King's Landing in France

Page 144

At this time Beethoven asked again: "Where is David?"

"I asked him to go back to Paris yesterday. He wants to draw a picture for Marat, which is very important."

An Ning said this because he knew that David's "Death of Marat" would become a famous painting later, and even become an icon of revolutionaries in the era of the Great Revolution.

But to others, this is not what it means.

Berthier had another "I understand" expression, and he didn't know what he understood.

An Ning said to Berthier: "When I return to the city, the troops will be handed over to you."

"Don't worry." Berthier nodded.

Then An Ning looked forward and waved his horsewhip: "Let's go, go back to the city!"

※※※

On the outskirts of Paris, the Palace of Versailles.

Christina was instructing the maids to clean up the room: "Hurry up, Frost will be back by tomorrow at the latest."

"Of order, Your Highness the Queen." The maid who was tidying up the room said half-jokingly.

Christina blushed: "What are you talking about! Now it is a republic, and there is no queen for a long time."

"But we are all maids of the queen, and this palace used to be the bedroom of the king and queen." The maid said, "Although you are not called queen, your fiancé commands the army of the whole of France, and his prestige is overwhelming. Just like a king?"

Christina: "It's not the same! If you say such incorrect words again, I will have to send you to the guillotine!"

"Look, even Your Majesty, if you want to send someone to the guillotine, you have to get the nod of the Grand Justice of Paris, but you, look, you don't need to look at anyone's face, you can send anyone to the guillotine!"

The maids probably knew that Christina was a kind person and would not easily send people to the guillotine, so they continued to make fun of her.

Christina sighed: "Okay, if I'm really the queen, you wouldn't dare to joke with me like this, would you? You can just tell me these things, but don't let my fiancé hear."

"We don't dare to say that in front of him."

Chapter 247

An Ning went to Versailles before entering Paris.

Versailles has now become a large barracks, and the troops that have been reorganized in Paris will be transferred to Versailles.

The rooms where the King's servants and guards used to live are now all turned into barracks.

A large part of the area where the royal family used to live was also divided into a staff department, and even now there are still quite a few clerks working in it.

The original residence of the king and queen has now become the residence of General Frost.

An Ning's return to Versailles is equivalent to going home in various senses.

Christina made preparations early and led a group of officers to wait in front of the gate.

An Ning got off his horse, saw this posture, and couldn't help joking: "In this battle, I thought you were a princess of some country welcoming a prince who is coming to marry."

Christina smiled awkwardly.

An Ning was puzzled: "What's wrong?"

Christina stepped forward, stood on tiptoe and murmured softly in An Ning's ear: "Think about the impact, don't say such things that will cause people to be misunderstood, I know you are joking, people who listen will not I thought so."

An Ning let out an "oh".

I have to admit that I was thinking less about joking casually.I am in this position now, mastering the military power of the entire republic, and having a high reputation among the people, and then married the sister of Louis XVII.

Even if the line of succession is really calculated according to the feudal system, An Ning now has a weak claim to the French crown.

In this case, if you make a joke casually, it will sound more than just a joke to others.

An Ning made a serious face: "I know, I will pay attention to it in the future."

Christina nodded, and then changed the topic: "I'm sorry about Mara. He is your good friend, right?"

An Ning nodded: "Yes, I met him after I entered the Paris Military Academy, and we often drink and play cards together in clubs. He...is a friend of mine who shares the same goals."

An Ning originally thought that he could look at Mara, Robespierre and others with the mentality of a bystander in history, but now he finds it quite difficult to do so.

After all, he had already developed so many connections with Mara.

The so-called bond between people is the daily accumulation bit by bit.

Taking a step back, even if it was just a drinking buddy who often drank together, his departure is still sad.

Christina stared at An Ning's face, and hugged him silently: "My condolences will change."

Quietly enjoying the hug of his fiancée.

After a while, Christina pulled away, and then said worriedly: "By the way, I think you should go and see Robespierre. Marat's death seems to have brought him a great impact. He seems to be It’s like being possessed by a demon, and his landlady even went to the Palace of Versailles to complain to me, saying that the gentle and gentle Robespierre seemed to have disappeared.”

