From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Outside the Tuileries Palace.

This magnificent and elegant garden palace has lost its former solemnity. The shouts of the people broke the tranquility in the Medici Gardens, and a large number of ragged demonstrators have blocked the roads around the palace.

Noisy shouts filled every corner around the Tuileries Palace. Many people even made simple banners and held them high in their hands, hoping that His Majesty the King deep in the palace could hear their demands.

The nobles and gentlemen living nearby had already closed their doors and windows in panic, fearing that the prairie fire would burn their heads.

At the same time, the nobles and gentlemen were all puzzled as to what happened that could make these docile lamb-like poor people take to the streets and come to His Majesty the King's palace regardless of swords.

Although the courtiers in the palace were also puzzled by this issue, when they discovered this group of demonstrators rushing towards the Tuileries Palace, the palace responded quickly.

The first to take action was the Swiss Guard, an elite force that had been serving as the bodyguard of the French royal family since the seventeenth century, and was quickly deployed outside the main entrance of the Tuileries Palace.

Five hundred plate-armored guards with halberds lined up in three rows, forming three indestructible human walls in a radiating pattern, guarding the palace gate in the center.

"Damn it, where did these mobs come from!"

The colonel commander of the Swiss Guard could not help gritting his teeth and breaking into a cold sweat as he looked at the crowd that was still coming.

Although the well-trained and fully armed Swiss mercenaries had an overwhelming advantage against this mob, as more and more citizens arrived around the Tuileries Palace, the colonel commander became more and more aware that Become uneasy.

Moreover, the colonel commander knew very well that from a tactical point of view, he should immediately order the guards to take the initiative to crush the riot before more citizens gathered at the palace.

However, before getting the order from His Majesty the King, the only thing he could do was to let the guards stand outside the palace gate and watch the weak and unarmed mob roaring wantonly.

After all, the most commendable thing about the Swiss Guard is not their bravery and ferocity, but their absolute loyalty.

Even at the beginning of the Great Revolution in history, when an elite Royal Swiss Guard was suppressing riots in Paris, they were beaten to death by a group of revolutionaries armed with sticks and pitchforks because Louis XVI ordered not to fire on civilians.

Unless Louis XV personally orders it, these tall and powerful guards will not even draw their weapons even if they are trampled under the feet of the mob.

The colonel commander has begun to pray silently, praying that His Majesty the wise King can make a decision immediately before the situation develops to an irreversible point.

"My God. What is this?"

From a stand in the main hall of the Tuileries Palace, Louis XV looked at the sea of ​​people around the palace in disbelief, unable to speak for a long time.

He didn't understand what was going on and why there was this vast sea of ​​people shouting in unison to oppose him.

Louis XV always believed that he was a wise king, at least a kind king who loved his people like a son.

In fact, compared to the previous King Louis XIV, he was indeed a benevolent king.

Therefore, Louis XV was completely confused. These people should support and respect him. Why did they gather around the palace in anger and shouting?

Louis XV squinted his eyes and carefully saw several banners held high by the citizens, and murmured even more puzzledly:

"Sinner. Jeanne Bequ? What happened to my dear Jeanne? What are they talking about?!"

Facing the king's question, the surrounding courtiers shook their heads in confusion. They were in the palace and knew nothing about what was happening outside.

They could only guess from the few words on those banners that this matter must be related to the Countess Du Barry.

Even Foreign Minister Caesar Gabriel, who vaguely knew some of the inside story, was shocked and speechless for a long time when he looked at the dense, ant-like crowd below:

"That Corsican... He actually did it?!"

Everyone in the stands looked at each other in confusion. No one knew what to do next. After all, such an appalling thing as a mob surrounding the palace had never happened before.

"His Majesty!"

At this time, a guard officer wearing armor and sword rushed into the stands. He rushed to Louis XV with flying strides, knelt down on one knee, and without even having time to take a breath, he hurriedly requested:

"The mob gathering around the Tuileries Palace is getting larger and larger, and the colonel believes that if they don't take the initiative, the Swiss Guard will soon lose control of the situation."

