Under Gaudin's instigation, these militia commanders finally unified their thinking and decided to fight for the Duke of Orleans to the end.
After all, they are all the Duke's accomplices, and they have already reached the stage of rebellion. There is no way out. If the Duke fails, they will have nothing to gain, so no matter how dangerous the road ahead is, they can only bite the bullet.
superior.
Under the supervision of the officers, the militiamen who were temporarily recruited also changed their original lazy posture and looked at the palace not far away as if facing a formidable enemy.
Then, Gaudin sent an envoy with a white flag to the position of the palace guard and conveyed the conditions he had drawn up for the Duke of Orleans: As long as His Majesty the King is willing to sign the abdication statement within today, then the King's life can be preserved.
My family and all my property are safe, and I can send gifts to the king and his cronies out of the country without any embarrassment.
All that's left is to wait.
Gao Dan stood behind the barricade facing the palace, looking gloomily at the palace in the distance, hoping for good news - even though he knew in his heart that the hope was very slim.
With such slim hope, he waited quietly to confirm the time by looking at his pocket watch.
Winter nights always come early.
——
Immediately, on the other side of Gaudan, Duke Treville also received the news of the arrival of the envoy. Likewise, he also knew the conditions passed by the envoy.
After the riot started, according to His Majesty the King's order, he was responsible for the guarding of the palace. However, he had no military experience, so he handed over the specific defense and command to a few trusted officers, and then took charge of coordinating the work himself.
At the same time, he has been encouraging the king to continue to support him and not be defeated by this kind of mental pressure.
After hearing the conditions brought by the messenger, Duke Treville sneered in his heart.
He understood the king's character. If it were in the past, at this critical moment, his Majesty the king might really shrink back and hand over the throne; but it is different now. Although the situation is still close to despair, the king can see other people.
The possibility and hatred for the Duke of Orleans made him rather hand over the kingdom to the devil than give it to this royal family member.
What's more, Duke Treville has been deliberately fanning the flames and inciting hatred in the king's heart, allowing His Majesty the King to continue to delay.
With every extra day of delay, the Bonaparte family's hopes will increase, and their own contributions will also increase. Although the rewards will not be given directly to themselves, they are enough.
"Dad..." While the Duke was deep in thought, a young man wearing ordinary citizen clothes came to the Duke's side.
This handsome young man with blond hair and blue eyes is his son, the next generation of Duke.
Like his father, his son is also named Philip - a name that has always been used by the main branch of the Treville family. His grandson is also named Philip.
As the son of a duke, Philip often moved around the palace. After being given the important task by the king, Duke Treville even regarded his son as his liaison officer, letting him deliver news from all sides.
Unlike the Duke who was calm and composed, this young man had not seen so much of the world, so there was unconcealable nervousness in his expression.
"Calm down!" Looking at his son's appearance, the Duke couldn't help but frown.
Then he asked again, "What's the matter?"
"The militias outside are under martial law and it seems they are about to launch an attack." Philip whispered.
"I know." The Duke was not surprised, "They just came here with an ultimatum."
This news made Philip's face change color slightly. Just as he was about to say something more, the Duke interrupted his son, "What's the news from your uncle now?"
"Uncle has already contacted Marshal Soult and the others. I just saw him today." Of course Philip did not dare to neglect his father's question. "He asked me to tell you that Soult and Talleyrand have already contacted a group of people."
Those in Parliament and the army who are dissatisfied with the Duke of Orleans and hope to stabilize the situation as soon as possible claim to be stabilizing faction. As long as you force the Duke of Orleans to attack the palace, they will make noises in Parliament and the country, insisting on the establishment of a provisional government to stabilize the overall situation.
We cannot rush to establish a new king..."
Provisional government?
The Duke immediately understood what was going on.
Obviously, the news that the Bonaparte family had returned to France also gave some neutrals who had stayed out of the matter the hope of fishing in troubled waters, so they also changed their wait-and-see attitude and were also ready to make a move.
This group of people planned to temporarily take over the situation when the main branch of the royal family and the younger branch were in conflict, and then act as the "king choosers". In this way, they could obtain the greatest concessions between Orleans and Bonaparte.
No one expects this provisional government to last long, but as long as it exists, it has the value of being bribed.
No matter what they think, as long as they can delay the Duke of Orleans' succession to the throne, it will be beneficial to the Bonaparte family at this time - in other words, it will also be beneficial to their own family.
"What does your uncle need me to do?" the Duke asked again.
"He hopes that you will stick to the palace and never let the Duke control the king." Philip quickly replied, "As long as you stick to this place, the Duke of Orleans will not be able to become the legal king one day, and his cruelty and despicability will be exposed to everyone.
This will discredit him in front of the public. And it will be difficult for him to become the king if his reputation is discredited - but if this place falls into the hands of the Duke soon, it will be a serious problem. "
The Duke also knew in his heart that with the King's "backbone", if he was captured by the Duke of Orleans, he would definitely sign a declaration of abdication in order to beg for mercy. At that time, although the Duke was burdened with the reputation of usurping the throne, he could at least rely on supporters in the Parliament to
With their support, they declared themselves king and then controlled Paris. At that time, the situation faced by the Bonaparte family was much more difficult, and those neutrals would definitely defect one after another.
Therefore, the focus of the situation now shifts to himself - how many days he can support the king will, in a sense, determine which family will have the last laugh.
This is glorious, but also dangerous.
Even the Duke with a deep personality couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at this moment, and then took a deep breath.
"How long will he need me to support him?" Then he asked his son.
