Descending On France 1780
Chapter 56 - 56 052 The Curtain Opens

56: 052 The Curtain Opens 56: 052 The Curtain Opens The gentlemen in Paris were thus playing bridge, sipping coffee, and critiquing their King freely.

Louis XVI never seemed to consider that letting these gentlemen discuss him freely could have unfavorable consequences, nor did he think to regulate the various opinions expressed in Parisian society.

Perhaps he had considered it, but he was powerless because his finances relied heavily on borrowing from Parisian bankers.

And those nobles who lent money to the royal family were precisely the hidden backers of Paris’s thriving publishing industry.

People like the Duke of Orleans supported the likes of Mirabeau to write a bunch of scandalous pamphlets about the Queen.

Under such conditions, controlling public opinion in Paris was practically impossible.

After arriving in Paris, Anning introduced Napoleon to Parisian social circles, only to quickly realize he had forgotten something: five years ago, he had exaggeratedly praised the Corsican Republic as a “model of freedom” well-known to all Parisians.

However, in reality, most gentlemen in Paris did not even know where Corsica was.

Upon realizing this, Napoleon threw a tantrum with Anning, but fortunately, his esteem for Anning in his heart outweighed this minor flaw.

After accepting this, Napoleon tirelessly informed people in Paris that the establishment of the Corsican Republic preceded the British Thirteen Colonies.

But Napoleon’s efforts soon came to a halt.

Because bad news arrived from Corsica—Napoleon’s father, Carlo Buonaparte, had died.

The main source of income for Napoleon’s family had been his father Carlo’s salary from managing the royal nurseries in Corsica, and Napoleon’s brother Joseph Bonaparte was not a good household manager, and his generous priest salary couldn’t contribute much to the family expenses.

With Carlo’s death, the entire financial burden fell on Joseph, which Napoleon suspected his brother simply could not handle.

At this time, Anning still had some money left over from his mission system rewards, which he proposed to lend to Napoleon to help him complete his education.

However, Napoleon refused.

He decided to cease all social activities from that day, focus on his studies, and strive to graduate early from the military academy in Paris to earn a military salary in the army.

From then on, Napoleon disappeared from the social scene of Paris.

Then Anning was teased by others saying, “Your little follower suddenly abandoned you.”

Anning didn’t really mind, as Napoleon burying himself in his studies to graduate early was in line with history.

Letting history follow its original course was not a bad thing; if history took a different turn, Anning would rather worry about not having to sit on the fence anymore.

The main thing Anning did in Paris was socialize, and his plan had never changed: meet as many influential figures as possible, and hedge his bets!

Thus, Anning did his best to “collect stamps”, having already connected with several leaders of the Girondists; the rest was to expand his groundwork in the Pei Yang faction.

Unfortunately, most members of the Pei Yang faction were nobles, and quite traditional ones at that, so they didn’t look favorably upon a leatherworker, which significantly delayed his progress in “collecting stamps.”

Lafayette, as a military man, would occasionally converse with Anning.

But Lafayette’s aim was also clear—he evidently wanted to use the title “American Founder” to squeeze into the Parisian upper circle, and Anning clearly was not considered part of that circle.

In the end, Anning still felt more comfortable mingling with the Jacobin group, who were all commoners without those barriers of status, and they treated Anning as one of their own.

Time entered the year 1786, and indeed, the Supreme Court of Paris repeatedly refused the requests of Louis XVI to raise taxes, with the King initially planning to send tax officers to scour the provinces, only to have them chased down and brought back by the gentlemen of the Supreme Court.

The financial straits of the King grew ever tighter, and it was said that the Queen had already started wearing old clothes.

Marat wrote an article furiously denouncing the Queen’s extravagant wastefulness, also involving Robespierre, who was far in Arras, saying that Robespierre had worn the same green coat throughout his university days, while the Queen disgracefully wore a new dress at every ball.

In May of 1786, Napoleon received his lieutenant’s military rank ahead of schedule.

Anning gave him a set of officer’s uniforms as a gift—the school issued officer’s uniform was too big for Napoleon, making him look like a walking clothes rack.

As a symbol of being an officer, Napoleon received his own sword, but on the day of the sword presentation, he told Anning: “My sword belongs to me, only the belt belongs to France, I will never wield my sword for France.”

Anning responded, “Of course, just follow your heart.”

Not long after the sword ceremony, Napoleon set off for Valence, where his assigned regiment was stationed, and the sixteen-year-old lieutenant would obtain his first subordinates and his first cannon there.

On the day of departure, Anning escorted Napoleon out of the city, then watched him start his journey with brisk steps—having refused Anning’s offer of a loan, Napoleon decided to walk to his regiment to report.

After seeing Napoleon off, Anning continued with his own studies, obtaining his graduation certificate and lieutenant’s rank a year later, and then became a mathematics teacher at a military academy in Paris, thanks to the maneuvering of the Duke of Orleans.

This was Anning personally asking the Duke for help; he did not want to leave Paris for a rural regiment, as that would keep him far from the center of the upcoming storm.

How else to hedge his bets!

On the day he received his military uniform, Christina, who was on duty at the palace, took a leave of absence and returned to throw a small celebration for Anning with Vanni.

According to Christina, Efforts to economize had already begun inside the Versailles Palace; some rooms were no longer used, and the royal tailors were constantly racking their brains to alter the Queen’s clothes to make them appear new.

It was said that the Queen complained to Louis XVI every day, while His Majesty often locked himself in his tool room, tinkering with his locks.

Later that year, the King reinstated Necker, who had been dismissed, hoping that he might enact the same “magical wizardry” to solve the financial problems as he had before.

But this time, Necker was out of solutions.

In 1788, a whole year of natural disasters came.

Crops failed, the price of bread skyrocketed, and complaints could be heard everywhere.

Mid-year, Anning received a long letter from Napoleon, who excitedly wrote: “Disasters have come!

There are peasants all around my station who can’t get food, and the profiteers in the city are hoarding and speculating tremendously; bread has risen to 30 sous each!

Is the great change you predicted coming soon?”

Anning replied to Napoleon: “Yes, under such circumstances, if the King foolishly gathers representatives of the common people, everything will be like a convex lens facing the sunlight, concentrating all the heat to one point, turning white-hot, inevitable to ignite!”

At the end of 1788, unable to bear it any longer, Louis XVI officially ordered the selection of representatives, preparing to convene the Three Estates in 1789, which had not been held for 160 years.

The day this news came out of Versailles, Anning deliberately treated himself well.

He was already prepared; the collection of contacts was complete, and the hedging performance was about to begin—

Firstly, his initial task was to get himself selected into the Third Estate.

Without entering the Third Estate, he could only be an observer, bobbing up and down in the tumultuous epoch, becoming a passerby.

Even if he recognized many influential figures, as a commoner, he would not be able to utilize these connections.

Only by personally participating in the events, could he truly play the elegant role of a fence-sitter.