He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 63

(62) Eugene Creates the Beauharnais Cartel in Paris

March 1794, Paris. The Committee of Public Safety was as busy as ever.

“Has the verdict from the Revolutionary Tribunal been delivered?”

It’s easy to think that military work is mostly physical, but in reality, it’s mostly paperwork.

The more modern the army, the more important the paperwork becomes.

Logistics plans, recruitment schedules, arms supply—all are decided and executed through paperwork.

The same goes for the work style of Public Safety Commander Napoleon.

Currently, Napoleon was frantically reviewing and signing documents, and holding meetings.

True to his efficiency-oriented nature, he was conducting work and meetings simultaneously.

Of course, this was very uncomfortable for his subordinates.

Eugene began his briefing with a wry smile.

“Yes, Tourot, along with the soldiers directly responsible for the La Rochelle regiment massacre, and 3,000 royalists have been sentenced to deportation to Martinique.”

“The most important thing is the fleet. Will there be any problems with the British naval blockade?”

“There are no problems. Britain can’t completely blockade our Atlantic coast either. The problem is what happens after they arrive.”

In the end, Tourot and the royalists left for the New World, the West Indies.

They were sent to suppress the rebellion currently taking place in the French colonies of the West Indies.

The British fleet would interfere a little, but with the level of ships at the end of the 18th century, a complete naval blockade was impossible.

In fact, that’s why Napoleon failed with the Continental System [a large-scale embargo against British trade] in the original history.

Even if Britain sent a large fleet, it would only be about 30 ships of the line [large warships].

It was very difficult to intercept a fleet leaving the vast sea, even if they could predict its route.

But eventually, after arriving, Tourot and Rochejaquelein would have to fight a grueling battle.

Napoleon asked Eugene again, who was lost in thought for a moment.

“What about Carrier and Rossignol?”

Eugene regained his composure and replied coldly.

“They are sentenced to death.”

“Lequel, Lecomte, and even Westermann survived, but only Rossignol dies.”

“The remaining figures are said to be connected to members of the Committee of Public Safety—Carnot, the organizer of victory, and Danton, the witty speaker.”

As Eugene subtly mocked, Napoleon snorted.

“Hmph, if they let them off like that, would the Army of the North be convinced? I heard Saint-Just is running wild in the Army of the North, right?”

“Yes, fortunately, Hoche, who is related to the General, is said to be safe.”

“He must be a friend of our young cadet. Anyway, that’s a relief.”

In the end, they couldn’t stop the purge of the Revolutionary Army.

Saint-Just was officially dispatched to the Army of the North as a commissioner.

He wasn’t someone who massacred citizens like Carrier; instead, Saint-Just was someone who massacred nobles.

He was uncovering aristocratic officers, conducting harsh interrogations, and sending them to the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris one by one.

But instead of stopping it, Eugene guided them to purge only the Army of the North first.

There was a reason.

To protect the Navy.

In the original history, Dumouriez’s defection occurred a year earlier.

And the purge of the army by Saint-Just and the Committee of Public Safety also occurred much more extensively.

As a result, the Navy, which already had a high proportion of nobles, was hit directly.

In particular, Bruix and his subordinates, who had taken refuge in Eugene’s Marseille Cartel, could also be in danger.

Then Napoleon brought up something unexpected.

“This aftermath could affect your father, you know?”

Eugene widened his eyes slightly and chuckled.

Alexandre was clearly one of the commanders of the Army of the North.

However, he was incompetent, and Hoche had been dispatched, so he had rarely been in command at the front.

In the original history, he was held responsible for the defeat, but he didn’t have time to be defeated.

Eugene shook his head, thinking nothing would happen.

“He’ll be fine. Well, he abandoned me when I was young, so I don’t really care.”

“I see. Well, Josephine, or rather, Madame Fagerie, always says that—that he abandoned his child because he was obsessed with power.”

“Excuse me? My mother? When did she say that?”

As Eugene tilted his head, Napoleon stammered in embarrassment.

“Uh, that’s, well, you see.”

“Ah, didn’t you go to the salon [social gathering] yesterday? Come to think of it, you came to work from Madame Fagerie’s house today, right? I remember escorting you.”

