Flowers, Swords and France

In the midst of the noise, Charles stood silently in front of the podium below the Speaker's seat, quietly waiting for the storm that was destined to come. ±,

Because hundreds of people gathered together, the cold was driven out of this magnificent building, giving people a scorching heat.

The seats were higher and higher, and finally pressed down on the people in the center of the venue like a mountain.

Today, the Bourbon Palace was almost full, and most of the National Assembly members attended the hearing on the Ministry of War.

Hundreds of members sat in their seats, looking at this blond man who looked too young despite wearing a heavy old-fashioned coat with their own complicated eyes. Although he had his back to most people, the horseshoe-shaped seating arrangement made it possible for him to feel the mixed jealousy, disgust and even hatred.

The members who sat upright seemed to want to use their eyes to form a silent majesty to intimidate this young man who was just starting out.

Opposite Charles, the Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Marrast, looked down at him. His long face looked even stiffer because of his unfriendly expression. His expression was focused and fierce, as if he wanted to crush him with this large crowd. \u003c,,4), French politician, became the editor-in-chief of the National News during the July Monarchy, was elected to the National Assembly after the February Revolution, and joined the Party of Order, becoming one of the main party leaders.

He was extremely opposed to republicans and provided a lot of support to General Cavaignac in suppressing the Paris riots in June 1848. And then he became the Speaker of the National Assembly. 】

After Charles asked to attend the hearing on behalf of the minister, there was almost no hesitation. General Saint-Arnaud immediately agreed to his request - it would be better to say that the general was happy that someone could replace him to chat with this group of parliamentarians.

Today is the day of the hearing, so Charles came to the parliament early.

So. This group of parliamentarians, most of whom were opponents of the president and Charles, naturally wanted to give him a warning with an extremely uncooperative attitude.

However, contrary to their expectations, Charles did not flinch, and from the beginning he kept that vague smile on his face. He was neither impolite nor yielding, and he did not mean to be flinched because of being alone.

Haha, there are quite a lot of people here today! It is very different from their future generations.

Seeing this huge crowd, he thought maliciously in his heart.

Yes. Compared with a century and a half later, the attendance rate of the French National Assembly today is incredibly high.

Or should it be said that among all democratic countries, the parliament of the French Fifth Republic is incredibly insignificant?

A full hundred years after Louis Bonaparte launched a military coup, the highly respected Charles de Gaulle also launched a coup with the support of the military, established the Fifth Republic, and then forcibly tamed the parliament.

According to the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, the president can not only dissolve the National Assembly, but also submit bills directly to referendums (bypassing the parliament). In "extraordinary times", the president has the right to take necessary measures and issue decrees according to the situation, all without the consent of the National Assembly. In addition, according to Article 38 of the Constitution: "In order to implement its policy program, the government may ask the parliament to authorize it to take measures by decree for a certain period of time on matters that usually fall within the scope of the law." Therefore, the president and the government can declare a state of emergency at any time when necessary. Then the legislative power of the parliament can be restricted or directly replaced.

The same is true for key financial powers. The parliament theoretically has the right to decide the national annual total budget, supplementary budget, and various economic construction bills. However, the budget is prepared by the government-Article 40 of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. If the proposals and amendments put forward by members of the parliament will reduce national revenue or increase or increase national expenditure after passing, the government can refuse to accept them. This once again gives the government the final say on the fiscal budget, because the government can use this article to support its budget, and the parliament's right of rejection is meaningless.

Under such circumstances, the parliamentary power and influence of the Fifth Republic were weakened to the point where it was unsustainable, so that the members themselves were not interested in attending the parliament.

In the Fifth Republic, many members of the parliament were often absent without reason, and the attendance rate was often less than half. There was even a joke that only a few dozen members attended the meeting, and each of them voted for a dozen colleagues.

It was not until after 2008 that the new regulations of the National Assembly passed after the constitutional amendment stipulated that anyone who was absent from the committee meeting more than twice a month would be fined 25% of the member's official allowance, which barely controlled the absenteeism rate of members to less than one-fifth.

