Chapter Summaries

Joseph ordered Marquis Ludo to use his British textile investments to obtain Automatic Looms and skilled workers, while Necker went into exile in Lorraine and was attacked by hired assassins. The assassins were trapped, and Ludo’s espionage mission succeeded in stealing a loom and sending it toward France.

• Joseph discovered that Marquis Ludo and other French bankers had invested heavily in Britain's Automatic Loom industry and ordered Ludo to gather looms, technicians, and workers.
• Marquis Ludo agreed to travel to England with Police Intelligence Division agents and concealed his mission from Count Capeville and the other bankers.
• Necker and his family left Paris for exile in Lorraine, escorted by Lange and Police Intelligence Division agents.
• Hired assassins entered the Sommedieue City Hall and stabbed Necker, but torches and Flintlock Guns surrounded them as they tried to leave.
• Marquis Ludo toured British textile mills, bribed two loom repair technicians, and helped Prosper's agents steal an Automatic Loom and ship it from Dover.

Joseph arranged for Louis XVI to replicate an automatic loom while considering ways to strengthen France’s engineering research. Meanwhile, Marquis Ludo and the banking magnates plotted to pin Necker’s attempted assassination on Boislandar, and Count Segur demanded that Switzerland pay the Denaro Bank case’s illicit funds and fines.

• Joseph sent the British technicians, textile workers, and looms to Versailles, where Louis XVI enthusiastically took charge of replicating the automatic loom.
• Joseph reflected on France’s shortage of engineering researchers and considered establishing an engineering association and a science and technology award.
• Marquis Ludo learned that Necker’s would-be assassin had been captured and gathered the banking magnates to make Boislandar take the blame.
• Count Segur learned that Switzerland had seized Denaro Bank but found less than four million Livres on its books, much of it in loans.
• Count Segur formally demanded that Switzerland pay the illicit funds and fines to the France Reserve Bank within three months.

Joseph pressured six bankers to support French bank notes and the Bank Management Act, while Aironk learned that they had helped plan Necker’s murder. In the Mediterranean, Charles’s intelligence led the Combined Fleet to ambush two pirate galleys, which turned and fled.

• Joseph told Marquis Ludo and five other bankers to buy French Reserve Bank notes and support the deposit-reserve requirement, and they agreed.
• Aironk learned from Boislandar’s son that six men, including Marquis Ludo, had joined Boislandar in planning Necker’s murder.
• Charles persuaded Captain White to follow Ali’s intelligence and wait for the pirates near Menorca.
• A merchant ship lured two pirate galleys toward the Combined Fleet’s ambush.
• French, American, and Dutch warships intercepted the pirates, who turned and fled southwest.

France’s Cabinet celebrated a sharp fall in national debt and created a Ministry of Industry, appointing Mirabeau to lead it. The Duke of Orléans recognized that the royal family had gained control of the nation’s finances, while the meeting ended with news of a naval victory over Barbary pirates.

• The Combined Fleet cornered a pirate ship, and Cleide’s guns disabled it before it exploded after being hit near its ammunition magazine.
• Brienne announced that France’s national debt had fallen by 130 million Livre and that annual interest payments had dropped below 100 million Livre, prompting ministers to praise Louis XVI and Queen Mary.
• The Duke of Orléans realized that the banks under his control had borne the losses behind the debt reduction and that his political hopes had been crushed.
• Brienne announced the creation of the post of Minister of Industry, and Mirabeau entered the Cabinet as its first holder on the Crown Prince’s recommendation.
• Marquis de Castries reported that the French fleet had sunk one Barbary Pirate Ship and captured another.

Joseph redirected his North African plans toward Tunis and ordered an intelligence network expanded, while French ships found and established a base on Nauru to collect stone. The chapter ended with Gaizika returning home after a devastating hailstorm and finding his injured wife and terrified children.

• Joseph read a report about a successful ambush on Algiers pirates and noticed that Younis, a former Tunis Pasha, might be a source of intelligence.
• Joseph ordered Marquis de Castries to summon the American Charles to Paris and told Fouche to expand intelligence networks in Algiers and Tunis.
• Flaut's ships located Nauru, hired local people to dig stone, established a French-flagged base, and sailed back to Europe with full holds.
• A violent hailstorm battered a village north of Berry for nearly forty minutes, destroying crops, damaging buildings, and killing wild animals.
• Gaizika returned home after the storm and found Annette bleeding and holding their frightened children.

After the hailstorm ruined crops across France, Joseph’s relief measures kept struggling rural families from starvation while he prepared to stabilize the currency and food supply. As bread prices began rising in Paris, he ordered Grain Tickets tied to Identification Cards to prevent merchants from buying up the Grain Reserve’s supplies.

