Joseph remembered that historically, the Duke of Orleans was sent to the guillotine by the Jacobins.
Unexpectedly, the big shot of the Jacobins was now helping his son fight a legal case, which always seemed somewhat discordant.
Demulan once again marveled, “You, you are truly renowned in the legal world, such, such a big case, and they, they seek you out for defense.”
In those years, Robespierre’s defense success rate was extremely high, especially a few years ago when he successfully defended Mr. Viesel, who faced a lawsuit for installing a lightning rod. He overturned a series of prior judgments, which made him famous throughout France. Historically, this also led to his election as a representative of the Estates-General.
Robespierre smiled and said, “I am just one of the lawyers for the Duke of Chartres.”
Joseph thought for a moment, then abruptly interjected, “Mr. Robespierre, do you believe the Duke of Chartres should inherit the Duke of Orleans’s estate?
“Yes, Your Highness,” Robespierre nodded, “The Duke of Orleans died in a riot, his legitimate heir should rightfully inherit the estate.” Continue reading stories on empire
“Have you not heard of any instances where he committed treason?”
Robespierre gravely said, “Your Highness, as you know, there are often such political conspiracy theories around the Palace of Versailles. I believe that the Duke of Orleans would not…”
Joseph smiled and gestured to Eman, “Please return to the High Court.”
“Very well, Your Highness.”
An hour later, in the archives of the High Court, Robespierre was leafing through the thick stack of evidence, his complexion turning deathly pale, his teeth grinding with a gritting sound.
As a seasoned lawyer, he could readily ascertain that these pieces of evidence were unlikely to be fabricated. The Crown Prince had mentioned that there were plenty more pieces of evidence in the evidence room, but he felt there was no need to look any further.
Without mentioning the Duke of Orleans’s collusion with the British, causing the Bank of France to heavily invest in British industries, or stirring up the nobility to refuse loans to the government, it was the last charge alone, orchestrating the Maletude Brothers to commit murder, thus compelling the Minister of the Interior to maliciously reallocate reserves, leading to riots in half of France due to food shortages, that should send him to hell!
Robespierre felt dizzy, as if he had been fooled by a conspirator for so many years! To end up trying to secure an inheritance for his son…
When he emerged from the High Court with a look of utter dejection and saw the Crown Prince still waiting for him, he immediately said in a deep voice, “Your Highness, I know what I must do now!”
“Ah?” Joseph said, “You should join the Official Investigation Bureau and root out people like the Duke of Orleans as soon as possible.”
Demulan nodded incessantly on the side, “I, I also hope you can join, join the investigation bureau.”
“Thank you for your trust. I will seriously consider it,” Robespierre replied, somewhat absent-mindedly giving a bow before excusing himself.
Joseph suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked, “By the way, have you seen any of the documents from the Duke of Chartres’s side?”
Since it was a case about an inheritance dispute, the lawyers needed to be aware of the estates involved.
Robespierre nodded, “Yes, Your Highness, I have seen them.”
“Then could you tell me, roughly how much is the total value of the estates involved?”
Robespierre hesitated for two seconds, then spoke in a low voice, “Not including villas, estates, and the like, around 60 million livres.”
Joseph’s eyes shone with excitement at the prospect of newfound wealth.
After deducting the cost of police reform, there would still be 50 million leftover. Coupled with fixed assets, well, this guy’s property is indeed substantial, providing the start-up funds for tax reform and industrial development as well.
Robespierre added, “Your Highness, I will never let such individuals who persecute the poor get their way.”
Having said that, he took his leave.
Demourant, noticing his friend’s discomposure, quickly bade farewell to Joseph and hurried after Robespierre.
Joseph then got back into his carriage and headed for the Paris Police Academy.
An hour and a half later, the carriage stopped in front of the academy’s office building. This time, Joseph did not disturb the trainees who were practicing and instead attended a tactical command class before summoning officers like Bertier and Frient for a meeting.
“I believe you all might have heard by now,” Joseph looked at the officers on either side of the long table. “According to the military reform plan, we are going to establish a General Staff.
“Once the General Staff officially starts operating, it will replace the Minister of War in the overall planning and deployment of wars. The Minister of War will only be responsible for the final signature and approval.”
The officers were somewhat surprised by this news; they had previously assumed that the General Staff would be like staff officers in a corps, simply assisting the Minister of War in decision-making, not realizing it would actually be a command department.
Joseph continued, “General Bertier has already compiled the duties and requirements of the General Staff into a booklet, which he will now explain in detail to everyone. Afterward, please study carefully the new combat model under the deployment of the General Staff.”
Of course, while it’s said to be compiled by Bertier, the main framework was provided by Joseph. Bertier, historically credited with the concept of the General Staff, brought this department into existence six years early with Joseph’s help, and much more refined than it would have been.
Bertier bowed to Joseph, then signaled the orderly to distribute “The Functions and Requirements of the General Staff” to everyone: “The General Staff is primarily responsible for researching all aspects of war, formulating troop maneuver and combat plans.
“This also includes plans for mobilization and implementation of campaigns.
“As required by the Crown Prince, logistics support, map planning, daily training, and exercises will also be the responsibility of the General Staff.”
You must understand, in this era, the outcome of wars heavily depended on the personal experience and even the intuition of the commanders, leading to great uncertainty.
Even commanders like Frederick II, hailed as military geniuses, had their moments of confusion and oversight. A single mistake by a commander could result in extensive soldier casualties or even lead to the outright failure of a campaign.
The staff system was designed to use professional technical means by numerous staff officers to collectively formulate combat plans, aiming to prevent commander errors to the greatest extent, representing an advanced combat command system beyond the era.
This system, starting with Bertier, fully demonstrated its power during the Franco-Prussian War. It can be said that Moltke, the Chief of the General Staff, was the greatest contributor to Prussia’s victory over France at that time.
After Bertier finished his introduction, Joseph signaled to everyone, “The Cabinet meeting will soon pass the proposal to establish the General Staff.
“General Bertier will temporarily act as the Deputy Chief of Staff.”
Historically, Bertier was Napoleon’s Chief of Staff, more adept at this role than commanding troops.
However, his current rank was only that of a brigadier general, so he could only temporarily fill the position of “Deputy Chief of the General Staff.” But as there was no Chief of Staff at the moment, he was essentially in charge of the General Staff.
Joseph added, “Furthermore, Her Majesty the Queen has agreed that Bertier’s Corps will officially be named the ‘Royal Guard First Legion’ and the Police Academy students the ‘Royal Guard Second Legion’.”