The king's exodus was a farce, but it completely changed the situation of the country. Prior to this, although some people in society, such as Marat, were vigorously attacking the king, in parliament, the moderate faction still had a clear upper hand. This is especially true after the king has taken the oath to the Constitution. In fact, at that time, even the radical Robespierre and Danton were shouting hooray to Louis XVI. At that time, the distinction between radical and moderate was only a technical one, such as whether the clergy should be allowed to swear allegiance to the state, whether or not bishops should be selected by democratic elections, or not. But after the escape of Louis XVI, the situation changed all at once.

Upon discovering that the king had fled, Lafayette immediately declared that the king had been kidnapped by "enemies of the state". This statement has deceived many people for a while. However, it was not long before a letter left by the king was found in the royal palace. In that letter, the king declared that he had been kidnapped and taken to Paris and that all the documents he had signed after July 1789 had been forced and therefore invalid.

When the letter was discovered, Lafayette was making arrangements for the "rescue" of the king, as well as other preparations for the aftermath. (In fact, he didn't expect that they would be able to capture the king back) so he didn't have time to block the news, and as a result, in the blink of an eye, the matter of this letter became known to everyone. Although Lafayette has since vigorously claimed that the letter was forged and that it was written under duress from the king's kidnappers. But such an explanation lost any convincing force as soon as the king and his party returned to Paris. For in the procession to which the king fled, there was only one groom who was an adult man - which shows that the king was not coerced at all!

But the mystery of politics often lies in telling nonsense with your eyes open. Although he knew that the king was against the revolution and the constitutionalism in his heart. But for many members of the National Assembly, it is still in their interest to maintain the constitutional system. Therefore, these people continued to support the constitutional system and defend the king as if they did not know that the king was against the revolution and the king's opposition to the constitutional system.

But the king's prestige among the people was completely ruined by this incident. The angry populace smashed everything related to the royal family. The things on the street related to irises (the emblem of the Bourbon dynasty) were either smashed or covered with things. Because the majority of the members of parliament still support a constitutional monarchy, the anger of the common people at the bottom turned to them with their unsatisfactory lives. In their view, these people were in cahoots with the king and oppressed the people. It is because of these people that after the revolution, the people's lives did not improve even the slightest.

This anger has always been there, and it is only for two reasons that this anger has lurked like magma. The first of these two reasons was their expectation of the National Assembly, which at that time believed that it would represent their interests and speak for them, and that if they waited patiently, good days would come. However, this patience has been continuously drained over the years.

In the Constitution of 1791, adopted by the Parliament, French citizens were divided into "active citizens" and "passive citizens" according to their property status. (The law stipulates that only those who pay a certain amount of taxes have the right to vote and to be elected, and are active citizens.) In a sense, this is a restriction on the rights of citizens on the basis of property) Just a few days before the king's flight, the parliament had passed the famous "Law of Lechabelière". Under this law, workers are strictly prohibited from forming trade unions and holding strikes, and violators are punished by a fine of 500 livres and deprivation of citizenship for one year, and a fine of 1,000 livres and imprisonment for three months.

Far from protecting the interests of the lowest groups, these decrees have increased the constraints on them, which naturally and quickly erode the confidence of the people at the bottom.

The second reason is the lack of leaders among these people.

But the king's exodus solved both problems. The previous actions of the National Assembly, coupled with the impact of the king's escape, have greatly reduced the status of the National Assembly in the hearts of the people at the bottom, and it can be said that the current National Assembly has lost the trust of the people at the bottom.

After the escape of the king, the demonstrations of the people at the bottom also gave some radical parliamentarians a new opportunity. They are keenly aware that once they stand on the side of the people at the bottom, they can get a lot of political resources. Brissot, Bonneville and Condorcet openly stated that France should consider a republic.

As a result, all sorts of things went on.

But this mess did not seem to affect Joseph and Napoleon. On the contrary, because the likelihood of war is increasing, their affairs are more rushed. The newly established army was lined up to engage them in confrontation exercises, during which Napoleon more than once routed them with various tactics such as sneak attacks and artillery ambushes. So much so that Napoleon, who was only a second lieutenant, became famous among the National Guard in Paris.

