CHAPTER 502: CHAPTER 496: FRANCE’S BATTLE PLAN AGAINST AUSTRIA

Upon hearing Rastigne compare himself to an eagle and them to chickens, the gentlemen were instantly enraged, clamoring to teach Rastigne a lesson.

The gentlemen, eager to teach Rastigne a lesson, rubbed their hands excitedly, only to see Rastigne’s face light up with a joyful smile as he pointed behind them and shouted loudly, "Look, the police are here!"

Upon hearing Rastigne’s shout, the gentlemen panicked, quickly turning in the direction Rastigne pointed, only to find there were no police behind them at all.

Realizing they had been deceived, the gentlemen grew even more furious. When they turned back to confront Rastigne again, they found he had already disappeared.

It turned out that Rastigne had deliberately tricked them into thinking the police had arrived, using the opportunity to slip away.

"Spit! What a coward!"

"Right! Right!"

The gentlemen despised Rastigne’s cowardly behavior, leaving amidst a chorus of curses.

The incident concluded amidst the curses, and the gentlemen scattered to pursue their own lives.

Meanwhile, Rastigne continued to strive hard to find a shortcut into high society, and soon enough...

...

One hour after the high-profile promotion by the Paris press of France’s phased victory in the Near East, the Paris Stock Exchange officially opened.

Stocks related to the military industry soared as if crazed after receiving the good news of France’s victories in the Near East.

The short-term bonds, which had been in a prolonged state of decline, also rose in this victory’s joy, surpassing previous peaks in a short period of time.

Many veteran investors (greenhorns) at the Paris Stock Exchange, upon seeing the rise in short-term bonds, were eager to slap themselves.

The enthusiasm of investors once again drove the entire market, returning it to its original state of information flow.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mane announced that the Ministry of Finance would inject another 200 million francs (about eight million British pounds) in three-year short-term bonds into the Paris stock market.

As soon as the news spread, the whole of Paris was once again in an uproar, with people eagerly waiting for the arrival of government bonds.

Opposition members, who had originally lurked in dark corners of Paris and private residences, ready to attack the usurper at the Tuileries Palace, also disappeared, knowing that without a significant economic crisis, Parisians would never rally with them.

This was a rule deduced from the two sudden revolutions of 1830 and 1848: they must bide their time, silently waiting for the usurper at the Tuileries Palace to make a mess of France, then overthrow it using the people’s power, just like in ’48.

After the mob overthrows the Empire, they will reap the victory fruits watered with blood and tears.

While a small group of Orthodox Faction nobles envisioned how to claim the fruits of victory and distribute them!

Little did they know, they were already thoroughly investigated by the agents of the Internal Intelligence Bureau.

Marcel Yale had not ordered the Internal Intelligence Bureau to act yet because he himself had not received orders from the Tuileries Palace.

This small group of Orthodox Faction nobles were figures of significance who might bring certain repercussions to the regime.

Marcel Yale had to wait for explicit orders from the Tuileries Palace before taking action.

While Marcel Yale was organizing the Internal Intelligence Bureau’s documents, his secretary entered the office to report that the Emperor’s Aide, Edgar Ney, was waiting outside.

For this ’colleague’ who also managed intelligence, Marcel Yale’s instinctive reaction was aversion.

However, despite his aversion, Marcel Yale clearly understood what could and could not be done.

Edgar Ney was evidently here to deliver the Emperor’s command: "Invite him in quickly!"

After Edgar Ney was invited into the room by his secretary, Marcel Yale got up with a smile and shook hands with Edgar Ney.

"His Majesty’s orders are to execute only the main culprits and expel the others from France!" Edgar Ney succinctly conveyed the order to Marcel Yale and added, "And don’t let anyone think it has anything to do with the government! Make it look like an accident as much as possible!"

"I understand!" Marcel Yale nodded solemnly in response to Edgar Ney.

Subsequently, Edgar Ney left the underground office of the National Intelligence Bureau.

Marcel Yale began to orchestrate a perfect accident targeting this small group of Orthodox Faction individuals.

...

"Your Majesty, Marcel Yale has already begun to act! I believe it won’t be long before we receive the news!" Edgar Ney reported to Jerome Bonaparte after returning to the Tuileries Palace.

