the organizers of victory

　At the meeting of the National Assembly on October 10th, Bishop Talleyrand, originally a representative of the First Hierarchy, and now a member of Parliament for the Orton district, asked for the floor.

　　In the midst of the applause, either sincere or feigned, the archbishop, who was dressed in black episcopal robes, stepped up to the pulpit. Unlike the other chameleon, who also came from the seminary and, even later, was known for his fickleness, Bishop Talleyrand was very adept at delivering speeches of all kinds. It was all horse-puncher tricks anyway, and all the tricks that could fool the faithful at the altar were in fact suitable for use in speeches that fooled the masses.

　　"As you all know, although a new system has been established, and although His Majesty the King has recognized the Declaration of Human Rights and has expressed his loyalty to the Constitution. But France still faces a great crisis. Some conservative aristocrats have fled abroad, and they are contacting other despots in Europe in a vain attempt to use their power to subvert the revolution. And at home, there are rebellions everywhere, with thieves and insurgents running amok, wreaking havoc on our France. Are these crises of such magnitude that we can still turn a blind eye and a deaf ear?"

　　"Cannot!"

　　"Cannot!"

　　Councillors shouted. And from the left side of the pulpit, even this voice: "Hang those bad things! Hang them all from the streetlights!"

　　Bishop Talleyrand's face remained calm, though he disliked the guys sitting on the left.

　　"But we also face a great difficulty, and that is that we have no money in our hands." Talleyrand continued to preach, "Because of the royal family's extravagance and wastefulness, today France owes as much as four and a half billion livres in debt, and just repaying the interest would consume all the money in our hands. If there is no money, then what will we use to arm our soldiers and defend our revolution?"

　　"What do you suggest then?"

　　"Could you still conjure up Rivals?" Someone shouted from below.

　　"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please be quiet." Bishop Talleyrand raised his voice, "I do have a viable solution."

　　There was silence all around.

　　Many people were thinking, "Could it be that this guy doesn't want to die and intends to take the lead in proposing a tax increase?"

　　"As everyone knows, over the years, the Church has accumulated great wealth in France." Talleyrand continued, "As far as I know, the Church owns at least over three billion livres worth of land, as well as other wealth. If we can take this wealth and serve the public, then we have a solution to our immediate crisis."

　　As soon as these words were said, there was an uproar in the entire meeting hall.

　　Some people shouted, "Yeah, those damn vampires, it's long overdue for them to spit this out!"

　　There were also those who shouted, "This is blasphemy!"

　　Those who shouted like this were of course the other clerical representatives. But they did not have the support of the others. As a matter of fact, hitting religious organizations when there was a lack of money was also a long tradition here in Catholic Piety France now.

　　Think of the time when the Templars, one of the three major knightly orders, lost the Holy Land and had to withdraw to France. The Knights Templar, in addition to fighting, making money is a good hand, and even the banking industry in Europe is their invention. King Philip IV of France was in debt to them. When they returned to France, they brought back a great deal of wealth, causing King Philip IV of France's eyes to turn green.

　　At that time, King Philip IV of France was a man who wanted money but not face, and he never took any religious fervor or anything to heart. He had killed at least two popes and forced the Papacy into France, turning many of his successors into "prisoners of Avignon".

　　Then, on a Friday, Philip IV suddenly ordered the arrest of all Templars in France and the confiscation of all Templar property on the grounds that they were "heretics". Immediately afterward, the Pope, who was under his control, declared that the Templars were heretics, and that they were all fucking faggots, one of the reasons being that they had two knights, one in front of the other, on their coat of arms. This was meant to honor the two founders of the order, but in the words of the Inquisition, it became a symbol of the Templars' collective faggotry.

　　And so, King Philip IV of France wiped out his creditors and made a fortune in the process. Of course, it is also said that the Knights were already somewhat prepared at that time, so they moved or hid quite a lot of their property. So until today, there are still quite a few legends in Europe about the Templars hiding their treasures.

　　Therefore, the French, who were the filial sons of God, didn't really have much resistance to robbing the church or anything. Yet another voice made everyone hesitate a bit.

　　"But, we have just established the principle of 'the sanctity of private property' on the Declaration of Human Rights, are we going to trample on our own principle right away? If today we can thus deprive the Church of its property, whose turn will it be tomorrow?" Someone shouted in this way.

　　Then everyone fell silent, and countless eyes were fixed on Bishop Talleyrand.

