[The chapter preface was accidentally marked as 17...the next chapter will continue with 17]
Because of Aigron's willful adventure, Teresa was so angry that she rarely lost her temper. She even beat her husband with a cane in front of others. Aigron knew that he was wrong, so he could only bear it with a bitter smile, and kept saying nice things that day.
Comfort Theresa.
Fortunately, Teresa is not a vindictive character. After being coaxed by Aigron for a few words, she no longer pursued the case. She just asked Aigron not to take such deliberate risks for the sake of excitement in the future. Of course Aigron was
Whether or not you will actually comply with your promise is another matter entirely.
In this way, the short-term turmoil between the young couple was over, and they once again enjoyed the time together, playing together around this small town surrounded by mountains, and they were so happy.
Of course, traveling to the mountains and rivers is just a pastime for them to relieve their mood, and their energy is destined to be focused on the family business.
During this New Year's winter, Aiglon has always maintained close contact with Paris. Because he is much closer to France, the time for him to exchange information with the Count of Monte Cristo and the Marquis of Treville has naturally been shortened.
In other words, in the past, he could only point out the general direction, and then let his subordinates perform freely and report the progress to himself regularly. But now, he can try to direct it himself.
Of course, he trusts the abilities of his subordinates and has no interest in "personally directing" everything, which would only plunge everyone into chaos.
He limited the scope of his personal command to propaganda work.
In this regard, he naturally learned from "posterior examples", that is, the experience of Napoleon III during his dormant period in history (186-1848).
At that time, Napoleon III had neither soldiers nor money, but he tried his best to build his reputation. In addition to leading a few men to carry out mutiny, he was more focused on trying his best to influence the current political hot spots at the time and use his various skills to improve his reputation.
To export opinions through political commentary, on the one hand, it can accumulate fame for oneself, and on the other hand, it can capture one's own base.
He keenly grasped the resurgence of revolutionary ideas on the European continent at that time, the bourgeoisie of various countries and the new generation of educated young people were full of political enthusiasm, and the socialist ideological trend began to form and spread on a large scale. He wrote "On the Abolition of Poverty"
A series of political pamphlets, etc., dressed up as an image sympathetic to socialism, and peddled political values with state intervention in the economy as the core and protection of the interests of workers and peasants.
Since this is a "successful experience", Aigron naturally accepted it as a reference without hesitation.
However, reference does not mean copying it. "Politics" has the characteristics of the times.
Napoleon III in history, during his dormant period, France was no longer dominated by the Bourbon family, but entered the era of the July Dynasty ruled by the Orleans family. The Orleans family used the royal family to annex the large family, which itself was in "moral legitimacy".
"The situation above is at risk. In order to find legitimacy for their rule, the Orleans family flaunts itself as a moderate, neither radical nor conservative. At the same time, it tries to please the royalists, imperialists, republicans and other political forces.
It further claims to protect the interests of every social class.
In this case, there is no need to debate "whether class reconciliation is needed". Napoleon III only needs to prove that he is more willing and able to engage in class reconciliation than the Orleans family.
At the same time, during that period, after a series of revolutions from the 1900s to the 1940s, the dull masses in European countries were rekindled, not only the passionate college students, but also small shopkeepers and businessmen who had always been very indifferent to politics.
, and also actively participate in politics, demanding the expansion of their political rights (the intuitive manifestation of which is fighting for voting rights).
Britain, France and Prussia became the typical representatives of this round of political frenzy. The result was the Chartist movement that swept across the country in Britain, and many barricade revolutions in France. In Prussia, the "Rheinland" and its most famous newspaper were born.
The editor finally ends with the revolutionary fervor that swept across Europe in 1848.
In this context of the times, Napoleon III did not have to worry about proving to others whether socialism was good or not. He only needed to prove that the socialism he wanted was the most likely to be realized.
But the situation Aigron faces now is quite different.
