Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 613 The king is dead!Long live the king!
Almost 5 minutes before Zhao Xin and the others evacuated, the residents of Courtyard 366 on Rue Saint-Honoré were woken up by hasty knocking on the door.Although it was past two o'clock in the morning, some people hadn't slept yet. Apart from the owner's family, most of the other tenants in this house were night owls.

The owner, Dupley, is a carpenter and does some furniture business, but most of his income still comes from rent.From the beginning of the Revolution, his favorite tenants were all Jacobins.Apart from the famous painters Gerrard and Prudhon who are famous for later generations, the tenants in the courtyard are Maximian Robespierre.

The living conditions of the house are not very good, and there is no privacy. If visitors want to find Robespierre, they must first enter the dining room and then climb up the narrow ladder-like stairs to reach his room. .However, this place is only a few houses away from the "Association of Friends of Liberty and Equality" (Jacobin Club). After going out and turning a corner, there is the Tuileries Palace and the Riding Ground (the seat of the National Convention), which is comparable to that of Robles. I don't know how many times closer to Pierre's previous residence in Ma Hai District.

The landlord Dupley, who was woken up, walked to the door and asked through the door, "Who is outside?"

"I'm Frelon, I'm in a hurry to find Mr. Robespierre!"

Two minutes later, the fully dressed Maximilian Robespierre was already standing in the restaurant on the first floor.

"What happened?" It was nearly 3 kilometers away from Temple Tower Prison, and the sound of flintlock guns could not be heard at all, let alone the gunfire filtered by the silencer of the Special Operations Battalion.

"Sir, something serious happened"

When he heard from the sans-culottes who reported the attack on the Temple Tower prison, Robespierre was shocked and speechless, but then decided to rush to the city hall to get the latest news.

Although the distance from Avenue Saint-Honoré to Paris City Hall is only more than one kilometer, a large number of sans-culottes armed forces in the surrounding districts are gathering at the location of the Temple Prison, resulting in the flow of people on the narrow streets. It took Robespierre 20 minutes to arrive at the city hall, and then he learned one shocking news after another from the mouth of Paris Mayor Boucher.

About [-] royalist militants stormed into the Temple Tower Prison at around [-]:[-] am this morning. Although the garrisoned National Guard resisted, they suffered heavy casualties due to the small number.The National Guard battalion and sans-culottes in the area outside the forest also participated in the siege, but the opponent's firepower was too strong, and several attacks were repelled.Later, when the National Guard battalions from the two surrounding districts came to support them, they launched a new round of counterattacks under the cover of multiple cannons, and the Temple Tower Prison was recaptured.

However, when the soldiers rushed into the tower, they discovered that Louis XVI was dead!According to the preliminary investigation, someone stabbed the abdomen with a sword, causing massive bleeding.In addition, among the living people in the entire tower, apart from Queen Marie Antoinette, only a few servants who were locked up on the first and third floors were found.Not only did hundreds of royalist militants disappear, but even Louis XVI's sister, Madame Elizabeth, daughter Princess Charlotte, and heir to the throne Louis Charles also disappeared.

What the hell!When the members of the Paris Commune and the members of the National Convention who were present heard the news, it was like a lightning strike on their foreheads!
Even more appalling is yet to come.Soldiers of the National Guard and sans-culottes lit torches and searched every corner of the four floors of the Temple Tower Prison and the square garden carefully, except for a few tied up like pigs The unlucky guy, I didn't even find a trace of a royalist party!
How did they escape?You must know that this is not a few people, but hundreds of people!Besides, not long after the exchange of fire, the entire Temple Great Abbey was surrounded by the citizens of the sans-culottes organization. Even if no one dared to stop those people after climbing over the wall, someone would always see it, right?
But no one saw it, what the hell!

The General Security Committee under the National Convention immediately ordered a large-scale search and arrest throughout the city. The National Guard Battalions in 48 districts and more than 2 sans-culottes members led by the Paris Commune took action to search every corner of the city and interrogate all suspicious people. Arrest every suspect.Even the British, Spanish, Dutch, Russian and American embassies have sent a lot of stalkers.

Of course, it is impossible to search the apartment in the Place des Vosges where the Chinese Mission of the Republic lives; after all, they just took [-] pounds of wheat for free from others, which eased the food crisis in the whole city of Paris. Who is the friend and who is the enemy? I can still see clearly.

