Latest website:

May 29, 1770, the third day after Lawrence met with the Duke of Richelieu.

After meeting the Duke of Richelieu at the Paris Comedy, Lawrence also understood that he was completely involved in the party dispute between the Duke of Richelieu and the Duke of Choiseul.

Although Lawrence originally expected that the Duke of Richelieu would probably retain all the treaties he negotiated with the Duke of Choiseul in order to win over him, including the negotiations between the National Silver Company and the British.

But the attitude of Duke Richelieu that day undoubtedly confirmed that Lawrence would not fall to the side of Duke Choiseul, so he wanted to minimize the benefits obtained by Lawrence and Corsica.

In a sense, Duke Richelieu's idea is indeed correct. Duke Choiseul has become increasingly unpopular with Louis XV. If a shrewd politician who knows the inside story wants to conduct politics between the two dukes,

If he takes sides, he will undoubtedly choose to join the Duke of Richelieu.

The Duke of Richelieu was also convinced that Lawrence would not continue to follow the Duke of Choiseul, so he did not offer any sincere conditions to Lawrence.

"Essentially, it's a question of political alignment..."

Lawrence was lying on the sofa chair, with a gloomy expression on his face, holding his forehead and thinking:

"There is no third way. It is completely impossible to protect yourself wisely. What is before you is a choice between humiliatingly accepting Duke Richelieu's conditions and surrendering to him, or choosing to help the Duke of Choiseul, who is in obvious decline.

.”

Rationally speaking, Lawrence knew that the risk of defecting to the Duke of Richelieu was the lowest, because this was exactly the development trajectory of history. Even as long as Lawrence stood by and watched, the Duke of Choiseul would soon fall.

However, after the fall of Duke Choiseul, how the powerful Duke Richelieu would treat the treaty with Corsica, and whether even the most basic terms would be changed, Lawrence did not know.

I don't want to gamble.

In this case, the only reasonable option is.

"Maybe...it's time to take a different approach."

A flash of light flashed in Lawrence's eyes, and he secretly made up his mind. He immediately stood up from the sofa chair, walked to the study, wrote a letter of visit, and called the old housekeeper who came to the mansion to give instructions:

"Please send this letter to the Duke of Choiseul as soon as possible."

"I see."

The old butler took the letter, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he reminded Lawrence:

"By the way, Mr. Lavoisier, whom you decided to meet three days ago, is expected to visit in the afternoon. It's time for you to change into your formal clothes."

"Lavoisier? Oh, of course, I almost forgot about it."

Lawrence was stunned for a moment before he realized that it was actually because the fact about Duke Richelieu and Duke Choiseul occupied too much of Lawrence's energy.

However, Lawrence was still very interested in meeting this famous chemist from ancient times to the present.

This was not only to satisfy Lawrence's personal interests, but also because in Lawrence's plan, the emergence of Lavoisier would bring a huge opportunity to the Corsica National Silver Company.

...

"My God, what a magnificent and beautiful mansion."

On the Champs Elysées by the Seine River, a tall and thin young man wearing a silver wig stopped where he was, looking at the mansion where Lawrence lived from a distance, and couldn't help but sigh.

He was wearing a somewhat old black suit and was carrying a silver cane that did not match his age.

I am afraid that no passerby would be able to tell that this young man named Lavoisier, who was only 26 years old, was actually an academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris, and would write an important chapter in the history of science.

At this time, Lavoisier was inevitably hesitating nervously, thinking about how to talk to Monsignor Bonaparte.

A few days ago, Lavoisier was very surprised by Lawrence's reply. He was just trying his luck when he sent the letter of visit. He really didn't expect to receive a reply from Lawrence.

Moreover, Lavoisier heard that there were several letters of visit from nobles and industrial owners who were much more prominent than himself, but all of them were ignored. He was the only one who received a reply, which made Lavoisier feel a little nervous and hurt (this chapter

Not finished yet!)

Flattered.

While Lavoisier was still standing at the door hesitantly, the old housekeeper of the mansion had noticed him, took the initiative to come out and bowed to him and said:

"Are you Mr. Lavoisier? Mr. Bonaparte is already waiting for you in the reception room. Please come with me."

"Oh, oh, of course."

When Lavoisier saw this, he didn't have time to think too much. He quickly took off his hat and tucked it under his arm. He followed the old butler through the path filled with busts and entered the mansion.

The light in the living room is very bright, and the soft afternoon sunlight shines into the room through a large floor-to-ceiling window. Sitting here, you can even directly see the sparkling golden Seine River.

"Ah, Mr. Lavoisier, you are here, please sit down wherever you like."

Lawrence, who was lying on the sofa with his eyes closed and concentrating, noticed the movement on the side. After opening his eyes, he saw the somewhat restrained and nervous young man in front of him, so he pointed to the row of sofas next to him and said with a smile.

