Chapter 263 The ulterior motives of the Duke of Orleans
"Those untouchables are simply unreasonable. Don't they know that the kingdom's finances are about to collapse?"
Louis XVI stood in his palace as if he were crazy. He heard a snap, and a porcelain vase placed on the edge of the steps was kicked over by him and fell to the ground.
"Oh, Louis, don't get so angry. Those untouchables don't agree. We can find ways to make them agree. You don't have to get so angry over this little thing."
Mary opened the door and walked in, and at a glance she saw Louis XVI in a furious state and the broken porcelain bottles on the floor. After seeing Mary walking in, Louis XVI's expression improved a little, but his anger was obviously not gone.
"Mary, you don't know, I asked Sihanda and Averil to persuade those untouchables to change their minds, but those untouchables actually said that Sihanda and the others were my lackeys, and they firmly refused to agree to increase taxes. This is simply
A mob!”
"Louis, since those people don't agree whether they live or die, then we can arrest them in the Bastille, and then change a group of people to act as representatives and make them agree."
"Mary, you don't know that I have arrested several untouchables before and sent them to the Bastille, but those untouchables who I kindly spared have started to make a fuss. If all the untouchables in the kingdom are arrested, I am afraid that all the untouchables in the kingdom will
against me”
Mary's idea was something Louis XVI had already done before. He threw several of the most opposed representatives of the Third Estate into the Bastille. However, he didn't expect that the remaining representatives would come to the Bastille the next day.
He responded to Louis XVI's actions with a strike. This made Louis XVI annoyed but at the same time he was helpless.
The two people in the palace fell silent. At this moment, the door of the palace was pushed open. Louis XVI and Marie took a closer look. It turned out that Napoleon had walked in.
"Dear Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Queen!"
Seeing Napoleon walk in, Mary's face suddenly turned cloudy.
"Napoleon, when did you come back?"
"Your Majesty the Queen, I just came back and heard that His Majesty the King and you are here, so I came to say hello."
Seeing Napoleon being so polite, Mary was angry.
"We are all our own people here, so you don't need to be so polite."
As she said that, Mary glanced at Louis XVI. Seeing the look Mary cast on her, Louis XVI had a smile on his face.
"Mary is right, Viscount Napoleon, you don't need to be so polite here."
After saying that, Louis XVI walked to his throne and sat down.
Napoleon looked embarrassed. Although Louis XVI told Napoleon not to be polite, he still reminded Napoleon's identity in his words. After all, Napoleon was only a viscount.
To be honest, in Louis XVI's heart, he didn't have much affection for this Corsican little man, and as Napoleon got older, the disgust in Louis XVI's heart became more and more intense. Louis XVI admitted that
Part of the disgust was because Napoleon was from Corsica, and part of it was jealousy.
Yes, it is jealousy. If it were told, who would believe that His Majesty the King of the powerful Kingdom of France would be jealous of a little Corsica man. But this is the fact. This jealousy does not come from elsewhere. It comes from Mary.
Since Napoleon entered the palace, Mary has been very protective of Napoleon. This made Louis XVI almost crazy with jealousy, and Mary treated Napoleon very tenderly, watching her little wife treat another man so tenderly.
, Louis XVI felt as disgusted as if he had eaten a fly.
But it is much better now. At least as Napoleon has grown up, Louis XVI arranged Napoleon to the security headquarters in Paris in the name of training and reuse. Although the Palace of Versailles is not very far from Paris, out of sight is out of mind.
When Napoleon went to war, Louis XVI felt that his mood also became more relaxed.
Of course, in front of Mary, Louis XVI treated Napoleon well. At least Napoleon only served in the army for two years, and his military rank was promoted to lieutenant colonel. This can be described as a rocket, no, it can be described as a space shuttle.
Napoleon looked at Louis XVI sitting on the throne, not knowing what he was thinking in his eyes, while Mary was concerned about Napoleon's life in Paris. Napoleon dealt with it verbally, and all his attention was focused on Louis.
On sixteen.
"Your Majesty, I am here to bring the latest news from Paris."
"oh"
Louis XVI responded, and then his eyes fell on Napoleon.
"Because we arrested several representatives of the third estate before, now all the representatives of the third estate in Paris are gathering in secret. According to the spies who infiltrated our security department, these representatives are preparing to carry out large-scale demonstrations in Paris.
Huge demonstrations demanding the government release previously arrested deputies. And they are also prepared to demand reforms, without which they will abandon the march."
