Chapter 41 The First Meeting of Life and Death

　The day after the premiere, Armand and the Dragon and Rose Theater Company received a number of new invitations to perform. Among these invitations, there was one that stood out from the rest. It did not come from a theater, but from Mr. Robespierre, a member of the National Constituent Assembly.

　　If the person who saw the invitation letter was Joseph, he might have been shocked, because Mr. Robespierre was later on a famous "murderer", according to some accounts, during his reign in France, in the middle of every square in Paris, there was a high guillotine erected; every street lamp pole above, there was a "public enemy of the people" who had been put to death. The "Enemy of the People" was sentenced to death on every streetlight pole. Later generations even invented an epitaph for him: "I, Robespierre, sleep here; do not mourn for me, O passers-by; if I live, none of you will live!"

　　Joseph believed that after Robespierre's fall, hardly any of his enemies, from the Thermopylae to the later Emperor Napoleon to the restored Louis XVIII, would have liked this "incorruptible, defender of the people, creator of the national motto: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" (Robespierre's real epitaph). So pouring sewage on his head is pretty much a sure thing. Just as in the historical period of the Bourbon Restoration, they made up all sorts of delightful stories about Napoleon, portraying him as a "Dartmouth" (the protagonist of Molière's comedy "The Hypocrite") and a "Don Juan" (a name synonymous with lecherous men in Europe), so the Bourbon Restoration was a great success. Don Juan" (in Europe, this name is synonymous with a womanizer). Therefore, the legend that Robespierre was temperamental and took pleasure in killing people is mostly unreliable. However, even if we consider this, one thing is still certain, that is, this "uncorruptible man, the defender of the people" killed a lot of people, and many of them were once in the same trench with him. To say that Robespierre took pleasure in killing would probably be a slander, but to say that Robespierre was used to solving problems by "getting rid of the people who made them" would probably not be false. To sum up, it was: to be Robespierre's enemy was very dangerous; but to be Robespierre's friend was not necessarily safe either.

　　But Armand knew nothing of this, and at this time Robespierre's reputation was just at its best. He spoke more than two hundred times during the Third Congress and the Constitutional Convention, and ranked twentieth among the delegates. In his speeches he supported universal male citizen suffrage, opposed the King's veto, supported civil rights for Jews, called for the abolition of slavery and the death penalty, and opposed censorship. (Yes, you read that right, Robespierre the Murderer was an abolitionist in those days. Is that weird? It's not strange, it's just one more piece of evidence that asses make brains. When Robespierre was an abolitionist, the death penalty was a tool in the hands of King Louis XVI, which threatened the "unruly people" like Robespierre. Therefore, Robespierre, as a "difficult people", naturally opposed it. When this tool fell into the hands of Robespierre, the situation is naturally different. Louis XVI had just accomplished the only technical invention of his life - improving the design of the guillotine and increasing its efficiency. Ironically, the first user of this improved guillotine was Louis XVI himself. Master Lu's poem reads: "The face of the guillotine changes as soon as it is broad, and the number of heads cut off grows. Suddenly he went down again, Namo Amitabh." (May be a reflection of these people.)

　　Most of Robespierre's proposals were not adopted, but they gave him the reputation of being "the uncorruptible one". Now that he had been invited, Armand was delighted. Moreover, Robespierre provided a very special place, which was the Royale Palace.

　　Royale Palace was originally built for Louis XIII's prime minister Richelieu, once known as the Cardinal's Palace (Richelieu was the Cardinal of France), and later turned into the residence of the Duke of Orleans. The Orléans family opened it to the public in 1780 in an effort to bring the people of Paris together. Since then, this private garden palace has gradually been transformed into a public square for the people of Paris. Of course, the Duc d'Orléans must have been behind this as well. Nowadays his political ambitions are also perfectly well known.

　　During the French Revolution of 1789, there were two political centers in Paris. One was Versailles, just outside Paris, where the three assemblies that were to decide the fate of France were being held. The other was the Royal Palace of Royale in the center of Paris. For a time, it was the thermometer for measuring the political fervor of the Parisian population. These were two places of political authority, and if you compare them, after July 14, 1789, it was not Versailles but Royale that led France. For Versailles could not influence Royale; on the contrary, Royale could dominate Versailles.

　　The Royale was a large palace with a capacity of tens of thousands of people, a place where political pamphlets and orators of all kinds flourished, and of course there was no lack of spectators and listeners of all kinds. Since the Tertiary Congress, people have been exchanging all kinds of information here, including that from Versailles; and at the same time turning it into all kinds of rumors and spreading it. If Armand's play could be staged here, even for one performance, it would definitely make Armand's reputation.

