As Emperor Napoleon's coffin entered Paris, the carefully prepared memorial activities surrounding him also reached their climax.
On the route of the coffin to Les Invalides, countless people were crowded together. Men, women, old and young were waiting eagerly in the tiny gaps in the crowd. However, although the crowds were crowded with each other, there were very few pushes or disputes.
, on the one hand, this is because of the dense police and soldiers standing guard everywhere to maintain order, but on the other hand, it is also because the solemn and sad mood dominates the crowd, making people no longer interested in fighting and quarreling with each other.
Aiglon, who was riding a war horse, accompanied by the Minister of War, Marshal Soult, followed the artillery carriage that was loading the coffin and slowly moved forward, and witnessed with his own eyes the grand ceremony he had created.
The effect is excellent, and probably unprecedented
He firmly believed that the funerals of future imperial emperors (including his own) would never be more grand than this one.
It’s not just because of budget constraints that we can’t have such a grand show, but more importantly, no one of the younger generation can win such a high reputation from the people with their ups and downs life and their unforgettable achievements like their ancestors.
Spontaneous grief and empathy.
His failure precisely made him great. People forget his militarism on the throne, forget his tyranny of recruiting soldiers with all his strength, and forget his almost all-pervasive dictatorial iron fist. People only feel regret and sympathy for the emperor's fall.
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Under the attention of everyone, the rumble of the artillery carriage brought the coffin to the Champ de Mars.
This square is not big, but it has long been recorded in history, because it was here that the Great Revolution took a sharp turn - on July 17, 1791, radical revolutionary people gathered here and demanded the trial of the king, the abolition of the monarchy, and the establishment of a republic.
.The Marquis de Lafayette, who was the commander of the National Guard at the time, led the National Guard to drive away the crowd and ordered to shoot at the crowd who refused to leave and arrest "assassins who were mixed with the mob." The crowd fled in panic, and 50 civilians were shot.
Death, known in history as the Champ de Mars Massacre.
This action completely intensified the contradiction between the constitutionalists and the republicans within the revolutionary faction, discredited Lafayette, and put the king into a more precarious situation. From that time on, the king was deposed and the ghost of the guillotine
It seems to have become inevitable.
Today, the square has been decorated, with black gauze everywhere, and the solemnity of that year can no longer be seen.
What is even more embarrassing is that the protagonist of that year, the Marquis de Lafayette, was currently welcoming the emperor's arrival as a member of the National Assembly, together with other fellow members of the National Assembly.
Counting from that massacre, 40 years have passed. The heroic young marquis and revolutionary leader back then is now old and gray on the temples.
What grows old with his body is his former idealism - after witnessing the bloody storms that destroyed the kingdom and the old system, he can no longer identify with the idealism he once supported. He is no longer radical, nor
It stopped advocating drastic change and instead supported order and moderate constitutional monarchy and democracy.
Emperor Napoleon was indeed kind to him, because in 1792, in order to avoid the increasingly dangerous political environment and avoid becoming a victim of the revolution, he, who was a frontline general at the time, chose to abandon the army and flee with a few cronies to go to
However, he was captured by the Austrian army on the way and became a prisoner from then on. It was not until 1797 that Napoleon defeated the Austrians in Italy, so the Austrians released him in the post-war treaty.
After his release, he stayed in Hamburg, the Netherlands and other places for a period of time, and returned to France after the Brutal Moon Coup in 1799. Napoleon gave him an annuity from a retired general, which allowed him to run the family's original industry and spend his time as Emperor Napoleon peacefully.
During his more than ten years of rule, he did not get involved in politics again.
Later, when Emperor Napoleon was restored to power in 1815, he chose to participate in the National Assembly and became deputy speaker. However, after the defeat of Waterloo, he saw that the situation was extremely unfavorable to France, but he supported deposing Napoleon from the throne, so that France would no longer accept it.
The rule of the Bonaparte family.
Because of what he did this year, he became one of the four traitors that Emperor Napoleon talked about until his death on the desert island.
"While France was still rich in material resources, it suffered two unfortunate invasions, the consequences of which were due to the treachery of Marmont, Augereau, Talleyrand and Lafayette. I forgive them - and may the descendants of France also
in this way."