• Gaizika repaired his roof and shared cooked green wheat with Madame Geoffrey’s starving family after learning they could apply for a Bread Loan and government-relief potatoes.
• Father Marmont explained that parish banks would provide disaster loans, while Joseph and the Cabinet arranged Reserve Bank funding and planned to issue Paper Money backed by silver.
• Joseph revised the Mill Owner Obligation Act into the Mill Owner Rights Act so its obligations would be more likely to pass.
• Brienne learned that Paris bread prices had risen and ordered bakeries investigated for disguised price increases.
• Joseph told Brienne to distribute daily Grain Tickets through Ticket Collection Points so Identification Card holders could buy fixed-price food from the Grain Reserve without merchants hoarding it.

Joseph proposed diverting attention from the poor harvest and turning Louis XVI’s birthday into a large, low-cost disaster-relief celebration. Queen Mary approved the plan, and Brienne agreed that it could please Parisians without excessive expense.

• Joseph advised Brienne to publicize aristocratic scandals, Switzerland’s debt to France, and the captured Barbary pirates’ trials to draw attention from the poor harvest.
• Brienne told Joseph that Queen Mary wanted a grand celebration for Louis XVI’s upcoming birthday despite the country’s hardship.
• Joseph persuaded Brienne to support holding the celebration and brought him to meet Queen Mary at Petit Trianon.
• Joseph proposed free food and performances, charity sales, noblewomen’s singing and dancing, a men’s sword competition, and a single birthday dinner.
• Queen Mary approved the plan, and Brienne estimated that it would cost no more than three hundred thousand Livre and agreed to it.

Charles met Crown Prince Joseph in Paris and described the history of Tunis's rulers and the exiled Younis. Joseph saw Younis's military background and Tunisian supporters as a possible opening for France in North Africa.

• Charles and Silas Deane passed a Paris crowd protesting bankers accused of defrauding France.
• Joseph met Charles at the Industrial Planning Bureau and asked whether Charles could arrange a meeting with Younis through Ali.
• Charles explained that Younis was the son of a former Bey of Tunis, had commanded an army, and later escaped an Algerian prison to become a smuggler.
• Charles recounted how Ali's family lost control of Tunis to the sons of Hussein, whose descendants still ruled the country.
• Joseph recognized Tunis's farmland, harbors, and political disorder as a strategic opportunity for France.

Charles was honored for his pirate intelligence, then ordered back to Algiers as France pursued contact with Younis. Meanwhile, government water pumps and phosphate fertilizer offered drought-stricken farmers hope, French agents arranged a meeting with Younis, and the King's birthday festivities began with Soleil sneaking into the swordsmanship contest.

• Charles received a commendation and 500 Livres, then was told to return to Algiers to assist French diplomats in contacting Pasha Younis.
• Audrean organized Labonne Parish villagers to work for Yannar Parish in exchange for water-pump access, while Alberic learned that phosphate fertilizer had been supplied on credit.
• Alberic and two villagers hauled coal to the water pump, which sent irrigation water through Labonne Parish's fields and gave them hope of saving much of the harvest.
• Ishaq helped Prosper contact Imanzad, and after meeting with Consul Joanne, Imanzad boarded a smuggling ship with French agents bound for Dakhla to meet Younis.
• Soleil disguised herself as Viscount Frez to register for the swordsmanship contest, escaped the guards when they discovered her identity, and the noblewomen's contest continued as Madam Galan drew cheers.

Joseph used the birthday celebrations at Versailles to build ties with Spain’s Crown Prince Antonio and considered how to protect Spain from Godoy’s influence. He then intervened to let Soleil compete in the Sword Competition and placed a small bet on her victory.

• Joseph learned that Madam Galan was favored to win the singing and dancing competition, while the popular betting odds threatened the celebrations’ budget.
• Joseph met Antonio, Crown Prince of Spain, and discovered that Antonio was fascinated by machinery and unaware of Godoy’s relationship with Luisa.
• Joseph discussed inventions with Antonio and decided he needed to find a way to expose Godoy’s influence over Spain.
• The referee tried to bar Soleil from the Sword Competition because she was a woman, but Joseph persuaded the Duke of Saint-Simon to let her compete.
• Soleil thanked Joseph, promised to win, and Joseph bet 10 Livre on her victory.

Soleil lost her first sword-competition match and resolved to repay Joseph for the money she believed he had bet on her. After Talleyrand reported on his diplomatic tour, Joseph explained how France should use Poland to keep Austria and Prussia from drawing closer together.

