I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 159

The person who will become the master of the new era is not Louis XVI, nor Christian, but me, Chartres.

In the end, unable to suppress his ambition, Chartres was about to utter a schedule that differed from the original plan.

The date designated by Christian is two months and fifteen days from now.

After roughly announcing that soldiers would be mobilized by then, Christian planned to arrest all the nobles one step ahead when enough irrefutable evidence was gathered.

But what if Chartres gathered troops a month earlier than that?

If the organization is centered around the great nobles with nearby territories, it can be accomplished within the deadline.

What if he came out much faster than Christian expected? What would happen….

The moment you occupy the Tuileries Palace and the Palace of Versailles and secure the King and Christian, the victory or defeat is decided.

The Nouvelle France army, which was Christian’s insurance, cannot arrive until the ship is repaired.

‘It’s possible. This opportunity will never come again.’

Chartres, having made up his mind, decided to encourage the nobles to gather troops within a month, even if it was a bit of a stretch.

“Everyone, we will….”

But then.

A sense of incongruity and unease that cannot be expressed in words blocked his words.

‘Is this right? Can I really get ahead of Christian to this extent?’

He saw through the fact that Christian did not trust him and calmly took the time to investigate.

Thanks to this, he was able to see through the insurance that Christian had laid out, and even learned that it had been neutralized with God’s help.

However, it is impossible to overlook the possibility that Christian has double safety devices in place.

Moreover, wasn’t it already proven that he didn’t trust him?

Then it wouldn’t be strange if he had a means to monitor him.

‘…Is there a spy?’

It was an excuse to inform the nobles of the schedule unilaterally, but when you think about it, there are some suspicious guys in this place.

For example, the noble who was dragged away by Christian after talking about manipulation.

How did that guy know so quickly that Christian was bringing troops from Nouvelle France [New France, a historical French colony in North America] and that the ship had been damaged by the storm?

Logically, a spy would not leak facts that are unfavorable to Christian.

But what if that was one of the traps to test him in the first place?

‘Yes. When I think about it that way, everything fits perfectly.’

If he had hurriedly gathered troops within a month and launched a surprise attack here, the spy would have reported that he had betrayed him.

Then, in fact, the advantage of time disappears.

Christian can’t just stay in Paris.

I might be able to occupy Paris before Christian’s army in Africa arrives.

But there is no way I can secure Christian and the King.

Because the moment he seizes this information, he will slip away.

The stranding in Africa must be a deliberate trap.

No, at least even if the stranding itself was accidental, the fact that the information was delivered here so easily is definitely a trap.

A stream of cold sweat ran down his back.

It was a double trap.

If it wasn’t for him who watched how his father fell, if it wasn’t for him who knew Christian’s scariness better than anyone else.

He would have chosen betrayal, elated that he had seen through the first trap, and his head would have been cut off.

‘I respect you. Even though you are at the top, you are still using such meticulous and clever tricks.’

I take back what I said about him being lax because he reached the top.

“Everyone. We need to move as quickly as possible, but if we move too quickly, we may ruin things. Let’s gather troops quickly without overdoing it. The date of the ceremony is about 2 to 3 months from now. The exact date will be announced later for security reasons.”

“Hmm…I understand. I think it would be a little faster, but there are often cases where you fall over trying to go too fast. I will follow the Duke’s will.”

“I will prepare from now on.”

The nobles, nodding their heads, left their seats one by one with a more nervous look than before.

The spy candidates that Duke Chartres was keeping an eye on were no exception.

‘That’s it.’

Hiding the laughter that welled up inside, Chartres calmly saw off the departing nobles.

He narrowly managed to avoid all the traps.

So from now on.

It’s our turn.

※※※

The nobles are plotting a rebellion with the intention of instigating it soon.

Brigadier General Lafayette’s reaction when he first heard this shocking news was quite dramatic.

“…No…a rebellion? The nobles? Really?”

“Is that such surprising news?”

“If it’s a rebellion, not just resistance, isn’t it normal to be surprised?”

“Don’t worry. That doesn’t mean that even the nobles who are on our side will be harmed.”

The Marquis de Lafayette was one of the few nobles who sided with the commoners from the original history.

He also played a major role in the American Revolutionary War, so he boasts considerable fame as a hero of both continents.

However, in France, his evaluation has been somewhat reduced because he messed up a bit in his later years.

Still, after actually talking to him, it seemed clear that he was a general with firm beliefs and outstanding abilities.

“If the nobles are plotting a rebellion, why aren’t you arresting them right away?”

“Because we don’t have any concrete evidence yet. First, the fact that they were actually gathering troops must be revealed, and then we can use this as an excuse to cut off their heads.”

“Ah…I see. You’re trying to use this as a driving force for reform. The decision of the Estates-General was just bait to create dissatisfaction and a sense of crisis among the nobles.”

“You understood correctly. Of course, that doesn’t mean the Estates-General was meaningless. If the proposal to abolish the nobles’ tax exemption had been rejected here, things would have been difficult. In that respect, it is true that your cooperation was a great help.”

The Marquis de Lafayette smiled satisfactorily and nodded.

“I was just doing what I had to do for the development of France. I was honored to be able to contribute to Your Highness’s plan.”

As a noble representative from Lyon, he participated in the Estates-General and cast his vote in favor of the Third Estate along with the nobles who had agreed to cooperate with me in advance.

However, he was already in a position to be checked by the nobles because rumors had spread that he had sided with the Third Estate.

So he had no idea how the nobles were currently moving.

“I wouldn’t call it compensation, but I will allow you to enjoy the credit for preventing the nobles’ rebellion with me. If you build up achievements, it will be easier for you to move as you wish later.”

