A court official hurriedly knocked on the door and entered, bowing to Joseph and Mirabeau, "Your Highness, Lord Count, Her Majesty the Queen requests your immediate presence in the East Hall meeting room."
"What has happened?" Mirabeau had an ominous feeling.
"It seems that riots have broken out in many places..." Your journey continues with empire
When Joseph and Mirabeau arrived in the meeting hall, they saw that the Queen and several ministers were already seated at the conference table, and even the normally reclusive Louis XVI was present; everyone wore a solemn expression.
Without waiting for the two to bow, the Queen gestured for them to sit down, and then said to Brian, "Archbishop, please begin."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Brian turned his head, his face grave, "As everyone is probably aware, riots triggered by food shortages in the southern provinces have become very serious.
From Paris south to Murat, riots have nearly broken out everywhere. The scale of the unrest in Montpellier, Foix, Brittany, and other places has even reached tens of thousands of people."
If Soleil hadn't "raided" the Bastille at night, startling the Duke of Orleans into premature action, even the northwestern provinces would not have been spared from trouble.
Brian paused for a moment, then continued, "Previously, General Namu Ai has submitted a report on behalf of the army, stating that the suddenness of the riots requires at least two months for the military to gather and begin quelling them."
Allowing the riots to continue for two months would completely devastate the local areas.
"They're deliberately stalling!" Baron Breti immediately exclaimed in anger, "When I was in service, I could complete battle preparations in at most a week!"
"Now it seems, it is very possibly as you say." Brian nodded, holding out a document, "Just now, the Duke of Mushi made some suggestions to Her Majesty. They include the following demands:
"Abolish the Royal Supreme Court, reinstate the tradition of the Assembly of Notables electing the Lord Chancellor.
"Repeal the decree requiring the nobility to pay land tax and other taxes.
"Abolish the 'Millers' Rights Act,' dismantle the mills built by each parish..."
The Queen's clasped hands had become bloodless at the joints from clutching too tightly, and she could not help but berate, "They are outright extorting in the face of the rebellion! Extorting His Majesty and the whole of France!"
Joseph took the document lying in front of Brian and saw that it also stated: dissolve the Press Bureau, with the High Court responsible for reviewing the news.
Place Bertier's Corps under the command of General Merit, merge Murat's Corps with the Moncalm Legion.
From now on, when the Royal Family calls upon the army, it must have the signature of the Minister of War's consent, otherwise, the army has the right to refuse execution...
There were six or seven more demands in succession, in short, they were making outrageous demands, blatantly trying to divide the Royal Family's authority. If all were accepted, Joseph's year of reform efforts would be completely undone, and the nobility would climb back on top of the Royal Family's head.
Once the Queen had finished her outburst, Brian continued, "Over 20 generals have signed the Duke of Mushi's proposal in support."
"The Duke of Mushi says that if His Majesty can satisfy these demands, it will greatly increase the efficiency of the military," Brian added.
After a good while, Queen Mary wearily looked at everyone, "Does anyone have any suggestions?"
The Minister of Civil Registry, Nico Herve, cautiously said, "Your Majesty, many places have been rioting for nearly ten days, even Lyon, Treves, and other places have begun to see unrest."
These locations are already in the central-northern part of France, very close to strategic locations such as Murat and Lyon.
Nico continued, "This will cause very serious damage to the country, and the riots may ultimately escalate into... rebellion.
"Many of the Duke of Mushi's suggestions are just a restoration of former practices, Your Majesty might agree to some of them, ending the chaos in the south as soon as possible is of utmost importance."
Joseph slightly frowned, not considering the Duke of Mushi's demands at all, and silently calculated the military forces he could mobilize at the moment.
If all the police academy students were assembled, two groups would amount to about 6,500 individuals, and with Bertier's Corps and Murat's Corps, this made 14,000 men.
The 3,000 men of the Paris Legion could also be counted. In the most extreme cases, even the Paris Police could be mobilized, adding another 3,000 men—with the training and morale of the Paris Police, they would at least be in the upper-middle tier of the old-fashioned French Army.
Additionally, the public order in Paris could be temporarily handed over to the King's Swiss Mercenary Regiment. After the police reform, Parisian gang members were virtually wiped out due to repeated clean-up by the police, so there wasn't severe pressure on public security.
This meant that he could pull together an army of 20,000 men, and a force that was both well-equipped and formidable in combat strength.
