In the following days, Joseph was tirelessly busy, working alongside Carnot to manage all aspects of the military: recruitment, organization, equipment, and logistics.
Prior to this, most European nations relied on voluntary enlistment for their armies, which was expensive and limited in scale. Even during the early years of the Thirty Years' War, European armies remained relatively small...
2023-10-27 11:14:41 +0000 UTC View PostLazare Carnot, a name Joseph had heard before, but not in his history class. After all, Joseph had studied history with his sports teacher in his past life. In fact, Joseph first heard of Lazare Carnot from his math teacher and his physics teacher.
The math teacher had mentioned him in the context of the "four-color theorem" but didn't provide much information. The physics teacher, on the...
2023-10-27 00:25:38 +0000 UTC View PostAt the National Assembly meeting on October 10th, the former first-tier representative and now the Member of Parliament for the Orléans district, Bishop Talleyrand, requested to speak.
Amidst a mixture of genuine and feigned applause, the Bishop in his solemn black robe ascended the pulpit. Unlike his equally seminary-educated and ever-mutable counterpart, known for his changing allegian...
2023-10-27 00:25:18 +0000 UTC View PostJoseph's grasp of history may not have been great, but he understood that Aunt Sophie's optimism was perhaps a bit premature. There were still plenty of challenges ahead.
On the 19th, the Constituent Assembly left Versailles and returned to Paris.
As soon as the Constituent Assembly returned to Paris, a member named Mirabeau proposed the following idea: "Let the king abdicate and pa...
2023-10-27 00:25:10 +0000 UTC View PostJoseph, who had no knowledge of historical details, had no idea how the march that Aunt Sophie was about to attend would leave a deep mark in history. He was just surprised that someone like Aunt Sophie, who seemed quite indifferent to politics, would be willing to participate in a protest march.
"Sophie, didn't you say you have no interest in these things?" Joseph hadn't even spoken yet ...
2023-10-27 00:25:01 +0000 UTC View Post"Joseph, the Constituent Assembly has passed a new decree," announced Lucien as soon as Joseph returned home, shaking a newspaper in his hand.
"Lately, Lucien seems to be getting more interested in politics," Joseph thought. He inquired, "Did they pass the Declaration of the Rights of Man?"
Joseph's knowledge of the history of the French Revolution from his past life was minimal, mo...
2023-10-27 00:24:51 +0000 UTC View PostIn the months that followed, life was somewhat "peaceful," at least compared to the days when Bastille was under siege.
Order had been restored in the higher echelons of Paris. The newly formed National Guard patrolled day and night, ensuring that troublemakers dared not create havoc in these areas. The poorer citizens had been mostly weeded out from the National Guard since they needed t...
2023-10-27 00:24:40 +0000 UTC View PostAs the Marquis de Lafayette spoke, a middle-aged man of about forty, dressed in a black bishop's robe and with a slight limp, entered the small meeting room and bowed to the others.
"Bishop Talleyrand!" Several people in the room immediately recognized the clergyman.
Bishop Talleyrand was a prominent figure in the salons and social scenes of Paris. He came from a fallen noble f...
2023-10-27 00:24:31 +0000 UTC View PostIn the aftermath of the recent turmoil, Paris seemed to have settled down somewhat. Barricades were gradually dismantled, and previously closed shops had reopened. Other than slightly higher prices and scarcer goods, it appeared that not much had changed.
Aunt Sophie had returned, and Louis was finally free from his heavy household chores. Louis had recently picked up chess, and he was ge...
2023-10-27 00:24:19 +0000 UTC View PostAfter the fall of the Bastille, rumors spread like wildfire throughout the city of Paris. People whispered that the king was furious and would soon mobilize his forces to suppress the Parisian populace. It was said that the enraged king had ordered, "The great tree shall be set on fire, the stones shall be sharpened, and people shall be replaced." Paris was gripped by tension, with crowds build...
2023-10-27 00:24:10 +0000 UTC View PostBy the time the militia besieging the Bastille realized what had happened, the garrison inside had recovered. The previous explosion had terrified them, but it also fueled their resolve to fight back. As a result, the militia suffered further casualties in the ensuing confrontations.
Just at this moment, cheers erupted from behind the militia lines.
"The artillery is here! The real ...
2023-10-27 00:24:00 +0000 UTC View PostDe Launay lay on the ground, his head ringing like a bell. He tried to get up but found his body limp, devoid of strength. He wanted to call for help, but the people around him were all lying on the ground, immobilized. And to make matters worse, he couldn't even hear his own voice.
"This is a disaster; the gunpowder magazine must have exploded," De Launay thought.
The Bastille's gu...
2023-10-26 23:22:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe militiamen had limited gunpowder, and this kind of wastefulness couldn't continue for long. However, they had plenty of hot-blooded lives to spare, so wasting a few wasn't a big concern for them. They decided to brave the enemy bullets and push the cannons close enough to Bastille, close enough that making the cannonballs fly required the skill level of a world-class Chinese soccer forward ...
2023-10-26 23:21:55 +0000 UTC View PostFor this suggestion, Charles couldn't find any reason to oppose it. Even though Joseph wasn't a military instructor, everyone could sense that the military expertise of an instructor from a military academy far exceeded that of an amateur like himself when guiding the construction of barricades.
"Of course, there's no problem at all, as long as Mr. Bonaparte is willing, we would welcome y...
2023-10-26 23:21:41 +0000 UTC View PostJoseph stood by his window, gazing at the rising columns of smoke in the distance.
"Looks like something's burning over there," Lucien said, standing nearby.
"It's the Honorable Artillery Company," Joseph replied. "They say there are a lot of weapons there—the revolution has already begun."
"Shouldn't we do something?" Lucien asked. Joseph turned to him, seeing the eager ant...
