Assistant Minister of Finance

The Cabinet ministers, whatever they might have been thinking, all rose to congratulate the Crown Prince. Flattery flowed in an unbroken stream.

Joseph was politely returning their salutes when the Golden Gate of the hall was pushed open. The Master of Ceremonies announced, "His Majesty the King, Her Majesty the Queen, have arrived."

The ministers were somewhat surprised to see the King, who attended a Cabinet Meeting once in a blue moon. They hurriedly turned toward Louis XVI and Queen Mary as they entered the chamber, placing hands over their chests in respectful salute.

Louis XVI was familiar with all the Cabinet ministers, so his social anxiety was not nearly as apparent. Smiling, he said, "You are always so diligent and conscientious. Oh, can anyone tell me what you are discussing?"

Mono immediately beamed. "Your Majesty, we were expressing our admiration for the Crown Prince's brilliant achievements in the Police Reform!"

Louis XVI took his seat at the head of the conference table with the Queen, both unable to conceal their delight. Queen Mary in particular tirelessly recounted Joseph's recent exploits all over again.

Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Mono gave Joseph a meaningful look, cleared his throat twice, and rose. "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has more than demonstrated his extraordinary talent during his time at the Police Department. I recall that you once said that if His Highness performed well at City Hall, he would be appointed Assistant Minister of Finance."

Queen Mary nodded with a smile.

The Minister of Justice, Sumiyar, frowned slightly and cast a sidelong glance at the Duke of Orléans. Seeing that he remained unmoved, Sumiyar lowered his head and muttered as though to himself, "Her Majesty only said that the Crown Prince would be allowed to involve himself in financial affairs..."

Yet his voice was just loud enough for the few people around him to barely hear.

Queen Mary's smile faded. Her gaze swept over the others before finally settling on Brienne. "Archbishop Brienne, what is your opinion on this matter?"

Mono cast Joseph a reassuring look, as if to say that he had already reached an understanding with Brienne.

The round-faced old man seated in the second position stood and bowed to the Queen without hesitation. "Your Majesty, I believe the Crown Prince is entirely capable of serving as Assistant Minister of Finance."

He was the Archbishop of Toulouse, the Chief Minister of the Cabinet, and concurrently the Minister of Finance. Since even he had nodded in approval, no one else naturally raised any objections.

A smile reappeared on Queen Mary's face. Just as she was about to announce the appointment, Brienne spoke again. "Your Highness, the current financial situation is of great importance, and Your Highness lacks experience in this area. Therefore, I request the final say in financial policy. The Crown Prince must not handle financial affairs without first going through me. I hope Your Majesty will grant this request."

Joseph smiled bitterly to himself. How afraid are you that I'll run the national finances into the ground? Other than me, who can save your treasury now?

As he considered how to persuade the old man, the Duke of Orléans suddenly rose. "Archbishop Brienne, there are countless matters concerning the nation's finances. In the past, many minor matters were handled by the Assistant Minister of Finance. If you must personally review every one of them, it will inevitably scatter your attention greatly. I believe you should now focus your efforts on advancing the new Tax Law, rather than allowing trivial affairs to distract you."

The conference chamber fell silent at once, and everyone was deeply surprised—at the previous Cabinet Meeting, the Duke of Orléans and the Crown Prince had been at drawn swords and cocked bows, nearly coming to blows. Why was he speaking up for him now?

Queen Mary looked cautiously at Brienne. "What matters does the Assistant Minister of Finance currently handle?"

"Primarily the handling of loans and repayment of Government Bonds, as well as the organization of certain Tax Law provisions."

The Queen's brows relaxed. These were all quite simple matters. Loans followed long-established practices with the banks, while clerks and lawyers would naturally assist with organizing the legislation.

Joseph would certainly handle such tasks with ease, and it would be a good opportunity for him to familiarize himself with financial affairs.

She immediately stopped hesitating. After politely consulting Louis XVI on a few points, she announced in a clear voice, "The matters previously handled by the Assistant Minister of Finance shall be placed entirely under the Crown Prince's authority. All other matters must receive Archbishop Brienne's approval."

"By formal appointment, the Crown Prince shall serve as Assistant Minister of Finance. Count of Barandon, please prepare the appointment documents."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Joseph bowed to accept the appointment, offered a few conventional remarks, then glanced from the corner of his eye at the Duke of Orléans, puzzled over what the man was trying to do.

Though the Duke of Orléans's expression remained unchanged, he sneered smugly to himself.

He knew that, given Joseph's recent momentum, it was impossible to stop him from becoming Assistant Minister of Finance. Thus, several days earlier, he had begun planning a pit for Joseph to fall into.

Next month, 6 million livres in maturing Government Bonds would have to be repaid. He had already reached an agreement with the banking capitalists to suspend all loans to the government.

He had even thought up the news headline—The Crown Prince's Mishandling Causes Government Debt Default, Triggering a Financial Crisis.

Queen Mary encouraged her son a few times, then turned to Brienne. "Please begin today's agenda."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The round-faced old man took out the prepared documents, put on his gold-rimmed glasses, and said, "Given this year's fiscal revenues and expenditures, I believe the budget spending for the latter half of the year must be reduced once more."

He looked toward Queen Mary, who nodded. "Yes, I have read your report and strongly agree with this proposal. On behalf of the royal family, I declare that the royal household will reduce its annual expenditures by 1 million livres from now on, in order to ease the fiscal pressure."

"Thank you for Your Majesty's benevolence." Brienne looked toward the long-faced, large-nosed middle-aged man on the right side of the conference table. "I propose that the navy reduce the construction of one battleship and two second-rate ships. This will save the treasury 1.35 million livres."

The Minister of the Navy, Marquis de Castries, sprang from his chair at once and said roughly, "How can that be?! The Englishmen's fleet has already far surpassed ours! We need to build four more battleships beyond the original plan just to barely protect our trade routes. Not only are you refusing to increase funding, you actually want to cut one ship? Oh, and two second-rate ships as well!"

Queen Mary motioned for him to calm down and looked to the other ministers. "What are your opinions?"

The overwhelming majority supported the cuts. The budget was only so large; if the navy was not cut, then their own little patches of land would inevitably be cut instead. Compared to that, it was better to cut the navy.

Marquis de Castries was sweating profusely with anxiety. Seeing that he could count on no one else, his gaze could not help falling upon the Crown Prince.

He had heard that the Crown Prince had recently led guards in battle against gang members from the Saint-Antoine District. The young man should be a hot-blooded member of the Hardline Faction and ought to support expanding the military!

He immediately said to Joseph, "Your Highness, do you also agree with Archbishop Brienne's reduction plan? It will leave us even more powerless against the English!"

"No." Joseph's tone was firm. "It is inappropriate to cut one battleship!"

"Exactly..."

Marquis de Castries had only managed two words when Joseph's latter sentence left him utterly stunned. "I believe that all of the navy's current battleship construction plans should be put on hold!"