Amid the weeping, the royal family took a carriage and embarked on their way to exile abroad. The Bourbon dynasty came to an end again.
When the royal family was in power, the number of people surrounding the royal family was like crucian carp crossing the river. However, after the royal family fell, there were very few people who were willing to follow the royal family in exile - those who originally relied on flattering the king and his family.
Most of the people who want to gain glory and wealth want to stay because they "can't let go of their families" and "lurk in the country to serve the royal family".
The royal family has a tolerant attitude towards the selfishness of these people, because they also know that most of the people in the world are people who tend to follow others. They originally did not expect them to abandon their homes and careers and follow them into exile. There is no need to break up in the end. Now
Leave each other a friendly farewell, and keep them in mind when dealing with each other in the future.
Therefore, the royal family gently encouraged them and allowed them to stay in the country. Only those who were most loyal to them followed them out.
The departure of the royal family does not mean that the political stage of this country has ceased. In fact, on the contrary, around the power vacuum left by them, careerists will cooperate or fight with each other, performing scenes of tragedies and comedies.
Among these careerists, the one who acted earliest and most deliberately was naturally the Duke of Orleans. With the help of his status in the royal family and his huge wealth, he had been confronting the royal family for many years, and finally seized the opportunity to forcefully
Shengdi overthrew the royal family.
After overthrowing the royal family, the Duke naturally seemed to be only one step away from the coveted throne.
However, due to sudden changes, this step could not be successfully passed, which made him extremely anxious and had trouble sleeping and eating.
But now that he has fired the first shot, there is no turning back. Even if it is not for the crown, but to preserve the family's property and status, he must go on bravely.
These days, in order to win the support of all parties, he has been running around, appointing officials and making wishes, just asking those powerful people to stand on his side. It was at this time that he finally got the news that Prince Talleyrand had returned to his side.
In his mansion, he appeared in front of the public.
Everyone knows that appearing at this point in time must mean that this old fox has smelled the wind and is ready to officially launch his usual conspiracy. In the past half century, this old thing has almost never missed a major political change.
.
After receiving the news of Talleyrand's appearance, the Duke of Orleans immediately led his people to visit the infamous prince.
Although he hated Prince Talleyrand very much in his heart, at this moment, Talleyrand's support was extremely important to him, so he was willing to pay the price he deserved to buy this old guy who was unjust and unfaithful.
In order to show his respect for the prince, the Duke only brought a few close relatives to the house, and he got his wish and received the prince's cordial hospitality.
Due to the chaotic situation, the originally smooth logistics traffic in Paris was temporarily disrupted, and the supply of materials was quite tight. Naturally, those delicacies disappeared from the citizens' tables. However, the prince may have been prepared and stored a large amount of supplies before the turmoil.
, so the dining table is filled with all kinds of exquisite meals, enough for everyone in this group to feast.
However, the Duke was not in the mood for a meal at the moment. He just wanted to find out Talleyrand's true attitude as soon as possible, and if possible, win the old guy to his side.
"The deposed king's family left yesterday, and we should enter a new era." After a brief exchange of greetings, the Duke of Orleans got straight to the point, assuming a victor's attitude, "The issues before us all are no longer relevant.
What’s more, how to end the tyranny, but to restore order as soon as possible and stabilize the situation, are you right?”
"Yes, I think so too." Talleyrand nodded.
Although he was old, his appetite seemed to be good. As he spoke, he swallowed a roasted oyster and drank a sip of table wine.
Seeing that Talleyrand agreed with his opinion, the Duke relaxed a little, but from the Prince's casual attitude, he felt that the other party was obviously a bit perfunctory - in the current situation, this kind of perfunctory attitude is definitely not
What he wants to see.
So, in order to persuade Talleyrand, the Duke came up with the words he had in mind, "Your Highness, you are old, and I am not young anymore. We have all witnessed the bloodshed in those years, so we all know that,
If this country falls into a desperate situation and is controlled by the most radical and crazy people, it will inevitably fall into madness. In this madness, order will disappear and wealth will disappear.
No matter how noble or wealthy a person is, they can lose everything overnight... And we are all property owners and the essence of the old era. Do you really want to see the past repeat itself and see us face that terrible thing again?
An incubus?"
Talleyrand did not take seriously the threat of the Duke of Orleans. He just chuckled.
"Sir, if I remember correctly, it was your family who actively participated in the revolution at that time... If the country fell into madness, you must also be credited..."
After Talleyrand pointed this out to his face, the Duke's face darkened and he was slightly embarrassed, but he quickly returned to normal, and then defended what he had done back then without changing his expression.
"At that time, our family adhered to fraternity and rationality and blindly devoted ourselves to it. We once sincerely believed that as long as we act in accordance with the best laws of mankind, we can break down the barriers of the old era, make the country look new, and let everyone
All citizens can equally enjoy the natural rights and interests - because of this, we voluntarily gave up our titles of nobility, and we dedicated everything to the country and the nation. However, everything that happened next proved that our ideas were wrong. The most beautiful words are often
It would bring about the craziest ending. My father paid the price with his life and I had to flee abroad..."
When talking about his late father, the Duke looked sad, paused, and then continued, "Just because we made a mistake before, we will not make the same mistake again... The deposed king
Although that set of perverse actions cannot be tolerated, we must not tolerate disorderly chaos and mob revolution, otherwise it will plunge the entire country into the worst situation! Prince Talleyrand, now I implore you to come with me.
Save the country, we don’t have much time left!”
In order to show his sincerity, the Duke of Orleans had already made enough gestures at this moment. He looked at the old man opposite with enthusiasm, as if he really had no selfish motives and only wanted to protect the country.
