Fox of France

On the second day after the premiere, Amon and the Dragon and Rose Troupe received many new performance invitations. But among these invitations, there was one invitation that was exceptionally different. Because it does not come from a certain theater, but from a member of the "National Constituent Assembly"-Mr. Robespierre.

If the person who saw the invitation letter was Joseph, he might have been taken aback, because Mr. Robespierre was later a famous "murderer". According to some accounts, during the period when he ruled France, Paris In the center of every square in Beijing, a high guillotine is erected; on every lamppost, there is a "enemy of the people" who has been sentenced to death. People in later generations even made up such an epitaph for him: "I, Robespierre, will sleep here forever. Pedestrians in the past, don't mourn for me. If I live, none of you will live!"

Joseph believed that after the fall of Robespierre, almost none of his enemies, from the Thermidorians to the later Emperor Napoleon, to the restored Louis XVIII, would like this "incorruptible, the people's Defender, the guy who created the motto: 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity' (Robespierre's real epitaph). So throwing dirty water on his head was almost a certainty. Just like in the period of the Bourbon Restoration in history, they fabricated all kinds of pleasing stories for Napoleon, and vividly described him as a "Dartauf" (the protagonist of Molière's comedy "The Hypocrite") and a "Don Juan" (in Europe, this name is synonymous with womanizer). Therefore, those legends about Robespierre being moody and taking pleasure in killing are mostly unreliable. However, even considering these things, one thing is certain, that is, the "Incorruptible One, Defender of the People" did kill a lot of people, and many of them were people who used to be in the same trench with him. people. To say that Robespierre took pleasure in killing is probably a slander; but it would probably not be false to say that Robespierre was accustomed to solving problems by "fixing the person who caused them" of. In general, it is: it is very dangerous to be an enemy of Robespierre; but it is not necessarily safe to be a friend of Robespierre.

But Amon didn't know this, and at this time, Robespierre's reputation was just right. He made a total of more than 200 speeches during the three-level meeting and the constitutional meeting, ranking twentieth among the representatives. In his speeches, he supported universal male suffrage, opposed the king's veto, supported Jewish civil rights, called for the abolition of slavery and the death penalty, and opposed press censorship. (Yes, you read that right, "Killer" Robespierre was an abolitionist at that time. Strange? It's not surprising, it's just evidence that the ass decides the head. When Roberts When Pierre was an abolitionist, the tool of death penalty was controlled by King Louis XVI, and it threatened Robespierre, a "troublemaker". Therefore, as a "troublemaker", Rob Speer naturally opposed it. And when this tool fell into the hands of Robespierre, the situation was naturally different. Speaking of Louis XVI at this moment, he had just completed the only technological invention in his life—— The design of the guillotine has been improved and its efficiency has been improved. Ironically, the first user of this improved version of the guillotine was Louis XVI himself. Master Lu said in a poem: "One face changes, so More and more heads were beheaded. Suddenly he went to the wild, Namo Amitabha." It can be a portrayal of these people.)

Most of these proposals of Robespierre were not adopted, but they brought him the reputation of "The Incorruptible". Now that he got his invitation, Amang was naturally overjoyed. And the location provided by Robespierre is also very special, this place is the Royal Palace.

The Royal Palace was originally built for the prime minister of Louis XIII, Richelieu. It was once called the Cardinal Palace (Richelieu is a French cardinal), and later turned into the residence of the Duke of Orleans. In order to win over the people of Paris, the Orléans family opened it to the public in 1780. Since then, this private garden palace has gradually become a public square for the Parisians. Of course, there must be the meaning of the Duke of Orleans behind this. Now his political ambitions can be said to be well known to passers-by.

During the French Revolution of 1789, Paris had two political centers. One was Versailles, outside of Paris, where the three-level conference that would decide the fate of France was taking place. The other is the Palais Royal in the center of Paris. During that time, it was a thermometer for the political frenzy of the Paris populace. These are the two places of political authority. If we compare them, after July 14, 1789, it was not Versailles but Royal that led France. Because Versailles cannot influence Royal; conversely, Royal can dominate Versailles.

The Royal Palace is a large palace that can accommodate tens of thousands of people. It is a place rich in various political pamphlets and orators, and of course there is no shortage of various audiences and listeners. Since the third-level meeting, people have exchanged various information here, including those from Versailles; at the same time, they have turned it into various rumors and spread it. If Amon's drama can be staged here, even if it is only staged once, it will definitely make Amon famous.

