He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 10

(9) Amidst the Storm of the Estates-General, Eugene Heads to the New World

The Estates-General, as the name suggests, is an assembly where three estates [social classes] gather.

“What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been until now? Nothing. What does it demand? To become something!”

Tuesday, April 28, 1789, was bustling from morning.

Because the day the Estates-General would finally convene was only a week away.

Last winter, all of France was swept up in a crop failure due to a harsh winter.

Life, already difficult, collapsed due to the soaring price of bread.

Meat, clothes, and furniture all had to be sold off.

Literally, the Parisian citizens, stripped bare and starving in the cold, were burning with anger.

However, the royal family and the government didn’t have any measures to deal with it.

In the end, the royal family yielded.

They decided to convene the Estates-General for the first time in 175 years to establish new taxes.

“T, this time, the words of Abbé Sieyès who will attend the Estates-General! T, this country d, doesn’t need tax thieves now! Th, the government should listen t, to the words of the new Third Estate, the words of the citizens!”

Louis XV Square, Paris, France.

The speaker was shouting in the square named after the king.

He seemed to be a member who would attend the Estates-General, but he stuttered slightly.

However, the citizens, stripped bare, starving, and about to explode, cheered enthusiastically even at the stuttering words.

-Waaaa!

It was loud enough to be heard inside the splendid six-horse carriage of the aristocrat.

Inside the carriage, which would be like a Rolls Royce in modern terms, Eugene turned his head.

Towards the owner of the carriage who had suddenly picked him up on his way to the palace.

“Paris is already in chaos.”

The owner of the carriage, the Duke of Orléans, smiled gently.

Paris was in turmoil.

The Sieyès he had just heard was a figure the Duke of Orléans invited to his mansion, the Palais Royal.

The sounds of tax thieves and the demands of the Third Estate were echoing.

Clergy, nobles, and city citizens.

The third class.

In the late 18th century, when the lower class and farmers had no say at all, these were the only ones with a voice.

Among them, the Third Estate, the lowest rank, was seething, but the kingdom’s first aristocrat was relaxed.

It was because he had the confidence that he was manipulating this situation.

The Duke of Orléans smiled and said to Eugene.

“Huhu, it’s a pity you’re young, gambling prodigy. If you were only 10 years older, I would have recommended you as a member of the Estates-General.”

“Did Your Grace also enter as a member?”

“Yes. This Estates-General is different from the previous Assembly of Notables.”

Suddenly, the Duke’s eyes flashed.

“It will be a golden opportunity to turn the country upside down, gambling prodigy.”

The Assembly of Notables is a council of noble figures, including nobles and clergy.

Two years ago, in 1787, it was also held for the first time in 160 years.

The reason was the same as this Estates-General.

New taxes.

However, the nobles and clergy refused the new land tax and the stamp duty on certificates.

The only thing approved was the issuance of bonds, which was barely allowed in the following year, 1788.

That is the French government bond that Eugene is currently selling off to Baring’s Bank.

It was a meeting where nothing changed.

In the end, the king couldn’t stand it and decided to hold the Estates-General, gathering even influential commoners.

However, the ambitious Duke of Orléans seemed to have decided to attend the Estates-General as a member.

Eugene shrugged.

“I’m just happy not to eat dirt-mixed bread, although I might eat it soon.”

“Huhu! Why are you being so dramatic when you have so much money? It’s rumored that you’re doing bond business starting with me? If you haven’t forgotten my grace, you’ll help me well in the future, right?”

“Do you already need political funds?”

Suddenly, the Duke of Orléans looked out the carriage window.

“Look at the streets, prodigy.”

The speaker had already come down.

However, the gathered crowd did not disperse.

The stripped and starving citizens roared with fiery eyes.

They were about to burn down a house.

“Burn that tax thief who exploits the people!”

“Waaaa! Burn them! Thief! Robber!”

“How dare you? You said a married worker can be bought for 15 coins? You bastard!”

The house of Réveillon, a wallpaper merchant on Rue Saint-Antoine, was under attack.

Réveillon was a fairly successful merchant, but he is actually a supporter of the Third Estate.

However, rumors had spread throughout Paris that he had said a worker could be used for 15 *sous*, or 15 pennies.

The crowd, enraged by the rumor, rushed to destroy the house.

It was inevitable.

The daily wage of a worker is roughly 30 *sous*.

But now, 1 pound of bread has doubled from 2 *sous* to 4 *sous*.

In other words, Réveillon’s words meant that workers should starve to death.

While the Paris Royal Constabulary was blocking them, a woman holding a child ran around shouting.

“Bread! I have to find bread! Please!”

Soaring wheat prices.

It is a situation that can be summarized very simply.

In 1789, France was facing a minor ice age climate change event with drought, floods, and cold waves.

In addition, the remaining food was exported overseas, and tariffs were collected at various points along the walls of Paris, causing wheat prices to skyrocket.

The government has already been in financial ruin for two years.

Watching outside the carriage, the Duke of Orléans lightly tapped the carriage floor with his elegant, bejeweled cane.

“This is reality. This country is at a crossroads. Either face a rebellion, or the king steps down.”