"That’s excellent news!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded, then inquired of Edgar Ney, "By the way, are there any soldiers in the army with different ideologies?"

"Yes! We found some in the Southern Military Region..." Edgar Ney nodded and responded to Jerome Bonaparte.

"The Southern Military Region!" Jerome Bonaparte sighed, shaking his head, "Marshal Biron’s influence on the army is deeper than we imagined! Coupled with the fact that the Provençal Region itself is a gathering place for the Royalist Faction, it’s no wonder such ideologies arise!"

"Your Majesty, should we!" Edgar Ney made a gesture of a hand chopping down, the meaning implicit in his action.

"No need!" Jerome Bonaparte raised his hand to stop Edgar Ney, "Even if we eliminate them, what then? The ones replacing them will still be people from the Royalist Faction. We must pretend we are unaware of their plotting, lull them, and then gradually replace them with our people. Killing isn’t a solution; we must personally groom a batch of officers! Secretly telegraph Marshal Renio immediately and have him keep an eye out in Strasbourg for any officers with potential!"

"Yes!" Edgar Ney replied firmly to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Also, gather as much information as possible on any illegal activities in the Southern Military Region! When the right time comes, I will let them understand the meaning of the phrase: loyalty that is not absolute is absolutely disloyal!" Jerome Bonaparte’s words carried a hidden intent to kill.

Although he was reluctant to create a white terror within the army, it did not mean he would tolerate rebellious forces within it.

He was not only the Emperor of the French Empire but also its greatest warlord.

No one understood better than Jerome Bonaparte that democracy and universal suffrage were merely veils to maintain his regime.

Beneath this veil was gleaming bayonet.

The bayonet supported his implementation of democracy and universal suffrage in France, while the legal facade of being the people’s emperor cleverly obscured the true nature of the bayonets he held.

Among all the forces that posed a threat to Jerome Bonaparte, the Orthodox Faction and the Orléans Faction controlled legality and some bayonets, whereas the Republican Faction only had flimsy legality and no bayonets.

No single faction alone could pose a significant threat to him, especially since the Orthodox Faction, Republican Faction, and Orléans Faction were themselves at odds with each other.

Therefore, Jerome Bonaparte must seize this opportunity to gather their bayonets into his own hands; no major commander would allow their subordinates to emerge as independent little commanders.

Fortunately, France was a highly centralized country, and the commanders did not have the capability to influence the central finances.

The soldiers’ dependence on their commanders was limited to them being in office, so dealing with them was easy for Jerome Bonaparte.

Compared to the crude method of eliminating them, reducing their (two factions’) influence in the army was the most vital task.

Following Jerome Bonaparte’s orders, Edgar Ney shifted his mission focus from physical elimination to collecting incriminating information.

Soon after Edgar Ney left, Mokar entered the office to report to Jerome Bonaparte about Richard Metternich, the First Secretary of the Austrian Embassy in France, seeking an audience.

"He’s risen to First Secretary so quickly? As expected of Prince Metternich’s son!" Jerome Bonaparte murmured to himself, then instructed Mokar to bring Richard Metternich in.

After Mokar left, Jerome Bonaparte took out a document labeled "French Plan for War Against Austria" from his drawer, revealing pages upon pages of blank paper.

A while later, Mokar brought Richard Metternich to the study.

"Your Majesty, Secretary Richard Metternich is here!" Mokar softly reported to Jerome Bonaparte, who was pretending to correct documents.

Jerome Bonaparte looked up at Richard Metternich and gestured for him to sit opposite, while quickly closing the blank document.

Under Jerome Bonaparte’s feigned secrecy, Richard Metternich naturally shifted his focus to the documents in Jerome Bonaparte’s hands.

"Your Majesty!" Richard Metternich bowed in salutation to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Please be seated!" Jerome Bonaparte invited Richard Metternich to sit once again.

As Richard Metternich lifted his gaze, Jerome Bonaparte deliberately filed the blank document away in a motion visible to him.

As Jerome Bonaparte had expected, when Richard Metternich focused his attention on the blank document in Jerome Bonaparte’s hand, every action of Jerome Bonaparte did not escape Richard Metternich’s notice.

When Richard Metternich looked up, he "just happened" to see the name on the blank document in Jerome Bonaparte’s hand.

"French Plan for War Against Austria"