Before seven o'clock in the evening, Degene came back. He hurried upstairs to find Deng Fei and Zhao Xin, and told them what he had learned.
The place where the king and his family were imprisoned was called the "Temple Tower", and it actually had something to do with the Knights Templar. It was the earliest stronghold of the Knights Templar in Paris. After the collapse of the Knights, it has been idle. The main building is a 50-meter jagged square spire tower. The city wall has an average thickness of four meters, a total of four floors, and turrets at the four corners. There is a small tower on the front of the main tower, and there are two turrets on both sides of its narrow building. The king's family was locked in the small tower.
Deng Fei asked: "Where are the defense facilities? How many guards are there?"
Degene took a sip of wine and said: "This is not clear yet. But when I passed by the entrance of the great monastery, I saw a dozen National Guard soldiers standing guard."
"Great monastery?"
"Yes, if you want to enter the Temple Tower, you must pass through the Great Monastery."
Zhao Xindao: "Can you find the floor plan?"
"I mentioned it to my father, and he said he would go to the Royal Library to look for it tomorrow."
After hearing this, Zhao Xin said to everyone: "It's just our first day here. Don't be in a hurry. We'll get the floor plan first."
Elu said: "How about I take someone over there tomorrow to have a look?"
Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "We must not get involved in these things openly. We came to Paris with such a big fanfare, and there are only a lot more eyes around us. Needless to say about those servants, the Russians and British are definitely paying attention. Follow our every move."
At half past seven, the butler Bu Wei came to report that the carriage to take them to the banquet had arrived. In addition to Zhao Xin and Deng Fei, the people going to Beihai Town were also accompanied by Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji, as well as eight special operations battalion soldiers pretending to be followers. In addition, De Guigne also accompanied him as a representative and translator of the French East India Company.
Because today's dinner is a state banquet, it will be held in a building on the south side of the Tuileries Garden on the right bank of the Seine, which is also the office of the Civic Association. When Zhao Xin and the others were brought into the hall by the mayor of Paris, all the French people present applauded and the band beside them immediately started playing soothing music.
The French people present were all smiling, but they were whispering to each other frequently. They were talking about the unique faces and clothes of the people in Beihai Town.
Deng Fei was still wearing the white navy uniform with the rank of major general. The medals and medals on the left side of his chest were densely covered, and the golden ribbon hanging from his left shoulder to his chest was even more conspicuous. It was gilded. The brass pendants sparkled in the light. You must know that the European army uniforms in this era did not yet have decorative patterns on their uniforms. They would not appear until Napoleon became emperor.
This time, Zhao Xin pretended to be cowardly and stood behind Deng Fei on the left side. He was also wearing a navy uniform, but his medals were much shorter, and he also had the rank of major. People who didn't know it might have thought he was a coward. Just an assistant or follower.
Is this still Chinese?
Fortunately, Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji, who were traveling with them, were both wearing wide robes and long sleeves, with jade belts hanging around their waists, square scarves made of black gauze on their heads, and a fan in their hands. Let the French people present believe that they are indeed Chinese.
The French were looking at the people in Beihai Town, and Zhao Xin was also looking at the French present. He glanced around and saw many familiar faces. Although the people in his impression were all portraits in textbooks and were somewhat different from real people, he could immediately recognize a thin man wearing a fluffy wig, a pointed chin and sunglasses as Robespierre ( This person is nearsighted).
It was hard for Zhao Xin to imagine that this tall, thin man who seemed harmless to humans and animals and could be blown down by strong winds could actually burst out with huge energy in the future and drag the entire French Revolution into a bloody abyss.
"We must obey the virtues of the people! Terror without virtue is evil, and virtue without terror is weakness!"
But then again, the person who created this bloody hand was actually Rousseau who had been dead for more than ten years. This leader of the Enlightenment gave Europeans two bloody hands - Robespierre and Kant; one of them sent kings and countless political opponents to the guillotine in the political field, and the other in the ideological field Sent the awesome God to the gallows.
Just as Zhao Xin was staring at Robespierre, the famous "ascetic" suddenly felt like a light on his back, as if there was a great danger hovering above his head. He quickly glanced around through the shading of the lenses, and then noticed that the tall Chinese man was looking at him with a smile, so he nodded and smiled politely. Only when the other person looked away did the feeling of danger disappear.
