Upheaval

Joseph shared his thoughts with Carnot. Carnot thought for a moment and said:

"Joseph, Italy doesn't need a sharp blade like Napoleon for the time being. Although the Kingdom of Sardinia has allied with Austria and joined the alliance against us, they're just echoing our sentiments— the Alps separate them from us. The Italy can forget about crossing the Alps. They're not the Rome under Caesar anymore. As for us, at least for now, we can't spare any forces for fighting in Italy. But I understand what you mean..."

At this point, Carnot laughed, "There won't be any more exciting heroic epics in the Vendée. While it might not be stable anytime soon, at most there will be some small-scale rebellions, like gang fights. Just trouble, no glory. Hmm, where do you think I should transfer him? Ideally, I'd transfer him to the north, but those guys there haven't had a chance to make any major mistakes lately, so I can't just have Napoleon replace him directly... Or, how about I transfer Napoleon back to Paris first? Give him the newly formed Fifth Legion ... What do you think? That way, his rank and position promotions will be settled. Hmm, Napoleon can also bring a few of his capable subordinates to the new army."

To be honest, Joseph didn't really want Napoleon to return to Paris now. This wasn't because Carnot had offered Napoleon a bad position. Joseph knew that although these newly formed legions were mostly composed of new recruits, they were politically more reliable than the older armies. Therefore, these were the National Assembly's preferred troops. Commanding such a force would certainly be a good thing.

Joseph hesitated because Paris was not particularly peaceful lately. The struggle between the Jacobin and Brissotins was nearing its climax. The Jacobin Club had just expelled Brissot (in fact, most of the Jacobins' opponents were former members of the Jacobin Club), while the Brissotins had launched wave after wave of attacks on the Jacobins. For example, not long ago they seized on Danton's issue and expelled Danton from the Committee of Public Safety.

However, this does not mean that the Brissotins gained an advantage. In fact, they suffered a great loss because although they pushed for the re-election of the Committee of Public Safety and ousted the flawed Danton, they allowed Robespierre and Saint-Just to enter the party.

Clearly, Danton, though a very shrewd man, was prone to making compromises and carefully considered his own flaws, which made him cautious in his actions. Robespierre and Saint-Just, however, were quite different.

Robespierre was renowned for his incorruptibility; even his enemies found little to criticize in his personal conduct. Saint-Just's political acumen, but in terms of courage and resolve, he surpassed him. Neither of them, like Danton, were so willing to compromise.

So, no matter how you look at it, the Brissotins did something stupid.

Furthermore, in order to support the expansion of the army, the revolutionary government intensified the printing of Assignat, leading to a large influx of young people into the army. This caused chaos in many aspects of social production, further worsened the economic situation, and resulted in another food shortage in Paris.

Joseph knew that of all the problems, the food shortage was the most critical, almost inevitably leading to a revolution. Therefore, Joseph didn't really want Napoleon to return to Paris at this time. However, Joseph also knew that Carnot's suggestion was difficult to refuse. Carnot was now very close to Robespierre and his associates, and was widely regarded as one of the core figures of the Jacobins. His proposal to bring Napoleon back to the vicinity of Paris and put him in control of a newly formed elite army likely had political considerations. If he and Napoleon refused this request at this juncture, it would mean a rift had formed in his alliance with Carnot.

"Even if something unexpected happens, the Jacobin will definitely be the victors." With this thought in mind, Joseph felt that letting Napoleon come to Paris wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as he was kept in check and prevented from causing trouble.

"It's still a bit chaotic in Paris," Joseph said cautiously. "But if Lazar thinks it's alright, then I think it's fine too. However, you know, because of the loss of Angers, many people have a lot of complaints about Napoleon. And you know that Napoleon guy, he's lawless, audacious, and likes to act on his own..."

Carnot laughed heartily. "Many people have reservations about Napoleon? Aren't they just those Brissotins guys? They're all talk. Everyone can see Napoleon's achievements; they can't erase them with a few words. Besides, the fall of Angers wasn't Napoleon's fault. The records of the trials of the Vendée rebels and the rebel leader Delatrie prove this. In fact, some guys closely connected to the Brissotins didn't play a good role in the Angers rebellion. Furthermore, that Fouché's report on suppressing the Le Mans rebellion also proves this. So you don't need to worry about your brother. And, I'm here in Paris. Do you think I'd just stand by and watch others bully Napoleon?"

Since things had come to this point, Joseph naturally couldn't say anything more. So he expressed his satisfaction with Carnot's arrangements for Napoleon. Napoleon's whereabouts for the foreseeable future were thus determined.

"Lazar, who should replace Napoleon?" Joseph asked.

"Let General Carteaux take command of the military," Carnot said.

"Him? Is he capable enough?"

"He can't compare to Napoleon, of course, but many people are speaking up for him, and as long as he pulls off too many tricks, there shouldn't be too much of a problem. Besides, he's only in charge of military matters. Everything else is left to Fouché." Carnot frowned slightly, showing that he wasn't particularly satisfied with the appointment. However, judging from this arrangement, it seemed that even if Joseph hadn't come looking for him, Carnot would have recalled Napoleon anyway.

Just as Joseph had predicted, chaos indeed broke out in Paris. Only a week after Napoleon returned to Paris, another Paris occurred, this time led by Marat.

In fact, Marat's uprising was not very well organized or prepared. The National Assembly and the Committee of General Security had long been aware of Marat's various actions, and two weeks ago, Marat was arrested again and brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal once more.

