"What is it, Mr. Barrow? You still haven’t answered my question?"
Jerome Bonaparte, still feigning ignorance, questioned Audion Barrot.
"We will all support your decision, Mr. President!" Audion Barrot tried to brush off Jerome Bonaparte with a vague attitude.
"Mr. Barrow, you are fighting against the National Assembly!" Jerome Bonaparte bluntly exposed Audion Barrot, spreading his hands helplessly and saying, "I can’t fight against the National Assembly, the Constitution does not grant me such power!"
"Mr. President, I never asked you to fight against the National Assembly! I only plead for you to order the ban on clubs and disband the Special Team! This is the power granted to you by the Constitution!" Audion Barrot once again framed his next actions as constitutional.
"Please forgive me for refusing! Mr. Prime Minister, doing this does not benefit me at all and will also tear France apart." Jerome Bonaparte, unwilling to endorse Barrow without absolute benefit, picked up the Gallic Wars on his desk and read it.
The "vote of no confidence" by the National Assembly left Audion Barrot in a precarious situation; now, he had clearly lost the composure he had before becoming Prime Minister. He just wanted to keep the Prime Minister position he had held for less than a month, even if that position was under Jerome Bonaparte.
"Mr. President, what are your terms?" Barrot showed a bitter smile, and asked dryly.
"Hmm?" Jerome Bonaparte shifted his gaze from the Gallic Wars to Audion Barrot, placing the book back on the desk, he replied, "Mr. Barrow, when I was very young, my father told me that everything in the world had a price from the very beginning! I have a suggestion, would you like to hear it?"
So, the terms are finally being discussed?
Barrot immediately responded, "I would be happy to listen!"
"Hmm... you can see it as a business, or as a policy! The implementers of the policy are certainly you and me!" Jerome Bonaparte added another sentence after using inappropriate words, "Of course, there’s also your party, and we can all earn a significant profit in this regard without worrying about any gossip afterward."
Subsequently, Jerome Bonaparte explained to Audion Barrot about the issue of the "Railway Commission" and the issuance of public bonds.
Barrot also raised the same questions that Mornay had initially raised, which Jerome Bonaparte also answered one by one.
"A reasonable design!" Audion Barrot couldn’t help expressing, "This can both avoid unregulated wild growth and the National Assembly’s approval issues."
"So, Mr. Prime Minister, great minds think alike!" From Barrot’s expression, it was clear that he was already inclined towards this plan.
"I would like to ask, who exactly devised this plan?" Eager to know the proposer, Barrot asked, as no one understands better than the proposer how to operate it.
Unwilling to be the standout, Jerome Bonaparte promptly credited Mornay for the proposal, "This is the plan given to me by Mr. Mornay, the Minister of Public Works!"
"Mr. President, does this plan have more detailed and specific content?" Barrot gestured with his hands, "If the plan could be organized, that would be even better!"
"Of course it does!" Jerome Bonaparte gently tapped the desk twice.
Hearing the movement, Percy promptly entered the office.
"Percy, I need to trouble you for a moment!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Percy.
Then, Jerome Bonaparte instructed Percy to bring the plan submitted by Mornay from the drawer in the Elysee Palace study.
Following the order, Percy swiftly moved to action, while Jerome Bonaparte and Audion Barrot continued discussing the issues of the National Assembly.
"Mr. Prime Minister, I have a question for you!" Jerome Bonaparte placed his hands on the desk and said, "I remember that back on January 6th, Minister Leon Fushi had already told me about the necessity of disbanding the Special Team, and I had agreed with his opinion. Why is it that the Special Team has not been disbanded yet?"
Barrow explained the situation of the Special Team to Jerome Bonaparte.
Since the cabinet meeting on January 6th, Leon Fushi ordered the disbanding of the Special Team; however, the Special Team refused to disband, claiming that Leon Fushi was not their direct superior.
The Special Team, under the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs but receiving army salaries, was not threatened by Leon Fushi. Coupled with secret support from the Republican Faction, the Special Team even dared to engage in small-scale conflicts with the Capital Corps.
"Damn it, how did Paris become ! Whether it’s the Republican Faction or the Mountain Faction, none of them are clean!" Jerome Bonaparte cursed.
"Correct! The Republican Faction and the Mountain Party are not the ones to govern the country; they will only ruin it!" Agreeing with Jerome Bonaparte, Barrot expressed his dissatisfaction with the Republican Faction and the Mountain Party.
"In that case, Mr. Prime Minister! I think we should show them how it’s done! I believe Paris should hold a military parade soon to prevent the return of revolutions," Jerome Bonaparte incited Barrot to conduct a preemptive coup.
Barrot seemed somewhat tempted by Jerome Bonaparte’s incitement.
At that time, he did not consider the possibility that once the atmosphere of using the army to coerce the parliament was established, he and his party might one day also become victims of the army.
"I still need to discuss this with General Shang Jia’nie!" Barrot responded.
"It is necessary to consult General Shang Jia’nie! Otherwise, the issue with the Special Team will be difficult to resolve!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded in response.
Just as Jerome Bonaparte finished speaking, Percy appeared in the office holding the documents.
Percy respectfully handed the documents to Jerome Bonaparte, who then passed them to Audion Barrot.
Upon receiving the documents, Barrot leafed through the contents page by page until reaching the last page.
Faced with the well-prepared plan, Audion Barrot had no choice but to agree, "I agree with Mr. Mornay’s plan!"
After reaching an agreement for cooperation, the rest was up to Audion Barrot to persuade Shang Jia’nie.
In the following days, Jerome Bonaparte rarely saw Audion Barrot after returning to the Elysee Palace.
However, with Audion Barrot’s support, the "Railway Commission" began to be established in an orderly manner.
After the Cabinet meeting adjournment on January 25th, Audion Barrot found Jerome Bonaparte, "Mr. President, General Shang Jia’nie and Minister Liulei have agreed. The army will hold a parade on January 29th!"