Descending On France 1780
Chapter 337 - 330 Maximilien’s Question

Chapter 337: 330 Maximilien’s Question

Anning sighed, indeed, the discussion had turned to this matter again.

After deciding to reuse Talleyrand and FouchE, Anning had anticipated that Robespierre would object.

From the beginning, Anning didn’t expect to simply sway Robespierre with his reputation; he was seriously prepared with his arguments.

Now, it was time to present these arguments and test their effects.

Anning spoke earnestly: "Maximilien, I..."

Robespierre interrupted Anning: "I know you must have prepared seemingly very reasonable arguments; you always plan meticulously."

Anning hadn’t expected to inadvertently receive flattery from Robespierre. Since when had I become someone who plans meticulously?

This was coming from Robespierre, who never compliments anyone, and surely he didn’t mean any flattery. In his view, Anning was a meticulous strategist, a reincarnation of Zhuge Liang—well, Robespierre probably doesn’t know who Zhuge Liang is.

After quickly regaining his composure, Anning resumed his previous topic and continued with his prepared arguments: "Maximilien, you should know that there are many officers in my team who are themselves flawed.

"For instance, Lasalle, who is known for his libertine nature. During our time in Italy, the Austrian army made a night raid and attacked his stationed town by dawn. When the gunfire started, Lasalle was still in a widow’s bed in the town.

"He rushed out of the house, barely pulling up his trousers, his hand holding onto his belt."

Robespierre, though puzzled as to why Anning was mentioning this, still listened intently without interrupting.

Anning continued: "But afterward, he led the Cavalry in a counter-attack and contributed significantly to defending the town."

Robespierre remained silent, waiting for Anning to continue.

Anning: "Aside from his lasciviousness, Lasalle has many other character flaws, but his talent as a Cavalry officer is undeniable, which is why I didn’t hesitate to put him in the right position.

"As a Commander, I cannot dismiss someone’s talent just because they have flaws."

Robespierre finally spoke up: "What talents do Talleyrand and Balas possess?"

Anning found it difficult to answer about Balas’ talent as he knew Balas’ achievements from a previous era where in this timeline, Balas hadn’t pacified the Coastal Province or promoted Napoleon but had merely performed well during the suppression of revolts.

But as for Talleyrand, it was worth noting: "Isn’t it him who proposed the confiscation of Church property? Without this proposal, the National Assembly would have been bankrupted long ago."

Robespierre: "But what does that have to do with diplomacy?"

Anning: "You don’t participate in social activities, so you probably don’t know. Talleyrand is very active in social circles, an activist.

"Considering his various performances, I believe Talleyrand is talented and should be given a chance."

Robespierre: "What about Balas?"

"Didn’t he perform well during the suppression of revolts?"

"Then you should have recruited him into the military! But you didn’t!"

"Mr. Balas does not meet my expectations in terms of military knowledge, and if you had carefully read his report on suppressing revolts, you would know that he relied on his sophisticated political skills to consolidate local leaders and then successfully suppress the rebellion."

Robespierre snorted disdainfully, muttering, "Political skills, spoken so grandiosely! Isn’t it all just inglorious matters?"

Anning took a deep breath.

The moment Anning had anticipated, the climactic part of persuading Robespierre, had arrived.

Here, Anning did not plan to use his own language, but instead, wanted to borrow a bit of wisdom from the future.

So Anning began: "Maximilien, do you know about the proverb from the Eastern Ancient Country that goes, ’Where waters are too clear, there are no fish’?"

Robespierre responded with confusion, "Isn’t that a Latin proverb? Does the Eastern Ancient Country also speak Latin?"

Anning couldn’t help but both cry and laugh; his usual excellent translating "golden finger" had made a foolish mistake this time—he directly translated "proverb from the Eastern Ancient Country" and then replaced "Where waters are too clear, there are no fish" with a Latin proverb.

Intelligence was still intelligence, but the limits of its intelligence were a bit odd.

This feeling was somewhat like calibrating AI for drawing; sometimes the AI would inexplicably create some strange bloopers.

For example, drawing a picture of eating noodles without chopsticks and then inadvertently creating a peculiar cute factor that hit the spot for many people, causing this meme to spread virally.

Anning quickly reiterated "Where waters are too clear, there are no fish" and while saying it, he silently prayed: Don’t translate this time, just throw it out directly.

His silent prayer worked, and this time he spoke with the Chinese pronunciation.

Robespierre shook his head, "If I didn’t know how learned you are, I would suspect you were bluffing me. You know Chinese too? Did you learn it from Marco Polo?"

Anning joked, "Not to hide it from you, I’ve indeed met that elderly gentleman while I was in Bastille."

This was a playful use of a widely circulating Voltaire meme in Paris, which even the serious Robespierre couldn’t help but slightly smile at.

But he soon composed himself.

Anning continued, "The proverb translated into a Latin proverb would be the one just mentioned. Maximilien, most of this world is selfish and greedy; if we discard all the selfish and greedy people, we will end up with no one to use.

"You are noble, Maximilien, driven by ideals.

"If there could be a group of people like you, like saints, that would be wonderful, but such people are extremely rare in reality.

"We must utilize those selfish and greedy individuals, as long as they are competent, we must let them serve."

Robespierre shook his head, "I don’t believe it! I don’t believe that without these people there would be no one to use!"

Anning remained silent.

In fact, he did know of an organization that was bonded purely by idealism, where the majority of its members were motivated by the hope that their homeland would suffer no more.

But clearly, the Jacobin faction wasn’t such an organization.

Robespierre continued to insist agitatedly: "I don’t believe it! I don’t believe that by driving out these opportunists, the Jacobin faction would be left with no one!"

Anning looked at Robespierre, "Accept reality, Maximilien. In fact, after you accept reality, you’ll find it’s not as bad as you imagined."

Robespierre stared at Anning and pointed at him saying, "You’ve been corrupted!"

Anning: "I haven’t."

"No! You have! Ever since you moved into the Versailles Palace, I had a premonition! You’ve been corrupted!"

Anning tried to explain, "I moved into the Versailles Palace because it was suitable as a barracks; in fact, I did use it as a barracks."

Robespierre: "But that was always the Imperial Palace, a symbol of imperial authority! Yes, and you even took the sister of Louis XVII, how perfect!"

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