The officer spoke calmly and carelessly about the people in the square. In his eyes, those who had to crowd in the San Martino Square to receive food rations were just the most humble poor people in the city.
There was silence. Everyone was silent for this ridiculous scene, and in this silence, endless anger was quietly brewing.
Rumors have long circulated in the city as to why the ration quota was suddenly cut.
Some people say that the food and wine bags in the army are not well taken care of, and all the grain reserves turned in by the citizens were destroyed in the flood. Others say that this is a microcosm of the corruption-ridden army. The grain they turned in is either circulated in the black market.
Or it was given to adults by flattering officers.
But no matter what the truth was, when they saw that the troops in front of them were trying to take away their last life-saving food, everyone became strangely angry.
A citizen who couldn't bear it jumped out. He stopped in front of the convoy and yelled:
"Are you going to watch your compatriots starve to death in the Royal City of Turin! You traitor to the nation!"
The officer chuckled dismissively:
"Traitor? I am a soldier. The bounden duty of a soldier is to obey. The collection of grain reserves is an order from His Majesty the King. All I have to do is to implement it to the end. But you are a madman. Are you questioning His Majesty's decision? Do you want to
Give up Turin to the Corsicans!"
This series of interrogations was frightening. During the war, no one dared to bear the charge of being a traitor.
The citizen subconsciously took a step back.
However, he was surprised to find that at some point, a human wall of dozens of angry citizens appeared behind him.
Everyone glared at the leading officer with blazing eyes, as if what he just said had entered their ears.
They knew they were trying to block the flow of traffic, but they still fought hard regardless of their own safety.
"Fuck you!"
The citizen stopped retreating. He clenched his fists and unexpectedly pounced towards the officer:
"So what about the king's orders! A king who doesn't love his people doesn't deserve our support!"
With this roar, the riot began.
Refugees from the entire San Martino Square gathered around and completely surrounded the troops who were trying to take away the rations.
The soldiers raised their muskets and tried to resist, but the distance between the two sides was too close. They didn't even have time to load their ammunition or assemble their bayonets, and they were overwhelmed by the swarming citizens.
The officer had already been completely beaten by the crowd. Perhaps he could not believe until his death that these damn idiots dared to attack an aristocratic officer.
Screams and roars intertwined in the Plaza San Martillo. In less than ten minutes, the food collection team that came to confiscate relief food was beaten to death by the angry citizens.
When the bureaucrats and policemen in the city hall saw this, they ran away, not daring to stay in this place of right and wrong for even a second.
The floor tiles in the square were spattered with blood, corpses of soldiers and civilians lay scattered everywhere, and a group of black crows hovered in the sky, ready to enjoy their meal at any time.
The people, whose hands were stained with blood, finally calmed down and looked at each other blankly without saying a word. Their faces were not filled with the pleasure of revenge or the joy of victory, but instead were full of bitterness and confusion.
Yes, they protected what they deserved from these bandits, but what should they do next?
Those officials who fled would inevitably report the situation here, and it wouldn't be long before the riot in San Martijó Square would be suppressed by a large army.
At that time, what other way do ordinary people like them, who are unarmed, do they have other options besides sitting back and waiting to be killed?
Do you want to flee like birds and animals? No, even if you can escape the pursuit of the army, won't you still have to struggle to survive in the hell of the siege of Turin?
Everyone is thinking about this question, but in fact everyone has the same answer tacitly:
If you don’t do one thing, you won’t stop doing the other thing.
...
The riots in Piazza San Martillo instantly ignited Turin.
The civilians struggling to survive in dark corners could no longer endure such hellish days. Even if an enemy army was watching outside the city, no one felt obligated to sacrifice their lives for the powerful.
They don't want to be treasonous, they just want to live.
Countless people joined the riot, and they gathered into an unstoppable flow of people with only one destination - the Royal Palace of Turin.
In the early stages of the riot, due to the traffic congestion caused by the city's flooding, the response of the army and police was extremely slow, and there was no time to nip the rebellion in its infancy.
And when the citizens gathered in large groups, the military and police did not dare to rashly suppress the huge crowd. No one dared to escalate the situation further before receiving orders from their superiors and the king.
Soon, thousands of suffering people completely surrounded the palace, and the streets were filled with floating boats. The curses continued all day long, and everyone screamed and asked His Majesty the King to give them a way out.
.
Carlo Emanuele III, who was presiding over the proceedings before the court, was in a daze for a long time after hearing the news. He did foresee the uneasiness of the people, but he never expected that this riot would come so quickly.
It is obviously impossible to use the army to suppress this riot. Half of Turin has already raised the banner of resistance. If a mass killing starts at this time, let alone whether the Corsicans outside the city will take advantage of it.
Enter, the loss of prestige caused by such bloody suppression is not something Carlo Emanuele III can accept.
