As soon as he heard that this was the case, Joseph felt that he could not participate even more. Because although he doesn't participate in the club's activities, he is not completely unaware of the club's situation now. Ever since the King's escape, there has been a split within the club. In the past, the members of the Club of Friends of Constitutionalism were almost exclusively pro-monarchy, but since this incident, some have switched to a republic. And after the Mars Square incident, this division will probably be even more obvious.

As for the election of a new president of the club, the current president is Lafayette, although he has been busy with official duties and has participated in the club's activities much less during this time. But he must still be one of the contenders, and the other contender at this club meeting, Joseph knew without even thinking about it was Robespierre. And he was sure that Robespierre must have won this campaign. Because it is clear that Lafayette is no longer sure about this election, otherwise he would not have to pull himself over.

"You really can't get involved in such a thing, if you don't do it well, you really have to lose your head!" Thinking like this, Joseph hurriedly said: "General, I didn't mean to shirk, but I ......"

For a while, Joseph couldn't think of any particularly reliable reason, and his anxious face was sweating.

"How?" Lafayette frowned and forgot about Joseph, "Could it be that you have a date with any girl?" But it's an important matter, and I hope you can find a way to participate as much as you can. ”

Joseph finally came up with a solution at this time, and that was to pretend to be sick. He decided to say yes first, and then as soon as he got home tonight, he would pretend to be sick, he must be so sick that he couldn't move—Lafayette couldn't get a stretcher to carry him to a meeting, could he?

After thinking of a countermeasure, Joseph said, "Well, Your Excellency, I will find time." ”

"Okay, I'll wait for you." Lafayette smiled at Joseph. As to who Joseph would vote for, and who he would choose between himself and Robespierre, Lafayette felt that there was no need to ask at all.

When Lafayette was gone, Joseph hurried to Napoleon, told him about it on the way home, and reconciled with him.

However, when the two of them reached the door, Joseph was stunned because he saw two people waiting at his door.

Two people were waiting for Joseph at the door, one was Armand and the other was Robespierre!

Joseph would have liked to turn around and run at once, if possible, but Armand and Robespierre had already seen them, and Armand waved at him, and Robespierre was already nodding to them.

"I can't run away!" Joseph looked at Armand's sincere smile and felt chills all over his body, as if he had been stripped naked and thrown into the snowy fields of Siberia. In a trance, he seemed to see the majestic figure of the guillotine.

Joseph could guess with his heels why Armand and Robespierre had come to him, it must have been for the vote.

"I'm so stupid, really!" Joseph thought, "I just know that when it's time to vote, Lafayette will come for me; But I didn't expect that even Robespierre would come to me. If I had been a little smarter, I would have found a place to hide tonight......"

But it's too late to think about anything now, the guillotine, no, it's Robespierre who has already caught up.

"Bonaparte, I'm sorry to bother you at this time." Robespierre said with a smile.

"Joseph, why did you come back, your brother refused to open the door for us, for fear that we are the wolf grandmother!" Armand smiled as innocently as Little Red Riding Cycle, not thinking that he had really brought the big bad wolf to someone's house.

Lucien went to the house of his classmates, and Louis was the only one in the house. He was a bit rigid, and I told him that I didn't come back and wouldn't open the door. Joseph replied with a grin.

The door was opened, and Joseph entered the house with Napoleon, Little Red Riding Hood, and the terrible wolf grandmother. As they sat down, Robespierre asked, "Monsieur Bonaparte, is this your brother Napoleon?" I heard that he was very talented in the military. ”

Napoleon didn't speak, but Joseph could see that Napoleon was actually quite proud.

"Napoleon did really well during this time." Joseph said. Robespierre was talking off the topic, and Joseph wished he could talk a little longer, so that he could have more time to think about what to do.

Theoretically, the same way to deal with Lafayette would be against Robespierre. But Joseph was a little less daring. He knew that Lafayette suspected that he was faking his illness and would not cut off his head because of it, but it was another matter to deceive Robespierre, and once he became suspicious, the problem would be troublesome.

"Maybe there's a way to get the best of both worlds?" Joseph thought to himself while talking perfunctorily with Robespierre.

