Joseph raised his hand and said:
“‘You’ refers to whom?”
The Marquis de Saint-Veran hesitated for a moment, but the fear of being exiled to Seychelles immediately overwhelmed everything:
“Yes, uh… the Marquis of Lucenay, General Astou, General Morneau…”
Joseph turned his head to signal his clerk to take note.
Actually he knew that it was basically the same twenty-something people who had signed their names to force the Royal Family’s hand, but he still needed the traitors to say it themselves.
Subsequently, the Marquis de Saint-Veran elaborated on the military nobility’s plan to blackmail the Royal Family, of course, with his wording altered to “hoping that the Royal Family would pay more attention to the military.”
“Additionally, the Duke of Mushi, the Duke of Seville, and the Count Seyrelier were also involved in this matter.” Since he had chosen to confess, he might as well drag more people down with him, perhaps hoping to create an environment where everyone is guilty, “mainly, they stirred up public opinion at the Palace of Versailles and used their political influence to rope in more aristocrats to pressure…” when they refused to send troops to suppress the riots and made demands to His Majesty,” he added.
Joseph sneered and nodded, it seemed the members of the Assembly of Notables were still harboring ill intentions. But this was also good, as they were delivering themselves into his hands, which would make dealing with the aftermath much easier.
The Marquis de Saint-Veran was rambling on about their actions when suddenly, with a look of schadenfreude and a touch of trying to claim credit, he said:
“Your Highness, you must want to know the Duke of Orleans’ movements, right? Indeed, he is the ringleader, you must arrest him immediately!”
“Oh?” Joseph immediately raised an eyebrow, “Where is he?”
“He went to Auvergne two days ago to meet with the Marquis of Lucenay,” the Marquis de Saint-Veran said, “The Marquis is planning some sort of ‘Alliance Front,’ aiming to unite as many aristocrats as possible to get the Royal Family to overlook the recent riots. Most likely it’s to discuss this matter. Oh, and they’ve also arranged a marriage alliance…”
Joseph immediately felt relieved. Luckily the Duke of Orleans wasn’t here, otherwise with the Marquis de Saint-Veran pointing fingers at him like this, he would have had no choice but to arrest him.
That would have meant proceeding with the normal process: trial, appeals for mercy, negotiations, and at most, sentencing to exile.
And as a top-ranking noble under the Royal Family, rich and influential, in exile he would still have the capacity to cause trouble.
Therefore, Joseph had only one plan for dealing with him, and that was to cut him off directly.
Not only would it rid France of a scourge, but seizing his assets afterwards could significantly subsidize the finances.
However, as previously mentioned, the man’s influence was too great, so how to execute him was certainly a complex matter.
After the Guard Corps escorted the Marquis de Saint-Veran away, Joseph ordered Bertier to have the entire army rest in place for one day, and then march towards Auvergne. Your journey continues with empire
He wasn’t going to look for the Duke of Orleans; rather, he was moving the troops in front of the Marquis of Lucenay’s face to facilitate communication with him.
With this surprise attack, he had taken care of the most troublesome Marquis de Saint-Veran, pushing the situation in a favorable direction by a large margin. But what followed was the question of how to appease the military.
That’s right, appease.
Joseph didn’t think that he could command the Guard Corps to sweep through the land, beating every military noble with treacherous intentions and then, like with the Marquis de Saint-Veran, send them off to some remote border province where rabbits don’t even poop.
Acting in such a manner would only lead to France falling into the chaos of a civil war and squandering a massive amount of war funds. If one were to suffer another defeat by carelessness, then it would indeed be an irreversible disaster.
Even if one were to step back and assume that the old army had been completely dealt with, one currently did not have enough troops to fill the garrisons left empty across the land.
It should be known that, at present, the local security of France was maintained by the military. Unless all provinces could undergo police reforms like those implemented in Paris, without the army to maintain order, bandits would immediately rise up everywhere, causing untold suffering to the living.
Therefore, the best strategy was to use the victory over the Moncalm Legion’s rebellion to the greatest extent, to incorporate the existing army for one’s own use.
Now, those military nobles who had learned of the Royal Family’s significant victory were surely trembling with fear, and this was the optimal time to set rules for them.
After sorting out the issue with the military, one could then start implementing one’s grand plan!
Joseph looked at the list of names on Marquis de Saint-Veran’s written confession, a cold sneer flashed in his eyes. These fellows had thrown most of France into chaos; they could not be allowed to cause such trouble without consequences.
Sometimes, chaos, if well utilized, can be a more powerful weapon than order itself!
Of course, the premise is being able to control it—you create chaos when it’s needed and can immediately bring things under control when it’s time to do so.
Early the next day, Joseph handed over the task of guarding and reorganizing the Moncalm Legion to Murat’s Corps—with the latter showing signs of being unable to continue marching after their intensive military march—and then ordered the entire Guard Corps to break camp and march northwest.
The corps transported a large amount of food and wine from Count Seyrelier’s warehouses, with the help of the manor’s servants, who happily loaded them onto the wagons, singing “Glory and Victory” at the top of their lungs as they set forth on their journey.
Three days later, Joseph galloped to a highland; without the need for a telescope, he could already see the dense towns of Auvergne.
He did not take the situation lightly, still having Bertier arrange for the reconnaissance cavalry to scout more than ten kilometers ahead, always remaining vigilant. Although the likelihood of Marquis of Lucenay acting desperately was very slim, it was better to be safe than sorry.
However, when they were still seven or eight kilometers from the city district, Joseph unexpectedly saw several dozen wagons parked on both sides of the road, along with over a hundred servants gathered around the wagons.
These people, holding wreaths, food, and drinks, immediately formed neat rows upon seeing the distant figures of the Guard Corps.
Thereafter, Marquis of Lucenay came forward with a smile plastered all over his face.
In Joseph’s carriage, the elderly Marquis prattled on eloquently, extravagantly praising the Crown Prince’s military achievement in crushing the Moncalm Legion’s rebellion, and then vilifying Marquis de Saint-Veran, spouting insults as if there were no tomorrow.
Finally, he beat his chest and lamented how he had failed to recognize the treasonous intentions of the latter sooner, else he would have personally led troops to quell the rebellion.
In reality, the Marquis of Lucenay was extremely anxious at that moment—the Moncalm Legion had been strengthened especially by the queen when they were sent to North Africa to rescue the Crown Prince, boasting a force of 25,000, with the actual number of troops exceeding 17,000. Here, he had only more than 7,000 men, whose combat strength was far inferior to that of the Moncalm Legion.
According to the news from Montpellier, the Crown Prince’s police force had completely overpowered Marquis de Saint-Veran, to the point where cannons almost razed Count Seyrelier’s manor to the ground.
Seeing that the Crown Prince only responded with a smile, the Marquis of Lucenay finally breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously inquired:
“Your Highness, do you have any important affairs in Auvergne this time?”
Joseph had not expected the man’s attitude to change so swiftly; thus, some of the words he had prepared were no longer necessary.
After thinking briefly, he said straightforwardly:
“I have come to quell the rebellion in Auvergne.”