Chapter 368: Reverse Tiangang (asking for monthly votes)

Chapter 369 Rebellion against Tiangang (please vote for me)

In front of the Parliament Building of the Southern Netherlands.

When Karl II met the Marquis of Wellesley, he thought that the latter had brought him news that London was determined to reinforce Brussels, and he was so excited that he almost burst into tears.

However, the Foreign Secretary poured cold water on him: "Dear Marshal, my personal position is very much in favor of sending troops to reinforce you immediately, but... to tell you the truth, the East India Company has encountered some troubles in the Far East. At the moment, the Empire The main focus will be there, perhaps early next year, before you can wait for reinforcements from the Congress.

"Of course, parliament will definitely give you full support in terms of military spending and weapons."

This time, it was not only Karl II, but also the Speaker of the Southern Netherlands, Van der Noort, who was on the side. He was also anxious: "My Lord Marquis, you may have learned about the situation in Brussels. If we cannot defeat the French as soon as possible, we will have to wait until Austria deploys its troops." , Brussels will be difficult to hold, and the revolution will fail..."

Marquis Wellesley glanced at him and said in a cold voice: "Personally, I don't agree with your revolution.

"But now we have a common enemy to deal with. Oh, are we just going to stand in the square and discuss things?"

"No, no, we have prepared a sumptuous banquet for you." Vandernot hurriedly motioned to the Parliament Building, "Please come in quickly."

In the banquet hall, Marquis Wellesley glanced at the dejected officers on both sides of the long and narrow dining table, turned to Karl II and said: "Marshal, you are saying that the French army only has 14,000 people, so you need Ask parliament for help?"

Before Karl II could say anything, General Bronkhorst, the Dutch commander on the side, rushed to say: "Your Majesty, the French are equipped with an astonishingly powerful musket, and their cannons are elusive, causing damage to our army. A huge threat.”

The Foreign Secretary sneered and shook his head. In his opinion, this was just an excuse for the Dutch to make excuses for their incompetence.

He tapped the table with his spoon irritably. He originally came to Brussels to see the military advantages here so that he could use them as bargaining chips. Unexpectedly, the chips were not found, but there was a group of people waiting for him to persuade the parliament to wipe their ass. …

Van der Noort suddenly clenched his fists with righteous indignation and said: "We should mobilize the French people to carry out a revolution together and overthrow that tyrant!"

General Ortellius, the new commander of the National Guard next to him, immediately agreed: "Yes! We have many revolutionaries in Lille, Artois and other places, and we can let them lead the French people's revolution! Fight for their freedom and right……"

The vent-like words between the two caught the attention of the Marquis of Wellesley. He looked at Vandenot and whispered: "Are you saying that there are people from the Southern Netherlands Revolutionary Party in France?"

"That's right." The latter nodded, "In order to escape the persecution of the Austrians, our revolutionaries often hid in northern France. Over the years, we have many footholds there, and we also have good relations with the local liberals. ”

Marquis Wellesley's eyes suddenly lit up: "Within half a month, how many people can you mobilize to incite... call for revolution in France? And how many people can you mobilize to respond?"

Van de Noort immediately said: "We now have more than 40 people across France. If necessary, we can immediately mobilize 200 revolutionaries to go to France."

Historically, the Revolution of the Southern Netherlands was supported by the French Grand Order, and the two sides were very closely connected. The Southern Netherlands often solicited "sponsorship" from French nobles who were sympathetic to the revolution, so many people stayed in France. .

Van der Noort thought for a while and then said hesitantly: "But the revolutionary momentum in France in the past two years... is not very good. Many people who used to hold revolutionary attitudes have turned into advocates of the tyrant. Especially in France Ordinary farmers and citizens became content with the status quo after the tyrant gave them some benefits.

"So this is never a good time to help France start a revolution."

The Marquis of Wellesley glared at him impatiently and said displeasedly: "In your poor vocabulary, there is no other way to call the king of a country except 'tyrant'? Even if we don't like Louis XVI, but You also need to maintain basic courtesy towards him.”

"Uh..." Vandernot then remembered that all he relied on were countries under the rule of monarchs, and could only nod awkwardly, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry."

The Marquis of Wellesley narrowed his eyes, tapped the plate with a spoon, and said in a deep voice: "Actually, there is a powder keg in France right now. If your people can make good use of this opportunity, they may not be able to set off a fire in France." A storm!"

The Governor of Hanover and the Dutch commander beside him immediately looked over in surprise when they heard this.

There was a hint of pride in Marquis Wellesley's tone: "You should have heard that the French government wants to abolish the traditional taxes handed over by farmers to lords, but it has not announced a specific plan on how to let farmers buy land."

Karl II subconsciously said: "So?"

"This is your chance to plunge France into turmoil!"

Several other people looked at each other in surprise, obviously not understanding what the British Foreign Secretary meant.

Marquis Wellesley caught a glimpse of their expressions and sighed helplessly: "Think about why the French didn't announce their land purchase plan?

"Because it is too difficult for both parties involved in this matter - the nobles and the peasants to reach an agreement.

"The nobles want the peasants to pay a huge amount of money to maintain a luxurious life for themselves and their descendants, while the peasants hope to get the land without paying a penny. They are definitely willing to hang the other party on the gallows for this!"

To be honest, Wellesley is definitely a man of great strategy and saw the crux of the problem at a glance.

Historically, the Feuillants, the first to form a government after the French Revolution, were constitutional monarchists. And it was because they formulated a land redemption policy that favored the nobles, requiring peasants to redeem feudal rents and taxes, as well as a price of up to 30 years of land income, that aroused the dissatisfaction of the peasant class and eventually drove the Feuillants out of power.

The Girondists later abolished all feudal rents and taxes, but recognized the rents and taxes on land that was not granted by the king. The peasants were still dissatisfied with this, because a large amount of land had been bought at a low price by nobles or capitalists before, but they had to pay a high redemption price for it at this time.

So the Jacobins raised their arms and called for action, and the famine happened to happen at the time, so the Girondists stepped down sadly.

It was not until the Jacobins forced the burning of all the nobles' land deeds and sold the land to the peasants at a low price that the land problem in France was basically solved.

However, the Jacobins were able to solve this problem based on the fact that most of the nobles had been beheaded at that time. It was equivalent to using the family wealth of the nobles to satisfy the interests of the peasants.

In France, the nobles are still very strong.