I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 236 Opportunities in Crisis

When Joseph came out of the "White Maple Forest" manor, he already felt confident.

The archbishops of the Paris Region, plus Valois and three other districts, all reached a "shares in exchange for grain" agreement with him. Coupled with Talleyrand of Autun and Briand of Toulouse, nearly half of the most influential clergy in the French church will now be involved in this matter.

All that's left is for them to blend their interests with the archbishops of the southern dioceses.

Judging from the information just revealed by Archbishop Beaumont, the church has a considerable amount of "private food", which can even fill France's food gap to a certain extent.

But in this case, the historical freeze of 1792 could not rely on the church cellar. But Joseph believes that as Tunisia continues to develop, the increased grain production in two years will be enough to cope with the short-term food shortage in the spring.

After all, Tunisia has one-third of the cultivated land area of ​​France, but only needs to feed a population of 1.8 million.

And in order to ensure that Beaumont and others can achieve the highest efficiency, Joseph also drew the "Pope's Throne" for them.

Although the Holy See is currently ruled by Italians, in the 14th century, the Holy See was in Avignon, France!

It was not until nearly a century later that Gregory XI moved it back to Rome.

Southeastern France still retains the territory of Avignon, which belongs to the Papal States.

Although the French Catholic Church is currently self-contained, it is impossible to say that the high-ranking clergy have no ideas about the papacy.

So Joseph revealed to several archbishops in the "White Maple Forest" his "grand blueprint" to relocate the Holy See to Avignon.

If the Holy See returns to France, then the Pope will inevitably be born among them and Brian.

Beaumont and others were all in great spirits. This was said by the crown prince himself, and it probably represents the will of the royal family - the French royal family has developed the ambition to order Catholicism.

Of course, Joseph does not have such a strategic plan for the time being, it is just a drawing board.

However, if one day the army really came to Rome, he would not mind using the political resources of the Holy See - holding the Pope hostage to convince the believers. If France attacks anyone, it will be a crusade, which is not very exciting.

He would never operate like the emperor did in history. He would fall out with the entire Holy See and lose huge political benefits just for the little money from the Papal State.

Several archbishops secretly decided in their hearts that they should perform well in releasing food this time to gain extra points for themselves in the future competition for the Pope.

Joseph had already made a rough plan before going to Montmartre. After returning to Paris, he went directly to the headquarters of the Police Intelligence Department.

After listening to Joseph's plan, Fouche suddenly showed a crazy and excited expression:

"Your Highness, I simply cannot describe my admiration for you. You were able to find an opportunity in even this situation!"

Just thinking about the big scene planned by the crown prince made his blood surge.

Joseph interrupted his rainbow fart and also drew him a pie:

"The Police Intelligence Department performed very well in North Africa last time. If it can successfully complete its mission this time, I think it will be upgraded to the Police Intelligence Department. Oh, the name 'National Intelligence Department' seems more appropriate."

Well, if there is a cake hanging in front of you, your subordinates will be more motivated.

When Fouche and others heard this, their eyes shone as expected—he was directly promoted to the Intelligence Department, and then the head of the department would most likely enter the cabinet and become the Minister of Intelligence. Managers at all levels below will definitely rise with the tide.

Everyone in the Police Intelligence Department was gearing up and wanted to fly to the southern provinces immediately.

After doing all this, Joseph immediately rushed to the Paris Police Academy without stopping.

All other plans must rely on the foundation of the army to be successful.

The Berthier Corps and the Moulins Corps had already received orders and were gathering at the new campus of the police academy.

The new campus is the manor given to Joseph by Louis XVI and the Queen. It covers an area of ​​more than ten hectares. If crops are not grown, it can be more than enough to accommodate 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers.

There was nothing new in the pre-war mobilization. It was nothing more than Joseph giving a speech, telling the soldiers that they would bear the historical responsibility of France's turning point and would receive supreme glory. Then came the routine queue formation display.

A more practical operation is to replace the Mulan Legion with August-style flash cap guns. The performance of the Mulan Legion in Tunisia was quite satisfactory. The most important thing was that it showed its absolute loyalty to the Crown Prince, which also won them the latest weapons and equipment.

Joseph extremely richly ordered Andre to practice shooting with 20 rounds of ammunition per soldier these days until the troops set off.

