Joseph, Newly Promoted

On December 19th—no, it should be Frimaire Olive Day— Napoleon met an old acquaintance in Marseille —the special envoy Joseph Fouché. Fouché had been sent to Marseille to replace Couthon to investigate the previous counter-revolutionary activities in the south and to be in charge of the requisition of various supplies.

Couthon arrived full of ambition, believing he could achieve the same glory as Saint-Just in the South. However, he soon discovered that the Southerners were so weak, and his slow reaction meant he missed the victory.

Following the suppression of the counter-revolutionaries, he was convinced he had done a good job, but he hadn't expected that Paris was also very dissatisfied with his results. It is said that Robespierre privately complained:

"Couthon only knows how to kill. Yes, he's taken down quite a few counter-revolutionaries, but if we're just trying to get rid of those guys, what difference does it make who we send? Why send him? He can't just go there to kill! He has to organize production and collect wealth. But look at this guy, he chopped off two thousand heads in one go, but look at how little he actually collected! The number of heads he chopped off, compared to the amount of wealth he confiscated, doesn't even reach the average level of a special envoy. It's truly... he's completely wasting his life..."

Therefore, the Committee of Public Safety held a special meeting to discuss the matter. Apart from Carnot, everyone believed that Couthon was incompetent. As for Carnot, he followed his usual practice and did not directly evaluate Couthon's performance. However, the first thing he said was, "I want money, lots of money, lots and lots of money!" Well, this statement was even stronger than the accusations against Couthon for his incompetence.

So they decided that Couthon had to come back immediately, and someone else who knew how to make money would go south. At that time, among the Jacobins, two people were generally recognized as good at making money: Danton and Fouché.

Personally, Robespierre disliked Fouché more—after all, Fouché had betrayed him. But when choosing between the two, Robespierre chose Fouché without hesitation. There were two main reasons: one he could say in private; and the other he could only think about but not say.

The reason given in private was this: Danton was indeed adept at making money, but he was also skilled at bringing that money back to his own family. If he were to handle this matter, he could likely hand over far more wealth and resources than Couthon could. However, he would certainly embezzle a considerable portion for his own benefit. This would be a serious blow to the reputation of the revolutionary government.

The reason he could only think of in his heart was that Danton's status and influence were much higher than Fouché's. He had finally been moved out of the inner circle, and now that he was in charge of this matter, if things went wrong, this guy would come back with a vengeance.

As for Fouché, although he was also very capable and dangerous, he had started from a lower point and his influence was limited. Even if he made further contributions, Robespierre still felt that he could keep him in check.

The others probably shared similar thoughts on this issue with Robespierre. Furthermore, Fouché's recent performance had been quite impressive; whether in Le Mans, the Vendée region, or Lyon, while he hadn't taken the most Fouché a very cautious man; he carefully controlled the number of people he killed, neither too many nor too few.

However, Fouché's performance in raising funds was outstanding. Among all the special envoys, Fouché raised the most money to be turned over to the national treasury. Moreover, Fouché's amount was not like that of the group previously sent to Belgium, who offended all the Belgium; rather, it was achieved while maintaining local social stability. This is by no means easy.

If we were to calculate how much money Fouché could get for the revolutionary government for every head he cut off, then Fouché's efficiency would be terrifyingly high, because this ratio was almost twice as high as that of Couthon.

In a time when the government is desperately short of money and resources, someone like Fouché is practically a living treasure. So everyone unanimously agreed to let Fouché replace Couthon. Even Carnot, who had always looked down on him, expressed his support for his appointment after asking, "Does this guy know how to make money?"

Fouché was indeed a hard-working man. After taking office, he greeted his old acquaintance Napoleon and then plunged into his office, where he stayed for three whole days. During those three days, he did not leave his office except to eat and go to the toilet.

