Make France Great Again

"This is not a problem for you to consider! You only need to choose to execute it! If there are losses, the Legislative Assembly will take full responsibility for all consequences."

Speaker Du Ban did not fall into the rhetorical trap of Saint Arno; instead, he roared, emphasizing the execution of orders by Saint Arno.

"Sorry! I am a soldier! My mission is to protect France from harm! I respect the rule of law of the Republic, and I also respect the Legislative Assembly. But..."

Saint Arno initially used peaceful language to show weakness, then suddenly roared: "I absolutely will not allow laymen to dictate to the military. We respect the Legislative Assembly, and we also hope the Legislative Assembly gives us appropriate respect."

Saint Arno paused, turned to face Speaker Du Ban with a contemptuous smile, and said, "If the members of the Legislative Assembly really need protection, then I, the minister, and all my colleagues in the Ministry of War can do our utmost to protect the Legislative Assembly. A company? A battalion? A regiment? A brigade, we can deploy them all. We can even station troops outside the Assembly to surround it completely! Will this satisfy the Legislative Assembly?"

Saint Arno's response was no longer an inquiry by the Legislative Assembly to the Ministry of War; it was more like a war threat issued by the Ministry of War to the Legislative Assembly.

The sinister expression on Saint Arno's dark face seemed to say: if the Legislative Assembly continues to insult the military, then the military may consider dissolving the Legislative Assembly.

Both Speaker Du Ban on the podium and the members of the Permanent Committee below showed expressions of shock mixed with a trace of fear.

At this point, Speaker Du Ban, who found himself in an untenable situation, could only hold up his pride, desperately pounding the gavel, coldly saying, "Am I to understand that you and your minister do not intend to strictly execute the Assembly's orders?"

"No!" Saint Arno shrugged with an innocent expression and said, "The Ministry of War does not wish to defy the resolutions of the Legislative Assembly. We just need some time to study the deployment and arrangement of the troops."

"How much time do you need?" Speaker Du Ban's voice remained stiff and cold.

"A month? Six months? Or a year or two?" Saint Arno's expression turned more gentle and humble, but his tone was mocking: "This depends on when the Ministry of War can complete the plan! Unlike you in the Legislative Assembly, who just sit here all day raising and lowering your little cards placed in front of you. You only need to perform the two steps of raising and lowering them; the specific work relies on us."

Now, Saint Arno completely despised these legislators who appeared united but were internally deceitful. They only curled up in the Legislative Assembly to establish one law after another but dared not truly confront the Ministry of War. They forgot that the executors of the laws they established were people like them, among millions of French civil servants.

"Mr. Saint Arno, it seems you are not competent for this job!" Speaker Du Ban threatened Saint Arno: "It's not just you; we suspect that your minister and the entire Cabinet may not be competent! Don't forget, the Legislative Assembly has the right to dismiss all of you!"

Saint Arno slightly bowed to Speaker Du Ban on the podium, and said politely, "Mr. Speaker, that is the Legislative Assembly's power! If you think I am not competent, you can certainly dismiss me!"

Saint Arno's attitude of being utterly fearless in the face of threats left Speaker Du Ban helpless. According to the laws of the Second Republic, as long as Speaker Du Ban could rally the members of the Legislative Assembly, they indeed had the ability to dissolve the Cabinet, like Jerome Bonaparte did, but the power of Speaker Du Ban was limited to dissolving the Cabinet.

The power to appoint the Cabinet naturally rested in the hands of President Jerome Bonaparte. This means that as soon as the Legislative Assembly dismissed the Ministry of War, Jerome Bonaparte could easily rehire the dismissed members.

Not to mention, the thoughts within the Legislative Assembly were not unified. It was possible to hope for them to maintain consistency a couple of times, but expecting them to always stand united against the President was obviously impossible.

Diverse interests of each individual meant that they could not continuously and repeatedly fight against the President.

Facing the irresolvable Saint Arno, Speaker Du Ban and the permanent committee members did not know what method would be appropriate.

Seeing the silent Speaker Du Ban and the permanent committee members, Saint Arno lazily yawned and stretched, saying: "Mr. Speaker, is the inquiry session over? If there's nothing else, I will be leaving!"

Saying this, Saint Arno did not seek further consent from Speaker Du Ban and the permanent committee members, but actively stepped down from the podium, heading towards the corridor laid with a big red Persian carpet on the right side of the Legislative Assembly.

"Who told you to leave?" Speaker Du Ban, having recovered, loudly scolded Saint Arno, pounding the gavel.

Hearing the gavel's sound from the podium, Saint Arno stopped, turned around, and looked at Speaker Du Ban, saying: "Mr. Speaker, I believe I have done my job! I will leave the rest to your National Assembly to discuss, don't you just love doing such useless things?"

