Division

To be honest, when Lafayette heard about Carnot and Joseph's introduction of Joseph's brother Napoleon, his first reaction was also that "Joseph wanted to abuse his power for personal gain." However, Lafayette was not angry at all. He was even a little pleased.

This is primarily because, in this era, it was a perfectly normal thing to do. On the contrary, it would be somewhat abnormal if someone didn't do it. Moreover, Joseph's willingness to use his connections, in a sense, at least in Lafayette 'Lafayette view, was a clear indication that he was moving closer to him. Of course, Joseph's move was too slow and too hesitant. He only came forward now that the situation was settled (at least in Lafayette's view). Nevertheless, Lafayette still felt that he should warmly accept his allegiance. Because Joseph was truly talented. Generally speaking, people are always more forgiving of talented people.

As for whether Joseph and his brother would mess things up, Lafayette wasn't particularly worried. First, he felt Joseph's abilities were trustworthy. Even if he wasn't very good at military affairs, he wouldn't be less capable than the many aristocratic officers in the France army who were just there to gain experience and prestige. Besides, it was only a small unit; even if it was used to give the Bonaparte brothers some experience, it wouldn't be a big deal. So the matter was settled.

After approving the matter, Lafayette put it out of his mind, for he now had more important things to attend to.

For Lafayette, the most important first thing was to reorganize the France army. Lafayette certainly held great prestige within the France army, but prestige didn't guarantee the army's loyalty. Consider Feng Fengxian held immense prestige in the Northwest Army; yet, upon encountering Marshal Chang's silver bullets, his men flocked to Marshal Chang. The Northwest Army was, in fact, built up by Feng Fengxian himself.

The France army is currently in a very strange state. The Royalist Party don't trust the army, the parliament doesn't trust the army, and, more critically, the army itself doesn't trust itself. The mid- to high-ranking officers in the France army are all nobles, but the lower-ranking officers and soldiers are all from the Third Estate. Now, they don't trust each other either.

Lafayette knew that if things continued this way, the army would split. And the split in the army would completely destroy the foundation of his rule, leading to civil war and chaos.

"This will completely ruin France," Lafayette Club thought.

However, some people would rather destroy France than allow this division to fester. Because in their eyes, the France of today is not their France at all.

Some nobles of the past were very dissatisfied with the present-day France. This included some nobles who had joined the Third Estate during the Estates-General. When the Council, under the advocacy of Bishop Talleyrand, confiscated the wealth that originally belonged to the Church, some clergy who had originally joined the revolution but had clearly sided with the Third Estate during the Estates-General also stood against the present-day France.

Bishop Maury, Councilor Cazalès, and a group of clergy and noble councilors organized a club known as the "Black Party" (because many of its members wore black robes). They opposed the revolution as much as possible. They created various newspapers, such as * Friend of the King *, * Acts of the Apostles *, and * Le Petit Gauthier *, to wantonly insult those in power, including Lafayette, and to blame all of France's difficulties on those "rebellious and ambitious" figures in parliament. They even preached to the lower classes, feigning indifference to their own interests and a compassionate concern for the most vulnerable.

Such tactics weren't very effective, but they weren't entirely useless either. The new regime didn't really care about the lower classes. Whether in cities or rural areas, many people were living in conditions worse than before the revolution. Many of them were asking the same question, "We couldn't get enough to eat before the revolution, and we still can't get enough to eat after it. Wasn't the revolution a waste?"

These people offered an answer to this question: revolution is worse than no revolution; if we could return to the monarchy, there would be peace and prosperity. This argument didn't resonate much in Paris, but it was quite convincing to some people in rural areas of the provinces.

In addition, some mid- to high-ranking military officers were also frequently in contact with these people, and they might be plotting something, which made Lafayette very worried.

On the other side, some of Lafayette's former comrades-in-arms also changed. Perhaps feeling their brilliance overshadowed by Lafayette, some of them distanced themselves from Lafayette. Or perhaps to attract attention, these people became more radical than before. Some of his old friends, like Duport and Lameth, began to become more radical. And some new friends, when they became radical, were even more radical than their old friends. Well, this mainly refers to Bishop Talleyrand.

