Chapter 244: The Best Strategy
Joseph raised his hand and asked, "Who do you mean by 'you'?"
Marquis Saint-Véran hesitated for a moment, but the fear of being exiled to the Seychelles quickly overwhelmed everything else. He blurted out, "It's, um... Marquis Luckner, General d'Astorg, General Morney..."
Joseph turned and signaled for his secretary to take notes.
Joseph already knew it was likely the same twenty or so nobles who had signed the petition against the royal family earlier, but it was crucial to get a confession from the rebel himself.
Saint-Véran then meticulously explained the military aristocrats' plan to pressure the royal family. Of course, he rephrased it as "hoping the royal family would pay more attention to the military."
"Additionally, Duke de Mouchy, Duke de Cossé, and Count de Ségur were involved," he added. Since he had decided to confess, he figured he might as well drag more people down with him, thinking that perhaps this might result in leniency. "Their main role was to use their influence at Versailles to stir public opinion and rally other nobles to apply pressure when the military refused to deploy troops to quell the uprisings..."
Joseph smirked coldly. It seemed that the Privy Council members were still up to no good. But that was fine; they were handing him leverage, which would make dealing with them much easier.
Saint-Véran continued his confession, now with a mix of gloating and a desire to curry favor. "Your Highness, you must be curious about Duke Orléans' whereabouts, right? He's the mastermind behind all this—you should arrest him immediately!"
Joseph raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And where is he?"
"He went to Auvergne two days ago to meet with Marquis Luckner," Saint-Véran replied. "Marquis Luckner is trying to form an 'Alliance Front' to unite as many nobles as possible to pressure the royal family into overlooking this uprising. They were likely discussing that... oh, and they've even formed a marriage alliance..."
Joseph sighed in relief. It was fortunate that Duke Orléans wasn't here; otherwise, with Saint-Véran's testimony, Joseph would have had no choice but to arrest him.
If that happened, the process would follow the usual course: trial, plea bargaining, backroom deals, and in the end, perhaps just an exile.
But given Duke Orléans' status as one of the highest-ranking nobles under the royal family, with considerable wealth and influence, even in exile, he could continue to cause trouble.
So Joseph had only one plan for him—elimination.
Not only would it rid France of a major problem, but seizing his assets would also greatly bolster the royal treasury.
However, as previously mentioned, given Duke Orléans' immense influence, the manner of his removal had to be carefully planned.
After the guards took Marquis Saint-Véran away, Joseph ordered Berthier to let the army rest for a day before marching toward Auvergne.
He wasn't heading there to confront Duke Orléans directly but rather to get close enough to negotiate with Marquis Luckner.
By swiftly defeating the rebellious Marquis Saint-Véran, Joseph had significantly tilted the situation in his favor. However, the next step was to manage the military's response.
Yes, manage, not confront.
Joseph knew better than to think he could simply lead the Imperial Guard on a rampage, crushing all the disloyal military aristocrats and then exiling them to remote, desolate provinces like Saint-Véran.
Such an approach would likely plunge France into civil war, squandering enormous amounts of money on warfare. If he made one wrong move and suffered a defeat, it could spell disaster.
Even if he succeeded in subduing the old military entirely, he didn't have enough troops to fill all the vacated garrisons across the country.
It's important to remember that, at this time, the French military was responsible for maintaining local law and order. Unless every province had undergone the kind of police reform seen in Paris, removing the military's presence would lead to a surge in crime and suffering.
So the best strategy was to leverage the victory over the Montcalm Regiment to bring the existing military forces under his control.
At this moment, with the military aristocrats trembling at the news of the royal family's victory, it was the perfect time to establish new rules.
Once the military issue was resolved, Joseph could then move on to implementing his grand plan!
Looking at the list of names in Marquis Saint-Véran's confession, Joseph's eyes gleamed with a cold smile. These people had thrown half of France into chaos; they couldn't be allowed to get away with it.
Sometimes, chaos, when properly harnessed, can be a more powerful weapon than order.
Of course, the key is being able to control it—let it run wild when needed, and bring it to heel when the time is right.
The next morning, Joseph tasked the Moulin Regiment with overseeing and reorganizing the Montcalm Regiment—after their grueling march, they were already showing signs of exhaustion—then ordered the entire Imperial Guard to break camp and march northwest.
The regiment happily loaded carts with food, wine, and other supplies taken from Count de Ségur's warehouses, cheerfully singing "Glory and Victory" as they set out.
Three days later, Joseph rode to a high point from where he could see the dense buildings of Auvergne without needing a telescope.
Still cautious, he instructed Berthier to send scouts ahead, covering ten kilometers in all directions, to maintain vigilance. Although the chances of Marquis Luckner doing something reckless were slim, it was better to be safe than sorry.
However, as they approached within seven or eight kilometers of the city, Joseph was surprised to see dozens of carriages lined up along the road, surrounded by over a hundred servants.
These people were holding flower garlands, food, and drinks. When they saw the Imperial Guard approaching from afar, they quickly formed a neat line.
Soon, Marquis Luckner came forward, a big smile plastered on his face.
As Joseph rode in his carriage, the old marquis showered him with compliments, praising the Prince's triumph over the Montcalm Regiment's rebellion and then launched into a tirade against Marquis Saint-Véran, expressing deep regret for not realizing sooner that the man was planning to rebel—otherwise, he would have personally led his troops to crush him.
In truth, Marquis Luckner was terrified at this moment—the Montcalm Regiment had been reinforced by the Queen when they were sent to North Africa to rescue the Prince, boasting a strength of 25,000 on paper, with over 17,000 actual soldiers. He only had 7,000 men, and their combat capability was far inferior to the Montcalm Regiment.
According to reports from Montpellier, the Prince's police forces had utterly defeated Marquis Saint-Véran, almost leveling Count de Ségur's estate with artillery fire.
Seeing that the Prince merely smiled, Marquis Luckner felt slightly relieved and cautiously asked, "Your Highness, what important business brings you to Auvergne this time?"
Joseph hadn't expected such a quick change in attitude from the marquis, making some of his prepared words unnecessary.
After a moment's thought, he decided to be direct: "I'm here to quell the unrest in Auvergne."
(End of Chapter)
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