Chapter 179 Legislative Assembly on the edge of the cliff
"What do you want to do?" Jérôme Bonaparte put away his sarcastic expression and asked solemnly.
Seeing that Jérôme Bonaparte's attitude was not completely resistant, Thiers couldn't help but feel a little happy.
As long as there are no clear objections, it means there is still room for discussion.
The secret of politics lies in mutual compromise. All politicians after the Revolution believed that blindly killing political opponents would only repeat the tragedy of the Revolution. That's why the Duke of Orleans stayed after the fall of Charles X.
Given enough incidents of his escape, Louis Philippe was also allowed to escape intentionally or unintentionally by the Republicans after his fall.
"Mr. President, we must prevent red elements from entering the Parliament. Once they flood into the Parliament, the entire Legislative Assembly and even France will be seriously threatened." Thiers tried to deliberately exaggerate the threat of "social democrats",
So that Jérôme Bonaparte would believe what he said: "Religion, morality, and order will no longer exist, and the rich will also be reduced to targets of killing. Even you will inevitably go through this."
Jérôme Bonaparte understood that what Thiers said by "taking a trip" was referring to the guillotine of Louis XVI. The guillotine that drank the blood of the absolute monarch and the blood of the republic has been hanging above the entire France.
"How are you going to exclude them from parliament?" Jérôme Bonaparte continued to ask.
"Red elements come from those who do not have enough to eat and do not work properly. If we want to exclude them from the system, we need to raise the threshold of elections! We should cancel the right to vote for those who have no fixed residence!" Thiers euphemistically said
The emperor made a request to Jérôme Bonaparte to limit the law of universal suffrage.
"Oh! Mr. Thiers!" Jérôme Bonaparte said to Thiers in an exaggerated tone with a face full of sarcasm: "I am the president elected by universal suffrage, and now you want me to betray the universal suffrage."
Fa! Aren’t you just trying to dig into my foundation?”
"Mr. President, amending the constitution does not require universal suffrage, but requires parliamentary approval!" Thiers showed a confident attitude. He held his head high and showed off his cards to Jérôme Bonaparte: "Mr. President, no one is willing to
Loss of rights the second week of May 1852!"
"No... no... the Constitution of the French Republic chooses me! I respect the French Constitution's laws!" Jérôme Bonaparte pretended to cover up and emphasized to Thiers.
Jerome Bonaparte's hypocrisy made Thiers smile. He did not believe that President Napoleon would retreat with peace of mind.
"Mr. President, there is no need to hide it! No one wants to step down from this position! The power of the President of the Republic is greater than that of the King!" Thiers sighed with emotion. He shook his head and said: "Say
It's our own fault, why did we concentrate the power of the president to the point where it is difficult to check and balance in the first place."
"Mr. Thiers! If you just came here to express your feelings, please come back!" Jérôme Bonaparte said to Thiers with a straight face.
"Mr. President, as long as we limit the votes of the red population, it will be equivalent to excluding the Republicans and the Mountain Party in the parliament, and the entire parliament will be controlled by us. At that time, how about we support you to succeed as president?" Thiers also
He used Jerome Bonaparte's method of writing a bad check to make a promise to Jerome Bonaparte.
"You... support me to continue to serve as president?" Jérôme Bonaparte's attitude softened a bit, but he still tried to evade and test: "Do the people in the party think so too?"
Thiers couldn't help but despise Jérôme Bonaparte. He thought that Jérôme Bonaparte was so capable that he was not blinded by power, just like Cavaignac.
"Although there are still a group of people in the Party of Order who hold opposing views, most members of the Party of Order are willing to help you!" Thiers suddenly increased his voice: "A monarchist is always stronger than a republican."
Jérôme Bonaparte continued to stare intently at Thiers.
After a long time, Jérôme Bonaparte showed a meaningful smile and praised in a weird accent: "You are absolutely right. A monarch is always stronger than a republic."
"So, you agree?" Thiers couldn't help but smile, and his tone became cheerful.
"Mr. Thiers! If it is just a blank check, then no one is willing to believe it." Jerome Bonaparte spread his hands and changed the subject: "How can I believe that you are sincerely helping?
I will amend the constitution!”
"Don't worry about this!" Regarding Jerome Bonaparte's doubts, Thiers was confident. He still maintained a smile and said to Jerome Bonaparte: "In order to show our sincerity, we will limit the requirements.
After voting, you will be given an absolutely generous reward!"
Thiers understood that in order to persuade Jérôme Bonaparte, he not only needed to paint a pie, but also needed to give him something visible.
