President Jerome Bonaparte cooperated very smoothly with the Order Party magnates. Both sides had cordial and friendly discussions, with frank exchanges [the President wished he could strangle the Order Party], and fully exchanged opinions [the President could not defeat the Order Party in the short term, so he had to play some small tricks]. The result of the talks was meaningful [the President successfully promoted the general of his choice as an undercover].
After the talks, Fleury brought in the champagne that had been prepared earlier. The President and the chieftains of the Order Party, along with military leaders, raised their glasses.
"To even better cooperation in the future!" Jerome Bonaparte raised his glass and proposed the toast.
The glasses clinked together with a "crackling" sound, perhaps foreshadowing the future.
However, with the current opposition in the National Assembly, the President and the Order Party must tolerate each other and act as a "sham couple" with different dreams.
Both sides hid their daggers and pistols under the bedding, waiting for the dawn to decide life and death.
After Audion Barrot and others left, Jerome Bonaparte returned to the banquet.
As soon as he returned to the banquet, Jerome Bonaparte was again surrounded by the guests, who all toasted to this Prince President, uttering some flattering words.
The banquet lasted until half past midnight, and the invited guests at the Elysee Palace left one after another.
Exhausted from the day’s exertions, Jerome Bonaparte, supported by Fleury, entered the retro Empire-style bedroom he had personally arranged.
Half-drunk and half-awake, Jerome Bonaparte struggled to open his eyes and said to Fleury hazily, "Fleury... call me at 11 o’clock tomorrow!"
"But, Your Highness, tomorrow is your first day as President. Shouldn’t we..." Fleury hesitated for a moment and replied tentatively.
"President?" Jerome Bonaparte struggled to get up from the bed, pointed to himself, and whispered, "Now I, as President, have nothing but my uncle’s halo!"
Saying this, Jerome Bonaparte gestured: "We must be more cautious, take power from their hands step by step, and then..." Jerome Bonaparte made a motion of striking with a knife and said viciously, "Send them to hell!"
"Your Highness, we will definitely succeed!" Fleury responded without hesitation.
"Yes! I believe it too!" Jerome Bonaparte lay back on the bed again.
In the next second, Fleury heard Jerome Bonaparte’s snores. He carefully took off Jerome Bonaparte’s boots, placed his legs on the bed, then covered him with a silk velvet blanket, and quietly closed the door as he left.
The blazing midday sun streamed through the curtains with the double-headed eagle pattern, shining on Jerome Bonaparte’s face. Due to excessive drinking, Jerome Bonaparte, whose head felt like it was splitting, reached out his right hand to block the sun.
However, there wasn’t much time left for Jerome Bonaparte to sleep.
About 10 minutes later, there was a knock at the door outside. Jerome Bonaparte had to reluctantly open his eyes and, with a hint of waking irritation, questioned, "Who’s outside?"
"Your Highness, Prime Minister Barrow is already waiting for you in the study!" Fleury, knowing he was disturbing the Prince President’s rest, responded with apprehension, "And Count Falu!"
"Alright! I know!" Jerome Bonaparte muttered softly in complaint, "Really, would it kill them to come a bit later?"
Muttering complaints, Jerome Bonaparte still had to endure the headache and get up. Hearing movement in the room, Fleury hurriedly called in several maids who followed him into the bedroom.
In a daze, Jerome Bonaparte was groomed and dressed with the help of the maids.
After dozing for a while, Jerome Bonaparte pulled himself together and arrived at the study door. Fleury opened the study door for Jerome Bonaparte, revealing the figures of Barrow and Count Falu.
"Good afternoon, Mr. President!" said Audion Barrot, whose face showed a trace of displeasure due to Jerome Bonaparte’s late arrival; Thiers was right, Prince Bonaparte was an irresponsible man.
"Mr. President!" Count Falu nodded to Jerome Bonaparte with a smile.
"Prime Minister, Mr. Falu, how are you!" Jerome Bonaparte showed no awkwardness for being late, shaking hands with Barrow and Falu as he entered the room.
"Prime Minister, this should be our Minister of Public Education, right?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Barrow knowingly.
"That’s right!" Audion Barrow responded.
"Minister Falu, I hope you can benefit more people in the field of public education! The field of education is vital to France’s lifeblood!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Count Falu with slightly exaggerated words.
"Since the President and Prime Minister have entrusted me with the work in the field of education, I will do my utmost to complete it!" Count Falu responded earnestly, in a low and slow tone like a preaching missionary: "I have a proposal that needs to be handed over to..."
Before Count Falu could finish speaking, Jerome Bonaparte interrupted his speech: "At this time, let’s not talk about such heavy topics! Prime Minister Barrow, what do you think of my proposal?"
Not wanting to cause trouble before completing the cabinet formation, Audion Barrow agreed with Jerome Bonaparte’s suggestion, and the somewhat unwilling Count Falu had to temporarily set aside his proposal.
Since it was his first day as President and the cabinet was not yet complete, Jerome Bonaparte had nothing to review.
After a brief chat, Audion Barrow and Falu left together, leaving Jerome Bonaparte alone in the study, leisurely flipping through books taken from the bookshelves opposite the walnut desk.
Not until dusk did Jerome Bonaparte leave the study and head to the dining room for dinner.
In the following ten or so days, Jerome Bonaparte’s routine was to wake up after 10 am, meet with Audion Barrow at 2 pm, and then return to the study to read alone.
Originally uneasy about Jerome Bonaparte’s interference with the cabinet, Audion Barrow completely relaxed, taking his time to form the cabinet, addressing the issues left by the previous cabinet and compiling them.
On January 6, 1849, after a long half-month of cabinet formation, with the appointments of Minister of Justice Eugène Roué and Minister of Public Works Mornay, Prime Minister Audion Barrow of the Second French Republic finally completed his cabinet.