, The Vote (Part One)

The Brissotins, of course, would not sit idly by. They first proposed a plan to expel all members of the Bourbon family from France.

This plan was less aimed at Louis XVI and more at the Duke of Orleans of Orléans, who had by then changed his name to Philippe Equipe, and his son, the Duke of Chartres. They were still on Robespierre's side. The Brissotins believed that Robespierre would certainly protect them, and then they could label them as "Royalist Party" and "attempting to Robespierre the Republic."

But times have changed. The Duke of Orleans's standing in the Jacobin Club has declined significantly. Although he has changed his name, the club's current bigwigs all know that what the Duke of Orleans desired was not a republic, but the Orleans dynasty. While they stand together now, they are not on the same path. Therefore, Robespierre and his allies will not expend too much political resources to maintain their alliance.

The Duke of Orleans was aware of his declining status, and to bolster his own position, he sent his son, the Duke of Chartres (who was actually Louis Philippe I, the only king of the historical Orleans dynasty), with a Volunteer Army he had funded and armed to join Dumouriez's army. The Duke of Chartres performed well in the army, and his name frequently appeared in Dumouriez's reports of victories. (Of course, some jealous people said it was because Dumouriez had taken his money.)

The Duke of Orleans —no, he should now be called "Philippe Equal"—must not be exiled again. The last exile had been far too detrimental to him. Now that Robespierre and his ilk were unwilling to speak for him, Philippe Equal had to take matters into his own hands. He spearheaded the call for a trial of the King—no, there was no King anymore, only Louis Bourbon for his treason. Because if this were the case, Louis XVI would certainly lose his head, but he would certainly not be banished.

The Brissotins knew very well that, given the overwhelming evidence, it was virtually impossible for the king to be acquitted once he was on trial. And if he was found guilty, there was only one punishment for treason: execution.

The Brissotins wasn't particularly concerned about whether or not to behead Louis XVI, but they knew it would lead to even fiercer struggles: the Europe kingdoms might unite to besiege France; and within France, there would be no room for compromise between the conservatives and the republic. Once the struggle intensified, all so-called "moderates" and "centrists" would be abandoned. Therefore, the Brissotins believed that sending the king to the guillotine was tantamount to placing the radical the Mountain or the conservative Royalist Party on the throne of power.

Since the Duke of Orleans couldn't restrain the Mountain, the Brissotins had no choice but to use the intervention of all of Europe, potentially leading to a protracted war, to avoid the trial of the king.

But this reason was immediately ridiculed by Robespierre and his ilk. Weren't the Brissotins the ones who insisted on starting a war? Now they're suddenly peace-loving? Besides, previous wars have shown that the armies of those Europe feudal lords aren't so scary. If they dare to interfere in France will export revolution and wipe them all out! Oh, and Brissot himself said those words!

In short, Robespierre used the same words Brissot had said to slap Brissot in the face. Of course, this wasn't the most fatal thing. Generally speaking, the most resilient part of a politician's body is their face, so being slapped in that area doesn't really have a big impact.

The fatal flaw was the uproar this incident caused within the Paris Commune.

After the Bailly left the City Hall, the Paris Commune fell into the hands of the Republicans. After the uprising on August 10, the Mountain faction gained an overwhelming advantage in the Paris Commune. In the September massacre, many members of the Commune were involved in the atrocities to varying degrees, and some were even the initiators and organizers of these violent events.

After the victory at the front, the Constitutional Monarchists were completely finished, and the Brissotins prepared to purge their former allies, the radical the Mountain. One of their chosen points of attack was the Paris Commune, because many members of the Commune could be found to have committed wrongdoings during the September massacre.

However, with the disclosure of the safe incident, the situation completely reversed. The citizens of Paris, who had previously been told in propaganda that they or others had gone too far during the September massacres, immediately changed their attitude upon the release of these documents. "If it weren't for our decisive action, the Republic would be gone!"