This is probably why the Duke of Orléans put Eugene in the carriage.

Recently, Eugene has become a considerable big player in the French bond trading market, known to those in the know.

Because he has become one of the few brokers who sell French royal bonds overseas.

For example, a bond broker.

The transaction amount has already exceeded 12 million *livres* [French currency].

The commission alone is 1.2 million *livres*.

Will this be enough to solve the debt?

Not even close.

Even without calculating the accumulated debt, the annual deficit of the French royal family exceeded 120 million *livres*.

Unless Eugene sells off at least 100 million *livres*, it’s just a drop in the bucket.

However, it is enough money for political funds.

The Duke, who has a lot of money but spends too much, is suffering from a financial crisis, smiled slyly.

At that time, Eugene stared at the Duke and asked.

“Do you want to be king?”

“Oh, such blasphemous words. I just meant that the king should relinquish power like in England.”

“You mean you’re going to do that at the Estates-General.”

The Duke of Orléans, Louis Philippe, smiled gently.

“That’s right. Lafayette and Mirabeau will help me. Huh?”

Just then.

-Kwajik!

The six-horse carriage stopped.

The outside was full of excited crowds.

The crowd with hammers, clubs, and metal tools were hitting the windows from outside and shouting.

“Noble lord! Shout ‘Long live the Third Estate!’ or we won’t let you go!”

In fact, few of them are really Third Estate members who can go to the Estates-General.

However, it is not strange that the anger of this crowd is directed at the nobles.

It is clear that the nobles ruined the country, causing wheat prices to skyrocket.

Eugene was wondering how to break through.

The Duke got up as if it were natural.

“I have to go out.”

“Your Grace, it’s dangerous. They are excited rioters.”

“No, they are the people, and even citizens. They are the ones I have to take care of.”

As soon as the Duke went out, one of the fierce crowds recognized the Duke.

“Duke of Orléans?”

It was the speaker who had been shouting to incite them earlier.

The Duke looked at the speaker and smiled.

He seemed to know him.

“Oh, long time no see, Camille Desmoulins. How have you been?”

“S, sorry, Your Grace. If I, I had known you w, were in the carriage, I, I would have st, stopped them.”

“No. You are not a violent person. You would have been dragged here anyway. Also, what crime have these people committed?”

Eugene was slightly surprised by the name Camille Desmoulins and glanced outside.

A friend of Robespierre during the Great Revolution.

A lawyer who stutters but led that famous uprising.

And the one who is executed by Robespierre in the original history.

However, Eugene did not have time to admire Desmoulins.

The crowd rushed to the Duke.

“Ooh, Duke!”

“He is the one who will represent us!”

“Your Grace, please tell the king! About this tragedy!”

The Duke spoke to the crowd with an elegant attitude.

“Dear citizens, please be a little more calm and act peacefully. We will surely have happier days.”

In Eugene’s view, it was a pointless statement.

However, it is clearly a society of status, and the Duke is the highest aristocrat next to the king.

The Duke of Orléans family is the embodiment of the [Duke] that is commonly thought of in modern times.

A royal bloodline, enormous wealth, and a representative of the nobility.

Such a high aristocrat is having a conversation for the people.

The crowd, who had been in despair, was ecstatic.

“Waaaa!”

With a light wave, the Duke got back into the carriage.

“Th, then let’s get out of here. Driver, start.”

“You’re not leading them?”

“What do you mean, Eugene? How can you control an excited crowd? Besides…”

The Duke glanced outside and said coldly.

“The Royal Guard will be here soon to suppress them.”

This is the Duke of Orléans’s great aspect, and also his limitation.

The Duke knows.

He senses that the world will be turned upside down.

He preemptively selects those who will be the main characters of the revolution, builds friendships, and incites them from behind.

However, as the top aristocrat, he has no intention of becoming one with them.

At this moment, he is not even stopping the Royal Guard from beating them.

-Da-da-da!

The Royal Guard and the Duke of Orléans’s six-horse carriage, which were running from afar, met.

Eugene turned his head at the Royal Guard with bayonets.

The tragedy is inevitable.

Because the time of revolution has not yet begun.

Also, if it starts, more blood will flow.

“It’s a tragedy.”

On the eve of the revolution, Paris was already stained with blood.

***

June 20, 1789, today, even the always peaceful Petit Trianon [Marie Antoinette’s private retreat] is noisy.

“Eugene! Why are you so late! It’s been two weeks!”
The princess, Marie-Thérèse, ran over with an anxious face.

“No, Princess! Please slow down!”

Madame Campan, who was attending from behind, was running up in a hurry.

Even if she wanted to see Eugene, there must have been another reason.

Eugene watched the scene and greeted the princess gracefully.

“Paris has been constantly noisy these days. Is the Estates-General going well?”

“I don’t know. Everyone is just shouting at each other. Besides, Louis is dead. Sniff······.”

“Yes? The Crown Prince?”

Eugene was startled.

The Crown Prince, Louis Joseph, died.

Of course, he knows that the Crown Prince dies on the eve of the revolution.

But he didn’t remember the date because he wasn’t a very important figure.

