Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Joseph looked around at the nobles whose faces still bore dissatisfaction and continued to speak loudly,

"Their descendants, however, only know how to lie on the glory of their forefathers, indulging in pleasure, idle and ineffective, even going so far as to defy His Majesty the King’s wishes and jeopardize the future of France, all for a little tax money wrung from the poor farmers!"

In this era, enlightened absolutism was already a consensus among European nobility. At the same time, the ideas of the Enlightenment had a profound influence. Therefore, when he said that it affected the future of France, even if the nobles were dissatisfied, they subconsciously knew it was right. Read exclusive content at

"If your ancestors knew of your words and actions here today, they would surely feel ashamed of you!"

Joseph did not give the nobles any chance to retort, immediately continuing,

"If I were you, I would follow in the steps of my ancestors, fight on the battlefield like a warrior, shedding blood for His Majesty the King, for France, to achieve greater deeds than my forebears, to earn glory that commands attention!

"Your eyes should gaze upon the vast European Continent, your hearts concerned with the rise and fall, the honor and disgrace of empires, fulfilling the duties bestowed upon you by France, to overcome one mighty enemy after another, thereby winning endless wealth and glory! Not to secretly rejoice over a few silver coins collected from peasants or feel as wronged as a little girl over losing that pittance!

"You, should make your ancestors proud with your bravery, make them cheer for your victories! Not use the name of your forebears to sustain your empty and trivial existence!"

Joseph said all this in one breath, leaving the nobles present stunned, their blood boiling with the education of noble glory they had received from childhood, yet they also felt a deep sense of shame.

For these idle nobles with no income and who were quite adept at making trouble, the Prussians had long provided a solution—have all noble descendants without land to inherit join the army, become professional soldiers, and be rewarded based on their military achievements. These petty nobles were so poor they clanked when they walked, yet on the battlefield, they fought desperately to carve out a family legacy, forming the backbone of the Prussian Army. This was the source of the Junker Nobility.

Naturally, Joseph wasn’t intending to create a French version of the Junkers. With a large number of common soldiers in the Guard Corps to dilute their numbers, these nobles could not band together into an interest group.

However, these nobles, though idle on ordinary days, all had a decent educational foundation, especially in required skills like horse riding, swordsmanship, and shooting.

With rigorous training and strengthened discipline, their combat abilities as individual soldiers would be stronger than those of common soldiers.

There was also another point; the French Royal Family itself was the largest of the nobility, so they couldn’t just abandon these Old Nobility. At least they were more loyal to the King, deeply tied to the Royal Family’s interests, and would never seek to overthrow the Royal Household. If they could be integrated into France of the industrial era, it would actually be very beneficial for the Royal Family.

And Joseph knew that just getting them pumped up with a speech wasn’t enough. To have a class truly serve you, you have to offer them corresponding benefits.

Seeing the reaction of the nobles below the dais, he immediately struck while the iron was hot,

"Do you wish to acquire lands according to tradition? That’s entirely possible!

"As long as you, like your ancestors, establish merits with blood and sword, you shall receive honors and rewards.

"While there may not be much land in France, overseas there are almost endless territories. On the colonial lands won for France by your valiant fighting, there will certainly be lordships of your own! Whether in terms of area or tax revenue, both will be hundreds, thousands of times greater than those little territories you inherited before!

"Come, join the Royal Legion, and fight for your brilliant and glorious future!"

On the balcony, Queen Mary listened to her son’s impassioned speech, and seeing the eyes of the quarrelsome nobles gradually fill with a fervent light, she felt a shock of amazement and even more so, overwhelming relief.

It turned out that her son didn’t need her to cover for him at all. He stood there like an immovable tower, all challenges and difficulties rendered insignificant before him.

She revealed a happy smile, no longer paying attention to the thousands of nobles below, turned, and went back inside, pleasantly pinching off a piece of cheesecake and putting it into her mouth. With Joseph there, perhaps she could rest more in the future and peacefully enjoy delicious desserts.

...

The southwest corner of the Palace of Versailles.

Escorted by four guards, the British Foreign Minister, Marquess of Wellesley, glanced gloomily at the door of the Hall of Peace.

He knew a very difficult negotiation awaited him.

Originally, he had planned to cause unrest in France to coerce the French people. Unexpectedly, before his ship even arrived at Le Havre, he heard that the unrest had been quelled. ṙᴀꞐοᛒÊŜ

But when God closed a door for him, he opened a window.

He learned that the cause of the unrest’s end was the French Government’s issuance of a land redemption policy that was very favorable to the peasants.

Thus, he confidently requested the French Foreign Ministry to postpone the negotiation, hoping to wait for the situation to ferment, the angry French nobility to challenge the King. France, amid internal chaos, would inevitably concede to England.

However, the development of events greatly astonished him.

The nobility from the Palace of Versailles suddenly hushed their calls to arms, and he even heard that there was a craze of nobles joining the military here.

These useless French nobles! He cursed in his heart if it were the British, they would certainly have risen in a glorious revolution by now and made the King beg for mercy...

The door of the Hall of Peace opened, revealing the limping figure of Talleyrand.

Wellesley hastened to stop his wild thoughts and, with feigned sincerity, pressed his hand to his chest in greeting, "I am very pleased to meet you, Archbishop Talleyrand."

The other returned the greeting with a smile, "I am also very pleased to meet you, Marquess of Wellesley. I hope we can have a pleasant conversation today."

"Oh, it will be as you wish."

Wellesley secretly ground his teeth, following the lame man into the spacious hall, his gaze sweeping over the huge painting above the fireplace, "Louis XV creating peace," and muttered to himself again: Hypocritical French!

The British and French Foreign Ministers exchanged hollow pleasantries, sitting on opposite sides of the long table, while seven or eight diplomats took their places below their respective chiefs.

After a few seconds of silence, Wellesley sighed lightly and spoke first, "I hear there has been a severe unrest in France recently, I hope it hasn’t affected you too much."

"Of course, it was just the peasants coming into the city for a walk, they were quickly dispersed by the police," Talleyrand said, looking at him with a relaxed expression. "Oh, by the way, it seems your country has also encountered some troubles in India, oh, surely you haven’t been too affected either."

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