Eagle’s Glory

As the earl said, it didn't take long for Egron to receive the news that Marshal Marmont was coming to Schönbrunn Palace.

Compared to the previous visit to the French ambassador, Earl Taylorwin, the reception of Marshal Marmont by the court was much more formal this time. After all, although he temporarily lost power and was about to go to distant St. The personal connections are still there, and he can continue to be active on the stage as a political figure, which is by no means comparable to an ordinary ambassador.

His Majesty the Emperor personally received the delegation led by Marshal Marmont in his meeting hall.

Aigron had no chance to participate in this meeting, and he didn't know what Marmont Marmont had talked 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 court servants led a group of people in military uniforms to Aigron's residence.

Then the marshal strutted into Duke Reichstedt's room, while the others were left in the outer room, sitting on sofas and waiting.

The two met each other like this.

When Marshal Marmont walked into the room, Aigron stood up from his seat and looked at the Marshal.

Although he was over fifty years old, Marshal Marmont's body was still quite strong, his steps were strong, and his eyes were piercing. He has short brown hair, a high and straight nose, and looks dignified.

When Aigron was looking 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 looks strong, but it vaguely seems a little lack of confidence. Maybe he still has a guilty conscience when facing Napoleon's son.

"Good afternoon, Duke of Ragusa." Aigron offered 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'm really glad that you can grow into such an outstanding young man."

"You are too much, I have nothing good, how can I be called excellent?" Aigron replied with a smile, "I still have a lot to listen to the teachings of my predecessors, and I hope that if I have the opportunity, I can get your guidance in the future. "

"If there is a chance, I would be happy to help you a little bit." Marshal Marmont also laughed.

After the initial pleasantries, both 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 has a letter, and he wants me to hand it over to you." He explained in a low voice, "Your Majesty is very glad that you are able to recognize the real situation in France and have made a decision that is beneficial to the French people and to yourself. decided, he wishes you a bright future in Austria, and perhaps one day there will be a truly historic reconciliation between the Houses of Bourbon and Bonaparte."

"I also believe that we will achieve historic reconciliation, Mr. Marshal." Aigron took the letter calmly, then put it aside, and looked at Marshal Marmont again, "Duke Ragusa, I am very happy to see a French Marshal come to see me - this is definitely an extraordinary guest for me."

"Compared to Grand Duke Karl, I am not necessarily so unusual, Your Highness." Marshal Marmont replied. "He is the real expert. He is both a theoretical school and a practical school. I am full of admiration. If you are interested in military affairs, you can ask him for advice. I believe he will be very happy to give you advice."

With this reply, Aigron could only laugh without saying a word.

He couldn't help but wonder in his heart, is it because the European countries began to re-evaluate themselves as "the son-in-law of Grand Duke Karl" now that he is slowly being valued by others.

In any case, although King Charles X obviously meant to humiliate himself,

But on the surface, his etiquette has been done very well, so it is difficult for Aigron to get angry for a while, so he can only deal with Marshal Marmont patiently.

"To be honest, I'm still a little curious until now. What advice do you have for coming to see me?" Aigron decided to find out the situation first. "Your Excellency Marshal, what do you expect from me?"

"It's not about advice, but rather anticipation." Marshal Marmont leaned forward slightly, staring at the young man opposite, "Your Highness, the world says you plan to live as a vassal of the Habsburg family, But I don't really believe it."

Aigron was not disturbed by such a simple temptation, and remained calm.

"It's your freedom to believe it or not. Is it useful to say what I say?" He asked back.

"Before I left Paris, Talleyrand mentioned you to me. He said that you have great ambitions and will surely make a career." Marshal Marmont retracted his gaze, and then continued, "I don't I don't know why he made such a judgment without meeting you, but I believe that since you have contacted him, it means that you must not be reconciled to women, and you hope to make a career .”

Talleyrand...has already secretly started to make noise for himself?

Or to someone like Marmont?

Aigron was at a loss for a while, not knowing whether to be happy or afraid.

God knows what would happen if Marmont told the Emperor of Austria that he had different ambitions.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, what's wrong with being ambitious?" Marshal Marmont seemed to see what he was thinking, "Don't worry, I didn't speak ill of you to His Majesty the Emperor—you can even Said that he would be happy to see you contribute your talents to Austria, and of course only in Austria."

Fortunately, it wasn't the worst outcome... Aigron finally settled down a little.

"Then what do you need to tell me?" He changed the subject.

"I came to see you, the main reason is to see what Napoleon's son looks like, it's as simple as that." The marshal's expression suddenly became a little nostalgic and sighed, "I never thought that the once glorious empire would end up It ended like this."

"You also played a role in its demise, Your Excellency." Aegron interrupted abruptly.

His words immediately brought the marshal's tingling sensation.

"No matter what you think of me, I don't care, I just act according to my conscience."

Then, he looked at the young man again, "As my best wishes to you, I hope that you can restrain your ambitions while making great achievements, and don't make the same mistakes as your father, Your Highness."

"What do you mean?" Aegron asked back.

"I want to explain to you, or to explain to history." Marshal Marmont suddenly stood up, "Your Highness, although you are receiving me with a smile on your face, I can see the disgust hidden in your heart. Wrong, the world also sees me in the same way... I can bear this kind of malice, but I don't allow people to forcibly bear the responsibility that I shouldn't bear when my life is going to decline."

