He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 534

Extracurricular (12) The Emperor Blocks the Revolution

A steel steam-powered vehicle enters the city of Paris.

– Rumble!

It is a mobile armored steam vehicle, what we might call a [Tank].

In the old days, people would have pulled cannons, but now steam-powered vehicles are moving them.

Banker Perier sipped his coffee, watching the steel mobile fortress that overwhelmed the people.

“In the end, the army is coming.”

Watching the scene from the high fifth-floor cafe of the Palais Royal, banker Perego asked.

“What happens if the army opens fire?”

“There will be bloodshed. During the Great Revolution, that alone caused the citizens to go on a rampage, didn’t it?”

“Unlike the Bourbon royal family, the Imperial family completely controls the elite corps, right? In the first place, the Emperor is also the best general in Europe.”

Perier shook his head.

“A change of power isn’t that simple, Monsieur Perego. If the support of the citizens collapses, the regime will crumble.”

Even during the old Great Revolution, the royal army was superior to the citizen army in terms of armament.

However, the king lost his will to fight in the face of an overwhelming citizen uprising and could not issue an order to suppress it.

In the end, even under absolute monarchy, rule collapses without the support of the citizens.

However, the French Empire is a de facto elected monarchy, and the Emperor is not even the biological child of the previous emperor.

So, if the revolutionaries gather more support, the regime may collapse.

The two men, who survived the Great Revolution and still existed as major bankers, saw the scene clearly.

Banker Perego tilted his head.

“Who do you think will win, Monsieur Perier?”

“That’s the wrong question, Monsieur Perego. You should ask how to make the most money.”

“How can you know that? I can’t predict the current situation at all.”

Suddenly, Perier replied simply.

“If the Emperor wins, the Suez Canal stock will plummet, and if the revolutionary forces win, the Atlantic Trade Company stock will plummet. Isn’t it very simple?”

In fact, if the revolutionaries win, that might not be the only problem.

The revolutionary forces that have risen up are mainly Republicans.

So, it’s easy to think that it’s enough to get rid of the monarchy, but it’s not.

Unlike the old Great Revolution, the ideological father of the Republicans is Babeuf [François-Noël Babeuf, an early socialist and revolutionary].

Although he is in prison, Babeuf’s ideology dominates the Republicans.

But what is Babeuf’s ideology?

A fair world.

It sounds good at first glance, but to put it bluntly, the abolition of private property is the key.

It’s truly the worst world for bankers.

However, Perego, who had not thought that far, widened his eyes.

“Wait, does that mean the South American guano [bird excrement used as fertilizer] artificial fertilizer business, which is rapidly rising these days, will also fail?”

“That’s right, isn’t it? After all, all the raw materials are in South America.”

“It would be impossible to hope that the revolutionary forces will seize even the Spanish Kingdom Union, right?”

South America is not a French imperial territory.

It is merely the jointly ruled territory of the Spanish Kingdom Union’s monarchs, Eugenio and Maria.

So, if the Emperor is ousted, French people will naturally not be able to access the Spanish Kingdom Union’s New World territories.

Perego tentatively asked if it might be possible to access it through the revolutionary forces, but Perier snorted.

“Hey, Monsieur Perego. Who do you think the French Empire is united through? The Emperor. No matter what anyone says, the Emperor is the only link connecting this complex empire.”

Even if it is not egalitarianism, the empire’s capitalists have no choice but to support the Emperor.

To cope with the ever-increasing supply since the Industrial Revolution, a huge market is essential.

For France, which is still behind England in Eastern trade, New World trade is the best source of demand.

But half of the New World is going to fly away?

That means the business is going to fail.

Moreover, the New World territories that France has are no exception.

In the first place, how did France, which had no territory in the New World, acquire vast occupied territories?

Because the Emperor roamed the New World and pioneered it when he was young.

Moreover, the composition of the immigrants is a problem.

Perego shook his head after calculating quietly.

“If you’re right, Nouvelle-France [New France, the area of North America colonized by France] might be kicked out too.”

“Of course. It’s a hotbed of Vendée Bonapartists there. Rather, it’s full of more extreme pro-Emperor voters than the Vendée homeland. They don’t complain because they don’t see the Emperor often.”

“Is it possible that they will flee to the New World if the Emperor is defeated?”

It is common sense that if the home country collapses, the empire also collapses.

However, the Emperor has created an imperial system centered on himself.

Furthermore, the French home country and the world outside European territory are structured to be tied only to the Emperor personally.

It is not a good example in terms of national development, but it is very ideal in terms of power building.

Perier snorted.

“Too hasty. It seems the Emperor hasn’t played all his cards yet. Huh?”

Suddenly, Perier looked up at the shadow cast in the sky.

Was it going to rain?

No.

Perier widened his eyes.

“It’s an airship!”

At that moment, Perego also screamed.

“Could it be that they are going to bomb Paris like London!”

Europe’s best general, Eugene Bonaparte.

There is a reason why that reputation was born.

The Great London Air Raid.

The Emperor’s airship unit, which carried out the first aerial bombardment in history, rose into the Parisian sky.

***

The revolutionaries of Lyon also look at the sky.

“Ugh! These dogs of the Emperor! Are you going to kill the citizens!”

Everyone knows the airship unit called the Emperor’s [Birds].

That the moment they appear, a city can fly away.

However, if they appeared in Lyon, an airship unit would have appeared in Paris as well.

If it is an airship unit that has become controllable enough to be called [Flight] since the invention of hydrogen, the citizen army cannot resist.

