Chapter 152 Restoring Contact
Ernst is generally satisfied with the work of the Marseille-Hechingen consortium branch and can give it at least an eight-point rating.
However, after praising and rewarding some outstanding employees when it was time to reward and punish them, some shortcomings here were still adjusted.
Apart from the state of the company's business, there was nothing in Marseille that Ernst particularly wanted to see.
After briefly visiting some unique sights in the city of Marseille the next day, Ernst and his party left.
Following the railway north, Ernst first arrived in Lyon, a textile city in France, and then transferred from here to Paris.
October 18, 1868.
Paris France.
In this era, it is completely impossible to find a city in Europe that can compare with Paris in size and quality. Of course, this is just Ernst's personal opinion.
At the same time, the black smokestacks and rivers flowing with black water in London, England, were suffocating.
Although the environments in Vienna and Berlin are good, they are not outstanding in terms of scale.
St. Petersburg is full of depression and depression.
Napoleon III carried out a large-scale renovation and reconstruction of the old town of Paris, making the city full of vitality and showing its artistic value.
Of course, the citizens of Paris at this time were not interested in this new city. The French criticized this new city verbally, which probably meant that it destroyed the unique flavor of old Paris.
Ernst still appreciated Paris from the perspective of his previous life, so naturally he could not understand the thinking of these people.
Of course, this did not prevent Paris citizens of this era from hating the new city, and there were many elites among the critics, including writers and artists.
Finally, under pressure from public opinion, Haussmann, the architect of Napoleon III, resigned to calm the incident, but the transformation of Paris continued.
Later, Paris also built the Eiffel Tower, which Paris citizens hated and complained about at the time.
The transformation of Paris by the Napoleon III government basically established the urban form of Paris. There were more green plants on both sides of the new streets, and city parks could be seen everywhere.
Ernst's motorcade drove slowly through the streets of Paris, passing through the sea of people, heading towards the places where the rich and nobles of Paris lived.
…
An estate in Paris.
Under the guidance of his entourage, Ernst came to a living room.
"Oh, I didn't expect little Constantine's son to be so old!" A white-haired French old man said while sitting on the sofa and looking at the visitors.
This is Grandpa Ernst’s former comrade-in-arms, the French Count Jacob Medina (fictional).
"Jaime Medina, come and meet me. This is the grandson of my old friend. I didn't expect that after so many years, that little guy Constantine has such a young son. He must be sixty or seventy now!" Jacob Medina said to his son.
Jacob Medina's son is estimated to be sixty or seventy years old this year, and is the same generation as Prince Constantine.
"Hello, I am Baron Jaime Medina. Welcome to Paris." Jaime Medina said to Ernst politely.
"Baron Jaime Medina is pleased to meet you, and the old count wishes you good health." Ernst said to the father and son.
"Today, the little ones at home are not here, otherwise it would be nice for you to meet them." Jacob Medina said.
The little guys refer to Jacob Medina’s three grandchildren.
Jacob Medina's family is obviously more prosperous than the royal family of Hechingen. He has several brothers, two sons and three grandsons.
"It's a pity that the commander settled in Bavaria and never came back. Otherwise, the remnants of our old era might have been able to get together, and now I'm the only one left." Jacob Medina sighed. .
The commander Jacob Medina mentioned was Ernst's grandfather, the former Eugène de Beauharnais, Napoleon's stepson and adjutant. However, after Napoleon's restoration, Eugène de Beauharnais did not Instead of returning to France to support Napoleon, he stayed in Bavaria on the advice of his father-in-law, who was then King of Bavaria.
"Back then, your grandfather and I fought together under the command of the commander. Although we later became our own masters, our friendship will never be forgotten. At that time, the swords were shining..." The old Jacob Medina used He recalled the past in a low and slow tone.
Ernst and Jaime Medina listened quietly as Jacob Medina recounted his experiences as a young man.
"What is your main purpose for coming to Paris this time? Little Ernst." After recalling the past, Jacob Medina began to ask Ernst about the purpose of his trip.
Ernst said respectfully: "Your Excellency, this time I came to visit my father and grandfather's old friends according to my father's instructions. I have no other purpose."
Jacob Medina nodded: "It's difficult! There are still people who remember us old guys. When you go back, you must say hello to your father for me."
"Happy to oblige," Ernst said.
"I'm afraid we old guys don't have much time, so you young people still need to move around more, have more friends, more roads, especially communication between nobles..." Jacob Medina said to the young people.
…
Ernst stayed in Paris for three days and visited all the former partners of the Hechingen royal family. Many of them were no longer there due to age.
However, the Hechingen royal family has re-established its relationship network in France. As long as the two parties have more exchanges in the future, they can at least support each other in public opinion.
In addition, Ernst also visited other great nobles in Paris, including various factions, including the Bonaparte family.
As for the past events between the royal family of Hechingen and the Bonaparte family, they are nothing in European history. Enemies can also become friends for the sake of profit.
The royal family of Hechingen and the Bonaparte family obviously did not reach the level of enemies. That is to say, Constantine rarely went abroad as he got older in recent years, so his contacts with these forces decreased.
Like Sigmaringen next door and the Prussian royal family, they still have regular contact. For example, Carol I was able to serve as emperor of Romania because of the operation of Napoleon III.
But history proved that this investment failed, and Carol I finally favored his family and sided with Prussia.
Where there is cooperation, there is also stabbing, just like the current dispute between the two sides about Leopold and the Spanish throne.
Therefore, in the aristocratic world, people do not take joy in things or feel sad about themselves. Everything is based on practical interests.
When Ernst came to Paris, he did not necessarily need to gain the support of these people. The most important thing was to reconstruct the contact network. Intelligence was an important bargaining chip for communication between nobles. As local snakes, the information they had could better Let the royal family of Hechingen avoid risks.