Chapter 38 A Premiere in Turmoil (1)

　After placating Armand, Joseph left the Petersen Theater and got into a light, one-horse-drawn hired carriage for the ride home. The two-wheeled carriage traveled slowly along the road, and since it was a nice day, Joseph stowed the shed and looked around.

　　By this time the carriage had traveled along the Seine River, and had come up next to the Île de la Cité. The Île de la Cité was the heart of Paris and the birthplace of the city. Notre Dame de Paris was on this island. Joseph looked in all directions and could see the high spires of Notre Dame and the Pont Neuf bridge lying over the Seine. The new bridge has the word "new" in its name, but in reality, it is an old bridge built in the fifteenth century, even the oldest bridge on the Seine.

　　The speed of the carriage slowed down, because the street people and cars are more, this area, originally is the most prosperous area of Paris, this phenomenon is actually normal. However, as the carriage continued to move forward, the streets became more and more crowded, almost to the point of shoulder to shoulder.

　　The coachman stopped his horse and turned his head to Joseph, ''Sir, I don't know what's happening in front of me, I can't get through. If you want to take a detour and cross the river from another bridge, I'm afraid you'll have to travel a long way more, spend a lot of time, and add more money. I think it would be more economical for you to just get off here, cross this section on foot, and when you get to the other side of the river, get a light wagon."

　　Joseph looked ahead and saw that the new bridge was crowded on the other side, and it was obvious that the wagon would not be able to get across. Joseph knew that the coachman was right, so he nodded, fished out two sous from his pocket and handed them to the coachman, then held his hat, picked up his cane, got out of the carriage, and walked along the street towards the New Bridge.

　　The farther they went, the more people there were. And the noisier the various sounds became. Joseph noticed that the faces of almost everyone around him showed a mixture of anxiety and worry, but also a hint of excitement. His ears were also constantly hearing some of these words:

　　"What is the third degree? The third degree is France, it is everything ..."

　　"We must not have only one vote in the third rank ..."

　　"That's right, we can't bear to leave them to it ..."

　　"We must have our own ..."

　　"We have to defend ourselves ..."

　　"No National Assembly, no constitution, no one will take a sou from us!"

　　Joseph casually grabbed a young man and asked, "What's going on?"

　　"The king has announced that he has closed the Meni Assembly Hall, and some say that the king is going to dissolve the National Assembly as well! , and we must not allow him to do so!" The man replied.

　　Before Joseph could reply, another hand came up and grabbed his arm. Joseph twisted his head around to see a face that was just as young and just as anxious and worried and excited, "This gentleman, we must never let those privileged classes trample on us as they please again, we are not lowly dirt, we are the real France! Don't you think so!"

　　Obviously, at this point in time, it would be unwise to voice any disapproval. So Joseph immediately replied, "You're right, we can't just let them trample on us like this."

　　"A constitution, we need a constitution!" Not far to the side, someone shouted.

　　"Yes, we need a constitution, we can't let the king and the privileged do whatever they want!"

　　"The king will send his troops to suppress us, I've heard it said that he's quietly mobilizing his army right now, and that he intends to kill us all as soon as the time is right, just like the St. Bartholomew's Massacre." Another voice suddenly rang out.

　　The people next to him were quiet at once, people looked at each other, each one could see fear in the eyes of the others.

　　"They ... they are capable of such things ..." said one.

　　"We must not let them do this."

　　"The soldiers are third class too, they won't ..."

　　"But the soldiers have to obey orders, and they can still use money to buy the mercenaries, just use the money they raided from us to hire those hillbillies to kill us!"

　　"We have to be ready, we can't be killed with our hands tied ..."

　　Listening to these cries, Joseph knew that history had finally come to this.

　　A few days earlier, at the Third Degree Conference, the king, while agreeing with the request to increase the number of Third Degree delegates from three hundred to six hundred, had insisted on the traditional way of having only one vote for each rank. In France, ninety-eight percent of the people belonged to the third rank, yet could cast only one vote. And the clergy of the first rank, and the hereditary nobility of the second rank, all have one vote as well. Such rules of the game almost mean that no matter how the game is played, the privileged classes can do whatever they want by virtue of their vote advantage. And the interests of the vast third rank would not be guaranteed in any way.

