Descending On France 1780
Chapter 213 - 206 The King must die, France must live

Chapter 213: 206 The King must die, France must live

Robespierre finished speaking, and the hall erupted into chaos again.

"Don’t want the King?"

"So it would be like those people from the New Continent?"

Immediately, a member of Parliament stood up: "We had just recently decided to become a constitutional monarchy, and now we are suddenly turning into a Republic. Isn’t that turn of events a bit sudden?"

The parliamentarian’s words received considerable agreement.

There were also many spectators who spoke out in agreement, and they were immediately stared at with unusual looks by the people around them.

The crowd clearly and blatantly divided into two factions.

Someone shouted, "Before this, you said no Pope, now no King either; if this continues you will have lawlessness!"

Robespierre: "Do you still not understand? It is because of these evils that we were defeated, and now the entirety of France is in peril! Facts have proven that what we need right now is a thorough revolution! To remove everything old and bad!

"History has already shown examples to us, the British revolution succeeded only after they had hanged the King!

"Now, although we don’t have an Oliver Cromwell of France, we can still hang the King!"

Philip Egalite trembled and said: "As the father of the current King, I object. What wrong has my child done? It was you who put him on the throne, and now you are talking about hanging him... You just need someone to blame for the failure!"

Dan Dong slammed the desk: "This isn’t about taking responsibility, this is about whether the revolution is thorough or not! Frost-controlled Southern France has already effectively established a Republican system; it is republicanism that can save France!"

Dan Dong’s words triggered broad agreements.

Then a handsome young man stood up, raised his arm, and shouted, "Friends! Our motherland France is now in grave danger! If saving France requires us to hang the King and strangle the traitors, then we shall strangle them!"

If Anning were here, he would definitely be shouting in surprise.

Yes, because this handsome man is none other than the famously handsome revolutionary archangel, Saint Just.

Saint Just’s speech further intensified the dispute between the two sides, making the argument even more heated.

Finally, the Jacobin faction gradually took the upper hand.

Parliament formed two consensuses: first, mass conscription to save the homeland; second, a complete purge of the enemies and traitors of the homeland.

After a day of debates, Robespierre spoke for the eleventh time, setting the tone for the day’s debates: "Ladies and gentlemen! The facts are very clear now! The traitors led by the King must be purged, the King must die because France must live!"

**

News reached Italy a week later.

Anning was shocked: "What the hell, did Robespierre really say that?"

Balas nodded, the news from Paris usually first arrived at his place, because he was the Paris National Assembly’s Special Commissioner in Italy: "Yes, that’s exactly what Mr. Robespierre said."

Anning pursed his lips.

He certainly knew the famous statement by Robespierre, from another timeline’s "original" version, "Louis must die so that the Republic may live," which was Robespierre’s statement during the debate about whether to execute Louis XVI.

Anning was surprised that, despite such extensive divergence from history, it had returned to the original trajectory in this manner.

It looks like the situation in Paris is really very complicated. The masses in Paris decided to eliminate the domestic opposition first, due to their fear of the Austrian invasion and the opposition’s potential revenge.

Additionally, there is the matter of the conscription law. Anning remembers that in real history, it was precisely because of this conscription that the confrontation in places like Vendée intensified and ignited the fierce flames of the Vendée uprising.

Balas looked at Anning’s expression, puzzled, and asked: "What, are you not satisfied with the outcome towards a republic? Indeed, after all, the current King is the son of Duke Orleans, and Duke Orleans is your benefactor..."

Anning shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, no, I am worried that such radical measures will lead to the complete division of France.

"Already the country faces great enemies, yet they adopt such extreme measures; what is Robespierre and his gang really thinking?"

Anning still thinks with a Chinese mindset. Modern Chinese, having gone through that era, are accustomed to uniting and resisting the external enemies when faced with major threats.

This is the wisdom left by that era for contemporary Chinese.

After all, Chinese have experienced the dreadful times, right? When it was so bad, everyone pinched their noses and endured it, just waiting until someone’s good days were over before they started handling domestic issues.

However, the French clearly do not possess this type of wisdom.

Faced with external threats, they decide to first eliminate the internal opposition.

Anning: "Taking such drastic measures will result in the fragmentation of the country. This isn’t beneficial in resisting the Austrians."

Balas looked perplexed as he was uncertain of Anning’s inclination, so he chose to remain silent.

But Napoleon had no such concerns: "It doesn’t matter, we were going to purge the Royalists anyway, might as well take this opportunity to thoroughly do so."

Anning: "But now with internal chaos, how can we confront external enemies? There are only two fortresses left between the Austrians and Paris."

"That’s easy," Napoleon confidently said, "You just need to go back!"

Anning was dumbfounded: "Me, go back?"

It sounded as if me going back would make the 200,000 Prussian-Austrian coalition stop their operations!

Napoleon confidently said: "The more dire the situation, the greater the benefits you reap after driving the enemy away! If you go back now and drive them away, think about it, you will be France’s Cromwell, France’s Caesar!"

Anning frowned and sarcastically remarked: "Should I also change my name to Gaius while I’m at it?"

Caesar is a surname, his name is Gaius. Anning’s joke here would greatly delight any Roman fan.

"No problem!" Excited Roman fan Napoleon exclaimed, "If you change your name to Gaius, then I will change my surname to Octavian!"

Anning: "And then I’ll be stabbed to death with a knife by Robespierre in the Parliament, right?"

No, wait, speaking of Robespierre, he would probably use the guillotine?

What a grand integration of historical jokes?

Napoleon laughed heartily: "Let’s not do that then. I hope you, Andy, live forever. You are my dear friend and mentor!"

At that moment, Balas finally understood Anning’s stance, so he boldly spoke up: "So, are you preparing to return to Paris? Are you finally going back to Paris?"

Anning grimaced: "Well... if I don’t go back, is there any chance that Paris could be held?"

As soon as Anning asked, he regretted it, thinking to himself, what am I doing? I’m not really a military genius who could turn the tide upon returning to Paris.

But since the question was already asked, an ecstatic Balas replied: "Only you can hold Paris! Without a doubt!"