But to Aiglon, the old Marquis de Lafayette was not that dazzling.
Although the Marquis de Lafayette had cooperated with the Orleans family before, trying to overthrow the Bourbon family and then support the Orleans family on the throne, it was a "competition among heroes" after all, and everyone had their own positions, so it was not a crime.
Moreover, after Aigron returned to Paris, Lafayette, who was serving in the Paris National Guard at the time, "understood the general situation" and after a brief negotiation with Aigron, he voluntarily chose to give up resistance, allowing Aiglon to retake the capital without any bloodshed, and to attack Aigron.
According to Long Lailai, he can be regarded as having made a meritorious service, and at least he is not eligible to be liquidated.
It is worth mentioning that after being dismissed from his post, although the plan failed, Lafayette's political desire did not completely disappear. He returned to his hometown to participate in the parliamentary election organized by Aiglon, and was elected as a member of Parliament with his own prestige
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The Marquis of Noirtier, who was in charge of the election at the time, secretly asked Aigron if he would allow the Marquis to be elected.
Aigron directly replied that there was no need to use any methods against him. After all, nothing could happen to him. Moreover, his political stance was leaning toward the monarchists and he was at odds with the Bourbon family. Therefore, even if he had any grudges with the Bonaparte family,
He must also be able to accept the dynasty of the Bonaparte family.
Sure enough, as he expected, the Marquis de Lafayette did not join any party after becoming a member of the parliament. He only participated in parliamentary affairs as an independent and moderate opposition. During his speech in parliament, he expressed his views on the empire.
The government did have a lot of criticisms, but they were mainly focused on the government's "rough methods and suppressing public opinion" and other indifferent aspects. On the contrary, they did not comment too much on the main policies of Agron and the imperial government - but
It is conceivable that after decades of ups and downs, Lafayette, who has grown old, really does not want to bother anymore.
Aiglon was very tolerant of this kind of harmless opposition who just complained a few words, which was just a good way to show his generosity. So the two of them got along peacefully, even occasionally meeting in public.
, Aigron will also greet this "living fossil" a few times.
Standing with the Marquis de Lafayette and others were members of the government, and the leader was naturally the Prime Minister of the Empire, Prince Talleyrand.
This person is even more of a heavyweight. Although he was once an important minister of Emperor Napoleon, and although he relied on the emperor to obtain the prince's title, the two had completely fallen out in the late period of the emperor's reign, and he was almost forced to withdraw from diplomacy.
The minister was ousted from his position.
Prince Talleyrand was naturally unambiguous. After being ousted, he actively participated in the conspiracy against Napoleon in France and abroad, leaked various intelligences, and even incited Napoleon's generals to disobey in 1814, forcing Emperor Napoleon to abdicate.
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If there were a "ranking list of people Napoleon hates most", Prince Talleyrand would definitely be one of the top three, and even have a chance to take the top spot.
However, history is always joking, because the Bourbon family also hated Talleyrand very much, so they left him aside. In order to regain power, Talleyrand secretly colluded with the Bonaparte family, and used his many years of experience to
His rich experience in coups, as well as his accumulated political prestige and connections, helped Aigron regain the throne. He himself also became the prime minister of the empire as a result of the reward afterwards, and became an indispensable senior minister in the early days of Aigron's rule.
The emperor lost everything and eventually died on an isolated island, but the prince had the last laugh and could still touch power until his last breath.
He was even a guest of honor and one of the hosts at the funeral.
Anyone who is familiar with the inside story of that year will probably find this situation a bit sad.
At the grand funeral when the emperor returned to Paris, Lafayette, Talleyrand, and half of the "Four Traitors" actually gathered together. If it weren't for the fact that Aiglon liquidated Marshal Marmont, who had become a dead tiger as soon as he returned home, plus
If Marshal Augereau had died in 1816, they would probably all have attended the emperor's funeral together as "backbones of the empire". This is really a bit ironic.
However, Emperor Napoleon, who was used to seeing the ups and downs of the Revolutionary Era, would only laugh at this... a small scene.
