Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

In front of the South Netherlands Parliamentary Building.

When Charles II saw the Marquess of Wellesley, he fully expected the latter to bring him news of London’s confirmed reinforcements for Brussels and was so moved he was nearly in tears.

However, the Foreign Minister threw cold water on his expectations:

"Respected Marshal, I personally am very much in favor of sending troops to reinforce you immediately, but... I must not hide from you that the East India Company has run into some trouble in the Far East, and the Empire’s main focus is there at the moment. Perhaps by the beginning of next year, you might receive the reinforcements dispatched by Congress. Of course, Congress will definitely provide you with ample support in terms of military funding and weaponry."

Not only was Charles II anxious, but so was Vandernoot, the Speaker of South Netherland, standing nearby:

"My lord Marquess, you might already be aware of the situation in Brussels. If we cannot defeat the French soon, it will be difficult to hold Brussels once Austria has drawn its forces, and the revolution would face failure..."

The Marquess of Wellesley glanced at him, his voice somewhat cold:

"Personally, I am not too fond of your revolution. However, at the moment we share a common enemy that needs to be dealt with. Oh, are we to keep standing here in the square discussing matters?"

"No, no, we’ve prepared a bountiful feast for you," Vandernoot hurriedly gestured towards the Parliament House. "Please come inside."

Inside the banquet hall, the Marquess of Wellesley swept a look over the long dining table at the officers who hung their heads in dismay and then turned to Charles II:

"Marshal, are you saying you need to request aid from Congress because the French Army has only 14,000 men?"

Before Charles II could speak, General Bronckhorst, the Dutch commander at his side, interjected:

"Lord Marquess, you’re unaware that the French are equipped with a remarkably powerful type of musket, and their cannons appear and disappear unpredictably, posing a great threat to our forces."

The Foreign Minister scoffed and shook his head; in his view, this was just the Dutch making excuses for their incompetence.

He irritably tapped the table with his spoon; he had come to Brussels to assess the military advantage here as a bargaining chip for his negotiations, but instead of finding his bargaining chip, he found a group of people waiting for him to persuade Congress to clean up after them...

Suddenly, Vandernoot clenched his fist with righteous indignation:

"We should incite the French people to join the revolution and overthrow that tyrant!"

The newly appointed commander of the National Guard, General Orleans, immediately agreed:

"Yes! We have many revolutionaries in places like Lille and Artuwa. We can let them lead the French people in revolution! To fight for their freedom and rights..."

The passionate words from both seemed to capture the Marquess of Wellesley’s attention. He looked towards Vandernoot and whispered,

"Are you saying that there are members of the South Netherlanders’ revolutionary party within France?"

"That’s correct," the latter nodded. "Initially, to avoid persecution from the Austrians, our revolutionaries often hid in the northern parts of France. Over the years, we’ve established quite a few footholds there and have good relations with the local liberals."

The Marquess of Wellesley’s eyes lit up:

"Within half a month, how many people could you mobilize in France to instigate... call for a revolution? And how many would respond?"

Vandernoot immediately replied:

"We currently have over forty people across France, and if necessary, we can immediately mobilize 200 revolutionaries to go to France."

Historically, the revolution in the Southern Netherlands was indeed supported by the French Revolution. The connection between the two was very close, with the South Netherlanders often seeking sponsorship from French nobles who sympathized with the revolution, resulting in many who frequently stayed within French territory.

Vandernoot thought for a moment before expressing his reservations:

"But the momentum of the revolution in France over the past two years... hasn’t been very good, and many who were once proponents of the revolution have now become flatterers of the tyrant. Especially the common peasants and citizens of France, after the tyrant doled out some benefits to them, have become satisfied with the status quo. So, this is definitely not a good time to help France launch a revolution."

The Marquess of Wellesley first glared at him impatiently before speaking in displeasure:

"Don’t you have any other term in your limited vocabulary to refer to a king of a country besides ’tyrant’? Even though we all may not like Louis XVI, it’s still necessary to maintain basic courtesy toward him."

"Uh…" Vandernoot then remembered that the nations he was counting on were all under monarchic rule, and he could only nod embarrassingly, "Yes, yes, I’m very sorry."

Only then did the Marquess of Wellesley narrow his eyes and, tapping his spoon lightly on his plate, said in a grave voice:

"In fact, there’s a powder keg in France right now. If your people can make good use of this opportunity, they might just be able to stir up a storm in France!"

The Governor of Hanover and the Dutch commander by his side immediately looked over in surprise.

The Marquess of Wellesley’s tone carried a hint of smugness:

"You must have heard that the French government intends to abolish the traditional rents that peasants pay to their lords, but they have yet to announce a specific plan for peasants to purchase land."

Charles II said subconsciously: "So what then?"

"This is an opportunity to plunge France into chaos!"

The others looked at each other in surprise, clearly not understanding the meaning of the British Foreign Minister.

Seeing their expressions, the Marquess of Wellesley sighed helplessly:

"Think about it. Why hasn’t the French Government announced a land purchase plan?

"It’s because the two parties involved in this matter—the nobility and the peasants—are too difficult to agree.

"The nobles want the peasants to pay a substantial amount of money that is enough for themselves and their descendants to maintain a luxurious life, while the peasants hope to get the land without paying a single cent. For this matter, they are definitely willing to hang each other on the gallows!"

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Indeed, the Marquess of Wellesley possessed extraordinary strategic acumen, recognizing the crux of the problem at a glance.

In history, after the French Revolution, the first government to form was the Feuillants, the constitutional monarchists. They were ousted because they had devised a land redemption policy that favored the nobility, requiring peasants to redeem feudal dues, as well as the price of land revenues for up to 30 years, triggering dissatisfaction among the peasant class and ultimately toppling the Feuillants.

The Girondin Party that followed abolished all feudal dues, but they acknowledged rents on lands not granted by the King. The peasants were still dissatisfied because a lot of land had previously been bought by nobles or capitalists at low prices, and now they had to pay high redemption prices for them.

Thus, when the Jacobins raised their arms and called out, especially during the famine at the time, the Girondin Party stepped down in dismay.

It wasn’t until the Jacobins ordered the burning of all the nobles’ land deeds and sold the land cheaply to peasants that the land issue in France was essentially resolved.

However, the reason the Jacobins managed to handle the matter was based on the fact that most of the nobility at the time had already been executed. In other words, the interests of the peasant class were satisfied at the expense of the nobility’s fortunes.

Yet the current French nobility remains very strong.

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