"I'm also honored to meet our young scientists. Because you know, all the great achievements are only fleeting, and time will wash them away. Even Alexander the Great and Caesar are just empty names. The only scholarship is truly immortal. Like Greece and Rome, the most precious treasures left to us are not those great conquests, but their scholarship and laws. You have the talent to study what is truly immortal, that It is truly respectable and enviable." Lafayette also replied with a smile.

"Just like the immortality of Rome, in the same way as their laws. Your Excellency, the Marquis, isn't it the same immortality, the same great cause that illuminates the future?" Joseph also replied with a smile.

"You are right. What do you think about the Constitution?" asked the Marquis de Lafayette.

"I don't know much about politics," replied Joseph, "but I think that just as ancient Greek geometry was based on nine intuitive, unquestionable postulates and axioms, so should our constitution. On top of such self-evident axioms. Your Excellency, Marquis, you once led the North American War of Independence. Sister, it is interesting to see the logic in the Declaration of Independence of the United States.”

"Go on," said Robespierre.

"The Declaration of Independence says: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. By safeguarding these rights, men establish government among themselves, and the rightful power of government arises with the consent of the governed." These two sentences are the axioms of the entire Declaration of Independence, which follows the entire North American Declaration of Independence. The logical deduction of The same can be used as the axiom basis of our constitution. Therefore, when we formulate the constitution, we first clarify the rights that our constitution wants to protect and then focus on how to protect these rights. Anything that contradicts this goal, would be deemed unconstitutional and thus illegal and invalid.”

"An interesting point," interrupted the Duke of Orleans, "but Joseph, I heard you say just now that 'the geometry of ancient Greece is based on nine intuitive, unquestionable axioms and axioms,' but it should not be Is it the ten axioms and postulates? Why, do you think the fifth postulate should be removed from the postulate?”

"Who wouldn't want that?" Joseph laughed. "Since the days of ancient Greece, no one who studied mathematics has wished to prove the fifth postulate, kick it out of the postulate, and turn it into a theorem. If I could really solve such a problem, I would really be famous—even as famous as Monsieur Lavoisier.”

The "Mr. Lavoisier" mentioned by Joseph here is of course the great chemist Lavoisier. But because of this surname, someone thought of something more.

"Mr. Lavoisier?" Robespierre said, "Well, M. Lavoisier's academic achievements are admirable. It can be said that he is the light of French science. To say that his nephew is also very talented, It's just artistic talent, and he has recently become famous for a drama, and some people think that he will have a Corneille."

"His "Spartacus" is indeed a good tragedy, but it is too radical. Especially the "Slave War Song", which completely negates all existing order." Lafayette seems to be concerned about this. The play is not very cold, he continued frowning, "There are indeed many problems in the existing order, which need to be changed, but this change should be a reform in the wind and drizzle, not a war like a flash flood."

"We don't want a flash flood like this." Robespierre also said, "It's just that our majesty is a little stubborn. About this issue, I actually talked to Mr. Lavoisier Jr., and he also admitted it. To reform the existing order, it is better to build an English-style country than a North American-style country. In the Glorious Revolution {in 1688, the British bourgeoisie and the new aristocracy launched the overthrow of the rule of James II and the prevention of the restoration of Catholicism A non-violent coup d'état. This revolution did not take place, so historians call it the "Glorious Revolution"} better than war. But he added that in France, it is not easy to achieve such a change. So sometimes you have to go a little too far in order to be touched. It's like you said to our King, 'It's so dark in your house that you have to open an extra window. ' He still refused to agree. So you said to him, 'Your house is too dark, I'm going to take off the roof. ' Then, His Majesty the King might be willing to discuss with us how to open the windows. "

This made everyone laugh. This metaphor actually originated from Lu Xun's article that Joseph had learned in his previous life. After he traveled, he stole the metaphor and used it when he was chatting with Amand. Now it seems that Amand is also using the metaphor he heard from him.

