He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 258

(258) Eugene Arrives in Paris First

There’s a saying that victory solves everything.

However, this seemingly refreshing saying is actually false.

In fact, victory is just the beginning of all problems.

Especially for governments on fragile foundations.

At this moment, Danton cried out as if he were the one who had lost.

“This is absurd! Dismantling the Austrian Empire? Who authorized that?”

In late September of 1799, a piece of news shook the entire Europe like a ghost.

Napoleon’s dismantling of the Austrian Empire.

It was completely different from when the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was declared before.

Because, in fact, the Holy Roman Empire was a system that almost all Europeans regarded as a [joke – a powerless and outdated institution].

On the other hand, Austria had substance, and so did the emperor.

Yet, he declared that he would dismantle all of this.

Not the French government, but the military commander Napoleon.

Salicetti, who was reviewing the declaration with a tired face, retorted nonchalantly.

“It’s not the first time, is it, Director Danton?”

“Thuriot! Back then, it wasn’t a declaration but a proposal. Besides, there was no such thing as deposing the emperor or dividing the empire. But now!”

“Isn’t it more beneficial for France?”

Danton, standing tall in the Director’s office in the Tuileries Palace, shouted.

“A soldier is encroaching on the realm of politics, Salicetti! Don’t you really understand the gravity of this!”

Naturally, Salicetti, as a pro-Bonaparte, simply scoffed.

However, there are five Directors in total.

Danton quickly turned to find another anti-Bonaparte, Lafayette.

He’s not here.

He hasn’t attended yet.

Just as he was about to frown, Danton heard an absurd remark.

“Why was Archduke Charles chosen as the King of Hungary?”

“Ha, why are you curious about that! Desmoulins! The very thing itself is the problem. Who authorized a soldier to decide that!”

“Archduke Charles doesn’t have any special ties to Hungary, and his ties are rather deep with Italy. Is that why he was sent far away?”

A man who was close to the Bonaparte faction but also a member of the Jacobins.

Desmoulins, who stutters, seems to think another problem is more serious.

Certainly, Charles’s Hungarian throne is a strange decision from the outside.

Charles is Austria’s best general who has been blocking France.

Since Wurmser and Alvinzi died at the hands of Napoleon, no one can follow Charles.

Even in this war, Moreau was almost captured by Charles.

But why give him such a grand gift as the Hungarian throne?

Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard.

“It’s a divisive tactic.”

The door to the conference room opened, and a man entered.

Lafayette, the only military expert among the five Directors and a former general.

Desmoulins hurriedly asked Lafayette.

“What do you mean, Director Lafayette?”

“Austria is a multi-ethnic state. Even the languages used in the army are different. There is only one element that unites them.”

“The Habsburg family.”

Lafayette, a former marquis and the only aristocrat among the five Directors, nodded.

“That’s right. The reason why they keep appointing military commanders from the imperial family is originally because of that. But, appointing Charles as the King of Hungary? This will inevitably divide the country.”

Napoleon declared the dissolution of the Austrian Empire.

However, there is a subtle trap here.

Franz II, the [ringleader] who declared war on France, was not deposed.

Instead, the territories of the Austrian Empire, including Hungary, Bohemia, and Polish territories, were divided.

How to govern the divided territories is a task that France will have to decide in the future.

However, only the Hungarian territory has Charles as its king.

This forces Austrian Emperor Franz to be wary of Hungarian King Charles.

This is why Eugene made Charles the King of Hungary.

-Bang!

Suddenly, everyone turned their attention to the loud noise of a desk being struck.

Danton was staring at the Directors with his plump face flushed red.

Frowning at Lafayette, Danton pressed.

“What’s so important about that! The problem now is that Bonaparte decided it arbitrarily! Why is everyone ignoring the gravity of this? Shouldn’t we be the ones to decide the system of each divided Austrian state!”

But Lafayette stared at Danton and asked.

“Then, are you not going to accept it?”

“What?”

“Danton, the reality that you have been ignoring since that day of Fructidor [a coup that purged royalists from the Directory] has now come to us.”

Suddenly, Lafayette’s face sank gloomily.

“Kill Bonaparte, or acknowledge Bonaparte. The only two tasks given to us were those.”

Of course, Lafayette is also not happy with Napoleon.

Lafayette, who supported the revolution, advocated a constitutional monarchy, and is a leader of the moderate revolutionary Freemasons.

However, he cannot deny that Napoleon’s power grab has become a visible stage.

