Just as the count said, it didn't take long for Aigron to receive news that Marshal Marmont had come to pay homage to Schönbrunn Palace.
Compared with the previous visit of the French ambassador Count Telewin, the palace's reception of Marshal Marmont this time was much more formal - after all, although he had temporarily lost power and was about to go to distant St. Petersburg to serve as ambassador, his previous qualifications and prestige, as well as
The personal connections are still there, and he can continue to be active on the stage as a political figure, and he is by no means comparable to an ordinary ambassador.
His Majesty the Emperor personally received the delegation led by Marshal Marmont in his audience hall.
Aiglon was not able to attend this meeting, and he did not know what Marshal Marmont had discussed with His Majesty the Emperor, but he knew that he would also play a certain role in this ceremony.
On the afternoon of this day, the palace attendants led a group of people in military uniforms to Aigron's residence.
Then, the marshal strutted into Duke Lechstadt's room, while everyone else was left in the outside room, sitting on the sofa and waiting.
The two people met each other like this.
When Marshal Marmont entered the room, Aigron stood up from his seat and looked at the marshal.
Although he is over fifty years old, Marshal Marmont still has a strong body, strong steps, and bright eyes. He has short brown hair, a high and straight nose, and looks dignified.
When Aigron looked at him, he also held his head high, looked at Aigron silently, and then looked straight ahead, deliberately emphasizing the pride and dignity of a marshal in this way.
This posture looked strong, but it also seemed a bit like he lacked confidence. Maybe he still felt a little guilty after all when facing Napoleon's son.
"Good afternoon, Duke of Ragusa." Aiglon took the initiative to extend his hand to the other party, and then said in French, "I am very honored to meet you."
"Good afternoon, Your Highness." Marshal Marmont nodded to the young man with a respectful but reserved attitude, "I am so happy that you have grown up to be such an outstanding young man."
"You've given me an award. I have nothing, how can I be called excellent?" Aigron replied with a smile, "I still have a lot to learn from my seniors. I hope that if I have the opportunity, I can get your guidance in the future.
"
"If there is an opportunity, I will be happy to provide you with some help." Marshal Marmont also laughed.
After the initial pleasantries, both men sat down.
Then, Marshal Marmont took out a letter from his pocket and handed it to the young man in front of him.
"His Majesty the King has a letter that he wants me to deliver to you personally." He explained in a low voice, "His Majesty is very happy that you can recognize the real situation in France and make a decision that is beneficial to the French people and yourself.
Decided, he hopes that you can have a good future in Austria, and that maybe one day a truly historic reconciliation will be achieved between the Bourbons and Bonapartes."
"I also believe that we will achieve a historic reconciliation, Mr. Marshal." Aiglon took the letter calmly, then put it aside and looked at Marshal Marmont again, "Duke Ragusa,
I was very happy to see a French marshal come to see me - this is definitely an unusual guest for me."
"Compared to Archduke Charles, I am not that unusual, Your Highness." Marshal Marmont replied. "He is a real expert, both theoretical and practical, and I admire him wholeheartedly. If you are interested in military affairs
If so, you can ask him for more advice, I believe he will be very happy to give you advice."
This reply made Aigron laugh and say nothing.
He couldn't help but secretly wonder if he was slowly being taken seriously now because European countries were beginning to re-evaluate themselves as "Archduke Karl's son-in-law".
In any case, although King Charles X obviously meant to humiliate himself, on the surface he had already done enough etiquette, so Aiglon could not get angry for a while, so he could only be patient and deal with Marshal Marmont first.
"To be honest, I'm still a little curious until now. What advice do you have if you want to come over to see me?" Aigron decided to find out the situation first, "Marshal, what do you expect from me?"
"It's not just advice, but it's a bit of expectation." Marshal Marmont leaned forward slightly and stared at the young man opposite, "Your Highness, the world says that you plan to live as a vassal of the Habsburg family.