"This kind of thinking is not unreasonable." Lafayette also smiled, and then frowned slightly, "It's just that I'm still a little worried, this play will affect the emotions of the citizens, especially those at the bottom. The sans-culottes are emotionally aroused. And once they're emotional, they're not necessarily content to just open a window."

"But if this is not the case, His Majesty the King will not feel the pressure at all and will not agree to any changes at all." The Duke of Orleans said so.

The Marquis de Lafayette raised his head and gave the Duke of Orleans a deep look, but did not say anything.

The Duke of Orleans continued: "Besides, Gilbert, as you know, His Majesty has mobilized the army, which is also putting pressure on us. Hell—you told me the news.—how can we not have any What's the response?"

"The army does not fight its own people. Our army is there to protect the country, not to kill people," Lafayette replied.

"Can you promise?" asked the Duke of Orleans.

"Of course!" Lafayette replied without hesitation.

"Then you can guarantee that those mercenaries will not slaughter the people?"

The Marquis of Lafayette did not answer.

"If those mercenaries shoot at the people, what will the army do? Are they ignoring the king's orders and going to war with those foreign mercenaries, or are they watching the fun?" the Duke of Orleans pressed again.

The Marquis of Lafayette remained silent.

"You know, the army doesn't know what to do," continued the Duke of Orleans. "If the army goes to war with the king's mercenaries, it means war has begun. This is not what you want to see. If they are allowed to slaughter the people, I believe that this is not what you want to see either. Besides, military intervention in politics is not a good thing in the long run. Once this habit is formed, it will have endless troubles.”

The Marquis de Lafayette actually agreed with the statement made by the Duke of Orleans, so he still couldn't speak.

"So, the balance of power is now very unfavorable to the people. Without the balance of power, there will be no fair negotiations." The Duke of Orleans continued, "Under such circumstances, His Majesty the King will not accept our opinion. Sincerely. So it is necessary for us to show the power of the people in some way so that the king can wake up and prevent him from doing anything irrational.”

"I'm afraid you want to make the people feel that the king is their enemy so that they can stand up to him in the future, or even replace him." The Marquis de Lafayette thought so, but he did not say this. Because although he has no intention of replacing the king, {Marquis Lafayette is not from a royal family, and does not have the right to inherit}, but he also has the idea of ​​​​taking up the king and holding the power of the kingdom tightly in his hands. Although it is impossible to become a king, it is not impossible to become Richelieu, or even further, to become a palace minister like Pepin. So it is equally good for him to discredit the king and to turn the people against the king. So he still couldn't refute it, he could only say: "What kind of power can a play show?"

The Duke of Orleans smiled and said: "A group of slaves if they are determined to resist, can also shake the mighty Rome. Today's French people are stronger than Roman slaves, but France is much weaker than Rome. At least Rome is Our army will do everything possible to suppress the slaves, our army will not - the king knows this too, he can only trust the mountain people and the German mercenaries. If our king is smarter, he should be able to read the message this drama is sending him. As long as the king is willing to compromise, we can use this to achieve our constitutional goals.”

"What if the king will not compromise?" asked the Marquis de Lafayette again.

"Then arm the National Guard and use this strength to form a balance with the mercenaries." Robespierre said, "Of course, the fighting skills of the National Guard are not as good as those of the mercenaries, but in terms of numbers, as long as they are needed, they are very powerful. It's easy to make them several times or even ten times more than mercenaries."

"Hopefully our king can understand the message of this play. Does he really want to go the way of Charles I?" the Duke of Orleans said again.

The Marquis of Lafayette frowned, the Duke of Orleans' words were a little too explicit.

"It's really like Shakespeare said: 'The closer we are by blood, the more we want to drink our blood.'" {From "Macbeth"}"

He thought about it for a while and finally said, "Our Majesty is not a stubborn person like Charles I. He will follow the trend of the times and become a king who is supported by the people."