Chapter 253 Aftermath

Chapter 254 Aftermath

At the moment, the bigwigs of the noble meeting were so anxious that their eyes were bloodshot, and they desperately urged the military to quell the local riots as soon as possible. How could they care about the "Abolition of Privileges Proposal"?

Without the leadership of these great nobles, other nobles who wanted to keep their privileges could not defeat the abolitionists who had a large number of robed nobles.

In recent times, even citizens' rallies supporting the abolition of privileges have appeared on the streets of Paris. Of course, this was also arranged by Joseph.

Queen Marie glanced at the documents at hand, frowned and sighed: "This riot is getting worse and worse. Count Dimonceau and others were even killed by the mob. I am not in the mood to discuss these bills now."

"Your Majesty, quelling the riots does not conflict with these bills." Talleyrand bowed and saluted, "Moreover, the content of these bills can appease the poorest people and will be very helpful in stopping the riots."

His expression was full of reverence: "Your Majesty, abolishing the privileges of the nobility can greatly reduce the burden of the peasants and improve their lives. This will make tens of millions of French peasants grateful for your kindness and always remember your gift."

His words moved Queen Marie slightly.

Someone had maliciously ruined her reputation before, and rumors such as her "extravagance" and "eating cakes when she can't afford bread" were spread, which made her reputation fall into the abyss.

At present, this bill has the support of most nobles. If I can be its signatory, I will definitely be able to greatly improve my image among the people.

And this will indeed help to quell the riots.

She nodded immediately: "Okay, let's discuss this matter at the cabinet meeting tomorrow."

...

The detention room on the second floor of the underground police department.

Joseph, wearing a red hunting suit, pushed three spoonfuls of black tea with sugar in front of Monod, and sighed softly: "Brother Malet has admitted that it was the Duke of Orleans who ordered them to frame your son."

Monod's pupils shrank immediately, and he almost knocked over the hot teacup.

He was caught in Brittany. In fact, if he hadn't been reluctant to part with his little money and wanted to quietly send a large bill to the Bank of England during the riot, he would not have been caught by the police department.

Nowadays, most of the big banks have supervisors sent by the French Reserve Bank, and they will confirm the legality of large transactions. Monod, who was at the top of the supervision list, was taken away by the police department the day after he presented a bill of exchange for hundreds of thousands of livres.

"My... Your Highness..." The former Home Secretary only said two words for a long time.

Joseph raised his hand to interrupt him, and said calmly: "Your biggest mistake is to trust the Duke of Orleans."

"Your Highness..."

Joseph nodded: "You stood by me when I needed help the most, but you stood against me for some interests.

"But I am a nostalgic person and I have never forgotten your kindness.

"I believe you have also noticed that there has never been any news in the newspapers that you maliciously allocated reserve grain and caused food shortages. I asked them to suppress the news."

Mono's eyes showed a light of hope, and he choked with sobs: "Your Highness, it's all my fault! I really appreciate your great kindness..."

Joseph interrupted him again: "But you did bring great disaster to the country.

"Now I give you one last chance. Either, sentence you to exile in Nice or Dauphiné. "

Mono's face turned pale, his eyes widened, and he shook his head repeatedly: "No, don't do this..."

It was he who caused the food disaster. If he was exiled to the most affected area in the south, if the news leaked, he would be killed immediately by the angry citizens.

Joseph continued: "Or, as a bewitched person, you can testify that the Duke of Orleans is the culprit of all this. You can exile Nancy. However, you must have solid evidence. "

"No..." Mono's face was almost like a dead person. To testify against the most powerful duke under the royal family is not much different from letting him die.

Joseph smiled and said: "Don't worry, we will talk about this after the Duke of Orleans passes away."

Mono was so shocked that he jumped up from his chair and said in a lost voice: "No, no... You mean, he, he is dead? "

This is also the reason why Joseph has kept him.

As long as the Duke of Orleans is still alive, with his huge influence in France and his wealth, even if the evidence is conclusive, at most he will be fined a large sum of money and reprimanded, and even exile is impossible.

But if he dies, then no one will dare or be willing to speak for him if he is charged with serious crimes such as creating famine and inciting riots.

The Marquis of Saint-Véran did not know much about the inside story of the food crisis, but Monod knew it clearly.

The former Minister of the Interior looked at the young man in front of him who smiled silently, shuddered unconsciously, and after a long time he lowered his head and whispered: "Yes, yes, Your Highness. I have his letter, and I will listen to you. Accuse him, yes, accuse him..."

At the cabinet meeting the next day, with the approval of all ministers, Queen Marie signed the decree to "abolish the privileges of the nobility".

Thus, the privileges of feudal lords that seriously hindered the development of French industry and capital officially became history, and a ray of light came on the road to the French Industrial Revolution.

At the same time, the Minister of Justice, Baron de Breteuil, threw a bomb that was enough to shock the whole of France - the Minister of the Interior, Monod, who had "disappeared" for a long time, surrendered to the High Court and confessed that the mastermind behind the food crisis in the south was the Duke of Orleans!

For a while, no one paid attention to the "Decree of the Cancellation of Privileges". From the Palace of Versailles to the streets of Paris, everyone was discussing it enthusiastically.

However, as Joseph expected, a large number of nobles gathered at the Petit Trianon Palace that afternoon to plead with Queen Marie for the Duke of Orleans.

It was not until three days later that news came back from Côte d'Azur that the Duke of Orleans was killed by the rioting citizens with stolen cannons.

The Palace of Versailles was shaken again.

But this time people only strongly demanded to suppress the riot and severely punish the murderer, but no one mentioned pardoning the Duke of Orleans.

Joseph looked at the nobles who were indignant and demanded that the military quell the riot as soon as possible from the window, and just smiled and shook his head.

48 nobles on his playing cards had suffered the hammer of angry people.

Some of the remaining four people were unable to rush down because the manor defense was too good and the number of local residents was small. There were also some police intelligence agents who made mistakes and had to interrupt the plan.

According to the plan made in advance, the southern provinces should have entered the aftermath stage at this time. If nothing unexpected happens, the rioters will soon return home and order will be restored in the provinces.

The Paris Police Department had already dispatched a large number of officials to the riot provinces half a month ago to "guide" the work of the local police.

This is just the first step in the aftermath.