There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 455

456. Side Story – The Complex and Bizarre World of the Nine Provinces (3)

“The traitor Zan has turned back from Liège!”

“The country bumpkin from Arques has broken through Hthel!”

“The terror of England has crossed Limes [ancient Roman border fortifications]!”

“The Maid of Orléans is coming!”

“Joan of Arc is coming to occupy Paris!”

Louis XI couldn’t understand what was happening.

Strictly speaking, Joan of Arc had moved ahead of his secret orders and seized control of the military command.

More fundamentally, an emotional gap had begun to form between the central government and the army during the year-long campaign, and Joan of Arc had seized the opportunity to exploit it.

The scorched-earth tactics employed wherever Duke Yongdam went left northern France exposed to the Burgundian army’s massacres.

The troops following Joan of Arc were mostly those who had joined after recovering this region.

Naturally, they could not accept negotiations with Duke Yongdam on an emotional level.

Even so, without a focal point to ignite their anger, it would have been all for naught.

But that was a topic for later historians to be interested in, and Louis, faced with a rebellion in his own army, was simply dumbfounded.

Louis XI couldn’t bring himself to flee.

Where would he go?

Only Paris could support the centralization he had spent his life building.

Mail and roads all passed through Paris, and the administrative system he had built with the help of the bourgeoisie only existed in Paris.

However, even he, who would later be called a wise ruler who laid the foundation for absolute monarchy, did not have a particularly good military record.

There was no way he could withstand Joan of Arc’s offensive.

Louis XI was captured before he could escape, and so were his children.

“I will pass the throne to my son… Charles.”

Paris surrendered.

The situation seemed to be settled for the time being as Louis XI’s son, who was still a child, ascended the throne as Charles VIII.

It was like Jianchenggye deposing King Wu and installing King Chang, but even so, unlike the original Yi Seong-gye, he still had the desire to be loyal to the new lord he would serve.

However.

“Did Louis try to escape with the king?”

“Y-Yes!”

1475.

Louis XI attempted to flee to Burgundy, with whom he had been fiercely fighting until recently.

This was shortly after Joan of Arc had thrown all the astrologers who served Louis into the Seine River.

Joan of Arc’s justification for the uprising was to eliminate corrupt officials, so she was simply following the story of Ximen Bao [a historical figure known for his wisdom in governance] that she had heard in Joseon, but Louis was truly terrified.

Fearing that he would be next, Louis tried to escape with his son but was caught.

For Louis XI, it was a situation where he didn’t know when he would die, so he was trying to grab at straws by relying on the enemy.

In his youth, he had been involved in a plot to oust his father and had spent years in exile there. There was no reason why he couldn’t do it twice.

However, Joan of Arc was furious at the despicable behavior of the former king.

It was no different from handing over all the national rights of France to the enemy.

‘Are these truly the descendants of the royal family who have been entrusted with sacred rights by the Lord?’

Joan of Arc had already been disappointed by the French royal family twice, or three times if including the reign of Charles VII.

So, what should be done?

The word ‘establishing a legitimate heir by deposing the illegitimate one’ briefly flashed through Joan of Arc’s mind, but she was still too pure to fabricate such a thing.

Moreover, there was no need to do so.

Joan of Arc’s decision was heading in a different direction.

“Due to the misguided judgment of one king, the entire people and territory of France were almost handed over to the enemy. Who gave Louis the right to do that?”

Louis XI and his descendants could no longer be entrusted with France.

If this were Joseon, the answer would already be prepared.

That is, to replace the royal family according to the Mandate of Heaven [the belief that the ruler’s authority comes from a divine source] and clearly reveal the righteousness of the dynastic revolution.

However, Joan of Arc had spent many years as a nun, and she had no descendants.

Joan was not of noble blue blood, and she did not think that she could start a royal family as a woman.

Even if her brothers or their descendants, who were villagers, were to inherit the royal family, they would not be able to maintain it.

Moreover, this was not a just thing to do.

Therefore, Joan of Arc did not cling to such trivial royal positions.

“In Rome, when faced with a national crisis, they elected a dictator to entrust with full power for a certain period.”

Joan of Arc, who had been exchanging with Sarim scholars [Confucian scholars] who had inherited the academic tradition of Giljae [a renowned scholar], was also familiar with the concept of social contract that they advocated.

The people are the master, and the ruler is the guest.

The legitimacy of the king’s rule is established only when he keeps his promise to the people.

The king broke the promise first, so there is no need to serve them as king anymore.

Now, the person who governs the country should bear the responsibility not by the nobility of blood, but only by the ability to take responsibility for the safety of the country.

“Today, with the support of the citizens, I would like to elect a new dictator in this place to replace the king, but who will never become king. Does anyone have any opinions?”

Fortunately, this was not an unprecedented argument in Europe either.

Rather, the republic could be said to be the root of Europe.

Greece and Rome both started as republics, and the city-states of Italy still maintain republics.

In fact, the cities of France in this era were the same.

Louis XI was slowly laying the foundation for absolute monarchy, but the royal power had not yet been established on a solid foundation and did not wield absolute power.

The king had not yet established control over the entire country, and the cities were enjoying considerable autonomy.

From the commune cities (ville de commune) in the north, the free cities (ville de franchise) in the center, to the consulate cities (ville de consulat) in the south.