Soon, however, an unexpected event disrupted Joseph's work once again.

On the 16th, Parliament officially declared that the King and Queen were not guilty and that they had been abducted. Of course, the parliament also pretended to declare that they would severely punish those who "hijacked".

Such a decision angered the sans-culottes, and on the 17th, led by some republican figures, a group of sans-culottes marched to the Champ de Mars near the city hall to demonstrate. There, they were crushed by the National Guard, led by Lafayette, and suffered heavy casualties.

In response, Lafayette explained that it was the thugs who first attacked the National Guard, which maintained order. The National Guard, on the other hand, had flown the red flag over the town hall and had issued three warnings to the rioters before they opened fire. (According to a previous decree passed by parliament, the town hall was required to display a red flag and then issue three warnings before using lethal force before quelling the riots.) But the republicans, and the sans-culottes, accused Lafayette of lying, and according to them, the National Guard under Lafayette's command simply hoisted a red flag and then opened fire into the crowd without even a single warning.

Now that the crackdown has been fired, continue to suppress it.

Lafayette declared in parliament that the sans-culottes were thugs, and that behind them were conspirators. The conspirators are the Cordelier club guys. As a result, the parliament passed arrest warrants for several key members of the Cordelière Club, including Danton and Desmoulins. When Danton got the news, he immediately fled Paris. In terms of escape skills, he was much better than Louis XVI, so he escaped to England without any problems. And Desmuller also found a place to hide.

In fact, because the police system has not been restored, the pursuit or something is actually very limited.

On the surface, Lafayette appeared to have the upper hand, but his reputation was greatly affected by these actions. Especially in the National Guard, there was a large number of sympathizers of the Cordelière club. Soon, even among the National Guard, there were voices against Lafayette. And such a voice greatly shook Lafayette's position. His allies, the brothers Dupol, Barnaf, and Ramer, were not much different from Lafayette in their political views, but they were also happy to see Lafayette's position suffered. A series of actions in parliament since then have actually been carried out under their auspices, but it is believed that Lafayette is manipulating all of them. So it wasn't long before Lafayette's fame changed from a hero to an executioner and conspirator.

Fame is a weird thing, and sometimes, a white and flawless reputation is more fragile than a white and flawless paper. This is exemplified by what happened to Mr. Mark Twain when he ran for governor.

One afternoon after the Champ de Mars incident, Joseph was about to leave work when he happened to meet Lafayette who had returned from outside. Lafayette's face was full of exhaustion, and when he saw Joseph, he called him over and told him: "Tomorrow night there will be an important meeting of the club." I hope you will join as well. ”

Joseph knew that by "club" Lafayette he meant "the Jacobin Club." Today, after the "Brittany Club" moved to Paris, it was officially renamed the "Club of Friends of the Constitution" after the location of the club in the Jacobin Abbey.

For the activities of the Jacobin Club, Joseph has always hid as far as he could. All the more so in times of such chaos. So, he hurriedly said that he was busy and had very important things to do and could not attend this meeting.

"Is it a troop business?" Lafayette asked with a frown, this is a common reason for Joseph's absence from club activities.

Joseph immediately replied, "No, it's my personal business." Because he knew that if it was because of official duties, then Lafayette, who was his immediate superior, would certainly have ordered him to put aside all kinds of official duties for the time being.

Then he asked, "General, may I ask, what is the important thing in the club that requires all members like me, who rarely go?" ”

"The club has to hold a new election in order to elect a new president of the club. What is there to do that you can't spare some time? Lafayette replied.

At this time, the Jacobin Club was not yet a radical organization. But there are no less radical voices in the club. Especially recently, even more so. A lot of the voices coming from the club don't quite fit in with Lafayette these days. But for Lafayette, the club is an important tool for him to gain political influence and cannot be easily abandoned. Perhaps Lafayette is hoping to use this election to carry out a purge of the Jacobin Club.