I am the Crown Prince of France

Chapter 142: A Letter from Catherine the Great

Joseph glanced again in the direction of Talleyrand and then said to Louis XVI, "Father, if he continues to bother you, just send him to me. I have a way to deal with him."

Louis XVI, relieved at the thought of ridding himself of the persistent cleric, readily agreed. "That would be wonderful, Joseph. Thank you."

Thinking back to the glory and praise brought by the percussion cap rifle earlier that day, Louis XVI couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement as he looked at his son. "Joseph, if you have any more ideas for new weapons, be sure to tell me immediately."

Joseph smiled and nodded, knowing he couldn't let his father idle for too long—every day the king spent in leisure was a huge loss to the modernization of France's armaments. "For now, you can teach the craftsmen how to make the percussion cap rifles. I do have an idea for a rifled gun, but it's not quite ready yet. Once I've worked out the details, you'll be the first to know."

The principles and design of the rifled gun were already well known, but Joseph worried that if his father focused too much on this project, it could delay the progress of the armory's construction. So, for now, he decided to keep it under wraps.

"A rifled gun?" Louis XVI asked, puzzled. "Hasn't that already been invented?"

Joseph waved his hand dismissively, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. "The current rifled guns are difficult to load. The bullets need to be hammered into the barrel, and they often get stuck halfway down. My design will make loading almost as easy as with a smoothbore gun."

Louis XVI's eyes lit up. "My God, what kind of mind has God given you, Joseph?!"

He grasped his son's arm tightly, excitedly exclaiming, "You must hurry! We'll create a weapon that will shock all of Europe!"

"Of course, dear father."

After chatting for a while longer about the day's glorious moments at the training ground, Joseph bid farewell to his proud and beaming father and headed directly to the office of the Finance Minister.

Brienne greeted him warmly as he arrived, smiling broadly. "Your Highness, it's wonderful to see that you've recovered from your injury! Thank God for His protection!"

Brienne had been genuinely concerned about Joseph's injury, visiting him almost daily to ensure the Prince was safe.

Joseph responded by making the sign of the cross over his chest. "Thank God. And thank you, Archbishop Brienne."

After they sat down, Joseph remembered his encounter with the Minister of the Interior the previous day and asked, "Archbishop Brienne, I heard that the Count of Necker's trip to Britain didn't go very smoothly?"

Brienne sighed and nodded. "Yes, he's not well-suited to that sort of environment. He's slow to respond to diplomatic tactics and frequently says the wrong things… Oh, he even got the British king's lineage wrong in front of everyone."

Pausing for a moment, Brienne continued, "And despite the humiliation we dealt to Vergennes, he didn't seem to care much when he reported back to me about his trip to Russia. He didn't even consider resigning."

Joseph frowned slightly upon hearing this. He and Brienne had previously agreed to sideline Vergennes by sending him to Russia, assuming he would resign in protest. However, it seemed the man had more resolve than expected.

In reality, Vergennes had considered resigning before even reaching Russia, but the Duke of Orléans had urged him repeatedly to stay on. Feeling compelled, he decided to remain in the Cabinet, despite the embarrassment.

Brienne looked troubled. "Your Highness, if Vergennes doesn't leave, then what about Count Necker…"

Joseph knew that, according to their earlier agreement during Brienne's reinstatement, Necker was supposed to become Foreign Minister. He shook his head slightly. "Count Necker isn't suited for diplomacy either. Let's find another way to compensate him."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Count Necker is better at managing domestic affairs. We can have him work on establishing an identity card system."

"Identity cards?"

Joseph smiled. "Yes, a card for every French citizen, with a unique number to distinguish each person's identity."

"And why would we need this…" Brienne, who had risen to the position of Chief Minister, paused mid-sentence as he realized the significance. "It could be used to collect a poll tax."

"There are many other benefits," Joseph continued. "For example, it could help track down spies and fugitives, prevent fraud in welfare claims, and make identity verification easier, reducing the risk of scams."

Of course, Joseph's primary motivation for introducing identity cards was to streamline tax collection and trade. In the future, this system could also strengthen national identity in the colonies.

Brienne nodded. "Count Necker has always wanted to accomplish something significant. This project would involve every citizen in the country. He should be pleased with it."

Joseph added, "We could even include the Minister of the Interior's signature on the identity cards to validate them."

"That would be perfect."

Joseph then turned his thoughts back to Vergennes, frowning slightly. "We still need to keep marginalizing Vergennes. The Foreign Minister position should go to someone on our side."

Brienne nodded gratefully. "Thank you, Your Highness."

From Brienne's perspective, Vergennes had wronged him during the dismissal affair, and the Prince was now determined to remove him from power.

But Joseph's motives extended beyond personal grievances. He was focused on consolidating political power and weakening the Duke of Orléans's influence, paving the way for future reforms to curb the old nobility's privileges.

With Vergennes on his mind, Brienne recalled a recent report from him and quickly said, "Your Highness, Vergennes did bring back some interesting information from Russia."

He stood up and retrieved a few sheets of paper from a drawer, handing them to Joseph. "The Russian Empress is very concerned about our stance on the Russo-Turkish War. She repeatedly assured Vergennes that the Ottomans initiated the conflict by attempting to seize Russian territories in Crimea and Georgia and by attacking the Russian fleet. They had no choice but to retaliate."

Brienne continued, "Oh, and this is a transcript of a letter from Empress Catherine to His Majesty the King."

Joseph wasn't particularly interested in the rights and wrongs of the Russo-Turkish conflict. What mattered to him was how the situation could be used to France's advantage.

He glanced at Catherine's letter, which contained the usual pleasantries about Russo-French friendship before urging France to support Russia in declaring war on the Ottoman Empire. She even suggested framing this as a new crusade led by France.

Brienne added, "According to Vergennes, the Russian Empress also hinted at the possibility of a Russo-French marriage alliance."

Joseph smiled faintly. A marriage alliance with Russia offered no immediate tangible benefits to France.

But when he read the part about "supporting Russia against the Ottomans," his eyes narrowed slightly. After all, the North African territories from Algiers to Tunisia and Egypt, though effectively independent states, were still nominally Ottoman provinces.

If France allied with Russia against the Ottomans, wouldn't that give France a legitimate reason to intervene in North Africa as part of the effort to weaken the Ottoman Empire?

(End of Chapter)

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