But I don’t quite believe it.”
Aigron was not disturbed by such a simple temptation and remained calm.
"Whether you believe it or not is your freedom, will it matter what I say?" he asked.
"Before I left Paris, Talleyrand told me about you. He said that you have great ambitions and will accomplish something great." Marshal Marmont withdrew his gaze, and then continued, "I don't
I know why he made this judgment without ever meeting you, but I believe that since you have contacted him, it means that you must not be willing to give in, and you hope to do something good.
.”
Talleyrand...has actually begun to stir up momentum for himself secretly?
Or to someone like Marmont?
Aigron was at a loss for a moment, not knowing whether to be happy or fearful.
If Marmont told the Austrian emperor that he had different ambitions, God knows what the consequences would be.
"Don't worry, Your Highness, what's wrong with a young man having a little ambition?" Marshal Marmont seemed to see what he was thinking, "Don't worry, I have not said anything bad about you to His Majesty the Emperor - even
Said that he would be happy to see you contribute your talents to Austria, but of course only to Austria."
Fortunately, it wasn't the worst outcome... Aigron finally felt a little calmer.
"Then do you have anything to tell me?" He changed the subject.
"The main reason why I came to see you is to see what Napoleon's son looks like. It's as simple as that." The marshal's expression suddenly became a bit nostalgic and sad, "I never thought that the once glorious empire would eventually turn into
It ended like this.”
"You also played a role in its demise, Your Excellency." Aiglon interrupted abruptly.
His words immediately brought a stinging feeling to the marshal.
"No matter what you think of me, it doesn't matter to me. I just act according to my conscience."
Then, he looked at the young man and said, "As my best wish to you, I hope that while you are prospering, you can restrain your ambition and not make the same mistakes as your father, Your Highness."
"What do you mean by this?" Aigron asked.
"I want to defend you, or rather, defend history." Marshal Marmont suddenly stood up, "Your Highness, although you are receiving me with a smile on your face, I can see the disgust deep in your heart.
Wrong, the world sees me the same way... I can bear this kind of malice, but I will not allow others to force me to bear responsibilities that I should not bear when my life is declining."
"Are you trying to say that it's not your responsibility to lead the army to surrender?" Aigron asked in confusion.
"No, then I accept my responsibility." The marshal nodded dejectedly, "But what happened before that? Who pushed us to the point where we had to surrender, and who lost the empire? This is what I can afford.
Responsibility? The real responsible person is himself, right?"
"I don't quite understand what you mean." Aigron frowned.
"He defeated the anti-French alliance, but he also provoked the anti-French alliances one after another. He used his endless ambition to drag us into endless flames of war. In the end, everyone had to unite to eliminate him, otherwise
, what other results could there be?" Marshal Marmont became excited, "You have received education, so please make an objective evaluation. In the end, did all the countries want to destroy France, or did he want to destroy France?
Greed leads to self-destruction? We people are born and die, why has everyone abandoned him?"
"Isn't it just to protect your own glory and wealth?" Aigron also felt a little angry in his heart, so he became merciless.
"You are wrong!" Marshal Marmont shouted back at Aiglon, "We just don't want to bleed any more for the Bonaparte family!"
Before Aiglon could ask again, the marshal kept talking.
"Napoleon conquered France with one sword and one shot, and made all European countries tremble with fear. Even if he stole the republic when he became emperor, everyone could still find some reasons to be convinced; but why should his brothers? Joseph,
What qualifications do weird guys like Louis and Jérôme have to wear the crown? They have neither blood nor ever led an army to expand territory. They became kings only because they have the same mother as Napoleon!"
Marshal Marmont's face turned red when he talked about his excitement. "He relied on the lives of French young people as a bet and wanted to turn Europe into his own private property. Is this reasonable? What reason did the French have to bleed for Joseph?"
