French Empire: But Napoleon IV

Chapter 110 Finding Neutral Faction Evidence, Confirming Trox's Fate (Seeking First Subscription)

"I know that right now, many of you participated in last night's action. Citizens want bread, they want peace, they want a better life. These demands are reasonable, and they are what I have been striving for all along."

The imperial government cannot provide these things to its citizens, so it's perfectly reasonable for them to yearn for change. However, a good reform should not be exploited by those with ulterior motives.

There are too many people visiting, and there must be many of them who directly or indirectly helped the Republican Army last night. If these people are simply labeled as rebels or traitors, then the Empire will not be able to gain much of a good reputation among the people.

Therefore, Eugène needs to separate the Republican Party from its leadership and the general public.

It is necessary to make these people, who sympathize with the Republic and feel that they have been brutally suppressed by the Empire, realize that they have been used by the Republic.

"Trouch, Orléans, Fuld, and others—they waved the banner of revolution, but in reality, they were only after their own selfish interests. They didn't care about your lives or the fate of France. They only wanted to seize power during the chaos, then betray the country's interests for their own riches and glory."

These words were empty, and there were few voices of agreement from the audience, which quickly revealed that the public had no intention of believing whatever Eugène said.

Even if you, Eugène, have given us bread, don't expect us to be lenient with you when it comes to serious issues like political system reform.

The people of Paris are just that difficult to please, that fond of riots, that quick to start a revolution without saying a word.

Fortunately, Eugene had enough evidence to corroborate his claims. Most of the public had already seen the leaflets and newspaper articles; all they needed was to see the original evidence to confirm that the thing really existed and that it wasn't something Eugene had fabricated out of thin air.

Without saying another word, Eugene pulled out two letters from his pocket and held them up in front of everyone.

He then invited Adolph Thiers, Jules Simon, and Henry Schneider, who had been waiting on the sidelines, to the stage.

These individuals are no ordinary people. The first one, Thiers, is a veteran political figure in Paris and a member of the Orleans faction.

However, he was a leader of a moderate faction within the Orleans school, neither supporting the monarchy advocated by the Orleans school nor the Republicans, making him a true neutral. He enjoyed extremely high prestige among the Parisian middle class and business circles.

Jules Simon, on the other hand, was a moderate liberal member of parliament, highly respected in Parisian cultural and educational circles, and a leading figure among centrist liberals.

He opposed the rule of Napoleon III, but he also opposed violent revolution, so he was disgusted by the Republicans' actions last night, which is why Eugène was able to invite him.

He enjoys high prestige among university, lawyer, and teacher communities in Paris and is considered a leading figure in intellectual circles.

As for the last one, Henri Schneider, needless to say, the largest arms factory in France before World War II, the future Schneider Electric, was founded in 1836 and is now a French heavy industry giant and a veritable metallurgical king.

Henri Schneider was also a key figure in the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As the son of Adolphe Schneider, one of the two Schneider brothers, he was undoubtedly a very important figure in France.

Since it was impossible for Henry to avoid dealing with the government when he was backed by industrial capital, he did have business cooperation with the Bonaparte government, but this did not prevent him from remaining politically neutral.

Henri Schneider's neutrality indirectly influenced a large group of capitalists and factory owners in Paris, who all took Henri's opinions as the standard.

Henry was a patriot. It wasn't that he could be patriotic, but that he was inherently patriotic. During the original siege, Henry even took the lead in raising funds and supplies from the people.

Henry, who led Schneider Electric to further glory, had an outstanding reputation among small and medium-sized industrialists due to his good name and the influence of his idol.

These three are among the most famous neutral figures in Paris. Given their status, Eugène was not powerful enough to hold a gun to their heads and force them to come.

The main reason they were invited was that they didn't want to see instability in France, and also because Eugène did have some concrete evidence. Of course, more importantly, Eugène provided some tangible evidence.

Both of them were involved in politics; Eugène had already agreed to let them join the wartime cabinet, while Henry Schneider had secured a substantial military contract.

After they checked the license and found no problems, many food vendors were happy to just go through the motions.

He had already seen it privately, but publicly, Eugène still gave the letter to the three men to check it, while he continued his speech to the people of Paris.

"Citizens, this is a personal letter from Troch to Moltke, the Prussian Chief of the General Staff. In this letter, he is willing to cede Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia and pay war reparations."

He even wanted to disband the French army currently resisting Prussia, and allow Prussian troops to be permanently stationed in Paris; all he asked for was Prussian support for him to become president of France.

Most people had already read the newspapers or leaflets, so Eugène's speech only caused a minor commotion. The real commotion occurred when the three highly respected neutral figures in Paris nodded in unison, under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

Upon seeing that three well-known neutral figures had actually corroborated Eugène's words, the square immediately erupted in uproar.

It's unbelievable that people who were deceived and fooled, who previously sympathized with and loved the Republican Party, now hate it so much.

"Trouch is such a person. Is this what the Republicans meant when they elected such a president?"

""

"It's outrageous that the Republican Party dared to betray our country."

"Traitors, all of them are traitors! They should be hanged—no, all Republicans should be hanged!"

A chorus of curses and angry roars swept across the entire Place de la Concorde like a tidal wave.

The Parisians' demanding nature wasn't limited to the monarchy; they treated any system that didn't suit their tastes equally.

Now that they saw the Republic actually daring to betray the country, their emotions were immediately ignited. Countless people waved their fists and surged forward, loudly cursing Troche, who was surrounded by military police in the audience.

With over a thousand gendarmes and more than three thousand police officers, totaling about 5000 people, they barely managed to hold back the enraged Parisian crowd.

After all, if they hadn't stopped him, the enraged Parisians could have really beaten Troche to death.