Even for the Queen of France, it was difficult to calm down at this moment. The slogans shouted by the people outside were so terrifying that the Queen's legs trembled under her skirt.
Montauban, Duke of Baliqiao, could barely hold on. He shouted to the palace attendants outside, "What happened? Where is the guard officer on duty? Let him come to see me..."
Prime Minister Olivier's face turned pale with fright. He saw more and more people gathering in the Tuileries Garden. It was now close to ten thousand, and the scale continued to grow like a snowball.
"God, we can't let them continue to make trouble like this. Duke, I suggest that the military send troops to expel them immediately. The garden must be sealed off at this moment!"
Councilor Thiers stopped when he heard this, "Olivier, what do you mean by this? The Tuileries Garden has never prohibited the public from visiting it from the moment it was built. You want to violate the system established by Napoleon I." ?"
Napoleon I expanded the Tuileries Palace instead of the Louvre. His original intention was to make his empire different from the decadent French Empire in the past.
He just wants to let the people know that this emperor is different from the emperors in the past, and that he is close to the people!
Therefore, the Tuileries Garden is open to the public regularly every day. Parisians can enjoy the beautiful scenery, rest and play here!
This is much stronger than the monarchs of other ancient empires. The people can get close to the emperor, which naturally shortens the distance between the two parties.
But this old rule has now become a headache for the royal family, because in recent years people have often gone to the park to demonstrate, clamoring for the emperor to carry out reforms!
There were even several bloody conflicts between the army and the marching people, so officials in the court had been asking the emperor to change this rule, but Napoleon III ignored it in order to show respect for his uncle.
Today, Thiers took this old rule and fired at Olivier, "Olivier, you are the people's prime minister, do you want to stop the people's speech now?"
"You actually want the military to intervene. Do you want another bloodshed? I want to impeach you. You are not worthy of being the prime minister of the empire!"
Before Olivier could refute, the door to the conference room was pushed open, and the commander of the Guards on duty today hurried in, holding a telegraph newspaper in his hand.
I saw him saying with panic on his face and sweating profusely, "Queen... Your Majesty sent an urgent telegram from Metz! We... we really failed!"
"Both the Battle of Walter and the Battle of Spicilling Heights were lost! Now the enemy has entered the northeastern region of our country, and the war has reached our homeland!"
ah! The Queen screamed and almost fainted. Fortunately, Montauban had quick hands and eyes to hug her!
"Queen! Queen... bring the smelling salts quickly!"
Not many people in the 21st century know about smelling salts. They existed in ancient Rome, but were most popular in Europe during the Victorian era.
At that time, people also called smelling salts antler wine. It was a medicine composed of ammonium carbonate and spices, and was packaged in an exquisite crystal bottle.
Once this kind of powder enters the nasal cavity and comes into contact with the nasal mucosa, it will produce ammonia gas. Anyone who has studied chemistry knows that ammonia gas has a very irritating smell. A person who has fainted will wake up immediately if he drinks some smelling salts.
In the 19th century, smelling salts were almost the standard for European ladies, because the mainstream society at that time believed that ladies should be sensitive and timid, and should faint when they encounter the slightest fright.
In order to satisfy this mainstream mentality, many women have to pretend to be smaller even if they are brave enough to go out. They often carry smelling salts with them. Maybe a rabbit jumping out on the roadside will scare them unconscious, and then they will It’s time for a gentleman to hold them and spread the smelling salt.
Regardless of whether it is true or not, this game was indeed quite popular at the time!
Another important reason was that tight clothing was popular in Europe at that time, and the waist was so thin that it even affected breathing. Many women fainted because they couldn't breathe, so smelling salts were even more necessary.
The Queen was really frightened and fainted today. Montauban blew in the smelling salts twice before the Queen woke up!
"God! What's wrong with me? Was I dreaming just now? I had a nightmare..."
Montauban said with a sad face, "Queen... this is not a dream. Your Majesty really sent a telegram just now. We lost two battles..."
"But don't worry, it's all a small battle, and our main force didn't suffer any losses!"
Queen Eugenie struggled to stand up. She pointed out the window angrily, "Then what's going on? Why did these damn bastards know the news earlier than me?"
“When did the untouchables become better informed than the government?”
At this point, the queen suddenly stared at Congressman Thiers, "Have you known about it for a long time? Answer me, did you come to force the palace after knowing the news?"
Thiers was not afraid and sighed lightly, "Queen... I learned the news at five o'clock this morning, but I never expected that the palace didn't get the news until now..."
"I don't understand what's going on here, but at five o'clock this morning, citizens in Paris began to spread this gossip secretly. I thought it was a lie..."
"I didn't expect...I didn't expect it to be true..."
Of course it is true. Bismarck has probably lost count of how many Prussian spies there are in Paris now. The two victories on the border immediately made these spies ecstatic.
They started spreading rumors overnight to exaggerate the results of the war, desperately inciting public opinion. What they wanted was to have the French people put pressure on the government, thereby disrupting the French army's war rhythm.
Xiao Letian even said arrogantly before, "If we want to win this victory, we have to let French public opinion coerce the government, let French military officers start thinking about politics, and let French civilian officials think about changing the government..."
"Only by making them confused can we have a chance to win!"
Yes, that's it. If you want France to lose the war and be a big defeat, you have to let those non-professionals who don't know how to give advice to the professionals. Only in this way can France be in civil strife.
The romantic French were indeed fooled, but in fact they were not fooled. This was a conspiracy, a conspiracy in which a Frenchman would go to the streets even if he knew it was Prussia who was instigating it.
Because the French people who have been baptized by the Great Revolution are really too concerned about politics, they really love parades, and they really love revolution too much.
The roar in the gardens of the Tuileries Palace was earth-shattering. The news of the failure on the front line made these people completely lose control!
