April 11, 1855, 7:00 AM.
When the gentle sunlight stread through the light blue curtains into the room and stretched across Augusta’s face, the completely naked Augusta lying on the bed slowly opened her sleepy eyes and pushed Jero Bonaparte beside her.
Jero Bonaparte, sleeping next to Empress Augusta, did not wake up at all. After being gently pushed twice by Augusta, he showed a frustrated expression on his face and then gently brushed Augusta’s arm aside with his hand.
After all, after a busy late night just the evening before, no one can be expected to get up in high spirits the next day.
It’s said that a cow can be exhausted, but a field will never be overworked.
Seeing that Jero Bonaparte was still not awake, Augusta had no choice but to change clothes herself. After she had fully dressed in attire fit for the Century Exposition, she returned to Jero Bonaparte’s side.
This ti, Augusta directly grabbed the quilt covering Jero Bonaparte with both hands and yanked it with force.
The white velvet quilt fell to the floor, and only then did Jero Bonaparte wake up without the covering.
Newly awake, Jero Bonaparte looked at Augusta with a dazed expression and then slowly asked, "Augusta, what ti is it!"
Augusta fetched the pocket watch from Jero Bonaparte’s pocket, glanced at the ti, and replied, "Your Majesty, it’s already 7:40, leaving only an hour and twenty minutes until the opening ceremony!"
"What!" Upon hearing the ti, Jero Bonaparte was suddenly fully awake. He quickly sprung up from the bed and hurriedly searched for his clothes for the exhibition, complaining, "Why didn’t you wake up earlier!"
Empress Augusta pouted and replied to Jero Bonaparte with a slightly sarcastic tone, "I did try to wake soone up, but he didn’t want to get up! What else could I do? I couldn’t very well kick you!"
"My fault! My fault!" Acknowledging his wrongdoing, Jero Bonaparte continuously apologized to Empress Augusta while asking about the location of his coat.
Empress Augusta looked at Jero Bonaparte helplessly. She walked over to the nearby clothes rack and tossed Lev’s Formal Suit hanging there to Jero Bonaparte.
"Thank you!" Jero Bonaparte quickly put on Lev’s Formal Suit and then, taking Empress Augusta by the arm, left the bedroom.
Walking through the hallway, guided by servants, they quickly reached the dining room.
After a simple breakfast, Jero Bonaparte and Empress Augusta stood in the Tuileries Palace Hall around 8:30.
"Mokar, is it ti to leave?" Jero Bonaparte asked Mokar.
"Your Majesty, everything is ready, we can depart at any mont!" Mokar respectfully replied to Jero Bonaparte.
"Good! Let’s go!" Jero Bonaparte imdiately gave the command to depart.
Mokar led Jero Bonaparte and Augusta to a splendid carriage and then opened the door.
Jero Bonaparte and Augusta entered the carriage one after the other, and once the door was completely shut, Jero Bonaparte drew the curtains, blocking the outside world from seeing inside.
"Let’s go!" Mokar shouted, and the carriage slowly started moving.
As the carriage traveled through the Tuileries Palace Garden, the Dragoon Regint awaiting in the garden, under the command of Major Jero Paterson, impeccably guarded Jero Bonaparte from all sides, leaving no opportunity for any would-be assassins.
The carriage carrying Jero Bonaparte traveled westward along the Seine River, soon reaching Saint-Cloud in the Near Paris area, the place where Jero Bonaparte and Fuld had chosen as the site of the Century Exposition.
At 8:53, the carriage slowly stopped about 100 ters away from the grand palace, in front of which lay a "sea" of people.
"Your Majesties, we have arrived!" The coachman sitting at the driver’s seat shouted to Jero Bonaparte and Augusta inside the carriage.
The door slowly opened, and Jero Bonaparte and Augusta stepped off the carriage.
"The emperor has arrived!"
"The emperor has arrived!"
The rear row of tourists, upon seeing Jero Bonaparte, shouted loudly, and the sound quickly passed from the back to the front.
Tourists from around the world, standing outside the Century Exposition Palace, looked back; they too wanted to catch a glimpse of Jero Bonaparte.
"Hello, everyone!" Jero Bonaparte waved a hand at the gathered visitors and said.
The "mood group" planted among the crowd quickly shouted "Long live Bonaparte, long live the Empire!" after seeing this gesture.
