Make France Great Again-Chapter 849 - 840: Lyon Telegram and Mauser Rifle
After going through the transition pains of 1855, Jerome Bonaparte’s work became exceptionally easy.
Apart from receiving documents submitted by the secretariat every day, Jerome Bonaparte spent the rest of the time hosting salons and accompanying his wife and children on family outings.
Some newspapers, under the direction of Jerome Bonaparte, began to report on the warm life and tabloid news of the Bonaparte family to the outside world.
The citizens of Paris, through newspapers, perceived an emperor different from the mainstream depiction, an emperor more grounded than the one described in the mainstream press. When the public discovered the emperor’s lifestyle and entertainment (fishing, horseback riding, playing cards, flirtation) was no different from theirs, an invisible sense of closeness emerged, and the public’s support rate for the Bonaparte government gradually rose.
Of course, these tabloid stories also brought Jerome Bonaparte some "negative" image, such as every time he conversed with passers-by on the street, there would always be someone smilingly asking Jerome Bonaparte, "How many girlfriends does the emperor really have?", "Your Majesty, are you still in touch with xxx?" Jerome Bonaparte could only respond with an awkward yet polite smile.
Time quickly passed to June when a telegram from the Lyon Military Region was sent to the telegraph office under the Ministry of War, and the officer there promptly delivered the telegram to Minister of War Vayan.
After glancing at the telegram’s content, Vayan immediately summoned the Secretary of State and handed him the telegram, saying, "You must immediately take this telegram to the Tuileries Palace and deliver it to the emperor!"
The Secretary of State, without even looking at the telegram, folded it and stuffed it into his pocket. "Yes, Minister!" (All departments were already accustomed to this term for the minister).
With that said, the Secretary of State quickly left the Ministry of War, took a carriage, and headed to the Tuileries Palace.
When the carriage arrived at the entrance of the Tuileries Palace, the Secretary of State of the Ministry of War got out and jogged into the Tuileries Palace, stepping up the stairs.
The soldiers guarding both sides of the Tuileries Palace immediately stopped the Secretary of State halfway and inquired, "What is your business?"
The Secretary of State took out the telegram from his pocket and responded to the soldier, "I am here on the orders of Minister of War Vayan to submit a telegram to His Majesty!"
"His Majesty is not currently in the Tuileries Palace!" the soldier hurriedly replied.
"Then where is His Majesty now?" the Secretary of State asked the soldier, looking surprised.
"Please wait a moment!" One of the soldiers entered the Tuileries Palace.
After a while, the Royal Chief Steward (nominally) Vilnius appeared in front of the Secretary of State with an expressionless face. The Secretary of State quickly responded respectfully, "Chief Steward Vilnius!"
"His Majesty is currently inspecting the industrial park of the Northern Industrial Group! If you have urgent matters, I can send someone to call him back!" Vilnius said indifferently.
"Thank you very much!" The Secretary of State thanked Vilnius and then left the Tuileries Palace.
Just as the Secretary of State was about to walk down the steps, he was immediately called back by Vilnius behind him, "Wait a moment!"
"Chief Steward Vilnius, is there anything else?" The Secretary of State asked Vilnius with a slight hint of confusion.
Vilnius hesitated for a moment and then asked the Secretary of State, "Are you planning to return to the Ministry of War?"
The Secretary of State told Vilnius he was going to personally head to the Northern Industrial Group’s park to find Emperor Jerome Bonaparte.
"Hmm, I understand!" Vilnius nodded in response to the Secretary of State.
Returning to the carriage, the Secretary of State rushed to the industrial park in the suburbs. Upon entering the park, he was led by soldiers to the shooting range inside.
"What is His Majesty doing here?" the Secretary of State muttered softly to himself.
The soldier beside him, hearing the Secretary of State’s muttering, looked at him in surprise, "Don’t you know?"
"Know what?" The Secretary of State was taken aback for a few seconds before asking. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
The soldier immediately informed the Secretary of State that His Majesty the Emperor was there to test the performance of a new rifle.
"A new rifle?" The Secretary of State was taken aback again. He had been in the position for a while but was not aware of the new rifle.
However, he suddenly recalled an instance when he was organizing files for the Minister of War and inadvertently discovered that since mid-last year, the Empire had significantly reduced the production of the Minie rifle compared to before.
Originally, he thought it was because the Empire had entered a period of peace, so they were no longer mass-producing the Minie rifles.
