Chapter 48 Today is a good day

Joseph's eyes suddenly lit up, but for the sake of safety, he continued to ask: "Do you know anything else about him?"

Dubois was a little depressed. It seems that I am the one receiving the award today. Why does His Highness keep asking about Alexander...

However, he still patiently replied: "Your Highness, he comes from a military family. He is good at drawing, has a flexible mind, and can endure hardships. He also fought in the United States with Count Rochambeau, and he made the operational deployment plan for the Battle of Yorktown."

Hearing that he was good at drawing and had participated in the American Revolutionary War, Joseph was completely sure that this was the famous "personal nanny" of Emperor Napoleon in history, the Chief of Army General Staff, who followed the Emperor from Italy to Tsarist Russia and made countless meritorious deeds. Marshal Berthier.

Of course, the future marshal is still just an ordinary major, working under a mediocre military noble.

Joseph knew that in order to reorganize France, the army must be firmly in his hands!

However, it is the great aristocracy that now controls the French military.

France is still in the transition period from the feudal military system to the modern military system. The army is a bit like the private soldiers of the vassal towns in the late Ming Dynasty - the garrison in each province is funded by the provincial finance and the local nobles to support and train them.

The quality of the army's equipment and combat effectiveness all depends on local investment. Of course, based on the principle of whoever pays, who calls the shots, only the local military nobles can command this army.

This can be seen from the names of the French armies at this time - Flanders Brigade, Soissons Infantry Regiment, Bordeaux Brigade, etc., all named after place names, which were the former fiefdoms of the great lords.

Therefore, if the king wants to mobilize the army, he must look at the eyes of the military nobles. In times of peace and prosperity, nobles will naturally be more cooperative, but if the situation becomes a little turbulent, that's a different story.

For example, right now, the relationship between the French aristocracy and the king is not very harmonious.

During the French Revolutionary Period in history, Louis XVI claimed to have mobilized 20 regiments of troops to serve as king, but until he was defeated, not a single soldier entered Paris.

During this period, only the sixteen Swiss mercenary regiments supported by private funds and a small number of personal guards were completely loyal to the king. In addition, he could not even command the French guards stationed under his nose.

You know, although the Parisian citizens who attacked the Bastille had guns, they could only look back and sigh in the face of a solid fortress more than ten meters high. In the end, it was precisely because the French Guards dragged in cannons to help that the warden Lone had no choice but to surrender.

Therefore, the royal family seems to be in great power and has unlimited glory. In fact, the great aristocracy has already united with emerging capital groups to gradually take power in military, judicial, economic, public opinion and other aspects into its own hands.

Among them, the royal power was most severely neglected in the two areas of military and economic affairs.

At present, the great nobles and capital groups have not yet coordinated their interests, and the royal power is still there, so the superficial calm is maintained. But when an opportunity like the Level 3 Conference arises, these guys will immediately make trouble.

Therefore, controlling military power has always been Joseph's top priority.

It's just that his current political foundation is too weak to reach into the bowl of the military aristocracy. Seizing military power is destined to be a long and very difficult process.

Of course, Joseph also had his own set of plans for this. In fact, the Paris Police Academy was the first hidden stake he laid in military power.

In the minds of people of this era, the police were basically a group of gangsters hired by the government and could not become a major factor at all. This gave Joseph the space to get involved in violent institutions.

With the police academy as a foothold, he can use this as a basis to start building a direct force that will absolutely obey his orders.

It sounds like just one sentence, but when done, it becomes complicated.

First of all, you must have money. The army is a gold-eating beast. Fortunately, he now has Paris Angel Company. Although he is still far from feeding the gold-eating beast, he can still get the initial starting capital.

The second is equipment, which must have advanced weapons that can overwhelm all opponents. Joseph is the most confident about this. The equipment and technology in his mind can definitely crush this era, he just needs to find a way to manufacture it.

Finally, and the most critical thing is people, military talents. Including high-quality soldiers and excellent commanders, especially the latter. A good general can even determine the outcome of a battle!

And Berthier is such an outstanding officer. It can be said that without his assistance, the emperor's record may be much bleak.

There is a good opportunity to connect with Berthier right now, and Joseph must not miss it!

Just as he was about to get more information about the Chief of General Staff from DuBois, he heard someone coughing twice. He turned around and saw that Eman was winking at him, and then he remembered that the award ceremony was still being held. .

He had no choice but to walk to Lieutenant Fouco, said some words of encouragement to the artillery company commander, and then continued to the next one.

The young cavalry captain immediately straightened his straight back. Ever since he learned some of the secrets behind the situation in the Netherlands, he had grown to admire the young crown prince.

Joseph smiled and signaled to him. He had been holding a trace of expectation in his heart ever since he heard the officer's last name was "Davout".

As usual, he first praised Davout for leading the cavalry in the heroic battle, and then he couldn't wait to ask: "Lieutenant Davout, has anyone in your family served in the Forbidden Army?"

Davout nodded in surprise: "Yes, Your Highness, my father once served as company commander in the Royal Cavalry."

Joseph's eyes suddenly lit up: "Do you have any relatives named 'Nicola'?"

Davout was even more surprised: "Your Highness, do you know my brother?"

"Nicholas is your brother?"

"Yes, Your Highness, Louis Nicolas de Davout is my biological brother."

Joseph was overjoyed. What a good day is today? Winning the jackpot actually happened to me twice in a row!

Nicolas Davout!

Iron Marshal!

One of the three most powerful generals under Emperor Na, a super military genius.

It is common for him to win with less and win more, and he has turned the tide of the battle on his own many times.

The man who was praised by the emperor as "the purest glory of France"!

If I miss this, I won’t forgive myself!

Joseph took half a step forward and asked, "Where is your brother serving now?"

"Your Highness, Nicholas is still in military school and will graduate next year."

He hasn't graduated yet... Joseph felt a little regretful, but then he thought about it. It would be better to hold on to his brother now, and wait until he graduates to get it directly to him, which would make it easier to build trust.

After the entire commendation ceremony was over, a group of meritorious officers said goodbye to the king and queen. When they came to Joseph, he suddenly grabbed Dubois and Andre Davout, with the excuse that he wanted to "listen to them talk about the fierce battlefield in the Netherlands." "Battle situation" and dragged the two people to the square outside the Palace of Versailles.

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