"Okay, I understand." Edmond Dantès could only nod in agreement.
To be honest, he is still a little confused about what the marshal said today. He also feels that the marshal is too discouraged and thinks that the British are too invincible.
However, since it was said by the marshal, it must be based on the marshal's evidence and cannot be denied by Edmund.
He can only tell His Majesty and see what His Majesty thinks.
Moreover, he was also keenly aware that since the Marshal said this, it meant that he was open to cooperation between the two parties and was willing to side with the Bonaparte family as long as the conditions given by His Majesty were suitable.
Although both sides have lost power now, they are equally ambitious and ready to go. Your Majesty is inspecting the marshal, and why isn't the marshal inspecting your majesty?
After leaving the coal mine, Marshal Soult seemed to be in a very high mood today and took them for a walk in the mountains for a while before returning to his house in the evening.
At this time, the marshal's servant also prepared a dinner for him. Although it was not luxurious, it was very rich and included various game meats.
Of course, neither the Marquis nor Edmund had their minds on eating. They only focused all their attention on the Marshal, thinking that they should continue to persuade the other party and at least leave a better and deeper impression in his heart.
Let the future marshal be more inclined to the side of the Bonaparte family.
During the dinner, the marshal took the initiative to chat with two people, but he completely avoided any political topics. Even when the two people deliberately hinted, he pretended not to understand and just talked about everything.
The two people felt helpless, knowing that the marshal had no intention of getting closer to them, so they had no choice but to follow the marshal's wishes and start to change the topic to something other than politics.
Once the political topics were put aside, the chat became more interesting, especially since the Marshal and the Marquis of Treville still had a superior-subordinate relationship back then. They had both served in the military for many years and experienced quite a lot of interesting things, some of which had never even been reported before.
Edmond Dantès was very interested in hearing the secrets recorded in history.
Although he is a close confidant of His Majesty and has been named a nobleman, deep down in his heart, he is still a little ashamed of these "empire elders". The marshals and generals are much higher than him in terms of qualifications and achievements, and he is also full of confidence in them.
I admire them so much that I even feel it is a great honor to be able to sit with them.
Fortunately, neither the marshal nor the general showed any contempt for him, not only because he is a close minister of His Majesty, but also because he has established his own "glorious image" in his previous legendary experiences, which is enough for anyone to take a high look at him.
.
A person's prestige and power are built up invisibly bit by bit in this way. Although Edmund is just on the road now, he already has the basic conditions to step onto the highest political stage. Perhaps in the future, he will
You will no longer be listeners and spectators, but direct participants in those major events.
"Edmond." While Edmond Dantès was listening patiently, the marshal turned his attention to him, and then spoke to him cordially, "I know Victor's affairs very well. I know him."
I have worked with him for a long time, and I know what a great person he is... What about you? What were you doing in the past? I searched my memory carefully, but there is no impression of you."
This is actually where the Marshal is confused.
Judging from Edmund's age, he is probably in his early thirties, which is not too young. He should have entered society before the empire was destroyed. And judging from the fact that His Majesty has so much trust in him, he should be closely related to the empire and the Bonaparte family.
There is a very deep connection, but in this case the marshal should have heard about it, but the reality is completely opposite, he has no impression at all.
Although the marshal is ambitious, he is also a cautious person. When participating in such a major conspiracy, he cannot help but be careless. He wants to control everything in his own hands as much as possible, and this Mr. Count of Monte Cristo is
The biggest unstable factor facing him now, so he wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Under the marshal's questioning gaze, Edmond Dantès hesitated. He looked at the Marquis and didn't know how to answer, especially how far he should go.
"Is there something unspeakable?" the marshal asked curiously, "If you find it inconvenient, just pretend I didn't ask."
"No! Your Excellency, Marshal!" At this time, Edmund was heartbroken and simply gave up.
He didn't want to cause any rift between himself and the marshal.
"To tell you the truth, I was just a nobody before, working as a sailor on a merchant ship in the Mediterranean. I didn't participate in politics, and I had nothing to do with the Bonaparte family... Until one day, I took some money from my captain.
A letter arrived, and according to his last instructions, it was sent to Elba..."
Then, Edmond Dantes once again told his story to Marshal Soult.
But this time, he spoke quite briefly, just telling the story of how he went to jail after delivering the letter.
As for what happened after that, there was nothing to talk about. Twelve years in the dark prison, twelve years of blank life. He had been stolen from him for such a long time, and even almost stayed in the gloomy Yinfu Castle forever.
Marshal Soult listened quietly, seeming to be surprised by his experience.
"So you have already made such a heavy sacrifice for the Bonaparte family!" After a moment of silence, the marshal sighed. "And, I really didn't expect that our fates were somehow connected.
... We are all victims of this tragedy."
The implication of the marshal's words was that Edmund sent a letter to the emperor to communicate with his comrades in France. Then the emperor led his troops to land in France and returned to France, and Marshal Soult and Marshal Neyin stood together with the emperor.
on the other side, and jointly welcomed the final end of the emperor's military career.
"Yes, we are all victims." Edmund nodded. "So we should seek justice, right?"
"Fair? That's not true." Marshal Soult shook his head again, "Since we can win, we must also be able to lose. When we win, we show off our power to the enemy, but after losing, we can only taste the bitter consequences.
What is there to cry about? If a man's shoulders cannot bear failure, then he is not worthy of chasing victory. Yes, we have won, and we have lost in the end. We may have accomplished nothing in the end, but at least we have won vigorously.
We have lived a good life, and we are worthy of this life."
