Chapter 38: The First Chapter of the Stage (1) "First squad, monitor this entire Grenelle Street from here. Second and third squads, move three hundred meters north and east respectively and patrol. Understood?"
"Yes, Sergeant!"
At the NCO's order, the soldiers—rifles shouldered, bayonets fixed—split cleanly by squad and marched out in perfect unison.
Marie, the cook of The Wheat People, cracked the kitchen door open and watched the scene. When one soldier turned his gaze toward her, she startled and slammed the door shut.
"Marie, how is it outside?"
"Oh my. Same as yesterday—today too, the soldiers are all bristling and stomping around everywhere!"
"My goodness, really?"
"Oh, come on, have you been living fooled your whole life? Take a look yourself!"
"Let's see… oh my! So scary!"
It had already been close to two weeks since the army began standing guard throughout Paris.
Up until recently, the soldiers hadn't been walking around loaded down with weapons, but after a riot a few days ago, they had started standing guard with rifles and bayonets.
Naturally, the citizens' anxiety grew by the day.
—If they just arrest the ones who started the riot, why are they acting so murderous?
—Seriously! At this rate they'll kill someone. It's hard enough to live as it is—what kind of madness is this…
—I heard Dijon and Toulouse also feel off. Maybe that's why they're being even more on guard?
And as a few truths mixed with lies, that anxiety only swelled.
—The real reason the king dismissed Controller-General Necker is because the queen fell head over heels for Brienne, hounded the king to drive Necker out, and appoint Brienne instead!
—What? Is that true?
—That's what people are saying. And that woman—she's already a fallen tramp who got involved with a clergyman over a jeweled necklace, right? It's probably true.
Talk about the royal house.
—They say the troops the king sent to Grenoble are shooting people and looting!
—What? Is that true?
—That's what people are saying. If it wasn't, why would the king deploy troops? It's probably true.
Sinister talk.
—They say His Highness the Duke of Orléans raised troops in Flanders!
—What? Is that true?
—That's what people are saying. The king drove out the Duke of Orléans, didn't he? It's probably true.
Even ridiculous rumors that started somewhere.
In an instant, Brienne—the kindly clergyman—and Marie Antoinette—a devout believer—became adulterous lovers, and the army the king dispatched to maintain order and prevent chaos instantly became some Mad Max-level apocalypse army that shot citizens and looted private homes.
In reality, Marie Antoinette was the victim, and the soldiers who had been quietly maintaining order were getting injured in droves after being hit by stones thrown by citizens.
No matter the era, the power of "I heard it from someone" spread as if it had sprouted wings, setting the entire country ablaze in an instant.
In the spring and early summer of 1788, all of France was in turmoil.
"I'm completely fucked."
Completely fucked. That was the conclusion I reached after thinking it through. Looks like I'm completely fu—ah, fuck it, I don't know.
Honestly, when I returned to Paris after finishing this vacation and saw soldiers suddenly posted at every intersection, I felt it right away.
Ah. This.
It's finally here.
The French Revolution.
And the guillotine.
That first night after I arrived, my head practically split into chaos, like a World Cup stadium on the day of Korea vs. Japan—my sense of self fractured and went berserk.
Isn't this just a simple disturbance? It can't be the Revolution already, right?
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In the end, I didn't sleep a single hour for almost two days and turned half-dead.
Watching me get more haggard by the day, my secretary Florian looked worried and spoke.
"…Boss, are you feeling unwell? Your complexion hasn't looked good lately…"
"…It's nothing."
I shook my head and answered weakly.
Damn it—soon, starting with the king, all sorts of people were going to start climbing up onto the guillotine, and it's "nothing"?
The reason I was just swallowing my fear alone was simple: if I told anyone this, they'd definitely think I was insane and lock me up in an asylum.
Even if it came true—no, it would absolutely come true—they'd obviously look at me like I was some devil.
Because the king's head falling was that shocking to people of this era.
"Florian, the thing I told you—did it work out?"
"Ah, of course. For now, we exchanged all banknotes and bills of exchange into gold and silver coins, but I still don't understand why you ordered me to do this."
"…Just think of it as converting to safe assets because the atmosphere has been unstable lately."
The more unstable society became, the more physical goods—especially valuables—became trustworthy assets.
Money is great. I want to swim in a pool filled with banknotes too—if the timing weren't like this.
Once a government's credibility starts being questioned, banknotes crash in value, and bills of exchange often turn into floating scraps of paper the moment the company or person who owes them goes bankrupt.
Florian nodded at my words and said,
"Understood. Ah—then should we also ask the coachmen's guild and the merchant shipping guild to pay for the seasickness medicine in gold or silver coins from now on?"
Right. The seasickness medicine we released had become a steady cash-cow item around this time for the coachmen's guild and the merchant shipping guild.
Especially for the merchant shipping guild, after they began receiving supplies of the seasickness medicine, passenger complaints dropped noticeably, and orders were coming in from regional port cities like Calais, Brest, and Cherbourg.
"Yes, please tell them to do that. If they can't, it can't be helped—then exchange whatever we receive at the bank into gold coins right away."
"Yes, Boss."
The net profit The Wheat People earned was about 20,000 livres a month, the seasickness medicine brought in about 15,000 livres a month, for a total of 35,000 livres a month.
