I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 383 Contradictions and Greater Contradictions
These nobles were just "supporting roles" in the previous street confrontations, so they would not be detained for too long.

More than thirty people came out of the prison in Reims. Their family members and servants who had been waiting for them for a long time immediately surrounded them. Some scolded them loudly, some asked about their well-being, and some cried bitterly. Then they dragged their prodigal sons towards the carriage parked outside.

However, the young nobles all clamored to wait until they had watched the public trial the day after tomorrow before returning to the Palace of Versailles.

Yes, a prison guard told them yesterday that a public trial of the Southern Netherlands spy would be held on the 17th of this month.

How could they miss this when they were already filled with indignation in prison?
What followed was a wave of angry rebukes or desperate pleas from the family members and servants.

The young nobles angrily told them how they were deceived by the spies of the Southern Netherlands and how they were mistakenly arrested by the police when they were preparing to come to Reims to defend the rights of the nobles.

"How dare they lie to me! I have to watch those guys being hanged!"

Someone shouted loudly, and immediately a group of people echoed, "Yes, I can't leave like this in shame!"

"I'm going to hit them like civilians with rocks!"

"I even want to hang them myself..."

The news that the Southern Netherlands sent a large number of spies to incite French peasants to revolt quickly spread throughout France, causing a sensation for a while.

The newspapers were full of news about this incident, as well as notices of public trials of spies to be held in Reims, Lille and Paris on the 17th of this month. In accordance with the instructions of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, all news not related to the "spy case" would not be reviewed and approved by the Press and Publication Bureau for the time being in order to ensure that public opinion was directed in the same direction.

There are many versions of the story of the Southern Netherlands spies circulating among the people, which describe in vivid detail how the spies planned and how they were eventually discovered and arrested by the heroic intelligence agency.

Of course, these were also written overnight by novelists organized by the Intelligence Department, including the literary giant Beaumarchais, who once wrote for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The plot is tightly linked, with endless suspense and reversals, and focuses on depicting the sinister intentions of the Southern Netherlands spies to mess up France and their hateful ugly faces.

For a time, everyone in the streets was talking about the evil spy. No matter whether it was the nobles or the common people, they were all furious and denounced the shamelessness and sinisterness of the Southern Netherlands.

The land redemption policy that caused a lot of controversy a while ago has been temporarily forgotten by people.

Most of the farmers who were causing trouble stayed at home, fearing that they would be charged with treason. No one mentioned things like protests anymore - now that mass protests have become synonymous with incitement by spies, who would dare to get into trouble at this time?
As for the nobles, when they met and greeted each other, they would first curse each other as Southern Dutch people, or "cry" that their children were deceived by spies and arrested by the police in the northwestern provinces. This has almost become a kind of political correctness in the Palace of Versailles.

The condemnation of the Southern Netherlands spies throughout France reached its climax on the 17th.

In the square outside the Paris High Court, there were as many as five or six thousand citizens gathered to watch. Some nobles even paid dozens of livres to buy "seats" from common people who had occupied good positions in order to watch from the front.

When forty members of the Southern Netherlands "Freedom Alliance Committee" were brought to the hut in the corner of the square, the crowd immediately burst into a tsunami-like roar, "Hang these damn guys!"

"They are the ones who brought chaos to France! Death penalty!"

"My sister died in the riot in Lille, and it was them who did it! The spies of the Southern Netherlands must go to hell!"

"Declare war on the Southern Netherlands and make them repent with blood!"

Someone nearby immediately whispered to him that France had already declared war on the rebels in the Southern Netherlands and had won two major victories.

The man who had been shouting for a declaration of war immediately changed his tone and shouted: "Long live the King! Crush the rebels!" Soon, the public trial began.

The officials of the High Court first read out the charges against the dozens of spies one by one, as well as the evidence collected.

This time, the Intelligence Bureau successfully completed the task assigned by Joseph and obtained a large amount of evidence that the "Committee" incited riots. The letters, documents and account details alone were more than half a meter thick.

Of course, some of them were "copied" by Fouché's men, but in such occasions no one would really verify the authenticity of the evidence.

Amid the roars of the onlookers, a large number of witnesses came to the stage one by one, such as farmers who had received subsidies from the "committee" or French liberals who instigated the riots, to testify against the people of the Southern Netherlands standing in the dock.

Then the families of the victims of the riots came forward, tearfully denouncing the tragedy brought about by spies and asking the judge to give severe sentences to these spies.

The entire trial lasted from 9 am to 5 pm, and only about ten people were tried. The High Court officials then announced that the public trial would continue tomorrow.

The crowd surrounded the High Court and cursed for more than half an hour before gradually dispersing.

……

Second floor of the Tuileries Palace.

In the office of the Industrial Planning Bureau, Vernier was excitedly flattering Joseph, "Your Highness, it is just as you said. The riots in various places disappeared overnight. There are even farmers who participated in the riots who surrendered themselves to the police station. You are truly the embodiment of wisdom and strategy, and a person blessed by God!"

Brian nodded beside him: "When the conflict between two people is so great that they can never reach an agreement, only a bigger conflict can make them forget their previous differences and face the common enemy together.

"Your Highness, how did you come up with such a brilliant idea? Your mind always makes me almost crazy with envy."

Joseph smiled and signaled them to stop: "You didn't come to me just to talk about this, did you?"

The two looked at each other, and Brian said carefully: "Your Highness, the riots in the northwestern provinces have indeed been temporarily quelled, but you know that both peasants and nobles are waiting for the land redemption plan.

"The Southern Netherlands spy incident will eventually pass, and their attention will turn back to this. Although there shouldn't be any more major chaos after the spy incident, people's dissatisfaction will always erupt one day, so..."

Joseph nodded seriously and said, "You are right. Then, the land redemption plan will be officially announced the day after the public trial."

Brian paused and said with a bitter face: "Your Highness, we still don't have a plan that can satisfy everyone."

Joseph smiled and said, "Just follow the revision suggestions I gave you last time and publish it after the revision."

"You mean, let the farmers redeem eight years of land output and pay annual tribute?"

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)