The Fox of France -
Chapter 75: The Carrot of Peace (2)
Robespierre had recently published several articles vehemently opposing the war rhetoric of some hardliners in the parliament who were advocating a preemptive strike against Austria.
At any time, the parliament was filled with radicals. Generally, members of the parliament did not have to bear political responsibility for their words and actions, as they had no decision-making power. As a result, the parliamentarians could sometimes be like the imperial censors of the Eastern Empire, freely spouting nonsense without any restraint.
On the other hand, among a large group of parliamentarians, if someone wanted to stand out, become a leader among them, they needed a way to make their presence clear in the midst of the crowd and make their voices heard in the midst of the clamor.
To achieve this, the first method was to be like Mirabeau, towering a head taller than others, with a height of eight feet and a waist circumference of eight feet. Even when hiding in a crowd, they would stand out like a firefly in the dark night. With their natural booming voice, they could easily drown out others.
However, this method had high demands on innate conditions, and not every parliamentarian had the abilities of a Mirabeau. In fact, since Mirabeau had been defeated by illness, there had been no one like him in the French parliament. So, the remaining parliamentarians had to resort to the second method, which was to court popularity by raising sensational topics and shocking proposals to catch people's attention. After all, if parliamentarians didn't have to take responsibility, why not spout nonsense? Who wouldn't? The more irrational their arguments and the more audacious their actions, the more they could lead the trend.
Just like in the future United States, when a certain senator who later became a president proposed severing ties with the Eastern Empire and reestablishing diplomatic relations with Frog Island, but when he became the president, he completely forgot about these ideas, treating them as mere greenhouse gas emissions. Only our divine Emperor, when he says to withdraw, he withdraws, and when he says to build a wall, he builds a wall. He is truly one of the few sincere gentlemen in the history of the United States.
Given the situation in the parliament, irrational viewpoints naturally had the upper hand. In such times, from an institutional perspective, it required a king with a veto power to act as a brake. However, the king had no intention of applying the brakes in this matter because he too desired war. In the eyes of the queen, if a war broke out, the divided France would be utterly defenseless. They could then rebuild the monarchy under the protection of Austrian bayonets. So, the king had no intention of applying the brakes. Moreover, since the incident of his escape, even though the parliament had confirmed that the king was held captive and restored all his powers, he had lost the trust of most parliamentarians. Going against the parliament would not be in his best interest.
According to Napoleon's analysis, those who truly loved peace and were sincere about it were the members of the Jacobin Club. However, the Jacobins had too few seats in the parliament. Previously, they had managed to obstruct the Feuillant's plans several times through an unspoken alliance with the Black Party. But even so, in the parliament, they could only achieve partial success and repeated failures. Now, on this issue, the Black Party would not support them, so relying solely on them meant they couldn't even achieve partial success.
To address this problem, Robespierre gathered a few of his close friends to discuss a strategy.
"You all know that a war at this time will only benefit a few," Robespierre said. "If the war fails, it's a given that all the gains of the revolution will be lost, and France will return to its former state. And if the war succeeds, some individuals can establish their military dictatorship under the guise of 'saving France as heroes.' So, our most crucial task now is to prevent the war as much as possible."
"Maximilien," Marat spoke, "I can write articles exposing the royal family and warning the people about the conspiracy for war. But I'm not sure how effective it will be. You see, my articles hardly influence the parliament."
Marat's newspaper, "The People's Friend," was well-known in Paris. Especially before the king's escape, he had repeatedly cautioned the people in his newspaper to be vigilant and guard against the king fleeing. At first, most people regarded his statements as baseless fears, and Marat was seen as a demagogue seeking popularity. However, history had proven his foresight, so now "The People's Friend" had gained much more influence in Paris. However, due to his political stance, this influence remained limited to the middle and lower classes of Paris. In the parliament, Marat did not have enough influence.
"Unless there is another revolution..." Saint-Just said.
