The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 290 Napoleon Reigns

Napoleon led his army to the border of the Taranto area belonging to the Ming Dynasty and saw the Ming army stationed on the border.

Zhu Jianxuan and the Grand Secretaries of the Ming Dynasty thought that France would tear up the armistice agreement so quickly and would not drag the Ming Dynasty into war again when the war with the anti-French alliance started.
However, after the European war broke out, Zhu Jianxuan still sent 30,000 garrisons to the Taranto area to prevent the French army from attacking Taranto.

Napoleon and his generals did have the idea of ​​launching a surprise attack and occupying the Ming city of Taranto when the situation was chaotic.

However, after seeing that the Ming Dynasty was on guard, and considering the power of the Ming Dynasty's artillery, rifles, and bombs, Napoleon's staff and subordinates all suggested abandoning this plan.

Napoleon also accepted the suggestion, but arranged for the envoy to enter the Daming City of Taranto, expressing his desire to visit the Daming City.

Although Ming and France were not at war at that time, this request was still very abrupt, causing many sensitive people to wonder whether this was a strategy to attack the city.

Ruan Yuan, the governor of Taranto, received the news and discussed it with the local garrison commander and the manager of the Western Factory, and then responded:
"The Ming Taranto City welcomes people from all over Europe to visit, but they are not allowed to bring troops or weapons."

After receiving the response, Napoleon first laughed dryly, then became confused.

Finally, he suddenly ordered Joachim Murat to temporarily command the army, and he himself went into the Ming City alone to visit as requested by the Ming people.

Napoleon's chief of staff, Louis-Alexandre Berthier, and Murat, who received the order, could not accept it.

Mulla dissuaded him somewhat excitedly:

“Why do you want to go to Daming City at this time? It’s too dangerous for you to go alone.

"What if the Ming Dynasty captures you directly, declares war on France again, and joins the anti-French alliance?"

Berthier also said:

"The Ming people proposed such an impossible condition, probably because they don't want to have direct contact with us at such a sensitive time.

"The Ming people have already shown their attitude towards the European continent. They do not want to get involved in this European war."

Napoleon insisted on doing what he wanted:
“I have to go there to confirm my guess and avoid future regrets.

“The key is that if we want to occupy Sicily, we need naval support and exclude interference from the British and Spanish navies.

"Our French navy is not strong enough, so we must seek support from the Ming Dynasty."

Napoleon actually suspected that the purpose of these Ming officials might be to create an opportunity to meet and talk with him alone.

Even if the Ming Dynasty has no such intention, he must personally confirm the Ming Dynasty's attitude towards European and French affairs.

The Ming Dynasty's attitude towards France and Europe serves as a reference for its subsequent plans and actions.

Napoleon stopped Murat and Berthier from continuing to persuade him, and again arranged for the messenger to go into the city to meet with the front-line officers and officials of the Ming Dynasty, explaining that he wanted to visit the city alone.

Then, escorted by his guards, he rode on horseback to the Ming Dynasty's defense line.

He left his guards there and rode alone towards the Ming Dynasty's defense line.

The frontline officers of the Ming Dynasty felt puzzled and thought that this French barbarian Napoleon might have something wrong with his brain.

"Our general actually meant that he didn't want you to come, but you really came?"

However, since the civil servants and senior generals in the rear had already made such a direct request, the other side also chose to accept it.

Then he could only report to his superiors while carefully keeping an eye on the French and letting Napoleon in.

A squad of cavalry was also arranged to follow, protect and supervise Napoleon as they walked towards the walled city of Taranto.

When the prefect Ruan Yuan, the generals of the Taranto garrison, and the person in charge of the Western Factory heard the report, they were all speechless.

"You really came in alone..."

Ruan Yuan and others really did not want to meet Napoleon, but they also did not want to reject Napoleon openly, so they put forward conditions that they thought Napoleon would not be able to accept.

As a result, Napoleon accepted it, which made it difficult for Ruan Yuan and others to deal with it.

Ruan Yuan quickly ran to the city gate and told the guards not to open the gate. When Napoleon approached the city gate, Ruan Yuan held a tin trumpet and shouted to the people below:

"General Napoleon Bonaparte, I am the chief officer of the Ming European Commissioner's Office in Taranto.

"If it were peacetime, we certainly wouldn't mind you visiting Taranto, but it's really not appropriate now.

“Taranto is home to a large number of Italian nobles, and their attitude towards you is definitely not very good.

“So I’m officially suggesting that you don’t come into the city to visit for the time being.

"We asked you to come in alone before, but that was just a polite refusal. I'm going to explain it to you directly now."

