Rumors and the National Guard (1)

At almost the same moment, in the nearby Palace of Versailles, King Louis XVI was discussing a similar topic with his Queen.

"Your Majesty, do you know that some people are already openly inciting rebellion?" his Queen, Marie Antoinette, asked, staring at her husband with her beautiful, wide eyes.

"In the Palais-Royal, is there ever a day when no one is inciting rebellion?" Louis XVI replied dismissively.

Queen Marie glared at her husband and said, "The nephew of Monsieur Lavoisier has actually become a rebel! He staged a play at the Palais-Royal that incites rebellion and spreads sedition! Especially that song in it—it doesn't just promote rebellion, it even blasphemes against the divine. Do you really intend to do nothing about it?"

"What would you have me do? Issue an order to ban the performance and have them all arrested?" Louis XVI countered. "Paris is in total chaos right now, filled with rumors. If we do that, it could easily trigger a real riot."

"Is the current situation not already a real riot?" Queen Marie asked, unyielding.

"At least they haven't taken up arms to march on Versailles yet," Louis XVI replied.

"You are the King! How can you say such a thing!" Queen Marie was incensed by her husband's weak response.

"My Queen, we must face reality." Louis XVI lowered his head, appearing somewhat ashamed of his predicament. "The police system in Paris has essentially collapsed, and due to financial issues, the army has not received their pay for a long time. They are equally dissatisfied with the kingdom, and thus, they have become unreliable. Furthermore, the troops stationed near Paris have long been infiltrated by those who oppose us; we cannot count on them now. If something truly happens, it is hard to say who their muzzles will be pointed at. The provincial troops are slightly more reliable, but with what are we to suppress these rebels?"

"What about the mercenaries? Those Swiss, those Germans? They take our money, do they not work? And are there not other, more reliable troops in the provinces?"

"The mercenaries and the more reliable troops have not fully arrived yet. For now, they can only be used to protect us; they are not enough to pacify the situation."

"Then how much longer until they are fully in place?"

"It is hard to say, because first, it requires money, and second, we cannot act too quickly, or we will only be goading them into rebellion. If they truly take action, our current forces will not be able to hold them off," Louis XVI said quite hesitantly.

"So you mean that by staying in Paris, we are turning ourselves into hostages?" the Queen asked again.

"It has not reached that point yet, but our forces here do not hold the upper hand," Louis XVI sighed.

"Then why are we still staying here? Why don't we go to a place where our forces do hold the upper hand? Let us go to the provinces, where we have the advantage. Why must we stay here?"

"Because once we leave, it will surely trigger a civil war," Louis XVI said, looking troubled. "Even if we were to emerge victorious in the end, our country would already be destroyed by the conflict. Therefore, to avoid a civil war—or at least a destructive one—we must stay at Versailles for now."

"But what can we actually accomplish by staying at Versailles?" Queen Marie asked.

"Stabilize them first, then slowly bring our forces over," Louis XVI said. "We must lull them into a false sense of security; we cannot let them fall into despair just yet. Not until our forces are concentrated and we have formed an advantage."

"Perhaps..." the Queen said, "perhaps if something happens, I could contact my family."

"It has not reached that point yet; it is not necessary for now," Louis XVI said. "In fact, you should be careful even with your normal correspondence with your family—do not increase it, nor decrease it."

"This is absurd!" the Queen said. "Is someone going to inspect our letters?"

"That is not what I mean. But any messenger leaving Versailles will be watched by those with ulterior motives. And then, rumors may arise," Louis XVI said, frowning.

"Rumors," Queen Marie sneered. "Can rumors be eliminated by such actions? No, because rumors require no basis. On the contrary, my King, the more you indulge them, the more powerful they become. I believe you should issue an edict now, declaring that play blasphemous and banning its performance. If you continue to retreat, they will do as they please, and soon, they will reach a point we can no longer tolerate. So, if you truly wish to buy time, do not be so indulgent with them."

However, Louis XVI only shook his head.

