The Best Strategy

Joseph raised his hand and said:

Who are "you"?

The Marquis of Saint-Viran was taken aback for a moment, but the fear of being exiled to Seychelles immediately overwhelmed everything:

"Yes, uh... Marquis of Luckner, General Astu, General Mornet..."

Joseph turned to his scribe and gestured for him to record.

He actually knew that they were basically the same twenty-odd people who had signed the petition to force the Royal House family to abdicate, but the Rebellion themselves still had to say it.

The Marquis of Saint-Viran then went on to explain in detail the military Nobility ' plan to blackmail the Royal House family, albeit worded differently. "In hopes that the Royal House will pay more attention to the military."

"Furthermore, the Duke of Mouchy, the Duke of Seville, and the Earl of Serulier were also involved." Since he had chosen to confess, he might as well drag more people down with him, perhaps even making it a case of "the law does not punish the masses." "Mainly, when the military pressured His Majesty by refusing to send troops to quell the rebellion, they stirred up public opinion at the Versailles Palace and used their political influence to win over more Nobility to exert pressure..."

Joseph nodded with a cold laugh. It seemed those people at the Assembly of Notables were still up to no good. But that was fine too; they had handed me their leverage, which would make things much easier later.

After Marquis of Saint-Viran finished his long-winded explanation of their affairs, he suddenly spoke with a gloating and somewhat boastful expression:

"Your Highness, you must be curious about the Duke of Orléans ' movements, right? Indeed, he's the mastermind; you must arrest him immediately!"

"Oh?" Joseph immediately raised an eyebrow. "Where is he?"

"He went to Auvergne two days ago to see Marquis of Luckner," said Marquis of Saint-Viran. "Marquis of Luckner wants to form some kind of ' Alliance Front,' uniting as many Nobility as possible in order to persuade the Royal House not to pursue the matter of this riot. It's probably just to discuss this. Oh, and they've even arranged a marriage..."

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, the Duke of Orléans wasn't there; otherwise, with the Marquis of Saint-Viran's accusation, he would have had no choice but to arrest him.

Then the only recourse is the normal process: trial, pleading, and negotiation; at most, the sentence will be exile.

Moreover, as a first-class Nobility below the Royal House, this guy is rich and influential, and even in exile, he still has the power to cause trouble.

Therefore, Joseph had only one option for dealing with him: to kill him outright.

Not only would it rid France of a scourge, but confiscating his property would also significantly subsidize the Finance.

However, as mentioned before, this guy has too much influence, so figuring out how to deal with him is definitely a complex issue.

After the Royal Guards took the Marquis of Saint-Viran away, Joseph ordered Berthier to let the entire army rest in place for a day before setting off for Auvergne.

He wasn't going to find the Duke of Orléans, but rather to bring his troops right up to the Marquis of Luckner's face so he could communicate with him more easily.

This time, he relied on a surprise attack to eliminate the Marquis of Saint-Viran, who had been the most vocal in the conflict, pushing the situation in his favor by a large margin. However, the next challenge was how to appease the military.

That's right, it's about appeasement.

Joseph didn't think he could lead the Royal Guard Legion to sweep through the land, beat up all the scheming military Nobility, and then send them to some desolate frontier province like the Marquis of Saint-Viran.

Doing so would only plunge France into the chaos of Civil War and waste enormous amounts of war funds. If they were to suffer another defeat, the consequences would be catastrophic.

Even if we were to completely eliminate the old army, we don't currently have enough troops to fill the garrison gaps in various regions.

It's important to understand that local security in France is currently maintained by the military. Unless all provinces can implement Police Reform like those in Paris, without the military to keep order, banditry will immediately spread and people will suffer.

Therefore, the best strategy is to make the most of the victory over the Montcalm Legion Rebellion and incorporate the existing army into our own forces.

Currently, those military Nobility must be trembling with fear upon learning of the Royal House's great victory, making this the perfect opportunity to establish rules for them.

Once the military issues are resolved, we can begin implementing our grand plan!

Joseph looked at the names on the Marquis of Saint-Viran's Testimony in his hand, a cold smile flashing in his eyes. These guys had thrown most of France into chaos, and they couldn't let this chaos go to waste.

Sometimes chaos, when used properly, can be a more powerful weapon than order!

Of course, the premise is that you can control yourself—make things chaotic when you should, and be able to rein them in immediately when you should.

The next morning, Joseph handed over the task of overseeing and reorganizing the Montcalm Legion to the Moulins Legion —which, after this period of intense marching, was showing signs of exhaustion—and then ordered the entire Royal Guard Legion to break camp and head northwest.

The legion carried large quantities of food, Wine, and other supplies from Earl of Serulier's Warehouse, happily loaded them onto Carriage with the help of the Manor Servant, and embarked on their journey while the military band sang "Glory and Victory" loudly.

Three days later, Joseph rode his horse to a high ground, where he could see the dense town of Auvergne without even needing Telescope.

He did not let his guard down and still ordered Berthier to send out scout cavalry more than ten kilometers ahead to remain vigilant. Although the possibility of the Marquis of Luckner resorting to desperate measures was extremely slim, it was always better to be safe than sorry.

However, about seven or eight kilometers from the city, Joseph was surprised to see dozens of Carriage parked on both sides of the road, and more than a hundred Servant surrounding Carriage.

Those people, carrying Garland, food, and drinks, immediately formed an orderly queue when they saw the Royal Guard Legion in the distance.

Then, Marquis of Luckner greeted him with a broad smile.

In Joseph's Carriage, the old Marquis, with his silver tongue, boasted extensively about His Crown Prince's victory in suppressing the Montcalm Legion's Rebellion. He then proceeded to berate the Marquis of Saint-Viran, finally lamenting that he hadn't realized the man's intention to Rebellion earlier, otherwise he would have personally led the army to suppress him.

In reality, Marquis of Luckner was in a panic— the Montcalm Legion had been specially reinforced when the Queen sent them to North Africa to rescue the Crown Prince; it was said to have 25,000 men, but its actual strength exceeded 17,000. He, on the other hand, only had a little over 7,000 men, and their combat strength was far inferior to that of the Montcalm Legion.

According to reports from Montpellier, His Crown Prince's Police force had rendered the Marquis of Saint-Viran utterly helpless, Earl of Serulier's Manor was on the verge of being leveled by cannon fire.

Seeing that His Crown Prince was only smiling, Marquis of Luckner breathed a slight sigh of relief and cautiously asked:

"Your Highness, what important matter brings you to Auvergne this time?"

Joseph hadn't expected this guy's attitude to change so quickly; some of the things he had prepared beforehand were now useless.

He thought for a moment, then said directly:

"I've come to quell the riots in Auvergne."