　　To say that this way of vote distribution is indeed the tradition of France, but at this time, King Louis XVI actually still expects those in the economy unprecedentedly strong, in the thought of the Enlightenment's influence of the third class will still be like more than a hundred years ago the serfs, as he how to manipulate, which can only say that his head is really not sober enough.

　　It is naturally impossible for the representatives of the third class to accept such an arrangement. It is not true that the entire third class cannot accept tax increases, but while they accept taxation, they also demand more rights. To put it more plainly, that is, it's fine to ask for money, but you have to take something out in exchange for it, you can't take money for nothing.

　　When the king proposed to convene a three-tier meeting, the third tier all saw this meeting as an opportunity for them to gain more rights. As soon as the news of the upcoming meeting broke, Sieyès published a political pamphlet, "What is the Third Degree," which clearly stated that the third degree should be given a higher status. Now the king's "adherence to tradition" could be said to be in complete opposition to the entire third class.

　　Naturally, the representatives of the third class would not (nor would the whole third class behind them) submit to the king in this way, so they declared themselves to form a "National Assembly" of representatives of the third class, who claimed to have absolute authority over the legislative power and claimed that they were going to write the first constitution for France.

　　This "usurpation", of course, was not permitted by the king. Louis XVI ordered the closure of the Congress Hall of Ménil, which had been used for the deliberations of the representatives of the third class. It was also rumored that he was going to dissolve the "illegal" National Assembly by force. It was at this time that the news reached the city.

　　At that moment, a middle-aged cleric appeared at the head of the new bridge, and the crowd immediately cheered towards him.

　　"Mr. Sieyes! It's Mr. Sieyes!" Someone shouted.

　　"Mr. Sierras, Mr. Sierras, what do we do? What do we do!" Someone else shouted this as well.

　　Sierz mounted a wheelbarrow pushed by one of the traders by the bridge and waved his hand toward the crowd, "Don't worry, people, this won't scare us, we'll go to the Assembly Hall of Méni tomorrow as usual. We will never disband ... without a constitution for France that truly represents the will of the people."

　　There was an outburst of applause from all around. Joseph applauded along with them, and he looked over at the new bridge so crowded that if he had insisted on crossing the river from there, he would only have had his clothes torn. Apparently he, like the moped, would need to make another detour ...

　　As word spread, however, the whole of Paris was abuzz. Almost all the people flocked to the streets. Everywhere one could see people talking or whispering. Every street was crowded like a food market. As a result, it was not until nightfall that Joseph was able to return to his place.

　　At noon the next day, Joseph heard the news that the delegates of the "National Assembly" had braved the rain to go to the Assembly Hall in Méni to continue the discussion on the constitution, but they were prevented from doing so by the king's army. The delegates, led by Bayi, the first President of the National Assembly, decided to defend the newborn National Assembly and went to the tennis court of the King's house near the Hall. There the third class delegates took an oath that any one of them would work for a constitution for the kingdom to improve the monarchy and never separate from the National Assembly.

　　Many people were worried that the king would send soldiers to the royal tennis court to arrest these "daring" third class representatives. But for several days, the king did not make any move. On the contrary, a group of representatives of the first and second classes, led by the Duke of Orleans and the Marquis de Lafayette, joined the "National Assembly". The House of Orleans is one of the most prominent families in France, while the Marquis de Lafayette was the commander-in-chief of the French army in the War of Independence in North America, and his command played the most crucial role in the decisive battle at Yorktown. For this reason, he was called the "Hero of the New World" by the Americans. His victory was one of the few victories France had had over England in many years. As a result, the Marquis de Lafayette became a powerful figure in the army. The move of the Duke of Orléans and the Marquis de Lafayette immediately boosted the morale of the "National Assembly" and greatly strengthened their legitimacy. They could now claim that they were not only the representatives of the third class, but of the whole of France, including the first and second classes.

　　After a few days, the "National Assembly" was officially renamed the "National Constituent Assembly", ready to formulate the "Constitution of the Kingdom of France". At the same time, rumors began to circulate that the king was moving a large number of troops, especially mercenaries, to Paris. Many supporters of the Third Estate began to prepare their weapons for battle.

　　In the midst of this frenzy and apprehension, Armand's Spartacus was finally staged.