Besides, for the thirty or so people from the Republic of China, it has only been a few days since they disembarked from Le Havre and entered Paris?Except for General Deng, who is leading the team, who is proficient in French, and an assistant staff officer who understands English, the others will simply say hello. I am afraid they don't even know what the Temple Tower Prison is for.

It takes at least several months of planning to accomplish such a major event.

The Jacobins headed by Robespierre, Danton, Marat, Camille, etc., unanimously determined and affirmed at the meeting held in the equestrian hall conference hall that there were A traitor; otherwise it is not enough to explain how hundreds of royalist militants stormed the Temple Tower under the noses of the garrisons and watchers.

Marat, the "tearing warrior" of the Jacobins, denounced loudly on the podium that the internal corruption and impurity of the National Convention and the General Security Committee were the chief culprits for all this.This guy attacked Foreign Minister Le Brun on the spot, saying that he was in contact with foreign agents, and accused the banker Valkiers of being an agent of Austria and a speculator on the exchange.

"We want to arrest all enemies and all suspicious people! If we don't want to be wiped out, let us kill all conspirators mercilessly! Only dictatorship is the only way to bring down all counter-revolutionary traitors!"

"enough!"

Although the Girondins were at a disadvantage, they immediately fought back.They first targeted Marat; of all the Jacobins, Marat spoke the most boldly and aggressively.As long as his arrogance is suppressed, the others will be fine.

The leader of the Girondist faction, the Minister of the Interior, De La Salle, stood up and spoke immediately, saying that it was the advocacy and instigation of Marat in September that led to the massacre. It is also the root cause of the royalists desperate to rescue the royal family.In addition, he declared at the Council of the Paris Commune in September that at least 9 heads must be cut off to ensure the smooth progress of the republican cause and the peace of the French people.

There was an uproar among the crowd, and some members of the Girondists called for the arrest of the anarchist and a trial by the Revolutionary Tribunal.However, this is not an issue to be discussed at today's meeting. The president of the National Convention, Eli Guadet, vetoed the proposal.

When it was Robespierre's turn to speak, he first appealed to everyone present to remain calm, but he himself was not calm at all.He even roared from the podium: "I demand that those who protect the traitors be severely condemned!"

The former chairman of the National Convention and member of the Public Safety Committee, Petion, stood up and was about to speak, but Robespierre suddenly said: "You are their accomplice."

Petion's nose was crooked with anger, thinking that I provoked you?Immediately retorted: "Yes, if I am an accomplice, so is You. It is time to end all atrocities! It is time to hang traitors and slanderers! And I will execute their execution myself!"

Robespierre shouted: "You are lying!"

Pétion responded: "You are the one to be punished!"

The mutual accusations of the two immediately caused an uproar in the venue.You must know that the two were still very good friends half a year ago. Robespierre and Pettion were neighbors before the move, and they ate and discussed issues together every day.Since August 8, the relationship between the two has deteriorated sharply, and now they have publicly turned against each other!
Faced with the Gironde party's intensifying attacks on himself, Robespierre made a general refutation, and at the same time exaggeratedly asked everyone present: "Who dares to accuse me?"

At the other end of the council hall where the Girondins sat, a tall, thin, pale man stood up and exclaimed, "I dare!"

Everyone took a look, okay, it turned out to be a friend of the Minister of the Interior De La Salle, the writer Lu Wei.

As soon as this remark came out, Robert Spilton immediately froze.The other party's speech completely disrupted his position, and he panicked.Dandong on the side immediately jumped out to save the scene, and threatened Lu Wei: "I hope this accuser can stick his finger in the wound."

What he meant was to ask the other party to come up with evidence, if not, don't beep.

Lu Wei glanced at Dandong and said, "I planned to do so. But why did you stand up and shout?"

"Uh" Danton was at a loss for words.

Lu Wei's meaning is very clear. If I dare to stand up, I have evidence. What kind of onion are you?
Seeing that Danton was wilting, Lu Wei immediately said loudly to Robespierre: "I accuse you! Serve yourself as the idol of the people, and preach that you are the only person who can save France from the whole country. I accuse you! Using conspiracy and fear To monopolize the General Security Council and gain supreme power through slander, violence and terror. I demand the establishment of a committee to investigate your actions!"

At this moment, the whole meeting fell into a frenzy, and the content of the discussion had nothing to do with what happened last night.Therefore, crooked buildings are human nature, regardless of ancient and modern.

