The Fox of France

Chapter 64: Division

Chapter 64: Division

To be honest, when Lafayett heard the introduction of Joseph, Napoleon's brother, by Carnot, his first reaction was, "Joseph wants to scheme for personal gain." However, Lafayett wasn't angry about it at all. In fact, he was somewhat pleased.

Firstly, because, in this era, this was quite a common thing to do. On the contrary, if someone didn't do so, it would be considered abnormal. And if Joseph was willing to tread his own path, then in Lafayett's eyes, he was, in a way, aligning with him. Of course, Joseph's approach was slow and hesitant, but he had finally come around now that the situation had become clear (at least in Lafayett's view). Lafayett still felt he should accept his allegiance with enthusiasm because Joseph was undeniably talented. Generally, people tended to be more generous towards talented individuals.

As for whether Joseph and his brother would mess things up, Lafayett wasn't particularly concerned. Firstly, he believed in Joseph's abilities. Even if Joseph wasn't particularly skilled in military matters, he wouldn't be worse than the many gilded noble officers in the French army. Furthermore, it was just a small force, and even if it were to be given a little golden shine by the Bonaparte brothers, it wasn't such a big deal. So, the matter was settled.

After approving this matter, Lafayett put it out of his mind because there were more pressing matters at hand.

For Lafayett, the most important thing was the reorganization of the French army. While Lafayett had considerable prestige in the French army, having prestige didn't mean the army would follow you. Look at Feng Yuxiang in the Northwestern Army in the future, no matter how much prestige he had, when General Chang shot his silver bullet, his men followed General Chang without hesitation. That Northwestern Army was essentially built from the ground up by Feng Yuxiang.

The current state of the French army was quite peculiar. The royalists didn't trust the army, the parliament didn't trust the army, and what was even more disastrous was that the army itself didn't trust the army. The mid-to-high-ranking officers in the French army were all nobles, but the lower-ranking officers and soldiers were primarily from the third estate. Even among them, there was mutual distrust.

Lafayett knew that if this situation continued, the army would split. A divided army would undermine his power base, leading to civil war and chaos.

"This will utterly ruin France," Lafayett thought.

However, some were willing to ruin France to fuel this division. In their view, the France of today was not their France.

Some of the former nobles were dissatisfied with today's France, including some nobles who had joined the third estate during the Estates-General. When the parliament, under the guidance of Bishop Talleyrand, confiscated the wealth that belonged to the Church, some clergy who had joined the revolutionary cause during the Estates-General, and who were now staunch supporters of the third estate, also stood against the current France.

Bishop Morry, Senator Cassans, and a group of clergy and noble senators organized a club known as the "Black Party" (because it had many clergy dressed in black robes). They vehemently opposed the revolution, started various newspapers like "Friends of the King," "Acts of the Apostles Gazette," and "Petit Gaule Gazette," freely insulted those in power, including Lafayett, and blamed all of France's difficulties on the "rebellious and ambitious adventurers" in parliament. They even appealed to the common people, pretending not to care about their interests but instead acting as if they were deeply sympathetic to the poorest citizens.

These tactics were not particularly effective, but they were not entirely fruitless either. Because the new government indeed did not care much for the common people. Whether in the cities or in the countryside, the living conditions were not better than before the revolution. Many people were asking the question, "We were hungry before the revolution, and we're still hungry after. Was the revolution in vain?"

They provided an answer to this question, that the revolution was worse than no revolution at all, and that returning to the monarchic era would bring peace to the country. This kind of rhetoric was less popular in Paris but found resonance in some rural areas.

In addition to this, some mid-to-high-ranking officers in the military were frequently in contact with these people, and they might be plotting something, which worried Lafayett.

On the other hand, some of Lafayett's former comrades who used to stand by his side had changed. Perhaps they felt that their glory had been overshadowed by Lafayett, so some of them distanced themselves from him. Perhaps, to attract attention, these people had become more radical than before. Some of his old friends, like Duport, Lamourette, and others, had become more radical. And some new friends were even more radical than the old ones. Here, we are mainly talking about Bishop Talleyrand.

