Peace-Loving Radish (2)

Robespierre has indeed recently published several articles strongly opposing the rhetoric of some hardliners in parliament advocating a preemptive war against Austria.

Parliament is always full of radicals. This is because, generally speaking, members of parliament do not have to bear political responsibility for their words and actions, since they have no decision-making power. As a result, members of parliament become somewhat like the former censors of the Eastern Great Eater Nation, able to talk nonsense without any scruples.

On the other hand, in a large group of members of parliament, if someone wants to stand out, rise above others, and become a leader among the members, he must find a way to ensure that everyone can clearly see him amidst the crowd and hear his voice amidst the clamor.

To achieve this, the first method is to be like Mirabeau, who is half a head taller than others, eight feet tall, and with an eight-foot waist. Even when hiding in a crowd, he can be seen at a glance, like a firefly in the dark. In addition, he has a naturally loud voice, and when he speaks, it's like he has practiced the Lion's Roar, easily drowning out other people's voices.

However, this method requires extremely high innate qualities; not every member of parliament possesses Mirabeau's abilities. In fact, since Mirabeau was defeated by illness, there has been no one like him in the France parliament. Therefore, the remaining members of parliament can only resort to the second method: sensationalism, using shocking topics and outrageous proposals to attract attention. After all, members of parliament don't bear any responsibility; it's just nonsense, right? Anyone can do that. Thus, the more mindless the appeal to emotions, the more reckless and courageous the act, the more likely it is to lead the trend.

Just like in the United States in later years, when a certain president was still a senator, he repeatedly proposed to sever diplomatic relations with the Eastern Great Eater Nation and restore diplomatic relations with the Frog Island. But after he became president, he completely forgot about these things and regarded all his previous words as greenhouse gas emissions. Only my God Emperor can withdraw from international agreements as he pleases and build walls as he pleases. He is truly a rare and sincere gentleman in the history of the United States.

Given this situation in Parliament, irrational views naturally tend to prevail. Institutionally, this necessitates the king, with his veto power, to apply the brakes. However, the king has no intention of doing so, as he too desires war. In the queen's view, a divided France would be utterly vulnerable if war broke out. They could then rebuild their monarchy under the protection of Austria bayonets. Therefore, the king has no intention of applying the brakes. Moreover, since the escape, although Parliament has determined that the king was kidnapped and restored all his powers, he has lost the trust of the vast majority of members. Going against Parliament on this matter will not benefit him.

According to Napoleon's analysis, from a purely interest-driven perspective, the only ones truly and sincerely devoted to peace are the Jacobin Club. However, the Jacobin have too few seats in parliament. Previously, they were able to thwart the Feuillants's schemes on several occasions thanks to their tacit alliance with the Black Party. Even so, in parliament, they were more likely to cause trouble than achieve anything. Now, on this matter, the Black Party will not side with them, so on their own, they can no longer even manage to "cause trouble."

To solve this problem, Robespierre gathered several of his close friends to discuss countermeasures.

"Everyone knows that war today will only benefit certain people," Robespierre said. "If the war is lost, needless to say, all the achievements of the revolution will be lost, and France will return to its old state. But if the war is won? Then some people can establish their own military dictatorship as 'heroes who saved France.' Therefore, our most important task now is only one: to prevent war as much as possible."

"Maximilien," Marat began, "I can write articles exposing the monarchy and urging the people to be wary of the conspiracies hidden in the war frenzy. But I'm not sure how effective they will be. You know, my articles have virtually no impact on Parliament."

Marat's newspaper, * L'Ami du peuple *, was a household name in Paris. Especially before the King's flight, he repeatedly warned the people in the paper to be vigilant and guard against his escape. Initially, most people considered his pronouncements as unfounded and absurd, and Marat was seen as a attention-seeking clown. However, events proved his foresight, and * L'Ami du peuple *'s influence in Paris greatly increased. But due to its political stance, this influence remained limited to the lower and middle classes of Paris. Marat did not have sufficient influence in parliament.

"Unless another revolution occurs..." Saint-Just said.

"The time is not yet ripe," Robespierre shook his head.