“Junot! Who told you to lie like that! It’s all a lie, you know! Colonel Eugene!”

As Adjutant Junot butted in and babbled, Napoleon was furious and shouted.

For a moment, silence lingered in the Committee of Public Safety’s conference room.

Even someone without a clue could figure out the situation.

Yesterday, Napoleon had stayed at Josephine’s mansion.

Did he sleep alone?

All the adjutants were giving Eugene the eye, as if telling him to do something about this silence.

But wasn’t Eugene the one in an absurd situation?

“Ah, yes. Um.”

Just as Eugene was trying to break the silence, an adjutant who was too low in rank to attend the meeting suddenly opened the door.

“Hey, you have a visitor, Eugene! Oh, Commander was here too?”

“What’s going on? Colonel Eugene is in a strategy meeting with me right now. Besides, I heard he has outside work at 9 o’clock?”

“Yes, that’s right. I do have something to do with the ‘Vendée’ special unit. But that’s…”

Eugene’s adjutant, Captain Hippolyte, winked.

“Princess, or rather, Mademoiselle Marie, has arrived?”

Then Napoleon, who had regained his composure, looked at Eugene and said.

“You should go, Colonel Eugene.”

This time it was Eugene’s turn to be embarrassed.

Eugene scratched his head and smiled bitterly.

He couldn’t possibly go on a ‘date’ during a meeting, could he?

“Ah, well, it’s a personal matter, so I think I can meet her later.”

“No. You’re not enough of a soldier yet. Don’t you know what a soldier should do when he first returns home?”

“W, well. I, is it to meet family?”

Suddenly, with a very solemn face as if ordering an operation, Napoleon declared.

“Now, you must learn. The most important thing is always ‘lovers’!”

Eugene was dumbfounded at the words that were more French than a Frenchman.

Being kicked out of the conference room.

***

So, when a soldier returns home from the military, the first thing he should do is meet his lover.

“Of course, you have to start with a [Rendezvous]! Seriously, you only ever work! Where are you going now? Let’s go together!”

Spring had come to Paris.

The weather was so nice that the Vendée issue, which had caused a stir in February, seemed insignificant.

So Eugene also left the Committee of Public Safety for a while to go out, with Marie Therese, who had come directly to the Committee of Public Safety.

-Clatter.

Two ponies walked side by side through the streets of Paris.

Rendezvous, a French word meaning ‘meeting,’ can be said to be a date.

Of course, as befits the love paradise of France, there are countless words for dating.

However, most of them are related to physical intercourse, so Marie Therese, a respectable young lady, used a very euphemistic expression.

Eugene, riding a pony, walked through the streets of Paris and looked at Marie with a wry smile.

“Seriously, it’s not like you’re a puppy with separation anxiety. What’s wrong, Princess?”

“Call me Marie! And who are you calling a puppy! What did you do in Marseille? Are the girls there pretty?”

“Princess. No, Marie.”

Suddenly, Eugene approached Marie, who was also riding a pony next to him, and asked.

“How old do you think I am now?”

Marie was startled and leaned back.

He was still clearly a boy, but he was getting taller as he seemed to be entering puberty.

Eugene, who had grown to be about the same size as Marie, made her heart flutter as he approached.

“Wh, wh, what’s wrong? You’re, you’re too close. Th, the horses are bumping into each other!”

“You used to stroke me all the time when I was little, what are you talking about? Besides, you always said you wouldn’t leave my side. Isn’t that why you came to see me today?”

“Well, it’s been almost a year since I saw you, and you didn’t even come to see me first. Anyway, stay away!”

Eugene smiled and stroked Marie’s hair.

“Don’t worry. Nothing happened, and honestly, I was too busy to think about anything else. Every day was like a war, or a battlefield. Especially Toulon and Vendée—if you looked away for even a moment, your comrades next to you would die.”

Originally, lies are said to be composed of 90% truth and 10% lies.

In fact, it was true that Eugene had been fighting, starting businesses, and jumping back into war.

But it was a lie that nothing had happened.

Anyway, he had received a ‘French’ kiss as a gift the night before leaving Marseille.

However, Marie, who was obsessive but kind, teared up at Eugene’s words.

