Clementine also received a gift from her cousin. It was a large jar of Tunisian-style candies, made by binding cashews, Moroccan nuts, and crushed dates with honey and sugar to form short sticks, with an exceptionally sweet and delicious taste.
She was utterly unable to resist the temptation of the candies, and as soon as she smelled their sweet aroma, her eyes lit up, and she forgot all about being reserved, reaching into the jar to pinch off a piece of candy and popping it into her mouth.
"Mmm—"
The crispness of the nuts mixed with the sweetness of the honey made the little girl so happy that she squinted her eyes in delight.
"Thank you so much for the gift, my dearest cousin!" She wanted to curtsy to Joseph again, but found her fingers were sticky with sugar and she couldn't pick up her skirt, so after a moment's thought, she simply grabbed a piece of candy and stuffed it into her cousin's mouth.
Joseph was taken aback, wanting to say, "It seems you haven't washed your hands," but it was already too late. All he could do was silently tell himself, "It's not clean, but eating it won't make me sick," as he chewed reluctantly.
"Dear cousin!" At the side, the parrot perched on Charles' arm imitated Clementine with a comical voice.
"Wow! It, it can talk!" Charles, nearly 4 years old, immediately widened his eyes and exclaimed in amazement.
Louis XVI and Queen Mary were also drawn by the talking parrot and put down what they were holding to gather around.
"What else can you say?" Charles pouted and looked at the parrot, "Sweetie pie!"
"عاشتجلالةالسلطان!" The parrot said an Arabic phrase, and even bowed its head toward Louis XVI.
Everyone looked at each other and burst into cheerful laughter.
"It knows quite a few languages."
"It's really amusing!"
"Joseph, do you know what it's saying?" Queen Mary asked her son.
Joseph spread his hands:
"I don't understand it either. But whatever you want it to say, teach it a few times and it will learn. Cape Parrots are very intelligent."
"Cape Parrot! I love Mr. Cape Parrot!" Charles hugged the colorful parrot, as big as a pigeon, and joyfully spun around the room several times.
Clementine shook her head to correct him from the side:
"Cape Parrot is its species. You should give it a name."
"Is that so, then what should I name it..."
Charles bowed his head in deep thought, then suddenly caught a glint of something under the table eyeing this way. With a start, he grabbed the cashmere tricorn hat his father had casually placed on the table corner and thrust it forward with all his might.
The next moment, a black and white blur flashed over and bumped right into the hat, letting out a disgruntled "meow."
"Monsieur Mustache?" Clementine was immediately startled and hastily looked for her maid, "Rosalia, why is the cat..."
What she'd forgotten was that recently Princess Therese had gone to visit Spain, and Monsieur Mustache's "girlfriend" had gone with her, so he took the opportunity to slip out for a walk while the maid wasn't watching.
And here he had discovered a plump "pigeon pastry."
The cat's long-anticipated strike was blocked by Charles, who cast a greedy glance at the parrot and, with his body again drawn taut, leaped with a "meow."
From a young age, Charles had been educated by Queen Mary about the "spirit of the knight," and though he was somewhat afraid, he still summoned up all his courage, lifting his little leg to kick at Monsieur Mustache.
"Ow." The cat didn't seem to know if it was hit, but terrified, it let out a scream and sought comfort in Clementine's arms.
The little girl soothed the cat, protesting to Charles:
"Your Highness, you almost kicked Monsieur Mustache."
Charles, clinging to the parrot, retaliated:
"That bad cat, it wanted to eat Mr. Parrot!"
"I apologize on its behalf, but you already 'snagged' it with your hat, there was no need for an extra kick!"
"I thought it necessary!"
"It wasn't necessary!"
"It started it first!"
With her hands on her hips, the little girl said indignantly:
"There is no doubt, your behavior just now was very rude!"
The little boy could not win the argument, and suddenly noticing the Moroccan nuts on her candy, he recalled the atlas he had studied before. An idea struck him, and pointing at the nuts, he asked:
"Do you know how those are harvested?"
"Ah? Harvested?"
Charles said with a smirk, "The locals will drive sheep up the trees to eat the green fruits, and the nuts in their droppings are these!"
"Gross!" Joseph turned pale, feeling nauseous.
