King's Landing in France

Page 143

At this time, the guard who noticed the abnormal noise inside began to knock on the door desperately: "Mr. Mara! How are you, Mr. Mara? There was a loud noise just now! Mr. Mara!"

Corday didn't move, quietly waiting for her fate to come.

Chapter 245 Fanatic Paris and the Chameleons' Instinct to Avoid Harm

This morning, Robespierre is presiding over the National Assembly.

Suddenly a tall and thin citizen wearing a Liberty cap rushed into the meeting hall and shouted: "Marat has been assassinated!"

Robespierre scolded seriously: "Don't spread rumors, who are you?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker, but I didn't spread rumors. I live next to Mr. Mara. I saw with my own eyes that the guards sent by General Frost to Mr. Mara ran to the City Defense Command to report the situation like a lost soul!"

Danton stood up: "Speaking of which, Mara did not come to watch the parliament."

Robespierre: "Calm down, Danton. Mara has guards sent by Frost. Let's wait for the official report from the City Defense Command. They will definitely report something like this."

As soon as the voice fell, the door was opened again, and it was Minister of War Lazar Kano who entered.

Kano had a serious face, and after scanning Danton and Robespierre in turn, he said: "According to the news we just received, the friend of the people, the revolutionary Jean Paul Marat, was just assassinated. The murderer was a lady."

As soon as the words fell, Talleyrand stood up and asked loudly: "What, it's actually a lady? So our friend of the people died of amorous debt?"

Talleyrand's words immediately aroused a discussion.

Because Marat is ugly, his death on the style debt will definitely become a strange story in Paris.

Someone whispered: "Sexy debt? That Mara?"

"It's a lot of fun."

Robespierre knocked hard on the table: "Quiet! Be quiet! I believe in my friend Gao Jie's character, he won't die in debt of love! There must be some misunderstanding!"

Lazar Kano nodded: "Mr. Mala has made many enemies, and General Frost worried about his personal safety very early on, so he sent him guards.

"According to the guards, this lady claims to have reported the Girondin remnants to Marat.

"Mr. Marat let her into the room without suspicion. He was taking a bath when the assassination took place."

Kano's words caused another uproar: "I'm taking a shower!"

"You still say it's not a style debt?"

Robespierre: "Quiet! So Kano, are you sure he's gone?"

"Yes, I'm not breathing, and I'm afraid the best doctors can't do anything about it. We caught the assassin, and she stayed at the scene and didn't run away."

Robespierre: "Then bring her to Parliament immediately, and we will judge her!"

Robespierre looked unusually angry, his entire face flushed.The Incorruptible had never been so angry in the venue.

Lazar Kano nodded, then winked at the soldiers behind him.

So a woman in a blue and white striped dress was brought into the meeting room of the parliament.

When the woman entered the door, there was another discussion: "It's so beautiful."

"Mara is quite lucky."

Robespierre slammed the table hard, interrupting the whispers, then stared at the woman and asked, "What's your name? Who ordered you to assassinate Marat?"

The woman held her head high: "My name is Charlotte de Corday, and I am from Normandy. No one instructed me. I think Mr. Marat's radical measures are a bit too much, so I use this method to persuade him!"

Someone in the senator's seat immediately whispered: "Corday? Could it be the daughter of the lord of Corday in Normandy?"

Robespierre heard it clearly, and immediately pointed to Charlotte Corday's face and asked, "Are you an old aristocrat?"

Corday held her head high: "Yes! But I am also a republican! I have always been a loyal reader of the People's Friend, but recently there has been too much bloodshed, and many innocent people have been sent to the guillotine!"

Robespierre slapped the gavel and interrupted Corday: "No! In my opinion, we haven't killed enough, and there are still fish that escaped the net like you lingering! More resolute measures must be taken , clean you all up!"

Speaking of which, Robespierre looked around the entire venue, and loudly proposed: "The blood debt must be paid in blood, starting with Miss Corday, and capture all the enemies of the Republic hidden in the crowd. The only place for them to go is the guillotine !"

Robespierre has always been cautious and restrained before, and because of this, the effect of his anger is many times stronger than that of ordinary people.

For a moment, no one in the entire meeting dared to refute him, and even Bishop Talleyrand, who was always at ease, shut his mouth tightly.

Robespierre: "Now, let's start voting, Ms. Corday's fate is—the guillotine!"

※※※

It wasn't just Robespierre who was angry.

The people of Paris who learned that Marat, the Friend of the People, had been assassinated expressed their attitude with actions.

In front of Mara's apartment, there were piles of flowers sent by people from all walks of life.

The murderer, Charlotte Corday, was sentenced to death by the parliament that day and escorted to the Revolution Square, where the largest guillotine in Paris stands.

On the way to the execution ground, there were huge crowds of onlookers, and everyone spat on her in the prison van.

There were also children who greeted Corday with feces, and a ball of feces fell directly on her chest.

The crowd shouted angrily: "Execute her!"

When the prison van arrived at the Revolution Square, the whole square was crowded with people, and there were tricolor flags and red Liberty caps everywhere.

According to the general procedure, the death row prisoner can give a short speech before putting his neck on the guillotine. This step is to highlight the principle of fairness after the Great Revolution: even sinners have the right to express their opinions.

Corday faced the angry crowd and shouted: "I did this to stop the madness! You are all crazy!"

But the crowd retorted even louder: "She's talking nonsense!"

"We do not listen to the slander of the enemies of the Republic!"

"Gag her!"

The executioner stepped forward and forcibly dragged Corday, who was still speaking, to the guillotine, pressing her body down, and stuck her neck into the slot of the machine.

The band started playing.

At the last moment of her life, Corday shouted: "I curse you! Curse all crimes in the name of freedom!"

