Chapter 133 New Regiment Commander Lieutenant Colonel Berthier

Berthier took a deep breath, walked into the crown prince's bedroom from among the guards, and immediately saluted Joseph with his chest:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, are you feeling better?"

Joseph sat upright on the hospital bed, smiled and nodded:

"I'm much better now, Mr. Leader. I'm glad you came to see me."

He immediately asked Emang to invite all the nobles who were watching out on the grounds that he wanted to rest.

"Captain?" Berthier was stunned for a moment, thinking it was a slip of the tongue by the Crown Prince, and quickly reminded him in a low voice, "Your Highness, I am just the battalion commander..."

Joseph seemed not to have heard and motioned to the chair next to the bed: "Please sit down.

"Oh, by the way, do you remember the military reform I mentioned to you before?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Berthier nodded.

Although the Crown Prince only briefly spoke to him when watching the drill at the police academy, he often went to the police academy afterwards and heard Dubois introduce to him in detail His Highness's military reform plan.

“I was particularly impressed by the ‘military service regulations’, the ‘promotion system’, and the ‘establishment of the general staff’.”

"Oh? It seems that you already have a good understanding of the contents of the military reform." Joseph nodded happily, "So, what do you think of my military reform plan?"

Seeing that the Crown Prince did not mention the French Guards, Berthier was slightly relieved and immediately said what he had always wanted to say when discussing with Dubois:

"Your Highness, although France has a seemingly very powerful army, in fact... with all due respect, it is more like a big tree that is rotten inside. The failure of the Seven Years' War is the best proof.

"Our generals obviously realized that and made some changes, but I don't think that was nearly enough.

"I participated in the Anglo-American war. Our troops had no advantage even against the British Army.

"And your military reform plan has corrected almost all the deficiencies in the current military and proposed many innovations. This is what France needs most right now!"

Joseph immediately answered:

"So, do you think it is possible to implement military reform now?"

Berthier immediately frowned, and after a moment, he shook his head and said:

"It should be difficult to implement. Just adjusting the promotion system will be opposed by almost all military officers."

At present, French military officers are firmly controlled by the nobles. First of all, it is very difficult for civilians to enter military academies. Even if they can go to military academies, most of them major in engineering and technology, and it is almost impossible to come into contact with combat command.

After graduating from the military academy and entering the army, even if a civilian has great abilities, it is impossible to be promoted to a lieutenant or above.

In fact, let alone civilians, it is impossible for even minor nobles to become majors. In addition to the suppression and exclusion of the hereditary military nobles, the cost of promotion was also beyond the affordability of the small nobles.

Yes, in France nowadays, officers have to pay a large sum of money for promotion. The higher the position, the higher the fee. Even some nobles from poor families, when they reach the rank of colonel, will be stuck in their original positions for more than ten years because of lack of money.

In addition, like the bureaucracy, officer positions in the French army can also be bought with direct money. Moreover, the purchased officers have the same command rights as the officers with serious academic background!

Such "donating officers" accounted for fully one-third of the French army.

In other words, if a full-scale war really breaks out, at least one-third of the French soldiers will fight against the enemy under the command of purely amateurs. This result can be imagined.

An important item in the military reform proposed by Joseph is that promotions should only be based on ability and military merit, regardless of origin. At the same time, no fees are required for promotion. There is also a strict prohibition on selling military positions.

This will undoubtedly allow more talents to be promoted to the top of the French army, but it will also break the monopoly of military aristocrats on officers, so they will definitely resist military reform.

"Yes, you are right." Joseph said solemnly, "Not only the promotion system, but also changes such as weapons procurement, recruitment system, and military merit system will be opposed by those people."

Berthier's expression was a little gloomy.

Although he was born into a minor noble, he was a victim of the existing military system - he almost went into debt for his current rank of major. And this time, in order to join the French Guard, he spent all his wealth, but it was still not enough. If it had not been for the generous help of the Dauphin, he would have returned to Soissons in despair.

He whispered: "Yes, Your Highness. Therefore, military reform will be a very long process..."

"That's not necessarily the case." Joseph suddenly smiled, "For example, there is an opportunity right now that allows me to take the first step in military reform immediately."

He looked at Berthier: "Of course, this still requires your assistance."

The latter immediately stood up and bowed: "Your Highness, I will obey your orders."

"Thank you, Major Berthier. Oh, first of all, you will be promoted to commander of the infantry regiment."

"ah?"

…

"Baron Breteuil said, do you have a way to calm things down?" War Minister Saint Priest looked at the middle-aged man in front of him suspiciously.

If there was really no other way, he would definitely not believe that a mid-level officer could solve the current trouble.

But he never expected that the review of the French Guard would develop into what it is now.

Théodore and others who caused the tragedy of shelling the farmhouse have been transferred to a military court for prosecution, but this has not weakened people's dissatisfaction with the French Guards at all. Especially after the attack on the Crown Prince was reported, the people of Paris became even more angry.

The Crown Prince led police reforms, improved the security environment in Paris, and gained a high reputation among citizens, which led to more and more people protesting outside the French Guard camp. In particular, the citizens of the Saint-Antoine district kept throwing dirt at the military camp, swearing loudly, and almost rushed in.

A large number of aristocratic ladies also blocked outside his office, demanding a strict investigation of the officers who led to the attack on His Highness. As a result, he has not dared to show up in the office for a long time.

At the same time, people in the military kept asking him to keep the officers of the French Guard...

Just when he was struggling, the Minister of Justice told him that this mid-level officer named Berthier might be able to help him resolve his dilemma. He was also seriously ill and sought medical treatment, so he decided to meet this person.

Berthier, sitting opposite, seemed a little reserved:

"General, do you know why some people keep reporting on officers of the French Guard, and even lead them out of Axel's farmhouse?"

"Oh? Do you know what's going on?"

Berthier immediately followed Joseph's "script" and replied:

"Yes, General. As far as I know, it is because Her Majesty the Queen is very angry about the injury of the Crown Prince, so she wants to vent her anger by punishing the officers of the Guard."