As soon as Napoleon said this, Louis XVI stood up suddenly.
"Those untouchables are really going to rebel. Napoleon, you rush to Paris immediately and say it's my order to immediately arrest the conspirators who are plotting to overthrow the government. If anyone dares to hold such a demonstration, I allow the garrison command to take coercive measures."
Means. And prepare the ten regiments outside Paris."
As he spoke, Louis XVI's face became fierce. It was obvious that Louis XVI was ready to impose dictatorship on these uncooperative people.
After hearing Louis XVI's order, Napoleon said goodbye to Marie and hurried out.
Seeing that Louis XVI's face was red from holding back, Mary on the side walked gently to Louis XVI's side, and then gently stroked Louis XVI's back.
"Louis, it's okay. Are you going to be a bunch of untouchables soon? As long as we have a tougher attitude, these untouchables won't be able to make trouble."
Hearing what Mary said, Louis XVI said yes and said he understood.
That evening, Mary met with some of the upper-class French nobles on behalf of Louis XVI. Among these nobles were the Prince of Condé, the Prince of Conti, the Duke of Orleans, the Duke of Anjou, etc.
As two close relatives of the Bourbon royal family, the pedigree of the Prince of Condé and the Duke of Orleans has a very high reputation in France. You must know that the Prince of Condé also has another title, that of the Duke of Bourbon.
But when Mary saw the Duke of Orleans, her expression suddenly dropped, but it was not the right time for an attack. Mary's hatred for the Duke of Orleans was not unreasonable. Before the meeting of the three estates was held, Orleans
She questioned Mary's policies many times, and even blatantly called Mary "a prostitute who relies on her lower body to please the king" on certain occasions. If she hadn't estimated that the Orleans family has huge power in France, Mary would have ordered the arrest of the Duke of Orleans.
.
What's more important is that in 1787, the Duke of Orleans actually expressed objections to Louis XVI's authority as king at the Paris High Court, and more importantly, he was elected as a representative of the nobility at the beginning of the Third Estate Conference.
.But on June 25, the Duke of Orleans used his prestige to persuade a group of nobles to join the Third Estate. At that time, the Third Estate had declared it to be the National Assembly, and the Royal Palace, where the Duke of Orleans lived, became the center of public agitation.
.
Louis XVI and his wife also thought about punishing the Duke of Orleans, but after hundreds of years of development, the power of the Duke of Orleans family has become pervasive in France. Even Louis XVI, with his dignity as king, still cannot destroy the Orleans family without any cost.
In France, the French kings of the past generations have maintained a balance between the lineage of the Prince of Condé and the lineage of the Duke of Orleans to ensure that their rule can be stable. However, this generation of Prince Condé is not a determined person.
The third estate and the king chose a wait-and-see attitude, which indirectly encouraged the Duke of Orleans' arrogance.
But there is one thing to be thankful for, that is, after these years of hard work, Mary has successfully won over a group of French nobles and military generals. Mary is always paying attention to the construction of the French army, and every year the finances will be tilted towards the army. This is also
Let the French military system respect this queen quite a bit.
However, due to the rigidity of the French army, Mary did not have many troops at her disposal. What Mary could fully control were the royal guards of the Palace of Versailles, the French First Army stationed near Paris, and the French Second Army stationed near Dijon.
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With the convening of the Estates-General, Orleans' ambitions had almost reached the point where everyone knew it. It was precisely because of these military forces that Mary was able to successfully prevent the Duke of Orleans' ambitions from becoming a reality.
When Mary mentioned that she wanted the nobles to support the king's resolution to increase taxes, as expected, the Duke of Orleans was the first to come out.
"Your Highness the Queen, I think this request is completely unreasonable. Our people have not recovered from last year's disaster. Our people's lives have reached an extremely difficult stage. We cannot be so cruel to our people and take away the last remaining resources from their hands."
A piece of bread taken away!”
What the Duke of Orleans was talking about was the drought in France in the spring of 1788. At that time, France had not yet recovered from the drought that occurred three years ago, which made it even worse. But what people did not expect was that on July 13, 1788,
Hailstones with a circumference of 40 cm continuously pounded farmland, causing a large amount of land to lose harvests. In addition, France was in a severe cold state in the winter of the same year. It was simply terrible!
This resulted in a sharp rise in food prices in France, an increase in the number of illnesses and deaths, large-scale famine and widespread malnutrition. The government's lack of sufficient transportation capacity prevented food from being transported to the disaster areas.