In fact, the use of a flash cap gun is not much different from that of a flintlock gun. It just eliminates a few actions of loading propellant and can be mastered with a little practice. Not to mention the proficiency of feeding hundreds of bullets.

You know, many veterans of the old French army have no experience with 100 guns.

In addition, the Guards Corps also upgraded to 12-pound heavy guns this time. Mainly after the Battle of Tunisia, Joseph found that the previous heaviest 8-pound cannon had insufficient suppressive power, so he simply followed the emperor's organization and replaced the entire army with 12-pound and 6-pound cannons.

The former is used for fire suppression, and the latter is used in battlefield environments that require mobility and flexibility.

Anyway, the cavalry artillery has not been built yet, so the bulkiness of the 12-pounder gun is not a big problem. Just add a few more dragging horses.

After arranging the hardware matters, Joseph summoned Berthier, Friant and other officers together and issued a series of orders on improving the mental level of the soldiers.

After Joseph finished speaking, Berthier said with a bitter face:

"Your Highness, the 'Department of Military Affairs' you mentioned involves so many matters that it may be difficult to start operations in a short period of time."

Andre also nodded:

"Your Highness, in terms of manpower alone, it is impossible to solve it now. According to your requirements, at least more than 200 people will be needed to barely complete the work within Paris. As for the families of soldiers in other provinces, more manpower is needed... "

Joseph smiled and nodded: "You don't have to worry about this. The required manpower can be allocated directly to the Invalides. We only need to send some civilian officials for command. Oh, and let the Invalids pay for the expenses as much as possible."

Today's French Invalides is no longer a department that took care of disabled soldiers during the Sun King era, but has become a pure sanatorium for retired officers, which ordinary soldiers cannot enjoy at all.

There is really no big use for leaving such a department except to provide weapons to rioting citizens when there is a big fate. It would be better to take advantage of the time when the top military officials left Paris and just empty it out.

Berthier and the others looked at each other after hearing this, and they all showed knowing smiles.

Immediately, Joseph came among the soldiers of the Guards Corps and tried his best to encourage each soldier face to face. It was not until noon the next day that he dragged his tired body back to the Palace of Versailles.

All preparations are done, it’s time to start harvesting!

…

Rue Olay, Saint-Antoine district, Paris.

A melodious bugle sound accompanied by fast-paced drumbeats came from the south side of the street, causing residents on both sides to look over there curiously.

Soon, they saw a team of about 20 people, dressed in elegant ceremonial uniforms, forming two straight columns and walking towards this side in an orderly manner.

An old man selling fish frowned and whispered to the middle-aged man next to him:

"What happened? So many soldiers were sent to arrest people!"

The middle-aged man shook his head:

"Why do you want to make such a big fuss when arresting someone? Are you afraid that the person you want to arrest won't escape?"

The young reporter behind them looked around and explained to the two: "That is the newly established Ministry of Military Affairs. I heard that it serves the Berthier Corps and the 'Combat Police' unit."

The old fish seller said doubtfully:

"We don't seem to have any big officers here, right?"

According to his habitual thinking, this so-called "service to the troops" department is equivalent to serving officers.

The team from the Ministry of Military Affairs stopped in front of an inconspicuous residence. The queue turned sideways and stood on both sides of the gate.

Several soldiers walked out of the team, first checked the address, and then began to hang red and blue ribbons on the door, and placed several baskets of bouquets in front of the ribbon door.

Following the order of the leading officer, two soldiers pulled apart a half-meter-wide banner, and what they saw read: The light of glory of France! Congratulations to Corporal Adrian for receiving the Medal of Courage!

There is also a row of small words below: The reputation of bravery spreads. One person's meritorious deeds bring glory to the whole family.

According to the level of meritorious service of the Guards Corps, the Medal of Courage is the "fourth class merit" under the Bronze Iris. A total of 23 people received the Medal of Valor during the Battle of Tunisia.

The citizens immediately surrounded Adrian's house, looking at the banner and talking about it:

"Didn't Adrian go to the police academy? How did he get a medal?"

"I heard that he went to North Africa. It seems that he performed meritorious service there."

"In such a big pomp, Adrian really stole the show!"

"He is just a corporal. Why did the military come to his house to congratulate him in such a grand manner?"