, what reason did the Spaniards have to accept Bonaparte as their master? They rebelled in groups, and in the end Napoleon had to take the lives of the French to fill the hole he dug himself! Other countries were also frightened by this crazy idea,
They have been forced into a corner and can only resist desperately - as a result, the war continues, and he is going to squander French lives again! How many lives has he already squandered? "
Marshal Marmont frowned, obviously recalling the blood-soaked scenes in his memory, "Just because of his fantasies, hundreds of thousands more people died in Europe! Aren't these hundreds of thousands of innocent souls once precious lives?
Didn't they have a bright future? Just because of your father, their lives withered when they were most vigorous. Shouldn't Napoleon be responsible for this? With all due respect, at that time, he had no choice but to hurry up
Only stepping down can bring happiness to the French people!"
…
Aiglon listened to the other party's words quietly.
This is something he has been holding in his heart for a long time, and it does make sense.
Although he didn't understand why he wanted to say it in front of him, he couldn't back down now.
"Your Excellency Marshal, your words make me feel a little strange." Aigron also stood up and stared at the other party.
"What's so strange?" Marshal Marmont asked.
"You claim to be his former best friend and enjoy the glory and wealth he bestowed upon you; at the same time, you tell me here that he has made all kinds of big mistakes and that he is the only one who has ended up there," Aiglon said coldly, "Okay,
You have more knowledge and experience than me. I dare not say that I know Napoleon better than you. Maybe you are right, but I still have the same question - what were you doing at that time? Why did you enjoy those glorious times?
With peace of mind, he waited until he was at the end of his rope before he remembered to fight for justice?"
Eggron knew that if he debated with the other party "Did Napoleon make any mistakes?" and "Should he be abandoned by the French?", he would be at a disadvantage no matter whether he won or lost, because Napoleon did make many mistakes in the later period of his rule, which ultimately destroyed himself.
The empire also allowed itself to end up dying in a foreign land.
Since it was destined to be impossible to refute, he simply ignored the historical issue and made up a point - even if Napoleon made countless mistakes, how could you, a person who enjoyed the glory and wealth he rewarded at the time, have the right to say anything about it?
?Why didn’t you correct or resist at that time?
"When Napoleon made a mistake, if you had the backbone, or were as concerned about the country and the people as you claimed, you should stand up and speak out. If he didn't listen, you could cooperate passively and hide in seclusion; or even
You could go to America like General Moreau and never let yourself be in trouble with France, but what did you do? You did nothing. Instead, you remained silent and enjoyed the wealth he bestowed upon you, turning yourself into an accomplice.
member!"
Aigron narrowed his eyes and asked the other party in a calm tone, "When you were a marshal and a duke, you followed Napoleon and turned the country into your own playground with peace of mind. When the empire was about to perish, you jumped out and rebelled.
attack, and at the same time put all the blame on him... Is this the way you love France? Or is this the way you treat your benefactor?"
Aigron's series of questions left Marshal Marmont speechless for a moment.
His face turned red and white, but for a long time he couldn't say anything to refute.
Indeed, these cross-examinations hit his key point - Napoleon's enemies could shout out any of Napoleon's crimes; but when his former subordinates shouted so, their stance was really a bit weak.
"You are right, Your Highness." He sighed and gave up arguing with Aigron.
Finally, he sat down slumped.
"I can no longer escape my responsibilities."
"It's okay, we are all born guilty. Since you are the winner now, you are not guilty." Aigron said as if comforting and mockingly, "Marshal, if you want to get hypocrisy from me,
You will not get forgiveness from me; but you can rest assured that my heart is not influenced by emotions and I will not hate you rashly. If you are worried about your reputation after death, you don’t need to convince me that history will take its own course.
Judgment, even I can’t control it.”
"In that case, I believe that you will indeed achieve something. You have this kind of talent." Marshal Marmont regained his composure, then he smiled bitterly and extended his hand to Aigron, "I wish you the best in Austria.