Chapter 599: Talleyrand's Legacy

"What kind of person is the man I want to marry?"

"You know my character. Since I don't have much communication with him, I can't make a rash judgment about his character, nor can I deceive you through subjective conjecture. I can only tell you what I have seen: his hair color and big blue eyes are roughly the same as yours, his nose is handsome and straight, his mouth is gentle and moving, his teeth are white and neat, and his expression is particularly charming whenever he smiles, which always makes people believe that he must be kind, lovely and intelligent."

"Is he a handsome man? Is he closer to the medieval knight in Sir Walter Scott's novel, or the iron mask in the London fog in your writing, or the handsome young duke in Mr. Disraeli's novel?"

"Only the noble knights of the Middle Ages are worthy of the Queen of England. This is the happiness you deserve."

-"The Resolution of the Empire: The Collection of Letters of Queen Victoria"

Arthur was in a bad mood, and the conversation with Fiona reminded him of his last meeting with Talleyrand before leaving.

God knows why this French cripple, who had never told the truth in his life, suddenly opened up to him.

Perhaps he was jealous that Arthur Hastings' name appeared more often in London newspapers than Talleyrand-Périgord, or because he was old and felt that he had lived enough, or because he simply wanted to tease this young man who made him lose a lot of money playing cards.

This last representative of the 18th century, the leader of French politics, the elder of European diplomacy, the world-class butcher, Mazarin's monkey, the incarnation of Cardinal Dubois, the monk who couldn't help himself, the ridiculous people's bishop, Voltaire's spiritual bastard, Mirabeau's mouthpiece, Aesop in official clothes, the envoy of the lame devil, the Pope's mustard bottle, the defender of England, the agent of Emperor Napoleon, the guide of Tsar Alexander, the evangelist of the Hundred Days Restoration, the umbrella holder of Louis Philippe...

God knows how many nicknames he has, and God knows why he envy and admires a little person like me!

Perhaps because he had experienced 13 governments and changed masters 13 times, he also wanted the younger generation who barely retained a little conscience to follow the same path as him.

Arthur stood under the stage and looked at the male and female protagonists on the stage who were as dazzling as the sun and the moon. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the audience who were excited, happy, sad and moved by the actors' wonderful performances.

He seemed to smell rich fruity and herbal aromas on the tip of his nose, and the sweet smell of ripe black currants and black cherries lingered on the tip of his tongue. That was the red wine that Talleyrand handed him - 1825 Margaux dry red. Somehow, Talleyrand's voice also rang in his ears.

"When the drama is being performed and the actors are still on the stage, it is not appropriate to reveal the plot, the technique and the true face of the protagonist, because the mask is more beautiful than the real face. Today, for some people, the truth is quite dangerous. For others, it is simply a scandal. For everyone, the truth is useless."

"Don't you worry about criticism when you say these words and do those things?"

"For me, I am not afraid of critics or fools. You know who I am referring to. I have anticipated how the generation behind me will evaluate me, but I don't care. Because I am an umbrella that has been bearing heavy rain for half a century. For me, one more drop or one less drop doesn't matter."

"Mr. Talleyrand, do you mean: have you forgiven your enemies?"

"Forgive? I haven't forgotten anything, and I won't forgive anyone. If some mistakes can be forgiven and some passions can be forgiven, they are my own mistakes and my own passions. As for my enemies? I have no enemies anymore, because I will They all went to their graves.

The government of Louis XV, the government of Louis XVI, the government of the Revolution, the government of the Republic, the Directory, the Consulate, the Imperial Government, the Restoration Government of the Hundred Days, the Provisional Government of 1814, the two Restorations, the government of Charles X, they all went to their graves, and I, I am still serving the government of Louis Philippe.

I am proud of myself because I have transcended some people and some events, even transcended suffering, and my heart is hard enough to endure everything. No one can humiliate me, no one can make me suffer. This pride, this A heart of stone, let me live my life without vanity, without excitement, once I die, I will never hear the bell again. Life is nothing more than this. "

"Have you never wanted to win the respect of others?"

"Respect? Oh... young man, in France, people don't respect anything except power. In the palace of favor, everything is great, except the low hole that makes people bend down to enter the palace."

"I... I may not be qualified to judge your idea, but I just want to ask you, do you think it's right to do this...?"

"Are you asking yourself or me this question? Right and wrong, yes and no, these are the simplest and easiest words to say, but they are also the most difficult to understand. I know that you feel that you have done something stupid, so you feel conflicted and blame yourself. But I must tell you, young man, don't feel bad for doing stupid things, because many people don't even have the chance to do stupid things. Follow your feelings and never regret it, whether it is good, bad, or stupid.

I understand how you feel, because I have done the same stupid things as you and felt the same regret. But, Arthur, you have to understand that everything is beautiful at the beginning, but it will make people tired halfway, and the final result is a pitiful and hasty ending. Don't believe in the savior of the motherland, and don't try Try to be like them, because this group of people always makes a mess of their profession.

Think about it from another perspective, sending you to Hanover may not be a bad thing. The weather in London is cold, but the air here can make your blood boil. No matter how many times someone tells you the truth, it is not as reliable as if you experienced it once. Now you finally believe what I said before: it is rare to be rewarded for noble character and punished for evil deeds. There is only one condition for its occurrence, that is, the government needs the public to believe that this set of rules is still valid.

You can become a police inspector from an ordinary patrolman because you meet this condition. This is both your luck and your misfortune. But fortunately, you did not go too far on the road of believing in this fallacy. Politics is different from science. There are rarely 10% of How the immutable theorems and political theorems are interpreted depends mainly on who is Michael Faraday today.