Therefore, in reality, France in the late 20th century and even the 21st century was a country where the president had absolute power - that is, the "elected emperor" advocated by 19th-century political theorists.

The unfinished business of Louis Bonaparte was finally completed by Charles de Gaulle, who came from an aristocratic family and the military; the struggle between the French army and parliament for more than a century finally came to an end in his coup.

And I... now have to fight with these monkeys.

Ciel looked at the serious councillors in front of him with a mixture of regret and excitement.

After all, this was the first time he encountered such a scene, and he needed some psychological comfort to make himself look more aggressive and not timid.

The silent contest has been going on for a long time even before the hearing officially started, but even now there is still no winner.

The time has come. The noisy parliament hall suddenly fell into a brief period of loneliness.

"Mr. de Treville," perhaps because he was annoyed by the young man's neither humble nor overbearing attitude, the speaker's voice was very arrogant and stiff at the beginning, "are you here to attend the hearing on behalf of your minister today? Why didn't you wait until yesterday? Still no one told us?"

"I'm sorry, sir. The minister was suddenly ill and suddenly unable to see." Charles still had that vague smile on his face. His tone was also very calm, "So, although he was very willing to listen to the advice and teachings of you and other congressmen and gentlemen, the doctor's instructions still prevented him from making the trip. As a last resort, he had to let me come... This is It is a temporary measure, but I believe it will not hinder today's hearing because the minister has entrusted me with full authority to represent him."

"Then..." The Speaker raised his chin slightly. "Can you explain and take responsibility for all the actions of your ministers and your own words and deeds today?"

"Without a doubt, sir," Charles replied immediately, without any hesitation, "I am responsible for everything."

"Okay." The Speaker smiled fiercely, and then his voice suddenly rose, almost like a roar. "So, could you please explain why the Ministry of War refuses to implement the National Assembly's resolution to establish a parliamentary force?"

"Why not execute it?" It was almost as if a starting gun was given, after the speaker asked. Many MPs also made noises at the seats. An overwhelming roar filled Ciel's eardrums.

However, this battle did not intimidate Charles.

"I don't think we are carrying out the resolutions of the Council, sir," Charles replied calmly. "We just don't know how to understand this resolution. As we all know, the most important thing for the army is to maintain the consistency of military orders. All along. Our troops have been commanded and mobilized through the command system of the Ministry of the Army. Now you ask us to establish Troops that are subordinate to another chain of command fundamentally violates every military rule we know, and we don't know what to do about it, so I think we need more time to study and coordinate to see if this is okay. feasible."

"We are not asking you to do research, we just need you to obey orders!" the Speaker interrupted him.

Loud noises were also heard at the same time.

If it were an ordinary young person, he would have been frightened by this kind of formation.

However, Ciel was prepared in advance, so he remained calm.

"Although executing orders is just two words, sometimes it is extremely complicated, sir." He raised his head proudly and looked directly at the speaker, "Let me ask, what if one day - let's say tomorrow, a certain country suddenly launches an attack on our country? To attack, should we prepare all the troops to attack as soon as possible and then mobilize all the troops to fight the enemy to the death, or should we come here first and wait quietly for the resolution of the parliament? Otherwise, we will have a very large army. It can’t be used to fight the enemy?”

Perhaps it was because this counter-examination was so effective that most people were suddenly speechless.

"So, since we learned your opinions, we have been preparing for this to see if there is any way to have the best of both worlds, which would take into account the safety concerns of the distinguished congressmen and not hinder the Army's consistent Glorious tradition..."

"Parliament is the country's legislative body. It has the right to defend itself, and it has the right to amend laws and put a guard under its control. Sir, this is not a request, this is an order!" After hearing this, Charles said After giving a humble but obviously perfunctory answer, the Speaker finally became furious, "We, in the name of France, order you and the Ministry of War to implement our resolution immediately!"

