Eagle’s Glory

Thanks to the efforts of many parties, the news that "the King of Rome had been assassinated, and the murderer behind the scenes was suspected to be the Duke of Orleans" quickly spread in the streets of Paris, and quickly spread throughout the country.

Although the circulation of newspapers has almost stopped due to the turbulence of the situation, the gossip on the streets has always had a strong vitality since ancient times. Even if there are no so-called media companies to add fuel to the fire, with the promotion of caring people, it can spread quickly. .

The discussion of this news has gradually become a hot topic around the dining tables of every household. Some people think that "since everyone is saying this, it should be at least somewhat reasonable"; some people are disgusted with what the Duke of Orleans has done. And they would rather believe that this is true, and more people are talking about it out of fun. They don't care whether it is the King of Rome who is unlucky or the Duke of Orleans who is unlucky, as long as one big shot is unlucky.

No matter what mentality you have, in short, in the already anxious and depressing situation at this moment, this piece of news is like a pebble thrown into the lake, destined to stir up huge waves, beyond its own legal scope.

In addition to the streets and alleys, in the Luxembourg Palace where the House of Nobles is located and the Bourbon Palace where the National Assembly is located, people are constantly making eloquent speeches on these topics, either fiercely attacking the Duke of Orleans, or fiercely defending the Duke. The heat even goes beyond the issues in Parliament itself.

Due to previous major events, the kingdom no longer exists, and the Parliament itself has been divided and paralyzed due to disputes. Although the royalists are in the minority, they firmly oppose the rebellion not long ago; and the king's opponents , after the king secretly stepped down, they also lost their common position, and quickly split into several factions due to each other's political opinions, and fiercely clashed on the forum.

Almost everyone tacitly understands that with the end of the Bourbon dynasty, the legal basis for the existence of this parliament has been shaky. The reason why it is still in a state of "accidental existence" is just because the new political system is still in the " "dystocia" state, so we have to temporarily retain this illegal legislative body.

Similarly, almost everyone knows that no matter what political system emerges next, there will definitely be a great purge between the two houses of parliament, and who can survive will depend on their ability to wait and see and choose sides in the trend. Got it.

Although many republicans advocate simply establishing a republic, the vast majority are unwilling to consider this plan because people still have lingering feelings about the bloody "republic" in the early days of the Great Revolution and are deeply afraid that a new one will emerge. Robespierre, so he still hoped to retain the monarchy.

Although the republicans spoke loudly, they were really alone and were quickly marginalized in the debate. The monarchists controlled public opinion in both houses of Congress.

So who should become the monarch?

Originally this was an issue that did not need to be considered.

After the Bourbon royal family was driven away, the only qualified pretender to the throne was the Orleans branch of the royal family. Moreover, the Duke of Orleans also played a major role in "defeating the tyrant". No one other than him was qualified to sit on the throne. Even if you oppose this throne, it will be useless.

However, now, the situation seems to be different. There is another person who seems to be qualified, waiting for the call of the motherland at any time outside of Paris.

Inspired by this reality, the supporters of the Bourbon royal family and the royalist nobles began to fight against the rebellion who dared to commit rebellion, and were never willing to let the usurper have his way; while others opposed what the Duke of Orleans had done. People also saw hope and turned to the side of the Bonaparte family - of course, there was also the secret push by Prince Talleyrand and others.

In any case, in the confrontation between the two pretenders to the throne, the situation quickly evolved into a delicate balance, and the debate continued but never reached a conclusion.

Of course, the "unresolved" outcome is not equally painful for both sides.

For Aigron, delaying time is always in his own interest. Anyway, outside Paris, he always pretends to obey the wishes of the people. Prince Talleyrand will continue to recruit traitors for him; while for the Duke of Orleans, Said that the situation is very bad. His current prestige is all supported by the violence he used to drive away the king. If time continues to drag on, his reputation as a "usurper" will become more and more solid, and even the current Capital cannot be saved.

And in this anxious moment, the accusation of the King of Rome seemed to drop a catalyst in the reaction tank, quickly igniting the already dry political arena.

At first glance, this does seem a bit like a political smear campaign, in which the Roman king slandered his opponents.

However, when people think about it carefully, people can't help but be a little doubtful. After all, according to normal logic, the King of Rome will definitely not play such a trick that can be exposed at a glance. Since he dares to name names, he must have mastered something. evidence.

And then, the details of the case began to be revealed bit by bit, and people increasingly believed that the accusations made by the King of Rome were indeed justified——

The assassin has been captured alive, and the King of Rome also invited the prestigious Prosecutor De Villefort to assist in his investigation. After careful investigation and evidence collection, Prosecutor Villefort came up with a report that believed that the Duke of Orleans had Very likely to be involved in this matter.

The news is spreading more and more vividly, and it seems to have found an end to the current political deadlock.

"Gentlemen, we have not long ago tolerated a flagrant rebellion and a king who left our country in a way that brought shame on us. Do we now tolerate a lawless political assassination?" on the floor of the National Assembly. , a congressman Kang said, "Let me ask, do we want our future monarch to be a wise and benevolent man, or a villain who regards all human morality as nothing? Do we want to watch someone lead us away? Go back to the dark ages when law and morality no longer exist?”

His words caused a burst of cheers, but soon someone stood up to refute him.

"There is no evidence to prove that the Duke of Orleans did all this. This is just a senseless political attack and slander!"

Although some people applauded his words, they were sparse and out of proportion. Obviously, even the supporters of the Duke of Orleans felt guilty on this issue.