Come to think of it, both the princess and Madame Campan were wearing black mourning clothes.

The princess hugged Eugene and burst into tears.

“Yes, two weeks ago. He closed his eyes after suffering a lot. Sniff!”

Madame Campan was also shedding tears next to her.

“Yes, Princess. Cry as much as you can now. Sob!”

Henriette Campan is the most affectionate of the royal court ladies.

Even if that’s not the case, the king’s successor has died, so she can’t help but be sad, but few will cry sincerely.

In later original history, when everyone flees from the royal family, only two people remain by the Queen’s side.

Campan and the Princess of Lamballe.

The Princess of Lamballe dies miserably, but Madame Campan barely survives and creates a school.

The student who will attend that school is Eugene de Beauharnais.

Eugene, who no longer has a reason to go to school, quietly looked at Madame Campan and kissed her hand.

“Don’t be discouraged, Madam. Now is the time to serve Her Majesty the Queen.”

This is a tribute to the woman who might have been Eugene’s teacher.

Madame Campan wiped away her tears and nodded.

At that time, women entered Trianon.

The Queen, the Princess of Lamballe, and the Countess of Polignac.

The Queen, still elegant even in mourning clothes, looked at Eugene sadly and smiled sadly.

“Our page has come. Our page is about the same age as Louis.”

“Yes, about a month. Your Majesty must be very heartbroken.”

“I can’t help it. I was thinking that child would go to God’s side someday. Because I have young Louis and Marie, I have to be strong to protect these children.”

The Queen, Marie Antoinette, clenched her small fist and gritted her teeth.

“Yes, I must not lose.”

At that moment, the sound of metal was heard from the Palace of Versailles.

-Clang, clang, clang!

The palace’s conference hall was being blocked.

It was so loud that it could be heard even in this distant annex, so it must have been quite a noisy blockade.

Eugene frowned at the sound.

“They are blocking the conference hall now.”

“Huh? Yes, our page is precocious. That’s right. They are blocking commoner members from entering.”

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to let them talk, Your Majesty? The streets are rioting now. I almost got caught several times while coming here.”

The streets, which had already started to boil in April, became even worse after the Estates-General was held.

Now, riots have become commonplace.

Eugene is busy with his brokerage business, but this is also one of the reasons why he hasn’t been able to go to work.

Hearing that, the Queen stroked Eugene.

“Our page, are you hurt anywhere? Poor thing.”

The Queen is so compassionate.

However, that compassion cannot change this situation.

Before Eugene could stop her, the Queen spoke softly but firmly.

“But we cannot give in. If we do, the King, me, and even our children will all die.”

“Your Majesty, but the blockade is…”

“We must not surrender. If the royal family shows weakness to the rebels, it’s over.”

Suddenly, the Queen hugged the princess next to Eugene and whispered.

“I have to protect these children.”

Is this just the arrogance of the royal family?

In fact, it is not.

During the French Revolution, the monarchy is eventually pushed back by the revolutionary forces and executed.

However, at this point, how many troops can the king mobilize?

Most of the soldiers are commoners.

This is also true of the Royal Guard.

Just then.

-Thump!

A loud noise was heard.

Six hundred commoner members were seen running out of the Palace of Versailles.

The Estates-General has already been open since May.

However, no agreement has been reached at all.

The Third Estate commoner members were taking this opportunity to demand [British-style] reforms.

In short, they wanted a system where the parliament, not the king, ruled.

Naturally, the king, nobles, and clergy were shocked.

They gathered to establish taxes, but unexpectedly, they attempted to change the system.

However, the commoner members did not just claim it.

Rousseau’s Social Contract Theory, the already accumulated capital of bankers, and most of the administrative organizations were dominated by commoners.

The king and the great nobles had been ignoring it, but ideology, funds, and execution were supported.

When the king continued to ignore this, the commoner members rose up.

In response, the royal family took the measure of blocking the conference hall that Eugene saw.

Then, will the commoner members stay still?

Someone stepped forward and shouted.

“Let’s go to the Jeu de Paume! [A tennis court used for the famous Tennis Court Oath]”

At that moment, Eugene stood up without even realizing it.

-Thud! Thud!

A crowd of 600 people surged forward.

“Don’t stop us! Guards, aren’t you citizens too! We are the Third Estate!”

“Uh, uh, uh.”

“Shout it out! Long live the Third Estate!”

Of course, this was the palace grounds.

The guards rushed to block them.

However, they couldn’t dare stop the momentum of the representatives.

One of the guards, overwhelmed by the representatives’ demands, shouted.

“Lo, lo, long live! Long, long live the Third Estate!”

Eugene could feel the fervor as well.

It was a different kind of fervor from the riots, crowds, and destruction he had seen in Paris.

They were in despair.

But here, the 600 representatives were exuding a different kind of enthusiasm.

It was a fervent desire, confident that they could change the world.

Eugene’s eyes widened as he saw a man running towards the court, leading the way in a coat.

“That’s, Dr. Guillotin?”

One of the legends of the revolution.

The man who created the guillotine, Joseph Guillotin, was said to have been the first to run to the tennis court.

That legend was unfolding before Eugene’s eyes.