Saint Arno mockingly laughed at Speaker Du Ban and the permanent committee members. In this inquiry session, it seemed that Saint Arno was merely there to highlight the clownish maneuvers of Speaker Du Ban and the members.

"Guards, arrest him and expel him for me!" An infuriated Speaker Du Ban loudly ordered the members to arrest Saint Arno and expel him from the Legislative Assembly.

After hearing the Speaker Du Ban's call, the two guards responsible for watching the corridor came reluctantly in front of Mr. Saint Arno, but they made no move and looked at Mr. Saint Arno with apologetic expressions.

"No need for you to take action!" Mr. Saint Arno said arrogantly, with a defiant expression on his face.

Followed by the two guards, Mr. Saint Arno left the Legislative Assembly.

Not long after Mr. Saint Arno left the Legislative Assembly, Speaker Du Ban, having regained his composure, once again struck the wooden gavel in his hand and announced the dissolution of the inquiry meeting to the legislators present.

The next day, Paris's "Constitutional Newspaper" detailed the entire process of the hearing, pointing all contradictions towards Mr. Saint Arno and the Ministry of War for disobeying orders and disregarding the Legislative Assembly.

[Constitutional Newspaper: The official newspaper of the Orléans Faction, the articles published in the newspaper are mostly comments from the Left-wing Royalist Faction and speeches from the leaders of the Order Party in the Legislative Assembly.]

This time, the "Constitutional Newspaper" attempted to use public opinion in Paris to force the President to dismiss Renio and Mr. Saint Arno from the Ministry of War.

However, the Order Party members seemed to forget that the dominance of public opinion in all of Paris was in the hands of the Bonaparte Faction.

Almost on the same day the newspaper was published, a group of "people" wearing various outfits and ragged felt hats congregated together. Armed with long guns and short sticks, they broke into the "Constitutional Newspaper" base under the pretense of "debt collection," indiscriminately attacking members of the "Constitutional Newspaper."

The reporters and editors of the "Constitutional Newspaper" never expected this to happen. They tried to rebuke these vagrants with justice, then resist, resulting in being beaten even more brutally by the "mob."

Many articles were torn to shreds, and the printing press was also violently destroyed.

Some of the gentlemen from the "Constitutional Newspaper" secretly went to the nearby police station to inform the police of what happened inside the "Constitutional Newspaper," only to be refused on the grounds that the police were merely administrative police (city management enforcement team) without enforcement power, subsequently suggesting they find "armed police."

By the time the reporters of the "Constitutional Newspaper" found the "armed police" and came to the newspaper office, the inside had already been wrecked beyond recognition.

The "vagrants" who stayed at the "Constitutional Newspaper" pointed at their own bruised and swollen faces [caused by the reporters' counterattacks] and tearfully complained to the police about the "Constitutional Newspaper" beating people. Upon hearing this, the "armed police" were visibly outraged and immediately arrested all members of the "Constitutional Newspaper" on the charges of causing disability through a brawl.

This news alarmed Thiers and Barrow of Puevert Street, and Audion Barrow was tasked with negotiating with the police to release all personnel of the "Constitutional Newspaper" from the police station.

During the capture of the "Constitutional Newspaper," the "Bonaparte Newspaper" also "counterattacked" the Constitutional Newspaper.

The article exposed the conspiracy of the "Legislative Assembly's attempt to fracture the army, rendering France incapable of facing foreign invasions," and indoctrinated Parisians with the idea that "the division of military power is to plunge France into civil war."

Parisian citizens, who still vividly remembered the civil war two years prior, did not wish to experience another civil war. Under the leadership of certain concerned individuals in literary circles, Parisians voiced demands urging the "Legislative Assembly to stop dividing the army."

Subsequently, the previously silent "Observer Newspaper" also voiced its opinion at this time, calling for Parisians to unite and boldly express their voices.

An option about "wanting prosperity and order or chaos and rule of law" appeared on the newspaper.

The reporters of the "Observer Newspaper" eagerly conducted interviews and investigations.

After a few days of "screening," the conclusion was reached that Parisians preferred "prosperity and order" over "chaos and rule of law."

...

"The 'Observer Newspaper' earnestly hopes the Legislative Assembly can courageously admit its mistakes, as prosperity and order are what the Republic needs most now! Every excellent Frenchman should act for prosperity and order..." Speaker Du Ban, sitting on the sofa at the Puevert Street mansion reading the contents of the "Observer Newspaper," turned livid and cursed loudly: "Nonsense articles!"

"That Napoleon fellow is better at mobilizing Parisian public opinion than we are!" Thiers showed not a hint of anger; instead, his tone carried a tinge of admiration.