Although these words of Lu Wei are clichés, they still push the opposition's hostility towards Robespierre to an unprecedented height.Robespierre and the ghostly Lu Wei looked at each other, feeling terrified.

He clearly knew that at this moment, he was already in danger of being lynched and executed, and if he was a little careless, he would be doomed.Danton kept gesturing to him to urge him to refute immediately.But the cunning Robespierre could neither refute nor wish to refute.He knew that he didn't have Danton's eloquence, and a hasty defense would only make things worse; he needed time to calm down and write his own defense statement.

He wants to use strong language to show his great contribution to the revolution over the years.He was right!Never wrong!Before you can make others believe in you, you have to believe in yourself first.

He then made a request to the chairman of the General Assembly, giving him a week in which he will defend himself.Then the members of the National Convention unanimously decided to give Robespierre a week to prepare for his defense, and then everyone went on to discuss how to deal with the current situation.

You must know that such a big thing happened, the French government can't hide it if it wants to.Those who sympathize with the king, as well as spies from various countries, must not be idle. Within three days, Austria and Prussia in the north will know.

By afternoon, the results of further investigations were in.After questioning the National Guard soldiers who exchanged fire that night and examining the wounded and bullet holes, the General Security Council concluded that the attackers were royalists financed by Austria.Although the National Guard officers who participated in the firefight that night had different opinions, they were ignored because there was really no way to explain it.In addition, there is no such thing as "alien" in this year, otherwise the French would not be able to stop thinking about it.

Of course, the only people in Europe who can see the fragments of bullets are the Russians, but the problem is that the Russians can’t see them.
This conclusion mainly stems from a gathering at the Jacobin Club in April this year.At that time, a member once recommended a "new invention" of his own to the leaders of the club, which was subsequently rejected by Robespierre as "completely contrary to the basic principles of human nature".

In fact, it is not a human nature problem that the French do not have equipment, but that it is too difficult and costly to process and manufacture. Currently, only the Austrian army is using it in Europe.

Yes, the "new invention" that the member is talking about is the air rifle designed by the Italian inventor Bartolomeo Girardoni around 1779.Basically about the size and weight of a flintlock, it has a tubular magazine that holds 20 rounds.

After installing the magazine, the user first erects the barrel so that the bullets in the magazine slide down to the bottom of the barrel, and then pushes a push rod at the end of the barrel, and through the flat spring connected to the side tube, the user can Load the bullet and enter the ready-to-fire state; after each shot, press the push rod again, and the spring will return.Then repeat the above action again.

The biggest feature of this gun is that it can fire 1 times within 25 minute. At the same time, it has the characteristics of high rate of fire, low shooting sound (compared to flintlock guns), and no flame at the muzzle; Resulting in a shooting range of up to 150 yards (137 meters).

The special gas storage tank it is equipped with is the butt at the rear, which is connected through threads, and through the linkage of the hammer when shooting, the check valve at the interface is controlled to release compressed gas.Each air tank can be used for about 30 shots, and the internal pressure is 800~850PSI. The only problem is that at least three compressed air tanks are required for combat.

Well, it is not surprising that there are Austrians behind the royalists; after all, Marie Antoinette is the Grand Duchess from Austria, and the army of the Republic is still fighting the Prussian-Austrian coalition forces.So both the General Security Council and the National Convention accepted this statement.

Then the next question came, how did the attacker escape with one big, two small and three people?The city of Paris is now in a state of complete martial law. Tens of thousands of people searched for a whole day, and even a mouse that escaped from the Temple Tower can be caught. Where did a group of big living people go?
sewer?Of course I did. The problem is that the sewers in Paris can suffocate people to death these days, so some people speculate that there must be an unknown secret passage inside or near the Temple Tower.It was through this passage that the royalists were able to take away Louis Shire and the other three, and at the same time hundreds of people could escape unscathed.

Needless to say, even after digging three feet into the ground, the entrance to the passage must be found!
During the period of the General Security Committee and the Paris Commune, people were sent to interrogate Marie Antoinette many times, hoping to pry answers from her mouth.But Marie Antoinette dared to make the decision to stay, and she had already reported that she was ready to kill her without telling her.The husband is gone, the children and Lady Elizabeth have been taken away, and the Jacobins have no bargaining chips in their hands.

The people sent by Jacobin saw that this damn thing was difficult to deal with!They didn't dare to torture the queen. After all, the majesty of the royal power has not been shattered in the hearts of the French people. Otherwise, how could Napoleon become emperor smoothly ten years later?

