Turning the heavens upside down

In front of the Southern Netherlands Parliament.

When Karl II met the Marquess Wellesley, he was so excited that he almost burst into tears, believing the latter had brought him news that London had confirmed its support for Brussels.

However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs poured cold water on his plans. "Your Excellency Marshal, my personal stance is that I strongly agree with sending troops to reinforce you immediately, but... to be honest, the East India Company has encountered some trouble in the Far East, and the Empire's main focus is currently on that. Perhaps you will not receive reinforcements from Parliament until early next year."

"Of course, Parliament will provide you with full support regarding military spending and weaponry."

This time, not only Karl II, but even the Speaker of the Southern Netherlands Van der Noot, was anxious. "Your Grace, you may already be aware of the situation in Brussels. If we cannot defeat the France quickly, and Austria were to redeploy its troops, Brussels will be difficult to defend, and the revolution will fail..."

The Marquess Wellesley glanced at him, his voice somewhat cold. "Personally, I don't quite agree with your revolution."

"But right now we have a common enemy to deal with. Oh, are we just going to stand in the square and discuss things forever?"

"No, no, we have prepared a sumptuous feast for you." Van der Noot gestured towards the Parliament Building. "Please come in."

In the banquet hall, the Marquess Wellesley glanced at the dejected officers on either side of the long, narrow table, then turned to Karl II and said, "Your Marshal, are you saying that the French Army only has 14,000 men, yet you need to request aid from Parliament?"

Before Karl II could speak, the Netherlands commander, General Bronckhorst, interjected, "Your Excellency, the France are equipped with a remarkably powerful Musket, and their cannons are incredibly elusive, posing a significant threat to our army."

The Minister of Foreign Affairs sneered and shook his head; in his view, this was merely the Dutch people making excuses for their incompetence.

He tapped the table with his spoon in frustration. He had come to Brussels to assess the military advantages there, hoping to use them as leverage in negotiations, but instead of finding leverage, he found himself surrounded by people waiting for him to persuade Parliament to clean up their messes...

Van der Noot suddenly clenched his fist in righteous indignation and said, "We should mobilize the France people to start a revolution and overthrow that Tyrant!"

General Ortelius, the newly appointed commander of the National Guard, immediately agreed, "Yes! We have many revolutionaries in Lille, Artois, and other places. We can let them lead the France people in a revolution! To fight for their freedom and rights..."

Their outburst caught the attention of the Marquess Wellesley, who looked at Van der Noot and whispered, "You mean there are Southern Netherlands Revolutionary Party in France?"

"That's right." The latter nodded. "Back then, to escape persecution by the Austria, our revolutionaries often hid in Northern France. Over the years, we've established many footholds there and have developed good relationships with the local Liberals."

The Marquess Wellesley's eyes lit up. "Within half a month, how many people can you mobilize in France to incite... and call for revolution? And how many people can you inspire to respond?"

Van der Noot immediately replied, "We currently have over 40 men throughout France, and if needed, we can immediately mobilize 200 revolutionaries to go to France."

Historically, the Southern Netherlands Revolution was supported by the French Great Revolution, and the two sides maintained very close ties. Southern Netherlands people often sought "sponsorship" from France Nobility who sympathized with the revolution, so many of them resided in France.

Van der Noot thought for a moment, then hesitated and said, "But the momentum of the revolution in France over the past two years... has not been very good. Many people who previously held revolutionary views have turned into sycophants of the Tyrant. In particular, ordinary France farmers and citizens have become complacent after the Tyrant has bestowed some benefits upon them."

"Therefore, now is definitely not a good time to help France launch a revolution."

The Marquess Wellesley glared at him impatiently and said unhappily, "Is there nothing else in your limited vocabulary besides ' Tyrant ' to describe a King? Even if we all dislike Louis XVI, we still need to maintain basic courtesy towards him."

"Uh..." Van der Noot then realized that he relied on countries under monarchical rule, and could only nod awkwardly, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry."

The Marquess Wellesley narrowed his eyes, tapped his plate lightly with his spoon, and said in a deep voice, "Actually, there's a Gunpowder keg in France right now. If your people can make good use of this opportunity, they might just be able to stir up a storm in France!"

The Governor Hanover and the Netherlands commander beside him looked over in surprise upon hearing this.

The Marquess Wellesley spoke with a hint of smugness, "You should have heard that the French Government wants to abolish the traditional rent that peasants pay to the lords, but it hasn't announced any concrete plan on how to get peasants to buy land."

Karl II instinctively asked, "And then?"

This is the opportunity to plunge France into chaos!

The others exchanged surprised glances, clearly not understanding what the United Kingdom Minister of Foreign Affairs meant.

Marquess Wellesley, noticing their expressions, sighed helplessly, "Why do you think the France haven't announced their land purchase plan?"

"Because the two sides involved in this matter— the Nobility and the peasants—are too difficult to reach an agreement."

"The Nobility want the peasants to come up with an enormous sum to sustain their and their descendants' luxurious lifestyles, while the peasants hope to receive the land without paying a single penny. For this, they would absolutely be willing to hang the other!"

To be fair, Wellesley was an exceptionally shrewd strategist; he saw the crux of the problem at a glance.

Historically, the Feillant, also known as the Constitutional Monarchists, was the first to form a government after the French Great Revolution. They enacted Land Redemption Policy that favored the Nobility, requiring peasants to redeem feudal rents and paying prices as high as 30 years of land revenue. This sparked discontent among the peasantry and ultimately led to the Feillant being ousted from power.

The Girondins later abolished all feudal taxes, but recognized taxes on lands not granted by the King. The peasants were still dissatisfied because a large amount of land had previously been bought at low prices by Nobility or capitalists, and now they had to pay high buyback prices for it.

Thus, the Jacobin their support, and coupled with the Famine that occurred at the time, the Girondins were forced to step down.

The land problem in France was not fundamentally resolved until the Jacobin ordered the burning of all Nobility ' land deeds and sold the land cheaply to peasants.

However, the Jacobin were able to resolve this matter only because most of the Nobility had already been beheaded. In effect, they used the wealth of the Noble Class to satisfy the interests of the peasantry.

However, in present-day France, the Noble Class remains very powerful.