All the court officials were startled, and many people even panicked and echoed:

"Please give the order, Your Majesty!"

"If this mob really breaks into the palace, it will be dangerous!"

"Who knows what they want to do, please don't hesitate!"

Under everyone's advice, Louis XV hesitated for a moment, then nodded gently.

The king also seemed to feel that perhaps it was time to resolve the immediate immediate needs before investigating the cause of the riot.

Louis XV glanced at the people below and said in a deep voice:

"Send my order for the Swiss Guards to start dispersing the rioters"

"Wait!"

A shout suddenly interrupted Louis XV's order.

Everyone was startled again, and subconsciously turned to look at the speaker, who was none other than the Foreign Minister next to Louis XV, Caesar Gabriel.

Louis XV didn't have time to get angry, he just looked at him puzzled.

The rest of the people also had the same blank expression. You must know that, as the foreign minister and the cousin of the Duke of Choiseul, Caesar Gabriel has the most say among everyone present except His Majesty the King.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being rude, but..."

Caesar Gabriel glanced at the people below, also knelt down on one knee, and said in a sincere tone:

"I don't think it's a good idea for the Royal Guards to proactively suppress the riots."

With that said, Caesar Gabriel slowly stood up, pointed at the protesting people and explained to everyone and the king:

"You see, these citizens did not carry any weapons at all. They stood there with bare hands, and they had no intention of actively clashing with the Swiss Guards. Both sides deliberately kept a distance."

Louis XV listened silently, stroked his beard, and nodded silently.

Indeed, the people below did not show any violent tendencies. For the guards who were guarding the area, the citizens only shouted verbally asking them to leave. The dividing line between the two sides was very clear.

"Of course, that's not the most important thing."

Caesar Gabriel sighed and continued to persuade with an embarrassed expression:

"The most important thing is that this is Paris and the Tuileries Palace. Countless people's eyes are staring at everything that happens here, whether it is the people of this country or the ambassadors of foreign countries. If people know that Your Majesty used the Royal Guards to suppress A peaceful and harmless demonstration is bad for your reputation.”

Caesar Gabriel did not finish his words, but Louis XV's eyes could not help but widen.

Perhaps he learned from the cruel and despotic experience of his great-grandfather Louis XIV. Louis XV has always regarded himself as a benevolent and kind monarch. This is also the image he always wanted to show to the people.

And it has to be said that in the early years of his reign, people did support this benevolent monarch and even gave him the nickname "The Beloved".

Although later, with the defeat of the Seven Years' War and a series of poor economic policies, people did not support him as before, but Louis XV still attached great importance to his image as a benevolent king and did his best to maintain it.

At this moment, listening to Caesar Gabriel's advice, Louis XV instantly understood that he must not use the Royal Guard to suppress this peaceful demonstration.

It is extremely disgraceful to use violence to suppress demonstrations and protests, let alone in a core area like the Tuileries Palace. Such news cannot be suppressed.

And, the most fatal thing is that if the Swiss Guards were used to suppress the riots, Louis XV would not be able to find a scapegoat at all.

Everyone, from Paris citizens to foreign ambassadors, knows that the Swiss Guards are loyal to the royal family.

The royal order is the soul of the Swiss Guard. If Louis XV had not given the order, those brave and capable warriors would just stand there like unwinded toy soldiers, just like they do now.

Therefore, as long as the Swiss Guard launches a suppression, everyone will know that this is the order of Louis XV himself. This is the will of His Majesty the King himself. It is His Majesty the King who wants to wield the sword against these unarmed and ragged poor people. No one can do it for them. The king takes the blame.

As for the consequences of this, Louis XV knew without thinking that the image of a benevolent king he had worked so hard for so many years would fall apart in the blink of an eye.

Louis XV stood there blankly for a long time, and then suddenly spoke, and there was a bit of obvious age and fatigue in his voice:

"Gabriel, what do you think?"