Napoleon's army destroyed all the countries on the Italian peninsula. Many nobles were worried that the city of Taranto on the mainland was not safe, so they fled to Tunisia.

However, many nobles did not have the opportunity or ability to flee across the sea, so they gathered in the Ming City of Taranto, which was under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty.

The homes of these exiled nobles were confiscated by Napoleon. Now their attitude towards Napoleon cannot be said to be bad, but rather they hate him to the core.

If Napoleon really went into the city alone and wandered around, there was no guarantee that the servants and guards of these nobles would not try to assassinate him.

So Ruan Yuan had to be straightforward and keep Napoleon out.

Napoleon was obviously surprised and puzzled when he heard these words, and then he responded loudly:
"Is this the decision of the governor, or the commander of the Ming Dynasty stationed in Taranto? Or even the decision of the Ming Dynasty West Factory?"

Ruan Yuan also found Napoleon inexplicable:
"This is our joint decision and joint suggestion, so please go back."

Napoleon had to accept the reality, frowning and muttering in his heart:
"It seems that the Ming Dynasty really has no interest in interfering in the affairs of Europe and France, and really has no intention of communicating with me alone..."

Napoleon believed that he had accumulated enough prestige and power after conquering Italy.

He also accumulated enough wealth in Italy.

Most of the wealth that Italy had accumulated over hundreds of years since the Middle Ages now fell into Napoleon's hands.

In the process of bringing these things to France, it was naturally impossible for Napoleon to keep his hands off them.

At the same time, this objective power also has a huge impact on who will handle this wealth and how it will be distributed after it is sent to France.

Napoleon not only became a core member of the Directory, but also opened up the network of relationships among the French big business groups.

Although Napoleon had been fighting abroad for a long time, he also knew that the situation in Paris was unstable.

The current Directory is not very popular, especially among bankers and other big businessmen, who are very disgusted with the Directory's secret rule.

They feared for their personal safety, fearing that they would be secretly arrested by the Directory and executed on charges of treason.

This force hopes that the situation will change and that there will be a more stable government.

At the same time, after the anti-French alliance was formed again, the French royalists also received spiritual support and some actual material support.

They became active again, launching rebellions, or indeed uprisings, across France.

In Napoleon's view, after several years of revolutionary movements, the aristocratic system had been destroyed, and the industrial and commercial groups had become the main body of society, but they were also beginning to get tired of the turmoil.

So a new opportunity has emerged, and I should seize this opportunity to take a step further.

In the past, I couldn’t even control a small island like Corsica because I had no prestige and strength.

But now he has prestige, an army of 100,000 and several vassal states, all of which are forces he can use.

Now I have the opportunity to control the whole of France.

There is even a chance to use France's power to control all of Europe.

When Napoleon returned to his military camp, Murat and Berthier immediately came up to him to inquire about the situation.

Napoleon said without any emotion:
"I thought the Ming Dynasty would be interested in French affairs, but that doesn't seem to be the case. They should not be prepared to interfere in French and European affairs..."

Murat didn't think too much about it, but Berthier seemed to be thinking:
“Then we can only seek domestic support.”

Napoleon did not answer, but ordered his main force to return north to meet the Austrian army's attack again in the northern part of the Italian peninsula.

Napoleon launched an unreserved attack, defeated the Austrian army once again, and then continued to advance and officially invaded the Austrian mainland.

Then, with a certain belief, Napoleon launched a crazy action that was almost like gambling.

He personally led an army, abandoned all the surrounding towns and other ordinary targets, and headed straight for Vienna, the capital of Austria.

Napoleon did this a little over a year later than in history, and the enemy's commander was different, but he achieved a similar effect.

The Austrian army suffered repeated defeats and their morale declined as they lost more and more. Napoleon, with a series of victories, actually rushed to the gates of Vienna.

However, although Napoleon was a talented general, he was never a pure general.

Napoleon had his own ideas and knew what his goals were.

They were not here to overthrow the Holy Roman Empire-Habsburg-Austrian monarchy, nor did they have the opportunity to destroy the Habsburgs.

I want to create an image of an invincible god of war.

So while Napoleon was marching towards Vienna, he wrote a letter to the Directory in Paris, asking the Northern Army to move south to cooperate with him in attacking Vienna.

If it is too late, negotiate with Austria while maintaining the advantage.

His own army was still not large enough to defeat the entire Habsburg Empire while controlling Italy.

At the same time, he also wrote directly to the Austrian emperor, claiming that there was no need to continue the war between the two sides and inviting Austria to negotiate on the condition of withdrawing from the anti-French alliance.

Napoleon also took the initiative to promise to cede Venice's land in the Balkans to Habsburg Austria.

