"No, no, no! Mr. Thiers!"
Jerome Bonaparte continued to maintain a polite demeanor and said to Thiers, "The fate of France does not depend on the National Assembly, but on you and your friends! To be precise, on your party!"
Jerome Bonaparte’s straightforward response made Thiers, who originally wanted to engage him with lengthy political rhetoric, feel even more contemptuous of this rude Italian before him.
An idiot basking in the halo of the Bonaparte name.
Despite the sarcasm, Thiers maintained his smile, opened the coffee container on the round table unhurriedly, and the rich aroma of the steaming coffee wafted in front of Jerome Bonaparte.
"Would you like some?" Thiers scooped a spoonful of coffee into a cup with an aluminum spoon.
"No, thank you!" Jerome Bonaparte’s mouth twitched slightly; it was the first time he saw someone drink coffee this way.
After taking a sip of coffee, Thiers slowly put down the cup, shook his head, and said, "Mr. Bonaparte, no one can control the will of the National Assembly; it can only be decided by all the people of France! What my party and I can do is to convey the will of those voiceless citizens through us to the government. Furthermore, the National Assembly not only has us but also the Republican Faction and the Mountain Party! They also represent the will of the majority of citizens, so how can it be said that the National Assembly depends on us?"
Thiers’s meaningless officialese and slightly arrogant attitude made Jerome Bonaparte somewhat annoyed. However, annoyance aside, Jerome Bonaparte understood that now was not the time to turn against the Order Party; he could only continue this game with Thiers.
"Senator Thiers, you should know that we do not get along with those guys from the Republican Faction and the Mountain Party. They only want to disrupt this beautiful France, while we are dedicated to making the whole of France more beautiful and prosperous! Revolution cannot solve problems; we must respect the existing order of France!" Jerome Bonaparte deliberately emphasized the word "we" to temporarily bind himself to the Order Party.
"Oh? Mr. Bonaparte, if you are confident in leading the revival of the whole of France, then why come to me?" Thiers responded to Jerome Bonaparte with a mocking tone.
"Senator Thiers!" Jerome Bonaparte spread his hands to show sincerity: "Honestly, if France still held elections by universal suffrage, I would have a great chance of becoming the President of France. Even if France does impose a wealth threshold for voters, I still have a chance."
"Then Mr. Bonaparte can quietly wait for the election results!" Thiers’s tone remained mocking.
"But I’m not sure at all!" Jerome Bonaparte simply played it straight and said: "Moreover, Governor Cafenak came to see me recently, and he told me that if I could give up the election, he would let me serve as Minister of Public Works! If the Order Party is unwilling to support me as President, I will consider Governor Cafenak’s proposal. There’s nothing wrong with being Minister of Public Works! To run for President, I’ve already incurred a pile of debts, so I have to at least break even!"
The blatant threat based on interests by Jerome Bonaparte brought a sense of unease to Thiers, who thought he had a guaranteed victory in hand.
If Jerome Bonaparte really agreed to Cafenak’s proposal to withdraw from the election, then Cafenak’s biggest rival would disappear, and he would certainly become the next President of the Republic.
At that time, as President of the Republic, his attitude towards the Order Party would be what? Would he expel all members of the Order Party from the Assembly?
Putting himself in Cafenak’s shoes, Thiers instantly found the answer: despite Cafenak’s current appearance of listening to the National Assembly, once he became President of France, the first thing he would do would be to purge the Order Party from the assembly.
At that point, I would probably be like a fish on the chopping board, at others’ mercy.
"I think there’s no need to make a decision so quickly; the proposal to restrict wealth hasn’t passed yet, and even if it does succeed, didn’t you say, Mr. Bonaparte, that you still have a chance?"
"Understanding" Thiers quickly sought to appease Jerome Bonaparte, his purpose was merely to admonish Jerome Bonaparte a little to make him more compliant with the Order Party, but if the pressure wasn’t right and instilled fear, wouldn’t it be a case of trying to steal the chicken and losing the rice as well?
"Mr. Thiers, I can wait, but my series of debts won’t give me the chance!" Jerome Bonaparte leaned back in his chair, adopting a rogue posture: "I need money, a lot of money! If I fail in the election, those debts might very well drive me to death! I cannot, for an uncertain election result, disregard my debt problems! If you and your party cannot meet my needs, then I have no choice but to turn to Governor Cafenak!"
From this moment on, it was no longer Jerome Bonaparte requesting Thiers, but Thiers requesting Jerome Bonaparte.
"Governor Cafenak also said that if I can support him, he guarantees that during my tenure as minister, the Ministry of Public Works will be the busiest department of all! That way, I’d have a chance to pay off my debts!" Jerome Bonaparte displayed a greedy expression, "And he also said he’d support me in the next presidential election!"
Damn Cafenak, he wants to wipe us out!
Though a storm raged in Thiers’s heart, his expression remained calm as usual.
Thiers wanted to take another sip of coffee; when his hand touched the coffee cup, he realized that his hand holding the cup was trembling slightly involuntarily.
"Mr. Bonaparte, as an old hand in the political circles of Paris for years! I need to share a piece of life advice with you!" Thiers once again changed his attitude, speaking with seriousness.
"Go ahead!" Jerome Bonaparte responded sincerely.
"In Paris, never believe any promise made by a politician!" Thiers then emphasized: "Especially a politician from the military! They are skilled in artillery and have no sense of honesty."
"But I’m not confident in winning against him under wealth restrictions! I cannot ignore my debt problems; compared to power, I value money more at the moment!" Jerome Bonaparte continued to exhibit a greedy demeanor.
The impression of cowardice and greed finally tipped the scales in Thiers’s heart towards Jerome Bonaparte. Compared to a strong Cafenak, Jerome Bonaparte was clearly more aligned with their interests.
After careful consideration, Thiers decided to make one last test of Jerome Bonaparte: "Mr. Jerome Bonaparte, if you take that position, how will you handle government affairs?"
Jerome Bonaparte displayed a pious expression: "If I have the honor of becoming the President of the French Republic, I will never forget your kindness! I will choose a highly respected member of the Order Party to serve as the government’s Prime Minister, to serve the Republic!"
Then, Jerome Bonaparte paused and continued, "If I could accomplish significant engineering feats while serving as President, that would be even better! Of course, if I could increase the president’s salary a bit, so that after paying off my debts, I have some surplus left!"
A greedy, cowardly guy is the perfect puppet!