“Thank you for your consideration. But to be honest, once this is over, it will be Your Highness’s era anyway, so shouldn’t we not have to worry about such trivial matters?”

“No. It’s the opposite.”

As expected, people who are born soldiers are weak in this kind of political maneuvering.

That’s why he was pushed aside by the Girondins or Jacobins in his later years in the original history.

“Clearly, there are a considerable number of people who are dissatisfied with France’s contradictory system. Right now, everyone is united by making corrupt nobles their common enemy, but what will happen after the fight is over? If you judge dispassionately, the real problem may come after the victory is decided.”

“That is….”

If the old system is overthrown, a new system must be established, but France has not yet reached a consensus on this.

The problem is that intellectuals, bourgeois [middle class], and moderate nobles all have their own ideas.

“Lafayette, you view absolute monarchy negatively, but you do not want the abolition of monarchy itself. The same goes for Count Mirabeau.”

“That’s right. Please know that my loyalty to the royal family will never waver.”

“If everyone thought like you, there would be no need to worry. But there are quite a few people who say that we should go to a system like the United States altogether, and there are quite a few people who say that we should just maintain the current order and only reasonably refine the laws and systems.”

In the former case, the king’s power is very much alive, so it can be ignored as nonsense that is not worth considering.

However, that is why there are many people who sympathize with the latter’s argument.

[Logically, is it right to say that we should take away power when the king is working so hard to build the foundation of the country?

Rather, Louis XVI and the Duke of Orléans should further develop France with absolute power.]

The number of royal power strengthening faction who argue this way is increasing day by day.

“Does Your Highness agree with that opinion?”

“It’s not a matter of agreeing or not. It’s not easy for someone in politics to go against a trend that has already formed. Especially if it’s a problem connected to royal power, even more so.”

“Well, when you think about it, if His Majesty and Your Highness successfully carry out reforms so splendidly, the justification for having a constitutional monarchy itself disappears. The act of persuading His Majesty may even be seen as treason.”

That’s how things are in the world.

It’s harder to spill water than to contain it again, and it’s easier to tie a knot than to cut it off.

It’s not for nothing that I’ve been trying to secure the justification of reform while doing this and that show.

It was to minimize the conflicts that would arise in the process of resolving the problem.

If I can’t do that, the ending will inevitably be a shock and horror ending where those who oppose my words, like the French Revolution, will unconditionally go to the guillotine.

“So, what you have to do in the future is….”

“Your Highness! Urgent news has arrived.”

Before I could finish speaking, Grouchy, who had hurriedly entered, looked back and forth between me and Lafayette.

When I gestured for him to speak, Grouchy hurriedly handed me the paper in his hand and opened his mouth.

“I have received contact from those attached to Duke Chartres. He seems to be proceeding with the plan as planned.”

“Even though he heard that the Nouvelle France army went to Africa?”

“Yes. I wonder if he suppressed his desire for revenge and chose the path of obedience….”

“I see. Good work.”

So he finally made a choice.

It’s unexpected if it’s unexpected, and it’s the expected result if it’s as expected.

“Marquis de Lafayette, it would be best to end today’s story here. Proceed with the plan as I told you earlier.”

“…Yes? As you told me a little while ago? That was clearly….”

“Yes. Translate it into action exactly as you heard it, without an inch of error.”

“I understand. I will carry out your orders perfectly so that you will never be disappointed.”

Lafayette left those words behind.

I like the fact that he doesn’t ask any more questions, even though he looks puzzled.

My head was naturally throbbing with the conflicts lurking behind this problem, but that’s something I can worry about later anyway.

Come to think of it, I wonder if Marie arrived well in Austria.

I decided to leave the problems of the future to the future me, and for now, I should write a letter to my beloved wife.

※※※

“Duke. As expected, we confirmed that they were sending letters secretly.”

“Yes. I knew some of those guys were spies.”

Chartres, who received the expected report, smiled with satisfaction.

The nobles who had gathered after receiving secret contact asked cautiously.

“No, then isn’t that a big deal? That means all of our plans have been heard by them.”

“That’s right. Your Highness, why did you push forward with the plan even though you knew there was a spy?”

“Calm down. That’s why I gathered only those of you who I can really trust in this place.”

The people Chartres had summoned now were vetted people who could never be spies and nobles with territories nearby.

“The Duke of Orléans must have been suspicious of me. So he put a spy on me to monitor me. He even threw appropriate bait to avoid suspicion and tried to deceive me, but fortunately, I was able to see through it.”

“Then what you told us some time ago….”

“Of course, it was to leak fake information to Christian. Christian will know that we have at least 2 months to spare until we gather troops and attack them.”

In fact, it has already been confirmed that the spy bastards have already sent letters to the Tuileries Palace.

All the tricks that Christian had planted had been neutralized, and he must firmly believe that we had decided to live as his underlings.

“From now on, 1 month. We will gather as many soldiers as possible as quickly as possible and occupy the Tuileries Palace. Marquis Lonnay has diverted a considerable number of weapons, so the only thing we need to worry about is to maintain security and gather people.”

Respond to traps with traps.

Chartres was finally able to have the conviction that he had checkmated Christian for the first time.

‘This is it.’

The illusion of dispersing troops.

A trap using spies.

A situation where he was given false information without knowing that these two things had been seen through.

This time, the advantage of information and speed is on our side.

The persistent sense of defeat that always hovered around him like a nightmare, and the ties of fate that had been choking him, it was time to shake them off now.

I really waited a long time.

Now let’s end everything.

End