An Ning was speechless: "Well, I will have a good chat with him."

Christina: "Robespierre has sent many people to the guillotine these days, and even Mr. Lavoisier, whom you clearly wanted to protect, almost suffered. I have had someone escort Mr. Lavoisier's family out of Paris overnight To Marseilles."

An Ning: "Is the situation already this bad?"

"Yes, Robespierre seems to think that all the old nobles are enemies. He even reached out to some family members of the Sunset Knights. It was Lazar Cano who took action to save them."

An Ning couldn't help frowning: "The families of the Sunset Knights? They have proved their loyalty to the revolution!"

"But the fact that they are old aristocrats has not changed!" Christina paused, then lowered her voice worriedly, "Also, I feel that someone in Paris is taking the opportunity to provoke...I mean, provoke you and..."

An Ning: "Was it Talleyrand? Or Fouché?"

"No, Fouche has already set off for Lyon as a commissioner in Lyon, and Talleyrand has gone to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He may be sent to England in a few days."

Although the United Kingdom contributed to the current coalition of the Pau and Sardinian kingdoms, and also transported the old nobles to Vendée and other places to land, the United Kingdom itself did not take direct hostile actions against France.

In addition, even if the two countries declare war in this era, he still maintains diplomatic relations and has channels of communication.

An Ning curled her lips: "These two slickers, seeing that the situation in Paris is not good, so they started to slip."

In the past, An Ning would have chosen to slip away and watch from the sidelines, but now he has no choice but to do so.

He could only stay in the center of the storm, and when everything was getting crazy, he desperately pulled the rein to prevent things from getting completely out of control.

An Ning: "First of all, you send your father to Marseilles, everything will be easy to talk about in Marseilles."

An Ning in Marseille has already wiped out the royal party. In addition, Marseille has developed industry and commerce, and places with developed industry and commerce are natural republican lairs.

Christina nodded: "I have already told my father, but he refused to leave. He said that he is a member of parliament and has immunity."

An Ning: "Let him go as soon as possible, and the parliamentarians will have no immunity immediately. Also, let Lazar Carnot make a list of scientists in Paris and send them all to Marseilles, regardless of their current positions. Tell them not to."

Christina nodded again and again: "Well, I know. Are they only sent to scientists? Those poets and writers in Paris..."

An Ning: "Poets and writers can let them join the National Guard. Musicians in Paris have already joined the army as military musicians, and poets and writers should naturally follow. I look forward to their experience of blood and fire on the battlefield Can do great work.”

"I always feel that you are prejudiced against poets and writers." Christina frowned slightly. At this time, he noticed Beethoven in An Ning's entourage, and asked with concern, "I heard that Ludwig is deaf ?”

An Ning: "Yes, you must speak very loudly to him, otherwise he won't be able to hear you."

Christina covered her mouth lightly: "God, I'm going to find the best craftsman and make him a hearing aid..."

At this time, Beethoven guessed that Christina was talking about herself, and responded loudly—really very loudly: "Don't worry about me, I'm just deaf, I will hold the throat of fate, and it will never make me yield!"

An Ning: "He said so."

Christina looked even more sad: "Why would God be so cruel to take away hearing from such a talented musician."

An Ning: "There is an old oriental proverb that says that if the heavens will send great responsibilities to the people, they must first suffer from their hearts..."

An Ning recited a long paragraph, and was surprised to find that her translation plug-in didn't translate a single word.

Christina looked at An Ning suspiciously: "This is..."

"An ancient Chinese saying." An Ning could only say.

Christina: "You can still understand Chinese! Is it the country mentioned in Marco Polo's travel notes?"

"Yes, more east in India."

An Ning's explanation made Christina's face full of admiration.

Thanks to everyone's getting used to An Ning's genius in language, otherwise it would be hard to explain.

An Ning brought the topic of wandering back to Mara's death: "When will Mara's funeral be held?"

