Chapter 377: Van der Nott's Conspiracy

Chapter 378 Vandernott’s conspiracy

"You are the true leader of the French revolutionary cause!" The middle-aged man tried his best to flatter. "When those cowards are shrinking under the tyrant's power, you are the only one who is still fighting bravely for the French people."

"This is my eternal career!" A look of pride and pride appeared on Saint-Just's face. He doesn't have much interest in money or beauty, but he really likes the praise of others.

The middle-aged man calmly took out a stack of Bank of France banknotes from his pocket, handed it to him, and whispered: "This is your activity fund."

The banknotes were received by the Parliament of the Southern Netherlands from local farmers. They don't like this kind of frivolous money, but the French seem to be very willing to accept it.

Saint-Just immediately withdrew the money: "Activity funds should be managed by the 'club'. I cannot collect them privately."

He gestured to the middle-aged man to get into the carriage with him, and said with a serious expression: "Compared with the funds, where are the muskets promised by the committee?

"You know, those vultures in the Palace of Versailles that only gnaw at the French people will never be captured without mercy. We must have guns, and preferably cannons, to crush them completely, so that the French people can truly be free!"

The "committee" he refers to is the organization sent by the South-Netherlands Parliament to incite the French Revolution. The middle-aged man in front of him is one of the seven core members of this committee, named Yescourt, who is responsible for connecting with Saint-Just, an important figure in the French liberal group.

The entire committee has more than 210 people in France. In order to reverse the stalemate situation on the Brussels battlefield, Van der Noort also spent a lot of money. In addition to manpower, he also provided more than 800,000 livres of funds with the Netherlands, as well as the support of thousands of flintlock muskets.

Yeskut nodded vigorously: "You are right! The tyrant and his minions must be crushed!

"Please rest assured that the first batch of 1,000 muskets has passed Cambrai and should arrive in Reims the day after tomorrow. The rest will all arrive within this month."

Saint-Just's eyes flashed with fiery light, and he immediately discussed the specific implementation process of the riot with Yeskut.

When the carriage stopped in Zesfield Village, farmers immediately gathered from the fields.

Other revolutionaries from the "club" had already made arrangements here before, including secret propaganda and rural mounted police, just waiting for Saint-Just to give a speech.

Saint-Just looked at the people around him excitedly, and suddenly thought of something. He turned to Yeskut and said in a deep voice: "I have always had a question, Mr. Yeskut. How did you learn about the land of Versailles?" Details of the redemption plan?”

The latter hesitated for a moment, then immediately forced a smile and said: "You know, we have been active in France for many years, so we naturally have our own channels."

"Is the intelligence reliable? I don't want the people to think I deceived them."

"We have been revolutionary partners for many years, you can trust me!" Yeskut said with a determined expression. In fact, the harsh redemption plan in Saint-Just's previous speech was only made up by the British under the instruction of Vandernott.

…

Palace of Versailles.

In a salon attended by more than a hundred people, almost all the nobles were indifferent to the issues in the salon. Instead, they talked in small groups about the recent domestic situation in low voices.

"Did you hear the news? The peasants of Reims and Lille drove out the village consul and then attacked the town hall!"

"Although there haven't been many reports in the newspapers, it has already made a big fuss. It is said that demonstrations and protests broke out in more than ten cities."

Several nobles who were not well-informed immediately asked in shock: "What are those untouchables going to do?"

"It seems that they are dissatisfied with the land redemption plan and want to use this method to put pressure on the government."

"These greedy bastards! Your Majesty has agreed to let them own the land. This is a gift that has never been given to them since the creation of the world. However, they only need to pay a small redemption fee, and they are not satisfied?!"

A bloated nobleman in his fifties said fiercely: "That's right! Our rights have been abolished, and all the benefits have been given to the untouchables. Instead of being grateful, they still want to cause trouble? According to me, restless guys should be punished Catch them all and hang them, and they won’t be given an acre of land!”

"That's right! Taxation is a reward from His Majesty the King to the nobles, and it should not be abolished!"

A young nobleman who had remained silent next to him saw that the heat was almost over and immediately intervened: "I advise you to accept the facts. In order to appease the troubled farmers, His Majesty has instructed the cabinet to issue a new decree to reduce the redemption period to 5 years."

The surrounding nobles suddenly shouted, "That is the land granted to us by His Majesty the King. In five years, we will not be able to get a cent?"

"How can this be done? My son's tuition and daughter's dowry all depend on that land..."

"Don't talk about tuition fees and dowries. In five years we may have to beg for food!"

Although most of these old nobles have other industries, feudal taxes are definitely one of their important sources of income.

They originally thought that the government would let farmers redeem their rent for at least 20 to 30 years, so that they would have time to plan for other financial resources. However, if it was only for 5 years, their quality of life would inevitably plummet.

Not to mention some rigid-minded people who rely entirely on feudal taxes to live. Once the taxes are gone, they will really have to beg for a living.

Someone excitedly waved their fists and shouted: "Let's go, let's petition Her Majesty the Queen!"

"Yes! We must not let the untouchables get the land so easily!"

The young nobleman stopped several people and whispered: "His Majesty must have made a decision. Have you forgotten? When the nobles' rights were terminated last time, we also petitioned, but it didn't work."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"We have to defend Lille and Reims City Hall by ourselves and teach the greedy untouchables a lesson with swords! Are there any warriors willing to go with me?"

...

Second floor of the Tuileries Palace. In the office of the Industrial Planning Bureau, Fouche bowed his head deeply and said in a low voice: "Your Highness, I failed to handle this incident properly. No matter what kind of punishment I receive, I will not complain."

Joseph sighed and motioned him to sit down on the chair: "Protests broke out in more than a dozen cities on the same day. Someone must have planned this for a long time. You don't have to blame yourself too much."

As he was talking, Emman knocked on the door and came in. The court officials behind him saluted to Joseph and said: "Your Highness, Her Majesty the Queen asks you to return to the Palace of Versailles immediately to attend the temporary cabinet meeting."

Joseph nodded and stood up: "Is it about the peasants' unrest?"

"Yes, Your Highness."