The old king absolutely did not want to leave a kingdom of Sardinia with turbulent people to Prince Vittorio.
The Alderman, the Home Secretary and the War Secretary took turns trying to negotiate with the mob on behalf of His Majesty the King in exchange for their departure.
But the extremely angry citizens did not accept the persuasion of these ministers at all. They demanded to see His Majesty the King in person and obtain the King's personal commitment.
The people became even more angry and even began to attack the defense line formed by the palace guards. Even the irritable Minister of War was hit on the head with a stone while reprimanding the citizens.
The situation is getting increasingly out of hand, but Carlo Emanuele III still cannot accept the possibility of negotiating with public opinion representatives in person.
Although the old king is indeed an outstanding negotiator and has brought huge benefits to the Kingdom of Sardinia in several diplomatic negotiations, such a king who comes from the ancient Savoy dynasty will never negotiate with the mob.
of.
It is undoubtedly a great shame for a noble king to lower his dignity and personally negotiate with representatives of these mobs. This is his bottom line.
But just as His Majesty the King was going his own way and the situation was becoming increasingly tense, the Corsican army, aware of the unrest in the city of Turin, took action.
...
They did not send an army to attack. Instead, they sent a messenger alone in a small boat close to the city wall of Turin, claiming to be negotiating a contract with His Majesty the King of Sardinia on behalf of Prime Minister Bonaparte.
After obtaining permission to enter the city of Turin, the envoy did not enter the Turin Palace under the escort of soldiers. Instead, he requested that his personal safety be threatened, outside the palace, under the watchful eyes of thousands of Turin people.
Notify and submit peace terms to the Kingdom of Sardinia in public.
The treaty brought by this messenger can be summarized in only four simple articles:
First: The Kingdom of Sardinia officially announces the transfer of sovereignty over Sardinia and its affiliated islands to the Kingdom of Corsica, and permanently gives up all claims to Sardinia and its affiliated islands; the Kingdom of Sardinia can retain the legal status of the kingdom,
Renamed the Kingdom of Savoy.
Second: The Nice area obtained by the Kingdom of Sardinia in the "1748 Treaty of Aachen" needs to be returned to the Kingdom of France.
This chapter is not over, please click the next page to continue reading! Third: The Kingdom of Sardinia pays a war indemnity of 120 million livres or the equivalent of gold and silver to the Kingdom of Corsica every year for ten years. The indemnity is paid by
San Giorgio Bank received one-third of the compensation for the establishment of the Turin Investment Fund for the post-disaster reconstruction and recovery of the city of Turin.
Fourth: The Kingdom of Sardinia, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Kingdom of Spain reached an unconditional peace, gave up all diplomatic relations with the Sicilian rebel forces, and withdrew from the Italian War.
After reading the peace treaty brought by the Corsican army in public, the envoy also promised the thousands of citizens present in the name of Prime Minister Bonaparte:
If Carlo Emanuele III and his cabinet accept this treaty, the Corsican army will not only not enter Turin, but will also immediately remove the Po River embankment and lift the water attack on the city of Turin.
Even facing the dilemma of food shortage within the city, Prime Minister Bonaparte expressed that out of humanism and sympathy for his Italian compatriots, he could immediately give a batch of Corsican army supplies to the people of Turin, even if the King of Sardinia
Do not accept this peace treaty.
Listening to the messenger's words echoing in the square in front of the court, thousands of citizens fell silent, and the scene was completely silent.
Everyone hates the Corsicans who brought about this catastrophe, but from a realistic perspective, from their perspective, from the perspective of a group of small citizens struggling to survive in the besieged city, the treaty and treaty sent by the Corsicans
Prime Minister Bonaparte's promises are indeed very attractive.
The most important two items in the treaty are nothing more than the cession of Sardinia and Nice, but what does this have to do with these mere mortals?
Will the gold and silver in Sardinia and the silk and pearls in Nice fall into the pockets of poor people like them who have nothing?
As for the impact that losing these two territories would have on the country, few ordinary citizens would consider it.
"Fuck national affairs, I just want a piece of bread and a dry bed."
This is the cry from the heart of thousands of civilians struggling to survive in the floods.
Moreover, Prime Minister Laurence Bonaparte also promised that the army would not enter the city of Turin. This made the citizens who were worried about the burning, killing and looting after the Corsicans entered the city breathed a sigh of relief. They were already struggling on the edge of life and death and absolutely did not want to do so.
Let’s face the sharp blades of the Corsican people who drink raw hair and drink blood.
As for the part of the peace treaty that one-third of the war reparations would be used for investment in Turin, as well as Prime Minister Bonaparte's promise to donate Corsican military supplies to the people of Turin, it made the citizens present even more difficult.
To be continued...