Joseph raised both arms and declared with stirring passion, "This great monument will span the Champs-Élysées and stand at an unprecedented height of fifty meters!"
Yet the dark mass of people showed little reaction.
Joseph immediately understood. Most of them had no sense of what that number meant.
He pointed to the tallest nearby building, the Louvre. "It will be one and a half times taller than the Louvre! That spire is only twenty meters high."
A stir immediately rose all around, quickly turning into frenzied cries. "Long live His Majesty the King! Long live His Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Long live victory!"
"Triumphal Arch! Triumphal Arch!"
"France shall triumph!"
A magnificent monument two and a half times the size of the Louvre.
Only that would be worthy of France's valiant soldiers!
The families of those soldiers who had fallen on the battlefield, in particular, wept until they could barely speak.
Their loved ones had not died in vain. France would remember them forever.
Their likenesses would remain upon the mighty Triumphal Arch!
In the future, everyone passing beneath the Triumphal Arch might look up and see them, offering their reverence from the heart.
Once the cheers, which had continued for several minutes, gradually subsided, Joseph loudly announced, "The triumphal ceremony will continue."
The Hussars shouted commands and marched onward to the beat of the War Drum.
Joseph had finally muddled through the speech and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In truth, he had long wanted to build the Triumphal Arch.
Making the Triumphal Arch a landmark of Paris would leave everyone who saw it with the impression that "France is brave and formidable in battle." As that impression accumulated over the years, it would not only bolster the people's confidence, but could even influence other nations' diplomatic decisions.