"If you want to mention the constitution, then... I would like to say that according to the constitution of the Republic, the president is the supreme leader of the military, and he has control over the military... All changes to the military structure and situation should be approved by the president. "Char frowned hesitantly, "And now, we have not received any form of approval from the president. If we arbitrarily increase the military structure without his approval, does this count as respecting the spirit of the rule of law of the Republic? Does this count as respect for Parliament?”

"Are you showing contempt for Parliament?" the Speaker asked, "I remind you that you are responsible for everything you say today."

"No, I think you misunderstood me. I have the same respect for the Republic, the President, and the Parliament, so I act in accordance with my responsibilities. If the President does not nod, it will be difficult for us to implement this decision. Of course, in Before that, if you or other members of Congress feel unsafe, then I am willing to protect you. I will do my best to ensure the safety of your position. I can ask the ministry to deploy two additional battalions or even an additional regiment to protect you..." Although Charles' expression was gentle and humble, his tone was almost as if he was teasing, "Of course. If you think it’s not enough, I can also find a way to mobilize more people, as long as there is room around the Bourbon Palace!”

This answer, because it was so perfect, aroused the fury of the speaker even more. But no matter how fiercely this fire burned, he could only suppress it in his heart.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

Because they could not openly say that the establishment of direct troops was because they did not trust the president and the army department.

"Judging from your answer, I think you are not qualified for your current position." The speaker said coldly, "Perhaps your minister is also the same. We have reason to ask the prime minister to replace more reliable candidates."

"Of course you have the right to do so," Charles lowered his head in the face of this blatant threat.

Just when people thought he was being humble to the legislature of the Republic, he suddenly raised his head and raised his voice. "Then, can I express my own opinions in my private capacity?"

"No!" Perhaps he felt something was wrong, the Speaker stopped him directly, "You were only summoned to the hearing today, you have no right to speak on matters that have nothing to do with you!"

"You just accused me of contempt for the parliament. I think this accusation is very biased and not true, because I have great respect for the Republic and the Parliament." Charles looked directly at the other party, not willing to give in, "What is really worth debating is whether this place respects itself? When millions of citizens of the Republic are deprived of their civil rights without reason, this legislature is desecrating its own sanctity..."

"Bang!" "Bang!"

The Speaker knocked his hammer, but it had no effect, and Charles continued.

"... When the president's control over the army was eroded without reason without his knowledge, this legislature was desecrating its own legitimacy..."

Someone has already come to Charles, and it seems that he will be carried out soon.

This behavior of disrespecting the rules of procedure will undoubtedly be punished-but under the protection of the president, he will not be punished in any real way.

Charles took a deep breath.

"So, I think, on these issues, the president may need to appeal to the whole nation and let the people judge right and wrong! Only in this way can the constitution of the Republic be guaranteed and the legitimate rights and interests of all citizens be respected!"

"Appeal to the whole nation!"

"Appeal to the whole nation!"

At this moment, according to the president's previous instructions, a small number of parliamentarians who supported Louis Bonaparte suddenly broke out of silence, and they shouted in unison, "Initiate a referendum!"

The people who came to hold Charles hesitated in the roar and stopped.

Looking at this group of guys who suddenly jumped up and made a lot of noise, Charles couldn't help but feel a kind of disgust of "shame to be with them".

Ah, our allies are as annoying as our enemies.

Forget it, sooner or later they will have to shut up, no hurry.

This sudden blow really made the majority Order Party a little panicked.

They looked at each other, as if asking why things had to go to this point.

Appealing to a referendum - for them, it is more terrible than losing in the power struggle.

If it were someone like Thiers or Marrast, they would naturally prefer to fight to the end, but for hundreds of less determined deputies, they could change sides at any time, so why bother to go to such lengths?

They had finally deprived millions of citizens of their right to vote, so naturally they could not hope that everything would return to the way it was.

In this rare spectacle of the minority jubilating and the majority silent, Charles finally felt a burst of joy.

Because he knew that their threat tactics had worked.

"Sir, I repeat, the Minister is ready to send an additional regiment to the parliament at any time to make you feel more secure." In front of the deputies who looked at each other in bewilderment, Charles smiled and shrugged at the Speaker, "Please give me orders at any time." (To be continued...)