Chapter 233 The Crown Prince’s First Regency

Chapter 234 The Crown Prince’s First Regency

A palace official hurriedly knocked on the door and entered, saluting Joseph and Mirabeau: "Your Highness, Your Majesty the Earl, Your Majesty the Queen, please go to the East Palace Conference Hall immediately."

"What happened?" Mirabeau had a bad feeling.

"It seems like there have been riots in many places..."

When Joseph and Mirabeau rushed to the conference hall, they saw the queen and several ministers sitting at the conference table. Even Louis XVI, who was rarely seen on weekdays, also came. Everyone looked solemn. look.

Before the two of them could salute, the queen motioned for them to sit down, and then said to Brian: "Archbishop, please begin."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Brian turned his head and said solemnly, "Everyone should know that the riots caused by food shortages in the southern provinces are now very serious.

"There were riots almost everywhere from Paris to south of Moulins. The scale of riots in Montpellier, Foix, Brittany and other places has even reached tens of thousands."

If Sorel hadn't "break into the Bastille at night", which alerted the Duke of Orleans and launched an early attack, even the northwest provinces would not have been spared.

Brian paused and continued: "Previously, General Nemue submitted a report on behalf of the army, stating that the riots occurred too suddenly and that it would take at least two months for various places to complete the assembly of troops and begin to quell the chaos."

If the riots were allowed to continue for two months, the place would have been completely corrupted.

"They are deliberately delaying!" Baron Breteuil immediately said angrily, "When I serve, I can complete combat readiness in a week at most!"

"Now it seems that it is probably what you said." Brian nodded and took out a document. "Just now, Duke Muxi made suggestions to Her Majesty the Queen. It mainly includes the following requirements:

“Abolition of the Royal Court of Supremacy, and restoration of the practice of electing the Lord Chancellor by a council of dignitaries.

“The decree to abolish the payment of land taxes and other taxes by the nobles.

"Repeal the Millers' Bill of Rights, demolish the mills built by the parishes themselves..."

The queen's hands were clasped so hard that the joints lost their color. She couldn't help but angrily yelled: "They are completely using the riot situation to blackmail! They are blackmailing His Majesty and the entire France!"

Joseph took the document in front of Brian and saw that it also said: The Press and Publication Bureau was abolished and the High Court was responsible for reviewing news.

The Army of Berthier was brought under the command of General Maret, and the Army of Moulins was merged with the Army of Montcalm.

In the future, the royal family must obtain the signature and approval of the Minister of War for the deployment of the army, otherwise the army has the right to refuse to execute it...

There are six or seven more that follow. In short, the lion opens its mouth and unabashedly divides the royal family's authority. If they are all accepted, Joseph's reform efforts over the past year will be wiped out, and the nobility will once again take the lead on the royal family.

Brian waited for the queen to finish her anger before continuing: "More than 20 generals signed Duke Muhi's proposal to express their support.

"Duke Muhi said that if His Majesty can meet these requirements, the efficiency of the military will be greatly improved."

After a while, Queen Mary looked at everyone tiredly: "Do you have any suggestions?"

Nicoé, the Minister of Household Registration, said cautiously: "Your Majesty, riots have been going on in many places for nearly ten days. Riots have also begun in Liyong, Trevou and other places."

These two places are already in central and northern France, close to important places such as Moulins and Lyon.

Nicoé continued: “This will cause very serious damage to the country, and it is very likely that the violence will eventually turn into... an insurgency.

"Many of Duke Muxi's proposals are just to restore the previous practices. Your Majesty may be able to agree to some of them. It is most important to end the chaos in the south as soon as possible."

Joseph frowned slightly and did not take Duke Muxi's request into consideration at all. He silently calculated in his mind the troops he could mobilize at the moment.

If all the police academy students are reorganized, there will be about 6,500 people in the two phases. Adding the Berthier Corps and the Moulin Corps, this will be 14,000 people.

The 3,000 men of the Paris legion can also be counted. In the most extreme case, the Paris police can even be mobilized, which is another 3,000 people. With the training and morale of the Paris police, it is at least the upper-middle level in the old French army.

The security work in Paris can be left to the king's Swiss mercenary group temporarily. After the police reform, gang members in Paris have almost disappeared under repeated police crackdowns, and there is really not much pressure on public security.

