Smelling the long-lost air of freedom, the criminals in these prisons were extremely excited. Some even knelt on the ground to thank God for his mercy.
Li Gaocai had no time to deal with these criminal prisoners. He began to search among political prisoners and soon found his target.
"Congressman...Congressman Rochefort...I'm here, I'm Ligao!"
Henri Rochefort, a staunch anti-imperialist parliamentarian and a rare republican outlier who was close to the working class, was imprisoned by the French emperor for making many speeches against the empire.
Li Gao's main purpose this time is to rescue him!
"Ah...Li Gao?" The congressman seemed unable to remember.
"It's me, we met six years ago in Belgium, when I followed Blanqui..."
"Ah! I see...I have an impression...Have you launched a revolution? How can you capture this strong prison?"
Li Gao had already prepared clean clothes and some simple food and water for the congressmen. "Sir, the French Emperor has been defeated in Sedan. One hundred thousand French troops and the French Emperor have surrendered..."
"This is the accurate news we got this morning. The empire is finished. Now we are in a state of anarchy..."
"Mr. Blanqui asks you to go to Parliament immediately. We know that you are in very poor health, but at this critical moment... Parliament needs an upright gentleman like you!"
Rochefort never expected that the situation outside would change to such a great extent during his time in prison, and the Franco-Prussian War actually turned into a mess.
While listening to Ligao's introduction, Rochefort changed clothes in the carriage, briefly scrubbed his body, and then devoured the sandwich.
"Blanqui did the right thing. You must restrain yourself from serious conflicts now, let alone direct revolution... Parliament is the key!"
"At present, we have a great enemy. We must need the authority of Parliament to unify and integrate the power of the entire France...Hurry up and take me to the Bourbon Palace..."
The Bourbon Palace is the center of the real storm. Don’t look at the turmoil in other parts of Paris. They are robbing military camp supplies, controlling police stations to attack prisons, and even newspaper offices...
But these conflicts are just drizzle, because these conflicts only affect the city of Paris... But the Palais Bourbon is different. This is the conference center for all elected members of the 577 constituencies in France.
Every decision made here represents the support of the people in all constituencies!
Only by controlling this place can we control the whole of France. Otherwise, just grabbing Paris is of no use!
When Rochefort's carriage arrived near the grand Palais Bourbon, he found that the place was completely surrounded by a sea of people.
The Bourbon Palace was built by Louis XIV for his daughter in 1722. How could the famous Sun King have wronged his daughter, so this palace was built extremely luxuriously and on an unprecedented scale.
The huge platform foundation built up by thirty steps made people on the street just look up. Twelve huge Roman columns formed the corridor of the main entrance.
The six exquisite statues looked at everything in front of them with compassion. From the Great Revolution to the present, if they had become spiritual masters, they would probably sigh at this great change.
There is a long iron railing wall between the Bourbon Palace and the main street. Through the beautifully cast railings, people can see the members of Congress coming in and out, and can even hear the quarrels inside from the wind.
Outside the wall were the French Praetorian Guards stationed shoulder to shoulder. All of these Praetorian Guards stationed at the Bourbon Palace had their bayonets fixed and formed a gleaming bayonet formation in unison.
They are isolating tens of thousands of restless Paris citizens. These soldiers are not as confused as the soldiers in other military camps, because they have just met a familiar general!
Thiers protected General Trochu and arrived at the Bourbon Palace half an hour ago. Now all the guards finally found their commander, and they suddenly had a backbone.
General Trochu issued an order requiring soldiers to maintain order in the Parliament and not allow chaotic people to attack the Parliament. Moreover, every member of Parliament who came from all over Paris needed to be protected by soldiers before entering the Parliament.
But Trochu also took into account the sensitive emotions at the moment. He asked the soldiers to restrain themselves from shooting and not to anger these citizens.
From that moment on, bayonet arrays were deployed to isolate the citizens of Paris.
Not a quarter of an hour after General Trochu entered the Parliament, Blanqui came here with more members of the National Guard. Blanqui wanted to enter the Parliament but was flatly refused.
"I don't care what your status is, this is the National Assembly, this is the Bourbon Palace... only members and staff can enter!"
"We don't care how much support you have from the people, because you don't have the status of a member of parliament now... You haven't gone through the legal election process, so we won't recognize you... Back off!"
Blanqui's face was livid with anger, and every word the soldier said hurt his heart.
It is true that I do not have any official status, have never been an official or participated in an election, but can you blame me? The French Emperor wanted him from the beginning to the end, and he spent most of his life fighting against the empire.
Millions of workers are waiting to vote for me, but I have no way to enter the election process... Is it my fault? This is the oppression of the French Emperor!
But the soldiers don't care about this. They just act in accordance with the law. If you are not a member of parliament, they will not let you in!
"The law stipulates that citizens have the right to observe the parliament... Don't I even have the right to observe the parliament?" Blanqui shouted angrily.
The guarding officer curled his lips and said, "I'm sorry, the Palais Bourbon has limited space and can't accommodate so many of you spectators! And this is still a special period, so I can't let you in..."
"Everyone retreat... Whoever dares to charge forward is attacking the French Parliament and challenging the country's fundamental authority!"
"That is to be the enemy of the entire French people! From south to north, from east to west, from the mainland to overseas colonies... This is the common National Assembly of all France!"
"No one is allowed to attack! Stay back..."
Thousands of soldiers collectively shouted, "Stand back...No storming of the Parliament!"
At that moment, the momentum of the regular army overwhelmed these citizens. Many people subconsciously took a step back, and even the guns secretly hidden by the National Guard dropped.
With a snap, a pistol fell to the ground. The expressions of the guarding guards changed greatly. Countless rifles were raised at the same time and aimed at the self-defense team member.
"You dare to come to Parliament with weapons... What are you going to do? You are going to violently attack the National Assembly! God, you are making an enemy of the entire French people!"
