He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 483

The Jacobins Rise Up in Paris

The time has come for those who dream of revolution to act.

“We’re hungry! Give us bread! The British Navy is blockading all supplies!”

Paris is in an uproar.

Originally, after Napoleon took power, Paris had never experienced starvation.

Furthermore, France has five times the landmass of England, a mild climate, and vast arable land, making it an agricultural nation that produces enormous amounts of wheat every year.

But people can’t live on basic food alone.

The supply of white bread, made from so-called high-end ingredients, has been cut off.

The reason is that the wheat that was supposed to come from Egypt has been intercepted.

Normally, they could have survived on rye bread, but the citizens of Paris, who had become accustomed to a richer diet for more than a decade, were angry.

Voices full of dissatisfaction are rising in cafes and squares everywhere.

“What the hell is the Emperor doing?”

“He only knows war, and his governance of the country is a mess!”

“Robespierre was better!”

If the Emperor were in Paris, public sentiment would not be so volatile.

But the Emperor, who disappeared to conquer Russia in the east, has not returned for a year.

However, not everyone is unable to eat white bread.

Clearly, the wealthy, the so-called upper bourgeoisie, live well regardless of the British naval blockade.

This disparity was making the citizens even angrier.

“Then, wouldn’t it be better to go back to the days of Robespierre?”

Even so, this sounded too extreme, startling the citizens.

“Who is that person?”

“Oh, he used to be an agitator on the streets when I was young.”

“Ah, I know who he is!”

A man in his 30s, who still remembers the early days of the revolution, shouted.

“It’s Babeuf, of the Society of Equals [a radical political group during the French Revolution]!”

However, in this era, a man in his 30s is considered closer to middle age than youth in the early 19th century.

But if a middle-aged man is a politician he saw in his childhood, it means he is an old man.

Conversely, it also means that the Great Revolution itself is already considered a thing of the past.

An old man, but a former revolutionary, Babeuf, who is still active in the lower house, shouted in Place Vendôme [a public square in Paris].

“There is an emperor and nobles in this country now, even though it is a country where there was clearly a revolution!”

“No, that’s an emperor elected by vote, and the titles are honorary, aren’t they?”

“Really? Then what about the Vice-King? What about the Vice-King’s wife?”

Babeuf sneered and shouted at the questioning citizen.

“The princess of the old Bourbon royal family [the former ruling dynasty of France] and her husband! They have taken the throne of neighboring Spain and are spending a huge amount of French money! Is this truly an equal country!”

It is a scene that was commonly seen before the revolution.

An era when speakers making radical remarks were making their claims to the citizens.

But for over 20 years, in fact, since Robespierre’s reign of terror [a period of extreme violence during the French Revolution], a situation that had not been seen was unfolding in Paris for the first time.

Babeuf told the citizens who were watching as if possessed.

“They still eat white bread and meat!”

“Oh, we do too, sometimes.”

“They eat it every day! In this situation where the British have blockaded the sea and supplies have been cut off! Furthermore, at a time when the Rhine, Hungary, and Prussia are attacking us!”

At that moment, someone with a cane stepped forward towards Babeuf.

“Wait, what did you say? Babeuf? Who is attacking us? Not England?”

Babeuf smiled at the gentleman who appeared to be wealthy at a glance.

“Oh, Perego. My rich friend. You’ve been eating so well that you’re so plump even when everyone else is starving!”

“That’s not important! Who is attacking France? Not England?”

“Hahaha! Didn’t the board of directors of the Bank of France say anything?”

Babeuf glared at Perego, a director of the Central Bank of France, and shouted.

“Now, King Karl of Hungary and the new Kaiser Wilhelm I of Prussia are invading with allied forces! Furthermore, the Kingdom of Bavaria has abandoned France!”

When they heard that, the citizens gathered in the square were shocked.

Of course, not being able to eat white bread is dissatisfying.

But it is not enough to rise up and protest against the regime that has built a strong ruling system.

But the Emperor has taken the Grand Army [Napoleon’s main army] and has not returned from the east.

In this situation, an enemy country is leading an army and invading?

“The Emperor is not here now.”

“The Vice-King is not here either. He’s not even staying in Spain.”

“So, does that mean that the only one defending Paris is a child who is not even 10 years old?”

Of course, such an assessment would be too harsh.

In any case, Charles Napoleon, whom the citizens call a child under the age of 10, is only a provisional successor.

This Paris and France are defended by 800,000 reservists under the command of the commander of the capital defense, Sérurier.

Nevertheless, the reality that there is no Emperor, no Vice-King, no Grande Armée, and no Marshals of the Empire captivated the citizens.

Babeuf did not miss the opportunity and waved his arms and shouted loudly.

“In this precarious situation, the citizens must do something before they starve to death!”

The agitation of Babeuf, the man who once stained the streets with riots, is now gripping Paris.

***

Of course, it is not only the citizens who think that Babeuf is an old-fashioned revolutionary.

“Who is making noise now? Babeuf?”

Savary, the commander of the National Guard, the chief of police, and the director-general of the secret police, frowned and asked.

Babeuf is clearly a dangerous person.