　　Bishop Talleyrand, however, seemed as if he did not feel any pressure at all, as he smiled faintly and then slowly opened his mouth to ask: "Just now a gentleman mentioned the principle of 'the sanctity and inviolability of private property'. I am of course very much in favor of this principle. But I would like to ask, whose private property is the property of the church?"

　　This question was unexpected. Indeed, who is the owner of the Church's property? Definitely not the Pope, and certainly not those bishops. If there must be an owner for it ...

　　"Doctrinally speaking, the owner of the Church is Almighty God." Bishop Talleyrand continued, "But God has no need of any worldly wealth, and anyone who thinks so is blaspheming. Also ..."

　　Bishop Talleyrand deliberately paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "The Declaration of Human Rights protects the rights of human beings, and God, really, is not a human being, and thus this matter is beyond the effective scope of the Declaration of Human Rights."

　　As soon as these words came out of his mouth, there was a burst of laughter from below. Condorcet pounded the table with his hand while laughing, and Barnabas laughed so hard that he failed to catch his breath and coughed violently. Even Robespierre, who had always been unsmiling, laughed.

　　"This guy is a genius!" Robespierre said.

　　"This damned heretic!" Some of the clerics cursed through clenched teeth. But their voices lowered, and it was obvious that they had also realized that the situation today was very unfavorable to them.

　　"Damn it, why didn't I think of this and let this traitor steal the show." There were also some other people in black robes whose minds also bubbled up with such thoughts.

　　The others would definitely offend the church by bringing up this idea, and would make the church, which had been relatively neutral, an enemy of the revolution. That's why ordinary councilors wouldn't dare to mention such a thing. But clergymen like Talleyrand were different; by doing so, they would only cause the church to split, and a split church possessed much less deterrent power. Apparently, Talleyrand sold the church for a good price just in time.

　　"If the property of the Church belonged to God - and I personally find this idea blasphemous - in that case, the only legitimate owners of the Church's property would have to be all the faithful. The only legitimate owner of all the Church's property in France would be the French people. If this is the case, why can't the National Assembly, which represents the people of France, dispose of the wealth that belongs to us in the first place? Why can't it use this wealth that is rightfully ours to serve France?" Bishop Talleyrand continued to ask.

　　Bishop Talleyrand was an unprecedented success, and his speech was interrupted again and again by cheers. And his motion was speedily passed in the Assembly. That evening the resolution, and Bishop Talleyrand's speech, were made known to the people of Paris through the various newspapers.

　　When Bishop Talleyrand came out of his residence the next day, the crowds around him were cheering him, and the newspapers put every kind of good word in his honor, almost praising him as the greatest saint since Jesus. Talleyrand loved this feeling; he felt that the soaring success he had longed for was at hand.

　　Now that the money problem had been solved for the time being, the training of his "New Model Army" could be put on the agenda. The revolutionaries this side is actually quite a lack of military personnel, and Joseph before, in the neighborhood to assist in the training of the national self-defense forces on the good performance, so once again got the invitation, as the Paris national self-defense forces of the military instructor. For this reason the Marquis de Lafayette also wrote a special letter, inviting Joseph to his residence for a while.

　　Marquis de Lafayette's call, at this time naturally can not not respond. And it was also much safer to go and see this hero of two continents than to see Robespierre or Mara. So Joseph gave a slight account of the family's affairs, and dressed and left the house.

　　Riding on a light carriage, Joseph arrived at Marquis de Lafayette's residence.

　　Now the residence of the Marquis de Lafayette can be said to be full of people. Obviously after he became the most powerful person in France, there were a lot of people who came to kiss his ass and walk through his door.

　　Joseph handed the invitation that Lafayette had given him to the janitor, who looked at the invitation and said to Joseph: "Mr. Bonaparte, the Marquis is still in a meeting right now, so please follow me to the side hall and wait for a while first."

　　This was a normal thing, in fact, the moment Joseph saw so many carriages outside Lafayette's door, he knew that he was afraid that he would have to wait for a good while.

　　A servant led Joseph into a side room. Joseph noticed that there was another man in uniform, about thirty years old, waiting there.

　　The servant brought Joseph in, brought him a cup of black tea and retired.

　　Seeing that the servant had retreated and that the middle-aged man in military uniform was standing up and surveying himself with glowing eyes, he greeted him with, "Hello, I am Joseph Bonaparte, a math teacher. It is a pleasure to meet you."

　　The man also hastened to return the salute, "Hello, I am Army Captain Lazare Cano. I have heard your name from my teacher, Mr. Monge, and from my friend Robespierre."