The Safe That Brought Ruin

After the victory at the Battle of Jemappes, the Austrian defenses in Belgium completely collapsed. The Austrians fled in panic, and the French Army occupied Aachen with almost no effort, advancing towards the Roer River. Dumouriez became a hero for saving France because of this series of victories. However, at this moment, news made him feel uneasy.

The man who displeased him, even hated him, was Carnot. After the Battle of Valmy, Carnot had shielded him from much unnecessary interference from Paris. At that time, Dumouriez was extremely satisfied with Carnot. However, after he led his army into Belgium, he began to find Carnot utterly detestable.

Now that his supply lines have been extended, transporting supplies directly from France by road is no longer as efficient as purchasing supplies locally. So, as is customary, at this point, the France government only needs to send him the money; as for supplies, he can use the money to purchase them.

Even a fool knows how much profit can be made from procuring supplies for an army of nearly 100,000. But this is standard practice, at least when France was still a kingdom. As long as the general keeps things under control and prevents any problems with his soldiers due to supply issues, it's fine.

Initially, the Republic's government operated in the same way, and Dumouriez naturally seized this opportunity to make a fortune. He amassed an untold fortune by falsifying troop numbers and combat losses, and by purchasing low-quality supplies at inflated prices and taking kickbacks.

This tactic has actually been passed down through generations. For example, not long ago, the India purchased 13 MK-45 127mm naval guns from the Bald Eagle for a total price of $1 billion. Everyone knows that the Bald Eagle's 127mm naval guns are practically the worst performing 127mm naval guns in the world. Compared to the Italy Otobreda 127mm Gun, its performance is completely inferior, by a significant margin. Aside from being relatively light, this gun has almost no advantages. Its lightness is due to the elimination of various unnecessary components, resulting in a sustained rate of fire similar to that of army equipment. This gun is quite cheap when sold to other countries, but it commanded such an outrageously high price from the India. The reason is simple: if the price weren't high, where would the India's purchasing personnel get kickbacks?

While Dumouriez was making his fortune, Carnot proposed a so-called "military reform plan," a crucial aspect of which was stripping frontline commanders of their financial authority. Instead, the Ministry of War would directly send personnel to accompany the troops and oversee the procurement of all military supplies. It was also said that a committee would be established to verify the procurement bills. Carnot claimed this would reduce costs and strengthen government control over the army, but—but wasn't this tantamount to killing his parents?

However, Carnot's absurd suggestion, which went against the fine traditions of France, received widespread support from parliament. This is actually quite understandable; after all, it was a very lucrative position, and apart from a select few, who in parliament wouldn't want that power in their own hands?

However, Dumouriez soon discovered that this was just a minor problem; what was truly woeful was... Louis XVI was a mastermind!

Just a few days ago, a safe with an extremely complex and sophisticated lock was discovered in the Tuileries Palace. After being forcibly opened, a large number of letters were found inside. These included various correspondence between the Queen and her brother (the Austria Emperor) and her nephew (the current Austria Emperor). These letters all proved that the royal family had been colluding with foreign powers. Even after the start of the war, they provided the Austria with various intelligence reports about France.

In addition, it was discovered that some people who previously appeared to be revolutionaries were actually spies hired by the royal family. For example, Mirabeau advised the king to flee Paris and start a civil war. Feeling deceived, the crowd stormed into the Panthéon, dragged Mirabeau's body out of the monastery, and threw it into the rubbish heap.

This news about Mirabeau greatly worried Dumouriez, because he knew that Mirabeau had written to the Queen, recommending himself to the royal family, saying that he was loyal and brave and could completely replace Lafayette. He even recommended himself as the army commander when proposing that the King leave Paris to go to Lyon to start a civil war.

It is said that on August 10th, during the Paris Revolution, the King and Queen hastily burned some documents, but...

"Damn it, those two idiots! They can't even burn the documents properly! What are they planning to do with all that stuff? Are they trying to get themselves executed? And putting it in a safe? Do you really think that the locks you designed and made yourself can withstand forced entry? If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!" Upon hearing this news, Dumouriez immediately put aside the problem that Carnot had caused him and started worrying about this even more critical issue.

However, Dumouriez didn't know if those letters included Mirabeau's recommendation, since many documents had been burned. Dumouriez could only pray to God that the letters had all been destroyed.

