Rouen was the capital of the Normandy region, as well as an ancient city with a thousand years of history. It had been a bishop's seat since the fifth century.
It had once been the capital of Merovingian Neustria, then became the capital of the Dukes of Normandy, until William the Conqueror built a new castle in Caen.
Napoleoni's headquarters during his inspection of Rouen was located in this former palace where only kings and dukes had once lived.
It was a castle steeped in the style of the Middle Ages. Unlike Versailles, it was not lavishly magnificent, but built entirely of stone. From a distance, it looked like a fortress, and in terms of comfort, it certainly could not compare to a manor.
Because they had been delayed for a time at the old battlefield of Ivry, the carriage convoy had already been waiting outside the city for a while. Naturally, the ministers would not enter the city before Napoleon.
After such a long forced march, everyone was inevitably covered in mud. The First Consul of France would hardly enter the city looking so bedraggled. While Georgiana changed clothes, Napoleoni also washed up and changed into clean clothing with the help of his Mamluk manservant. Ordinary men did not have the stamina for such intense riding; only elites like the Imperial Guard, or peoples like the Mamluks who had grown up on horseback, could manage it.
Once he looked splendid again, he mounted his horse and led everyone into the city. He did not have two cavalrymen raise his banner as a king would. Yet even with such a relatively low-key entrance, the townspeople noticed him. The church bells began to ring—one at first, then every bell in the city.
The bells came from different eras, were made by