"Are you trying to say that it is not your responsibility to lead the army to surrender?" Egron asked suspiciously.

"No, I accept my responsibility." The marshal nodded dejectedly, "But before that? Who forced us to surrender, who lost the empire? This is something I can take on Is he responsible? 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 provoked the anti-French alliance again and again. He dragged us into endless wars with his endless ambitions, and finally had to let everyone unite to destroy him, otherwise , what else can there be?" Marshal Marmont became emotional, "You have received an education, so please evaluate it objectively. In the end, is it the countries that want to destroy France, or is he endless? Greed leads to self-destruction? We were born to die, why did everyone abandon him?"

"Isn't it just to keep my own glory and wealth?" Aigron was also angry, so he didn't hold back.

"You are wrong!" Marshal Marmont shouted back at Aigron, "We just don't want to bleed for the Bonaparte family anymore!"

Before Eggron could ask again, the Marshal continued talking endlessly.

"Napoleon took down France with a knife and a gun, and beat all European countries into a guilty conscience. Even if he stole the republic as emperor, everyone can still find some reason to be convinced; but what are his brothers? Joseph, What qualifications do weird guys like Louis and Jerome have to wear the crown? They have neither blood nor led an army to expand their territories. They became kings only because they had the same mother as Napoleon!"

When Marshal Marmont talked about the excitement, his face was a little red, "He relied on the lives of young French people as a bet, and wanted to turn Europe into his own private property. Is this reasonable? The French have no reason to bleed for Joseph. Well, what reason do the Spaniards want to take Bonaparte as their master? They revolted, and in the end Napoleon wanted to take the life of the French to fill the hole he dug himself! Other countries were also frightened by this madness, They have been cornered, and they can only fight desperately-and the war continues, and he is going to squander the lives of the French! How many lives has he squandered?"

Marshal Marmont frowned, apparently remembering the bloody rivers in his memory, "Just because of his wild imagination, hundreds of thousands of people died in Europe! Aren't these hundreds of thousands of innocent souls precious lives? Didn't they have a bright future of their own? Shouldn't Napoleon be responsible for the fact that their lives withered at their peak because of your father? With all due respect, by that time, he would have had nothing but early Step down to bring happiness to the French!"

...

Aigron listened quietly to the other party.

This is what he has been holding back in his heart for a long time, and it really makes sense.

Although he didn't understand why he had to speak out in front of him, but now, it was impossible for him to shrink back.

"Your Excellency Marshal, what you said made me feel a little strange." Aigron also stood up and stared at the other party.

"What's so strange?" Marshal Marmont asked back.

"You claim to be his best friend once, and enjoy the glory and wealth he bestows on you; on the other hand, you tell me here that he has made all kinds of big mistakes, and that he has only taken the blame for that fate," Aegron said coldly, "Okay, Your knowledge and experience are richer than mine, 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 rich and luxurious days Have a peace of mind, and wait until the end of his life before remembering to fight for justice?"

Aigron knew that if he debated with the other party "whether Napoleon was wrong" and "whether he should be abandoned by the French", he would be at a disadvantage no matter whether he won or lost, because Napoleon did make frequent mistakes in the later period of his administration, and eventually destroyed himself The empire, also let himself fall to the end of death in a foreign land.

Since it is doomed to be irrefutable, then he simply bypassed the historical issue and killed a truth-even if Napoleon made thousands of mistakes, you who enjoyed the glory and wealth he rewarded at that time, what qualifications do you have to say? ? Why didn't you correct or resist at that time?

"When Napoleon made a mistake, if you had the backbone, or cared about the country and the people as you claimed, you should stand up and speak up. If he doesn't listen to his opinions, then you can passively cooperate and hide from the world; or even You can go to America as far as General Moreau, and never allow yourself to be responsible for France, but what have you done? You did nothing, but kept silent, enjoying the wealth he bestowed, and turned yourself into an accomplice member!"

Aigron squinted his eyes and questioned the other party in a calm tone, "When you were the marshal and 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 fought back. strike, and lay all the blame on him... Is this how you love France? Or is this how you treat your benefactor?"

Aigron's series of questioning left Marshal Marmont speechless for a while.

His face turned red and white, but he couldn't say a word of rebuttal for a long time.

Indeed, these cross-examinations hit him at the core—Napoleon's enemies could shout out any crimes against Napoleon;

"You are right, Your Highness." He sighed and gave up arguing with Aigron.

Finally, he sat down dejectedly.

"I can't escape my responsibility."

"It's okay, we are all born guilty, since you are the winner now, then you are innocent." Aigron said with comfort and mockery, "Your Excellency Marshal, if you want to get hypocrisy from me You won't get your forgiveness, but don't worry, my heart is not influenced by emotion, and I won't hate you rashly. If you care about your reputation behind you, you don't have to convince me, history has its own Arbitration, even I can't control it."

"In that case, I believe you will indeed achieve something. You have this talent." Marshal Marmont regained his composure, then he smiled wryly, and stretched out his hand to Egron, "I wish you the best of luck in Austria." Prosperity, Your Highness."