Under the guidance of the mood group, everyone began chanting the slogan "Long live Bonaparte, long live the Empire!"
This sound, like a surging wave, resounded outside the palace of the Century Exposition and penetrated the palace’s walls into the interior.
In the exhibition area, Eugène Schneider, upon hearing the shouting from outside, instinctively leaned towards Bashirio, the head of the French exhibition group beside him, and whispered, "Mr. Bashirio, His Majesty has arrived!"
"I heard it!" Bashirio nodded, then instinctively glanced at the exhibits. These were all the items that their Northern Industrial Group could showcase (aluminum products, purple dresses, Bordeaux wine, saxophone, converter steelmaking technology, Mao Qi’s rifle not involved in the exhibition). He believed that with these, they should be able to bring glory to the Emperor.
Then he inquired of Eugène Schneider: "Mr. Schneider, can you now defeat the steam hamr in Krupp’s hands?"
"Mr. Bashirio, please rest assured!" Schneider proudly responded to Bashirio, "The steam hamr in Alfred Krupp’s hands can’t compare to what we have, and our Schneider Company is not just exhibiting steam hamrs this ti!
This ti I will surely let everyone know that Schneider Company is a more excellent company than Krupp!"
"Mr. Schneider, I am very much looking forward to it!!" Bashirio replied to Eugène Schneider,
...
On the other hand, amidst the cheers of nurous tourists, Jero Bonaparte and Empress Augusta slowly passed through the "true pedestrian passage" ford by soldiers and police, arriving at the viewing platform to the right of the main entrance of the Century Exposition.
Watching the imperial ministers and foreign envoys lined up under the viewing platform, Jero Bonaparte and Augusta each shook hands with them.
While shaking hands with Baron Haussman, Jero Bonaparte patted Baron Haussman on the shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work!"
Baron Haussman humbly replied to Jero Bonaparte, "This is what I should do!"
After Jero Bonaparte finished shaking hands with everyone, he especially brought Fuad and Cavour in front of him and told them that they too would have to give a speech shortly.
Fuad and Cavour both showed expressions of surprise but nodded to indicate their understanding.
Under the spotlight, Jero Bonaparte and Empress Augusta took the stage.
"I am honored to represent France in attending this opening ceremony of the Century Exposition... Although this exposition is hosted by France, it does not belong solely to France; it is an exposition for the entire world... The significance of this exposition is to showcase diversity to the world..." Jero Bonaparte spoke eloquently about the existence of the World Exposition and then gradually steered the topic to why he decided to open in advance.
He told the tourists present that his purpose for opening early was to let the world know the preciousness of peace (purely self-praising).
After all, with the fires of Cria just extinguished, the world was in need of peace. He hoped to use this Century Exposition to dissipate the lingering smoke of Cria.
"I hope this war will be the last in all of Europe. Let us join hands in defending peace! Guided by Enlightennt thought and the brilliance of reason, we should not slaughter each other like beasts. We should learn from the United States of Arica and strive to construct a new European idea. We who live in Europe should be a community, not isolated individuals."
After the speech, Jero Bonaparte bowed to everyone present as usual.
Imdiately, enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience, and then Jero Bonaparte directed the topic to Fuad and Cavour, inviting them to step forward and say a few words.
Therefore, Fuad and Cavour each gave opening remarks for the Paris Exposition.
After their speeches, Jero Bonaparte nodded to Baron Haussman offstage, who ordered his n to open the doors to the World Exposition.
The crowd surged into the Century Exposition, while Jero Bonaparte and Empress Augusta left under the escort of soldiers.
Having had enough of crowded tourist attractions in his past life, Jero Bonaparte was unwilling to tour in such a congested environnt.
Sitting in the carriage, Jero Bonaparte began silently calculating the profit and loss of the Century Exposition. After careful calculations, Jero Bonaparte suddenly realized that this Century Exposition might face a fate of financial loss.
After all, each ticket was priced at only 2 francs, while France had spent nearly ten million francs on the exposition preparations.
Approximately 5 million visitors were needed to break even, and the exposition was only 180–200 days long, equivalent to needing at least 25,000 visitors per day.
Such a number was not even achieved by the previous New York exposition; only Albert’s 1851 World Exposition reached that number.
Who could make the entire France love free admissions, with the 2-franc price already at their limit?
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