Perhaps Babeuf is behind the explosion that wiped out the Spanish royal family.

But isn’t he just an outdated politician who only engages in radical remarks now?

Rather, he defined the Russian expedition as a revolutionary war, which built up his reputation.

But he can’t get rid of his old habits and is making complaints in the square.

The reporter, Pierre Dupont, the deputy director of the secret police, nodded.

“Yes, Chief Savary.”

“It’s absurd. While His Majesty the Emperor is fighting abroad, such an act of treason.”

“Shall we arrest him?”

Originally, in the original history, Savary would have lamented, looking at Dupont, who would suffer with him in the so-called ‘Peninsular War’ [a conflict between France and Spain/Portugal/Britain] around this time.

“General Pierre Dupont, would you arrest a man who is all talk and worsen public sentiment?”

Of course not.

Imprisoning anti-government figures is common in dictatorships.

However, the Napoleonic Empire is strangely tolerant of dissidents because it outwardly promotes a [Citizen Empire].

Even in the original history, they were mainly exiled, and rarely imprisoned.

Dupont licked his lips and asked.

“Then, do we leave him alone?”

“No, we can’t do that. We’ll have to use an assassin.”

“Yes? Assassination? I think that’s more dangerous.”

Savary smiled coldly and replied.

“If a robber stabs him to death, how would anyone know if it was someone we sent? Find a suitable criminal. I heard that there is a man named Vidocq under Rochejaquelein, and he is an expert?”

Of course, the appearance is tolerant, but the secret police are just as harsh in both the original history and now.

Originally, in the original history, Savary was the man who killed the Duke of Enghien, and he is even more so.

After hesitating for a moment, Dupont saluted.

“I’ll try to contact him. However, all of Surratt is currently abroad due to the Russian expedition.”

But it was when the two police generals were talking to each other.

-Wow!

A loud shout was heard from outside.

“What is this sound?”

“I’ll go out and see.”

“Wait, don’t go out.”

Savary, a cold but cautious man, opened the curtains and looked out the window.

-Thump!

At that moment, Savary was more embarrassed than ever before.

“What is this.”

This is the Île de la Cité [an island in the middle of Paris], the island where the French Army Headquarters and the National Guard Headquarters are located.

It was once a place to imprison those who opposed the revolution.

Therefore, it is a place that ordinary citizens dare not approach.

But now, a crowd of tens of thousands has gathered and is shouting.

“The, the Île de la Cité is surrounded!”

“How did the rioters get here so quickly?”

“They’re not just rioters!”

Dupont, who had participated in the Italian expedition, pointed to the crowd and shouted.

“Look. They are all armed!”

Everyone seems to be holding firearms with bayonets attached.

Where did the guns come from, and how did the crowd become armed?

Suddenly, Savary’s eyes widened.

“Those guys are National Guards.”

“Yes? Isn’t that an organization that was disbanded a long time ago?”

“We couldn’t collect all the firearms. I was going to take care of it when things calmed down after this expedition, but damn it!”

The National Guard, once commanded by Lafayette.

Soldiers who were once regarded as the standard-bearers of the revolution, taking charge of security and sometimes committing massacres.

Moreover, they are the vanguard of the Jacobins [a radical political organization during the French Revolution].

“But there’s no way the National Guard would follow Babeuf, so who moved them?”

Savary had no idea who had moved them.

***

In fact, even if Eugene had returned, he wouldn’t have known.

-Chuck!

An officer ran up to a man in a general’s uniform who got off a ship on the outskirts of the Île de la Cité and shouted.

“Former Captain Pierre Bast, 13th Regiment of the Paris National Guard! I greet General Dumouriez!”

Of course, both positions are from the past.

In fact, the military uniform is from the revolutionary period, so it looks quite old.

General Dumouriez, who looked around with eyes filled with emotion for a moment, nodded.

“Good work, Captain. The Île de la Cité must be completely blocked?”

“Of course. I am originally from the Navy and am an expert in amphibious encirclement! I even crossed Lake Garda during the Italian expedition in the past!”

“I see.”

As expected, Captain Bast, who was supposed to suffer in the Peninsular War in the original history, disappeared, and Dumouriez turned to another man who came with him.

“Now, there’s no turning back. Monsieur Sieyès.”

So Sieyès was the one who organized this crowd.

Of course, Sieyès, who is not a military expert, cannot carry out such a rapid advance and encirclement.

On the other hand, Dumouriez, who once played an active role in Flanders, is nothing like this.

Sieyès leaned on his cane and shrugged his shoulders.

“It would have been more perfect if Napoleon had been defeated in Russia.”

“The British Foreign Legion says he’s alive and well. Without a single injury.”

“Rumor has it that he’s too sick to come, but was that just a rumor? Tsk.”

After clicking his tongue with a very regretful face, Sieyès smiled, twisting his lips.

“Even so, if we take control of Paris, it’s the same as taking control of France, Dumouriez. Just like during the revolution.”

One of the main figures who created the Great Revolution in the past.

The elder statesman Sieyès, who had fallen in the face of Napoleon’s era, looked outside the Île de la Cité.