Immediately, the citizens on the streets will be enthusiastic.

The shouts they will shout the moment this news is announced are already vivid in his ears.

Viva Bonaparte.

“Now we must accept it. That Bonaparte is the number one man in our [Republic – the French Republic].”

Just then.

“It’s not enough to just acknowledge him.”

This time, even Lafayette was surprised and looked outside the conference room door.

Originally, only secretaries could enter and exit in case of emergency, other than the Directors.

But a complete uninvited guest was standing in front of the door.

What were the guards doing?

But the moment he saw his face, Lafayette had no choice but to understand.

“Eugene?”

Napoleon’s son, and the hero of the Orient expedition, Eugene Bonaparte, smiled.

“Another letter has arrived. For the Honorable Directors.”

“What is that letter? Did you bring it yourself?”

“I will reveal the contents in the square.”

Turning away without even showing the letter, Eugene arrogantly told the Directors.

“Come with all the congressmen. To the place where the blood of the past revolution blew, the Champ de Mars [a large public greenspace in Paris].”

Despite that arrogance, the Directors were acutely aware that they had no choice but to follow.

Because Eugene is not just here as a messenger of the letter.

He is Napoleon’s representative.

***

This time, even Salicetti, who was a Bonaparte, had not heard anything in advance.

“What on earth is he going to proclaim?”

Auguste asked anxiously, but Salicetti only frowned and did not answer.

Although he is pro-Bonaparte, Napoleon is strictly speaking a soldier.

Military personnel are Napoleon’s closest aides and core members of the club.

Even Salicetti, who prides himself on being a member of the [Club de Bonaparte – a political faction], knows that he has his limits.

The problem is that the boy walking far away to the center of the square.

Napoleon’s adopted son, the patron of the Beauharnais cartel, and the hero of the Egyptian expedition.

Eugene Bonaparte.

What on earth is that boy thinking?

-Clatter, clatter, clatter!

The citizens who had gathered in the square after hearing the rumors turned their heads at the sound of marching and were surprised.

“Huh? What is it? A turban?”

“I think I’ve seen it in a book. Is it a real Mamluk [slave soldier]?”

“Wow, did they come back from Egypt? Is it the Orient Legion?”

At that moment, a citizen shouted.

“Look over there! The hero of the Orient, [Freischütz – German for ‘free shooter,’ a legendary marksman]!”

Of course, it was a soldier planted in advance.

But the citizens were enthusiastic.

Because that statement is true.

The one who succeeded in the Egyptian expedition, which France had never succeeded in.

The liberator of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.

Above all, the conqueror of that famous Constantinople.

An explosive roar shook the square.

“The knight of the princess! Oh, the hope of the royalists!”

“Isn’t he the son of the revolution! Sing, La Marseillaise [the French national anthem]!”

“Wow, it’s the Prince of Egypt!”

Suddenly, Hippolyte, who was riding a horse next to Eugene with his head held high, chuckled.

“Hey, since when did you become the Prince of Egypt, Eugene?”

Eugene didn’t even look at Hippolyte, but stared straight ahead and replied.

“Even the citizens still don’t properly recognize that we are a republic.”

“So you’re trying to promote the revival of the monarchy?”

“Shh.”

With just a finger to his lips, Eugene said lowly.

“We have to take it one step at a time, Hippolyte.”

In the meantime, the cavalry lined up in the square.

The troops that ran with Eugene are of two types.

One is the 1,000-strong Horse Grenadier Brigade, which was created during the Vendée expedition and participated in the Italian expedition.

But the eye-catching side is different.

It is a 1,000-strong Muslim cavalry unit composed of Egyptian Bedouins and Mamluk mixed forces, which French people see as just Mamluks.

It was truly impossible not to show the conquest of Egypt with their eyes.

At that moment, Junot, the commander of the cavalry brigade, shouted.

“Everyone, attention!”

Eugene, Hippolyte, and the Orient Division’s Guards entered the center of the cavalry lined up on the left and right of the square.

“Chief of Staff of the French Egyptian Expeditionary Force, General Eugene Bonaparte, is entering!”

At the same time, the Champ de Mars was filled with cheers.

“Wow! Freischütz! The Marksman of Magic!”

“Eugene, Eugene, Eugene!”

“Glory to the son of the revolution!”

Eugene stood on the central platform.

At least 100,000 citizens can be seen.

Since the number of citizens in Paris is roughly 700,000, one-seventh of the citizens came.

To shout to them, it is difficult to just have a good voice.

