I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 369: Rebellion against Tiangang (please vote for me)

In front of the Parliament Building of the Southern Netherlands.

When Charles II met the Marquis of Wellesley, he was so excited that he almost burst into tears, thinking that the latter had brought him the news that London had decided to reinforce Brussels.

However, the Foreign Minister poured cold water on him: "Dear Marshal, I personally agree that we should send troops to reinforce you immediately, but... To be honest, the East India Company has encountered some troubles in the Far East, and the Empire's main focus is on that. Perhaps you will not be able to wait for the reinforcements sent by Parliament until early next year.

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

This time, not only Charles II, but also the Speaker of the Southern Netherlands, Van der Nott, was anxious: "My Lord Marquis, you may have learned about the situation in Brussels. If we cannot defeat the French as soon as possible, once Austria withdraws its troops, Brussels will be difficult to defend and the revolution will fail..."

The Marquis of Wellesley glanced at him and said in a somewhat cold voice: “Personally, I don’t quite agree with your revolution.

"But right 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 gestured towards the Parliament Building, "Please come in."

In the banquet hall, the Marquis of Wellesley glanced at the dejected officers on both sides of the long and narrow dining table, then turned to Charles II and said, "Marshal, are you saying that the French army has only 1 people, so you need to ask the parliament for help?"

Before Charles II could speak, General Bronckhorst, the Dutch commander, said, "My Lord, the French are equipped with a powerful musket, and their cannons are elusive, which poses a great threat to our army."

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

He knocked the table with a spoon in annoyance. He originally came to Brussels to see the military advantages here so as to use them as bargaining chips. However, he did not find any bargaining chips, but instead found a group of people waiting for him to persuade the parliament to clean up their messes...

Van der Nott suddenly clenched his fist in indignation and said, "We should mobilize the French people to start a revolution and overthrow that tyrant!"

General Ortelius, the new commander of the National Guard, immediately agreed: "Yes! We have many revolutionaries in Lille, Artois and other places. We can let them lead the French people in revolution! To fight for their freedom and rights..."

The two men's venting words attracted the attention of the Marquis of Wellesley. He looked at Van der Nott 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 avoid the persecution of the Austrians, our revolutionaries often hid in northern France. Over the years, we have many footholds there and have a good relationship with the local liberals."

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

Van der Nott immediately said: "We now have more than 40 people all over 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 Revolution. The two sides had very close ties, and the people of the Southern Netherlands often sought "sponsorship" from French nobles who sympathized with the revolution, so many of them lived in France.

Van der Nott thought for a moment, then hesitated and said, "But the revolutionary momentum in France over the past two years...is not very good. Many people who used to hold revolutionary attitudes have turned into flatterers of the tyrant. In particular, ordinary French farmers and citizens have become satisfied with the status quo after the tyrant gave them some benefits.

"So, now is definitely not a good time to help France launch a revolution." The Marquis of Wellesley glared at him impatiently and said unhappily, "In your limited vocabulary, is there no other way to call a king except 'tyrant'? Even if we all dislike Louis XVI, we still need to be polite to him."

"Uh..." Van der Nott then remembered that he relied on countries ruled by monarchs, so he could only nod awkwardly, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry."

The Marquis of Wellesley narrowed his eyes, tapped the plate with his spoon, and said in a deep voice: "In fact, France is currently facing a powder keg. If your people can make good use of this opportunity, it may be possible to stir up a storm in France!"

The Governor of Hanover, the Dutch commander and others beside him immediately looked over in surprise when they heard what he said.

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

Karl II subconsciously asked: "So what?"

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

The others 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: "Why didn't the French announce their land purchase plan?

"Because it is too difficult for the two 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 absolutely willing to hang each other on the gallows for this matter!"

To be honest, Wellesley was definitely a man of great strategy, as he saw the key to the problem at a glance.

Historically, the first group to form a government after the French Revolution was the Feuillants, also known as the constitutional monarchists. However, they formulated a land redemption policy that favored the nobility, requiring farmers to redeem feudal rents and taxes, as well as a price as high as 30 years of land income, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the peasant class and eventually drove the Feuillants out of power.

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

The Jacobins then raised their voice, and as a result, a famine happened to occur at the time, and the Girondists stepped down in disgrace.

It was not until the Jacobins ordered the burning of all nobles' land deeds and sold the land cheaply to the peasants that France's land problem was basically solved.

However, the Jacobins were able to accomplish this because most of the nobles had already been beheaded, which was equivalent to using the wealth of the nobles to satisfy the interests of the peasants.

But in today's France, the aristocracy is still very powerful.

(End of this chapter)