Go to Hanover, wait patiently when you are on the chopping block, and once you become a hammer, hit it accurately. Arthur, be a wicked man, not a stupid man, you know, I don't make friends with stupid people, let alone play cards with stupid people. I can tolerate evil, because I can defend myself against a wicked man, but I can't tolerate stupidity, because I can't do anything to an extremely stupid person.

After the London riots, you should have realized that what the masses accept as truth is often a prejudice or a stupid view. So, use them, but before using the people, you need to confuse their minds first. The only thing I want to remind you is , don't provoke some citizens to hate other citizens, that's useless, because they already have enough intelligence to hate themselves. "

"Mr. Talleyrand, I don't have such great ambitions."

"Really..."

Talleyrand's action of collecting the poker cards in his hand kept replaying in Arthur's mind, his light tone, slightly raised eyebrows and teasing mouth seemed to be right in front of him: "If you are a person without ambition, then... why are you here today?"

For Talleyrand, the tumbler of French politics, Arthur actually didn't hate him. This was not only because Talleyrand lost a lot of money to him, nor was it only because he persuaded the French government to pardon Dumas, nor was it because Talleyrand once offered to give him 100,000 francs to let Arthur help "escort" Louis to Paris.

It was because Talleyrand was a smart man, and he was too smart in many cases, even to the point of being frightening.

Arthur didn't like being seen through by others, especially when this person could see through many things that he himself couldn't see through.

No one would be proud of being enlightened by Talleyrand's political and diplomatic studies, let alone show off.

But the paradox is that everyone admits that they absolutely do not want their opponents to be trained by Talleyrand.

A Talleyrand-style politician is neither a wolf nor a sheep, neither a royalist nor a republican, neither a hammer nor an anvil, neither a minister of God nor an envoy of the devil.

He is neither bound by public opinion nor by the constraints of the kings, but stands in the middle, in the center of the scale. When the balance between the royal power and the cross is about to break, he sometimes applies his weight to one side and sometimes to the other side to keep the balance of the scale.

It is like holding the strings of a puppet in your hand, playing as you please.

You must be able to master all the secrets, know in advance what the world needs afterwards, and consider what words to use to describe the events that are about to happen and the facts.

Don't be the creator of the drama, but be the most indispensable audience of this drama.

Just like what Talleyrand said, a person without ambition will not take the initiative to appear in the audience.

Even if Arthur refused to admit it, what made him speechless was that no matter how hard he spoke, he had actually been silently following Talleyrand's teachings.

Agares squatted on the marble sculpture in front of the theater, looking at the sparks that flickered in the darkness.

The red devil, who had just promoted himself to professor of anthropology and proclaimed himself the special duke of hell in the world, easily judged from the degree of burning of the tobacco that this kid was upset, but he was getting better and better.

Agares proudly imitated Arthur and lit his pipe. The supreme enjoyment of nicotine diffused in his mouth made his happiness even higher.

The red devil squinted and took out the "Faust" published last year from his arms. He flicked his fingers and lit the light in front of him: "You are running around in vain to seek knowledge, but people can only learn. The person who can seize the opportunity is a real man. If you have a healthy body, you will not lack courage. As long as you believe in yourself, you will gain the belief of others. You especially need to learn to control women. Although they suffer from thousands of diseases, they can formulate medical policies from one point, as long as you decorate them. If you look serious, you can catch them all. You need to get one first. degree to make them believe that your knowledge is superior to anyone else. Then, unlike others who spend many years, you touch the magic weapon all over their body at the beginning. You must know how to feel the pulse, so feel free to touch their slender waist and With your smart and passionate eyes, you can see if her belt is tight... De, the writing is really good! The only flaw is that the devil in the book chose Mephistopheles, not me, but this is not a big problem, after all, Mephistopheles is indeed missing a brain stem. Idiot, he is not as good at cheating as I am, and he cannot cultivate a real big shot."

Just when the red devil fell into narcissism, and was secretly happy because he had violated the two sins of 'pride' and 'vanity' at the same time, the trill of the carriage wheels broke the tranquility of the night, like a drop of water falling into the still lake, attracting Aga. Leith couldn't help but look at the source of the voice with disdain.

The cobblestone pavement glowed with a faint golden glow under the weak kerosene light at night, and the sound of horse hooves and the impact of wheels echoed in the ancient alleys.

The majestic carriage is pulled by four sturdy horses. Its snow-white mane and shiny harness are particularly dazzling under the light. The carriage is painted black and decorated with exquisite gold rims and green patterns. The center of the door It is also inlaid with a bright noble family crest.

The black and gold horizontal stripes are like layers of historical rings, while the green diagonal strips running through them are like a vein of life.

In the complicated coat of arms, you can see the red lion representing Thuringia leaping high, with its silver stripes shining on the shield. You can also see the silver castle symbolizing Coburg standing on a green base, with the tower spiers pointing straight into the sky. The bear's claw coat of arms is rough and resolute, and the earthy smell of the mountain forest still seems to be retained between the claws. It is the symbol of Anhalt and a symbol of strength and land. The black eagle coat of arms spreads its wings, and the wings seem to cross the border of the shield, symbolizing the inseparable and close relationship between this family and the Holy Roman Empire...

Naturally, it was not only the Red Devil who noticed this carriage, but also Arthur.

Relying on the poor knowledge of heraldry he learned from Schneider, the rookie diplomat was able to identify the owner of the carriage with great difficulty: "Family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha?"