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!
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.”