December 16, 1850.
Amidst the expectations of all citizens of France (the Second Republic had been nominally dissolved), France once again initiated a referendum.
To prepare for this referendum, Jero Bonaparte deliberately relaxed the voting restrictions, granting military personnel and temporary residents the right to vote. For the military, the Bonaparte na symbolizes wealth; no one would refuse to follow a Bonaparte into victory.
The content of the referendum was also quite cunning. In Paris, the referendum asked, "Do you support the President in establishing a new Republic?" while in the Outer Provinces, it asked, "Do you support Jero Bonaparte becoming the Governor of France?"
Though different in wording, both versions of the referendum spoke of the sa thing, thereby maximizing the weakening of resistance from the opposition in France.
Jero Bonaparte’s stance: "We must et both the demands of Paris and the expectations of the Outer Provinces. Only in this way can we transition smoothly during this period."
Indeed, the so-called Third Republic was rely a transitional platform for Jero Bonaparte to establish the Empire. He planned to linger on this platform for a while, until everyone had forgotten the military coup and accepted Jero Bonaparte, then the Empire would once again draw near in this world.
The voting process took two weeks, during which there were instances of clandestine operations reminiscent of ghost soldiers borrowing votes.
[Since the Provence Region was traditionally a gathering place for anti-Bonaparte factions, to achieve the results mandated from above and maintain Jero Bonaparte’s authority, the Governor of Provence, with military cooperation, began arresting anti-Bonaparte individuals. These detainees uniformly cast approval votes in the referendum, resulting in a total number of votes equaling 0.8 tis the population of the entire Provence Region.]
However, generally speaking, the Outer Provinces of France chose to support Jero Bonaparte as Governor.
Citizens in the Seine Province (Paris) also did not oppose Jero Bonaparte; almost one-third of them cast abstention votes, half voted in favor, and the remaining one-sixth voted against.
On the evening of December 30, the voting results from various places were announced.
After two days of counting, the results were finally completed by January 1, 1852.
At the sa ti, all newspapers spread the news throughout Paris. According to the overnight statistics from the French Governnt’s audit departnt, a total of 8,471,431 approval votes and 341,351 opposition votes were counted, aning the approval votes won with an overwhelming advantage of 8 million to 300,000.
Once the news spread, the entire Bonaparte Faction plunged into unprecedented celebration; the 8 million votes had endowed the Bonaparte Faction with the legal legitimacy for the coup.
From January 1 onwards, no one would question whether Jero Bonaparte’s coup was lawful, as he was now endorsed by 8 million French people, elevating him above the law.
When the news reached the jails, the Republicans and Mountain Faction mbers inside hung their heads in silence as if mourning, fully aware of the significance of 8 million votes.
The entire French population had entrusted power to Jero Bonaparte.
If they could not reclaim the votes from Jero Bonaparte, even if they resorted to illegal asures against him, they still wouldn’t have the legitimacy to take over Paris after Jero Bonaparte’s death.
Moreover, hastily assassinating a dictator empowered by the entire populace was not sothing in their own favor.
To celebrate the comprehensive victory of the Bonaparte Faction, a thrilled Jero Bonaparte specifically visited the prison where the Republicans were held.
Accompanied by Police Chief Mopa, Jero Bonaparte arrived at a cell door, peering through the observation window to see the "prisoner" inside.
The person lying inside the cell was none other than the forr Republican Governor Cafenak, who now lay haggardly curled up on a hard bed. Observing the once ambitious Cafenak reduced to this state, Jero Bonaparte couldn’t help but feel a sense of triumph.
"Open it! I want to have a chat with General Cafenak!" Jero Bonaparte ordered Mopa.
"Your Majesty, should I summon a few n..." Mopa inquired eagerly.
"No need!" Jero Bonaparte shook his head and entered the cell alone.
"General Cafenak, there’s no need to pretend to be asleep! You can wake up now!" Jero Bonaparte said with a smile, dragging the chair from Cafenak’s desk over to the bedside and sitting down.
Cafenak opened his eyes to look at the Jero Bonaparte before him, his gaze filled with disdain and discontent: "What are you doing here?"
Jero Bonaparte shrugged, saying, "Would you believe if I said I ca to see you?"