"If I had known it would turn out this way, perhaps it would have been better to let the Austria invade Paris," Dumouriez couldn't help but think.

However, at this point, those in Paris were completely oblivious to Dumouriez, who was still in Belgium. A new political struggle erupted over the documents in Louis XVI's safe.

After the August 10 Revolution, in an effort to win over the lower classes, the Brissotins appointed Danton as Minister of Justice, a position originally intended for Roland. As a result, Roland and Madame Roland (the one who later uttered "Liberty, liberty, what crimes in thy name!" on the guillotine) harbored deep resentment towards Danton.

After the crisis in Paris was resolved, the Roland launched a full-scale attack on Danton. Taking advantage of the public's aversion to terror after Paris was secured, they accused Danton of being responsible for the September massacre, thus forcing Danton to resign as Minister of Justice.

Danton actually wanted to compromise with the Brissotins, so he chose to back down and resign as minister. Of course, before resigning, he also made a small fortune—he accepted a sum of money from Talleyrand, which granted him a pass allowing him to leave France freely. (Unlike the "Incorruptible" Robespierre, Danton actually loved money.)

After selling out the church, Talleyrand served as ambassador to Britain for a time. Upon returning home, he discovered that his former friends, especially Lafayette, had all fallen from power. This made his situation much worse than a year earlier. After the September Massacre, he, with his dual background as a nobleman and a member of the church, sensed a sense of danger. He quickly wrote a memorandum praising the France revolution and condemning the absolute rule of Louis XVI, informing the Britain government that the French Republic had been established.

He then approached Danton, offering to deliver the memorandum to Britain and handing Danton a considerable sum of money. Danton knew that Talleyrand was actually planning to use the opportunity to escape, but for the sake of the money, he pretended to be fooled and issued Talleyrand a pass. He was more interested in getting Talleyrand 'Talleyrand money than in cutting off his head.

Later, after the safe incident came to light, the documents in the safe revealed that Talleyrand had been colluding with the royal family. Danton even told Robespierre, "I was deceived by Talleyrand; I never imagined he was this kind of person."

Besides releasing Talleyrand, he also acquitted Marat before leaving office. Brissotins's men accused Marat of inciting soldiers to disobey orders and arrested him, but Danton quickly acquitted him.

After relinquishing his position as Minister of Justice, Danton still hoped to reconcile with the Brissotins, especially with the Roland couple. To this end, on September 25th, he publicly opposed the Agrarian Law, and on October 4th, he proposed in Parliament that the state of emergency should be ended. Ending the state of emergency would mean the gradual lifting of various price controls. Later, in conversations with Lameth, he even stated that in order to achieve peace, he agreed to continue the constitutional monarchy, provided the King was replaced by the Duke of Chartres (son of the Duke of Orleans). Logically, the Brissotins should have reconciled with Danton.

However, for some reason, Madame Roland harbored a particular hatred for Danton. They had no intention of letting Danton off the hook. First, they accused Danton of embezzlement, demanding an audit of Danton accounts, but Danton could not produce detailed records. Then they accused Danton of taking advantage of the chaos during the uprising on August 10th to steal valuables from the palace. To protect himself, Danton had no choice but to side with Robespierre.

However, Robespierre was also attacked by the Brissotins, who accused Robespierre of deliberately inciting riots during the August 10 revolution. In response, Robespierre addressed Parliament, stating that the legitimacy of the current Parliament and government stemmed from the August 10 uprising, and that any denial of the August 10 uprising was a denial of the Republic itself.

Ironically, this accusation brought Robespierre even greater fame.

So they changed their tune, accusing Robespierre of being responsible for the September massacre and attacking him for attempting to become a dictator or even a tyrant.

But at this critical moment, on November 20th, the safe incident broke out. The documents in the safe clearly proved that the King and Queen had indeed committed treason, and that some members of the Brissotins were also in collusion with the King.

With such weapons, Robespierre and his men immediately switched from defense to offense, demanding that the king and other traitors be punished for treason.

This book will be available for purchase around 2 PM today. There will be another update around 2 PM. To reiterate my promise, if the initial subscriptions exceed 1,000, I will update two chapters daily, with over 6,000 words each, except Saturdays and Sundays (one chapter on Saturdays and Sundays). Update times will be approximately 2 PM and 6 PM.