Although he had already prepared the answer in his heart, Caesar Gabriel still pretended to be deep in thought, thinking seriously for more than half a minute, and then said:

"In my opinion, the demonstrators below will not attack the palace in a short period of time, and they will not be able to break through the defense of the Swiss Guards and pose a threat to the palace. We don't need to worry too much."

A courtier in the crowd couldn't help but retorted in shock:

"Your Excellency, do you mean to allow those mobs to cause trouble around the palace? Suppressing them will indeed damage the reputation of His Majesty the King, but letting them go will also damage the dignity of the royal family?!"

Louis XV also had this doubt. He wanted to keep his good reputation intact, but this did not mean that he was willing to allow these mobs to gather and cause trouble around his palace.

If this kind of thing spreads to the courts of other countries, it will become a laughing stock in the mouths of kings and dukes. They will definitely laugh at the French king as a coward.

And Caesar Gabriel naturally had a countermeasure for this:

"No, of course it is not laissez-faire. Just imagine, for such a large-scale riot, I am afraid that three-quarters of Paris have already learned about the situation at the palace. In this case, the police force and the city defense army will soon be to respond.”

"That's right! That's right, if you let them handle it."

Louis XV raised his eyebrows and immediately understood Caesar Gabriel's intention.

These mobs caused such a huge battle, it is impossible that the police force and the city defense force did not receive the news, and they would definitely rush to the Tuileries Palace to relieve the siege.

If the riots were suppressed by police soldiers or city defense troops, Louis XV would not have to get his hands dirty at all.

Moreover, after the incident, Louis XV could openly stand on the side of the masses, publicly criticizing the police force and the city defense force for being too bloody and violent, and then secretly reward the two forces accordingly.

Afterwards, through this method of overt reduction and covert promotion, overt punishment and covert reward, you can not only preserve your reputation, but also perfectly resolve the crisis. It can be called an excellent countermeasure.

Thinking of this, Louis XV couldn't help but nodded excitedly, feeling very proud of the wonderful countermeasure he had thought of.

He looked at the guard officer who was still kneeling on one knee and solemnly ordered:

"Send the order! The Swiss Guards are ordered to guard the entrance of the Tuileries Palace. No one is allowed to enter, but no force is allowed to be used. The Tuileries Palace cannot see blood. Do you understand!"

However, His Majesty's brilliant strategy did not go as he expected.

"It's been an hour, and the police and city defense troops haven't arrived yet?!"

In the king's suite, Louis XV listened to the reports of the courtiers, and suddenly cursed angrily:

"Those bunch of dead trash, don't they know everything that's going on here in the palace?"

The courtiers also kept their heads down in silence. They didn't know why more than an hour had passed and the reinforcements from the police force and city defense force still did not appear in their sight.

On the contrary, waves of demonstrators came to the Tuileries Palace one after another. The number of citizens gathered around the palace was even half as many as when they were on the Île de la Cité.

Louis XV stood up anxiously, walked back and forth in front of the silent courtiers twice distractedly, and then couldn't restrain himself from coughing twice:

"Ahem...! Don't you have anything to say?"

A courtier hesitated for a moment, raised his head and said:

"Your Majesty, perhaps we can send people to negotiate with the citizens while waiting for reinforcements to arrive."

Before Louis XV could say anything, Caesar Gabriel immediately retorted:

"Absurd! Negotiating with those untouchables? Doesn't this mean that the palace has surrendered?! Once such a precedent is set, how will those mobs push their limits in the future!"

The courtier wanted to make some excuses, but Louis XV directly waved his hand to interrupt the argument between the two, and while covering his mouth and coughing, he ordered:

"Here comes someone to get my coat and wait on the stage. I want to see when the police force and the city defense force will arrive!"

The courtiers looked at the haggard look of Louis XV covering his mouth and coughing, and some couldn't help but worriedly advised:

"Your Majesty, you have been ill for a long time. It is better to stay in a warm room instead of going out."

However, Louis XV ignored everyone's concerns at all. After putting on a cashmere coat, he pushed out the door without looking back and walked straight towards the grandstand.

Upon seeing this, all the court officials had no choice but to look at each other and quickly speed up to follow.