Eagle’s Glory

"In short, Prince Talleyrand is a useful man for France."

In front of Earl Tylerwyn, Aigron expressed his current opinion of Prince Talleyrand with half-truths.

Earl Tylerwyn listened carefully, not missing a word, and at the same time carefully chewing the subtext of each of Aegron's words.

From the words of this young man, I could not hear any resentment or disgust for Prince Talleyrand, but this is also normal. When Emperor Napoleon and Prince Talleyrand fell out, he was not born at all. There is no intersection between individuals, and it would be strange if he has always been full of resentment towards the prince.

To be honest, there were so many enemies that Emperor Napoleon had offended. Even if he had to draw up a list of hatreds, Talleyrand would not be at the top of the list. What was the point of Duke Reichstedt's entanglement with him?

From his tone of voice, he could clearly feel that the duke wanted to cooperate with Prince Talleyrand—and this was an excellent political signal, and it was what the prince wanted.

"His Royal Highness, I am very grateful that you can evaluate my teacher so objectively and impartially." Earl Tylerwyn looked at Aigron with a very moved look, "I know that the world has a lot of misunderstandings about Prince Talleyrand, and some people Even proud of mocking him, but what did these people do? There are few people who did more to France in 1814 and 1815! He did everything he could to save France at the Congress of Vienna , pulled her back from the haze of failure on the battlefield, and gave her the status of a great power she deserved. How many people will do better than him?

Likewise, for me, the Prince is also a very wise and gentle teacher, who is often able to give me some thought-provoking lessons as a senior in diplomatic circles. The reputation of society cannot erase the sparkle in his soul. Isn't he a role model for us diplomats? Want me to say, we will never lack high moralists, but we lack Talleyrand too much! "

Aigron also knew in his heart that in order to protect his teacher and raise his price, the Count deliberately exaggerated Talleyrand's contribution to the Vienna Peace Conference, as if there would be no France without him. In fact, whether it was Metternich Still the British, out of the consideration of continental balance, they never thought of completely withdrawing France from the ranks of the great powers (in fact, they have no ability to dismember France). In the middle of the vertical and horizontal, the French of the Bourbon royal family tried to keep the capital as much as possible-of course, even if it is just "taking advantage of the situation", this is already very remarkable.

"We do have a shortage of savvy diplomats, but Prince Talleyrand, one is enough, no one can be as nasty as he is likable, he is unrepeatable. For me, he A genius composed of 70% brilliant wit and 30% extravagance, cunning and corruption, but who has nothing wrong with them these days? We can't expect everyone to be a saint—" Aegron said with a hint of Ruo You Ruowu sneered, "I respect this senior very much, and if I have the opportunity, I am very willing to listen to his teachings in person."

Aigron's words are a bit heavy, but it is also necessary.

In 1821, Emperor Napoleon died on the island of St. Helena, leaving a will, one of which was that "while France was still rich in material resources, it suffered two unfortunate invasions, the consequences of which should be attributed to Marmont, Augereau, The betrayal of Talleyrand and Lafayette. I forgive them - may the descendants of France do the same."

Although the emperor deliberately said later that he had forgiven them, he still remembered Talleyrand's name before he died, which can also reflect the resentment accumulated in his heart for Talleyrand's actions.

[By the way, Marmont was a rebellious imperial marshal who actively persuaded his subordinates to surrender to the coalition; Marshal Augereau asked Napoleon to abdicate in person in 1814, and later refused to fight for Napoleon again; Lafayette was in It was openly questioned in the parliament why France continued to bleed for the Bonaparte family in such a desperate situation; I thought that apart from Talleyrand and Marmont, they were indeed treasonous rebels, and Augereau and Rafa were not. Yeat didn't seem to be calling such a serious betrayal, at most it was a personal choice made under desperate circumstances, and Napoleon should not have deliberately criticized the two of them at the last stage of his life.

