Chapter 67 Newspaper Guild

Joseph picked up the "Citizen Daily" and opened it. The main idea of ​​the front-page article was: The new tax bill has not been rigorously demonstrated. It was thought up by the former Minister of Finance, Carlona. If implemented, it will have an unpredictable impact on France.

The following newspapers all had similar meanings. In short, they were talking about other things and attacking the tax bill with all kinds of ridiculous reasons.

Joseph couldn't help but think of those unscrupulous self-media in later generations - you talk to him about reason, he talks to you about history. You talk to him about history, he talks to you about feelings.

In short, all kinds of crooked reasoning are talked about, but they don't talk about the matter itself directly.

He read for a long time, and only one newspaper, "Paris News", continued to publish the analysis of the tax bill.

He turned to the author of the article and saw that the signature was "Jean-Paul Marat".

Joseph suddenly felt funny. If this Marat was one of the core leaders of the Jacobins during the Great Revolution, it would be a wonderful irony.

The only person who spoke out for the royal tax bill was the most cruel and unyielding leader of the Jacobins in later generations.

When Joseph had roughly flipped through the newspapers on the table, his face was as gloomy as water.

Overnight, the articles introducing the tax bill disappeared, and the entire newspaper industry was very unified and began to attack the tax bill crazily.

There must be someone behind this.

Openly against the royal family.

Arrogant, extremely arrogant!

Joseph stared at the newspapers and clenched his fists. They were just some newspapers. Since they dared to jump like this, let them taste whether the hammer of royal power is hard enough!

His attention was on the tax bill, and he didn't see the article in the corner of the "Citizen Daily" at all - on the surface, it was introducing the life of the nobles in the Palace of Versailles, but it implicitly hinted that there was a "Duke of Schwarz of Prussia" who might be the lover of Queen Mary.

The newspapers with larger circulation in Joseph's hands were more disciplined. In some tabloids, many articles have been published that allude to the scandals of Queen Marie or Princess Therese and their "Prussian lovers".

And pamphlets with more explicit descriptions have appeared in large numbers in the streets and alleys of Paris.

The so-called "pamphlets" are a very unique publication, which are basically circulated privately to avoid supervision.

The printing quality of pamphlets is poor, the price is cheap, and the content is mainly "vulgar", so the audience is very wide, and the sales volume is much greater than that of newspapers.

Joseph wanted to go directly to Robert to discuss the punishment of unscrupulous newspapers, but when he returned to the Palace of Versailles, it was already past nine o'clock in the evening, so he had to suppress his anger and wait until tomorrow.

…

At the Paris News, a middle-aged man with disheveled hair and deep wrinkles rushed into the editorial office with a freshly printed sample: "Mr. Darmanin, why wasn't my article analyzing the relationship between the tax bill and the people published?"

The editor-in-chief, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, raised his head and smiled apologetically: "Mr. Marat, this is the request of the Newspaper Association. They said that too much disclosure of the bill's provisions may cause the court to be interfered with by the outside world."

Mara said loudly: "But that is the tax paid by the French people, and the people have the right to know the details!"

The editor-in-chief spread his hands: "I'm sorry, I really can't do anything, I must abide by the regulations of the Newspaper Association."

Mara argued for a long time, and seeing the editor-in-chief's firm attitude, he had to leave angrily: "Goodbye, Mr. Darmanin. There must be a newspaper willing to publish my article!"

The editor-in-chief looked at his back helplessly and shook his head: "That's impossible..."

The next day.

Joseph had a simple breakfast and set off for the office of the head of the secret police.

As soon as he reached the door, he heard the angry voice of a young girl coming from the house, "These despicable, disgusting and vulgar guys! How can they make up such shameless lies?!"

The guard at the door saw that it was the crown prince who came, and hurriedly lowered his head to open the door for him.

Joseph walked into the office and saw a girl who was slightly older than him, with her hands on her hips, looking at Count Robert with anger on her face.

The girl was not tall, wearing a white wide dress, with a little baby fat on her face, her skin was as white and delicate as porcelain, and her sapphire-like eyes were pure and clear.

Her name immediately emerged in Joseph's mind-Marie Therese. Louis XVI's eldest daughter, the Princess of France, his own sister.

Joseph remembered that she had been recuperating in the more suitable environment of Meudon Castle because of her poor health. How could she suddenly return to the Palace of Versailles?

Therese heard footsteps and turned around. Seeing Joseph, she quickly knelt and saluted, then immediately showed a friendly smile: "Joseph, my dear brother, it's great to see you. We haven't seen each other for three months, right?"

Joseph touched his chest and saluted: "It's been a long time, dear sister, why are you back? Are you feeling better?"

"How can I not come back?" Therese said with a stern face again, "It's those hateful rumors that make me suffer every moment!"

"Rumors?" Joseph looked at Robert beside him in surprise.

"It's those tabloids like "Paris Postman" and "L'Espector". And pamphlets."

Seeing Joseph shaking his head, Robert took out two newspapers from the table next to him, turned to one side, and carefully glanced at Therese before handing them to Joseph.

Joseph took the newspaper and quickly scanned it, and immediately frowned.

Several articles hinted or implied that a Prussian nobleman had recently come to Paris and had an affair with the queen and the princess. There was even an article that mentioned that he had an affair with a brown-skinned slave girl.

Therese said angrily: "Since the afternoon of the day before yesterday, these shameless things have appeared in the newspapers! I had to rush back immediately."

She looked at the head of the secret police again: "Count Robert, you just heard what Her Majesty the Queen said, the rumormonger must be severely punished!"

It turned out that she had already gone to Queen Marie to complain.

Robert nodded immediately: "Yes, Your Highness, in fact, I sent someone to deal with it yesterday."

"Oh? Did you close down those newspapers?"

Robert hurriedly said: "No, Your Highness, of course it's impossible.

"However, we confiscated the bottom plates of several newspapers such as the Paris Post and fined them a large sum of money. Oh, we also arrested the editor of the Happy Man newspaper and are interrogating him. "

Therese was very dissatisfied: "They insulted the royal family, but they only got such a light punishment? ”

The head of the secret police said helplessly: "Your Highness, in fact, there is no word in their article that insults the royal family.

"I know that the content is full of hints and can easily be misunderstood, but the court will definitely not rule that the newspaper is wrong."

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