A few days later, the news of Louis XVI's death spread to all directions, and when the countries learned about it, they responded quickly.

British Prime Minister Pitt first announced that the murder of Louis XVI was "the worst and most brutal act in human history."Immediately afterwards, the British Parliament voted unanimously to approve the war proposal against France and approved the war appropriation; Spain immediately recalled its ambassador to France and planned to declare war on France; then the Netherlands also began to actively prepare for war against France.

Catherine II of the Tsarist Russian Empire learned the news when she was about to go to bed. She was deeply shocked and saddened, and ordered the entire Tsarist village to mourn Louis XVI for six weeks.

Coupled with the previous Holy Roman Empire and Prussia, public opinion in almost all European monarchy countries has begun to oppose the French First Republic and demand the release of Marie Antoinette.

The response of the United States was more contradictory. They verbally supported the republic in trouble, but they felt that the death of Louis XVI had an opportunity in their hearts, and they could renege on their debts!
For the newly established French First Republic, after winning the battles of Valmy and Jemmypis, it has occupied the entire Austrian Netherlands, which is exactly the rhythm of bullying.Danton, who was sent to the Belgian front to investigate the needs of the troops, declared: "The frontiers of France are determined by nature. The territory will be bounded by four points, the Atlantic Ocean in the north, the Alps in the south, the Pyrenees in the west, and the Rhine in the east." river."

On the tenth day after the Templar incident, after hearing the news from England, the National Convention decided to preemptively declare war on England and the Netherlands, trying to use war to make European countries accept the republican idea, thereby consolidating the revolution.

In addition, Robespierre and Danton, who have successfully resolved the political crisis through self-defense, decided to stick to one another and proposed to set up a special court to try Marie Antoinette, and let her and Louis XVI act together. companion!
In such a tense atmosphere, the mission of the Republic of China bid farewell to the Paris City Council. Now that it is winter, they want to return to China when the Cape of Good Hope is the least stormy.

After discussion, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to use Degugne as the accompanying interpreter.In addition, Deguigne's family will also go to the East with him. The public reason is that the old Deguigne was influenced by the Chinese scholar Jiao Xun and wanted to go to the East to re-study the origin of the Chinese.

In addition, as suggested by Deguigne, the four "Gods of La" Lavoisier, Lacroix, Lagrange, and Laplace, as well as Marques Condorcet, a member of the National Convention, will also carry The family headed east.As the friendly envoys of the French government, they will go to the Republic of China for a three-year academic visit and inspect the administrative system of the Republic of China.

In fact, due to Zhao Xin's interference, factional struggles in the National Convention have become increasingly intensified, far exceeding the rhythm of another time and space history.The Jacobins were sharpening their swords, and Lavoisier, who was a tax collector in the king's era, and Condorcet, the core of the Girondins, had already sensed that the storm was coming.Thanks to Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji's prior communication and strong invitation, they decided to leave France with three other scholars.

Take Lavoisier as an example. Before he came to Beihai Town, he had been forced to resign from the Gunpowder Committee and moved out of his residence and laboratory at the Royal Academy of Sciences.Also for the Paris Commune controlled by the Jacobins, the Republic needs neither scholars nor chemists! (This is the original sentence when Lavoisier was sentenced to death.)
On November 11th, the National Convention and the Paris City Government held a warm and grand farewell dinner at the Tuileries Palace.Early the next morning, Deng Fei and his group embarked on their way back to Le Havre amid the cheers of tens of thousands of Parisians.

Zhao Xin, who had already sent Louisshire and the others aboard the Thor in advance, then sneaked back to Paris, looked back at the city of Paris, and couldn't help muttering: "The king is dead, long live the King!"

　The Girardoni air rifle is the air rifle that Macartney paid tribute to Qianlong in history.This gun was only equipped by the Austrian Army in Europe, and it was eliminated due to various problems decades later.Each soldier must carry at least three air storage tanks and a manual air pump with him when fighting. Each time the air pump is used to manually inflate the air tank, it needs to be pressed back and forth 1500 times.With the European manufacturing technology at that time, it was very difficult to process the gas tank, and any small crack would make it unusable.It is generally used by nobles for hunting.Some people will always use this gun to say that the Manchus do not want to make progress. The problem is that even the British army does not use it. Why should the Qing army use it?Why don't you suggest that the People's Liberation Army equip laser guns?That can be realized if the cost is not considered at the moment.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)