"The timing isn't right," Robespierre shook his head.
"We can find ways to expedite the timing," Saint-Just continued.
"Tell me your ideas."
"We can propose a series of measures in the parliament that are beneficial to the people of Paris but are sure to be rejected by the parliament, such as limiting food prices, banning speculation, controlling the issuance of bonds, and preventing over-issuance. (Actually, when the Jacobins came to power later, they did not refrain from issuing bonds either)," Saint-Just said. "They will definitely reject these proposals, and with each rejection, the people will be educated, becoming more disappointed with the aristocrats in the parliament, and their anger will grow. Eventually, when they fully understand that the current parliament cannot represent France, they will launch another revolution."
"But, Louis, doing this may accelerate their march toward war," Robespierre said. "We should carry out these measures, but right now, we urgently need a way to delay the war, even if only for a while. Lafayette is already giving bonds to his troops as pay. This has undoubtedly led to a series of complaints within the army and the National Guard. This will harm his influence over the military. If we can delay him for a bit, he won't be able to become a Caesar!"
"Joseph Bonaparte serves under Lafayette, and he is a very clever man. We can go talk to him. Maybe he has a solution," Saint-Just suggested.
"Contact him?" Robespierre furrowed his brow. "I think Mr. Bonaparte is not very eager to get involved in our affairs. Besides, he helped us a lot last time and suffered some losses as a result. Recently, Lafayette transferred him and his brother from crucial positions."
"Mr. Bonaparte won't mind that," Saint-Just said. "Mr. Bonaparte may not be very interested in getting deeply involved in politics. His interests lie more on the side of nature, which is natural considering his exceptional talents in those matters. But as you've seen from the last incident, Mr. Bonaparte is a man of morals and integrity. His loyalty to France and the revolution is unquestionable. I believe if we reach out to him, and if he's able to help, he will definitely assist us."
"Are you talking about that Corsican nobleman?" Marat asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "A nobleman, and you trust him?"
"Can Corsican nobles even be considered nobles?" Saint-Just responded. "Besides, not all nobles are untrustworthy, just as not all commoners are loyal to the revolution, for example..."
"All right, Louis, I know that even though you're not a noble, there's a 'de' in your name. But do you really think he has a solution? Is he some kind of wise Solomon? If he were that clever, he wouldn't be stumped by the 'four-color problem' (apparently, Marat was still sore about the setbacks he faced regarding the 'four-color problem'). The solution may not necessarily be with him; I have my own ideas!"
When Marat mentioned the 'de' in Saint-Just's name, Saint-Just was initially inclined to argue with him, but when Marat claimed to have a solution, he suppressed his anger and asked, "What's your idea?"
Marat rolled his eyes at Saint-Just but decided to speak. Marat was very ugly, and he knew it. Like many ugly people, he despised good-looking folks, especially Saint-Just, who was unnaturally handsome, making Marat even angrier just by looking at him.
"Mr. Robespierre," Marat began, "Lafayette is a hypocrite and a coward. If we expose his conspiracy directly, he won't dare to proceed..."
At this point, Marat chuckled like a night owl, "Hehehe, who knows, to clear his name, this hypocrite might even pretend to work with us to avoid war. Mr. Robespierre, doing this kind of thing, my newspaper has limited impact, so it's best if you personally publish some of these articles. Trust me, it will work. I'm best at dealing with these hypocrites."
...
After the meeting, Marat quickly left, and Saint-Just bid farewell to Robespierre. Robespierre noticed that Saint-Just's mood didn't seem to be very high and said to him, "Louis, Marat is like that, full of thorns. He can make anyone furious with his words. But don't take his attitude too personally. He has good abilities, and he is very loyal to the revolution, and he's upright and disciplined. The more you get to know him, the more you'll see that Marat is actually a good person."
"Mr. Robespierre," Saint-Just said, "I don't have any particular thoughts about Marat because of his attitude. I'm just wondering if his method will really work."
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