Naturally, he did not expect to win over Talleyrand when he acted like this. But in the so-called politics, we must first have a high-sounding righteousness, and then we can talk about those despicable and dirty transactions. He must first give both parties a chance to cooperate.
flag.
However, to his disappointment, despite his efforts to show goodwill, Prince Talleyrand still seemed unmoved and continued to eat slowly and leisurely.
"Don't you no longer have enthusiasm for the future of the country?" After waiting for a moment, the Duke asked without giving up. "At this critical moment, if you, who has an outstanding reputation, do not step forward but remain silent, it will inevitably happen.
It will disappoint the entire country...How can they agree that you hold important positions?"
By now, he's been very explicit. Either you're on my side, or you'll never get another chance at power.
This implicit threat made Prince Talleyrand finally stop his hand, and then glanced at the Duke coldly.
"Sir, do you seem to think that only you have the chance to decide who will be in charge?"
"Isn't it like this at this moment?" the Duke asked, "I responded to the call of the Parliament, defended the country and the nation in the face of tyranny, and bravely overthrew the tyrant - then based on this merit, shouldn't I take over?
Royal authority?"
"A coin has two sides. From the positive side, you overthrew the tyrant, but from the negative side, you drew a gun against the royal family. How to view this matter depends on everyone's position." Talleyrand remained calm.
Pointed out this point, "There is no doubt that you have indeed made contributions to the defense of Parliament, but this does not mean that you should naturally become the king, otherwise I would still think that the Marquis de Lafayette is qualified to be the king!"
Besides, wouldn’t it be strange for a riot to decide who can and cannot be king? This approach reminds me of the Constituent Assembly! It was the same assembly that deposed Louis X in the midst of public excitement.
Six Kings, we have to face a brand new era...and you, just a moment ago, were criticizing that era with me, how could you applaud it in the blink of an eye?" Lan
At this point, Talleyrand seemed to feel a little funny again. He looked at the Duke and twitched the corners of his mouth slightly, "Well, sir, even if everything you said is correct, how do you know that the Parliament will definitely be willing to do so?"
Will I hand over the throne to you?"
Talleyrand's series of clever rebuttals left the Duke of Orleans at a loss for words.
In the final analysis, the reason why he was able to overthrow the royal family was because King Charles X went against the grain after coming to power, the country's economy was sluggish, and public resentment was boiling; but "popular resentment" only means that the people hate the Bourbon royal family, and it does not mean that the people like him.
Therefore, he uses the authorization of the Parliament as the basis for his argument in every word. But according to the current situation, how much authority does the Parliament itself have in the ownership of the throne?
Even if the Parliament has authority, there are still two houses of Parliament: the Upper and Lower Houses, and the old nobles are full of the House of Nobles. It is impossible for them to agree to the resolution of "deposing the king and transferring the throne to the Orleans family" under any circumstances.
In the final analysis, he used violence to overthrow the king, but for his own political stance, he was unwilling to admit that he only relied on violence to usurp the throne. If the situation was under control, no one would dare to question his public lies.
But now, his authority is not enough to intimidate everyone, and he is not the only qualified successor to prestige in people's minds.
So when someone dared to question his legitimacy in person, his argument immediately crumbled.
The Duke was already extremely impatient with Prince Talleyrand's repeated contradictions. If he had followed his temper, he would have fallen out with this old man on the spot.
However, now was not the time to act willfully, so he could only suppress his anger and speak as calmly as possible.
"Then tell me directly, Your Highness, what do you want?"
"What I want is very simple - a leader who is truly popular and a government that is deeply trusted and can save the situation. It is very regrettable that the orthodox royal family has been overthrown by another riot, but now that the deal is done,
Then we can only look forward... Since you said that the root cause of the disaster is that the royal family's perverse behavior is unpopular, then we should use the people's choice to decide who will take over the rule, instead of relying on one or two hundred incompetent people.
vote!"
The Duke frowned. For a moment, he found it difficult to understand what Talleyrand meant.
"So in your eyes, what is the choice of the people?"
"Isn't this obvious?" Prince Talleyrand replied calmly, "At this moment, we need an impeccable legislative body that is recognized by the whole people. Only this organ is qualified to represent the wishes of the people. Since these ten
Several years of orthodox dynasty ended in failure, then we should rebuild a convincing order - a parliament elected by popular vote will be the first step, and next, this legislative body will decide the ownership of the throne. In this case
, we can be confident that we have the authorization of the whole people, right?”
Talleyrand's words made the Duke feel incredible.
"When did you become an American?" He was simply amused. "What's the point of such a popular election? It will only allow the mob to succeed."
"The times are changing, and we cannot remain static, sir." Talleyrand spread his hands, feeling a little disappointed with the Duke's lack of imagination. "Since you keep saying that you want to restore order for the country and the nation, then you should
If you agree with my plan, it’s the one that can best bridge the current divided public opinion in our country, isn’t it?”
The Duke of Orleans frowned. He wanted to refute, but for a while he couldn't find a better way to say it. However, he knew that he would definitely not be able to agree to this request because he was not sure of getting the so-called "public opinion."
"No, I don't think this is possible!" he said forcefully. "The existing parliament is still functioning and there is no reason to suspend it!"
"If there is a reason, I do have one." Prince Talleyrand said slowly and leisurely. "Before he was deposed, His Majesty the King left an edict. He declared that the edict he had issued before being deposed to dissolve Parliament was still valid, and
He was deposed under the illegal status of this parliament. He can leave the throne, but the country cannot continue to be manipulated by this illegal parliament. He hopes that we can get a more fair and innocent legislature."
This sudden news not only shocked the Duke, but also his followers.
"What is the value of an edict from a deposed king?" In a hurry, the Duke immediately laughed with disdain to show his composure.
"Then we should leave it to Parliament and the people to judge for themselves." Talleyrand replied leisurely.