Thirty minutes later, Degine, who had been on the coast guard boat, stepped on the steps of the Le Havre Pier. Compared to when Cavalier and the others set off, the pier is now full of citizens who have heard the news.

Cavalier walked out of the boat, and a soldier who was waiting here came forward and whispered to him: "Private, the captain, let you take the man to the town hall, where he is waiting for you."

"knew."

Although the captain of the Coast Guard, Breville, was on the dock before, when he saw Cavalier back with Degenie from the telescope, the unknown fleet in the distance was still silent, and he felt much more at ease. Because he was anxious to report to the mayor, he kept a subordinate and returned to the town hall in advance.

Cavalier looked around and found that the black crowd was blocked from the dock and could not walk out even if he got on the carriage. He asked his soldiers to form a cordon and planned to open a road.

I don’t know if someone deliberately provoked trouble or what, but said that the Coast Guard brought back an Austrian. Because the First Republic’s army just drove the P-Austrian coalition out of the border last month, the people of Le Havre naturally would not give Degine a good face.

"Hang this Austrian!"

"Down with Austria!"

"Tie him up and hang him on an iron anchor and throw him into the sea!"

Second Lieutenant Cavalier rolled his eyes helplessly, walked to the cordon, and asked a pretty woman, "Who told you that there are Austrians?"

"Say that." After the woman said, she continued to raise her arms and shouted: "Down with the Austrians!"

The soldier who was holding a rifle on the side could not help but say, "He is not an Austrian, he is a French!"

"French?"

"He came back from the East and brought Chinese missions. There were also a lot of wheat! Wheat!"

"Wheat?" The woman was stunned, then looked happy and cheered: "Long live France! Long live the Chinese! Long live wheat!"

OK! Degenie became a hero in the eyes of everyone in the blink of an eye, and then the guys who rushed up raised their legs and lifted them into the air, and then got on the carriage without touching the ground. Cavalier followed with a few subordinates laughed and cried, and the crowd automatically flashed out a road that only allowed the carriage to pass.

The convertible freight cart was swaying on the way to the city hall. There were crowds of people trotting in front, back and left and right, shouting slogans excitedly until the cart entered the courtyard where the city hall was located, and these people still followed them regardless.

The guards in charge of guarding the city hall saw that the situation was wrong, and it was too late to close the door. Hundreds of people rushed into the yard and headed straight to the second floor.

In the conference room on the second floor of the City Hall, Captain Breville, the captain of the Coast Guard, was talking to several officials, including the mayor. Suddenly, the door of the house was pushed open from outside, and several guards holding muskets were pushed back. In front of them, there were dozens of male and female citizens.

"Bread! Bread! We want bread!"

"Wheat! We want wheat!"

Mayor Riale, who was sitting in the main seat, explained helplessly: "I have explained to you that the wheat is to be transported to Paris!"

"You officials only have Paris in their eyes. Do you want to starve us to death?"

Mayor Riale spread his hands: "I can't do anything, this is an order!"

Degine, who was crowding up the stairs in the crowd, heard the shouts of the crowd and asked curiously: "Lieutenant, what's going on?"

Cavalier didn't say anything, but shrugged. There were so many people around him, and he really didn't know how to speak.

Many people in another time and space know that one of the fuses of the French Revolution that occurred on July 14, 1789 was a national famine and the rise in the prices of Paris bread.

However, what many people don’t know is that although the king stepped down and the nobles and priests also died and ran away, the lives of the lower-class people did not get better.

There is a big difficulty in rebelling and seizing power between China and abroad in ancient and modern times, which is the supply of food in large cities with dense populations. Paris at the end of the 18th century was a metropolis with a population of 600,000.

For the First Republic of France, which had just been established for a month, if the 600,000 people in the city could not afford to eat or buy bread, the riot would happen again, and the rich would be the first to be affected.

In today's Paris city, the richest people are no longer nobles, but Gironde bosses and speculators. For example, George Jacques Danton, who served as Attorney General, made a fortune in these three years and took over the food supply of some of the troops.