The executioner turned on the switch of the guillotine, the guillotine fell from the sky, and Corday's head rolled into the blood-soaked basket.

The people in the audience cheered.

Talleyrand looked at the fanatical crowd from the stands, shook his head slightly, and said to Fouche beside him: "It's over, I feel that Paris will fall into a complete frenzy. Would you like to go somewhere else to hide first?" ?”

Fouche nodded: "I think so too, so I'm going back to my hometown Lyon."

Talleyrand raised his eyebrows: "Leon...Say hello to General Frost's old father for me."

Fouche looked at Talleyrand: "Aren't you leaving, Your Excellency? People like you and me who are not in a hurry...No, even people with a clean background cannot guarantee peace of mind in Paris."

Talleyrand smiled: "I am going to London to perform a diplomatic mission."

Fouche laughed loudly: "Hahaha, it's really you."

Chapter 246 Chain Reaction

On An Ning's side, because it was too easy for the Marne River to win, he planned to take advantage of the victory and pursue a few more big battles outside.

Then came the news of Marat's death.

After An Ning received the news of Mara's death, she was silent for a long time.

Berthier heard him whispering: "I obviously sent guards to him, how could..."

Berthier: "Is the malfeasance of the guards to be taken seriously?"

An Ning shook her head: "No, this is probably destiny."

Berthier: "Mandate of Heaven?"

"Don't worry about it." An Ning waved his hand, and then turned to Jacques-Louis David, who had been with the army all along, "Hurry back to Paris immediately. I want you to paint Marat's death as an oil painting, as if he were a saint Ordinary! Then hang this poster all over Paris!"

David nodded: "I will return to Paris immediately."

After finishing speaking, Jacques put away the things in his hand, turned and left the headquarters.

Berthier carefully observed An Ning's expression, and suggested: "Why don't you go back to Paris too? It's still early for the next battle, and it may be that the enemy and us are unlikely to contact each other within half a month. You are going back to Paris for Monsieur Marat's funeral."

An Ning looked at the map.

The enemies from Alsace had already been defeated, and the two groups of enemies in front were gathered around the two fortresses of Sedan and Verdun respectively. Even if these two groups of enemies wanted to rush over, it would be too late.

There was indeed enough time for Anning to return to Paris for Marat's funeral.

After a brief hesitation, An Ning nodded: "Okay, when I go back to attend the funeral, the troops will be handed over to you. You have to keep putting pressure on the enemy so that they can't use all their strength to attack the city."

Berthier: "Leave it to me."

"Also, bring me Beethoven, I need him to direct the orchestra at the funeral." An Ning said again.

"Of course, I'll inform Sergeant Beethoven right now."

Since Beethoven joined the army, he would naturally have a military rank, and this sergeant rank is already the highest rank a military musician can have.

An Ning let out a long sigh: "I'm suddenly a little tired, so I'm going to rest first, and I'll leave the rest of today to you."

After finishing speaking, An Ning left the headquarters, went outside, and stood under the warm spring sun.

He let out a long sigh.

To be honest, Marat's death had shocked him more than he had imagined.Maybe it's because he has really regarded this ugly former doctor as his good friend.

At this moment, he thought of Mara's horse face again, and thought of drinking with him while thinking about the future.

An Ning always felt that Mara would be assassinated because he didn't bring any guards with him, so he thought that sending him loyal and reliable guards could avoid this ending.

Now it seems that history will not be changed so easily.

It might be necessary to let Marat leave Paris to completely prevent this from happening.

But it is impossible for Marat to leave Paris. After all, it is the critical moment of the revolution, and he is releasing his light and heat in Paris.

An Ning let out a long sigh, he suddenly realized that what he was thinking now was actually making excuses for himself.

Forget it, this is the end of the matter, let's focus on the future.

Starting with Marat's death, the Jacobins' policy of terror will become more extreme, and then the remaining two giants of the Jacobins will kill each other.

Robespierre will send Danton to the guillotine, leaving him alone among the former Big Three.Finally, in the coup d'état launched by Fouché and others, Robespierre himself was sent to the guillotine.

An Ning didn't want Robespierre to end up like this.

After these years of dating, An Ning knows that Robespierre is a good man who is noble and self-disciplined. Even if he is not her friend, An Ning does not want him to end up like this.

In order to prevent things from becoming like this, An Ning had to go back and persuade Robespierre to ensure that he was still the moderate Robespierre.

There is also the need to reconcile the conflict between him and Dandong.

As for the subsequent coup, An Ning was not too worried. After all, unless his military authority was no longer there, it would be difficult to overthrow Robespierre through a coup.

An Ning paced back and forth in the barracks, thinking about this.

He was so focused that he didn't even hear the "Long live the general" shouted by the soldiers passing by, and just waved his hands mechanically in response.

※※※

The next day, Berthier prepared the main force to return to the city.

As soon as An Ning got on his horse, he saw Beethoven waiting for him on the horse.

An Ning: "How is your situation?"

Beethoven: "Excellent! You just have to be a little louder and I can hear you."

An Ning was very happy. He thought that the condition of Le Sheng's ears was not as bad as in history, and he thought that Le Sheng would create even better music.

As a result, Beethoven's next sentence was: "It's a pity that I can only understand the words, and I can't distinguish the pitch. My absolute pitch is over."

He said it in a teasing tone, but An Ning's expression darkened.

Beethoven hurriedly said: "Don't worry! I will never give up music! Just like you said, I will hold the throat of fate!"

Anning nodded.

At this time, he suddenly realized something: wait, did I give Mao away the famous quote of Beethoven?

I didn't do it on purpose, I just encouraged him!

An Ning shook her head.