“Was it hard? Come to think of it, your face looks half its size.”

“It’s just puberty. I still have baby fat. I need to grow up faster.”

“You don’t have to grow up fast! It’s more important that you’re safe. Don’t go to battlefields anymore!”

Eugene smiled awkwardly at Marie’s words and gestured with his chin.

“Our immature princess is something else. Don’t whine. Paris will be a battlefield this year too.”

Marie didn’t understand Eugene’s words and tilted her head.

“What do you mean?”

“Look at the streets. You’ll see scenery you can’t see in the palace or suburbs.”

“Huh?”

At that moment, Marie’s pony was startled by the sound of something breaking.

-Bang!

Marie was startled and turned her gaze, seeing people shouting in the street’s shops.

“No, how can the price of bread double in just one day!”

“What do you mean, can’t! We can’t help it if wheat isn’t coming in! This is Paris, so it’s this much—do you even know what it’s like in the provinces?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? When I was in Marseille last month, it was half this price!”

In front of the bakery, the baker and customers were grabbing each other by the collar and fighting.

Although the food they ate couldn’t be compared to the royal family, Marie had rarely gone hungry.

That was because Recamier, who had been asked by Eugene, was responsible for her livelihood.

Also, the Revolutionary government couldn’t possibly allow the former royal family to starve to death.

But when she entered Paris from the suburbs, an unexpected sight awaited her.

“Please give me a penny! Please, just one penny!”

A beggar with one arm was crying out with one hand.

Perhaps he was injured in the war or escaped from the massacre site.

However, the citizens were all ignoring him and passing by.

Then, a scream erupted from among the crowd of citizens.

“Kyaa! Thief!”

Eugene, who saw a thief suddenly running out, wrapped the pony’s reins around his hand.

“I have to catch that guy.”

“Wh, what are you going to do?”

“What I always did in the military.”

Instantly, Eugene took out a pistol and aimed it from the horse.

-Click, bang!

A flintlock pistol must be pre-charged to fire.

In short, Eugene came out with a charged pistol even during his ‘Rendezvous’ time with Marie.

Just as Marie covered her ears in surprise at the sound, the thief fell in the distance, bleeding from his leg.

While the citizens scattered, Eugene drove his horse in front of the thief.

Eugene, riding on the horse, shouted sternly.

“Colonel Eugene de Beauharnais, belonging to the Paris Public Safety Forces. I will arrest the thief by the authority of the Public Safety Forces. Now, everyone, disperse!”

“S, save me! I, I! I just want to live!”

“Return the item to the owner. And you are forcibly enlisted. Tournay!”

At that moment, ‘Escort’ Tournay, who had been following from behind, came up and smiled.

“Yes, Colonel. Hey, get up right now! You’re not even shot—what are you pretending about?”

“I, I don’t want to go to the army! Please save me!”

“Or be shot here.”

Tournay’s rank was also Lieutenant now.

Along with Eugene’s promotion, Eugene’s direct subordinates were also promoted.

Looking at the scene, Marie murmured blankly.

“You’ve become a complete soldier now, Eugene.”

Marie only knew Eugene well when he was a gambling prodigy.

At that time, he wouldn’t have dealt with the situation in this way.

Eugene glanced back at Marie and smiled.

“I have to protect our princess too.”

Marie felt strangely sad.

It seemed like it was all her fault.

Instantly, Marie got off the horse and ran to Eugene, hugging him.

“Uh, what’s wrong? Marie?”

Of course, Eugene was surprised because he didn’t think that at all.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”

“No, why do you have a face that doesn’t understand anything? Anyway, even if it wasn’t for that, I would have had to become a soldier in this era. Our family was a military family.”

“But, if it wasn’t for me…”

Eugene barely pulled Marie away and pulled Marie onto the horse.

It was a bit much for Eugene, who hadn’t grown up yet, but Marie came up on her own.

Wiping away sweat, Eugene looked back at Marie and smiled.

“Since you’re on, let’s go together.”

“Where are we going? Weren’t we out to play?”

“I said I had work to do, right?”

Eugene winked and said.

“Let’s go see a welcome face after a long time—someone from the royal family.”