In other words, he can pull out an army of 20,000 people, and it is a team with strong equipment and combat effectiveness.

The Duke of Orleans has conducted a very detailed intelligence investigation on the royal family before, and concluded that the maximum number of troops the royal family can mobilize is only 13,000 people.

But he didn't expect that Joseph's strongest combat power was "buried" in the police academy.

This was also misled by his preconceived and inertial thinking. He always felt that the police were ruffians working for the government. Even if they were trained in the police academy, they would not have much combat effectiveness.

However, the Paris Police Academy has crushed the vast majority of regular military academies from enrollment to training to equipment. Not to mention that Joseph has also integrated advanced systems into this team. The combat effectiveness of the police academy students is comparable to that of the ordinary French army. , at least one can fight against two.

Joseph tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair, but shook his head slightly in his heart - currently, there are riots everywhere in the western and southern provinces of France, and these 20,000 people alone cannot handle it.

And unless it is absolutely necessary, it is best not to recruit the Paris police. After all, it will have a certain impact on the stability of Paris. So under normal circumstances there are only 17,000 people.

At the same time, he had to beware of those military nobles stabbing him in the back.

It is obvious that these guys are unlikely to engage in rebellion, but they can disguise themselves as rioters and sneak attack their own troops.

In this way, he would not be able to disperse his troops to various places to quell the chaos - small groups of troops could be easily tricked.

In the conference hall, a group of cabinet ministers had obviously reached a certain level of consensus on accepting the blackmail from the military and the dignitary meeting - they really could not think of any other response plan.

Queen Mary and Louis XVI listened to the ministers' discussion with sullen faces, and seemed to acquiesce to this result.

"The abolition of the land tax and the abolition of the Press and Publication Bureau are absolutely unacceptable!" Mirabeau shouted.

"I think everything else can be discussed, but the Supreme Court must be retained." Brian was very worried about the last tax reform and knew the importance of mastering the High Court.

As for the Duke of Orleans, Foreign Minister Verzin is strongly advocating for full acceptance so that the army can "put an end to the chaos as soon as possible."

Until three o'clock in the afternoon, everyone was so hungry that their chests were touching their backs, and they could not reach an agreement. We had to take a break for lunch.

While waiting for the chef to serve the food, Brian leaned next to Joseph and whispered: "Your Highness, I have allocated funds to purchase food from Spain and Sardinia. As long as I persist for a month, these food can alleviate the shortage of food in seven or eight provinces." situation……"

It was far from enough. Joseph shook his head slightly, but suddenly caught something from his words.

I had just fallen into a fixed mindset, only thinking about how to deploy troops to quell the riots, but I forgot that the root cause was food!

The provinces where the riots occurred were not out of food, but the food reserves had been transferred away.

If we could come up with a batch of grain now, it wouldn't be too much, enough to feed each province for half a month, or even ten days, to stabilize the hungry people. As long as order is restored and the grain reserves are transported back to their original places, the chaos will be over.

He was lost in thought. It was enough food for the entire western and southern provinces of France for half a month, and it had to be distributed quickly to the victims...

We can only ask God for help!

Joseph couldn't help but be startled when he thought of this. God help?

yes!

How could I forget that I could really ask God to help me!

France has a group of God’s “spokesmen” who own their own farmland and real estate, and are most keen on hoarding food.

That's the Catholic Church!

You know, after the Great Order, the National Convention confiscated the church's assets. The food in the cellar shocked the congressmen and temporarily alleviated the frost disaster in the spring of 1792.

Due to the supernatural nature of the church in this era, no one will target the church. Of course, apart from the archbishops, not many people knew how much food the church had in store.

And Joseph, a latecomer, not only knew how much food the hamster-like church had hoarded, but he also had no psychological burden on gathering the church's wool.

Once his thoughts opened up, Joseph suddenly felt like it was dawn.

There were church properties all over France, that is to say, cellars for storing grain were everywhere. Disaster victims hardly have to go far to receive relief food.

The church's grain reserves are definitely enough to feed the southern provinces for half a month, no, even for one or two months. Because the so-called food shortage means that there is not enough food for everyone, resulting in a sharp rise in food prices, as long as there is food that can plug the gap, it is enough.

