to General Renio, warmly saying, "Welcome back to Paris, General!"
General Renio shook Conrobel’s hand and nodded.
Subsequently, Conrobel’s Aide relayed all the instructions Jerome Bonaparte had given him to General Renio.
After speaking, Conrobel’s Aide quietly observed this "illustrious" general before him.
"I understand!" General Renio nodded to indicate his understanding, solemnly saying, "Please tell the President I will arrive punctually!"
"Hmm!" Conrobel’s Aide also nodded to show understanding.
Afterwards, Conrobel’s Aide explained the current political situation in Paris to General Reniao.
Because General Reniao had been in Rome for a while, he could only understand the current situation in Paris through newspapers and letters. Nothing could compare to a firsthand account from Conrobel.
"Thank you, Colonel Conrobel!" After listening to Conrobel’s description of the Paris situation, General Reniao sincerely thanked Conrobel. Through understanding the political landscape of Paris, he already knew the President’s intentions.
"I serve the President as well!" Conrobel’s Aide said humbly, then subtly expressed his own needs: "General, I hope you can delineate the functions of certain departments while in office! Overlapping functions between departments can affect the operation of the whole department!"
General Reniao understood Conrobel’s meaning; he wanted to remove certain functions from the Ministry of War to expand the Military Secretariat.
General Reniao could understand Conrobel’s actions.
In fact, during the Roman War, General Reniao and Nie’er had already discussed the problem of the Ministry of War being too bloated. He also agreed with streamlining the functions involved in the Ministry of War.
"After I become Minister of War, I will eliminate some of these drawbacks!" General Reniao responded.
Conrobel expressed gratitude to General Reniao.
Just as Conrobel was about to leave, General Reniao took out a bill relating to Conrobel. The bill was from the Rome Bank.
"This is..." Conrobel looked at General Reniao in surprise.
"This represents the sentiments of our entire Expeditionary Army towards the President! The bill from the Rome Bank can be exchanged at the Bank of France!" General Reniao responded to Conrobel.
"Isn’t this sentiment a bit too precious?" Conrobel looked at the bill; it was for a full 600,000 francs.
It’s worth noting that the President’s annual salary was only 600,000 francs.
General Reniao and others probably made quite a lot of money in Rome, the wealth and art center of the entire Apennine; as long as one wanted to, it was always possible to amass a large sum of money.
"It’s nothing! These were spontaneously raised by the citizens of Rome for the Republic’s army!" General Reniao shamelessly described the plundering as voluntary donations.
"I understand! I will hand it over to the President!" Conrobel nodded to General Reniao.
"This is for you, Aide!" General Reniao took out another bill for 50,000 francs. This was originally a bill he intended to give to Eugène Roué.
Since Minister Eugène Roué hadn’t returned, befriending someone close to the President wouldn’t hurt.
"I can’t take it!"
Facing General Reniao’s bill, Conrobel’s Aide resolutely refused.
He knew there were some funds that could be taken and some that could not.
A Minister of War tangled with a deputy in the Military Secretariat would make any Monarch uncomfortable.
With Conrobel’s repeated refusals, General Reniao had no choice but to give up.
Holding a significant sum of 600,000 francs, Conrobel bid farewell to General Reniao and then called for a carriage to return to his residence.
After changing back into his military uniform, he went to the Elysee Palace to report on General Reniao’s situation and placed the bill of 600,000 francs on Jerome Bonaparte’s desk.
"It seems General Reniao gained a lot in Rome!" Jerome Bonaparte, having roughly understood General Reniao’s actions in Rome, did not express any blame. In this era, money was the best means to motivate the army.
Determined to become a Bourgeoisie Monarch, Jerome Bonaparte knew that if he didn’t use money to motivate them to serve him, he couldn’t rely on patriotic enthusiasm to drive them, could he?
"You didn’t take his money, did you?" Jerome Bonaparte turned his gaze to Conrobel, half-jokingly, half-seriously asking.
"No!" Conrobel shivered, quickly standing up and speaking in a firm tone.
"Hmm! I understand!" Jerome Bonaparte replied calmly, making Conrobel feel a chill down his spine. He was somewhat relieved that he had maintained his principles and did not take from General Reniao.
"Call Wardley over!" Jerome Bonaparte instructed Conrobel.
While Percy was still in Le Clerczo, Fleury was serving in the National Guard Staff, and Mokar was in Germany, Wardley, both a mentor and friend to Jerome Bonaparte, took on the responsibility of "Chief Steward" at the Elysee Palace.
When Wardley arrived, Jerome Bonaparte pointed to the 600,000 francs on the table and said to Wardley, "Use this money to establish a center for assisting disabled veterans, serving injured veterans. If it’s not enough, you can come to me for more!"
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