Suddenly, the Emperor’s [Dog], Vidocq [Eugène François Vidocq, a French criminal and private detective], chuckled and handcuffed Blanqui from behind.

“Monsieur Blanqui, stay still. You are suspected of committing anti-state acts.”

“Shut up! I have dedicated myself to my country, France! You dogs wouldn’t know! Ah, citizens. Run away! Bombs are coming!”

“Oh, unfortunately, there is nothing hideous like a bomb in that airship.”

Vidocq, who had heard the announcement in advance, chuckled.

“It’s full of pamphlets. Heh heh.”

Blanqui widened his eyes.

Pamphlets are for revolutionaries.

In the first place, pamphlets are issued to incite people.

Why on earth would the Emperor’s side spread pamphlets?

Even mobilizing the very expensive airship unit?

“What? Pamphlets? Ha! What nonsense is the Emperor’s dog talking about? What are you oppressors going to do? Praise the Emperor’s achievements!”

“This young revolutionary man. I think you’re mistaken. Do you perhaps know His Majesty the Emperor’s old nickname?”

“Isn’t that the Marksman? A cruel man who shoots people to death!”

Blanqui also knows.

How many people the Emperor once killed with his murderous instincts.

Then, perhaps they are going to put poison on the pamphlets and spread them, like the killer he is.

Vidocq clicked his tongue, looking at Blanqui, whose whole body was trembling with anger.

“The standard-bearer of the revolution. The sound that the young revolutionary is shouting, we heard it all 20 years ago.”

Blanqui’s eyes widened.

The standard-bearer of the revolution.

That can’t be.

The Emperor is the villain who tramples on the revolution, effectively operates an absolute monarchy, and tramples on the citizens.

But how could such a person have ever been a symbol of the revolution?

It can’t be.

The man in front of him is the Emperor’s dog.

He is clearly lying.

– Flutter, flutter, flutter!

Suddenly, a pile of pamphlets fell from the sky.

“What, what is this?”

Blanqui muttered, looking at the pamphlet on the floor.

Again, it is an unbelievable content.

What on earth is the Emperor thinking?

He committed another outrage that should never be done.

Vidocq smirked and sneered.

“Can’t you even read French? It’s written very easily.”

“That doesn’t make sense! This can’t be happening!”

“It is the decree that His Majesty the Emperor proclaimed last night. Of course, the parliament has not yet passed it.”

Suddenly, Vidocq, who grabbed the falling pamphlet with one hand, kindly read it.

“I will read it to you. Women over the age of 24 are granted the right to vote in full. Very easy, right?”

That’s crazy.

Women’s suffrage is something that revolutionaries have never imagined.

Isn’t politics the work of men?

Blanqui shouted in amazement.

“How can a woman vote! Women are inferior beings! They don’t have the brains to make political judgments!”

At that time, the women who were watching Blanqui being arrested in the distance turned around.

“What is that crazy bastard saying?”

“What? Inferior? Oh my god, there’s such an old-fashioned person in the 19th century!”

“Hey! You think you won’t have a daughter!”

Watching the ominous momentum, Vidocq slipped away and said.

“Oh, the young revolutionary hasn’t learned about the Great Revolution. In the old days, the story of women’s suffrage already came out in the early days of the Great Revolution. It just subsided quickly because of the war at that time.”

Before he knew it, the women ran up and started throwing stones.

It’s such a terrifying momentum that even Vidocq had to quickly avoid it.

Blanqui, who was left behind, shouted with a miserable face while being hit by stones.

“You vile dogs of the Emperor! Ugh! This is a trick to divide the people, ack!”

In the end, Blanqui collapsed.

However, no one sympathized with the revolutionary who shouted for equality and took inequality for granted.

***

Today, the weather in Paris is very clear, but it feels dark.

“Viva France! Viva Empereur [Long live the Emperor]! Viva Eugene!”

Because the sky is full of hydrogen airship units.

Usually a symbol of fear.

However, it cannot but be a symbol of liberation for the women who fill the streets.

Conversely, the ‘male’ workers and university students who had been menacingly filling the streets were embarrassed.

“Oust, oust the Emperor! Ci, citizens, rise up!”

Even if the right to vote has been granted, the election has not yet taken place.

Also, the revolution cannot be said to be a procedure that proceeds with the right to vote anyway.

In fact, women are vulnerable to violence, so it may be enough to push them away.

However, the angry women glared at the men and shouted.

“Those ugly people dare to insult His Majesty the Emperor!”

“Beat them to death! Strip them naked! Hang them on Notre Dame!”

“Oppressors who oppress the liberator!”

Before he knew it, the city of Paris was filled with another cry.

“Let’s drive the oppressors out of France!”

Oppressor.

Usually refers to a monarch or dictator.

But at this moment, the oppressor has transformed into a group of revolutionaries who discriminate against women.

In fact, there are many people among those who are with the ranks of revolutionaries who support women’s suffrage.

As a result, the ranks scattered before he knew it, and cheers filled the spot.

Except for an old man who was standing in the center and shouting for the overthrow of the monarchy.

Looking around, the Duke of Orléans shouted.

“My ransom is at least 1 million francs! Save me! Ugh!”

But even if they are women, there are many of them, and if an old man is trampled on, he dies.

– Viva Empereur Eugene!

The Duke of Orléans died in the cheers.

Along with the flames of the July Revolution.

It was the day when the anti-Emperor faction that had once filled Paris was wiped out.