Fox of France

After appeasing Amon, Joseph left the Petersen Theater, got into a light carriage pulled by one horse, and prepared to go home. The two-wheeled carriage walked slowly along the road. Because the weather was good that day, Joseph put away the carriage and looked around.

At this time, the carriage walked along the Seine River to the side of Citi Island. The Île de la Cité is the heart of Paris and the birthplace of the city of Paris. Notre Dame Cathedral is on this island. Joseph looked around, and he could see the tall spire of Notre Dame Cathedral and the new bridge lying on the Seine River from a distance. There is a "new" in the name of the new bridge, but in fact, it is an old bridge built in the fifteenth century, and even the oldest bridge on the entire Seine.

The speed of the carriage slowed down because there were more people and cars on the street. This area was originally the most prosperous area in Paris, and it was actually normal for this phenomenon to happen. However, as the carriage continued to move forward, there were more and more people on the street, almost reaching the point of shoulder to shoulder.

The coachman reined in his horse, turned his head and said to Joseph: "Sir, I don't know what happened ahead, so I can't get through. If you want to take a detour and cross the river through another bridge, I'm afraid you will have to walk a long way and spend a lot of money." A lot of time, and more money to be added. I think you might as well get off here, walk across this section, get to the other side of the river, and find a buggy, which will be more economical."

Joseph looked ahead, there were crowds of people on the New Bridge, and it was obvious that the carriage could not pass. Joseph knew that what the coachman said was correct, so he nodded, took out two sous from his pocket, handed it to the coachman, then straightened his hat, picked up his cane, got out of the carriage, and walked along the street towards the New Bridge. walk over.

The further you go, the more people there will be. All kinds of sounds are getting noisier. Joseph noticed that the faces of almost everyone around him were anxious and worried, but also faintly excited. He also kept hearing these words in his ears:

"What is the third estate? The third estate is France, everything..."

"Our Third Estate must never have one vote..."

"Yes, we can't bear to let them..."

"We're going to have our own..."

"We have to defend ourselves..."

"Without the National Assembly, without the Constitution, no one can take a sou from us!"

Joseph grabbed a young man casually and asked, "What happened?"

"The King has announced the closure of the Meny Hall, and it is said that the King will dissolve the National Assembly! We must not allow him to do so!" replied the man.

Before Joseph could answer, another hand reached out and grabbed his arm. Joseph turned his head and saw a face that was also young, anxious, and excited: "Sir, we must not let those privileged classes trample on us at will, we are not humble Mud, we are the real France! Are you right!"

Obviously, at this time, it would be unwise to express any disagreement. So Joseph immediately replied: "You are right, we can't let them trample like this."

"Constitution, we need a constitution!" Someone shouted not far away.

"Yes, we must have a constitution, and we cannot let the king and the privileged class do whatever they want!"

"The king will send troops to suppress us. I heard that he is quietly mobilizing the army now. He intends to kill us when the time is right, just like the massacre of St. Bartholomew." Another voice suddenly It rang.

The people next to him became quiet all of a sudden, people looked at each other in blank dismay, and everyone could see the fear in the eyes of others.

"They...they can do things like this..." said one.

"We must never let them do that."

"Soldiers are also third class, they won't..."

"But soldiers have to obey orders. They can still use money to buy those mercenaries. They can use the money they collected from us to hire those mountain people to kill us!"

"We have to be prepared, we can't just kill..."

Listening to these shouts, Joseph knew that history had finally come to this point.

A few days ago, at the three-level meeting, although the king agreed with the request that the number of representatives of the third level be increased from 300 to 600, he insisted on following the traditional method that each level can only cast one vote. In France, ninety-eight percent of the people belong to the third estate, but they can only cast one vote. The priests of the first level and the hereditary nobles of the second level also have one vote. Such rules of the game almost mean that no matter how they are played, the privileged level can do whatever they want by relying on the advantage of the number of votes. And the interests of the vast third estate are not guaranteed in any way.

It should be said that this way of distributing votes is indeed a French tradition, but at this time, King Louis XVI actually expected that the third level, which had become stronger economically than ever before and accepted the influence of the Enlightenment in thought, would still be like that. Like those serfs more than a hundred years ago, let him fiddle with it, it can only be said that his head is really not clear enough.

