The Duke of Orléans's contribution

Petit Trianon. 💝😎 ✋👽

Queen Mary sighed with a troubled expression:

"This is a complete disaster. Even someone of such high status as the Duke of Orléans was murdered by those mobs..."

Joseph pushed the strawberry Cake toward her:

"In fact, he committed treason."

The Queen gestured to the group of musicians seated by the door:

"Mozart's new A Minor Sonata, thank you."

She looked at the Cake and shook her head.

"But he should be judged by the right people, not killed."

Joseph thought to himself, "If you were the presiding judge, he could probably wreak havoc on France another 20 years..."

The mournful melody from the piano made him frown, and he turned to give Clementine, who was carefree and spinning Cake wildly beside him, a wink.

The little girl quickly wiped the Cake crumbs from her mouth and took the Queen's arm.

"Dear Aunt, don't be too sad. God will surely punish those cruel thugs... By the way, would you like some Pudding? Just add double the sugar, Pudding will always make all your troubles disappear."

Joseph rubbed his forehead, his eyes glancing repeatedly toward the piano.

Clementine then exclaimed "Oh!" as if suddenly realizing something, and slipped away to the musicians, muttering a few words to herself.

The piano music paused, then transitioned into Handel's cheerful "Water Music".

The background music is finally fitting. Joseph turned to Queen Mary and said:

"Mother, this precisely illustrates that using the military for public security management is inappropriate."

"You see, the troop movement is inherently slow. They are usually stationed in Military Camp, so if something happens in the city, it takes them a long time to arrive."

"Moreover, their powerful firepower is completely useless for maintaining order, and may even accidentally injure innocent people."

"There were also demonstrations in Paris this time, but no chaos ensued because of the Police Reform Paris followed. The Police patrolling the streets quickly brought the situation under control."

Queen Mary looked at her son. "So, you think Police Reform should be implemented in other places as well?"

"Yes, I'm quite certain that implementing the new Police Force system can quickly quell the riots."

The nationwide Police Reform requires enormous funding, with tens of millions of Livre to be invested in the first year alone. Therefore, the Queen had previously maintained a cautious attitude, but this riot has caused her to waver.

"But this will cost a lot of money..."

Joseph smiled.

"I've discussed this with Archbishop Brienne, and the Finance pressure isn't too great. For example, we could utilize bank investment loans or issue special bonds..."

This was, of course, just an excuse to fool his mother. In reality, he was eyeing the tens of Livre livres under the Duke of Orléans' name.

He knew that many Nobility, including the Queen, believed that the Duke of Chartres should inherit these riches.

However, with the High Court under his control and the Duke of Orléans guilty of treason, if he couldn't confiscate his assets, he might as well just kill himself.

With this huge sum of money, there will be enough funds not only for Police Reform, but also for local Tariff reform.

In a way, this could be considered the only contribution the Duke of Orléans made to France in his entire life.

Queen Mary hesitated for a long time before finally nodding:

"Then let's do as you say and carry out Police Reform nationwide."

She also knew that the Police Reform was her son's doing, and if it could really control the riots, it would greatly enhance the Crown Prince's prestige.

Joseph was overjoyed. He immediately scooped a spoonful of Strawberry Pudding with double the sugar and fed it to his mother. Then he took out the decree he had prepared beforehand, had her sign it, and ran out of the Petit Trianon like a shot.

"Cousin..."

Clementine had intended to say goodbye to Joseph, but when she turned around and couldn't see him, she immediately pouted in grievance and had no choice but to turn to the Queen and say:

"Dear Aunt, as you know, His Majesty the Uncle is not in good health. Father wants me to accompany him back to Vienna to visit His Majesty, so I will be leaving Paris in the next few days."

The uncle she was referring to was none other than the current Archduke of Austria, Emperor Joseph II of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Queen Mary's expression changed slightly. Joseph II had no children, so this was a prelude to recalling his brother, Leopold II, Clementine's father, to succeed him to the throne.

Although she knew her brother had been suffering from a chronic illness, she hadn't realized it was this serious, and hurriedly asked:

How is your uncle?

"Father seemed to say that His Majesty only handles official business for half an hour each day..."

Queen Mary lowered her head sadly. There had been too many things troubling her lately, making her feel as if she had aged several years in an instant.

Soon, the A Minor Sonata began to play again in the room.

Joseph received the national Police Reform legislation and felt much relieved.

Although he was confident he could persuade his mother and had even preemptively assigned people to implement the reforms, many things would be illegitimate without a formal decree.

He knew very well that popular riots were a ferocious monster.

He himself released this monster, which devoured the rotting flesh on France's body, but if it cannot be made to disappear immediately, it will continue to devour France's life.

Therefore, the "petty tyranny" he initiated against the feudal privileged class is only halfway through.

He only dared to use this drastic measure because he now has basic control over domestic affairs, public opinion, the Judiciary, Finance, and the military. Even so, a slight misstep could still cause a huge crisis.

Before long, he boarded Carriage to Paris to personally oversee the Registration of the Police Reform decree by the High Court.

He looked out the window at the Versailles Palace, then suddenly shook his head and chuckled. He had been desperately trying to avoid Great Revolution since he came into this world, but he never expected to end up causing a small revolution himself.

The South France.

Nice.

In front of the Police Department, an officer who had just arrived from Paris looked at the more than one hundred Civilian Patrol members standing crookedly before him, recalling how His Crown Prince had once lectured him, and tried his best to imitate them:

"Good morning, gentlemen! I don't like to mince words, so I only have three points..."

"First, all Civilian Patrol in Nice will be incorporated into the Police Department and become official Police!"

"Second..."

In a daze, he was back in the Saint-Antoine District, on that morning that changed his life.

He suddenly shouted:

"Please believe me, this will be the turning point that changes your destiny!"

This was not something the Crown Prince said back then.

After only one day of training on the use of Anti-Riot Waist Fork, the newly recruited Police received their crisp uniforms and followed two officers onto the streets of Nice.

Of course, the original Police Force followed closely behind them.

The officers from Paris said that if I perform well enough, I won't have to go to the "Daily Affairs Team".

(Because there's a double monthly ticket event at the end of this month, you can save your monthly tickets and give them to this book at the end of the month! The author thanks you in advance!)

(End of this chapter)