Of course, the upstarts should try their best to avoid becoming the target of civilian plunder, so the supply of front-line troops and 600,000 people became a life-threatening event.

Originally, 1791 and 1792 were bumper years, and grain was not a problem. But this spring, several provinces in southern France encountered drought again, which also led to a reduction in wheat yield. Just after the summer, with speculators speculation, wheat prices began to soar.

In September, the price of a bag of unshelled wheat in the Paris market rose to 60 livres, and a pound of bread worth only 3 Sue rose to 6 Sue.

Faced with such a situation, the Paris Commune, responsible for municipal administration, demanded the issuance of a decree that restricted the highest price of grains, but the Gironde faction in power did not care about the lives and death of the people. Interior Minister de La Salle even proposed that the "invisible hand" would automatically adjust the contradiction between supply and demand, and using administrative means to calm prices is a violation of "rule of law and commercial freedom."

Therefore, the National Convention had to require provinces to transport grain to Paris regularly and in a regular and quantitative manner every month. Because Le Havre is close to Paris and is a harbor city, there will be merchant ships returning from Central America every now and then, so they are allocated more shares.

So for the civilians in Le Havre, you Parisians are enjoying food, but we have to watch ships of wheat and sugar being loaded and transported away directly, and then continue to buy high-priced bread.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! What is this? Aunt can tolerate it and it cannot tolerate it!

So when they learned that the Chinese brought thousands of tons of wheat, they went crazy. This time, no matter what, they should leave enough food to stabilize the price of bread, otherwise they would riot.

"We want wheat! Wheat!"

"I want wheat!"

In the conference hall, Mayor Riale was so angry that he was quarreled by the people. He spread his hands helplessly and asked, "Where did the wheat come from?"

"The Chinese have wheat! There is a consul who returned to China. He came with the Chinese fleet!"

"That's right! Thousands of tons of wheat!"

"Consul? Chinese?" All the officials in the room were stunned. Mayor Riale shouted: "Please come in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Cavalier brought Degine in. Mayor Riale said without waiting for the other party to sit down, "Did you bring the Chinese fleet?"

"Yes. There are three in total."

"Put wheat?"

"Yes, there are 4,000 tons in total. There are also a lot of tea, sugar and silk."

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of the officials in the audience instantly widened and their chins almost hit the table. Especially Mayor Riale, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he raised his hand and signaled: "Please sit down!"

Because he was sweating when he went upstairs just now, Degine took off his fur coat and put it on the chair. As soon as he sat down, he suddenly saw the door behind the mayor that was originally closed opened. A guy with short hair and wearing an officer's uniform poked out his upper body and looked at himself with a vigilant gaze.

Seeing that Degine noticed him, the man opened the door and walked out. When the officials present heard the sound of leather boots, they all turned their heads, with a little fear in their eyes.

From the expressions of the officials present, De Gigne speculated that this person should be appointed by Paris and sent to Le Havre's National Association.

He learned from St. Louis that since the success of the Great Revolution, the National Convention sent special commissioners to all places. These people were like local emperors, arbitrary and arbitrary; whoever wanted to lose his head would be immediately convicted by the court, and it would be useless to ask a lawyer.

The commissioner raised his chin and asked arrogantly, "What's the name?"

"Cretien Louis Joseph Degine."

"French?"

"Yes. Home is in Paris."

"From the East? Or the consul in Guangzhou?"

"Yes."

“In which year was appointed?”

"February 1787." After saying that, Degenie got up and took out the bag containing the appointment from the pocket on the inside of the coat, and handed it to Mayor Rial in front of him. The latter took it and took out the things inside, but did not open it, but handed it to the commissioner who was walking towards him.

"Please check it out."

Degine explained: "I was appointed by Bruni Dantel Casto, the commander of the East India Fleet. When I passed St. Louis, I heard that he had been appointed as a Rear General by the National Convention and was heading to the southern hemisphere for missions. Before that, I had been the second translator and secretary of the consulate of the Guangzhou Consulate. In addition, I also served as correspondent of the French Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Literature. This was my letter of appointment and the medal awarded to me."