• Soleil lost to a stronger opponent in the opening round, fled the ring in embarrassment, and vowed to repay Joseph for his bet.
• Joseph met with Talleyrand, who reported that American Federalists supported buying French warships and that Hamilton had promised France priority access to American cotton.
• Talleyrand reported that Catherine II praised France’s support in North Africa, while also seeking French backing for Russia’s ambitions in Poland.
• Joseph rejected using Poland merely to bargain with Russia and explained that France needed to keep Prussia and Austria divided so Austria could help counter the Anglo-Prussian alliance.

Joseph outlined a strategy to preserve Poland as a barrier between Russia and the German powers while France maintained ties with Russia and profited from their rivalries. At the king’s banquet, he diverted Antonio to the Royal Workshop while Crown Princess Luisa went with Godoy to Antonio’s bedroom, unaware that Joseph’s agents were monitoring them.

• Joseph told Talleyrand that France should maintain relations with Russia while secretly helping Poland resist, using another country as a discreet intermediary if needed.
• Talleyrand reported Catherine’s offer of a Russian Far Eastern fur-export monopoly to the Gemini Trading Company and her hint at a Franco-Russian marriage alliance; Joseph deferred any decision on marriage.
• At the royal banquet, Joseph invited Antonio to visit the Royal Workshop, while Crown Princess Luisa went to the gambling hall with Godoy.
• Luisa left the gaming hall with Godoy after they confirmed their arrangements, then chose to go to the bedroom she shared with Antonio.
• Eman informed Joseph that Luisa and Godoy were acting as planned, and Joseph revealed that agents had been tracking them and Antonio’s watchers.

Joseph arranged for Antonio to catch the Crown Princess with Godoy, but Antonio could not bring himself to confront them. The next morning, Joseph welcomed Paul Petrovich and his daughter Alexandra, then discussed Russian policy in Poland and the Ottoman Empire with Paul.

• Joseph pretended to be drunk and led Antonio toward his residence, where Eman and the agents had prepared to expose the Crown Princess and Godoy.
• Antonio heard the pair together but retreated without confronting them, then asked Joseph for help and admitted he did not dare act.
• Joseph welcomed Paul Petrovich and met his daughter Alexandra, who had come to Paris for the King's birthday celebrations.
• Alexandra met Clementine at the Sword Competition, and the two girls quarreled after Alexandra explained the magician's tricks.
• Paul raised the treatment of Russians in Poland, and Joseph voiced support for Russian protection of them while urging Russia to focus on the Ottoman Empire.

Joseph urged Crown Prince Paul to support France and then secretly warned Prince Poniatowski that Poland faced partition, offering advice on reforms and military preparations. On Louis XVI’s birthday, Fouche reported that Godoy regularly attended Madam Galan’s music salon, continuing the surveillance of the Crown Princess of Spain’s lover.

• Joseph encouraged Paul to pursue Ottoman territory around the Black Sea and secured his promise to support France’s actions in North Africa.
• Joseph arranged a private meeting with Poniatowski and warned him that Poland could face national destruction within about five years, especially if it trusted Prussia.
• Joseph advised Poniatowski to abolish the Liberum Veto separately from the Constitution, expand Poland’s army, delay abolishing serfdom, and prepare for war with French assistance.
• Paris and Versailles celebrated Louis XVI’s birthday with free food, performances, and contests despite France’s grain crisis.
• Fouche’s subordinate reported that Godoy had attended Madam Galan’s music salon every night at nine since arriving at Versailles.

At Louis XVI’s birthday gala, Joseph recruited Johan Derk van der Capellen to consider a Franco-Dutch trading company backed by colonial charters and a French non-aggression pledge. Meanwhile, Fouche’s Action Team tampered with Madam Galan’s balcony, and the celebration ended with more than two million Livre raised for disaster relief.

• Fouche selected the second intelligence plan, and three Action Team members entered Madam Galan’s music hall disguised as musicians and replaced balcony railings.
• Madam Galan won the singing and dancing competition, while Baron Vermorel won the sword competition and helped the organizers recover their betting losses.
• Joseph met Dutch States General Speaker Johan Derk van der Capellen and proposed merging French and Dutch trading-company interests and expanding their trade.
• Joseph offered colonial charters and a French non-aggression treaty, and van der Capellen agreed to present the proposal to the States General and the Dutch companies.
• Joseph suggested Austria could join the venture through investment and operating charters, and van der Capellen welcomed the idea.
• The birthday gifts and donated valuables were auctioned for disaster relief, raising more than two million Livre before the guests dispersed at dawn.

