I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 531 Execution

Because of this, today the nobles who participated in the violent attack on the tax collectors will also go to hell with the ordinary prisoners whom they usually look down upon.

And this will make the nobles feel that this is an insult to them.

It sounds very absurd, but in this era, it is really a big deal for the nobles.

A big deal about their own identity!

"Thank you for your advice." Joseph looked at Baron Breteuil and sighed, "Perhaps, the nobles should gradually get used to "integrating" with ordinary people."

The superiority of the nobles and their contempt for the common people are not only reflected in luxury and privilege, but have penetrated into every detail of their words, deeds and thoughts.

From accents, eye gestures, to food, accommodation, work, and even cells and death sentences, the nobles have a completely different set of things from the common people.

This is already a natural and subconscious behavior. And this will inevitably lead to the division of social classes.

Although Joseph also knows that this is a big problem, he knows that this is the most difficult problem to solve.

In history, the French Great Revolution had to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives to resolve this problem, and it was repeated several times.

Baron Breteuil tried, "Your Highness, we can execute these noble prisoners in secret, it won't take too much effort..."

"No need to do that." Joseph waved his hand and looked at the crowd rushing to the execution ground outside the window, "I have made arrangements.

"Today, there will be no distinction between nobles and civilians among those prisoners. They will all be given the same identity. I believe that the nobles will have no objection to the unified execution. "

In fact, this execution was also an attempt by Joseph - an attempt to gradually eliminate class divisions.

As long as people accept the beheading of nobles and commoners at the same place, it will become a routine in the future.

Then the prisons of nobles and commoners will converge, and then some living habits will be consistent... Slicing sausages slowly, although inefficient, can minimize social unrest.

Joseph was not even sure that his method would work, but it was better than doing nothing.

Breteuil wanted to persuade again, but heard the prince say: "In fact, not only the criminals in this joint trial, but also the people on the list you just gave me will be executed in the same way. "

The Minister of Justice was shocked when he heard this. What he had just given His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to sign was a list of tax farmers who had recently been tried, and on that list were great nobles such as Borore and Antonel!

He originally thought that His Royal Highness was just expressing his intention and would later seek pardon from Her Majesty the Queen for these people - although the Crown Prince is currently in charge of most judicial work, the power of pardon, which is only for the king, is temporarily held by the Queen.

But he did not expect that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would even execute Borore. You know, in the past, great nobles of this status could use fines to atone for their crimes even if they killed someone in public. This is a tradition and convention.

What Joseph hates most is this convention that should have been thrown into the garbage dump of history long ago.

He glanced at the clock in the corner, stood up and motioned to Emman to get his coat, and then patted Baron Breteuil on the shoulder: "It's almost time, do you want to go to the Louvre Square with me?"

"Ah?" The Minister of Justice was stunned for a moment, and nodded quickly, "Okay, Your Highness. "

Half an hour later.

With the assistance of the Prince's personal guards, a large number of police officers finally cleared a passage through the crowds of onlookers, allowing Joseph's carriage to enter the center of the square.

It was not because the police in charge of the special passage were negligent, but mainly because the number of onlookers far exceeded their expectations.

More than 13,000 people poured into the Louvre Square, which was originally very wide! The square seemed crowded.

Although Joseph closed the car window, the cheers and shouts beside him still made his ears buzz, "These damn guys are finally going to hell!"

"Thank you, His Royal Highness, for judging these evil tax collectors!"

"Long live His Royal Highness! Long live the High Court!"

"See? His Royal Highness will not let them go!"

"They will have this day too! Haha! "

Although Joseph was mentally prepared, he was still somewhat shocked by the extent of the people's hatred for the tax farmers. You know, when he returned triumphantly from the Southern Netherlands with the Guards, there were far fewer people coming to watch.

Soon, he was surrounded by officials such as Csode, the president of the High Court, and the supervising judge, and came to the high platform on the north side of the square. It was three meters high, allowing him to finally get rid of the crowded sea.

He sat down on the chair in the middle and looked across. He saw that in the center of the square, more than 30 meters away, there was a higher rectangular wooden platform. On it was a device like a long-handled guillotine, which was completely different from the Grand Guillotine he had seen in the documentary.

It might be a good thing that that kind of guillotine did not appear.

Joseph muttered to himself and signaled to the president of the High Court, Duport, who was standing next to him: "Please start."

"Yes, Your Highness. "

Dibor then gave some instructions to his men, and soon, heavy drumbeats were heard all around, and the people who came to watch suddenly quieted down.

Then, the orchestral instruments also began to play, and the music stopped abruptly after more than ten minutes. Dubor said loudly to the people: "Today, we are honored to welcome the arrival of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Please join me in saluting His Royal Highness."

The tens of thousands of people in the square immediately bowed deeply to the VIP seats. Their salute this time was different from the previous ones that were purely forced by the rules. Almost all of them expressed their high respect to the Crown Prince from the bottom of their hearts.

It has long been spread among the people that this tax reform was presided over by His Royal Highness, and it was also under his insistence and promotion that these tax farmers with numerous evil deeds were arrested. How could they not be grateful?

Joseph smiled and nodded to everyone, and then went to the front of the stage to make a simple opening speech, and finally announced the start of the execution. A burst of rapid drums immediately came from the square, and a prisoner with his hands tied behind his back walked onto the high platform under the escort of two burly executioners.

But what followed was not the court officials reading out the criminals' crimes, but a man dressed as a farmer followed behind them.

He seemed a little nervous at first, but when he looked back and saw the tax collector who was about to be executed, he clenched his fists and his body trembled violently with excitement.

He completely forgot the speech and process he had practiced repeatedly before, and roared loudly with red eyes: "This bastard, Adrian Berni, he falsely accused me of concealing the land output and asked me to pay a fine of 50 livres! In order to avoid the fine, my sister had to become his mistress... As a result, she died of dystocia caused by him two years ago...