Since Jérôme Bonaparte often held various banquets at the Elysee Palace, the president's meager salary (600,000 francs, 24,000 pounds) was no longer able to meet the expenses of the Elysee Palace. They only needed to meet the president's requirements in this aspect.
demand, the president will certainly not reject their proposal.
[According to the Constitution of the Second French Republic, although the President of the Republic has no right to obstruct the implementation of the Constitution, he can delay the entry into force of the Constitution. In addition, restricting the universal suffrage law itself conflicts with the original Constitution of the Republic. Once the President becomes dissatisfied and acts indiscriminately,
, the Legislative Assembly will become a target of public criticism, so the president must be "appeased" before restricting the universal suffrage law.]
Jérôme Bonaparte raised three fingers and said greedily: "Parliament needs to increase the president's annual salary to 1.2 million francs, and at the same time give me a one-time repayment of 3 million francs."
"Cough...cough...cough..." Jérôme Bonaparte's conditions shocked Thiers. Such conditions far exceeded Thiers' psychological upper limit.
An annual salary of 1.2 million francs plus a compensation of 3 million francs is simply a swindle from the whole of France. Not to mention that he did not agree, even if he agreed to the party of Order, he would not agree.
"Mr. President, I think your offer is too high!" Thiers said firmly to Jérôme Bonaparte: "A maximum annual salary of 900,000 francs, plus a compensation of 2 million francs."
"In this case, I can only choose to leave everything to the people to judge!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and said with a little regret.
Once Jérôme Bonaparte reveals the news to people outside the Parliament, the Paris citizens outside the Parliament will surely rise up to attack the Parliament.
They will be in big trouble by then. Instead of doing this, it would be better to satisfy his greed and shut him up.
"An annual salary of 1 million francs, plus a one-time compensation of 2.16 million francs!" Thiers gritted his teeth and broke through his bottom line. This time he would not give in: "Mr. President, 2.16 million francs can repay part of your debt! This is already
This is our greatest sincerity!”
Although there is still a gap between this amount and the same period in history. In history, my cousin raised the presidential annual salary to 3 million francs per year (actually 2.16 million francs) by restricting universal suffrage. However, considering that his presidential budget in 1849 was still
If it is not distributed, the amount you can get is not much different from the same period in history.
After thinking for a moment, Jérôme Bonaparte nodded and agreed to Thiers's conditions and said: "I agree to your conditions! After all, it will not do us any good if the red elements enter the parliament."
"Thank you for your understanding!" Thiers, who thought he had dealt with Jérôme Bonaparte, breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
As long as the president doesn't choose to cause trouble, they can limit the obstruction of universal suffrage laws.
At that time, they will be able to kick Jérôme Bonaparte away just like they kicked off Cavaignac.
However, in order to prevent Jerome Bonaparte from resisting, Thiers decided to let him serve as president for one term and then retire.
Thiers, who regarded himself as the future president, needed to maintain the stability of his position as president, even if Thiers did not like Jérôme Bonaparte as president.
If the first president faced impeachment by the parliament and was removed from office, then there would be no hope for stability in the following terms.
"Your Excellency, let us join hands to build a barrier to stop the red elements outside the parliament!" Thiers stretched out his hand and said to Jérôme Bonaparte with a stern expression.
Jerome Bonaparte also extended his hand to shake it with Thiers: "Happy cooperation!"
After the two foxes with ulterior motives examined each other, one fox got up and left, while the other fox pretended to leave and the other fox was sent out of the den.
Jérôme Bonaparte, who watched Thiers leave, dropped his smile and turned to a terrifyingly serious expression.
Following Jérôme Bonaparte, Pesini, who was used to the changes in Jérôme Bonaparte's expression, instantly realized that his "mission" was coming again.
Sure enough, Jérôme Bonaparte, who had his back turned to Pesigny, gave an order to Pesigny in a cold tone: "Pessini, please invite Minister of Justice Ruet to my study!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Pesini responded, and then rode away with the two dragoons.
Jerome Bonaparte walked back to the study alone. Looking at the two cups of steaming coffee placed on the round table in the study, he gently shook the bell on the corner of the table.
The bell made a clear and sweet sound. The two servants in the corridor quickly entered after hearing the ringing of the bell. They respectfully asked: "Mr. President!"
"Throw away these two cups of coffee!" Jérôme Bonaparte pointed to the two cups of coffee and said to the servant, then pointed to the coffee cup used by Thiers and told him to wash it several times.
The servants were a little confused about Jérôme Bonaparte's strange request, but they still chose to obey the president's order.