Under Napoleon's coercion and inducement, Austria compromised.

Outside the city of Vienna, Napoleon signed an armistice agreement on behalf of France and Austrian representatives, and Austria withdrew from the anti-French alliance.

Napoleon's military power reached its peak.

In fact, Napoleon's solitary advance could not forcibly occupy large tracts of land and cities, but it could cause great damage.

This is often unbearable for feudal lords.

However, if the enemy ignores losses and resists the invasion with a strong defense, then this behavior of advancing alone will become very dangerous. In the original history, Napoleon's surprise attack on Vienna was successful, forcing Austria to withdraw from the war.

But more than ten years later, he repeated the same trick, launched a long-distance raid on Russia and approached Moscow.

The Russian monarch burned the city, evacuated the city and continued to fight against the French army, refusing to negotiate peace and surrender with Napoleon.

As a result, Napoleon quickly withdrew from Russia in disgrace.

Now, after signing the treaty with Austria, Napoleon led his army back to Italy for rest.

Then he received an order from the Directory, asking Napoleon to lead his troops to Spain to support the Spanish battlefield.

After Napoleon arrived in Spain, he once again used his military talents and the French army's weapons advantage to quickly defeat the main Spanish army.

They then moved south and captured Barcelona and surrounding areas.

The King, Queen, Prime Minister Godoy, and other high-ranking Spanish nobles have also been extremely panicked in recent days.

Napoleon had conquered all of Italy, including the Kingdom of Naples, which was ruled by the Spanish king's brother.

Then he rushed thousands of miles to Vienna and signed a humiliating treaty with Austria.

At this time, the French army led by Napoleon had already gained a certain special deterrent power in Europe.

When the news of the massive defeat on the front line came, the Spanish top leaders felt that they had no chance of winning, so they decisively sent envoys to negotiate peace with France.

In accordance with the requirements of the French Directory, the Northern Army was making good progress and was driving the Prussian army out of the Rhine River basin.

Napoleon's army had no worries, so it should have directly occupied Spain and then taken control of Spain's vast and wealthy colonies.

But Napoleon had his own ideas. After occupying Barcelona, ​​he suspended the offensive and arranged personnel to negotiate with the Spaniards to delay time.

At the same time, Napoleon himself and Murat returned to France at the head of an elite cavalry unit.

Napoleon did not return secretly but openly, passing through the town and making a public appearance in parade.

Napoleon wanted to know how he was perceived by the French and whether they welcomed and supported him.

The result of this simple test made Napoleon overjoyed.

Wherever Napoleon's troops went, they were welcomed with great enthusiasm, and the young people in the city followed their troops and cheered.

After the French Revolution began, various official and private newspapers in France expanded rapidly and spread to cities large and small across the country.

In order to boost the confidence of the people, the French Directory vigorously publicized the army's victories abroad.

Napoleon was the most outstanding general.

The original record was very brilliant, and the entire Italian peninsula was directly conquered.

It was an almost miraculous victory, a thousand-mile raid on Vienna to force back Habsburg Austria.

At this time, the Habsburgs were still recognized as the top power on the European continent, and the impact of this battle was particularly huge.

With a little exaggeration by the official French government and private newspapers, Napoleon was portrayed as the god of war.

When Napoleon came to Paris, he also received unprecedented welcome.

When the Directory received the news that Napoleon had returned without permission, it was considering how to punish him.

But now, seeing the great popular prestige that Napoleon demonstrated, the Directory had to give up this idea.

Instead, they asked Napoleon to go on another expedition and lead his army across the sea to attack Britain.

But Napoleon expressed his intention to enter politics.

After Napoleon announced his participation in politics, he did not need to make any special contacts himself, as the parliamentarians, politicians and businessmen in Paris came to him on their own initiative.

They wanted to know what Napoleon's governing philosophy was and which groups' interests he was primarily prepared to represent.

But Napoleon did not understand these political affairs, nor did he reveal his governing ideas too much. He only expressed his support for basic Enlightenment ideas in general terms.

What they said more was to ask the other party to support themselves, promise to maintain order and stop the ongoing political persecution.

The French army is not the same as Napoleon's private army. Napoleon commanded the army in the name of a general of the French Republic and under the orders of the Republic.

Napoleon wanted a real leader, and to make the vast majority of the French army obey him, he needed a relatively legal procedure.

But Napoleon was not a politician, and he did not know how to incite politicians to support his ideas, and he was unwilling to make any specific commitments.

In the original history, Napoleon also had this idea and tried it several times.

Napoleon took the initiative to give a speech in the parliament, but he was unable to convince the members of parliament. When facing the questions from the members of parliament, he responded in a manner similar to commanding soldiers.