When the gun carriage passed through the square, Prince Talleyrand, the Duke of Bassano, the Marquis of Lafayette, the Marquis of Noirtier and others also came forward to express their condolences to the emperor.
They were all elder statesmen who had personally dealt with the emperor, and they recalled the past events in their minds. Naturally, everyone had complicated expressions.
Among these people, Prince Talleyrand was the calmest. His wrinkled and haggard face showed no expression at this time, and he just looked at the coffin in front of him calmly.
Indeed, for Prince Talleyrand, who had jumped repeatedly, if he had mourned for every leader he had served, he would have died of tears long ago.
He could calmly witness the death of King Louis XVI and his queen, who he had once loyal to, went to the guillotine one after another, so how could he feel sad for Emperor Napoleon?
At this moment, his eyes were blank and unfocused, as if he was looking at some existence in the dark.
More than ten years of working together and thirty years of grievances are finally settled today.
You hate me, and I did betray you, but I didn't overthrow you, because no one can overthrow you except yourself... I only betrayed you after confirming that you no longer have reason and judgment.
That's all.
It was you who destroyed yourself and ended up like this.
Yes, you gave me many rewards and I owe you a favor, but I put your son on the throne and worked hard to maintain his empire. Isn't this enough to compensate you?
So, rest in peace, brother...wait a few years and we can have a good chat...
Naturally, Aigron couldn't hear what Prince Talleyrand was saying, but at this moment he felt the subtle and complicated emotions of these old people when they faced the coffin of Emperor Napoleon.
It is a mixture of admiration and disgust, regret and regret, joy and melancholy, which can only appear when the elderly look back on the past.
For Aigron, the past is the past, so he can put aside the past "grievances" between these people and Emperor Napoleon. For him, the most important thing is the present. As long as they cooperate with him now, then
All "crimes" are negligible.
He didn't really have any deep-rooted hatred for Marshal Marmont who had personally operated on him as soon as he returned home. He just needed to find a big shot to establish his authority over the various factions, and Marmont was just the right person to be this unlucky guy.
Now, whether it is Prince Talleyrand or the Marquis de Lafayette, these people are already in their twilight years. They are already living specimens of history, and I am afraid they will become real fossils in a few years. Why should he bother with them anymore?
What about calculation?
In addition to government officials and members of both houses of Congress, celebrities from all walks of life also continued to pour into this already huge funeral procession, so much so that it even stretched for several kilometers, extending from the street to the square, and then slowly followed the coffin.
Moved and rushed towards the Invalides.
Invalides, this is the end of this journey.
This building, which represents the military honor of France, is naturally the most suitable to be the final mausoleum where the emperor is buried.
Aigron was quite satisfied with the original arrangement of the historical line, so he did not make any changes and directly decided on the idea of burying the emperor in the Invalides, which would become the totem of the empire from then on.
And to end it for the emperor in such a grand way is worthy of him - or in other words, this is what he should have gotten.
Surrounded by the Guards cavalry, Aigron got off his horse, and then walked into the Invalides with his family, Marshal Soult, Prince Talleyrand and others, and walked towards this place together.
The end of the ceremony.
When the artillery cart rushed into the Invalides with a rumble, the salutes that had been waiting outside began to roar.
The earth was slowly shaking, just like the commander had experienced one battle after another.
In the midst of this tremor, Agron and Teresa walked beside the coffin and walked together to the underground mausoleum prepared for the emperor in the church of Invalides.
Then, they witnessed with their own eyes that the emperor's coffin was placed in the sarcophagus here.
Of course, this is just the end of the ceremony, and the emperor's mausoleum is not completed. Next, the empire's craftsmen will continue to build the emperor's mausoleum, and finally make it what tourists can see later. And in this mausoleum
Next to it, there are some "vacant seats", which will naturally be reserved for the descendants on the throne in the future.
In other words, after the death of Aiglon and subsequent emperors, they will also be buried here with similar ceremonies, surrounding their ancestors and sharing the glory of their ancestors.
Now, he has truly completed the journey of his life, and can rest in peace in heaven, becoming the patron saint of the empire and his descendants.