"That's weird, this guy?"
Hearing his friend muttering, Dandong standing beside him asked with concern: "My friend, what's wrong with you?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Maybe it's an illusion."
At this time, under the introduction of Deguigne, Deng Fei walked up to Eli Guardet, the current chairman of the National Convention. The people in the National Convention are also pretty cool. In order to ensure that each faction sits in a row and eats the fruits, the position of chairman is elected every two weeks. After the elected person steps down, he can continue to be elected every two weeks.
"General Deng, please allow me to introduce to you the President of the First French Republic and the Chairman of this National Convention, His Excellency Eli Guardet."
"Mr. President Guardet, distinguished members of the National Assembly, this is General Deng Fei, the commander of the fleet of the Republic of China in the East Indies. General Deng once led the navy of the Republic of China to defeat the navy of the Qing Empire many times. , also led a fleet to conquer Batavia, the largest Dutch city in East India..."
"Republic of China!" The National Assembly members present looked at Deng Fei and others with confusion and confusion, but also the joy of meeting a close friend. Unexpectedly, there is also a republican country in the distant and ancient East, which completely subverts their impression. As for the Dutch in Batavia, they love it to death!
De Guigne continued loudly: "In addition, what I want to explain is that Republican China is a regime established by a group of Chinese elites. They have led a group of peasants who yearn for freedom and democracy 10 years ago and are heading toward decadence and decline. The Qing Empire declared war. After ten years of struggle, Republican China has occupied a large area of territory, including Mongolia, with an area of more than 10 million square kilometers. I believe that in two or three years, they will complete the unification war and completely Destroy the rule of the Qing Empire!"
boom! ! ! The French people present were all shocked! Their jaws almost dropped to their feet.
Oh God! Ten million square kilometers, isn’t that almost 20 Frances? How big is the whole of Europe?
Robespierre was thinking about what he was doing ten years ago... Oh! I was in a lawsuit with my neighbor in my hometown of Arras over a lightning rod issue. Thinking of this, the eyes behind his glasses gradually brightened. It seems that today is the right time. If you have the opportunity, you must have a good chat with these Chinese people on the "people's virtue issue."
However, some people suddenly remembered the two major defeats that the Russians suffered in the past few years, and looked at Deng Fei thoughtfully.
Without further ado, after greeting each other, the four people from Beihai Town, the members of the National Convention and their beautifully dressed ladies came to sit down in the restaurant. Since there were no female guests in Beihai Town this time, Deng Fei took the lead and led all the male guests to their seats first. Then the female relatives took their seats.
In order to take care of the distinguished guests from afar, a woman and a man sat beside the foursome in Beihai Town. Zhao Xin and Deng Fei were fine, but Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji looked a little unnatural when they saw the women's white breasts. When Deng Fei saw this, he asked Degene to serve as the translator for the two of them.
Even though all the members of the National Convention are here today, the seats are still clearly distinguishable. The people closest to Deng Fei were Dandong, Desmoulins, Roland and his wife, and Condorcet; Robespierre sat diagonally opposite Zhao Xin, and Saint-Just, the 25-year-old chairman of the Jacobin Club, sat Next to him, Mara had a serious skin disease and was worried that it would be unsightly, so he went to the other side.
At present, the rivalry between the Montagnards and the Girondins is just beginning to show its signs. The Girondins had been trying to avoid a trial of the king, fearing that it would reignite the resistance of the royalist forces in the country and intensify the hostility of the European monarchies; while the leaders of the Montagnards such as Robespierre, Danton, Marat, Saint-Jean Sturt and others believed that democracy was not thorough enough and that killing the king was the only way to move towards a republic.
The problem is that this year's food shortage caught all the representatives of the National Convention off guard. The common people in Paris are once again facing the famine years of three years ago. Now there is the reality that there is no bread.
Not long after everyone sat down, the waiters in wigs brought out the carefully prepared dishes one after another, which looked like blooming flowers under the bright bamboo lamps and surrounding candles. Zhao Xin took a look and saw that the ingredients were rich, at least from the appearance, it could be seen that they were carefully cooked.
