Descending On France 1780
Chapter 226: General has decided to exile his brother-in-law.

Chapter 226: General has decided to exile his brother-in-law.

Talleyrand continued, "General Frost is Louis XVI’s greatest enemy. When Louis XVI was still the French King, the General himself led the glorious conquest of the Bastille, expressing his dissatisfaction!

"Later on, the General repeatedly sang out of tune with Louis XVI! He took the lead in refusing divided deliberations, breaking down the barriers between the three estates of the Third Estate! He forced Louis XVI to move from the outskirts of Versailles Palace to the Palais des Tuileries!

"He is the thorn in Louis XVI’s side, the pain in his flesh!

"He certainly wants to remind us, the real enemy is in Austria! At the Schönbrunn Palace!

"We have been fooled by a mere puppet, the General must be deeply grieved! The real enemy is Louis XVI... no, there is no king now, we shouldn’t address him with the title of king! Our real enemy is Louis Capet!

"People of Paris! Direct your anger at Louis Capet! It is Louis Capet you should hate! It is Louis Capet you should be against!"

The crowd that was just howling for the execution of Louis XVII has now been swayed by Talleyrand. As soon as Talleyrand finished, someone shouted, "Execute Louis Capet!"

Anning wanted to facepalm. With Talleyrand leading the narrative like this, it has all gone off course, making it unlikely that Louis XVII would be executed.

Someone needs to change the situation!

Talleyrand sat down, looking at Anning with a self-satisfied expression.

Anning couldn’t help but laugh and cry. This chameleon, clearly trying to hedge his bets for an advantage, stood up because he misunderstood that Anning was here to protect Louis XVII.

And his ability to incite was quite strong...

No wonder he’s a famous chameleon in history, just like FouchE, an expert in fence-sitting.

Anning was pondering what to do when Marat stood up.

As he stood up, Marat exchanged a glance with Anning, also showing an "I got this" expression.

Marat was aware of Anning’s true intentions, and he was sure to steer public opinion back in the direction Anning hoped for.

It’s all on you now, Marat!

Marat began, "Although what Talleyrand said makes sense, we cannot fail to give Louis XVII a fair trial, for he and his partisans have killed many patriots..."

Before he finished, someone in the stands shouted angrily, "So you want to let Louis XVI go?"

"Execute a puppet, only to be mocked by the Royalists?"

It was done, a sizeable part of the populace had been convinced by Talleyrand.

Marat glanced at the crowd in the stands and quickly clarified, "Of course not! I mean, they both must die! We can execute one first..."

At that moment, FouchE stood up!

FouchE: "After we execute Louis XVII, what if Austria refuses to return Louis XVI? No, we cannot execute Louis XVII, at least not until Austria hands over Louis XVI! I mean, Louis Capet! We can’t execute him until they return Louis Capet!"

Anning facepalmed.

Dammit, FouchE’s argument actually sounded quite reasonable.

Marat was stunned: "This... Then we can wait until we capture Louis Capet and then execute them together!"

He conceded! Such a combative Marat has conceded!

All because what FouchE said made too much sense!

The crowd shouted excitedly: "Bring back Louis Capet!"

"Execute the ringleader Louis Capet!"

Anning understood that he had to capture Louis Capet; no matter how many great achievements he had accomplished in the past, if he failed to do this, public sentiment towards him would drastically shift.

Originally, Anning was thinking that all he needed to do was to fight and defend Paris, repelling the Pu-Au coalition forces and that would be the end of it. But now, merely repelling them wasn’t enough, he had to go on the offensive towards Austria, all the way to Vienna, to capture Louis Capet and his wife Marie.

This Nema would increase the difficulty by several magnitudes in an instant.

Before, it was simply a matter of defense. Relying on the advantages of time, terrain, and people, it was easy to maintain defense. But now, it was time to attack.

And it wasn’t just any attack; it was an assault spanning almost half of Europe.

From Paris to Vienna, one had to cross over most of the Holy Roman Empire.

It was one thing to add difficulty, but now it looked like Louis XVII wouldn’t die either—unless Anning stood up right now and shouted that even if Louis XVII were executed immediately, he was confident he could charge to Vienna and capture Louis Capet.

In that case, Louis XVII would probably still end up with a death sentence.

But Anning’s gaze fell on his father-in-law, who was overjoyed at the moment. If Anning stood up now and effectively sentenced his own son-in-law to death...

Damn, he couldn’t bear to do it.

How did things get so messed up.

Anning thought for a moment and decided he couldn’t leave his brother-in-law in the country to cause trouble for him. Since it didn’t seem likely to kill the boy under these circumstances, exile should be no problem, right?

Exile him to Corsica, let him stir up trouble in Corsica to his heart’s content.

So, Anning stood up straight away: "Ladies and gentlemen!"

In an instant, the entire hall quieted down, silent as a graveyard.

Anning: "Your statements are all very valid, but clearly, not to punish Louis XVII would be wrong. The revolutionaries who died in the struggle against the Royalists would not stand for it! I propose, to exile Louis XVII to the island of Corsica! Let him never return to France!"

As Anning spoke, Mr. Equality took a long sigh of relief.

Someone immediately stood up to echo: "Exactly, let him forever leave France, this can also deceive Louis Capet and the Austrian Palace!"

Other parliamentarians shouted: "Exile him!"

The crowd in the stands also joined in shouting: "Exile him!"

After finishing, Anning looked at his father-in-law, thinking, Do you see that? I have fulfilled your wishes. I’ve spared your son, your coal land, your business council, your palace and your workshops. You know what to do now, right?

Mr. Equality looked at Anning with tearful eyes, his face full of gratitude.

Well, all things considered, Anning still came out as the gainful party.

Even if Mr. Equality’s family wealth had dwindled, it was still considerable, and there was coal in his territory, the cornerstone of the industrial revolution.

By exiling his brother-in-law, he gained the full support of Mr. Equality. Not a bad deal.

The only issue now was that they must advance to Vienna to capture Louis Capet and his Austrian witch.

If that bear child Louis XVII wants to make trouble, let him do it in Corsica. If he dares to return to France, it would be no big deal to handle him then.

After all, in this era of inconvenient communication and transportation, being in Corsica wouldn’t even affect Marseilles or Toulon, let alone have an impact on Paris.

As for how to advance into Vienna... Damn it, let’s first deal with the battle to defend Paris, wear down the enemy’s morale and supplies in defense. When Lazar Kano has trained enough troops, launch a full counteroffensive.

By then, we will consider how to go to Vienna and capture Louis Capet.