The Duke of Orleans had previously conducted a very thorough intelligence survey on the Royal Family and had concluded that the Royal Family could mobilize a maximum force of 13,000 men.
However, he hadn't anticipated that Joseph's strongest fighting force was "hidden" within the police academy.
This was a misconception borne out of inertia, constantly feeling that police were just thugs and ruffians working for the government, believing that even with some training at the police school, they wouldn't have much combat power.
Yet, the Paris Police Academy, from recruitment to training to equipment, had already outclassed most regular military schools and not to mention Joseph had also integrated advanced systems into this force, allowing police academy students to fight two ordinary French Army soldiers.
Joseph tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair, but his mind was slightly shaking his head—currently, with riots rampant in the western and southern provinces of France, relying solely on these 20,000 men would not be sufficient to handle the situation.
Moreover, unless absolutely necessary, it would be best not to conscript the Paris Police, as it would certainly impact the stability of Paris. So under normal circumstances, only 17,000 men would be available.
Meanwhile, he also had to guard against the military nobility stabbing him in the back.
It was highly unlikely that these fellows would openly rebel, but they could certainly disguise themselves as rioters and launch surprise attacks on his troops.
In that case, he would be unable to disperse his troops to quell the disturbances across the regions—small detachments were all too easily ambushed.
In the conference hall, the various Cabinet Ministers had apparently already reached some degree of consensus on accepting the extortion from the military and the Assembly of Notables—they really could not come up with any other plan.
Queen Mary and Louis XVI listened with somber expressions to the ministers discussing, seemingly resigned to this outcome.
"We absolutely cannot accept the cancellation of land tax and the abolition of the press bureau!" Mirabeau exclaimed loudly.
"I believe everything else is negotiable, but the Supreme Judicial Court must be preserved," Brian, still dwelling on the last tax reform, was acutely aware of the importance of controlling the High Court.
As part of the Duke of Orleans' faction, the Foreign Minister Villeneuve was actively advocating for total acceptance, so as to "allow the troops to quell the unrest as soon as possible."
By three in the afternoon, everyone was famished and no consensus had been reached. They had no choice but to adjourn temporarily for lunch.
While waiting for the chef to serve the meal, Brian approached Joseph and whispered, "Your Highness, I have already allocated funds to purchase grains from Spain and Sardinia. As long as we hold out for a month, this grain should relieve the situation in seven or eight provinces..."
It's far from enough, Joseph shook his head slightly but suddenly grasped something from his words.
He had been trapped in a fixed way of thinking, only considering how to deploy troops to suppress the riots, forgetting that the root cause was food!
The provinces experiencing riots weren't without grain, rather their reserves had been reallocated.
If he could produce a batch of grain now, not too much, just enough for each province to last half a month, or even ten days, to stabilize the starving population. As long as order was restored and the reserve grain returned to its original place, the chaos would collapse without a fight.
He fell into deep thought; enough grain for the western and southern provinces of France to last half a month, and it needed to be rapidly distributed to the hands of the disaster victims...
He would have to ask God for help!
At that thought, Joseph was suddenly taken aback. Ask God for help?
Yes, indeed!
How had he forgotten that it was indeed possible to ask God for help?
Didn't France have a group of God's "spokespersons," who owned their own farmland, properties, and were most keen on hoarding grain?
That was the Catholic Church!
After all, following the Great Commandment, the National Convention seized the Church's assets, and the grains found in the cellars had stunned the legislators and helped alleviate the famine in the spring of 1792.
Owing to the Church's transcendental nature at this time, no one thought to lay hands on the Church's resources. Of course, apart from the Archbishops, not many people knew how much grain the Church had stored.
And Joseph, as a newcomer, not only knew exactly how much grain the church-mouse-like Church had hoarded, but he also had no qualms about fleecing the Church.
Once the thought process opened up, Joseph felt as if the skies had cleared.
The Church had assets all over France, meaning there were cellars full of grain everywhere. The disaster victims would hardly have to travel far to receive relief food.
And the Church's grain storage was definitely enough for the southern provinces to last half a month, no, even one or two months would be manageable. Because the supposed shortage of grain was just not enough for everyone to eat, leading to skyrocketing grain prices. As long as there was grain to cover the shortfall, it would be sufficient.
This train of thought led him to many ideas, and the great turmoil created by the Duke of Orleans and the military might even present a good opportunity.