That was the reason why Eugene was leaving the Committee of Public Safety today, with Tournay and Hippolyte, and his direct subordinates.

***

There are royal servants in the world who think everything is someone else’s fault.

-Jingle, jingle, jingle.

Armand frowned and woke up at the sound of the bell ringing outside.

It was already after sunrise, but the hangover was pressing down on his head.

He must have drunk too much yesterday.

But who on earth had come to visit?

Staggering, Armand went outside wearing only his pajamas.

“What is it? Annoying. Huh?”

An unexpected face outside the door—Eugene waved lightly at Armand.

“Yo, long time no see, Armand?”

“You’re, Eugene? No, th, the princess is here too?”

“Call me Mademoiselle Marie now. If you say princess carelessly, your neck will be cut off like this.”

Armand frowned at Eugene’s jest.

Years ago, Armand had helped Eugene during the Queen’s trial.

He had received money in return, but he had already blown it all on alcohol and gambling.

It had been a year of thinking that if he had gambled as well as the gambling prodigy in front of him…

But why on earth had this gambling prodigy visited him, with the former princess of the fallen royal family?

Eugene casually looked around the house and shrugged.

“The house is a mess. Don’t tell me you haven’t made a penny?”

“Ha, in this era, what can I do?”

“Why, you can join the army.”

Armand was furious and shouted at Eugene’s nonchalant words.

“Don’t say it so easily! Do you think anyone can join the army? Someone like me, who is suspected of being a royalist, won’t even be allowed to enlist! I’m not in the same situation as someone like you, who starts as a lieutenant!”

He would rather have thrown himself into the army for the revolution.

However, the former royal servant, Armand, was not even given that opportunity.

Rather, he was suspected of having ties to the former royal family.

Eugene looked at Armand and chuckled.

“Then, if I let you enlist, can you fight? Have you ever used a gun?”

“Th, that’s!”

“Okay. Anyway, you don’t seem like you’d fit in as a soldier.”

Instantly, Eugene stared at Armand.

“I’ll give you a chance, Armand Ganay.”

At the same time, Hippolyte and the soldiers appeared behind Eugene, carrying luggage all at once.

-Chuck, chuck, chuck!

Towards the dumbfounded Armand, Hippolyte wiped away sweat and smiled.

“Whew, that was hard. Hey, long time no see? How have you been? You don’t look too good.”

“Hippolyte Charles? You’ve become a soldier?”

“Didn’t you know? Believe it or not, he’s already a captain. Hahaha!”

Suddenly, Hippolyte looked back at Eugene with a proud face and said.

“Here, he’s Colonel Eugene Beauharnais’s adjutant.”

Colonel, a word referring to an officer who commands a regiment—a position with at least 1,000 subordinates.

It’s not that surprising in this era of revolution.

However, Armand, who had not yet become a soldier, could only be shocked.

Eugene said to Armand.

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. As you said, I started as a lieutenant.”

“N, no matter how much, a, a colonel…”

“Well, there’s nothing to be surprised about, because you’ll have to do even more surprising things from now on.”

Looking back at the piled-up luggage, Eugene said.

“You’ll have to be in charge of the Beauharnais [Cartel]’s Paris liaison office for the time being. This house will now be the contact point.”

The house of a former royal servant that no one pays attention to—a perfect place to use as a secret liaison office.

However, it was something that Armand, and even Marie, who had followed, had not expected at all.

Armand blankly looked at Eugene and asked.

“What on earth did you do in the army? And what’s a cartel?”

Behind Eugene, mountains of supplies, letters, and cartel employees and postal unit members were lined up.

Although he was still a small boy, Eugene looked very large.

In the sunlight, with shadows cast, Eugene walked out and smiled.

“Shall I explain it in an easy-to-understand way? I held a gun in one hand and silver coins in the other.”

“What?”

“Among them, the one that handles silver coins is the [Beauharnais Cartel]. And…”

Eugene’s eyes flashed.

“Abandoned royal dog, Armand Ganay, I’ll give you a chance to join the Beauharnais Cartel.”

Armand blankly stood up.

Armand’s world, which had been nothing, was changing.

March 2, 1794—it was the day the Beauharnais Cartel entered Paris.