Many people themselves doubted that the Duke had really done this - after all, the news that had been revealed did not seem to be fabricated.

"I didn't name anyone, I just said we have had enough of lawless evil!" The congressman who just spoke shouted again, "Because we stood by and watched, the country has now fallen into such unfortunate turmoil... The only way we can save the situation now is to regain respect for justice! Are we going to sit back and watch evil deeds continue to happen? History tells us that in that case, each of us will become an accomplice, and eventually each of us will They will all become victims!

Therefore, I suggest that the Parliament form a joint investigation team to conduct a public investigation into this case. If the Duke of Orleans is really innocent, then we will find his innocence! "

"right!"

"You're right!"

The words of the parliament triggered waves of cheers and cheers, and this deafening cheers also indicated that a storm was brewing.

People involved in it all vaguely felt that this dramatic incident might accidentally become an opportunity to end the current deadlock——

Although this may sound completely unbelievable, there has been so much drama surrounding the throne of France over the years that it has become acceptable.

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In the Palais Royal, where the Duke of Orleans lives, it was cloudy at this time.

His residence is not far from the seat of the Parliament, so he can easily feel the chill coming from the Parliament.

In front of his cronies, the Duke's forehead was sweating, and he was obviously facing tremendous psychological pressure.

"Talleyrand, that old beast, must be behind the scenes!" He cursed fiercely in front of everyone. "Justice? Morality? I'm sorry he has the nerve to say these words!"

Seeing that the Duke was furious, the others could only remain silent and let him vent. After the Duke cursed for a while, he gradually regained his composure.

"Is there any new news from the Marquis de Lafayette?" he then asked.

The others remained silent for a while, obviously there was no good news, so they did not dare to speak for fear of offending the Duke.

After a while, Gao Dan mustered up the courage to face his benefactor honestly.

"There has just been news from the Marquis de Lafayette. He does not agree with your tough stance on Parliament, because it will weaken your prestige and make the militiamen in Paris doubt the meaning of serving you... So he suggested It would be better for you to face the current trend of public opinion that is unfavorable to you in order to win back people's support for you."

"Bah! You old man who adapts to the wind!" After hearing this, the Duke of Orleans, who was still angry, was once again excited and furious, so he didn't save any face. "He is just a hypocrite who is just trying to gain fame. When he can get benefits safely, he moves forward like a warrior; but when he encounters some difficulties, he shrinks back and spreads his hands, as if nothing has anything to do with him! Of course, he always has innocent hands. , because he never does anything! He didn’t do many good things back then!”

The fierce scolding continued for several minutes, and Gaudin listened silently, until finally he gave the Duke a wink.

The Duke waved his hand impatiently, and the other staff members quickly and quietly exited the room as if they had been granted amnesty. At this moment, only Gaudan was left to face his benefactor alone.

"Lafayette saw that the situation was bad and wanted to quit, but we can't let him leave just like that." Gaudan whispered to the Duke, "Although he is a boastful and useless guy, he is outstanding after all. He has a reputation, and now that we are at a disadvantage in terms of public opinion, we need to continue to use his reputation to continue to call for the National Guard."

"Then what do you think we should do? Should we continue to win over him?" the Duke asked impatiently.

"Of course it is necessary to continue to win over him, but since he wants to quit, it may not be effective to win over him." Gao Dan sighed, "Fortunately, we are not only trying to win over him, but also his adjutants and subordinates He has also won over a lot, so there is no problem in being able to isolate him for a short period of time, but..."

"But what?" demanded the Duke.

"However, if all those things were exposed before and became the target of everyone's attack on us, then Lafayette will definitely take the opportunity to break with us." Gaudin frowned, and then replied in a low voice, "He He has prided himself on being innocent all his life, so at this time, he will definitely turn around and attack us for deceiving and taking advantage of him."

As Prince Talleyrand said, the so-called assassination incident is not important. If the Duke has obtained the throne as he wishes, then he can easily settle all these disputes. At least they can be put on the shelf and no one can use it to attack him. In the end, he can only Let it go.

But now, the situation is exactly the opposite. It is precisely because he did not ascend the throne and did not fully control the situation that it caused people's hearts to fluctuate, and then turned an "accusation" into his weakness.

There is a "general trend" first, and then it is possible for the accusation to come true.

The Duke was naturally aware of this, which is why the anxiety and anger in his heart were so strong. He knew that after the fatal delay, his "prestige" of bombarding the palace and driving away the king had faded, and his opponents Although they were half-hearted, they still gradually gathered under the gathering of Talleyrand and others. At this moment, the wind direction had turned against him.

Under this trend, if the accusation is confirmed, it will be a fatal blow to him. Those guys who originally wanted to jump ship when they saw that the situation was not good will also take the opportunity to distance themselves from the relationship with him. , spurn the so-called assassination, and jump to a safe zone to preserve their wealth or reputation.

And he simply couldn't bear such a blow.

"These despicable people... I have seen through them. They just want to sit back and enjoy the gains, but never want to take risks. They have no courage to do big things, but they always like to put on the emphasis of saving the country and the people! If they think they can rely on hypocrisy It would be too naive to use my performance to distance myself. If I lose, they will also have no hope of a good ending."

After gritting his teeth and cursing, the Duke's face turned livid, like a beast that chooses people to devour.

"How's your plan going?"

The corners of Mr. Gaudin's mouth twitched slightly, but he soon fell into calmness again. "The plan is going very well and our people are already in."

"Then let's handle it as soon as possible... We don't have much time left." The Duke sighed, "We must not let this accusation be confirmed! Otherwise, everything will be over."