Unaware that the guillotine he created would later kill countless people.

The court opened, and the representatives poured in.

“Citizens, the time has come! Cut the mooring lines and rise up!”

A representative in a priest’s robe was shouting from the center.

Sieyès. [Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, a clergyman and political writer]

A leading figure in the early days of the revolution.

Among them, there was also a familiar face.

“We are the National Assembly, reflecting the majority of the people!”

Maximilien de Robespierre.

Robespierre was shouting, his face even paler as if he had stayed up all night.

For them too, this moment would be a moment of life and death.

If the flustered guards regained their senses, they would all be shot.

Nevertheless, the unarmed representatives, already filled with fervor, gathered in the court and shouted.

“The times are changing! Transformation!”

“What are you saying! Are you trying to start a riot? We are only gathered to convey the will of the citizens to His Majesty the King!”

“Now, now! Let’s gather one agenda!”

At that moment, a man with particularly prominent plumpness stood up.

His clothes were luxurious, standing out even among the commoner representatives, many of whom were wealthy.

In fact, it couldn’t be helped.

Because this man was a nobleman.

“President Jean Sylvain Bailly! I propose: What we need is what Rousseau said, the supreme fundamental law governing the state!”

Right at the beginning of the revolution, a true leading figure.

Honoré Gabriel Riqueti de Mirabeau.

The representatives all agreed with Mirabeau’s cry.

“Let us resolve not to step down until the fundamental law is enacted!”

“That’s right! I agree!”

“I second it! Today, let’s announce the official launch of the National Assembly!”

In short, it is the birth of the Constitution.

“The Tennis Court Oath was born.”

Eugene muttered as he blankly watched the scene from outside.

“Eugene, I’m scared.”

When did she run over?

Perhaps she followed along because Eugene ran.

She was three years older than Eugene, but conversely, she was still a young child who had just turned 12.

Princess Marie Thérèse was trembling beside him.

That fervor must have felt terribly frightening to the royal family.

In fact, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Because in the end, they would cut off the heads of the royals.

“I’ll protect you.”

Eugene hugged Marie tightly.

With his still young arms.

To protect her in this storm.

***

The revolution is like a wave.

-Swish!

The wind and rain were lashing against the Palace of Versailles.

June 23rd.

Three days had passed since the famous Tennis Court Oath was taken.

No matter how much the commoner representatives declared the establishment of the Assembly, it was just a declaration.

Legally, practically, and nominally, the sovereign of France was the King.

The King had not yet allowed anything.

Three days.

It was the time that the King and the representatives had been confronting each other in the King’s Palace of Versailles.

Here, the anxious citizens of Paris gathered as a crowd.

The soldiers blocked them, but they also couldn’t push them back.

“Will the King listen?”

“I heard he told the bourgeois [middle class] to step down.”

“Damn it, then what will happen? What about the bread?”

The citizens’ murmurs could be heard.

Even in the pouring rain, no one had any intention of backing down.

However, if they got more tired, there were only two options.

Back down, or advance to the palace.

In the ominous atmosphere, someone suddenly came out of the palace.

Necker, the King’s chief advisor and finance minister, and the one who convened the Estates-General.

The citizens who recognized his face flocked to him.

“Necker! Are you going to abandon us!”

Necker shook his head at the citizens and shouted.

“I won’t abandon you! Citizens, His Majesty the King will come out soon.”

“Finally!”

“Oh, is the King responding!”

Watching the scene, Eugene approached a person and asked.

“Are you nervous?”

Lazarre Hoche, a guard and former lover of Eugene’s mother, wiped away the rain and chuckled.

“What, Eugene. When did you come out?”

“I couldn’t go home. As you can see, the citizens are surrounding us.”

“Oh my, I don’t have the confidence to break through this crowd either. I can’t take you home, what should I do?”

It was that moment.

“There, His Majesty the King is coming out!”

A person was coming out onto the Palace of Versailles, the main palace balcony.

It was the King.

Mirabeau was standing next to him.

Mirabeau shouted in a loud voice.

“Citizens! His Majesty has recognized the National Assembly! He has ordered all nobles and clergy to dissolve and gather at the National Assembly!”

The King was just standing there without saying a word.

However, the fact that the King came out made one thing clear.

He would not massacre the crowd that had gathered in front of the palace without permission.

The rain-soaked citizens cried out and shouted.

“Oh! Long live His Majesty the King!”

Hoche also let out a sigh of relief.

“Whew, that’s a relief. Now there won’t be a riot.”

“It’s the opposite.”

“What?”

Eugene said, looking at King Louis XVI on the balcony.

“His Majesty has ordered the conscription of troops to Paris, Hoche.”

Hoche’s eyes widened.

Conscription order.

Then perhaps the King was trying to suppress Paris?

What should Hoche, a soldier of the guard and now a sergeant who was scheduled to be promoted, do?

Hoche asked urgently.

“Then, what should I do?”

“What do you mean? Pretend to fight appropriately and then back off, or surrender depending on the situation.”

“What?”

Eugene looked at Hoche with cold eyes that didn’t seem like a king’s attendant.

