Descending On France 1780
Chapter 188: Say goodbye to Poland with 181

Chapter 188: Say goodbye to Poland with 181

In November 1792, Anning’s main domestic head, Lazar Kano, arrived in Milan.

Anning led the generals to meet Cano, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, they went to Anning’s study.

Lazar Kano looked up and surveyed Anning’s study, then praised, "The decoration of this study is truly luxurious."

Anning replied, "The house originally belonged to the most powerful nobles in Milan, but after he was hung from a street lantern by the Milanese, I took over the house."

Lazar Kano said, "Is that so? I saw a green tricolor flag in Milan..."

"That’s the tricolor flag designed by Andy for the Italians," Napoleon responded, "To distinguish it from our red, white, and blue, it was changed to green, white, and red."

Anning said, "I think blue and green can represent the same thing. Besides, the flag of the Duchy of Milan itself is also green."

Lazar Kano looked at Anning, "You have hanged the Grand Duke, yet you’re still using the duchy’s colors?"

"It wasn’t me who hanged the Grand Duke; it was the common people of Milan. Local Italian independence activists seemed to have decided that the nobles, who colluded with the Holy Roman, were traitors, and hanged them high spiritedly. Certainly, they also divided up the nobles’ properties," Anning said, spreading his hands.

The French Army did not partake in the Milanese action of dividing the nobles’ property because Anning planned to harvest in a different way.

However, the houses after the Milanese looting were almost entirely taken over by the French Army, serving as barracks.

The house Anning was currently living in was the biggest of them all.

After discussing the situation in Milan for a bit more, Anning coughed and looked seriously at Lazar Kano, "So, what exactly is happening back home? I thought that the rule of the Girondists would stabilize for a while."

Anning remembered that in real history the Girondists fell from power because they advocated for foreign wars, and when the wars ended in failure, France was on the verge of crisis, thus the angered public launched a new revolution that toppled the Girondists.

If the war had stopped, why were the Girondists still overthrown?

Lazar Kano sighed, "Isn’t it because after the new King ascended to the throne, the old forces that had gone into hiding started gathering around the King again.

"The King repeatedly rejected several bills aimed at alleviating the domestic economic situation because these bills would further weaken the financial power of the great nobles.

"At the same time, the Girondists were also using their power to collect wealth excessively, resulting in soaring prices in Paris."

Anning raised his eyebrows, "So the lives of the Sans-culottes in Paris have not improved at all?"

"Yes, and then led by Marat’s Friend of the People, a large number of newspapers were advocating that it was the enemies of France, undermining everything in secrecy, that led to everyone’s miserable lives, and ultimately Paris erupted with rebellion," Lazar Kano shrugged.

Napoleon laughed and said, "It seems that Andy pointed out a clear path for the French people in Paris; they’re increasingly inclined to rise up and kill those who make their lives miserable."

Anning: "And this has something to do with me?"

Napoleon replied: "You set a good example for them."

Anning thought to himself, don’t be like that, I just wanted to go sightseeing at the Bastille that day, and who knew they would lift me in there.

Lazar Kano brought the stray topic back on track: "Anyway, now the friends of Your Excellency the General are in power in Paris, and they sent me several letters, asking me to hand them over to you. I brought them all."

With that, Lazar Kano took out several letters from his bag and placed them on Anning’s desk.

Anning picked them up and saw that they were from Marat, Robespierre, and Dan Dong.

Now he had people in Paris.

Although France had no external wars now, and internally there was still the problem of national division caused by the Priest Law, compared to the situation faced in real history, the internal environment of the Jacobins was much better.

In real history, the Jacobins were forced to adopt a policy of terror because both the domestic and international situations were extremely dangerous. The current Jacobin faction should not go that far...

As soon as Anning thought this, Lazar Kano said: "The friends of the General seem to be eagerly looking forward to the General’s return to Paris, but I would not advise doing so. Because the situation in Paris is very perilous."

Anning furrowed his brow: "How is it perilous again?"

Lazar Kano: "The Southern Region is relatively stable thanks to the reforms you initiated, General. But the Northern part of France is a complete mess, the Girondists’ terrible economic policies have greatly strengthened the power of the Royalists.

"The Girondists have also propped up a new King, who now tends to consolidate the entire Royalist force.

"Although your friends have driven out the Girondists, they are powerless against the Royalists, and now there are people advocating for the new His Majesty to repeal the Priest Law and to prosecute those Priests who swore allegiance to the National Assembly rather than the Pope.

"This momentum has intensified after the Pope issued new instructions."

The "new instructions" Lazar Kano mentioned referred to the Pope’s position on the Priest Law in September, where the Pope explicitly stated that France’s Priest Law is contrary to the will of God.

The Pope had previously maintained a very ambiguous silence regarding the situation in France, and he finally broke that silence in September.

This has caused the hardening of the non-juring Priests in France, as their refusal to swear allegiance to the National Assembly was endorsed by the Pope.

As a result, the conflict between the two factions of Priests has become unprecedentedly acute.

As a Chinese, Anning finds it hard to understand how serious these conflicts are, since China has always been a secular state that has more than once abolished Buddhism in its history.

But France is different. Although people often joke that France is the ’eldest daughter of the Church’, in fact, France is a Catholic country. In French rural areas, due to the nobles flocking to the cities over the past century, the daily lives of the vast rural areas have been organized by the local Priests, whose influence in these regions is enormous.

The schism of Catholic Clergy, in fact, represents the split of the entire country.

The non-juring Priests backed by the Pope are now aligning with the conservative Royalists rallying under the new King, forming a very powerful force in France aiming to revert things back to before the Revolution of 1789.

After Kano’s explanation, Anning finally understood how complicated the situation within France was.

The Jacobins had eliminated the Girondists, and now they were about to face an assault from the conservative forces.

The current Paris could be described as a perilous melting pot.

Anning clicked his tongue: "Damn, how can things be so messed up in Paris."

Napoleon: "How about we lead the Italian Legion back to court? Thoroughly clean up the old forces in Paris! And by the way, give everyone a promotion. Look at Davout; he’s commanding a division, yet he’s still a Captain."

Anning pondered this possibility.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Anning: "Come in!"

An Attendant entered the room: "A newspaper from Vienna."

Anning: "Good, give it to me."

The Attendant handed the newspaper to Anning.

Anning unfolded the newspaper. All his officers gathered around, standing behind him to look at the contents of the paper.

Anning: "Why are you crowding around? You can’t understand German anyway."

Lasalle: "We can look at the pictures. Don’t be like that, tell us if there’s any news that we need to pay attention to!"

Anning sighed: "The Russian army has marched straight in and captured Warsaw. Soon, Poland is going to cease to exist in this world."