Bishop Talleyrand and some of his religious friends proposed the "Clergy Civil Organization Act" in parliament. According to this law, France would establish eighty-three bishoprics (one for each province), which would belong to ten major archbishoprics. Like civil officials, the clergy, bishops, and archbishops would be elected by citizens. Elected officials should be confirmed by higher-level religious authorities, and archbishops would be appointed by the chief archbishop. New religious authorities no longer needed to report to the Pope, but only had to declare their faith in the same religion. They no longer needed to buy their canonicals from the Pope, and the Pope's approval was no longer required. Furthermore, this law abolished the "first year ecclesiastical tithe" (where new clergy members had to send their first-year income to Rome) and stipulated that clergy salaries would be paid by the state. It replaced the privileged ecclesiastical meetings with archbishopric meetings and had them participate in the religious administrative affairs of the archbishopric.

This essentially severed most of France's connections with the Catholic Church, a significant rupture. The Pope immediately condemned this law and excommunicated Talleyrand. However, Talleyrand dismissed it and continued to dress in archbishop's robes, engaging in various religious activities. As a response to the Pope's action, the parliament prepared another new law, requiring all clergy in France to swear allegiance to the French nation. Any clergy members refusing to swear allegiance would be removed from their positions.

This requirement completely contradicted the tradition of the Catholic Church. It essentially turned clergy into ordinary civil servants. According to religious doctrine, clergy's only allegiance should be to God. This law further exacerbated the tensions between the Church and the parliament.

Lafayett attempted to moderate the parliament, to not be too aggressive in such matters. But the parliamentarians needed such laws to show their "firm stance," and the clergy members leaning towards the parliament also needed this opportunity to control the pulpit (after all, unless they removed those guys, when would Lafayett become a bishop?).

So, Lafayett's efforts were in vain, and the law passed. Subsequently, things spiraled out of control. Most of the bishops and archbishops nationwide refused to swear allegiance to the government and the constitution, resulting in their forced removal. Meanwhile, many of the lower-ranking priests chose to swear allegiance to the government and the constitution and were promoted to become bishops and archbishops.

However, the appointments and dismissals issued by the parliament were largely ignored in many districts outside of Paris. On the contrary, in many districts outside of Paris, the bishops openly accused the parliament of blasphemy and encouraged their followers to fight against these "anti-Christ" forces.

The involvement of these religious forces bolstered the power of the Black Party. In places like Lyon, they effectively controlled the region, organized their own militias, and even turned the local garrisons to their side. Civil war was imminent.

Lafayett believed that the key now rested with the king. If the king was willing to firmly stand by his side and support the constitution, then the activities of the royalists wouldn't amount to much. On the other hand, if the king wavered and leaned towards the royalists, it would be a serious problem.

For this reason, Lafayett constantly visited the king, trying to persuade him to wholeheartedly support constitutional monarchy. He attempted to make the king and queen understand that times had changed, and the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV's era, the "L'tat, c'est moi" kind of rule, was no longer possible. The British-style constitutional monarchy was the best choice for the nation and the royal family. The royalists weren't truly loyal to the king; they were acting in their self-interest, using the king as a banner to rally followers. In a way, both the royalists and the radical republicans were hoping for the king's downfall.

Honestly, Lafayett's viewpoint was indeed quite reasonable. He also believed he had successfully convinced the king.

"In reality, our king is a very rational and educated person," Lafayett said to his adjutant Pierre as he left the Palace of Saint Cloud.

This assessment wasn't far from the truth. Louis XVI had been reluctant to resort to harsh measures before because he understood that the times had changed from his grandfather's era. However, can rationality always triumph over emotions and desires? Moreover, the queen wasn't as knowledgeable.

But Lafayett failed to notice that shortly after he left Saint Cloud, a messenger left the royal palace with a secret letter from the queen, addressed to the seemingly radical parliamentary member, Mirabeau.