The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 972: Chapter 46: Relatives of the Britons_3

It is just that, although the Franks were unstoppable in Gaul, they repeatedly ran into obstacles in Brittany, unable to conquer this ’Little Britain’ region dominated by the Bretons. By the 10th century, due to continuous invasions by Viking pirates, the lords of Brittany voluntarily sought allegiance from the West Frankish King for protection.

However, even after Brittany was incorporated into the Franks, the Bretons remained restless. When William the Conqueror of Normandy claimed the throne of England, many Breton knights joined his ranks, helping him defeat English King Harold II in the Battle of Hastings and enter England.

William the Conqueror, having obtained the throne, elevated those knights from Little Britain to nobility in Great Britain.

The subsequent Hundred Years’ War between England and France was also triggered by Henry II’s coveting of the lands of the Duchy of Brittany.

From this complex historical source, it seems there is little wrong with the Bretons and Britons calling each other brothers.

Although Britain and France do not play the ancient lineage card, from a biological perspective, the Bretons and Britons are indeed closer in blood relations.

And if viewed from the perspective of defeating France, the Frankish Kingdom had been waging war on Brittany from the 5th century until the 10th century, when Brittany voluntarily surrendered to be annexed, withstanding the French assault for five hundred years and never falling. This clearly shows they are brothers across the sea with Britain.

Is Great Britain Britain, but Little Britain not Britain?

The assassin untied the ropes on Arthur, apologetically saying, ”I should have thought of it earlier, Hastings is definitely a British surname. If I had known there were British diplomats attending tonight’s banquet, we should have acted after Louis Philippe got into the carriage. But you were really too impulsive, why did you have to chase us all the way here?”

Arthur loosened his tight wrists and asked, ”You have two companions left on the street, will they be alright?”

”Rest assured, they naturally have help awaiting them.”

The assassin did not describe the follow-up actions specifically. It was evident that although he was certain Arthur would not report them, he did not completely trust this brother he referred to.

Arthur raised the candle cup, connecting the other’s Breton identity, he instantly guessed their identities: ”So, you are Juans from Brittany? I remember the Foreign Office previously cooperated with you to assassinate Napoleon, and the method was identical, using a bomb in a carriage. Oh, right, when General Sidney Smith was captured at Toulon port, it seemed like you also helped rescue him.”

Upon hearing Arthur recount the glorious history of the Juans, the assassin nodded with a smile, saying, ”My father participated in the plan to rescue General Sidney Smith, who burned half of the warships at Toulon port, leading Napoleon to hate him to the bone and sentence him to life imprisonment for ’arson at Toulon’. My father and others forged prison transfer documents, disguising him and sending him onto a fishing vessel returning to Britain.”

The farmers standing behind the assassin, upon hearing this, also beamed with hearty smiles, and one even swung a fist in the air, cursing out loud: ”Napoleon is a scoundrel! Republicans, Bonapartists, and Orleans Party must all die!”

With these curses, the other farmers followed suit, cheering, ”Long live the King!”

Seeing such a scene, Arthur was entirely puzzled, causing him to suspect whether he had drunk too much tonight, leading to hallucinations.

Although he too believed that whether Republicans, Bonapartists, or Orleans Party members, it would be difficult for this dedicated group of political adherents to produce anyone of upright character. Yet the farmers’ candid expression of their affection for the King indeed somewhat overturned his worldview.

To some extent, he even began to question whether the historical documents about the French Revolution he read at the University of London were all for naught.

At the very least, whether Thiers and Gizo, currently the most prominent scholars in France, have credible conclusions about the history of the Revolution, is now questionable since they both currently hold important positions under Louis Philippe, one serving as Senate President and the other as Minister of Education.

Arthur smiled faintly and said, ”I thought at least the farmers would support Napoleon, but now it seems at least Breton farmers do not like him.”

Upon hearing these words, the assassin merely snorted coldly: ”From your words, you probably have inept acquaintances, meeting hypocritical Bonapartist and Republican elements. Their words are always the best sounding; they shout about ’revolution’ and ’freedom’ with pleasing rhetoric, but are indeed promoting unbelievable hypocrisy as heroic deeds.

The Girondins spoke of anti-religion, but they were merely coveting the Church’s property, and for this, they did not hesitate to execute our respectable priests. They confiscated the Church’s lands and property, yet did not return them to us, instead intensifying our agricultural tax burden, forcibly recruiting our children into the army, claiming that serving the nation as a soldier is an honorable act.

Fouche massacred thousands in Lyon, claiming to kill nobles, yet more than ninety percent of those killed were impoverished ordinary people, elderly and women. The National Assembly even seriously considered leaving all of Lyon in ruins. We protested on the streets, but were met with cavalry sent to suppress us. When we raised an uprising in Vendee, they accused us of being reactionary rebels.

We were simply striving for survival rights, yet Barere shamelessly announced in the National Assembly: ’Destroy Vendee, Valenciennes, and Conde will no longer be under Austrian control. Destroy Vendee, Britain will no longer occupy Dunkirk. Destroy Vendee, the Rhine River will be liberated from Russian rule. Destroy Vendee, Spain will be attacked by the victorious forces of France’s southern and western regions. Destroy Vendee, resistance in Lyon will cease. Toulon will rise against Spaniards and Britons. Meanwhile, Marseille’s spirit will rise to the heights of the Republican revolution. Every attack on Vendee will provoke a response in feudal forces and the rebellious cities occupied by foreigners.’

From the start, they viewed us as enemies, wishing to take our lives while prohibiting resistance. Yet committing such atrocities, they are celebrated by all of Europe, hailed as progressive while we are deemed backward, but not one person is willing to listen to what we farmers from the provinces think. Their eyes are only set on Paris.

The King might indeed have many faults, but under the Bourbons, no one ever conscripted us to perish with honor, nor burdened us with heavy taxes. If we went to war, it was to defend the Lord, protect our land and faith, not to defend anything hypocritical in France!”