Chapter 147: Public Opinion Control and Western Development
"Mr. President, I am a reporter from Tours Daily."
The newspaper reporter sitting on the far left opposite Jerome Bonaparte spread the cardboard notebook he carried with him on his lap, unscrewed the dip pen, and introduced himself to Jerome Bonaparte first.
The reporter from the "Journal of Tours" spoke first, causing the remaining reporters to rush to introduce the names of their newspapers to Jérôme Bonaparte, and the scene fell into brief chaos.
Jerome Bonaparte had to personally take action to bring order to the chaotic scene. He cleared his throat and said loudly: "Dear journalists, I understand your current mood! I promise you that everyone can ask me questions.
Some questions! I will answer your questions as appropriate."
After that, Jérôme Bonaparte pointed to the reporter of Tours Daily and said: "Mr. reporter, do you have any questions to ask?"
The reporter from Tours Daily showed a flattered expression, and he did not expect that he would be the first person to be interviewed.
"Your Excellency, please allow me to organize my thoughts a little bit," the reporter from the "Journal of Tours" begged Jerome Bonaparte.
"Of course!" Jérôme Bonaparte responded tolerantly to the reporter of "Tour Daily", then he looked at the remaining newspaper reporters and reminded: "But you have to be faster, otherwise other reporters will
My friends won’t be happy about it!”
"Yes!" After thinking for a moment, the reporter from "Tours Daily" said carefully: "Mr. President, what do you think of the rumors after July 1?"
The first day of interviews with reporters from "Tours Daily" made the remaining reporters feel slightly disappointed.
After all, the questions that the reporters of Tours Daily wanted to ask were also the questions they wanted to ask.
"You are referring to the rumors that I and the members of the Parliament staged a coup in an attempt to amend the constitution, right?" Jérôme Bonaparte responded to the reporter of Tours Daily with a frank expression.
"That's right!" The reporter from "Tour Daily" nodded and said.
"Nonsense!" Jérôme Bonaparte said firmly: "I don't know where this public opinion came from. The public opinion is obviously trying to sow discord between us and the French people! I can tell you clearly
You, I am loyal to the Constitution and oppose any unreasonable coup (Jérôme Bonaparte's statement of leaving a retreat). The Constitution created by the 30 million people of France has given me the power of the president.
If the Constitution is overturned, it means that I, the president, will also lose power because of the overthrow of the Constitution. No one loves the Constitution more than me! Even if the Constitution itself has more or less flaws, we still have to
Believe in the Constitution! We know that our Constitution is not yet one year old, so how can we expect a Constitution that is less than one year old to solve all our problems? Believe in the wisdom of future generations and believe in the future!"
Jerome Bonaparte's unswerving response made several newspaper reporters present feel good about him. For some reporters with pan-leftist ideas, maintaining the existing order of the Republic is undoubtedly more important than destroying the existing order.
The reporter of "Tours Daily" wrote down all Jérôme Bonaparte's words in his notebook.
Later, he also wanted to ask Jérôme Bonaparte some questions: "Mr. President, what do you think about..."
"Journalist friend, I just said that every reporter can ask me a question!" Jérôme Bonaparte raised his hand to stop the "Journal of Tours" from continuing to ask questions, and pointed out among the remaining reporters.
A reporter.
"Mr. President, I am a reporter from the Havas News Agency!" the reporter who was selected introduced him to Jérôme Bonaparte again.
"Havas News Agency?" Jérôme Bonaparte glanced in surprise. He did not expect that Charles Havas could open a branch in Tours. What is even more surprising is that Havas has lost its overseas income.
The news agency was actually able to survive and open branches.
Jérôme Bonaparte couldn't help but glance at Pesini who was standing at the door. Pesini, who was in the blind spot of the reporter's field of vision, nodded and said there was no problem.
"Mr. President, I would like to ask you what you think of the city of Tours?" a reporter from Havas News Agency asked a fair question.
"Tour is a city with a long history, as early as the Frankish period..." Jérôme Bonaparte recited De Renard's description of Tour in full to the reporter of Havas newspaper, and his words were filled with deep feelings about Tour.
Favorite city of Tours.
All reporters present had joyful smiles on their faces. Living in Tours, they were also proud of Tours' long history.
"Will Tours become the western transfer station of the French Railway?" The reporter from the Havas newspaper also forgot the agreement of one question per person.
Jerome Bonaparte had to reiterate his agreement with the newspaper reporter and pointed out the next reporter who asked the question.
The next reporter decisively repeated the question of the Havas News Agency reporter.
"This issue needs to be left to the judgment of professionals. I am just a president who knows nothing." Jérôme Bonaparte said humbly: "However, I still hope that Tours can become the center of the Western Railway.
!”
The following topics gradually developed towards a slight trend of gossip and current affairs.
Jérôme Bonaparte offered his opinions on some issues while avoiding the important ones, and ignored some issues (New Century bureaucratic blame game template: We are considering solving them).