“The discipline of the guard is already broken. I think you know that better than anyone else.”

In fact, it was something that could be seen just by the fact that they didn’t suppress the crowd.

It was the moment Hoche smiled bitterly.

Eugene briefly made a suggestion.

“Since it’s come to this, I’ll pay you, so get out of the military soon.”

“What is it? I’ve heard you wanted to see me for a while. I also heard from Ippolito that you’ve become rich, but why now? Why?”

“I have to go save my mother.”

Eugene narrowed his brows as he looked at the cheering crowd soaked in the rain.

“Soon, this Paris, no, France will be overturned by an era of revolution. Martinique can’t be safe then.”

Even in the middle of the Atlantic, the era is already connected by sea routes in the 18th century.

The flames of revolution will also rush into Martinique.

The revolution is already unavoidable.

Hoche rolled his eyes and said.

“That’s not just your intuition, is it.”

“The royal family will judge the same way. The only difference between me and them is that they think they can suppress these citizens.”

“You’re telling me to gamble, right? Now.”

The royal family, the revolution, and Eugene.

It was a crossroads where he had to choose one of the three.

At that moment, Hoche smiled kindly.

“You’ve always won in gambling. Okay, I’ll bet on you. I’ll go save Josephine.”

June 23, 1789.

Eugene succeeded in gaining Hoche as a companion for the voyage.

A famous general who would be called the standard-bearer of the revolution.

To save his mother, Josephine, who would become Napoleon’s wife.

***

The revolution is a series of upheavals in which everything is overturned every moment.

“It’s a betrayal!”

July 14, 1789, the day of destiny dawned.

The King had conscripted troops.

Necker, the King’s chief advisor who had defended the Third Estate, was dismissed.

All the signals were pointing to one thing.

The King would suppress the citizens of Paris by force.

Just as Louis XIV had suppressed the Fronde [a series of civil wars in France] in the old days.

“What’s going on? Necker was dismissed. Then, will the nobles gain power again?”

“Is that the problem now! It’s the army! The army from the border area has come! They will enter Paris with guns!”

“His Majesty the King is occupying Paris? Oh my god, then what should we do?”

Palais-Royal. [A palace in Paris]

This is the residence of the Duke of Orléans, but at the same time, it is not just a simple residence.

Like a hotel, all the outer buildings surrounding the residence are open.

Theaters, shops, and cafes.

In this era, cafes are not just places for small talk, but meeting places for political clubs.

-Clack!

Café de Foy.

Among the citizens who gathered there and trembled with anxiety, a man stood up on the table.

A stuttering lawyer, Camille Desmoulins.

“Let’s take up arms!”

Desmoulins did not stutter at this moment.

The excited crowd, but the citizens who didn’t know where to go, turned their attention.

The furious Desmoulins grabbed the marronnier tree [chestnut tree] next to him and swung his fist.

Towards the open door of the cafe, Desmoulins’ roar echoed.

“Citizens! I am the lawyer Desmoulins! The army is now surrounding Paris!”

“Weapons! The freedom of citizens! We must stand up!”

“That’s right! Let’s protect Necker! Let’s protect Paris! Let’s protect the citizens!”

The city of 600,000 people, Paris, was seething.

“Let’s fight!”

The excited crowd started running in a hurry.

At the forefront were ‘bourgeois’ intellectual speakers, including Desmoulins.

Their hats had a marronnier leaf attached.

It’s a sign.

A sign of those who want to protect citizens and fight the army.

Conversely, the army that the King had conscripted to suppress Paris was embarrassed.

The commander of the German Dragoon Regiment, Charles Eugène de Lorraine, shouted.

“Are those guys crazy? Block the Champs-Élysées! If we are pushed to King Louis’ Square, it’s over!”

At this point, there were not many troops inside Paris.

Three German Dragoon Regiments, three Swiss Regiments, and the Mounted Patrol.

In the 18th century, unlike modern times, one regiment had about 800 people.

In addition, they couldn’t even fill the quota due to lack of finances.

So, only 2,000 soldiers were facing tens of thousands of crowds.

It was also a foreign mercenary unit.

“Waaaaa!”

The citizens of Paris, who were hostile to foreigners, especially Germans, were gnashing their teeth and rushing in.

Even in front of the gun, without hesitation.

“Uh, uh, uh.”

“Shoot!”

“Damn it, fight back!”

At the commander’s scream, one of the German Dragoon Regiment members was surprised and fired a gun.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of gunfire loudly covered the square.

The name of this square is the same as Louis XV, that is, the name of the previous king.

Blood was sprinkled on the square named after the king.

A citizen shot by the King’s army died.

“Ugh!”

When 30,000 furious crowds rushed in, the mercenaries began to run away in fear.

“Let’s go to the city hall! There are weapons there! Gunpowder, guns, and cannons!”

“Break the customs office! The price of wheat has risen because of those guys! The price of alcohol too!”

“Bread! Flour! Where is it!”

Now, the crowd is no longer a minority.

People began to peek out from all over Paris.

It was not just that they were swept away by the instigation of the speakers, but the anger that had been waiting for an opportunity had exploded.

“We want food! We want drinks! We want clothes!”

