Chapter 246 The fanatical Paris and the chameleons' avoidance instinct
That morning, Robespierre was presiding over the National Assembly.
Suddenly a tall, thin citizen wearing a liberty hat rushed into the meeting hall and shouted: "Marat has been assassinated!"
Robespierre scolded seriously: "Don't spread rumors, who are you?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker, but I didn't spread rumors. I live next door to Mr. Marat, and I saw with my own eyes that the bodyguard General Frost sent to Mr. Marat ran to the city defense headquarters to report the situation as if he had lost his soul!"
Danton stood up: "Speaking of which, Marat did not come to watch the parliament."
Robespierre: "Calm down Danton. Marat has guards sent by Frost. Let's wait for the official report from the city defense headquarters. If such a big thing happens, they will definitely report it."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door was opened again, and in came the Minister of War, Lazar Cano.
Carnot looked serious, and after scanning Danton and Robespierre in turn, he said: "According to the news we just received, the friend of the people and revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat has just been assassinated. The murderer is a A lady."
As soon as he finished speaking, Talleyrand stood up and asked loudly: "What, it's a lady? So did our friend of the people die on a romantic debt?"
Talleyrand's words immediately aroused discussion.
Because Marat is ugly, his death in a romantic debt will definitely become a legend in Paris.
Someone whispered: "Style debt? That Mara?"
"It's a lot of fun."
Robespierre knocked on the table hard: "Quiet! Quiet! I believe in my friend's noble character and he will not die on romantic debt! There must be some misunderstanding!"
Lazar Cano nodded: "Mr. Marat has made many enemies. General Frost has been worried about his personal safety for a long time, so he sent him a bodyguard.
"According to the escort, this woman claimed to have reported to Marat the remnants of the Girondins.
"Mr. Marat let her into the room without any suspicion. He was taking a shower when the assassination occurred."
Kano's words caused another uproar: "Taking a shower!"
“You still say it’s not a romantic debt?”
Robespierre: "Quiet! So Carnot, are you sure he is hopeless?"
"Yes, he is not breathing. I'm afraid even the best doctors can't do anything. We caught the assassin. She stayed at the scene and did not escape."
Robespierre: "Then bring her to the Assembly immediately, and we will try her!"
Robespierre looked extremely angry, his whole face turned red. The Incorruptible had never been so angry at a meeting.
Lazar Cano nodded, then winked at the soldiers behind him.
So a woman wearing a blue and white striped dress was brought into the parliamentary meeting room.
When women walked in, another comment arose: "She's so beautiful."
"Mara is quite lucky."
Robespierre slammed the table hard, interrupting the whispers. Then he stared at the woman and asked: "What is your name? Who ordered you to assassinate Marat?"
The woman raised her head high: "My name is Charlotte de Corday, from Normandy. No one instigated me. I felt that Mr. Marat's radical measures were a bit too much, so I used this method to persuade him!"
Someone in the parliament room immediately muttered: "Corday? Is she the daughter of Lord Corday in Normandy?"
Robespierre heard this clearly and immediately pointed at Charlotte Corday's face and asked: "Are you an old noble?"
Corday held her head high: "Yes! But I am also a republican! I have always been a loyal reader of the People's Friend newspaper, but recently too much blood has been shed, and many innocent people have been sent to the guillotine!"
Robespierre was stunned and interrupted Corday: "No! In my opinion, we have not killed enough now, and there are still fish like you that have slipped through the net and are still lingering! More resolute measures must be taken.
, clean you all out!"
As he spoke, Robespierre looked around the entire venue and loudly advocated: "Blood debts must be paid with blood. Starting from Miss Corday, catch all the enemies of the Republic hidden in the crowd. Their only place to go is the guillotine."
!”
Robespierre had always been cautious and restrained before. Because of this, the effect of his anger now was many times stronger than that of ordinary people.
For a time, no one in the entire meeting dared to refute him, and even Bishop Talleyrand, who had always been able to do things with ease, tightly shut his mouth.
Robespierre: "Now, let the vote begin. Madame Corday will be punished by the guillotine!"
**
Robespierre was not the only one who was angry.
After learning about the assassination of Marat, the Friend of the People, the people of Paris expressed their attitude through actions.
In front of Mara's apartment, there were piles of flowers sent by people from all walks of life.
The murderer, Charlotte Corday, was sentenced to death by the Assembly that day and was taken to the Place de la Revoluciation—where the largest guillotine in Paris stood.
On the way to the execution ground, a huge crowd of people came to watch, and everyone spat at her in the prison car.
There was also a child who threw excrement at Kedai, and a ball of excrement hit her chest directly.
The crowd angrily shouted: "Kill her!"
When the prison van arrived at Revolution Square, the entire square was crowded with people, and there were tricolor flags and red liberty caps everywhere.
According to the general procedure, the condemned prisoner can give a short speech before putting his neck on the guillotine. This step is to highlight the principle of fairness after the Great Revolution: even criminals have the right to express their opinions.
Corday faced the angry crowd and shouted: "I did this to stop the madness! You are all crazy!"
However, the crowd retorted even louder: "She's talking nonsense!"
"We will not listen to the slander of the enemies of the Republic!"
"Shut her mouth!"
The executioner stepped forward and forcibly dragged Corday, who was still speaking, to the guillotine, pressed her body down, and stuck her neck into the slot of the machine.
The band started to play.
At the last moment of his life, Corday shouted: "I curse you! Curse all sins in the name of freedom!"
The executioner turned on the switch of the guillotine, the knife fell from the sky, and Corday's head rolled into the basket that was soaked in blood.
People in the audience cheered.
Talleyrand looked at the fanatical crowd in the stands, shook his head slightly, and said to Fouche beside him: "It's over, I feel that Paris will fall into complete fanaticism. Why don't you go somewhere else to hide first?"
?”
Fouche nodded: "I think so too, so I'm going back to my hometown of Lyon."
Talleyrand raised his eyebrows: "Leon... say hello to General Frost's old father for me."
Fouche looked at Talleyrand: "Aren't you going, Your Excellency, Bishop? People like you and me who don't have a quick background... No, even people with a very clean background cannot guarantee that they will sit back and relax in Paris."
Talleyrand smiled: "I am going to London to carry out a diplomatic mission."
Fouche laughed loudly: "Hahaha, as expected of you."