Maybe the emperor felt that the situation in 1814 or 1815 was not desperate enough, and there were enough consumables for him to gamble, so he felt that the "anti-war" Augereau and Lafayette ruined the national fortune of the empire, so feel resentful... 】

Out of respect for the late emperor, and out of his own dignity, Aegron could not act like he was begging Prince Talleyrand for help. His cooperation will bring him great benefits, so Aigron can only play the qualitative words of "seven or three of merits and demerits".

It does not damage his dignity, but also implicitly points out that he has not forgotten everything in the past, and needs Prince Talleyrand to make up for it with actions.

If it is a person who attaches great importance to reputation, he will definitely be very angry when he hears this kind of characterization. After all, 30% of the fault means a huge stain, but both Aigron and the Earl of Tylerwin know that Prince Talleyrand will never be angry. It is estimated that he will laugh out loud - there are still people who are willing to praise me so much, this kid really has a lot of promise!

"You have made a wonderful metaphor. I have never heard a prince describe the prince so accurately before, and I think he will be very happy that you judge him so pertinently." The description expressed his convincing, and obviously he didn't want to wash Talleyrand's personal morals, after all, it was a well-known thing.

Then, he restrained his smile again, and then looked at Aigron seriously, "If you want to have an interview with him, I believe there will be many opportunities in the future—His Royal Highness also cares about you very much, when I am the Austrian ambassador He has already asked me to meet you when you started, and for more than a year, he has been paying close attention to your movements, and is sincerely happy for your achievements, and he is very grateful that you have such an endowment , worthy of the fame of the late emperor."

Of course, Aigron didn't believe a word of what the count said. Prince Talleyrand couldn't have any sincere feelings for anyone. The only thing he cared about was personal power and wealth.

But it doesn't matter, it is precisely at this point that the two people have a common language.

Because Talleyrand once supported the revolution, the Bourbon royal family hated Talleyrand very much, but in the early days of the restoration, because the foothold was not stable, and it was necessary to use Talleyrand's diplomatic skills to maintain his position, so at that time King Louis XVIII chose to tolerate the nuisance for the time being.

In 1814, the first restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, Talleyrand was appointed foreign minister by Louis XVIII. He came to restore order to the rule of the royal family.

Whether in domestic or foreign affairs, Talleyrand, who was entrusted with important responsibilities, did his best to stabilize the situation temporarily. However, at this time, in the eyes of the king, his use value had been lost, and Talleyrand was still private to the royal family. The disrespect further annoyed King Louis XVIII, who dismissed him after three months as prime minister.

Of course, in order to show the dignity of the royal family, and at the same time to appease the minister who has made a lot of contributions, the king appointed him as a member of the House of Lords (the Restoration Dynasty continued the bicameral parliament of the empire, but changed the Senate to)

In 1824, King Louis XVIII died and was succeeded by his younger brother, King Charles X, who was much more conservative and reactionary than his elder brother. Talleyrand was even more disgusted, and he didn't intend to give him any good looks at all. As for the recovery, it was even more delusional.

Prince Talleyrand already had money that he could not spend in his lifetime. After being forced to retire, he lived in the beautiful Château de Valence, enjoying a luxurious life, but for such a person, he lost his power. It is equivalent to losing half of his life. Naturally, he will not be reconciled. He wants to regain power and regain his infinite glory. Although this old man is now 74 years old, the flame of ambition in his heart has never really been extinguished. pass.

And he, who has already betrayed the current government N times, naturally wouldn't mind betraying the Bourbon royal family again. Since Bourbon can't give him what he wants, he wants to get it from others - he wants to use the outside world. The power to overthrow the Bourbon dynasty one more time, and let the new master of France give him power again.

In the original historical line, Prince Talleyrand has indeed practiced this idea. After retiring, he changed his body again, from a royalist to a liberal, and publicly mixed with the opposition of those dynasties. Money makes them wave the flag and shake the prestige of the dynasty.