“Bread! Bread! Bread!”

“What the hell is the King doing? Long live the Third Estate!”

The Paris City Hall was destroyed.

The veterans’ hospital for veterans was looted, and 30,000 rifles that had been piled up fell into the hands of the citizens.

All of this is because the King sent a signal.

He ignored the National Assembly.

He cut off Chief Advisor Necker and showed that he had no intention of listening to the citizens.

Above all, he conscripted border troops and showed his intention to besiege Paris.

In fact, it was just a threat.

However, the citizens of Paris were frightened and furious and revolted.

In a flash, the situation rapidly progressed in just one day.

However, the citizens with 30,000 rifles were rather thirsty and wanted.

What?

Weapons, more weapons.

“We need more weapons! Look at those German dragoons! What about the Swiss guys?”

“We have to fight those guys. Was it Lambeck, that Austrian woman’s relative?”

“Let’s kill the foreign nobles!”

Suddenly, Desmoulins, who was still at the forefront, shouted.

“There will be weapons in the Bastille! Ammunition and cannons!”

Bastille.

In modern history, it is famous as a symbol of the oppression of the old regime.

In this era, it is actually a prison known as a high-ranking political prisoner camp.

A place with only seven people imprisoned.

The famous ‘pervert,’ Marquis de Sade, is actually one of those prisoners.

However, like modern people, the citizens of Paris didn’t really know that fact.

They only remembered it as a place of oppression where the king’s weapons were stored and those who opposed the royal authority were imprisoned.

The 30,000 citizens with rifles shouted.

“Let’s go to the Bastille!”

Now, an unstoppable fire began to engulf Paris and France.

***

It was still dawn, but the king was awake with bloodshot eyes.

“What is Marshal Broglie doing? What about Baron Besenval? Why isn’t Lambeck reporting? Why isn’t Paris being suppressed!”

King Louis XVI paced anxiously in the royal chamber.

It had been a month since the National Assembly took the [Tennis Court Oath] [An oath sworn by members of the French Third Estate, vowing not to disband until a constitution was written].

The king pretended to accept the birth of the assembly for the time being.

But at the same time, he brought in troops from the border to suppress Paris.

The army, centered on Marshal Broglie, was on the outskirts.

Conversely, Besenval had entered the interior but wasn’t doing things as he wished.

Even Lambeck was chased away by the citizens and fled.

Of course, King Louis had not yet heard reports of all this.

The queen, royal family, and attendants gathered in the king’s room, trembling with anxiety as they watched.

Only Eugene was calm, as an exception.

Suddenly, the Duke of Liancourt, a great nobleman, rushed in.

He brought news from Paris.

“The rioters have already taken control of Paris. Count Artois, the Prince of Condé, and Marshal Broglie are said to be targets of the rioters.”

“Who is the leader of the enemies? Orleans? Or Lafayette?”

“Your Majesty, neither of them.”

Orleans, the kingdom’s most noble and leader of the Freemasons, who was always known to be aiming for the throne.

Lafayette, the hero of the American Revolutionary War and the only general-level member in his 30s in the National Assembly.

These were the two most feared figures for the king.

But that was all in the past.

Until yesterday, before the citizens took up arms themselves.

It is just an idea before running towards the Bastille.

Without knowing that fact accurately, Duke Liancourt desperately said.

“It is the citizens of Paris, no, the people of France. France has risen up now!”

He is a great nobleman in his own right, but Duke Liancourt tried to mediate between the king and the assembly as a member of the Estates-General [A general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy, the nobility, and the common people.].

However, the mediation failed, and in the end, Paris rose up.

Out of 25 million French people, the population of Paris is only 600,000.

Even so, these 600,000 are the urbanites who move the core of France.

Suddenly, Princess Marie Therese, trembling with fear, looked for a place to rely on.

A still young boy, but with a calm face.

It was Eugene.

Marie Therese approached Eugene and whispered.

“What should I do? Are the people of Paris going to come and kill us all? Will they kill Mama and Papa too?”

“Don’t worry, Princess. There’s still no problem.”

“Really? Will it be okay? The [Swiss] soldiers will defeat them all, right?”

[Swiss], that is, Swiss in French.

Can the famous French mercenaries protect the royal family?

Of course, it would be fortunate if they were not massacred instead.

Eugene held Marie Therese’s hand tightly and said.

“Be prepared, Princess.”

It was the moment Marie blinked.

“Your Majesty! Urgent news!”

Another nobleman rushed in from outside.

It was the king’s youngest brother, Count Artois.

Count Artois, still with a flushed face as if he had been immersed in gambling parties until yesterday, shouted in a drunken voice.

“The Bastille has been captured!”

The Bastille, the prison fortress of Paris.

In fact, there are only 7 prisoners here, and there are less than 200 guards.

Of course, there are ammunition and cannons, but even so, it cannot be said to be a huge amount.

However, the fortress has long meant one thing.

Those who oppose the king are imprisoned in the Bastille prison in Paris.

It is the symbol of the king’s judicial power.

It means that the ‘rioters’ have overthrown the authority of the king.

King Louis XVI finally broke his peace and cried out.