It is now 189, and the whole of Europe has just emerged from the war. The flames of the Revolution have been extinguished by bayonets, Europe is bound by the shackles of the Holy Alliance, and people are exhausted from the continuous wars and have almost lost their passion for political causes.
Under this universal mood, it is naturally impossible to copy the experience of Napoleon III. On the contrary, if Aigron himself advocates social revolution, it will put him in a situation where he is hated by the Holy Alliance, and will also be hated by the Holy Alliance.
It cannot get the support of the broad masses of the people.
For this group of people who have survived the disaster and have no enthusiasm for grand ideals, Aigron's set of ideas does not make much sense. If he wants to impress people, he must talk about things that are more practical and more in line with everyone's own interests.
thing.
Because he understood this, he focused on expanding the scope of voters and using public opinion to determine the state structure.
It boils down to one sentence: "Bonaparte is universal suffrage!"
This slogan is enough to move people's hearts. However, it mainly moves the urban poor and the working class. They have received a certain degree of education and can actually feel the baptism of various ideological trends in densely populated cities and factories. They also understand their political rights.
importance.
But on the other side, there is a village with an equally large population, but a completely silent village.
The large number of farmers are tied to the land. They have no time to work all day long and have no interest in paying attention to the outside world. They stay away from all political trends. They often think that these things are just fashionable things for city people.
(and often harmful), the right to vote is also a dispensable novelty for them, and their spiritual world is often the same as that of their ancestors for thousands of years, preferring to stay in the church.
If you want to impress these people, you have to play some new tricks.
Building a closer relationship with the church is a feasible way.
Because he had given large bribes to the Pope in the past, Aigron had a good relationship with the Roman Church. The Pope even publicly praised his righteous deeds of "expelling heretics" many times. It can be said that on a religious level, he is already considered a friend of the church.
Already.
However, since ancient times, the Gallic Church has always been extremely independent and has a good relationship with the Holy See. This does not mean that the Gallic Church is naturally inclined to the side of Aiglon. Compared with Napoleon's son, they have more reason to go
The Bourbon family likes to represent orthodoxy. After all, they have been working together for centuries.
This is by no means good news for Aiglon.
Precisely because of his proximity to France, Aigron was able to observe the current situation of France up close. He further confirmed that the French people are now extremely tired of the Bourbon dynasty's perverse behavior. This general opposition has been accumulated for a long time, and it seems that as long as there is a spark, it will be possible.
It ignited the whole country and caused the dynasty that was finally restored to fall again.
However, as the saying goes, "a broken ship has three nails." The Bourbon dynasty has ruled France for three centuries. Counting the previous Capetian branches, it has ruled France for nearly a thousand years. Its "legitimacy" is by no means so strong.
It will be easily erased.
After losing the support of the people, the only pillar they could rely on was the inexplicable inertial loyalty given by "orthodoxy".
What Aigron wants to do is to cut off this inertia.
If you want to impress the peasants, you must first impress the church people in Gaul, not only to make these church people support Bonaparte, but at least to make them not hate Bonaparte and despise Bonaparte.
As long as this can be done, it will be equivalent to severing the spiritual connection between the countryside and the palace, which means that the peasants will no longer be ignorantly loyal to the Bourbon family.
In general, Agron made two preparations for his propaganda strategy: using the promise of universal suffrage to win over the urban poor; and using religious sentiments to impress churches and farmers.
Logically this is a straightforward matter; the difficult question is how to do it in action.
After leisurely entertainment, Aigron fell into hard thinking.
Teresa was also troubled by this problem like Agron, and she was racking her brains to help her husband.
On this day, the couple continued to discuss this issue while walking in the snow-covered forest.
"Your Highness, it is difficult to defeat the Bourbon family in terms of religious sentiments. After all, they are the descendants of Saint Louis and the descendants of the Sun King. For thousands of years, they have countless myths to package their family. They
She is the protector of the church." Teresa said to Agron in a straightforward tone.
"I know..." Aigron nodded dejectedly, "But even if it is a difficult problem, we have to find a way to solve it. I don't know how I can get involved with religion, but I have to do it."
