Descending On France 1780
Chapter 83 - 077 August Decree

Chapter 83: 077 August Decree

In the following days, the contents of the National Assembly were quite boring to Anning.

He didn’t really care how the constitution of France was formulated; being in the Parliament meant he had to pretend to care.

Honestly, this was more tiresome than he had imagined.

It wasn’t too bad when the representatives with sharp speeches spoke; he could listen to their passionate oratory. But when it came to those whose speaking skills were lacking, it was really soporific.

What Anning didn’t expect was that Robespierre was also among those who could put people to sleep; usually, when chatting with him, Robespierre seemed quite eloquent, but once he got on stage, he started stuttering.

Robespierre was stubborn. After failing his first speech, he went up to speak again the next day, as if he was determined to conquer this challenge of public speaking.

Watching all this, Anning thought to himself that if Robespierre had been a beautiful girl, he would probably have entered a "special training on speech" subplot.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Robespierre was a big man from Alas, always wearing the same green coat.

Anning guessed that Robespierre’s green coat would probably be a holy relic if it were part of the Holy Grail War.

In addition to attending meetings, Anning had another task: training the artillery troops of the National Guard.

Lafayette threw Anning 200 men, equipped with twenty cannons confiscated from various armories throughout the city.

These twenty cannons varied in caliber, with both foot artillery and cavalry guns. Thankfully, the demands of the cannonballs concerning the caliber weren’t strict at the time, otherwise, the logistics would have doomed them in actual combat.

Anning had no choice but to select six 8-pound cannons from the twenty and build his troops around them.

Moreover, Lafayette didn’t allocate a barracks to Anning, so he had to go to Duke Tolleson to request a manor, to serve as the base for his small artillery troop.

The manor was ideally located on the outskirts of Paris City, right on the road from Paris to Versailles.

With equipment and a base, this small artillery troop now somewhat resembled a competent force—even just slightly.

The only difference between Anning’s tiny troop and a rabble was that they could at least form a crooked square.

When Anning first saw them, there wasn’t even anyone to call them to attention; the group just clustered loosely, looking indifferent towards Anning.

Facing such a rabble, he was momentarily at a loss—what could he do? Non-commissioned officers aren’t mushrooms; they don’t just sprout from the ground.

Later, Anning, throwing caution to the wind, said: "Well, it’s the year of liberty, we are all equal. There shouldn’t be any high and mighty officers lording over you. Let’s use an electoral method to select non-commissioned officers. Does anyone want to nominate themselves?"

Indeed, Anning was forced to adopt military MZ measures in his own troops—his top choice wouldn’t include this hassle, but he had no ready-made NCOs.

The group of big men looked at each other, nobody volunteered.

Anning had no choice but to raise his voice: "The person who becomes an NCO, I’ll personally pay, in addition to the military salary promised by the commune, an extra portion."

Ideally, a troop of two hundred men should have about a dozen or twenty NCOs. Anning hadn’t used much of the money the system provided him ten years ago, it was mostly saved, and now was the right time to use it to pay the NCOs.

Of course, Anning’s salary fund wouldn’t last very long; he would eventually have to apply to the National Guard for financing from Paris’s treasury.

But such matters could wait; for now, the priority was to organize the troops.

Confronted with the terms offered by Anning, several individuals were visibly tempted.

Finally, a man with a beard raised his hand: "I want to be an NCO!"

Anning nodded: "Good! Introduce yourself."

"I... my name is Jean, Jean Paul. They usually call me Big Beard. I have served in the army before and know some maneuvers...uh, that’s all!"

Anning: "Jean Paul, very well. Does anyone object to Jean Paul being an NCO? If there are objections, speak up! We adhere to principles of equality, everyone can voice their opinion!"

No one stood up in opposition, so Anning declared: "Good! No objections, then. Let’s start voting. Those in favor of Jean Paul becoming an NCO, raise your hands."

The group looked at each other, then one by one, hands were raised.

Anning: "Alright, put your hands down. Jean Paul, you are now the squad leader of the first squad. I promote you to Junior Sergeant, and you are responsible for managing the people of the first squad."

As Anning spoke, he casually pointed at ten people and told Jean Paul: "These are the members of the first squad, they are your subordinates. Take them aside to get acquainted with each other! Anyone else wants to be an NCO? Come forward and self-nominate!"

This time, several people raised their hands.

Thus, Anning selected twenty NCOs from the assigned rabble through self-nomination and collective voting.