The officer from the Ministry of Military Affairs was about to knock on the door, when Adrian's parents and sister pushed the door open in surprise.

Old Mr. Adrian looked around nervously, bowed in front of the officer, and whispered:

"Master, what are you..."

The officer hurriedly supported him, raised his hat and saluted him, and said loudly:

"Good morning! Are you Mr. Adrian? Your son won the Medal of Courage for his bravery in the battle to prevent the Algiers from invading Tunisia. I am here to tell you the good news on behalf of the Paris Police Academy."

Adrian and his family were all stunned in place, unable to react for a long time.

The officer stepped forward and thrust a "certificate of medal" and 200 livres of silver coins into old Adrian's hands, and said with great enthusiasm:

"This is Corporal Adrian's certificate and bonus. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked me to thank your family for supporting him. You also contributed to France's great victory. Oh, please sign here, I It’s better to go back and deliver business.”

Adrian's family seemed to be in a dream, as if their son had done something extraordinary.

Not only did an officer bring people to congratulate him, but he also received a bonus of 200 livres!

Old Adrian finally came to his senses and asked his wife to quickly prepare water and food to entertain the congratulatory soldiers. Then, he turned around and invited people from the Ministry of Military Affairs into the house.

The latter first loudly told the onlookers at the door the process of Adrian's meritorious service. The manuscript was obviously carefully prepared, and everyone was extremely nervous when they heard it, as if they had seen with their own eyes the thrilling scene of Adrian desperately blocking the gap opened by the Algiers cavalry at the critical moment, keeping the French army's formation intact.

Then, the officer went on to talk about the various benefits enjoyed by the families of soldiers who have made meritorious services, including: if they encounter an accident, they will be given priority by the police; family members can get military-related jobs; if they encounter problems, they can directly go to the Ministry of Military Affairs to resolve them, etc. .

In short, Adrian's family will definitely be a very prestigious one on this street from now on.

The people watching were all envious and talked loudly:

“I didn’t expect that I could get ahead by going to the police academy!”

"My God! That's a prize of 200 livres!"

"Did you hear that? If there is any trouble in his family, he can go directly to this officer to solve it."

"Oh, my third child originally wanted to go to the police academy, but I didn't let him go. I really regret it!"

There was even a young man who had rejected Adrian's sister's confession before and shamelessly approached the girl on the spot...

For a time, the whole of Paris was full of busy figures from the Ministry of Military Affairs. The meritorious soldiers of the Guards immediately became the focus of people's attention - various newspapers, led by "Paris Business Times", spent a lot of space introducing their heroic deeds. Even the news of riots in the southern provinces was suppressed by them.

The families and friends of the meritorious soldiers soon wrote to them about the commendations. The letters encouraged them to fight bravely and strive to win the medal again.

Improving the reputation of the Guardsmen and enhancing their sense of honor and belonging is what Joseph has wanted to do for a long time.

In the past, because we did not want to stimulate the military nobles too much, operations in this area could only be carried out within the army.

Now that the military nobles have made it clear that they are going to have trouble with the royal family, there is no need to hide it.

The soldiers in those old-style armies were just humble servants and low-class people, but in the Guards, they were soldiers with high status and the glory of France.

If these two sides fight, even if the gap in combat effectiveness is not considered, the Guards Corps will be able to crush their opponents in terms of morale alone!

However, Joseph's move caused trouble for the Paris Police Academy and the Berthier Corps. They had to deal with citizens who signed up for the police academy or to serve as soldiers almost all day long...

Less than five minutes after Joseph returned to the Palace of Versailles, Brian came looking for him anxiously.

The archbishop hurriedly bowed, shook the document in his hand and said:

"Your Highness, you are back! The scope of the riots is getting bigger and bigger, and the queen has asked you many times for your countermeasures..."

Joseph smiled and asked him to sit down, and said calmly:

"I am also preparing to go to you. Archbishop, please issue an order to the armies of the southern provinces in the name of the king, asking all middle- and high-level officers to come to the Palace of Versailles immediately. Those who fail to do so within a week will be punished for rebellion! "

Brian was shocked and stood up:

"Your Highness, how can this be done? If all the officers are summoned to Paris, then who will command the army to quell the riot?"

Joseph smiled:

"Please rest assured that the church will help me solve the problem of riots."