“This is a rebellion! It’s treason!”

At that moment, Eugene stepped forward.

“No, Your Majesty. This is a [Revolution].”

Revolution, or rather, Revolution.

The meaning of this word is still just about [great change].

However, Eugene alone knows the true meaning of this word.

It means dragging the king down from his seat.

Swallowing the truth into his mouth, Eugene spoke to the king in front of the royal family and great nobles.

“The world will change, Your Majesty. Be firm.”

“What are you saying, page? Are you betraying our royal family too? Come to think of it, your father is not to be seen! A soldier who should protect the royal family!”

“That’s not it, Your Majesty. I’m telling you that the army cannot suppress these citizens.”

Eugene turned his gaze outward.

“Rather, ride the wave of that revolution. Otherwise, the royal family is in danger.”

Here in the Palace of Versailles, members of the National Assembly were still gathered.

In fact, Eugene’s father, Alexandre, had already sided with the National Assembly.

Duke Liancourt, who brought the news right away, is also loyal to the king, but he is one of the assembly-friendly figures.

A significant number of great nobles here will soon flee or surrender to the king.

The trend has already shifted.

If you want to reverse the situation, there is really only one way.

As Louis XVI’s ancestors did, flee the capital, bring in local troops, and reconquer.

However, Louis XVI had neither the ability, nor the courage, nor the will to do so.

Therefore, recognition and conformity are the only solutions.

The king was silent for a moment and then bowed his head.

“Yes. If I can’t win, I must at least protect the royal family.”

After a while, the king went out of the palace and headed to the conference room where the members of the National Assembly were gathered.

“You’re still here.”

Once the meeting place of the Estates-General.

But now it is a place that has become the temporary parliament of the National Assembly, where the majority are commoner leaders.

Members including Mirabeau, Condorcet, and Sieyès stared at the king.

Among them are great nobles such as the Duke of Aiguillon, especially the Duke of Orleans.

The king trembled with humiliation for a moment, then mustered his strength and shouted.

“I announce to the king’s people and members. I am deeply sorry for what happened today. But I will say one thing for sure.”

With 600 members watching, the king declared.

“The King of France will always be there for the people of France and will follow the will of the people.”

This is a true declaration of surrender.

It is different from when the National Assembly was first established.

The king has decided to give up his rights.

Even though the Bastille had been captured while local troops were being mobilized, he declared surrender.

In fact, the king does not yet know that the commander of the Bastille, Marquis de Launay, has already died.

By the hands of the citizen army.

In an instant, the members stood up and shouted.

“Long live His Majesty the King!”

“Our will has been accepted! Let’s drive out the treacherous subjects who deceived the king!”

“To Paris, let’s go!”

Looking at the scene, Princess Marie Therese suddenly asked Eugene, who was standing next to her.

“Is it okay now? Eugene.”

“For the time being, yes. But you won’t be able to stay here.”

“Huh?”

Eugene calmly looked at the heated conference room and whispered.

“You will have to go to Paris. Be prepared, Princess. There will be no one to harm you for the time being, but there will continue to be dangerous times.”

The royal family will not return to Paris from Versailles yet.

However, the people of Paris, the so-called lower-class citizens, have already realized their power.

Even the members of the assembly here, who are relatively upper-class bourgeois citizens, cannot control them.

They will run to the palace and forcibly drag the royal family to Paris.

Knowing this fact, Eugene could not be with them.

Because there was something he had to do right away.

Unaware of the situation, Princess Marie clung to Eugene.

“Why, why? Won’t you be with me? I’m scared.”

“I have to go save my mother now.”

“Mother?”

It is something that only Eugene can do.

“My mother is in Martinique. It will be a mess there too, just like here. There are no Swiss soldiers or guards next to my mother, so I have to go.”

However, Princess Marie clung to Eugene.

She was afraid that if she let go, she would be separated and never see him again.

It was then.

There was a hand that quietly took Marie’s hand away.

It was a woman with the same name as Marie, Queen Marie Antoinette.

“You are brave, our page.”

The Queen quietly hugged Princess Marie and said to Eugene.

“Don’t worry too much, and be sure to come back. We will be safe.”

If this warmth had been shown more wisely, could the revolution have been prevented?

However, there was nothing that Eugene, who was still young, could do.

He is just going to do what he can do now.

Firmly determined, Eugene paid his respects.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Hoping that the Queen and Princess would be safe until he returned.

***

Again, Eugene stood at the port of Bordeaux.

“Phew, so is this the era when commoners will prevail for the time being? Hahaha!”

Suddenly, Lazare Hoche laughed next to him.

-Ding! Ding! Ding!

The bell announcing boarding is loud.

The port of Bordeaux looked peaceful, unlike Paris.

Only nobles and wealthy people trying to escape to England could be seen at a glance.

Above all, there are still countless merchant ships departing from this Bordeaux.

This means that the revolution is not yet sweeping through the entire France.

Of course, things will be different in just three months.

Eugene shrugged lightly and replied.

“It’s not that simple, Hoche.”

“Why? They decided to recognize the National Assembly for now. Won’t there be a situation where the king and the parliament compromise with each other, like in neighboring England? All the pamphlets say that.”