For the next three days, Fouché stayed in his office studying the files left by Couthon. When he was hungry, he would have someone bring him some bread and a bottle of milk; when he was sleepy, he would ask someone to prepare strong coffee or cold water for him to wash his face; when the light was dim, he would have someone bring him candles. For three whole days, Fouché did not sleep for even half an hour. In this way, with astonishing energy, he carefully read, studied, classified, and annotated the files left by Couthon.

After doing all this, Fouché said to his guards, "I'm going to take a nap. In the meantime, you must keep a close watch on this room and not let anyone near it. Remember, not enter, but approach."

Fouché's voice wasn't loud, and it was filled with exhaustion. Indeed, anyone, even Fouché, would be exhausted after such strenuous labor. However, the guards wouldn't let their guard down just because Fouché's voice wasn't loud—if anything went wrong, people would die!

Fouché returned to his room, collapsed onto his bed, and immediately fell asleep. After three days of work, he had a general understanding of the current situation.

Fouché slept for four hours, then got up refreshed. He then ate three people's worth of bread in one go, and went to find Napoleon to tell him that he wanted to go to Toulon to see for himself, and therefore needed some soldiers to assist him.

Napoleon then gave him a company and instructed him to contact Davout, who was stationed in Toulon, after arriving Toulon.

"If you need any support, you can ask Davout directly. Hmm, that young man is the one who used cannons to crush the rebel counterattack in Le Mans last time. You know him," Napoleon said to Fouché.

"General Bonaparte, thank you for your help. We had a very pleasant collaboration in Le Mans last time. I hope that this time, we can also make new contributions to the Republic."

After saying this, Fouché mounted his horse, waved to Napoleon, and left.

Napoleon knew what Fouché to Toulon for. Couthon beheaded two thousand people in Toulon, but he did so so quickly that he didn't even have time to figure out where the nobles had hidden their money before beheading them.

Couthon probably thought that a thorough search of the nobles' homes, or at most their country estates, would be enough to find their hidden Louis d'or and Silver Livre. However, this was the age of déjà vu; even provincial nobles knew to deposit these items in banks to earn interest. Hiding bank deposit certificates was far too easy.

Now that Fouché gone to Toulon, he probably wants to try to salvage the situation and find a way to extract some confiscable deposits from the banks. However, Napoleon thinks that such a thing is difficult even to imagine, and he doesn't think Fouché will be very successful in this matter.

Fouché stayed in Toulon for just over two days before returning to Marseille. Upon his Marseille, he sought out Napoleon.

"General Bonaparte, I've obtained some clues in Toulon. These clues indicate that there are also some people in Marseille who are involved, or at least observing, the Toulon rebellion."

"Wait and see?" Napoleon asked.

"That's knowing but not reporting." Fouché's face revealed a cold smile again. "Knowing but not reporting is conspiracy, it's joining the ranks of traitors. In this struggle, everyone is either on our side or on our enemy's side; there is no room for neutrality."

Napoleon largely followed Fouché's line of thinking. Fouché to Toulon wasn't about digging out the bank deposit certificates of the already beheaded nobles; it was about connecting the Toulon rebellion with the nobles and wealthy people of Marseille. If he could succeed in doing that, why worry about getting the money?

However, Napoleon felt it best not to interfere, so he smiled and said, "These fellows are very well hidden; there's nothing I can do with them. I hope you succeed. If you need anything, just let me know."

"If there's anything I can do to help you, I'll definitely ask for your help," Fouché replied politely.

The day after Fouché returned from Toulon, he launched a massive manhunt, arresting more than a thousand people and nearly filling Marseille's prison to capacity.

However, Fouché did not hand these people over to the "Revolutionary Tribunal," nor did he even call them criminals. Even when arresting them, he said it was "assisting in the investigation."

Fouché presented some people with evidence sufficient to send others to the guillotine, and then stated that he was investigating the money hidden by the Toulon rebels, knowing that some of it was hidden with nobles or "respectable people" in Marseille. Fouché added that if they could do the Republic a service in this matter, he was a magnanimous man with a poor memory and would likely forget some of the things they had done.

There will be another update tonight.