Clementine looked at the delicious candy and then at Charles, suddenly bursting into tears and crying:
"It's not like that, you're making it up..."
The servants and maids quickly gathered around, embracing Charles and consoling the little girl, creating a mess of the scene.
Louis XVI looked helplessly toward the royal biologist standing at the doorway.
The latter hurried over, bowed to everyone, and explained:
"It's true that there is such a method of harvesting as His Highness described, but the edible part is the kernel inside the nut, separated by the shell, and it definitely won't be coated with sheep droppings. Moreover, such high-end candies are likely to be harvested by hand."
Joseph finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the little girl's crying gradually subsided.
Queen Mary, after soothing her younger son, diverted the little girl's attention by stroking her head:
"That's right, Clementine, haven't you always wanted to hear your cousin's adventure stories in North Africa?"
She looked towards Joseph, "Dear, why don't you tell them the story."
Immediately upon hearing this, the two children stopped fussing and turned their attention.
Joseph instinctively wanted to decline, but then he thought that he shouldn't always be treated like a child by the Queen.
With the development of France, he would definitely be undertaking larger and deeper reforms, as well as dealing with more diplomatic affairs in the future. He needed to obtain greater authority to avoid being hampered in these endeavors.
Now was an opportunity to show the Queen his capabilities.
So, he nodded, gestured for everyone to sit by the sofa, gathered his thoughts, and began:
"A few months ago, an attack against the French occurred in Tunisia, and I suspected that foreign powers were behind it. So I decided to go there and see..."
He then went on to explain how he promoted "Roman identity," how he presented the Tunisian Guard as a "gift package" to the locals to gain their support, and how he made the local Rebel Army dependent on their arms and equipment.
However, to avoid offending Louis XVI and Queen Mary, both devout Catholics, he omitted his trickery like the "stone figure with one eye" and simply said he found Elder Aly to "cooperate" with, which ultimately led to the expulsion of the Tunisian Guard who had attacked the French.
Queen Mary listened with wide eyes, continuously praising:
"You crumbled those who harbored ill will against France with almost no use of military force. My dear, how did you come up with such a brilliant idea?"
This time, Brian hadn't accompanied Joseph to Tunisia, so she would no longer mistake her son for just an attendant.
Her heart swelled with excitement, and she made the sign of the cross on her chest, silently praying: My son has truly grown up, and he is exceptionally capable, with formidable strategy. Thanks be to God, thanks be to Holy Mary!𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
Joseph then recounted how the Algiers Army intervened in Tunisia, his decision to strike first, and how he moved swiftly to Annaba to ambush the Algiers Army.
Although Queen Mary had read the relevant reports before, they were nowhere as detailed as Joseph's narration.
When she heard that her son had fought alongside 6,000 French soldiers against more than 20,000 People of Algiers, she became so anxious her palms started sweating, and she murmured continuously:
"That's too risky, you shouldn't have joined the army..."
It wasn't until Joseph mentioned encircling and defeating Caheller south of Annaba that the "audience" around him breathed a sigh of relief.
Clementine was the first to start clapping:
"Cousin, you are truly amazing!"
The King and Queen exchanged glances and joined the applause, their faces filled with pride.
Little Charles, full of admiration, shouted loudly:
"Brother, take me with you to fight the heathens next time!"
Joseph affectionately ruffled his hair and laughed:
"Then you must study hard and practice horse riding. When you've grown up, we'll command the troops together."
Queen Mary quickly waved her hands:
"It's too early for horse riding... absolutely not..."
After Joseph finished sharing his North African experience, Louis XVI's valet came to remind them that it was dinnertime, and the Royal Family's bonding time was drawing to an end.
Queen Mary looked at the silhouette of her eldest son walking shoulder to shoulder with her husband, revealing a smile of relief—her painstaking efforts had not been in vain, finally raising such an outstanding heir.
But the thought of Joseph having been on the war-torn North African battlefield made her heart tense. If not for Marquis de Saint-Veran's troops' dallying, how could her son have faced such peril?!
Thankfully, her son had performed excellently; otherwise, he might have been injured by the Algiers Army...