"Well, good afternoon, Your Excellency Bonaparte, thank you."

As Lavoisier spoke, he quickly found a seat not far from Lawrence and sat down. Then he couldn't help but look at Lawrence a few more times.

After receiving Lawrence's reply at that time, Lavoisier went to inquire about Lawrence, and probably knew that he was a very young Governor of Corsica.

However, after the actual meeting, Lavoisier was still surprised by Lawrence, who was only less than twenty years old.

When Lavoisier looked at Lawrence, Lawrence was also sizing him up. Lawrence was still very interested in this indispensable figure in the history of chemistry.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After recalling the memory of Lavoisier, Lawrence can probably guess why he came to visit him.

Although Lavoisier made profound achievements in science, on the other hand, he also had his own pursuits in politics and wealth.

Historically, Lavoisier gradually took on more social positions after middle age and spent less time on scientific research. He also served as a member of the National Assembly.

At the same time, Lavoisier also served as a tax collector for a long time. Although this accumulated a lot of wealth for him, it was also the trigger for his untimely death.

Under the tax farming system in France at that time, within the area contracted by tax farming officials, they only had to pay a specified amount of tax to the state, and the excess tax could go directly into their own pockets.

Under such a system, tax collectors undoubtedly want to collect as much tax as possible, which also leads to their extremely bad image in the hearts of ordinary people.

Although Lavoisier himself did not tax the people violently, after the Revolution, the angry people still regarded him as a group of people who squeezed the people in taxation, and eventually sent him to prison together with 29 other tax officials.

On the guillotine.

Of course, Lavoisier at this time naturally could not have expected this outcome. He is still very satisfied with the status of tax collector he obtained two years ago, and wants to further expand his powers.

This is why he appeared in Lawrence's mansion today.

After all, in the minds of Lavoisier and other small nobles and small businessmen, Lawrence, who had such a close relationship with the Duke of Choiseul, would definitely be able to help them.

"I'm so glad you found the time to come here, Mr. Lavoisier."

After guessing Lavoisier's intention, Lawrence took the lead and said:

"I have heard about you for a long time, and your views on natural philosophy are very attractive to me."

"Oh? Really, you are also a scholar?"

When Lavoisier heard Lawrence talk about the fields he was good at, he suddenly became less nervous and asked excitedly.

Lawrence smiled and nodded, relying on his memory to make up casually:

"Of course, I even read your article, and your experiment that refuted the four-element theory gave me a lot of inspiration."

"Ah, yes, yes, I only published that article this year. The experiment took a long time. First of all, I..."

As soon as Lavoisier talked about the experiments he had done, he immediately began to repeat them to Lawrence endlessly, adding a lot of dancing body language.

Even when explaining to Laurence how vigorously he stirred the solution, Lavoisier insisted (this chapter is not finished yet!)

He used the coffee on the table to demonstrate, but the scalding hot coffee splashed onto half of Lavoisier's pants.

Lawrence always listened patiently and carefully. As a mechanical engineer from a later generation, Lawrence, who stood on the shoulders of giants, also heard many flaws in Lavoisier's experiment.

"Huh... that's probably it, Your Excellency Bonaparte. I'm sorry that I spoke too excitedly."

After Lavoisier finished telling the story, he exhaled a sigh of relief, then apologized and quickly took out his handkerchief to wipe the coffee stains on his trousers.

Lawrence waved his hands indifferently, looked at Lavoisier and said with a smile:

"What a clever experiment, but I think there seems to be a lot of room for improvement in your steps and process."

"Huh? Improvement?"

Lavoisier was stunned for a moment, and even stopped wiping his hands.

"The first thing is your instrument selection and cleaning..."

Lawrence slowly stated all his opinions, from the selection of instruments to the operating methods, and finally to the selection of reagents and experimental principles. Although some suggestions were beyond this era, they still caused a series of thoughts in Lavoisier.

"Hiss... God, what you said seems to make sense."

Lavoisier was still stunned in place, and even the movements of his hands were still frozen a minute ago. It was not until Lawrence finished speaking that he slowly came back to his senses and murmured:

"Oh my god, that's true. Fortunately, the accuracy requirements of this experiment are not that high. If this was a more precise experiment, the problems you mentioned would be very serious."

After that, Lavoisier looked at Lawrence with great gratitude and said repeatedly:

"I didn't expect that you are indeed a meticulous and astute scholar. It is really fruitful to communicate with you."

Lawrence shook his head humbly. After all, he could see these problems thanks to the experience of predecessors like Lavoisier, so he said proudly:

"What happened? Your experimental process also gave me a lot of inspiration. Scholars still need to communicate to make progress."

"Indeed, communication is extremely important." Lavoisier said with deep understanding.

However, after hearing Lavoisier's affirmation, Lawrence showed a sly smile and suddenly said:
To be continued...