2023-10-26 23:21:29 +0000 UTC View PostJust as Armand had spread a new rumor—himself suddenly gone missing, perhaps imprisoned in the Bastille—a more astonishing piece of news arrived: the King's finance minister, Necker, had been dismissed and expelled from the country.
Necker's departure was seen as a sign that the King was about to crush the Third Estate's resistance, as he had served as France's finance minister twice....
2023-10-26 23:21:02 +0000 UTC View PostAt almost the same time, in the not-so-distant Palace of Versailles, King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were engaged in a conversation about a similar topic.
"Your Majesty, do you know that there are people openly advocating rebellion?" his queen, Marie Antoinette, widened her beautiful eyes, staring at her husband.
"In the Palace of the Tuileries, when has there not be...
2023-10-26 23:20:50 +0000 UTC View Post"It's an honor to meet our young scientist. You know, all the glory and grandeur in life are but fleeting, and time will wash them all away. Even great emperors like Alexander and Caesar leave behind empty names. Only scholarship is truly immortal. Just like Greece and Rome, their most precious treasures for us are not their conquests but their knowledge and laws. You have the talent to explore...
2023-10-26 23:20:35 +0000 UTC View Post"I thought you were being pursued and seeking refuge here," Joseph chuckled, "but your timing is perfect. Let's have dinner together."
He ushered Armand inside and then called out to a maid busy in another room, "Sophie, please fetch a set of utensils for my friend."
Seated now, he looked at Armand and asked, "So, did you receive another high-profile invitation, or should I come and...
2023-10-26 23:20:21 +0000 UTC View Post"Regarding this matter," Armand began, "our play itself carries strong political undertones. When I was creating it, I knew that staging this work involved political risks."
At this point, Armand paused and continued, "Moreover, we chose to perform it during such a time, which itself is a politically charged choice. We have already considered the political risks. Even if something does ha...
2023-10-26 23:20:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe day after their successful debut, Armand, Long, and the Rose Theater Company received several new performance invitations. Among them, one invitation stood out, not originating from a theater but from a member of the "National Convention" - Mr. Robespierre.
If Joseph had seen this invitation, he might have been taken aback, for Mr. Robespierre would later be infamous as the "Mad Kille...
2023-10-26 23:19:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe choir had been strategically placed in the audience, without any elaborate costumes. So when the song entered its chorus, these individuals suddenly began to sing, leaving the surrounding audience astonished.
In this scene, they had only sung the first part of the song. As the song concluded, the choir members promptly silenced, instantly blending back into the audience.
"Hey, b...
2023-10-26 23:06:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe Peterson Theater was packed with people, all eagerly awaiting the start of the premiere of "Spartacus." Located near the Saint-Antoine district, the theater was rather small, with a narrow backstage. To complicate matters, Armand had included a choir in the script for musical accompaniment, and there was no room for them backstage. In fact, the space was so tight that they had to place some...
2023-10-26 23:06:02 +0000 UTC View PostAfter comforting Armand, Joseph left the Peterson Theater and hopped into a lightweight horse-drawn carriage to head home. The two-wheeled carriage moved slowly along the road under the pleasant weather. Joseph folded the roof of the carriage and looked around.
At this point, the carriage was nearing the Île de la Cité, the heart of Paris and the birthplace of the city itself. The Notre...
2023-10-26 23:05:54 +0000 UTC View PostArmand informed Joseph that his play "Spartacus" was getting ready for a performance in Paris.
Joseph asked, "Is your battle song ready?"
Armand shook his head and replied, "No, not yet. We still don't have a song that satisfies everyone. But everyone agrees that now is the best time to stage this play. Missing this opportunity would be a great loss. So, for now, we'll use Edgar's s...
2023-10-26 23:05:48 +0000 UTC View PostJoseph submitted the "Four-Color Problem" to the Academy of Sciences, and sure enough, it left everyone, including Laplace, stumped. They studied it for a while but couldn't come up with a solution, not even a viable approach. Everyone, including Laplace, had their own research to attend to, and they couldn't afford to spend all their time on such a problem. So, as Joseph suggested, the Academy...
2023-10-26 23:05:40 +0000 UTC View PostAdhering to this principle, after that, Joseph adopted a policy with Mara's eccentric discussions, not only not opposing but even praising them.
However, anything is easier said than done. Deciding to follow the policy of "agree with him, encourage him, and cultivate him into a great know-it-all" is not difficult, but going against your own conscience to support a rather absurd perspectiv...
2023-10-26 23:05:22 +0000 UTC View PostIf Louis was the epitome of beauty, almost as if the golden apple had been handed to Prince Paris of Greek mythology by the goddess Aphrodite, or like the Archangel sounding the trumpet of the Last Judgment descended with fire and thunder from the clouds, then the next friend introduced to Joseph by Armand was the complete opposite in terms of appearance.
He was a short, skinny man with a...
2023-10-26 23:05:14 +0000 UTC View PostIt was the chilly month of April 1787, when the willow trees along the Seine River had just begun to sprout tiny buds, no bigger than grains of rice. In other parts, the cold of winter still lingered.
"Do you know, Joseph, I actually prefer April to the full bloom of May," Armand said as he strolled along the Seine's banks, with Joseph walking beside him.
"Why's that?" Joseph inquir...
2023-10-26 23:05:05 +0000 UTC View PostUpon hearing Joseph's words, Armand became rather proud. "What's there to fear? It's just a ban on performing, isn't it? Even Gauny's 'Xi De' was banned once. To be banned just like 'Xi De' is nothing less than... why should we change it? No! Even if it's banned, even if they throw me in the Bastille for this, it's worth it! You must know, this is the immortal laurel crown of Apollo!"
"We...
2023-10-26 23:04:55 +0000 UTC View Post