Teresa stopped, then tilted her head and looked at her husband.
Although this young man has become a father, he is still as handsome and elegant as before.
However, there was no trace of piety in him. Because she spent time with Agron day and night, Teresa understood Agron's religious attitude better than anyone else.
That is complete disbelief, and even a bit sarcastic every time God is mentioned.
It is simply a joke that such a person wants to play the role of a religious saint, and no one will believe it.
"Oh, Your Highness is good at everything, but his attitude towards religion is a little cynical." Teresa couldn't help but sigh, "If you could be as pious as my father and mother, that would be perfect."
"Teresa, as long as it can benefit me, I am willing to play the saint, but are you sure you will like it?" Aigron asked angrily, "Don't forget, those old-fashioned people have to control even the fancy clothes on the bed.
"
"Shut up!" Although there were only two of them here, Teresa still stopped Aigron's blasphemous words in shame, "Your Highness, you should be glad that you live in a good era, otherwise, based on these,
If you say that, you should be dragged away and burned to death!"
"How is that possible? I am the grandson of the Habsburg Emperor and the husband of the Habsburg princess. It is not my turn to burn anyone to death." Aigron replied disdainfully, "Look back at history. Your ancestors were burned to death.
With so many people, has there ever been a great nobleman?"
Teresa was choked until she could speak. Although she wanted to refute Agron, she also knew that she really couldn't refute this issue.
The Habsburg family in history was indeed a devout guardian of Christianity. They set up the Inquisition in Spain and burned all heretics with evil intentions. They showed no mercy to Protestant heretics in Germany, and even beat them for it.
The Thirty Years' War plunged the whole of Germany into war, and the population decreased by one-third...
However, even so, the Habsburg family still chatted and laughed with those "heretical" Protestant nobles. Even the Elector of Palatinate, who openly raised the flag of rebellion and fired the first shot of the Thirty Years' War, only expelled
thing.
Although I don't want to admit it emotionally, in fact, this is just a "dishes". For the big nobles, religion has always been just a political toy. Even if it is a true heresy, it can still be ignored. Aigron,
That is indeed the case.
Teresa wanted to argue with her husband some more, but something suddenly occurred to her. Looking at the trees with snow-covered branches in the distance, she suddenly murmured to herself.
"Burning at the stake..."
"Theresa?" Aigron was a little surprised when he saw Theresa's appearance. "What's wrong with you?"
"Your Highness... I have an idea." Teresa suddenly turned her head and looked at Aigron excitedly.
"What's the idea?" Aigron suddenly became interested.
"What you can boast about, I mean, the most important thing you can boast about is the victory and glory that the Bonaparte family once brought to France. And victory is patriotism, so the Bonaparte family is the representative of patriotism."
Teresa said excitedly.
"This is true, at least it can be established logically." Aigron replied.
"In the past, religion was religion, and the country was country. Even for the sake of interests, kings would have serious conflicts with the church, but now it is different. These two things can be integrated." Teresa continued with interest.
He continued, "As long as you integrate patriotism and religion, you can continue the logic I just said."
"Extend it..." Aigron frowned.
The Bonaparte family is the representative of patriotism, and patriotism is religion, so the Bonaparte family is the guardian of religion.
In theory, it seems to make sense...?
Aigron suddenly became excited.
"Interesting, Theresa." He nodded.
"There is a martyr who was burned to death who is very suitable to speak for you." Teresa showed a joking smile.
"Who?" Aigron asked.
"Joan of Arc." Teresa replied without hesitation, "Wasn't she inspired by religion to defend the country? She saved the country, drove away the evil invaders, and then died at the stake.
The Naparte family led France to its greatest peak, but such a magnificent achievement was destroyed by evil invaders, and the late emperor was unfortunately martyred... Aren't the two very similar? Joan of Arc is the pioneer of the Bonaparte family.
, and also the late emperor’s guide in heaven!” (To be continued.)