This approach, which was very effective in the military, not only had no effect in parliament, but also angered many members of parliament, leading to fights in parliament.

It took several days and several meetings, and the meeting venue was changed at least twice. The parliament was eventually forcibly dissolved, but was then taken back to continue.

Napoleon went through a series of twists and turns, and under many coincidences, he finally chose to use the army to force the parliamentarians to make the decision he wanted.

The coup process in history was not decisive and was like child's play compared with the ancient political struggles in Shenzhou.

Napoleon in this world is much more decisive, mainly because the Ming Dynasty in this world has a greater influence and Napoleon has also read many books from the Ming Dynasty.

Napoleon specialized in studying the process of how many founding emperors of the Chinese dynasties became emperors.

Using Shenzhou's historical experience and combining it with the current situation in France, a simple and crude action plan was formulated.

Napoleon called on members of parliament to support him in presiding over government affairs and military affairs in the name of his participation in politics. This was legal under the current republican system.
France was still a republic at that time, and the basic system of popular sovereignty and democracy had not yet been broken.

Since Napoleon took the initiative to go through legal procedures to participate in politics, the Directory did not directly suspect that Napoleon was planning to do something big.

Napoleon continued to contact and communicate with parliamentarians and businessmen, preparing for a coup under the pretext of running for the Directorate in parliament.

It was all over when Napoleon actually launched his coup.

Napoleon used his trusted troops to defeat the parliamentary guards and took control of the parliament.

Then Napoleon took the stage and gave a speech, calling on the parliamentarians present to support his governance and solve France's current problems.

Next, let the members of parliament that you have won over in advance put forward the motions that you requested.

Directly dissolve the existing Directory, while authorizing Napoleon to command all French troops and serve as chief consul.

Under the threat of force, the parliament passed all these bills on the spot, and Napoleon also announced his inauguration directly on the spot.

He then appointed his main confidants to important positions in the Executive Government and formed the Executive Government Cabinet.

The entire coup process took only one morning, which can be said to be quite efficient.

When the parliament and Napoleon's orders were announced, the officials of the original Directory were all at a loss, but in the end no major chaos occurred.

Middle and low-level officials simply accepted the reality, and several former supervisors also simply lay down and waited for death.

Firstly, Napoleon’s prestige was so high at that time that he could be regarded as the living military god of France. Ordinary politicians would be courting death if they led people to oppose him.

Secondly, since the French Revolution, various forces have taken turns to come and go, and coups have occurred one after another.

Not only a coup to seize power, but even whether the law is implemented sometimes needs to be decided through a coup, that is, a coup at the parliamentary level.

Representatives of various classes and groups, politicians under the banner of Enlightenment thought, performed and fought in parliament and government.

The people of Paris are now numb and tired of it.

All classes began to crave stability, so much so that the power of the royalists began to revive.

Many people are no longer opposed to having a stable king who can lead the country back to its past stable life.

The citizens of Paris during the White Terror did not have much good feelings towards the Directory and instead expected General Napoleon to do something different.

Napoleon actually did something different.

In previous coups, after each faction came to power, it would first launch a round of purges, clearing out the previous ruling party and its own political enemies.

The guillotine in Paris had not been as busy in the past hundred years as it had been in the past ten years.

After Napoleon came to power, he simply dismissed the original Directory officials from their posts and did not even arrest them.

Those politicians who were imprisoned after previous coups have not yet had time to be executed.

Napoleon arranged for people to do simple screening and released the parties directly if they had not committed any actual crime.

It also directly stopped all espionage operations and stopped secretly arresting and trying politicians.

At the same time, with the posture of military command, personnel were organized to compile perfect laws to restore government and market order.

After Napoleon took control of the situation, he publicly announced through newspapers:

"Citizens, the Revolution is complete, its principles have become the foundation of our country, and it is over."

In fact, every group of rulers who came to power through a coup have said something like "the great revolution is over."

But in the end, only Napoleon actually did it.

When the Great Revolution began, the revolutionaries built a basic democratic system framework based on the Enlightenment ideas of natural human rights, equality of all, and sovereignty of the people.

The successive coups d'état after the start of the Great Revolution first gradually pushed the revolution to its climax, and also pushed the political tendencies to the extreme.

But as the saying goes, everything that goes up must come down. After the fall of the Jacobins, the political situation in France began to become conservative, and the Directory period was close to an oligarchy.

After Napoleon took office, he became a de facto dictator. The democratic system that was advocated at the beginning of the Revolution has now basically disappeared.

Because the French people have really had enough of the past ten years.

Now they would rather have a stable dictator than the chaos of one person taking over and another taking over.

(End of this chapter)