"We can try to make the time ripe," Saint-Just continued.

"Tell me your thoughts?"

"We can put forward a series of proposals in parliament that benefit the people of Paris, but which will inevitably be rejected by parliament, such as limiting food prices, banning speculation, controlling the issuance of Assignat, and preventing their abuse. (In fact, later, after the Jacobins came to power, they issued just as many Assignat)," Saint-Just said. "They will certainly reject these proposals, and every time they reject them, the people will be educated, they will be more disappointed with those gentry-dominated parliaments, and their anger will burn even brighter. When they finally realize that the current parliament does not represent France, they will definitely launch another revolution."

"But Louis, doing so will hasten their start of the war," Robespierre said. "We must do what you say. But what we urgently need now is a way to slow the war down, even if only for a short while. Lafayette is already issuing Assignat to his men as pay. This has naturally led to a series of complaints within the army and the National Guard. This will undoubtedly damage his influence within the military. If we can just slow him down for a little while, he won't be Caesar!"

"Joseph Bonaparte is under Lafayette's command. He's a very clever man. Why don't we go and talk to him? Maybe he'll have a solution," Saint-Just said.

"Looking for him?" Robespierre frowned. "I think Mr. Bonaparte is actually quite reluctant to get involved in our affairs. Besides, he did us a great favor last time, and suffered some losses in the process. Recently, Lafayette reassigned him and his brother, removing them from some key positions."

"Monsieur Bonaparte won't mind," Saint-Just said. "Monsieur Bonaparte is indeed not very interested in getting involved in politics; his interests lie more in nature—which is natural, given his great talent in those matters. But as you saw last time, Monsieur Bonaparte is a moral and upright man. His loyalty to France and the Revolution is beyond question. I think that if we reach out to him, he will certainly help us, if he can."

"Are you talking about that Corsica nobleman?" Marat asked sarcastically. "A nobleman, and you trust him like this?"

"Can Corsica nobles really be considered nobles?" Saint-Just said. "Besides, nobles aren't necessarily all unreliable, and commoners aren't necessarily all loyal to the revolution, for example..."

"Alright, Louis, I know you're not a nobleman, but your name does contain the character 'De'. But do you really think he can solve it? Is he some kind of wise Solomon? If he were truly that clever, he wouldn't be unable to solve the Four Color Theorem. (Clearly, Marat was still somewhat bothered by the setback he suffered with the Four Color Theorem.) The solution might not be with him; I have a solution too!"

When Saint-Just heard Marat bring up the "De" in his name, he initially wanted to argue with him immediately, but when Marat claimed to have a solution, he suppressed his anger and asked, "What solution do you have?"

Marat rolled his eyes at Saint-Just, but ignored him. Marat was ugly, and he knew he was ugly. Like most ugly people, he hated handsome guys the most, let alone someone as handsome as Saint-Just, who was almost defying the laws of nature. Naturally, this made Marat even angrier just looking at him.

"Mr. Marat, what are your thoughts? Let's discuss them together," Robespierre said.

Marat could give Saint-Just- Just a cold shoulder, but he couldn't treat Robespierre like that. So he said, "Lafayette is a hypocrite and a coward! If we expose his plot directly, he won't dare to do it..."

At this point, Marat chuckled like a night owl, "Heh heh heh, perhaps, to prove his innocence, this hypocrite will even pretend to work with us to avoid war. Mr. Robespierre, my newspaper has limited effect in this kind of thing; you'd better publish some articles yourself. Trust me, it will work; I'm best at dealing with these hypocrites."

After the meeting, Marat left quickly, and Saint-Just- Just bid farewell to Robespierre. Robespierre noticed that Saint-Just seemed rather downcast and said to him, "Louis, Marat is just like that, all prickly. He can make anyone furious when he talks to them. But don't take his attitude too seriously. He's quite capable, very loyal to the revolution, and honest and self-disciplined. The more you get to know him, the better you'll see; Marat is actually a good person."

"Mr. Robespierre," said Saint-Just, "I have no opinion of him because of Marat's attitude. I'm just wondering if his method will really work."