She dared not think further, a vengeful cold light flashing in her eyes, like a lioness protecting her cub, she growled lowly:
"Moncalm, you must pay the price for your actions!"
She immediately remembered the Minister of War who had recommended Marquis de Saint-Veran to her, and she promptly grew to detest him as well.
...
The next morning, Joseph, having extricated himself from trivial matters, rushed directly to the Industrial Planning Bureau at the Tuileries Palace.
Upon entering the office, he immediately saw the thick stack of documents on his desk and couldn't help but sigh deeply. It seemed that his few months in North Africa had led to quite a build-up of work.
Sitting down in his chair, Joseph asked Eman to make him a cup of coffee without any additives and then reached out to flip through the documents.
As usual, the topmost one was a report on the grain issue.
Just as he had predicted, despite the adoption of steam engine irrigation and the use of phosphate fertilizers imported from Nauru, crop yields this year still fell by a full 27% due to the onslaught of drought and harsh winter.
Even more troubling was that after entering winter, the consumption rate of strategic grain reserves had greatly increased, leaving only about 18% of the stock from the beginning of the year.
Moreover, because other countries also experienced grain shortfalls, international grain prices had soared, making it increasingly difficult to fill the deficit with imported grain.
The documents in Joseph's hands showed that during his time in Tunisia, more than ten locations in France had experienced grain shortages. Fortunately, these were mostly addressed by urgently reallocating reserve grains. However, at the current rate of consumption, the reserves could last at most until March of next year.
The early wheat in Tunisia could mature by the end of April at the earliest, leaving a gap of over a month in between that needed to be bridged. On one hand, immigration to Tunisia needed to be accelerated, and on the other, new sources of grain had to be found.
The situation looked extremely thorny, but when compared to the same period in history, it was already significantly better.
One must remember that by the end of 1788, France had already plunged into widespread famine, and, additionally, due to the "Eden Treaty", it suffered mass unemployment and a complete financial breakdown. Louis XVI, with no solutions left, agreed to convene the Estates-General the following year.
After that, the famine worsened in 1789, with frequent occurrences of people starving to death across various locations. The Estates-General failed to resolve any issues, only bringing about a massive upheaval that swept across all of France like a flood.
Joseph rubbed his temples. Thanks to his efforts over the past year, the grain dilemma was for the time being within controllable bounds, and the Estates-General had not occurred.
Most importantly, Paris had never experienced a grain shortage. If all went as expected, the great revolution should be avoided.
He took a sip of his coffee and continued to the next document, which mainly reported on the grain situation in various European countries in the second half of the year.
After roughly reviewing it, he couldn't help but frown secretly. In summary, the situation in the entirety of Europe was quite bad.
Affected by droughts, traditional grain-exporting countries such as Britain, Russia, and Prussia were all struggling, and other countries were generally experiencing famine.
The most direct data was the number of civil disturbances—most of which were triggered by famines.
Austria had over a hundred riots within a year. Russia, perennially the champion of European unrest, doesn't even need mentioning. Prussia and Britain also experienced sixty to seventy riots. Yes, even the mighty Britain was not exempt, though their situation was somewhat special because they were heavily engaged in the enclosure movement.
The states of Italy fared slightly better as they had well-developed trade and a smaller population. Even so, places like Sardinia and the Two Sicilies had over thirty riots each.
In comparison, France had only experienced over ten riots in the year, which was practically exemplary for Europe—riots were inevitable in this feudal era, as just one foolish noble acting recklessly within their domain could incite peasant uprisings.
Joseph was well aware that grain problems in European countries could very likely lead to war—going to war could redirect domestic conflicts outward and was a time-honored method for states of this era to solve internal issues through pillaging money and grain.
This required him to quickly deal with the disobedient military nobility at home and unify military power to effectively defend against foreign enemies.
The excellent performance of the Guard Corps in Tunisia also gave him the confidence to tackle the military nobility. However, the operation still needed to be handled with the utmost caution. Matters of the state related to sacrifices and the military. These guys wielded armies, and if not managed properly, could lead to a military coup.
Joseph put away the report on the riots in various countries and continued to the next document.
This was a report from Talleyrand on the results of France's formal protest to the British Government over "Britain's instigation of the Tunisian Guard's attack on French people."