In this climate of sentiment, the Brissotins was immediately seen as Royalist Party. If the king could not be brought to trial, the Paris Commune was likely to lead the citizens and the National Guard in another uprising.

Under these circumstances, the National Assembly had no choice but to decide to put the King on trial.

On December 11, Louis XVI appeared in court for the first time. He denied all the charges against him.

Louis XVI's defense lawyer Desèze, questioned the National Assembly's power, "According to the constitution, the National Assembly does not have the right to try the King, because the constitution stipulates that the King's person is inviolable. If we insist on trying the King, it will lead to a problem. This problem is the legality of the trial. The law is the foundation we must respect and rely on. If we can violate the law today for one reason, then we will violate the law tomorrow for another reason, and then the law will become a dead letter, and then the legitimate rights and interests of each of us, including you and me, will not be guaranteed..."

This statement truly reflected the sentiments of some people, and they responded with enthusiastic applause.

After the applause gradually subsided, a young man stepped forward. He said to the host, "I have something to say to everyone."

"Citizen, what's your name?" the host asked.

"The representative of the Aisne province, Louis Antoine Leon Floré de Saint-Just," the young man replied, raising his handsome face.

"Alright!" the host said, "Citizen of Saint-Just, please come to the stage..."

Saint-Just- Just walked up to the podium, looked around the room, and then began to speak:

"The gentleman just now gave a brilliant speech on legal matters. However, I think he has probably misunderstood the essence of this matter. Indeed, legally speaking, a king cannot be tried. But what we are dealing with now is not a legal case, but a political event. Louis Bourbon is not the defendant, but the enemy. Only one law applies to him: the law of nations, in other words, the law of war. Louis fought against the people; he was conquered. He is a barbarian captured by us, a defeated foreign prisoner! You already know his treacherous plans; you have seen his army! He was the massacrer in the Bastille, Nancy, Meuse, Tournai, and Tuileries. What other enemy, what other foreigner, could possibly cause you more harm?"

Indeed, legally, the king is inviolable, and the law is so important; it is the guarantee of the rights of every one of us, and therefore, it cannot be violated. But gentlemen, do not forget that legally, there is something even more inviolable and supreme than the king—the people of France! When Louis colluded with foreigners, when he conspired with our enemies to commit those horrific acts of betrayal and massacre, what was he doing? He was violating that even more supreme and inviolable object—the people of France. From the moment Louis Bourbon committed crimes against the France people, he was no longer the king, but an enemy, an enemy of all France ..."

Saint-Just stepped down from the podium amidst applause from the Mountain and returned to his original seat—next to Robespierre.

"Louis, your speech was excellent," Robespierre said, "And it inspired me greatly."

"Excellent, that was wonderful!" Danton exclaimed approvingly. "It's hard to believe this is your first public speech."

"However, my speech did not change their attitude," Saint-Just said, glancing to his right.

"Them? They can't protect the king, because the people aren't on their side," Robespierre said with certainty.

Over the next few days, the National Assembly began several rounds of debate on how to deal with the King. Robespierre delivered his famous speech, "Louis shall die, for the Fatherland shall live," during the debate. His speech was immediately printed and widely disseminated by the Paris Commune. More and more people spontaneously gathered near the National Assembly. Whenever a member of parliament who supported sending the King to the guillotine passed by, the people cheered for him; but when a member of parliament who advocated leniency and pardoning the King passed by, everyone booed him and threw various kinds of garbage at him.

Time passed day by day, and finally the day for everyone to vote arrived.

"Joseph, how do you intend to vote?" Condorcet, a Brissotins and a famous philosopher, asked Joseph Fouché, a fellow Brissotins member of parliament who was sitting in the same carriage beside him.

"Of course I support forgiveness," Fouché answered without hesitation. His gaze shifted, and through the car window, he saw a group of citizens had erected a life-size model of a guillotine on the road leading to the National Assembly ...