However, the Revolutionary Tribunal was filled with Jacobin, so the judges suddenly remembered the basic principle of "presumption of innocence" and immediately, with the same speed they used to sentence others to death, determined that the evidence was insufficient and the facts unclear, and therefore the defendant was acquitted. From arrest to acquittal, less than a day had passed.

After this incident, Marat's preparations for rebellion became even more unbridled. He repeatedly accused some of the Brissotins members of parliament who were either in cahoots with or were themselves wealthy merchants of being responsible for the current economic difficulties.

"It is precisely because these enemies of the people are profiteering from the national crisis that the people's lives are so difficult and the future of the republic is so bleak. If we cannot eliminate the enemies within, we will be unable to resist the enemies from outside!"

He reminded people not to forget that at the very beginning of the war, the enemy had even occupied Verdun, but once the France people arrested the traitors hiding in the royal palace, France immediately ushered in a turning point and victory on the battlefield.

"So now, as long as we arrest those traitors hiding in the National Assembly, the Republic will be saved!"

Of course, this kind of verbal sparring is Marat's usual practice. Marat once said that in order for the republic to stand firm, it would be necessary to cut off the heads of 100,000 unscrupulous merchants in one fell swoop.

However, two subsequent events drastically changed the situation. First, it was revealed that arms dealer Espagne had been manufacturing substandard weapons using inferior materials, and that he had close ties with many members of parliament. Second, some Brissotins members of parliament introduced a bill demanding a halt to the activities of the Paris Commune.

The first of these events aroused widespread anger, while the second threatened the entire Paris Commune. Thus, the uprising broke out.

The Paris National Guard was completely on the side of the Commune, and as for the army, well, would Napoleon really bring an army to help the Brissotins? So in the blink of an eye, the National Assembly was surrounded. The Paris Commune members set up cannons at the Assembly, threatening to bombard it. Of course, this was just a threat, because the Jacobins in the Assembly were their own people.

In reality, the parliament did not have its own military force, and the Paris Commune members did not need cannons at all; they could simply come in and arrest people and no one could stop them. However, it is said that after discussing with Marat, Robespierre proposed that the Paris Commune first provide a list and evidence of traitors, and then the parliament would vote on the order to arrest the traitors.

So Marat provided a list, along with "evidence." He personally read these accusations and "evidence" aloud in parliament, and then parliament began to vote on the accusations.

The more than twenty members of parliament accused were all staunch members of the Brissotins, including Brissot himself and the Roland couple. However, in this vote, many members who originally belonged to the Brissotins switched sides and voted in favor of convicting these members. This was because they first discovered that their names were not on the list, and secondly, they worried that if they voted against it, their names might appear on the next list.

As a result, under the cannons and bayonets of the Paris Commune, the parliament reached its verdict in just over ten minutes—they deemed Marat's accusations against these members of parliament to be clear and supported by sufficient evidence. These twenty-odd members of parliament were then handed over to the "Revolutionary Tribunal." The "Revolutionary Tribunal," with the same speed at which it acquitted Marat, sentenced the "traitors" to death, and carried out the execution immediately.

Marat then added that France's internal enemies were not limited to just this one.

"This is only a little bit. It's not even a fraction of 100,000."

Upon hearing this, the former Brissotins members of parliament felt insecure and fled in droves. From then on, the Jacobins truly took control of the National Assembly.

However, Marat's triumph was short-lived, as he was assassinated soon after, just as was the case in history.

The woman who assassinated Marat was from the provinces and a supporter of the Brissotins. Therefore, after Marat's death, Qing Dynasty of the entire Brissotins began. If previously only the top leaders of the Brissotins had the opportunity to be beheaded, now anyone who had supported the Brissotins could be accused of treason at any time, and the Revolutionary Tribunal would send the accused to the guillotine with astonishing efficiency. So much so that residents near Place de la Concorde (where the guillotine was placed at the time) protested, complaining that the stench of blood was disturbing their sleep.

Master Lu once said, "A man downstairs is dying, the family next door is playing a gramophone; across the street, someone is playing with a child. Upstairs, two people are laughing wildly; there's also the sound of playing cards. On a boat in the river, a woman is crying for her dead mother. Human joys and sorrows are not shared; I only find their noise bothersome." This is quite similar to the mentality of the residents near Place de la Concorde.

Just as the guillotine was working frantically, the core country of the Anti-French Alliance —the troublemaker nation—finally made another move.

Taking advantage of the infighting among the Republicans (the Brissotins was also a Republican, so in the eyes of the Britain, the struggle between the Brissotins and Jacobins was actually an infighting among the Republicans), the Britain orchestrated a series of acts of betrayal.

This time, their target was Toulon, France's largest naval port in the Mediterranean Sea.

They made contact with some Royalist Party in Port of Toulon. With Britain support, they quickly launched a rebellion and swiftly took control of Toulon.

For some time now, other countries (mainly Austria and Prussia) had been urging Britain, as the de facto leader, to take action. However, Britain had been making excuses to avoid it. But this time, after the Royalist Party in Toulon gained control of the situation, Britain warships immediately sailed into Toulon. The French Navy also suffered heavy losses in this rebellion, losing almost half of its fleet.

Unlike the Vendée, Port of Toulon was France's best naval port, with comprehensive facilities capable of supporting numerous vessels. Relying on Toulon's shipping capacity, it could indeed support an expeditionary force. Therefore, the loss of this port was indeed a significant threat to France.

Furthermore, the fall of Toulon also meant that France's connection with North Africa was severed, which was another heavy blow in the face of economic difficulties.