Godoy fell through a rotten balcony railing at Madam Galan’s music salon, and Luisa took the accident as divine punishment for her affair. Antonio left Versailles pleased at Godoy’s injuries, while Joseph arranged to turn the Spanish family scandal into a royal matter and prepared police cadets for a North African campaign.

• At Madam Galan’s salon, Godoy fell through a termite-damaged balcony railing and was injured, while Luisa feared his fall was punishment for her infidelity.
• The Lord Chamberlain told Luisa that Godoy was expected to survive, and she verified that the damaged railings had caused the accident.
• Antonio learned of Godoy’s broken arm and facial cuts, celebrated the news, and Joseph urged him to return to Madrid before Godoy recovered.
• Antonio asked Joseph to send Godoy to Paris, and Joseph agreed before writing Carlos III a letter exposing Antonio’s marital disgrace.
• Joseph attended the Police Academy ceremony and planned to send its first class, alongside Berthier’s regiments, to fight in North Africa.

Joseph inspected the Paris Police Academy’s newly equipped students and tested their readiness with a surprise field exercise, impressing Mirabeau with their discipline and rapid mobilization. The students met Andre’s Moulins regiment for the exercise, and Andre began to suspect they had made a costly mistake by marching without their provisions wagons.

• Joseph reviewed the Police Academy students and Berthier Legion soldiers, whose new Percussion Cap Guns and orderly formations impressed Mirabeau.
• Joseph ordered the first-term students into an unannounced practical exercise, and they assembled rapidly before marching south to Tuxi Town.
• Andre met his younger brother Nikola, who described the students’ long-distance marching and frequent practice with Percussion Cap Guns.
• The Police Academy students and Andre’s Third Infantry Regiment began a joint exercise to race for the Mars Training Field and claim the defensive position.
• Andre learned that the students had already begun marching without their provisions wagons and expected them to stop for their baggage train.

Andre watched the Police Academy Student Corps outmarch the Moulins Legion and learned that its fast, light supply system relied on paid requisitions from villages. During an exercise, the cadets gained the upper hand before Andre’s troops trapped their pursuing force, and Joseph later approved exceptional cadets for early graduation as the arrival of Spanish grain was reported.

• The Police Academy Student Corps marched quickly with minimal baggage, and Andre learned that its Grain Requisition Officers paid nearby farmers for food, firewood, and wine instead of relying on heavy supply wagons.
• The Police Academy Students reached Paris ahead of the Moulins Legion and secured the exercise’s high ground, while Andre’s exhausted troops arrived days later.
• Andre’s Moulins Legion attacked the Police Academy positions, but the cadets’ artillery and Percussion Cap Guns drove back its first lines before the cadets advanced in pursuit.
• Andre’s troops sprung a trap with hidden cannons and cavalry, and Berthier stopped the ensuing melee after half an hour; the exercise continued when the Berthier Legion arrived.
• Joseph approved early graduation for exceptional cadets to serve as junior officers in the Berthier Legion, and Eman reported that three Spanish grain ships had reached Marseille.

Joseph received Carlos III’s thanks for helping protect the Spanish royal family’s secrets, while Mirabeau attended the release of France’s new measurement standards and discussed industrial and financial reforms. The chapter ended as the standards conference began.

• Carlos III sent France grain and thanked Joseph for protecting the royal family’s bloodline and Prince Antonio’s secret, while placing Luisa under close watch.
• Mirabeau read that Aironk, Necker’s former butler, had shot Marquis Ludo and been captured.
• Mirabeau and Jean Sylvain Bailly discussed track construction, coal production, funding for an industrial zone, and the coming Banking Management Act.
• Mirabeau told Venio that the government planned to abolish the Guilds gradually and replace their control with technical assessments and certificates.
• The President of the University of Paris announced the official release of the French Measurement Standards.

France announced standardized units of measurement, drawing attention across Europe, while Britain prepared to counter French ambitions in North Africa by backing Algiers and strengthening its defenses. The chapter ended with the Duke of Leeds arriving at Mitija to see British guns being installed in a fortress.

• Alvin brought Clark to cover Lavoisier’s announcement of France’s standard meter and kilogram, then explained how uniform measurements would aid science, trade, and industry.
• European newspapers reported France’s new standards, prompting governments to debate whether to adopt them or devise their own.
• The Duke of Leeds and consul Stuart arrived near Mitija and watched British engineers and Algiers slaves haul a 24-pounder cannon into a fortress.
• In a flashback, Pitt explained that suspected French grain purchases had driven up British prices and persuaded Parliament to approve a special appropriation for North Africa.
• Pitt, Leeds, and Jervis concluded that Algiers was France’s likeliest target and planned to use Ottoman connections to support local forces and strengthen coastal fortresses.