The rest of the day was spent with these twenty NCOs leading the troops in basic drill training.

Anning, after delegating tasks to newly elected sergeants, took a carriage to Versailles Palace to continue with the meetings.

He never expected that his compelled action would bring such a significant impact on the subsequent National Guard.

**

While Anning was busy with meetings and training the troops, the situation was also developing rapidly.

News of the Paris Revolution spread throughout France like wildfire, causing people everywhere to rise up, overthrow the existing governing structures, and establish the National Guard and local autonomous parliaments.

In the countryside, the peasants mostly just watched the city folks make noise until a rumor spread uncontrollably.

The rumor claimed that the Nobles harbored resentment towards the Third Class’s takeover in the cities and were planning a counterattack in the countryside by sending bandits to attack rural areas, vandalize properties, and kill people everywhere.

Many peasants took the rumor seriously and, like their urban counterparts, chose to take up arms.

For the remainder of July, flames of rebellion scorched the nation; peasants, like the Parisians storming the Bastille, breached the estates of the Nobles and hung the remaining countryside Nobles from lampposts.

These issues had nothing to do with Anning; his main focus for the rest of July was on how to train this newly acquired small troop.

The time came to the evening of August 4, 1789.

That day, the National Assembly’s meeting continued into the evening; just past seven o’clock, the Palace Guards entered the Imperial Conference Hall carrying candlesticks.

Hungry representatives started leaving their seats to grab bread and sweets in the adjacent room.

Anning, however, was not hungry, he got a small plate of biscuits next door, and while eating, he returned to the meeting hall.

At that moment, the meeting chairman Munier stood up: "Gentlemen! I have just received a letter from a friend, who has informed me of the situation in the Vendee countryside! Based on various reports, the countryside is in complete chaos. If we do not take decisive actions, it may affect the upcoming harvest season!

"An affected harvest season would lead to further deterioration of food supplies! Therefore, I believe we should pause the constitutional discussions and urgently pass a decree concerning the countryside!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mirabeau stood up: "What more is there to say? The countryside is already practically out of control, and the old feudal obligations no longer exist! The peasants are in turmoil because they fear the Nobles’ retaliation!

"At this time, we just need to honestly tell the peasants that the Nobles will not retaliate, and the disturbances will end!

"I propose, starting with the Nobles present in this parliament hall!"

Mirabeau paused, then thumped his chest saying: "I, Mirabeau, voluntarily relinquish all feudal rights, including my lands, embracing freedom!"

Immediately, an old Noble representative roared: "Your lands have already ceased to exist! But our lands are still there, and I am still protecting the people there!"

After the old Noble spoke, immediately a Third Class representative stood up and retorted fiercely: "You’re protecting the people? The peasants probably don’t want your protection! If you weren’t representing Paris, you might have been lynched by the peasants already!"

"You! My citizens love me dearly!"

"Hmph, I fear the countryside Nobles who got hanged by the peasants thought the same!"

As both sides were at loggerheads, Duke Orleans suddenly stood up: "Enough! From the moment we became members of the National Assembly, didn’t we decide to confront the feudal system? I think it’s time. I, Duke Orleans Tolleson, officially relinquish my feudal rights! From this moment, the people on my lands shall become free people!"

After a brief silence, thunderous applause erupted throughout the hall.

Then another Duke stood up: "I, Duke Artua, relinquish my feudal rights, and my subjects, from now on, become free people!"

The Parliament Hall burst into another round of enthusiastic applause.

Then one after another, more Nobles stood up, declaring the renunciation of their feudal rights.

The Third Class representatives, having no feudal rights to relinquish, could only continue clapping.

Meanwhile, the minor Noble who initially bragged about protecting his subjects on his lands sat there unable to speak.

Anning saw him looking as though he had lost his soul, shaking his head continuously, muttering something.

He was probably muttering, "Madness, all madness."

The wave of declarations continued, as some minor Nobles began to follow suit and stood up to relinquish their feudal rights.

Indeed, besides giving up their feudal rights, they had no other choice, as at that time, the countryside was ablaze with signals of distress.

Peasants were furiously smashing all shackles.

This "night of relinquishing powers" quickly passed.

In the following days, the Parliament discussed resolutions to completely abolish feudal obligations, and finally, on August 11, the Parliament unanimously passed the "August Decree," completely abolishing feudal obligations and relationships.

The decree abolishing all feudal obligations was swiftly spread throughout the entirety of France by couriers.