If managed properly, it could even once and for all resolve the chronic problem of the military nobility!
Joseph pondered carefully, quickly formulating a comprehensive plan in his mind.
After lunch, the Cabinet Ministers resumed their heated debate on how to compromise.
Just then, Joseph suddenly stood up, signaling for silence, and then bowed respectfully to the Queen and Louis XVI: "Your Majesty, I believe we should not make the slightest concession to those who dare to threaten you, to threaten France!"
Queen Mary's previously dejected eyes suddenly gleamed. She knew that without sufficient troops, there was no way to solve the current crisis, but she was comforted that her son had such courage.
Joseph continued, "Please grant me full authority to handle this matter, I am confident that I can end the unrest in the provinces."
Queen Mary smiled and shook her head, "Joseph, my dear, I know you want to do your part for France, but this time..."
However, Joseph looked towards Archbishop Brian.
The latter, seeing his gaze, immediately rose to his feet and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Crown Prince is the only one who can resolve the current predicament."
He chose his words carefully, "In fact, he possesses outstanding abilities beyond your imagination."
As Joseph's gaze swept over the other Cabinet Ministers, Mirabeau and Baron Breti also stood up in succession, "Your Majesty, I too believe you can trust the Crown Prince implicitly."
"I share the same view."
The Navy Minister, looking back and forth, also stood up to show his support.
In the council chamber, with the exception of the Foreign Minister and three others who did not attend, everyone chose to stand with Joseph.
Queen Mary was surprised that her son had such a rallying force and had not yet recovered when she heard Louis XVI suddenly speak up, "Perhaps, we could let Joseph have a try."
He murmured in a very low voice, "He even managed to design the caplock gun."
As Queen Mary hesitated, she suddenly remembered the astonishing tactics her son had shown in North Africa, perhaps he really did have a way to deal with this crisis… Finally, she slowly nodded and looked at Joseph, "Then, let the Crown Prince be in charge of handling the insurrections in the provinces."
"During this period, he may issue decrees on behalf of the King and myself."
"Please cooperate with him to the best of your ability."
"I appreciate your trust," Joseph said.
Joseph bowed to Louis XVI and the Queen, and then without hesitation pointed at Villeneuve, "As of now, you are dismissed."
Villeneuve almost fell off his chair, how could the topic of the insurrection suddenly turn on him?
"Your Highness, you have no right to do this!"
"No, I do," Joseph said calmly, "You would severely hinder the process of quelling the riots. Therefore, you must leave the Cabinet."
"You are framing me!"
Joseph turned to Queen Mary, "Your Majesty, I am certain this is absolutely necessary. After the matter is resolved, I will surely provide you with a satisfactory explanation."
Villeneuve and the Duke of Orleans were so deeply involved, and the Duke of Orleans was one of the masterminds behind this event, so it was absolutely necessary not to keep this traitor.
Queen Mary was somewhat troubled but, seeing that no one opposed, she looked at Villeneuve, "Count of Villeneuve, please take a temporary leave. If it later proves that you are innocent, I will restore you to your position."
Villeneuve was stunned for a few seconds, gave the Queen a perfunctory nod, and left angrily.
Finally, he had gotten rid of the fellow who was always a thorn in his side!
Joseph felt a rush of relief throughout his body; the taste of power was truly addictive!
Afterward, he instructed Archbishop Brian to continue issuing orders to the military units across the country on behalf of the King, ordering them to disperse the rioters immediately and maintain order.
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The orders clearly stated that small-scale garrisons were allowed to act autonomously without reporting to superiors while suppressing uprisings. Attached was a decree stating that civilian military officers who distinguished themselves in suppressing the riots could be promoted to Lieutenant or higher ranks.
Whether anyone executed the orders was a matter for the army, but he had to try.
As for matters such as purchasing food and carrying out propaganda to stabilize public sentiment, Joseph only gave brief instructions before announcing the end of the Cabinet meeting.
The most important work lay ahead.
Half an hour later.
A "gemstone" carriage headed towards Paris. Inside the carriage, Joseph looked at Talleyrand sitting opposite him and smiled, "Archbishop, the position of Foreign Minister seems to be vacant now. Would you be interested?"
The lame man's face flickered with delight and he hurriedly pressed his chest, "I am grateful for Your Highness's trust, I will certainly not disappoint you."
Joseph nodded, "Before that, I need your help with a small favor."