Christina: "In four days, it will be time to lay his body in the Pantheon, and before that there will be a great state funeral."

An Ning: "Understood. I will go to the city to meet Maximilian. The trend of infinite expansion must be stopped."

Chapter 248 The Widow of Malmaison Castle

As soon as An Ning settled down in Versailles, someone came to her door.

An acquaintance of An Ning came here—Paul Ballas, who I had met once in Italy before.

Anning had met him in the study of Louis XVI, the same study in which Anning had forced Louis XVI and his Austrian wives to move to the Duinleury Palace just a few years earlier.

As soon as Ballas entered the study, he went straight to the point: "You are back, and now only you can stop the out-of-control situation. Now everyone in Paris is in danger, and even the parliamentarians are afraid that one day they will be guillotined!"

An Ning: "Has the situation reached this point?"

Barras: "I don't believe you don't have a little understanding of the current situation in Paris! Before Marat was assassinated, Robespierre was like the ballast of the situation. He has been working hard to make the situation less extreme.

"After Marat died, the ballast stone himself went crazy, and now he is desperately sending people to the guillotine. He seems to be paying homage to his deceased friend, and keeps sending the old nobles to the guillotine."

An Ning: "I already know about this situation."

"You already know? Is that the end?"

"Otherwise?" An Ning asked back, "Do you want me to launch a coup and let Robespierre step down? No, no, I will not do this. Of course, I will not sit back and watch things go on like this. Will go to Maximilian."

Ballas: "You have to talk about him! Let him regain his senses and calm down! If this continues, a considerable part of the National Assembly will become enemies of the Jacobins."

An Ning looked at Ballas, thinking that after the Jacobins were overthrown, the government led by the Thermidorians who replaced them was corrupt and incompetent, except that everyone was busy filling their own pockets.

An Ning does not want to see these people in power.

The Jacobins at least still had revolutionary ideals, but their methods were too radical.

The Thermidorians are all careerists and speculators.

Thinking of this, An Ning's eyes on Balas became sharper.

If France is to be handed over to these people, it would be better—An Ning pressed down the thoughts that came to his mind.

Let’s grab the Jacobins first. Robespierre is a noble and self-disciplined person. He is the head of France, so An Ning is more at ease.

An Ning: "In short, I will persuade Maximilian, I think I still have enough influence on him."

Ballas looked very worried, he hesitated, and said: "However, there are rumors that Robespierre is very dissatisfied with your self-respecting situation, and he may want to send another military envoy ..."

"Who said that?" An Ning interrupted Barras, "This is trying to provoke the relationship between me and Robespierre. Anyone who would do this must be an enemy of France, or maybe Austria. Spy! Is that you, Mr. Paul Ballas?"

Ballas shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, it's not me! It's just that someone in Paris is saying..."

"That's why I asked who was telling the legend. If you know, tell me, and I will immediately dispatch the Sunset Knights to arrest them!"

When it is time to go out, it should be resolutely dispatched.

Ballas was speechless.

An Ning: "So, could it be you who are sowing discord?"

"Your Excellency, you understand me! I have always been loyal to you!"

An Ning curled her lips: "Hmph, I will see your loyalty, I will see it."

It turns out that An Ning is very clear about the character of Paul Ballas in history.It's just that this person is quite capable, otherwise An Ning would have taken him down long ago.

Now that An Ning is like this, it's tantamount to beating Paul Ballas to stop him from using those crooked brains.

At this time, the door of the study opened, and Christina came in: "Mr. Barras, why don't you stay for lunch?"

Ballas shook his head again and again: "No, no, I have to return to Paris. With the current situation in Paris, I can't leave for too long."

An Ning: "Mr. Barras is now a judge in a court in Paris?"

"No, it's the special inspector, so I'll take my leave first." After speaking, before An Ning could respond, Ballas retreated towards the door.

After Balas left, An Ning said to Christina, "This Balas, do you know anything?"

Christina: "He has a good relationship with Mrs. Beauharne of Malmaison Castle. There are rumors in the social circle that Paul Ballas is going to marry that widow."