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 also has to beware of those military nobles stabbing him in the back.

It is unlikely that these guys will rebel openly, but they can disguise themselves as rioters and attack their own army.

In this way, he cannot disperse the army to various places to quell the rebellion - small troops are too easy to be tricked.

In the conference hall, a group of cabinet ministers have obviously reached a certain degree of consensus on accepting the blackmail of the military and the nobles' meeting - they really can't think of any other response plan.

Queen Marie and Louis XVI listened to the ministers' discussion with gloomy faces, and seemed to have acquiesced to this result.

"The two items of abolishing land tax and abolishing the Press and Publication Bureau are absolutely unacceptable!" Mirabeau said loudly.

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

As a member of the Duke of Orleans faction, Foreign Minister Villepin was advocating full acceptance so that "the army could quell the rebellion as soon as possible."

By three o'clock in the afternoon, everyone was so hungry that they were starving, and they could not reach a consensus. They had to temporarily adjourn for lunch.

While waiting for the chef to serve the dishes, Brian came to Joseph and whispered: "Your Highness, I have allocated funds to buy food from Spain and Sardinia. As long as we hold on for a month, these grains can ease the situation in seven or eight provinces..."

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

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

The provinces where the riots occurred were not without food, but the reserve grain was transferred away.

If we can take out a batch of food now, not too much, it will be enough for each province to eat for half a month, or even ten days, to stabilize the hungry people. As long as order is restored and the reserve grain is transported back to its original place, the chaos will be broken.

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

This can only be done by asking God for help!

Joseph was stunned when he thought of this. God help?

Yes!

How could he forget that God can really help!

France has a group of "spokespersons" of God, who own their own farmland and real estate and are most keen on hoarding food.

That is the Catholic Church!

You know, after the Great Revolution, the National Convention confiscated the church's assets, and the food in the cellar shocked the parliamentarians and alleviated the freezing disaster in the spring of 1792.

Due to the transcendent nature of the church in this era, no one would set their sights on the church. Of course, except for those archbishops, not many people knew how much grain the church had stored.

And Joseph, a latecomer, not only knew how much food the hamster-like church had stored, but also had no psychological burden for fleecing the church.

Once his mind was opened, Joseph suddenly felt that the sky was bright.

The church has assets all over France, which means that there are cellars for storing grain everywhere. The victims don't have to go far to get relief food.

And the church's grain reserves are definitely enough for the southern provinces to eat for half a month, no, even for one or two months. Because the so-called food shortage is just that there is not enough food for everyone, so the food price has skyrocketed, as long as there is food to fill the gap, it will be enough.

He thought of a lot more from this, and the chaos created by the Duke of Orleans and the military may also be a good opportunity.

If it is handled properly, it can even solve the stubborn problems of the military aristocracy in one fell swoop!

Joseph thought carefully and soon had a complete set of plans in his mind.

After lunch, the cabinet ministers began to argue fiercely about how to compromise.

At this time, Joseph suddenly stood up, motioned everyone to be quiet, and then bowed to the queen and Louis XVI: "Your Majesty, I think that we should not make any concessions to those who dare to threaten you and France!"

Queen Marie's originally lost eyes suddenly flashed with brilliance. She knew that without enough troops, the current crisis could not be solved at all, but she was relieved 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 Marie smiled and shook her head: "Joseph, my dear, I know you want to do your part for France, but this time..."

Joseph looked at Archbishop Brian.

The latter saw his eyes and immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I think His Royal Highness the Dauphin is the only one who can solve the current dilemma."

He chose his words carefully: "In fact, he has outstanding abilities that you can't 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 you can absolutely trust His Royal Highness the Dauphin."

"I hold the same view."

The Minister of the Navy looked back and forth and stood up to express his support.

In the conference hall, except for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the three people who were not present, everyone chose to stand on Joseph's side.

Queen Marie did not expect her son to be so charismatic. Before she could recover from her shock, she heard Louis XVI say, "Perhaps, we can let Joseph give it a try."

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

Queen Marie was hesitating, and suddenly remembered the amazing means her son had used in North Africa. Perhaps 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 riots in various provinces.

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

"Please do your best to cooperate with him."

"Thank you for your trust."

Joseph bowed to Louis XVI and the Queen, and then pointed to Villepin without hesitation and said: "You are dismissed from office immediately."

Villepin almost fell off his chair. How come he was talking about the riots and it suddenly turned 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 Marie: "Your Majesty, I am sure this is very necessary. After the incident, I will give you a satisfactory explanation."

Virgin and the Duke of Orleans are so deeply involved, and the Duke of Orleans is one of the masterminds behind this incident, so this insider must not be left.

Queen Marie was a little embarrassed. After a moment, seeing that no one objected, she looked at Virgin and said: "Count Virgin, please take a temporary leave for a while. If it is proved that you have no problem later, I will restore your position for you."

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

Finally, this guy who makes trouble for himself for no reason was removed!

Joseph suddenly felt refreshed all over his body. The taste of power is really addictive!

Afterwards, he ordered Brian to continue to issue orders to the troops in various places in the name of the king, asking them to immediately disperse the rioters and maintain order.

This order clearly stipulates that small-scale garrisons are allowed to act independently without reporting to their superiors when suppressing the riot. And a decree was attached to it, stating that civilian officers who made meritorious contributions in suppressing the riot could be promoted to lieutenant and above.

Whether someone executes the order is the army's business, but he always has to try.

As for matters such as purchasing food and conducting propaganda to stabilize the people's hearts, Joseph only briefly explained a few words and announced the end of the cabinet meeting.

The next is the most important work.

Half an hour later.

A "jewel" carriage drove towards Paris. In the carriage, Joseph looked at Talleyrand sitting opposite him and smiled: "Archbishop, the position of foreign minister is now vacant. I wonder if you are interested?"

The lame man's face flashed with surprise, and he hurriedly stroked his chest and said: "Thank you for your trust in me, Your Highness, I will definitely not let you down."

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