"Your Majesty, if these behaviors continue to be ignored, even the Church will be disappointed in you," Fersen, who had been standing to the side in silence, finally spoke up.

"Then, issue the order to ban it. But do not enforce it," Louis XVI said after some thought.

"If you do not enforce it, you might as well not issue the order at all," the Queen said. "If we issue an order but do not enforce it, it will only make others look down on us even more, and perhaps even encourage them to commit further acts of insubordination."

"If we enforce it and a conflict breaks out, what then?" Louis XVI countered. "Do we send our Swiss Guards to suppress them? We do not have the strength to suppress them; once a conflict starts, it will truly expose our weaknesses! So for now, my Queen, we must avoid any direct confrontation. Even if we must endure humiliation like Henry IV."

Henry IV was the Holy Roman Emperor in the eleventh century. Due to a power struggle with the Papacy, he was excommunicated by Pope Gregory VII. At the time, the Holy Roman Empire was unstable, and after Henry IV was excommunicated, his subordinates were theoretically released from their oaths of loyalty. Nobles within the country, led by Duke Rudolf, declared that if Henry IV could not obtain the Pope's forgiveness, they would not recognize his status as monarch.

Beset by internal and external troubles, Henry IV had no choice but to bow to the Pope. He took his Empress and his son to Canossa Castle, where the Pope was staying, to repent and hope the Pope would rescind the decree of excommunication. He and his wife stood in the snow for three days and three nights before the Pope granted them an audience. Only after suffering the Pope's humiliation was he granted absolution. Later, Henry IV finally pacified the internal rebellion, led his army into Rome, expelled Pope Gregory VII, and installed an antipope, which could be considered his revenge for Canossa.

Now that Louis XVI brought up this story, he hoped everyone would take Henry IV as an example, endure temporary humiliation, and plan for the future. After hearing this, everyone fell silent.

After a while, the Queen spoke: "If that is the case, then let us simply pretend we know nothing. I have heard it said that one should either not do a thing at all, or see it through to the end. If we do not act, at least the King still appears mysterious. If we act, but our actions are weak, it will only make people look down on us."

Louis XVI nodded quickly and said, "I think the Queen is right."

"But, Your Majesty," the Queen suddenly added with a mocking tone, "I think everyone should have their own bottom line. I have actually always been curious, and have always wanted to see, where your bottom line lies, Your Majesty?"

Although the King did not make the decision to ban Spartacus, the rumors that Spartacus was about to be banned spread more and more wildly. At first, the rumors only said the King was going to ban the play; then they said the King had already issued a secret decree to arrest the author and all the actors; and later, that all actors who dared to participate in the play would be excommunicated... In short, all kinds of rumors were constantly being invented, leaving people dizzy.

At this time, Armand showed some of the wisdom of his uncle. He treated these rumors as free advertising. Taking advantage of these rumors, he seized the opportunity to promote: "This might be the last performance! If you don't come to see it now, you won't be able to see it later!"

Just as Adam and Eve were defenseless against the temptation of the "forbidden fruit," the descendants of Adam and Eve were always particularly energized when faced with things labeled "forbidden." Thus, the gimmick of "about to be banned" was indeed very effective. Now, every performance of the Dragon and Rose Troupe was sold out, and other troupes followed suit by performing the play as well. Because of this, that blasphemous Slave War Song also spread throughout Paris.

At first, when such rumors emerged, the actors in the troupe were a bit nervous, but the sold-out performances brought them more income. Especially in the current environment where grain prices were skyrocketing, this income was all the more persuasive. Therefore, the actors had grown fond of the various rumors; they even began to manufacture their own rumors to attract more spectators. For example, rumors about some actor being attacked by unidentified persons were constantly being fabricated by them.

Because Paris had been experiencing various conflicts, large and small, during this period—a few days ago, the French Guards and the German Dragoons had even fought—rumors about the King planning a large-scale massacre of Parisian citizens were becoming increasingly popular. Many people actually believed the rumors that Armand and his group had fabricated themselves.