Toulon (3)

Since the fall of the monarchy, Palace of Versailles had been virtually abandoned. Carnot found a location within the Palace of Versailles and requisitioned it as the headquarters of the "Military Technology Laboratory" and the "Army Technical Inspection Department." With a location secured, a mountain of work followed. Joseph was incredibly busy, so he frequently sent his brother Louis to Carnot's house for meals—he was used to it anyway. The only difference was that before, Lucien was always there, but now Lucien had gone south.

Lucien, along with Chrysler and more than ten others, headed south and soon arrived near Toulon. The group first went to report to General Pope and showed him the official documents from the War Department.

Pope glanced at the document, smiled slightly, and said, "General Carnot is far too prudent. My soldiers and I are enough to recapture Toulon. However, I still welcome General Napoleon to share in my glory—if he can make it. As for your reconnaissance of the enemy, well, I'm already preparing to attack those invaders and traitors, so your actions should ideally not interfere with ours..."

At this point, Pope casually drew a circle on the map. "Well, for the time being, you'd better not go into the area within this circle."

Chrysler glanced down at the map. Pope had actually drawn a circle around Toulon with a radius of at least 15 kilometers. If his mission was indeed reconnaissance, he could do almost nothing without entering that area.

"Yes, General." Chrysler nodded.

After leaving Pope's place, Chrysler led a group of men, changed into civilian clothes, and left the military camp, heading east towards the Giens Peninsula. Among them was a young man named Ravanelli, who, before joining the Fifth Army, had been a member of the Marseille Volunteer Army; his hometown was on the Giens Peninsula. Before enlisting, he was a fisherman. According to him, he could help everyone get a fishing boat.

The Giens Peninsula, which would later become a tourist destination, was at this time a remote and impoverished place. Neither the Britain nor the France armies paid any attention to it. The group followed Ravanelli to a small fishing village and quickly acquired two boats.

Both boats were small fishing boats with only one mast. To put it more bluntly, they were practically small sampans.

"Ravanelli, are you sure this ship can even reach Corsica? There's not even a shelter on board." Chrysler was very hesitant.

"Ah, that's no problem. You know, the Mediterranean Sea isn't the Atlantic Ocean; it's as calm as a pond. As long as there's a ship, as long as it has masts and sails, and as long as we have enough fresh water and food, we can even sail all the way to Algeria. As for shelters, well, these ships originally had them. But it's not winter yet, and we don't usually go very far, so we didn't install them."

The climate of the Mediterranean Sea is different from that of many other places, and one of its most distinctive features is that rainfall and heat do not occur at the same time. It is not yet the rainy season in the Mediterranean Sea.

"So how do you determine direction at sea? Do you know how to use a sextant?" Lucien asked a more crucial question.

"What is a sextant? We determine direction by looking at the stars, the sun, and a compass," Ravanelli replied.

"Damn it, forget I asked," Lucien said. "But you think you can find Corsica at sea just by looking at the stars and the sun?"

"We'll first sail east along the coast to Nice, then turn south to Corsica. From there, we'll find a suitable place to anchor along the Corsica coastline. Once ashore..."

"As long as we can get ashore, there's no problem," Lucien said.

Just as Lucien and his men were preparing to smuggle themselves across the border in a small fishing boat, Joseph had just welcomed back an old friend of his— Lavoisier.

"Good heavens, good heavens! Joseph, look at what these guys have done to this country! My God, Versailles is a mess! I remember when I first became a member of the Academy of Academy of Sciences and came to the palace to meet the King. Back then, it was still... But look at it now! It looks like it was looted by the Mongols!"

Indeed, the once magnificent Palace of Versailles is almost reduced to ruins. Since the king was taken to Paris, it has been neglected. Local farmers frequently come in, rummaging through the property, looking for anything valuable or usable, then breaking it down and carrying it home. At first, it was mostly metal and wooden items, but gradually it expanded to include building materials like bricks and stones. If this continues, it might resemble the medieval Rome citizens' feat of demolishing half of the Rome Colosseum.