　　Amang accepted the invitation after a little consideration. That evening he took Louis, the star of the play, to visit Robespierre.

　　Robespierre was staying at a hotel near the town hall. In fact, he could have been better accommodated - many of the members of the Constituent Assembly had accepted the offer of the Duke of Orleans or the Marquis de la Fayette to live on their estates for security reasons. The "incorruptibles", however, continued to live at their own expense in an ordinary hotel. However, Robespierre, who had won a number of lawsuits in his career as a lawyer, was in a good financial position and lived in a hotel with a small living room with a sofa in addition to his bedroom.

　　Armand brought Louis, led by a waiter down to the third floor. This was the top floor of the inn, compared to the first and second floors, this place was a bit quieter, which might be one of the reasons why Robespierre chose to live here.

　　The waiter brought Armand and Louis to a door and knocked gently.

　　"The door is open. Please come in." A very cheerful voice came from inside.

　　The attendant pushed the door open and said towards the inside, "Mr. Robespierre, Mr. Lavoisier and Mr. Saint-Just have come to visit by appointment."

　　Yes, Louis' last name was St. Joust. If Joseph had known his last name the last time he met him, then he would have looked at this handsome young man who didn't talk much differently. Because although in his previous life as an engineering dog Joseph was not particularly familiar with the history of the French Revolution, but at least he had read Victor Hugo's "Ninety-Three Years", and from the notes of that novel, he also knew that Robespierre's most hardcore henchman, the St. Joust, who was known as "the Archangel of the Revolution" or "the Archangel of Terror", was a member of the French Revolutionary Party, and that he was a member of the French Revolutionary Party. St. Juste, the Archangel of the Revolution or the Archangel of Terror.

　　However, even if Armand didn't mention St. Joust's last name when he introduced him to Joseph, Joseph should have thought that he was the "Archangel of Terror" because of his incomparable beauty.

　　"Please come in, gentlemen." A voice came from inside the house, but there was no one inside the living room.

　　"Excuse me, I'm working on a manuscript and I have a few more sentences to finish, so please wait on the couch for a little while. Hey Henry, you greet them for me and get them a cup of tea, please." The voice came from the study over the living room.

　　That waiter then took the two men into the living room, sat them down on the couch, and poured them more tea. The tea was Indian black tea, but the quality was average, in Joseph's place, he probably wouldn't have drunk it, because he knew that the low-grade tea of this era often added copper green to cover up the mold, and drinking this stuff was not good for health at all.

　　But Armand and St. Joust didn't have these concerns, so they sat down on the sofa, picked up the tea and drank it.

　　After another two minutes, from the study came these words, "Finally, I've finished writing! Sorry to keep you all waiting for so long."

　　Along with this voice, a young man walked out, perhaps because he had stayed up continuously, his face was a bit white, but his demeanor was serious. His lips were thin and his gaze was calm. There was a little nervous twitching of the cheeks, which made his smile look a little unnatural. As is customary for lawyers, his face was powdered, he wore gloves, his clothes were brushed and buttoned neatly, and there was not a crease in his light blue blouse. Underneath were beige over pants, white stockings, shoes with silver buckles, a high tie, and a crotch-shaped decoration on the front flap.

　　"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you could be patient so quickly." Robespierre held out his hand to shake theirs, "I went to your premiere yesterday, and when I came back, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night, my ears full of that war song of yours, and all those exciting speeches from our Spartacus. I even forgot about my work until a little while ago, when I remembered that I have a speech to make before the council tomorrow, and when I looked at the time, I figured you guys wouldn't be here for another hour or two, so I went ahead and drafted the text. I have a fault in me, that once I have written a manuscript, I cannot be interrupted in the middle of it. I'll just have to keep you guys waiting. I hope you guys don't think I'm intentionally trying to leave you guys out in the cold."

　　"I understand that." St. Joust said, "When I'm doing something, I likewise don't like to interrupt in the middle of what I'm doing."

　　"Do you know the purpose of my inviting you to perform at the Royale this time?" Robespierre asked very directly as he sat down on the sofa.

　　"You wish, by means of this play, to put pressure on the king." St. Joust answered almost without thinking.

　　The swiftness of the young St. Joust's response was clearly beyond Robespierre's expectations, he froze for a moment and then said, "You are right, this is indeed one of our purposes. Obviously, there are political considerations behind this invitation of ours, and if you accept our invitation, you might also get into some political risks as a result. I do not want to drag you into a political whirlpool without you knowing anything about it. Well, as you all know, the current situation is quite tense and dangerous."