"Don’t feign kindness!" Cafenak smirked disdainfully, "If you really had a sliver of conscience, you wouldn’t have launched a military coup!"
"General, political struggles seemingly have nothing to do with conscience!" Jero Bonaparte retorted, unconcerned by Cafenak’s mockery, shaking his head.
"You have imprisoned the entire Republic! You have destroyed the republican system!" Cafenak severely accused Jero Bonaparte.
"General!" Jero Bonaparte replied solemnly: "What is the foundation of the Republic? It is universal suffrage! It allows everyone to speak with their ballot, to let the weak make a sound, even if it is very faint! The previous Republic stripped them of their right to voice, and I have returned power to the French people! I understand the republican system better than you do, I am the true Republican!"
"You shaless manipulator of public opinion!" The arrogant stance of Jero Bonaparte claiming to be a "Republican" filled Cafenak’s heart with humiliation, he’d rather kill this guy on the spot.
Reason told him he could not do so.
Killing Jero Bonaparte would only result in the Republican Faction becoming universally reviled, and the Monarchist Faction would inevitably seize power after Jero Bonaparte’s death.
Compared to the pests of the Monarchist Faction, Jero Bonaparte indeed seed more "Republican."
"General, now 8 million French stand by my side! I am the representative of all French people in abolishing the National Assembly!" Jero Bonaparte responded to Cafenak.
"Hmph! What exactly are you trying to say?" Cafenak responded to Jero Bonaparte.
"Join us! You will get everything you want, whether it’s honor or a title!" Jero Bonaparte extended an olive branch to Cafenak, as soone like Cafenak turning to his side would surely cause severe division within the Republican Faction.
If not handled properly, the Republican Faction would crumble into disarray.
Faced with Jero Bonaparte’s olive branch, Cafenak fell into silence, seemingly pondering whether to agree with Jero Bonaparte.
After a while, Cafenak spoke with determination: "I will never join you! Whether it’s exile or imprisonnt, I will fight against you to the end!"
"That’s truly regrettable!" Jero Bonaparte sighed and stood up to leave: "General Cafenak, I wish you a pleasant trip in North Africa in advance!"
Having said that, Jero Bonaparte left the cell where Cafenak was held.
Mopa, standing by the door and ready to rush in to rescue Jero Bonaparte upon any noise, imdiately saluted Jero Bonaparte upon seeing the cell door open.
"Let’s go! Next one!" Jero Bonaparte said to Mopa.
Under Mopa’s guidance, Jero Bonaparte arrived at where Victor Hugo was held.
Upon entering the cell, Jero Bonaparte was bombarded with a tirade by Victor Hugo, who called Jero Bonaparte the "evil of this world," and proclaid that he would eventually be overthrown by the righteous Parisians.
Jero Bonaparte, unhurriedly, stated that France still supported him, and invited Victor Hugo to rejoin them.
In response, Jero Bonaparte got a resolute rejection from Victor Hugo, who also ordered Jero Bonaparte to leave the cell.
Leaving the cell, Jero Bonaparte shook his head and sighed: "Why bother!"
Afterwards, he t with a few forr Order Party mbers. Unlike stubborn figures like Cafenak, these mbers with flexible moral boundaries accepted Jero Bonaparte’s invitation and vowed to actively participate in the "official candidate’s election" after their release.
Such an attitude greatly pleased Jero Bonaparte, who imdiately ordered Mopa to release several Order Party mbers, including Falu and Montalambert.
On January 2, 1851, the Third French Republic was declared established, with Jero Bonaparte as its Supre Governor for a term of 10 years.
At the sa ti, the Supre Court convened, and over 400 forr Legislative Assembly mbers appeared at the trial.
Arrested generals, parliantary chief of staff, Remiza, and Republican Faction mbers were all sentenced to exile, while so Order Party mbers were also exiled to Algeria.
Besides Paris, other provinces also ford military tribunals in cooperation with governors, generals, and three judges; 10,609 people were released, 9,530 sent to Algeria, 2,804 imprisoned, and 5,108 monitored by the police.
Afterwards, Victor Hugo, exiled in Britain, declared in his moir that this was Jero Bonaparte’s "mad revenge" against the Republic.
In fact, not many people died in this coup.
The death toll of the coup was less than that of a flu outbreak.
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