Bishop Talleyrand and some of his religious friends proposed a new law, the "Civil Constitution of the Clergy," in Parliament. According to this law, France established eighty-three dioceses (one per department), belonging to ten archdioceses. Each diocese was further divided into dioceses. Like state officials, clergy, bishops, and archbishops were elected by the citizens. Those elected were to be ordained by their superiors, with bishops being ordained by archbishops. Newly appointed bishops and higher-ranking clergy only needed to inform the Pope that they belonged to the same faith; they did not need to travel to Rome to purchase a ceremonial sash or require papal approval. Furthermore, this law abolished the "first year's contribution" (i. e., newly appointed clergy were required to pay their first year's income to Rome), stipulated that clergy salaries would be paid by the state, and that the diocesan assemblies would replace the previously privileged ecclesiastical councils and participate in the diocesan administration.

This effectively severed most of the ties between the France Catholicism and the Holy See, representing a massive schism within Catholicism. The Pope reacted almost immediately, condemning the bill and excommunicating Talleyrand. However, Talleyrand disregarded this, continuing to wear his archbishop's robes and engage in various religious activities. Furthermore, in retaliation against the Pope's actions, Parliament prepared to pass a new bill requiring all France clergy to swear allegiance to the France homeland. Any clergy member who refused to swear allegiance would be excommunicated.

This was a demand that completely violated Catholicism tradition. It practically turned Catholicism clergy into ordinary government officials. Moreover, doctrinalally, clergy should only be loyal to God. This decree further fueled the conflict between the Church and Parliament.

Lafayette initially tried to get Parliament to be more moderate and less aggressive on such matters. However, the members needed such legislation to demonstrate their "firm stance," and the clergy who sided with Parliament needed this opportunity to control the church. (When will I ever become bishop if I don't get those guys out of there?)

So Lafayette's efforts were in vain, and the bill was passed anyway. Things then spiraled out of control. Most of the bishops and archbishops in the country refused to swear allegiance to the government and the constitution, and were therefore forcibly dismissed from their posts. Meanwhile, most of the parish priests and other lower-ranking officials chose to swear allegiance to the government and the constitution and were then promoted to bishops and archbishops.

However, the appointment and dismissal orders issued by the parliament were completely ignored in many dioceses outside Paris. Instead, many bishops outside Paris began to publicly accuse the parliament of blasphemy and encourage believers to fight against these "Christ."

The addition of these church forces greatly increased the power of the Black Party. In places like Lyon, they effectively controlled the local areas and organized their own militias. The local garrisons also sided with them, and civil war was almost imminent.

Lafayette believed that the key now lay with the king. If the king was willing to stand firmly by his side and support the constitution, then the Royalist Party activities would be futile. Conversely, if the king wavered and sided with the Royalist Party, then the problem would become very troublesome.

To this end, Lafayette repeatedly visited the King, trying to persuade him to genuinely support a constitutional monarchy. He attempted to make the King and Queen understand that times had changed, and the autocratic rule of Louis XIV's "I am the state" was no longer possible. A Britain- style constitutional monarchy was the best choice for the country and the monarchy. He argued that the Royalist Party were not truly loyal to the King; their actions were fundamentally driven by self-interest, and the King was merely a figurehead to rally followers. In a sense, the Royalist Party, like the radical republicans, were among those who most desired the King's downfall.

To be fair, Lafayette's point of view was indeed very reasonable. And he felt that he had successfully persuaded the king.

"In fact, our king is a very rational and learned man," Lafayette said to her adjutant Pierre as they left the Saint-Cloud Palace.

This assessment is actually quite accurate. The reason King Louis XVI hadn't resorted to harsh repression before this was precisely because he knew the times had changed since his grandfather's time. But can reason always triumph over emotion and desire? Besides, the Queen didn't possess that much formal education.

However, Lafayette failed to notice that shortly after he left the Saint-Cloud Palace, a messenger left the palace with a secret letter from the Queen, addressed to Mirabeau, a seemingly radical member of parliament.