"According to the news we have received, the King of Rome is close to Lyon. If he can control Lyon, then there will be a smooth road from Paris." Philip whispered to his father, "Uncle said, you must hold on for at least three days.
If you can, hold on for a week."
"A week..." The Duke sneered, "He really thinks highly of me."
After he finished speaking, he signaled his son to stop talking, and then looked out the window.
It was getting dark now, but he could still see the barricades in the distance.
The Tuileries Palace is in the center of Paris. It faces a large open space in front, and across the open space is a street. It is already surrounded by people, and the guards on the palace side have also set up obstacles and barricades.
To the left of the palace is the Seine River. This mother river of Paris has witnessed countless ups and downs in the city, and it also provides a natural defensive barrier for the palace.
Behind the palace is the famous Tuileries Garden. It is an open garden, so citizens often come and go, but at this moment, there are no pedestrians, and the guards even dug trenches there to prevent surprise attacks.
That's all.
The owner of the palace once owned hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of land and tens of millions of subjects. Now he only has this small corner of his territory left - and he is destined to lose even this small corner of his territory soon.
But at least now, he can still control this small piece of land.
Since being given the important task by the king, Duke Treville has responded with his usual rigorous attitude. When some guards and officers ran away when the situation was bad, he temporarily appointed some officers and counted the number of guards.
Then he took out a large amount of property from the palace to temporarily "increase pay" for these guards, and promised that as long as they continued to persist, they would be generously rewarded.
Thanks to his unremitting efforts, the guard team, which was originally floating in the hearts of the people, finally settled down a little, and at least there was hope of persevering.
At the same time, there is a large amount of food and wine stored in the palace, so there is no need to worry about shortage of supplies in a short period of time - let alone a week, it will not be a problem for a month.
If the regular army came to attack, the situation would be very bad, but fortunately it was the militia. The militia usually means that there is no strict training and organization, and the equipment is very ordinary - at least there will not be the kind of cannons used to siege the city, and there will be no heavy weapons.
With fire support, it was not easy for them to attack the temporary fortress-like palace.
In addition, the narrow streets of Paris are not convenient for these people to gather and maneuver.
Therefore, if you want to stick to this place, it doesn't seem to be difficult as expected.
Although Duke Treville has no military experience, in this small space, he does not need any special genius. He only needs to use his willpower to stabilize people's hearts and let them continue to persevere.
After weighing the calculations for a long time, the Duke finally made up his mind.
"Go back and tell your uncle, I know, I will stick here...at least for a week." He said coldly. "Also, if you leave this time, don't come back. You made your choice before you go to us.
Take your wife and children with you to the safe house. Paris will be in chaos next, so you must not make any mistakes."
"Dad..." Seeing his father say this, Phillip's heart suddenly tightened.
He wanted to say something more, but he didn't know where to start. In the end, he couldn't help crying.
"You must take care of yourself. This king is not worth your life. If you really can't hold on anymore, just surrender... We still have a way to go anyway."
"It's not your turn to teach me what I want to do. You just do your own thing." The Duke interrupted his son.
But although he seemed heartless, in his heart, he cared about his children and grandchildren.
When a person reaches this age, all he can care about are his children and grandchildren.
"Is Charlotte okay..." he asked finally.
"Uncle said she was well taken care of." Philip quickly choked up and replied, "She seems to like her uncle's family very much, especially her cousin Xia Lu. The two of them play well and have a harmonious relationship."
"Very good, we are a family connected by blood after all..." Duke Treville was immediately relieved, and most of the worries in his heart disappeared.
Then, he told his son, "If anything happens to me, don't panic, let alone stay in the country to hold any funeral for me, follow the king and leave quickly. Our family will advance and retreat with the Wang family, and they will not forget it."
We are loyal. If things change again in the future, this loyalty can be exchanged for a lot of things."
"Dad!" Philip was heartbroken. He wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by the Duke's stern eyes.
"I'm talking about serious business, don't be emotional." The Duke said solemnly, "Next, at least in the foreseeable future, we will have to rely on your uncle. No matter I am here or not, you must protect it.
The relationship between each other must not be mutually exclusive. Also, Edgar’s illegitimate son..."
Philip had received orders from his father before about this matter, so he nodded quickly. "We have found the illegitimate son, and he is with us now."
The prince relaxed a little.
He didn't know the specific situation of his younger brother's family, but judging from his younger brother's attitude, he seemed to think that he would not have a grandson in the short term, so he pinned his hopes on this illegitimate child.
Therefore, this originally insignificant illegitimate son may now become the heir of the younger branch, and we must not let anything happen to him.
Of course, he is also worried that doing so will cause inheritance disputes among the next generation, but where can he take care of so much at this moment?
Let the next generation worry about the next generation.
After explaining all this, the Duke sent his son away, and shortly after Philip left, the sky gradually became dark.
The coming of night can only mean one thing - it's time for the ultimatum.
Under the urging of the Duke of Treville, the king showed his rare courage and flatly rejected the ultimatum.
Although the king knew in his heart that his throne might be lost, he still refused.
For no other reason than to drag the one he hates most at the moment with him into misfortune.
Although this kind of battle of spirits may not be wise, in the end it did not let down the pride of this royal family for hundreds of years.
And the next step is to meet each other in battle.
At the last moment of night, the Duke summoned all the officers and strictly ordered them to fight for the king until the end and wait for the next reinforcements.
He knew in his heart that there would be no reinforcements - even if there were, they would be too far away to be of any use.
But he wants to give people hope.
After all, once people have hope, they can do a lot of things.