The entire interview lasted for nearly an hour and a half, and the newspaper reporters got the answers they wanted, and they bid farewell to Jérôme Bonaparte with satisfaction.
Jérôme Bonaparte ordered Pesini to send all the reporters from these newspapers out as gifts. The newspaper reporters who had just left the hotel received another "small gift" from Pesini, a French note of 200 francs per person.
The notes can be exchanged at the Bank of France.
Newspaper reporters were even more grateful for the generous president, and they promised Pesini that they would record the most authentic president.
After watching the newspaper reporter leave, Pesini returned to the room where Jérôme Bonaparte was.
"Have they all been sent out?" Jérôme Bonaparte, who was carrying Pesini on his back, asked in a calm tone.
"Yeah!" Pesini nodded and said.
"What's going on with Havas News Agency?" Jérôme Bonaparte asked Pesini again.
"Your Majesty, Charles Havas has agreed to our request for a capital injection, so they are now in our hands!" Pesini explained to Jérôme Bonaparte.
"Where are the newspapers behind those newspaper reporters?" Jérôme Bonaparte asked Pesini again.
"Havas News Agency is behind them all, so we don't have to worry about their nonsense!" Pesini replied to Jérôme Bonaparte.
"That's good! We must seize the time to gain control of Paris and even the French newspaper industry, whether it is exchanging equity or injecting capital. In short, I only need to hear one voice in Paris, and that is our voice!" Jérôme Bo
Nabal said to Pesini in a tone that left no room for doubt.
Pesini was able to control Havas News Agency and some small and medium-sized newspapers in Paris in a very short period of time. In addition to the help of Achille Fuld, he also relied on Odilon Barrow's newspaper martial law bill.
Many small and medium-sized newspapers either directly declared bankruptcy or accepted capital injections from some mysterious people. This resulted in Paris newspapers appearing to be chaotic and flourishing, but in fact they were gradually controlled by the Bonapartists.
Due to the mutual shareholdings of newspapers, the Bonapartists are hidden behind the scenes. Anyone who wants to dig out the cocoon to find the truth will be dizzy by the complicated and mutually alternating shareholdings.
A new concern in the newspaper world is rising.
…
Early the next morning, many children selling newspapers appeared on the streets of Tours.
"Sell newspapers! Sell newspapers! The latest "Tours Daily", "Tours Economy"...all cost only 7 centimes a copy!" The newsboy walked slowly on the street selling newspapers to the gentlemen passing by.
Gentlemen who had developed the habit of subscribing to newspapers on weekdays bought newspapers from newsboys.
The gentlemen who learned from the newspapers that the president would not launch a coup could not help but feel good about the president, and a public opinion related to the coup was eliminated by the newspapers in a subtle way.
For a time, the focus of the people of Tours shifted from whether there would be a coup in Paris to whether Tours would serve as the central node of the western city.
On the other hand, Jérôme Bonaparte, led by De Reine, came to the conference hall of Tours City Hall. The famous nobles and bourgeoisie of Tours gathered in the conference hall at the call of De Reina.
Waiting for Jerome Bonaparte's speech?
In the silence, Jérôme Bonaparte came on stage, and now he was talking.
"Since the Frankish Kingdom, Tours has been a shining treasure in the French crown...During the Great Revolution, Tours became the logistical support base that promoted the victory of the Vendée..."
Jérôme Bonaparte used extremely long and diplomatic rhetoric to praise Tours' world-renowned achievements at the very beginning. The nobles and bourgeoisie present showed tired expressions. They were obviously not interested in the so-called history of Tours.
"It is precisely because Tours has such high historical achievements that our government cannot let the glory of Tours be buried in the whole of France!" Jerome Bonaparte dropped a bombshell to the nobility and bourgeoisie: "The government plans to establish a
The Western Railway Network with Tours as a transit hub!”
All the bourgeoisie present instantly sensed the huge business opportunities, and they all applauded Jérôme Bonaparte's slightly lame speech.
"The Ministry of Public Works will decide to issue the second phase of engineering bonds. This batch of bonds will be dedicated to the development of railways in the central and western regions of France. We also welcome some powerful railway companies to actively bid!" Jérôme Bonaparte threw out
The second bombshell.
This time, even the nobles could not sit still. They cheered and applauded Jerome Bonaparte.
In their view, bonds issued by the French government are always a sure-fire deal.
Amid the applause of the bourgeoisie and the nobility, Jérôme Bonaparte stepped down.
The next day, the local newspaper of Tours once again published Jérôme Bonaparte's speech in the conference room of the town hall.
At this time, even the young bourgeoisie of Tours could not sit still. The young bourgeoisie who had not purchased the first tranche of public works bonds were already gearing up to enter the market during the second tranche of public bonds.
Jérôme Bonaparte's reputation has been rising all the way in Tours, and the public opinion about the coup was completely resolved by Jérôme Bonaparte's set of moves.