Later, he colluded with the Orleans family, and used the Duke of Orleans to realize his plans.

After the July Revolution of 1830, the Duke of Orleans drove away the Bourbons and usurped the throne, and he immediately called Talleyrand out as his diplomatic advisor.

In September 1830, he was sent to England by the royal family of Orleans and coordinated the positions of the two sides. In November of that year, he transformed himself into the representative of France at the London International Conference and participated in the settlement of the dispute between the Netherlands and Belgium. The issue of armed conflict, as a result, Prince Talleyrand also fulfilled his long-cherished wish, and finally returned to the stage he had been obsessed with, and continued to "play the residual heat".

Aegron knew these anecdotes, so he didn't mind throwing an olive branch to Prince Talleyrand.

If Talleyrand could make a deal with the Orleans family, why couldn't he have an affair with the Bonaparte family? Presumably in this old man's heart, it doesn't matter who on both sides, as long as he can be given a higher position.

Aegron even felt that Talleyrand was very happy to see that there was another way to go, because in this way he could be "up for sale".

And from Aegron's own point of view?

If he really **** the French power, he also happens to need such a person, an old face who is familiar to everyone in the diplomatic field, and is "respected" and has a well-known ability, to paint his career and let the outside world recognize him **** of France.

Although the Orleans family is a rebel, but after all, he is a descendant of the Bourbon royal family, and grabbing the throne of the long branch has a certain degree of "legality", at least the foreign powers are more acceptable.

The Bonaparte family is different. It does not have a long history and bloodline, and it has only been ten years since its demise. People still remember the blood-splattered disasters that the empire brought to the outside world at that time.

In theory, more than the Orleans family, Aigron needs a veteran diplomat to convince foreigners that the new Bonaparte dynasty does not mean disaster, and that he is a rational and willing to play in the existing international framework. to solve the problem, instead of thinking about revenge every day.

Aigron has actually thought about this issue, he believes that among the international powers, Austria is the least opposed to the Bonaparte family's return to the throne (his grandfather doesn't care about this, and Archduke Karl may be happy that his daughter is queen ), while the British attitude is more ambiguous and needs to strive for it - the United Kingdom is not so much disgusted with the empire, but rather simply hates Napoleon, who even accepted Napoleon's own abdication to pass the throne to his son.

And the British are famous for not talking about feelings but only about interests. Although they can't like the surname Bonaparte, at least they have no hatred for Napoleon II. As long as they can show their sincerity, they should be able to exchange for them. acquiescence.

As long as Britain and Austria acquiesce, then he doesn't need to be afraid of any international issues, because Prussia has no courage to act alone, and the tsar is far away, and he has no interest in fighting any more major wars.

So the key issue is that he needs to find a person who is "highly esteemed" enough to mediate for him, let the powers relax, admit the status quo, or at least acquiesce that he "responds to the voice of the French people".

No matter from the historical point of view or from the perspective of personal ability, the best candidate is naturally Prince Talleyrand.

And now at this point in time, it just so happens that the prince is also throwing temptations at him...

I have to say that although Talleyrand is old, he really has a keen sense of smell. He can judge Aegron's needs, and he also expressed his sincerity at the right time.

If so, why not cooperate?

Talleyrand also has another "advantage". He is so used to being a conspirator that he never has the idea of ​​being a leader. For decades, he has always been hiding behind rulers and secretly reaping the benefits. Will think of kleptocrats, only to get enough benefits from kleptocrats.

Obviously, Talleyrand won't bid low, because he knows he needs his help, and he'll ask for it—as he has for years.

But so what? Bid if you want! Talleyrand was useful to him, and he offered Talleyrand a higher price than the others.

He has little confidence in others, but he is very confident in Prince Talleyrand, because he knows that as long as the price is right, there is nothing Talleyrand can't sell, and as long as the price is right, he will try his best to keep things to the satisfaction of the employer.

It doesn't matter if Talleyrand is satisfied, as long as the goal can be achieved.