OK, let’s talk about you, this guy, is the remnant of the old regime!

The commissioner took it expressionlessly and glanced at it. He threw it on the table without even looking at the contents, and said disdainfully: "China, I know. They have an emperor, and they are the old nests of autocratic."

Captain Breville, who had never spoken, argued: "No, citizen. We have always maintained friendly relations with China, and the late Arcade Hoang also helped us write the "Chinese Dictionary".

"We?" The commissioner's expression changed and he sternly said: "What are we! That's the stinky king of the old dynasty! Why are we? They did all their bad things, and the minions they left behind were moving everywhere! Those spies and profiteers... no matter where they come from, they must be eliminated! As for the Arcade Hoang you mentioned, he was the one who served for the stinky king. Fortunately, he died. If he was alive, he would definitely be sent to the gallows!"

After saying that, he pointed at Dejine and scolded with a ferocious look on his face: "He is also a remnant of the old dynasty!"

Ah?! Degine was stunned and thought to himself that this is still the France I know?

A woman yelled unconvincedly: "No! They are here with wheat!"

No matter what old dynasty or the new republic, the people support whoever can afford bread, and vice versa.

"Wheat? Hum~~" The commissioner showed a disdainful smile on his lips, and he quickly stepped forward and said to the woman: "It's so ignorant! The enemy has deceived you! You are like a group of lambs, and the tricks of wolves have confused you!"

When the civilians saw the special envoy flapping their teeth and claws, they seemed to be in a bad mood and couldn't help but retreat and retreated outside the door.

"Who dares to say that there is no poison in the wheat?" The commissioner glanced at the crowd, as if he was looking at a group of ants.

"It must be let go! I swear! A terrible trap! These spies, who use any means, are all-encompassing and stare at us! Those Austrians, Belgians, Prussians, and royalist rogues are always thinking about restoration! There are such people here! The Republic has laws, and I will deal with them, don't believe it!"

Seeing that the meeting was about to be led by the special commissioner, Degine stood up to defend himself: "Gentlemen, the Chinese mission I brought was not sent by the emperor of the autocratic dynasty, but revolutionaries who resisted the autocratic! They established the republic several years earlier than us!"

"Huh?" The officials present looked at each other. Due to the unsmooth trade between France and China over the years, their understanding of China was still more than ten years ago.

The commissioner also stopped, turned to look at Degenie, and said with curiosity: "Orients also understand republic? Are you kidding?"

"Why don't they understand? In "The Spirit of the Law", there are many contents and inspirations from Eastern philosophy."

Captain Breville said at this time: "I can prove this that my father had visited Arcade Hoang in Paris and asked him about his knowledge from the East, and Mr. Montesquieu was there at that time."

Captain Breville's words were very important. He was born into a local wealthy family and had been doing business for generations. His elder Breville has been engaged in maritime trade for nearly 30 years. In 1711, he led a fleet to Xiamen for tea trade. After returning, he made a fortune. Not only did he open a specialty salt shop in the city, but he also provided water for domestic use to the entire city. Forty years ago, when Le Havre was converted from a town to a city, he was elected as the first member of parliament.

Mayor Rialer looked at each other and believed Captain Breville's words.

Montesquieu is a famous name in France, especially "The Spirit of the Discussion on the Law". Almost everyone here has read it, but no one expected that he was inspired by Eastern philosophy.

In fact, it is not just inspiration. There are six parts in that book that directly quote the content of the conversation with Arcade Hoang, which shows the depth of the influence.

It is said that before the 19th century, due to inconvenient transportation between China and the West, there were very few Chinese people going to Europe, and only a dozen were well-documented.

Since these people are almost all Catholics and their overseas travel is not officially recognized by the Ming and Qing dynasties, their experiences did not appear in family or local chronicles and historical materials. Later generations could only explore the situation in the vast European national libraries and church archives.

Later generations generally believed that the earliest Chinese to arrive in Europe during the Ming and Qing dynasties was Zheng Mano, who was also the first Chinese Jesuit to conduct systematic study in the Roman Catholic Church.
To be continued...