73: 067 Rapid Turnaround 73: 067 Rapid Turnaround On July 4th, Anning, as usual, came to Versailles for a meeting.

As soon as he alighted from the carriage, he saw soldiers from an unknown corps marching in neat columns past the entrance of the Versailles Palace.

The column, four abreast, marched on for quite a long time; Anning estimated that this corps had at least twenty thousand men.

After the column finally passed, Anning hurried to meet with the representatives at the entrance of the Imperial Conference Hall and immediately asked, “Whose army is this?”

“We don’t know, but based on the language the officers used for commands, they seem to be Swiss mercenaries.

Now, the garden of the Versailles Palace is filled with tents, that’s where the army is stationed.”

At this moment, someone hurriedly ran over: “This is bad news, the King has replaced all the soldiers guarding around the Imperial Conference Hall with Swiss, and they all speak German!”

The native language of Switzerland is Romansh, spoken by only a few people.

Most areas in Switzerland speak German, French, and Italian; Swiss mercenaries are quite common in France, Germany, and Italy.

It looks like the King has moved his Swiss mercenary corps to the vicinity of Versailles.

Dan Dong spoke loudly: “The King is going to make a move against the Parliament!

Since they are Swiss mercenaries, they don’t care about the French constitution, so they won’t have any qualms about dissolving the Parliament!”

Prompted by Dan Dong’s reminder, the representatives all seemed to wake up from a dream.

“How could this be!”

“It must be that Austrian Woman’s idea!

She’s absolutely corrupt!”

“Let’s petition His Majesty!

Ask him to move the troops away!”

The calls to “go petition” arose and were supported by the majority, thus a large group set off directly towards where the King resided.

Anning observed it all, even though Dan Dong and Robespierre glanced at him several times, seemingly hoping he would take control of the situation, Anning pretended not to notice.

At this time, Anning had already recalled what event this was: it was one of the triggers for the later Storming of the Bastille.

Because the King showed an inclination to use the military to dissolve Parliament, the people of Paris stood in solidarity with Parliament.

Just then, the ordinary people of Paris were extremely hungry, causing unrest all day; eventually, it escalated into something major.

Anning followed the crowd to the palace entrance, where the palace guards had also been replaced with Swiss mercenaries.

A mercenary officer, speaking heavily accented French, stopped the representatives from proceeding further.

Mirabeau angrily said: “Why replace the palace Guards?

Is it because His Majesty also knows that the Guards are sympathetic to the National Assembly?”

The Swiss officer arrogantly responded: “No comment.”

“What do you mean no comment?”

“It means just what it is, His Majesty has the authority to decide on any matter and does not have to inform anyone.”

The representatives exchanged looks.

Robespierre: “Since they won’t let us meet the King, we shall submit a formal written request to the King, proposing the withdrawal of the troops!

“Let’s return to the Parliament Hall now and start drafting the motion immediately!”

The representatives agreed with Robespierre then started heading back to the Parliament Hall.

Upon reaching the Parliament Hall, Anning suddenly discovered that the number of military personnel surrounding the hall had multiplied, and they were preventing the Parisian public from entering the stands to watch the meeting, only allowing the public to watch the proceedings through the windows on the second floor.

Mirabeau confronted the leading officer: “What is the meaning of this?”

This officer’s French is much more standard, although there’s still somewhat of a German accent: “This is for everyone’s safety, the security in Paris has not been good lately, many gentlemen have been hurt by rioters.”

Mirabeau points to the people gathered to watch the assembly: “Take a good look, do any of them look like rioters?”

“We’re just preventing trouble before it occurs, the representatives are important figures of France, we cannot afford any mishaps.” The officer politely responded, the Swiss soldiers behind him all had stern faces, giving off an intimidating aura.

Dan Dong mutters to Anning: “Damn, it looks like our locksmith has finally toughened up, the Parliament might be dissolved soon.”

Upon hearing this, Robespierre became extremely agitated, saying: “Even if they drive us out of Versailles, we can find a place in Paris to meet!

The constitution-making process cannot be halted, France must not stop progressing!”

Hearing Robespierre speak, one representative asked: “What if the King tries to throw us in the Bastille?”

Robespierre responded decisively, “Then we’ll meet in the prison!

We’ll shout to each other to pass on information!” “No matter what, we must not stop!

As long as we don’t give up, everything we’ve done won’t be in vain!”

Anning watched Robespierre from the side, thinking to himself, truly, this is the Robespierre known as the Lion of the Republic, his speech really has the right flavor.

Mirabeau took over the conversation: “It’s not to that point yet, after all, the King hasn’t truly ordered the military to act, we should immediately submit our motion.

There’s no time to delay, let’s start drafting the motion!”

**

That night, the National Assembly’s document demanding the King to withdraw the Swiss mercenaries was delivered to the desk of Louis XVI.

As Louis XVI was reading the document, Queen Mary burst in: “You can’t move the troops!

My dear!

Don’t listen to them!

“You should order the troops to act immediately!”

Louis XVI looked up at Marie and responded calmly, “My Marie, it seems the situation is well under control, from this document, the representatives have already felt the pressure.

“As long as the troops continue to be stationed at the Versailles Palace, it won’t be long before the representatives surrender.”

Louis XVI, while speaking, showed a smug smile: “Then everything will be as usual, the only issue is, we can’t raise taxes.”

Queen Mary worriedly said, “Will things really go that smoothly?

I think we should strike hard and fast to avoid prolonged uncertainty!”

“Don’t worry, look at this document, they’re already scared!” Louis XVI pushed the document forward.

Queen Mary stepped forward, took the document, and read it carefully.

Then a smile appeared on her face: “I knew it, they don’t have the courage to defy royal authority!

I suggest letting the Swiss regiment drill in front of Parliament every day, to keep scaring them!”

Louis XVI laughed: “That’s a great idea!

I will order the Swiss to do so immediately!”

**

Several days passed, and the number of Swiss guards around Parliament even increased, and the Swiss mercenaries began drilling at the doors of Parliament.

Mirabeau gritted his teeth in frustration: “They’re threatening us!

Damn it, isn’t there any way to change this situation?”

He looked around the entire hall, and all the representatives of the National Assembly had grim expressions.

Indeed, when the National Assembly faces the Swiss mercenaries, it’s like scholars facing soldiers, reason doesn’t prevail.

The Parliament now has no way to make the King withdraw the troops.

Then someone loudly suggested: “We can ask Finance Minister Necker!

Let him convey our request!”

Robespierre sighed: “A request, we can only hope for the King’s grace now!

Just a short while ago, we were proudly demanding the King to relinquish his power!”