“England killed the king, Hoche.”

Charles I, the king beheaded by the English Parliament.

As of 1789, the current system is that the [Prime Minister] serves the king.

However, England also shed countless blood until the system was established where the Prime Minister supported the king and held real power.

Not to mention France, where the king’s power is much stronger than in England.

Blood is inevitable.

Even if you don’t know the original history.

Eugene smiled at Hoche, who had a pale face.

“It will be inevitable for us too. But it’s not something that will happen right away.”

Later, Hoche is the one who bloodily suppresses the Vendée rebellion [A royalist rebellion during the French Revolution] caused by the royalists in the original history.

He is now a former sergeant of the Guards who is surprised to hear that the king will die.

At that time, a group of young men approached the ship Eugene had purchased, carrying luggage.

The one at the forefront was, of course, Hippolyte Charles.

Hippolyte screamed and dropped the sack to the ground with a thud.

They are all sacks filled with silver coins.

Hippolyte grumbled at Eugene.

“Oh, it’s hard! Why are you taking so much?”

“Well, because there is no way to transfer money online, or rather, to raise money in the West Indies. Oh, Hoche. Are the people ready?”

“Huh? Oh, of course. They are trustworthy friends.”

Hoche chuckled and gestured towards the young men.

The young men were all wearing military uniforms, as if they were all soldiers.

But they were stained with blood and dirt.

It can’t be helped.

They are all people who joined the citizen army and rampaged during the fall of the Bastille.

“We can trust Sergeant Hoche! Well, it’s better than a king who doesn’t even pay a salary!”

“Wow, 50 livres a month! Wouldn’t it be better to just keep serving the Beauharnais family?”

“Are you not raising privates? Hahaha!”

Jacobin Heli, Jean-Marie Silvain Gomi, Louis Tournet.

They are all people who were active during the fall of the Bastille.

However, Eugene offered them a salary that would be a huge sum for them, and they were tempted by the salary and followed Eugene.

The problem is not these people.

It is the man who brought these three and the servants.

“Marceau? Why are you here?”

François Séverin Marceau.

A man who is a friend of Hoche and a sergeant in the Royal Guard.

The problem is that Marceau was active during the fall of the Bastille and was promoted to captain and will participate in the revolution.

However, Marceau swept back his black hair and laughed.

“Oh, Hoche is going. Looking at the current state, Paris is not good either.”

“I thought you would have gone to the Bastille. Didn’t General Lafayette promote you?”

“Hahaha! You know me really well? Eugene? Yes, I went. I went, so I was more disgusted.”

Suddenly, Marceau clicked his tongue.

“There were only 7 people there. Prisoners.”

In the original history, Marceau is one of the heroes of the Revolutionary War along with Hoche.

However, during the fall of the Bastille, he first retreated and returned to his hometown.

Right in the city of Chartres in Orleans, the territory of the Duke of Orleans.

Perhaps he was tired of the horrors he saw while capturing the Bastille.

But when Eugene said he was taking Hoche and gathering people, he ran over with a gloomy heart.

Marceau frowned and said.

“This France is terrible. I don’t know what’s different between the citizens of Paris and the rioters now. They will burn everything down.”

“It would be fortunate if it ended there, rather.”

“Huh? Oh, are you killing the king? That could happen.”

It seems he heard what I said earlier.

However, Eugene shook his head.

The revolution does not end there.

“No, a war could break out. A very terrible war.”

Hoche, who was already tired, and Marceau, who had just arrived, widened their eyes.

But even though Eugene knows, he still doesn’t know how to prevent the war.

In fact, anyone who is even a little awake can predict that a war will break out in the future.

It’s just that they couldn’t stop it.

Suddenly, Eugene lightly put his hand on his chest and paid his respects.

“Anyway, thank you for the trip to bring my mother.”

Hippolyte, Hoche, and Marceau shouted back.

“Okay! Let’s go to the New World!”

“Oh, isn’t that an island, not a continent?”

“I wonder if the ship will be okay? Oh, it would be a problem if I got scurvy.”

Eugene smiled at Marceau.

“Don’t worry. I’m taking cabbage with me.”

“Huh? What does that have to do with it?”

“The British absorb vitamins, or rather, scurvy-preventing nutrients, from cabbage during long voyages.”

It is quite thoroughly prepared.

Anyway, this era is the era of sailing across the ocean with sailing ships.

It takes at least 3 months to get from France to the West Indies.

If you get scurvy during that time, it will be a problem, so I prepared it in advance.

As he was boarding, Hoche asked what he had just thought of.

“Oh, did you tell your father? I think he will oppose it?”

I had forgotten about the sea because the boy in front of me was a genius.

The fact that he is still far from being an adult.

It is not an era where the guardian system is fully established, but still, children should not leave on a long journey without their parents’ permission.

Of course, Eugene ignored all of that and boarded the ship.

“Of course, it’s my heart. Now, let’s go to the New World!”

When the Bastille was captured and the revolution became irreversible.

July 1789.

Eugene set off for the New World.

To find his mother, Josephine, who would become Napoleon’s wife.