Naturally, those representatives of the third estate could not accept such an arrangement. In fact, the entire third level is not completely unacceptable to tax increases, but they also demand more rights while accepting taxation. To put it more clearly, that is, it is okay to ask for money, but you have to exchange things, and you cannot take money for nothing.

When the king proposed to call a conference of the three estates, the third estates saw this meeting as an opportunity for them to gain more rights. As soon as the news of the upcoming meeting of the third class came out, Siers published the political pamphlet "What is the third class", clearly proposing that the third class should obtain a higher status. Now the king's practice of "adhering to tradition" can be said to be completely on the opposite side of the entire third level.

Naturally the representatives of the Third Estate would not (and the whole Third Estate behind them would not allow it) to submit to the King in this way, so they announced themselves that a "National Assembly" would consist of representatives of the Third Estate, and they declared that they were legislating He has absolute authority in power and claims that he will write the first constitution for France.

Of course, this kind of "overstepping" will not be allowed by the king. So Louis XVI ordered the closure of the Meny Hall, which was originally provided for the representatives of the third class and used for deliberation. There are also rumors that he is planning to dissolve the "illegal" "National Assembly" by force. The news reached here at this time.

At this time, a middle-aged man with the appearance of a priest appeared at the head of the New Bridge, and the crowd immediately cheered for him.

"Mr. Sies! It's Mr. Sies!" someone shouted.

"Mr. Sies, Mr. Sies, what shall we do? What shall we do!" Someone also shouted.

Siès boarded a trolley pushed by a businessman by the bridge, and waved to the crowd: "Don't worry, everyone, this will not scare us. We will go to the Great Hall of Meny tomorrow as usual. If we cannot formulate a real A constitution that can represent the will of the people, we will never dissolve..."

Suddenly there was cheers all around. Joseph also applauded. He saw that the New Bridge was crowded with people. If he insisted on crossing the river there, his clothes would be torn. Apparently he, like the buggy, needed another detour...

However, as the news spread, the whole of Paris boiled. Almost everyone rushed to the streets. Everywhere you can see people talking or whispering. Every street is crowded like a vegetable market. As a result, Joseph did not return to his residence until nightfall.

At noon the next day, Joseph heard the news again, saying that the representatives of the "National Assembly" braved the rain and went to the Meny Hall to continue discussing the formulation of the constitution, but they were stopped by the army sent by the king. So under the leadership of the first president of the National Assembly, Bayi, the representatives decided to defend the new National Assembly, and they came to the Royal Tennis Court near the hall. There the representatives of the Third Estate swore an oath that either one would work towards a constitution for the kingdom to improve the monarchy, never to be separated from the National Assembly.

Many people are worried whether the King will send troops to the Royal Tennis Court to arrest these "daring" representatives of the third level. But for several days, there was no movement from the king. On the contrary, a group of representatives of the first and second ranks joined the "National Assembly" under the leadership of the Duke of Orleans and the Marquis of Lafayette. The Orleans family is one of the most prominent families in France, and the Marquis de Lafayette was the commander-in-chief of the French army in the North American War of Independence. His command played the most critical role in the decisive battle of Yorktown. For this reason, he was called "the hero of the new world" by Americans. And his victory is also a rare victory for France against Britain over the years. Therefore, the Marquis of Lafayette is also quite prestigious in the army. The actions of the Duke of Orleans and the Marquis of Lafayette immediately boosted the morale of the "National Assembly" and greatly strengthened their legitimacy. At this time, they can already claim that they are not only representatives of the third class, but representatives of the whole of France, including the first and second classes.

A few days later, the "National Assembly" was officially renamed the "National Constituent Assembly", and it was ready to officially start the formulation of the "Constitution of the Kingdom of France". At the same time, news began to circulate in the market that the king would transfer a large number of troops, especially mercenaries, to Paris. Many supporters of the third rank began to prepare their weapons and prepare for battle.

In the midst of such enthusiasm and apprehension, Amon's "Spartacus" was finally staged.