"Mr. Lavoisier, you can't blame me for this," Joseph laughed. "If we hadn't moved here, this place would probably be even more dilapidated. Well then, Mr. Lavoisier, please let me show you to your place."

"Living quarters? Isn't this your laboratory? Let's see the laboratory first!" Lavoisier said. "By the way, Carnot promised me that my salary would be paid in silver coins, not Assignat!"

Joseph smiled slightly but remained silent. These were minor matters; in fact, Lavoisier wasn't really concerned about the few dollars in wages when he brought it up; he was simply grumbling.

"That guy Carnot, he's exaggerating, making it sound so scary, like it's the truth. But Paris is really too noisy, there's absolutely no quiet space to do research, so coming here is good. Hmm, I just had an idea recently, I want to do a new experiment. It would be perfect to do it here..." Lavoisier continued muttering.

Whether Carnot was exaggerating or not, Lavoisier wasn't stupid; how could he not know? When Carnot told Lavoisier what he knew, Lavoisier turned pale with fright. Of course, he knew what the consequences of such accusations would be in these days. The guillotine in Place de la Concorde was busy every day!

In the Kingdom era, a man like him, even with such flaws, could be protected by his prestige. But now, those in power are a bunch of uncultured thugs (Lavoisier's view). Even Condorcet is being hunted, and Lavoisier doesn't think they'll let him off the hook.

However, Lavoisier was still not happy about being saved by Carnot. In Lavoisier's view, Carnot was one of those barbarians. Although he was well-read, he was still a barbarian at heart, as evidenced by his violent attack on other members of parliament. He was just a mathematically-savage brute!

So when Carnot asked him if he would be willing to work at the "Military Technology Laboratory" and assured him that he could protect him and his family, Lavoisier hesitated for a full second before reluctantly agreeing to Carnot's offer.

In the Committee of Public Safety, Robespierre was also asking Carnot, "General Carnot, I heard that you have just established an institution called the 'Military Technology Laboratory' and then sent some very conservative people there?"

"Yes." Carnot didn't deny it; there was no way to deny it. However, he still found a reason for his actions. "I think it's a very appropriate approach. Just like when we send some rebel soldiers to quarries or mines."

"The Committee of General Security had strong opinions about this. They felt that all criminals, whoever they were, should be punished equally, and even if they were to be sentenced to hard labor, they should first be handed over to them for trial," Robespierre continued.

Regarding this question, Carnot and Joseph had already discussed their response. Carnot said, "Mr. Robespierre, you must note that how to deal with these people is not a legal issue, but a political one. People like Lavoisier are not criminals, but enemies. He, and others like him, are our enemies, only they have been defeated and captured by us. Such people are not protected by our laws, so we should treat them according to the principles of war. As for captured barbarians, we can either shoot them or turn them into slaves, sending them to various places to work until they die. As for whom we shoot or whom we put into hard labor, the only principle is that it is in the best interests of France and in the best interests of our army in defeating the enemy."

Moreover, where did these enemies get their knowledge and skills? They were cultivated through plundering the people's money, of course. Therefore, their knowledge and skills are all stolen goods, and also our spoils. I have never heard of catching a thief and failing to recover the stolen goods when possible; nor have I ever heard of destroying something we seized simply because it originally belonged to the enemy. I believe the Committee of General Security members are severely lacking in political awareness; their reach is too far!"

"General Carnot, the Committee of General Security is just going through the motions," Couthon said.

"Heh..." Carnot chuckled. "These people are captured barbarians, not protected by law, so there's no need for formalities. Besides, all their time is ours; we can't let those Committee of General Security guys waste it!"

Carnot's words were, of course, full of sophistry. But neither Robespierre nor Couthon were willing to refute this logic. This logic originated from Saint-Just, another important member of the Committee of Public Safety who was not present at the time. Saint-Just -Just had used this logic to deny the law of the France king's inviolability. It was a case of "If the priest can touch it, why can't I?"

"Very well, General Carnot," Robespierre said, "Then could we request that personnel be sent to monitor these prisoners at all times..."

Robespierre thought for a moment and then said, "To keep a close watch on the prisoners' work?"