It varied from city to city whether the lower classes influenced these city-state assemblies, or whether they were closer to oligarchies or plutocracies of the upper bourgeoisie, but the concept of electing leaders by the hands of citizens was not unfamiliar.

For that reason, the first thing Joan of Arc did when she entered Paris was to hold this city-state assembly.

“I don’t think anyone but Joan of Arc can overcome the current crisis.”

“I think so too.”

“We’ll have to put it to a vote, but I don’t think anyone will object.”

However, the conclusion was already decided.

Even the loyal subjects whom Louis had favored – the urban bourgeoisie – had no choice but to comply.

It was not only because of the force that Joan possessed.

Unlike Louis XI, who, despite his many achievements, did not receive much mourning after his death due to his insidious personality, Joan of Arc was a guardian of faith and a hero of national salvation who had returned after decades.

This is why image is important.

It was not a bad result for them either. After all, they were usually in charge of urban administration, and the new government would not be able to easily dismiss them.

Now that Joan of Arc’s momentum is high, they can stick to her, and if the situation changes later, they can abandon Joan and move on.

However, the veteran, who was full of experience, moved in a direction they could not have imagined.

Joan broke the pot and sank the boat as she had learned in Joseon (破釜沈舟) [a Chinese idiom meaning to cut off all means of retreat].

As soon as she was elected dictator, she used the name of the General Assembly to behead Louis XI, or rather, the natural person ‘Louis Capet’.

It was a bit ahead of its time, but

Anyway, Louis was Louis.

===

It was cruel, but it couldn’t be helped.

Leaving aside the ‘legal’ reason that he deserved to die because he tried to collude with the enemy of the state, he had to die for political reasons.

Even if the king was confined, there was no guarantee that Louis, who had already attempted to escape once, would sit still.

Moreover, it was obvious that every time Joan left her seat, there would be groups constantly trying to conspire with them.

The Provisional Government, surrounded by enemies on all sides, had to prevent internal division as quickly as possible.

Who would accept those who killed the king?

With this, there was no choice but to survive together or die together.

Of course, there were side effects.

The ultra-strong move of executing Louis XI had the effect of forcing his own people to not even think about surrender or division, but it also brought great shock to the outside world.

Although whoever controls Paris controls France, centralization to that extent has not yet been completed.

Although the king’s authority is weak, the number of royalist forces is by no means small, and there were also great enemies such as Burgundy and England who were aiming for the chaos.

When the direct line of the Valois dynasty was cut off, those with the right to inherit the throne, who had been waiting for an opportunity, would spring up like mushrooms.

For that reason, Joan of Arc, who had finished her six-month term as dictator, was immediately elected as Consul.

Because everyone could see that she was the only one who could overcome this crisis.

If you ask who is to blame for the situation turning out like this, the answer would also be Joan of Arc.

In order to stabilize the fledgling republic, Joan of Arc had no choice but to fully demonstrate her military capabilities.

Thus, the prelude to the ‘French Revolutionary Wars’ began.

===

······The French Revolutionary Wars are over!

It was not as fierce as expected, nor was it unfavorable to the Republic.

This was not only due to Joan’s military talent.

In the early stages of the war, Burgundy, which had been observing that Paris was in chaos and the direct line of the dynasty had been wiped out, so it might even be able to devour France, ran into an unexpected reef.

It was the war with the Swiss Confederation, which had invaded Alsace.

In this war, called the ‘Burgundian Wars’ in original history, Burgundy was completely defeated by Switzerland.

The Duchy of Burgundy completely entered a period of decline, and Duke Charles the Bold met a miserable end, with his limbs torn apart and killed in battle.

With this, the southern line of Burgundy was completely cut off. It was a situation where they had to worry about the survival of Burgundy before France or anything else.

Meanwhile, Edward IV of England, who had invaded Normandy, did not make the Treaty of Picquigny and retreat after extorting money as in original history.

This was because Joan, a hard-line pro-British figure, had taken power instead of Louis XI.

Just as the two armies were about to enter the war.

Edward IV died suddenly.

The cause of death was overeating, heavy drinking, and promiscuous relationships with women.

The cause of death itself was the same as in original history, but the final blow was the excessive use of Viagra, which he had not been able to use for a long time, on top of the stress of the war, because the Suez logistics had been opened up after a long time.

After Edward, who had not heard the lessons of Emperor Yongle [a Chinese emperor known for his ambitious projects], went to the other world 7 years earlier than in original history, Joan of Arc went on a free tour in France without hesitation.

The royalists in France, who were already divided by the heirs to the throne, had their heads smashed by Joan of Arc’s subjugation.

Considering the intervention of other foreign countries or domestic rebellions, the outlook could not be seen as only bright, but the first crisis was overcome and the Republic was able to continue its historical existence······.

===

Thanks to a combination of luck in many ways, they were able to catch their breath, but just like the First French Republic in original history, the current France is an outcast itself.

They were working hard to get along with republics like Venice and Milan, but attempts were also made to establish diplomatic relations with distant countries based on the personal friendship of the Consul.

“A republic?”

Yi Dan, who received a letter from an old friend, narrowed his eyes.

It was not only because of his old age. He was already wearing glasses anyway.

But he was already that old.

Time was truly fleeting, but it was not only the passing time that was in vain.

The Industrial Revolution that his father had told him about until his ears were sore.

Something similar was happening in his reign, and thanks to that, Joseon’s development was accelerating day by day.

This was a speed that could not be compared to even the early days of his father’s reign.