After thinking about it for a while, Amon accepted the invitation. In the evening of the same day, he also took the lead actor Louis to visit Robespierre.

Robespierre was living in a hotel near the city hall at this time. In fact, he had a better place to live-many members of the Constituent Assembly had accepted the kindness of the Duke of Orleans or the Marquis of Falayette and lived in their properties because of security concerns. But the "Immortal" still pays for himself and lives in an ordinary hotel. However, when Robespierre was a lawyer, he won some lawsuits, so his financial situation was good, and the conditions of the hotel he lived in were also good. In addition to the bedroom, he also had a small living room with a sofa.

Amon took Louis to the third floor led by a waiter. This is the top floor of the hotel, which is quieter than the first and second floors, which may be one of the reasons why Robespierre chose to live here.

The waiter brought Amon and Louis to a door and knocked gently on the door.

"The door is open. Please come in." A hearty voice came from inside.

The waiter opened the door and said to the inside: "Mr. Robespierre, Mr. Lavoisier and Mr. Saint-Just came to visit by appointment."

Yes, Louis' surname is Saint-Just. If Joseph knew his surname when he met him last time, he would definitely look at this handsome young man who doesn't talk much. Because although Joseph, who was an engineering dog in his previous life, is not particularly familiar with the history of the French Revolution, he has read Victor Hugo's "Ninety-Three Years" at any rate, and he also knows about Robespierre's men from the notes in that novel. The most hard-core younger brother, Saint-Just, who is known as the "Archangel of Revolution" or "Archangel of Terror".

But even if Amon didn't mention his surname when he introduced Saint-Just to Joseph, Joseph should actually think that he is the "terrible archangel" because of his incomparable beauty.

"Come in, gentlemen." A voice came from inside the room, but there was no one in the living room.

"Excuse me, I'm writing a manuscript, and I have a few words to finish, please wait a moment on the sofa. Hey, Henry, you can greet them for me and pour them a cup of tea, thank you. "The voice came from the study on the other side of the living room.

The waiter led the two into the living room, sat them down on the sofa, and poured tea for them. The tea is Indian black tea, but the quality is very average. If it were Joseph, he probably wouldn’t drink it, because he knows that low-grade tea leaves in this era often add patina to cover up mildew. Drinking this stuff is not good for health. No good at all.

But Amon and Saint-Just didn't have these concerns, so they sat down on the sofa and drank tea.

After another two minutes, such words came from the study: "It's finally finished! I'm sorry, I kept you waiting for a long time."

Following the sound, a young man came out, perhaps because of staying up all night, his face was a little pale, but his expression was serious. His lips are thin and his eyes are calm. His cheeks twitched a little nervously, which made his smile look unnatural. As is customary among lawyers, he was powdered and gloved, and his clothes were well-brushed and buttoned neatly, with no creases on his light blue jacket. The lower body is beige chaps, white stockings, shoes with silver buckles, a high tie, and a crotch-shaped decoration on the front.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to be able to do it so fast." Robespierre reached out to shake hands with them, "I went to see your premiere yesterday, and after I came back, I was so excited that I couldn't fall asleep all night. My ears are full of that battle hymn of yours, and those stirring speeches of our Spartacus. I even forgot about my work, until a short time ago, when I remembered that I was going to deliver a speech in Parliament tomorrow. Speech, I looked at the time, I guess you will have one or two hours to arrive, so I will go to draft the manuscript first. I have a problem with this person, once I write the manuscript, I can’t stop in the middle. I have to let you wait here Wait. I hope you don't think I'm trying to snub you on purpose."

"I understand this." Saint-Just said, "When I'm doing something, I also don't like to stop halfway."

"Do you know the purpose of my inviting you to perform at the Royal Palace?" Robespierre sat down on the sofa and asked very directly.

"You hope to put pressure on the king through this drama." Saint-Just replied almost without thinking.

The young Saint-Just's reaction was obviously beyond Robespierre's expectations. He froze for a moment, and then said: "You are right, this is indeed one of our purposes. Obviously, our invitation , there are political considerations behind it, and if you accept our invitation, you may also get into some political risks. I don't want to drag you into politics without you knowing anything about it In the whirlpool. Well, you also know that the current situation is quite tense and dangerous."