I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 379: Crisis, not just "Crisis"

Joseph motioned to Fouché: "You can go with me in my carriage."

Although Fouché, as the Director of the National Intelligence Agency, has not yet been listed as a cabinet minister, this matter will inevitably require the intelligence system to speak at the cabinet meeting.

In fact, a few days ago, Fouché reported to Joseph that there were unusual activities of liberals in the northwest of France.

Just as Joseph's order to the Intelligence Bureau to investigate and handle the matter reached the northwestern provinces, farmers' protests and riots broke out within two days.

In the speeding carriage, Joseph listened to the latest intelligence brought by Fouché and couldn't help but frowned slightly: "Are you saying that this time it was the 'Tennis Club' organization that instigated it, and that they have foreign forces behind them?"

He knew that this so-called tennis club was an organization of radical liberals in France. However, a large number of the backbones of the Jacobins and Girondins in history were brought under Joseph's control, and there was no factor of starvation, so the liberals had been silent in recent years.

And this time they suddenly made such a large move, and Joseph guessed that it might be due to foreign intervention.

Fouché nodded and said, "They have sufficient funds. The rioters in Lille and Reims also have a large number of flintlock rifles. According to our investigation, these should have been provided by the Southern Netherlands Parliament."

The Southern Netherlands sent more than 200 people to France to incite riots. Among them, there were inevitably good and bad people. The Intelligence Bureau had arrested more than a dozen people. After being interrogated by the Intelligence Bureau, more than half of them confessed.

Joseph's face darkened instantly. VanderNott was so bold. Wasn't he afraid that he would let the Guards directly take down his parliament?

Fortunately, Lille and Reims had basically completed the police reform this time. The police, facing the rioters' bullets, dispersed the rioting crowd in just one day. Otherwise, it is hard to say how big the chaos would have been.

If this happened in one of the eastern provinces that have not yet implemented police reforms, the army would probably have to be mobilized, and a lot of people would have died before it could be resolved.

But even with the new police force, we must not take it lightly. Once a riot occurs, even if it subsides, it will cause great damage to the city.

In addition, farmers in more than a dozen cities were marching in protest. Although no violent incidents occurred, the impact on public order was very serious.

Fouché saw the look on the crown prince's face and quickly sat up straight and said, "Your Highness, please give me another chance. I promise to arrest all the Southern Dutch people with bad intentions within a month!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Fouché said hurriedly, "The Intelligence Bureau has already launched operations in the northwestern provinces, and has collected a large amount of intelligence. We may even be able to arrest everyone from the 'Tennis Club' as well."

Joseph asked about his deployment in general, and after confirming that there was no exaggeration, he breathed a sigh of relief. When he was about to nod, he suddenly had an idea.

If the intelligence agency can quickly catch the instigators of the riot, then the riots will not be a concern. In this case, the "opportunity" in this crisis can be well utilized.

He tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair and carefully sorted out the current situation in his mind. Soon, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Vandernot, speaking of which, I have to thank you this time."

Fouché looked over in surprise: "Your Highness, what did you say?"

"Don't touch those people yet." Joseph raised his hand and ordered, "But keep a close watch on them so that you can arrest them at any time."

Although Fouché was surprised, he immediately nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

Joseph continued, "In addition, you must quickly find out the channels through which the funds and materials of the Southern Netherlands enter France. You must obtain absolutely sufficient evidence and keep a close eye on all the people involved."

"Yes, Your Highness!" The carriage stopped in front of the gate of the Palace of Versailles. Joseph walked quickly to the cabinet meeting hall. The guards at the door immediately bowed and opened two golden doors for him.

All the cabinet ministers were in place. When Queen Mary saw the Crown Prince coming, for some reason, her panic-stricken heart suddenly felt more at ease.

She waved to her son and asked him to sit next to her.

When Joseph sat down, Archbishop Brian immediately stood up, coughed lightly and said, "You may have heard about the recent peasant riots in Lille, Reims and other northwestern provinces."

He bowed slightly to Queen Mary and said, "Her Majesty the Queen hopes that we can come up with a solution to calm the situation as soon as possible."

As soon as he finished speaking, most of the cabinet ministers looked at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

It’s not that they all rely on Joseph to make the decision, but they subconsciously think that the Crown Prince may have a solution.

Queen Mary looked at the scene in front of her with some confusion, and suddenly remembered what her son had said to her before: "You all need the Crown Prince to give you some advice, right?"

"Ahem—" The ministers then realized that their behavior was extremely inappropriate. They coughed dryly and looked away awkwardly.

Joseph stood up and said to his mother, "Your Majesty, the reason why this riot developed so quickly is mainly because of the instigation of the Southern Netherlands."

He then summoned Fouché into the hall and briefed everyone on the information the Intelligence Bureau had.

After Fouché finished speaking, Joseph looked at everyone and said, "The most urgent task right now is to get the protesters out of the city and back home as soon as possible."

Archbishop Brian frowned and said, “Your Highness, the root cause of the farmers’ dissatisfaction now is that someone spread a rumor that the government requires them to pay 30 years of land income and major rent taxes before they can redeem the land.

"Unless we can immediately issue a redemption plan, they will definitely continue to make trouble."

People are like this, when there is absolutely no hope, they will be oppressed numbly for the rest of their lives and won't feel anything. But once there is hope, people will want more.

This is not greed, but they finally realized that they can be human beings, real people, rather than feudal livestock that look like humans.

In fact, the reason why Joseph wanted to break the feudal rent and tax system was to increase France's population by more than 2 million.

That’s right, before this, only tens of thousands of nobles in France were real French people, and the lower-class people were unwilling to do anything for the country.

Only when they are given land and freed from feudal constraints will they realize that they are also French and are willing to contribute to the country.

Historically, why was France able to easily mobilize 60 troops after the Revolution and maintain logistical supplies? It was because 3000 million French people at that time were eager to serve their country and were proud to be French.

In addition, land privatization is also an inevitable requirement for the industrial revolution.

The entire country was occupied by feudal lords, and tenant farmers paid rent on the lords' land. Where was the labor force to support industrial development?

No matter how many factories you build, if you can't recruit workers you won't be able to produce even a single screw.

(End of this chapter)