So, Eugene had something prepared.

Slightly holding up the [megaphone – a speaking-trumpet], Eugene shouted.

“Thank you, citizens! I am the son of the hero of the revolution, General Bonaparte, Eugene Bonaparte!”

The noisy citizens began to close their mouths one by one as they heard the sound of the megaphone.

There are limitations because it is shouting alone and it is not an electric megaphone.

Still, it’s better than just shouting with your throat.

“Now, our French army has finally won against our arch-enemy, Austria!”

“Long live Bonaparte, forever!”

“Oh, it’s the victory of the revolution!”

Just as it was about to become noisy again, Eugene gave a speech with all his might.

“The victor of the revolution, General Napoleon, wants it. The destruction of Austria!”

At that moment, the citizens’ roar covered the square.

“Destruction! Destruction! Destruction!”

“Kill Austria! Drive them out!”

“Wasn’t it already driven out? Anyway, Austria must disappear!”

In this state, it is impossible to convey the really necessary story.

“Listen!”

The moment Eugene flicked his hand, the 1,000-strong Horse Grenadier Brigade shouted all at once.

It is difficult for one person’s voice to cover the shouts of 100,000 people.

However, the power of 1,000 cavalrymen shouting was enough to silence 100,000 people.

Taking advantage of the gap, Eugene began to shout again.

“For this, one thing is needed. That is, a new election.”

Before the Directors and the members of the Council of Five Hundred could react, Eugene shouted.

“General Napoleon wants it! The era of the First Consul! A leader who can decide the destruction of Austria! A new [Constitution – the governing document of France]!”

This is originally a very rough thing in the original history.

In the way of the Brumaire Coup [Napoleon’s coup d’état].

It also had to go through the period of the Three Consuls, and Napoleon had to repeat the war until the political system was firmly established.

But now Napoleon’s position is solid with the victory of the Second Great French War.

Therefore, a much stronger Consul system can be created.

“The era of the Five Directors is over, constitutional amendment, and voting! We must elect a new leader! Do you all agree!”

For a moment, silence lingered, and then cheers erupted.

“Oh, a new constitution! A new France, a new leader!”

“Viva Bonaparte! Viva France! Viva la Revolution!”

“I agree! As a new leader, we want Napoleon Bonaparte!”

The moment Eugene gestured again, 1,000 cavalrymen shouted all at once.

“The people’s desire will be accepted and resolved by the French Council of Five Hundred!”

This is why Eugene had to run to Paris before Napoleon.

***

History always moves behind the scenes rather than on the stage.

“This is betrayal. Freischütz!”

In the middle of the night, when the cheers of the square echoed throughout Paris.

Danton shouted at Eugene, still aiming at him in the Tuileries Palace, where the lights were not yet turned off.

But Eugene looked at him and aimed at Danton instead.

With a Beauharnais-style percussion pistol.

-Click!

Danton was startled and stepped back, sticking to the wall.

“Wh, wh, what!”

“Director Danton. Do we have to teach you manners with a gun here?”

“How dare you aim a gun at the Directors!”

But Eugene replied with a cold smile.

“Then, is it okay to point fingers at the hero of the Orient? Should I throw you to the citizens in the square and ask?”

Perhaps he will be lucky if he is not torn to death by angry citizens.

In contrast to Danton’s fear, the other Directors just had gloomy faces.

Even Desmoulins, Auguste, and Salicetti, who were pro-Bonaparte factions, did.

Of course, only Salicetti’s face turned pale for a moment at Eugene’s subsequent words.

“Director Salicetti, Joseph Bonaparte, the Roman ambassador, and Lucien Bonaparte, the congressman, will be our negotiating channels. A new constitution and a new election must be held soon.”

“No, that can’t be done overnight!”

“It will be done. And make it happen.”

Eugene asserted, still aiming the gun at Danton.

“Otherwise, all the French troops stationed in Vienna will flock to Paris.”

Until Eugene left the room after putting away the pistol, the guards did not move at all.

The Paris garrison was a unit directly commanded by Napoleon.

Before that, it was also a division created by Marceau, Eugene’s confidant.

So, now that Eugene has come to Paris, there were no soldiers who would listen to the Directors.

Suddenly, Hippolyte whistled, receiving greetings from the guards instead of Eugene, who was walking out of the Tuileries Palace.

“Wow, that’s scary?”

“Shut up. Anyway, are we going to Beauharnais Bank tonight after a long time?”

“Oh, that’s right, but.”