If we kept collecting even that amount as gold and silver from now on, it would be enough to put out an emergency fire if things went bad.
After that… is there anything else I need to do?
As if he'd read my thoughts, Florian said,
"Ah! The American merchant ship carrying the grain we'll be using is arriving soon, and if we want to place additional orders, now is the right time. If we order later in a rush, it will take at least four to five months."
Tsk. Grain. Grain, huh.
Wait.
"Florian. Can you make a trip to Toulouse?"
"Yes? Toulouse all of a sudden?"
"You don't need to stay long. Just go and quickly see what the farmland looks like."
"At this time… it's early June, so wouldn't the rye naturally be almost ripe?"
"Right. We sow rye in November. But wasn't this winter too harsh? Just go and quickly check whether the rye grew well."
"I understand what you mean."
Florian nodded and left the office.
If the rye in the south—France's warmest region—had grown well and was being harvested, then it didn't matter. Even if one of our contracted suppliers had problems, we could trade with another grain merchant.
But what if the rye hadn't grown well because of the cold wave? And what if that was in the south, the warmest part of this cold wave?
Then we couldn't rely on France's grain suppliers anymore. Everyone would be screwed together.
Then we had only one choice: secure American grain no matter what.
So what's the way to secure American grain cheaper?
Sign the contracts before the Americans realize it.
"Fuck… living is hard as hell…"
Give me back my YOLO life! Gyaaaah!
Tonight too, the lights in The Wheat People office didn't go out until late.
"I, Louis XVI… respecting the decision of the high court, order the Estates-General to be convened, and I will also respect the Notables' decision to summon former Controller-General Necker back to Paris…"
The king collapsed.
After a long political struggle spanning a full year, the cartel of nobles and clergy toppled the king.
"Hahaha! We won! We won!"
"Following Your Honor's insight was the right choice! Even that terrifying royal authority is nothing but a paper tiger now!"
"Indeed! God surely does not forget the noble sacrifices made by us blue bloods! O Lord! I praise you for punishing that cursed king and his treacherous officials!"
Nobles and clergy cheered at the fall of the king's authority.
"Ahem. Now that we've won, wouldn't it be fine to recreate a few of the taxes the king forcibly abolished?"
"What? Even so… can we do that without the king's approval…?"
"Hey! Now that the king is on his knees, this is the perfect time! First, um… yes! Let's restore the 'pigeon tax'!"
"Hah, what are you saying! We should start collecting the 'salt tax' again first!"
"Come now, you two, stop. Can't we collect both? Hahaha!"
Nobles and clergy ignored even the king's decision.
"Oh, right. And what about the commoners?"
"Hm? Why bring up commoners?"
"Well, in a way, we only got the king to kneel because we manipulated the commoners, didn't we? Shouldn't we give them something, at least a little?"
"That's enough of that. Those ignoramuses should be grateful that we blue bloods deigned to use them. Those useless, lazy commoners should just work properly—honestly… anyway, they're nothing but dogs and pigs. They'll bark for a while, and once time passes, they'll quiet down on their own."
Nobles and clergy didn't think much of the commoners they had incited.
But reality was different.
"…What is this!! You bastards! Where do you think you are, saying such nonsense!"
"It's you, Your Honor—what are you talking about! Of course in the Estates-General, it should be one vote per person, shouldn't it? If you tie votes by estate and cast one vote per estate, you're saying we commoners should just be props!"
"Hah! You want to exercise a vote equal to noble blue blood? Guards! Drag this lunatic out at once! If I see you again, then I'll summarily execute you for blasphemy!"
"Y-you! A judge? You greasy-bellied bastard dares threaten me, a representative of the commoners!? Fine—just you wait!"
The furious commoners' eyes began to turn toward the nobles and clergy.
"High court, stop the exploitation!"
"We want one vote per person!"
"Boo! Give us bread!"
The rally slogans at the high court now struck not the king, but the magistrates and clergy.
"T-this—these worthless rice-grubs! Listen here! Captain! Suppress those rioters at once!"
In the end, the nobles and clergy ordered the army to disperse the riot.
But—
"No."
"W-what? Captain! Don't you see those rioters? Hurry—shoot them, trample them with cavalry, do something!"
"Why should I? I received orders from His Majesty the King to protect citizens' safety and maintain the city's order. I never received orders to shoot fellow Frenchmen."
"Y-you dog-like…!"
"And. This is my personal view, but I have no desire to work for pigs who incited simple-minded crowds to throw stones at me and my company."
"You're dismissed! Dismissed!"
"Hah! Do it if you can! I don't know who would take command after me, but he'll be the same."
The officers refused the high court's orders.
"What? The captain was removed by the high court?"
"These crazy bastards! Do they even know what kind of man the captain is! Hey! Are we just going to take this?"
"Of course not! Everyone, grab your rifles! We're joining the demonstrators!"
The NCOs led the soldiers and joined the commoners' demonstrators.
"We are His Majesty the King's army! We will never harm citizens! Long live France! Long live His Majesty the King!"
"Waaaah! Now that the soldiers joined, let's storm the high court and overturn everything!"
"To the high court!!! Long live France!"
The long curtain of the stage called revolution was rising.
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