Then, he sighed with emotion, "You know? Edmund, during the Hundred Days Dynasty, anyone with normal sense knew that we had insurmountable difficulties before us, and our enemies united
We are facing the great powers of the entire Europe! In the past, we always had allies on our side. For example, Spain, Bavaria, even Austria, Prussia, and Russia were sometimes our allies, but this time we are facing
There is no alliance anymore, so we are likely to lose. Everyone can guess the outcome. We are not fools. We know that even if we defeated the Prussians and the British that time, we will still have to face the Russians next
With the troops mobilized by the Austrians, the total is 300,000. How many more people can we die? Even if God has mercy on us and we win again, how can we continue to fight against all the powers?
What lies before us is a dead end.
Yes, we all know that 99% of us will lose or even die, but we still follow him and rush towards the enemies again. We are not following the 1% victory. What we are chasing is what we have done in the past.
The glory we have, even if it is just a bubble! We want to finally prove what we have done, because I am afraid we will never have the chance again."
At this point, the marshal's originally stern face suddenly became a bit more sad, and his voice unconsciously became a lot hoarse, "The emperor was not willing to let it end here. He finally gave it a try, and at that time we also
We followed him without hesitation and fought hard once. Knowing that the road ahead was impassable, we still gritted our teeth and stepped on it once because he was worthy of us blindly following him again! His end was played out twice, and our nation has suffered many deaths.
There are tens of thousands of people. We have never failed the emperor, and the entire nation has never failed him. There are enough heroic spirits who followed him straight to heaven. They died like men and gave their lives gloriously. We do not
You should cry out for them like women, that will only tarnish the consciousness they have made, do you understand?"
Edmund listened quietly, filled with emotions in his heart. Even the Marquis of Treville, although he did not have such pure loyalty in his heart, could not help but feel a sore nose at this moment.
Among the war dead in 1815 were also his colleagues and friends, and even he himself had participated in a series of important battles in the imperial army at that time.
The marshal is right. Didn't they know at that time that the road ahead was impassable and that there was little hope? But they were willing to do it again. This was a heroic awakening and worthy of praise in any word.
"True bravery is not brought about by ignorance and recklessness, but by reason! Only when you know the consequences and still have no hesitation can you be worthy of the word warrior." As he spoke, he picked up the wine glass, "
Cheers to the glorious warriors!”
"Cheers." The marshal and Edmund picked up the wine glasses together and toasted to those who died that year.
After drinking a glass of wine, Edmund felt that his heart was steaming, and the alcohol was burning in his blood vessels, making him feel a hundred times more energetic.
"Edmund, those people died deservedly and had no injustice; but you are different. You are qualified to seek justice. You are a victim." The marshal looked at him again, and then asked, "When you were sent to prison?"
Who is in jail?”
"It's Prosecutor de Villefort." Now that this matter has been discussed, Edmond Dantès no longer needs to hide it. He believes in the marshal's character and will not spread these things everywhere. "
He was working in Marseille at the time, and then he happened to receive a letter reporting me, and then he arrested me and sent me to prison."
"De-Villefort..." The marshal frowned, as if he had some impression of this man.
"He is the son of the Marquis of Noirtier," the Marquis of Treville added duly. "He is now serving at the Paris High Court."
"The Marquis of Noirtier?" The marshal was certainly more impressed by this name. "Isn't he a supporter of the Bonaparte family?"
"He is indeed, and is still loyal to His Majesty," replied the Marquis of Treville.
Then, he added the Marquis of Noirtier to his side, and then made it clear to the Count of Monte Cristo what happened that year, and made an agreement with each other to "see Villefort for revenge in three years." This series of events
Everything was told to the marshal.
The marshal became more and more surprised when he heard this, and then sighed with emotion.
"This is really a legendary story! It goes through the most painful history of our country. How many tragedies have we witnessed in those years? I have seen with my own eyes how many people have lost their heads because of injustice... I hope this kind of thing will not happen in the future.
It happened again. Noirtier is a real man, and you are a real man."
Because he knew all this, he also understood the past of the Count of Monte Cristo. He no longer had any doubts or fears about him, and his impression became even better.
"Mr. Count, you are unfortunate. You have suffered injustice and lost your most precious years. But at the same time, you are also lucky. You saved your life, escaped from the dark prison, came to the side of the King of Rome, and
Becoming his close minister, an earl... This kind of luck is something that those who died back then couldn't even imagine. I think the compensation God gave you is quite fair. I wish you can continue to enjoy this in the future.
Very lucky."
"For your kind words, Your Excellency Marshal." Edmund replied respectfully, "I cherish my luck. I know who pulled me out of the mud pit, so I will dedicate my loyalty until death.
I am devoted to my benefactor, and the brave men of 1815 are my example, and I will imitate them with my life."
Because of the effect of alcohol, his courage was already burning. He looked at the marshal without fear, "Your Excellency, I don't know if you will be on our side, and I don't know whether you will become His Majesty in the future.
friend or enemy, but I promise that I will have the greatest respect for you. You are a great man, and I am not worth mentioning in front of you. However, if you stand on the opposite side of His Majesty, I will also sacrifice my life.
If I challenge you, maybe I will die at your feet, but this is also a great honor for me, and I will die without regrets like those people."
This challenging sight made the marshal stunned for a moment.
The marshal was not angry, he just looked at General Treville and laughed.
"Victor, is he trying to scare me? Hahahahaha! What a good boy! Young man, he has a bright future! Hahahaha..."
After he finished laughing, he picked up the wine glass again, and then looked at the other two people, "Then, let's have another drink. No matter we are friends or foes in the future, we can always respect each other."