He didn't know that for today's meal, the mayor of Paris had worked hard and summoned many palace chefs who had been living among the people after the Revolution to prepare such a table.
You must know that there were no big hotels in France at this time. Even the larger "Hotels" were just family-style hotels composed of multiple small rooms. Moreover, this kind of "hotel" does not provide a wide variety of meals. The most is bread, milk, and two eggs!
Seeing a pile of knives, forks and spoons with different uses in front of them, Jiao Xun and the others did not take out their chopsticks this time. Degene had already taught them a lot when they were on the ship, and they didn't feel unfamiliar at all. After Guardette and Deng Fei finished their toasts, they started using it slowly and step by step, surprising the woman sitting next to them who was about to explain its use to them.
It is said that the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 led to the reshuffling of the original first, second and third grades. All aesthetic ideals in the monarchy era were declared ugly. The palace dining table culture that symbolized "imperial power and rank" was completely overturned. At least in Everyone at the table can speak freely and toast each other freely.
However, there were not many wine glasses and bottles on the banquet tables in these days. If you wanted to drink, you had to wait for the waiter to bring them over. The purpose of this is to prevent someone from poisoning the wine. Before the Revolution, even at palace banquets there was only one wine glass per table for everyone to take turns. Want to poison? Come on, let's hurt each other! Anyway, everyone has to take turns to drink the bottom of the cup.
Zhao Xin thought to himself, don't look at the people here who are shouting about freedom, equality and for the people. It won't be long before these guys start grouping together to exclude ordinary people. Some Jacobin MPs even publicly cursed the dinner arranged by the Sans-culottes as "pig food." As the conflicts intensified, the "equality theory" began to gradually collapse, and the revolutionary ideal was completely disillusioned on the table with messy cups and plates.
Later generations often said that the purpose of a dinner party is not just to eat, and it was the same in the eighteenth century. The reason why the mayor of Paris wanted to make such a big show was not only because Beihai Town was the first missionary to visit after the establishment of the "First French Republic", but also because he was also concerned about the rumored food. But you can't talk about this kind of thing at the dinner table, especially when women are present, and you can't talk about business, money, etc.
After dinner, when the waiters cleared the table and finally removed the tablecloth, the real conversation finally began.
The members of the National Convention holding glasses of wine began to ask about institutional issues in Beihai Town. Their first concern was what the Constitution of the Republic of China contained.
How should Deng Fei answer this question? He could only say that of course we also have an electoral system, but because the people are not well educated and the country is too large, it is currently only conducted at the administrative village level. As for age, it's fine if you're 18 years old.
"Land reform? Yes! We have clear laws. All land is state-owned, and the people only have the right to use it... Of course, the means of production must be in the hands of the state..."
"Decentralization of power? Of course, there is a committee for the military, administration, and legislation... The head of state is the descendant of the "last prince of the former Ming Dynasty". He was the leader who initially led the resistance to the Manchu regime. But he will not be emperor..."
When the French learned that the Supreme Head of State of the Republic of China did not even have a palace, and his family lived in an "ordinary residence" that was two or three times larger than this restaurant, they couldn't help but sigh in admiration...
"As for the handling of the emperor and nobles who brought the Qing Dynasty, the Supreme Court will be formed to try it. As for the specific matters...you see, I am a soldier, and soldiers cannot interfere in politics."
"Mr. Condorcet? I heard that you are a mathematician? My two companions have admired you for a long time. Mr. Deguigne, please help me translate..."
Deng Fei said that his mouth was dry and he kept drinking wine to quench his thirst. Many of the contents he talked about were discussed with him these days by Zhao Xin and were used to learn and apply them. While he was telling the story, Desmoulins, who was the editor-in-chief of the "Old Cordeliers", kept recording. He planned to sort it out overnight after returning and publish it in the newspaper tomorrow.
Zhao Xin stood for a while holding the wine glass. He couldn't understand the French, so he came to the door with the wine glass and planned to smoke a cigarette. As soon as I took out my cigarette, I heard footsteps coming from behind me. I turned around and saw that "Rousseau's hand" was actually following me.
"Mr. Zhao, can I have a few words with you?"
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