Robespierre finally got to the point: "Joseph, I wonder what you think of the king's abduction and escape, and the events in the Champ de Mars?" ”

"The King's escape?" Josephus replied, "I think he almost succeeded, but we still captured him, which shows that God also supports the revolution." ”

At this time, there was nothing wrong with mentioning God in front of Robespierre, for not long ago Robespierre had regarded piety to God as the most important virtue in his writings.

Robespierre laughed, but he was not distorted by Joseph's answer, and continued: "Ah, Monsieur Bonaparte, what I am saying is that do you believe that the king was 'kidnapped'? ”

"I'm not stupid enough to believe that kind of." Joseph tilted his mouth. He felt that he had better not play dumb in front of Robespierre. If he had to choose between offending Lafayette and offending Robespierre, Joseph would certainly choose to offend Lafayette. Because Lafayette doesn't seem to be going to send him to the guillotine. Thus, Machiavelli's statement that it is better to be a feared monarch than to be a lovable monarch is indeed very reasonable.

"But our king is a fool." Napoleon interjected, "Look at him, he has to put on a show even if he escapes." Get such a carriage, for fear that people will not know that it is the king. ”

Now that Joseph had made his attitude toward the king's escape, Napoleon felt that he did not need to hide it.

"But Monsieur Lafayette still insists that the king was 'kidnapped,' Bonaparte, what do you think of this?" Robespierre asked.

Joseph thought about it, and he knew that many people now felt that he had received a lot of benefits from Lafayette, and he could almost be regarded as Lafayette's man. Now Robespierre raises this question, to a large extent, judging friend and foe. If he continued to support Lafayette on this issue, Robespierre would obviously see him as Lafayette's sworn friend, his own political enemy.

But to immediately oppose Lafayette also seems too undisciplined. Joseph knew that if a person had a reputation similar to that of Wen Hou, he would have a lot of trouble in the future. So he deliberately hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Mr. Lafayette naturally knows that the king is not being kidnapped, but that the king has always opposed the revolution. But I think that Mr. Lafayette may have made this statement in order to avoid war. ”

Seeing Robespierre's pensive expression, Joseph continued: "Monsieur Lafayette may have feared that if we were to pursue the king's defection, it would lead to rebellion in the country and interference from other nations. As you know, Mr. Robespierre, the French army is in a bad state because the top of the army is very unreliable. But we can't replace them all at once. Monsieur Lafayette may therefore have feared that in the event of war, France would be at a very disadvantage. ”

"What do you think, then, Monsieur Bonaparte? Do you agree with Lafayette? Robespierre asked again.

Joseph shook his head and said, "I can understand Mr. Lafayette's concerns, but I don't agree with his approach. In my view, Mr. Lafayette made two mistakes on this issue. ”

"Let's talk about it!"

"First, Mr. Lafayette's vision is too limited to the military." "He did not understand that the greatest power of France was not the French army, but the French people." Letting a person who has lost the trust of the people, who has betrayed the people, continue to sit in the position of king will seriously damage the morale of the people.

Second, he underestimated our enemies. He felt that by backing down, we would gain the same kindness from our enemies. But our enemies will not let up their attacks on us because of this. On the contrary, our weakness encourages them to take risks.

Moreover, the king had already made clear his opposition to the revolution. Since then, there has been no way back for the royal family. They understand that the people will never trust them again. In the future, any action by us or by them will only be seen as a stopgap measure by the other side. They will never believe it, and we are willing to keep his rights, they will only see it as a fear of counter-revolutionary forces at home and abroad.

Lafayette may have hoped to buy time by keeping the king so that he could complete the rebuilding of the army. But the king, they will not fail to understand this either. In the eyes of the kings, if Lafayette was given such time, it would be tantamount to a death sentence for the king. So, they won't give Lafayette this time. ”

"That's what you said." Armand spoke, "Joseph, there is an important meeting of the club the day after tomorrow, at which the president of the club will be re-elected. This will determine the direction of the club. I don't think our club can go down the wrong line of Mr. Lafayette. ”