Now it seems that the reduction in Minie rifle production likely has a significant connection with the new rifle.
"I see!" The Secretary of State murmured to himself again.
At this time, inside the shooting range of the industrial park, Jerome Bonaparte was examining the breech-loading rifle in his hand. Standing quietly beside him were the Mauser sons explaining, and Jerome Patterson was in charge of shooting.
Subsequently, Jerome Bonaparte gently opened the cartridge chamber of the breech-loading gun with his hand, and a slight sound was immediately heard from inside,
Jerome Bonaparte knew that the firing pin had been set in place under the action of the internal spring.
"The bullet!" Jerome Bonaparte reached out again and said to Old Mauser.
Old Mauser quickly handed a fixed brass bullet with a diameter of about 11mm to Jerome Bonaparte, who then inserted the bullet into the rifle and pulled back the bolt.
Along with the slight sound coming from within the Mauser once more, Jerome Bonaparte raised the rifle in his hand, aimed it at the distant target, and pulled the trigger.
With a "bang," the bullet was fired from the muzzle, speeding toward the distant target.
In approximately one second, the bullet hit the target.
"Patterson, go have a look!" Jerome Bonaparte responded to Jerome Patterson.
"Yes!" Jerome Patterson hurried over.
Jerome Bonaparte pulled back the rifle’s bolt, and the casing inside was smoothly ejected as he did so.
It seems the extraction mechanism has been entirely conquered by Old Mauser!
Jerome Bonaparte touched the metal casing, still warm, with a hint of pride in his heart.
Old Mauser also relaxed visibly after seeing the smooth ejection of the casing.
"You’ve done well!" Jerome Bonaparte praised Old Mauser.
"Your Majesty, you flatter me!" Old Mauser responded modestly to Jerome Bonaparte, and then added, "The design was proposed by you and completed by Paul!"
"Oh?" Jerome Bonaparte glanced at Paul Mauser beside Old Mauser, he tapped Paul’s shoulder with the rifle butt and said earnestly, "I believe your name will be sung throughout the world in the future. Don’t bury your talent!"
Paul Mauser, after hearing Jerome Bonaparte’s praise, also responded excitedly that he would continuously design rifles for His Majesty the Emperor.
After hearing Paul Mauser’s promise, Jerome Bonaparte’s mouth curled slightly, as thoughts of the Kingdom of Prussia came to his mind.
If he hadn’t intervened, William Mauser and Paul Mauser would likely have designed one outstanding rifle after another for Prussia, just as history would have it.
Now that the Mauser Clan is serving France, it seems it will be difficult for the Kingdom of Prussia to find designers to rival the Mauser.
Top-tier firearm designers are as scarce as scientists.
After all, talent isn’t something everyone possesses.
Paul Mauser and William Mauser happen to be such talented individuals.
"I hope you don’t forget today’s promise!" Jerome Bonaparte emphasized, having already decided that if the Mauser brothers ever escape his control, he would destroy them at all costs.
What Jerome Bonaparte cannot possess, the Kingdom of Prussia must not acquire.
Conversely, if William Mauser and Paul Mauser design outstanding works for France, Jerome Bonaparte would gladly grant them the honors they deserve.
Paul Mauser evidently didn’t understand Jerome Bonaparte’s sinister intentions, eagerly promising to keep his word.
Later, Jerome Patterson returned to Jerome Bonaparte’s side, reporting a score of 9 rings for the 100-meter shooting.
"Not bad!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded contently, passing the Mauser Rifle 2.0 to Jerome Patterson, "You give it a try! But this time, you need to shoot lying on the ground."
Taking the rifle, Jerome Patterson found another target and began shooting as Jerome Bonaparte instructed.
After another gunshot, William Mauser ran to the target and announced Jerome Patterson’s score as 8 rings.
"You’re holding back, Patterson!" Jerome Bonaparte, aware of Jerome Patterson’s shooting talent, said.
"No, Your Majesty, I’m just slightly unaccustomed to this way of shooting!" Jerome Patterson argued.
"How do you feel this rifle compares to the previous version?" Jerome Bonaparte questioned Jerome Patterson once more.
"Your Majesty, of course, this version is better!" Jerome Patterson replied without hesitation, "This design (referring to the extraction mechanism) saves us a lot of time, but..."
"But what?" Jerome Bonaparte pressed further.
"But this rifle may place considerable pressure on our logistics!"