He thought a lot from this. The chaos caused by the Duke of Orleans and the military might also be a good opportunity.

If done correctly, it can even solve the stubborn problems of military nobles in one fell swoop!

Joseph thought carefully and soon had a complete plan in mind.

After lunch, the cabinet ministers began a heated debate over how to compromise.

At this moment, Joseph suddenly stood up, signaled everyone to be quiet, and then bowed to the Queen and Louis XVI: "Your Majesty, I think we should not make the slightest concession to those who dare to threaten you and France! "

Queen Mary's lost eyes suddenly flashed with light. She knew that without enough troops, it would be impossible to solve the current crisis, but she was very pleased that her son had the courage.

Joseph continued: "Please grant me full authority to deal with this incident. I am sure to end the riots in the provinces."

Queen Mary smiled and shook her head: "Joseph, dear, I know you want to do your best for France, but this time..."

Joseph looked at Archbishop Brian.

The latter saw his look and immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I think His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the only person who can solve the current predicament."

He weighed his words: "In fact, he has extraordinary abilities that you can't even imagine."

As Joseph's eyes swept over the other cabinet ministers, Mirabeau and Baron Breteuil also stood up one after another: "Your Majesty, I also think that you can absolutely trust His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"I share the same view."

The Lord Admiralty looked back and forth, and stood up in support.

In the conference hall, except for the Foreign Minister and the three people who were not present, everyone chose to side with Joseph.

Queen Mary did not expect that her son would be so attractive. Before she could recover, Louis XVI who was listening on the side actually spoke: "Perhaps, we can let Joseph give it a try."

He whispered again in a very low voice: "He can even design a flash cap gun."

Queen Mary was hesitating and suddenly remembered the amazing methods her son had displayed in North Africa. Maybe he really had a way to deal with this crisis... She finally nodded slowly, looked at Joseph and said: "Then, the crown prince will be responsible for handling the affairs of each province. riots.

“During this period, he can issue decrees on behalf of me and His Majesty the King.

"Please do your best to cooperate with him."

"Thanks for your trust."

Joseph bowed to Louis XVI and the Queen, and then pointed to Vilzhin without hesitation: "Effective immediately, you are dismissed from office."

Vilzhen almost fell off his chair. Why did the topic of riots suddenly turn to him?

"Your Highness, you have no right to do this!"

"No, I do." Joseph said calmly, "You will seriously hinder the process of quelling the riot. Therefore, you must leave the cabinet."

"You are framing me!"

Joseph turned to Queen Mary: "Your Majesty, I am sure this is very necessary. I will give you a satisfactory explanation after the matter is over."

Virgen and the Duke of Orleans were so deeply involved, and the Duke of Orleans was one of the masterminds behind this incident, so this mole must not be allowed to remain.

Queen Mary was a little embarrassed. After a moment, seeing that no one objected, she looked at Vilzin and said: "Count Vilzin, please take a temporary leave for a while. If it turns out that you have no problem afterwards, I will resume your duties."

Vilzhen was stunned for a few seconds, nodded casually to the queen, and turned away angrily.

Finally, I got rid of this guy who made trouble for himself whenever he had nothing to do!

Joseph felt a sense of relief all over his body. The smell of power was indeed addictive!

Then, he ordered Brian to continue to give orders to the armies everywhere in the name of the king, asking them to immediately disperse the rioting crowd and maintain order.

This order clearly stipulates that small-scale garrisons are allowed to act independently without reporting to superiors when quelling chaos. He also attached an edict that civilian officers who had made meritorious service in quelling the rebellion could be promoted to lieutenants and above.

It was the military's business whether anyone would carry out the order, but he had to give it a try.

As for matters such as purchasing food and carrying out publicity to stabilize people's hearts, Joseph simply explained a few words and announced the end of the cabinet meeting.

Next is the most important work.

Half an hour later.

A "jewel" carriage drove towards Paris. In the carriage, Joseph looked at Talleyrand who was sitting opposite and said with a smile: "Archbishop, the position of Foreign Minister is now vacant. I wonder if you are interested?"

Surprise flashed across the lame man's face, and he hurriedly stroked his chest and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for trusting me. I will definitely not disappoint you."

Joseph nodded: "Before that, I need you to do me a little favor."