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Chapter 138: The Triumph of the Potato

As Guards Corps Commander Berthier announced the start of the joint exercise, both the military and police units, led by their respective commanders, quickly ran to the center of the training ground.

The exercise procedure had been arranged long in advance, consisting of four items: drills, shooting, marching, and combat simulation.

The first event was the drills exercise.

The Guards Corps, with years of military experience, should have had an advantage in this aspect. However, they had only just undergone a reorganization. Although Berthier had tried his best to keep soldiers from the same units together, many found themselves in unfamiliar companies, not even knowing their drummers or flag bearers.

Basic commands like "attention," "quick march," turns, and weapon handling were executed well; the professional soldiers' bearing was evident, clearly surpassing the police officers. But when it came to formation changes, especially while on the move, several companies that hadn't trained together much began to falter.

In contrast, the police officers, despite only a few months of drill practice, demonstrated excellent coordination among themselves.

Their speed in converting from skirmisher formation to infantry line formation utterly astonished the Guards Corps. The soldiers didn't know that this was essential for the Crown Prince's new assault tactics, and they would train in it themselves eventually, but for now, they had to concede defeat.

Ultimately, in the drills event, most of the judging officers awarded higher scores to the police officers.

The Guards Corps officers and soldiers were stunned and felt their pride had taken a massive hit. 'We, an elite unit, lost to the police!' they thought.

Indeed, with concerted effort, the line firing by the Guards Corps achieved an excellent score: three volleys in 1 minute and 8 seconds, with 75 hits. The participating infantry line consisted of only 300 men, and at a distance of 70 paces (approx. 50 meters), this accuracy was truly astounding.

When the soldiers left the field, looking proud and ready to mock the police officers, the latter once again shocked them with a performance of three volleys in 1 minute and 10 seconds, with 66 hits.

It's worth noting that while the police officers lost, their speed and accuracy would be respectable in any army. And reportedly, these police officers had only practiced shooting for a few months.

Of course, such shooting skills were a result of Joseph having the Paris Police Academy "feed" them bullets. Each person fired three rounds daily.

Don't think this number is small; even the most elite units in Europe at the time rarely conducted live-fire training three times in three days.

After all, the gunpowder and bullets fired from a rifle were pure money!

Officers were constantly scheming to line their own pockets; who would be willing to let soldiers shoot away their gold coins, one bullet at a time?

Having recovered some ground, the Guards Corps' confidence soared, and they prepared to "teach" the police a lesson in the third event, the marching exercise.

To their surprise, they suffered an exceptionally miserable defeat.

The Paris Police Academy regularly conducted weighted cross-country runs of 4 kilometers, whereas no European armies trained for physical fitness at the time.

The result was that after the police officers completed the 20-kilometer march and returned to the training ground, they waited a full ten minutes before the Guards Corps officers and soldiers finally staggered back, gasping for breath.

It wasn't until the combat simulation began that the Guards Corps finally displayed their elite prowess. Their infantry and cavalry coordination quickly shattered the police officers' defensive line.

The final score was a two-to-two draw. While the combat simulation carried more weight in scoring, giving the Guards Corps a higher overall total, nearly drawing with these 'un-graduated' police officers made them never dare to underestimate the latter again.

So when Berthier announced that the Guards Corps would henceforth take turns training at the Paris Police Academy, not a single soldier voiced any objection.

Some even began to look forward to it after secretly inquiring about the academy's food quality.

And so, the student body of a certain Police Academy director instantly swelled by over two thousand.

...

Joseph returned to his office in Paris. The first person he saw was Varennes, the assistant director of the Industrial Planning Bureau, who had remained in Bordeaux to assist Vergniaud.

Varennes respectfully placed a stack of reports before the Crown Prince and reported, "Your Highness, spring planting in the south has largely concluded, so I hurried back to brief you.

"Thanks to your initiative, over one-fifth of the arable land in the Bordeaux region has been planted with potatoes this year."

"Oh? That much?"

Joseph was somewhat surprised; he had initially thought 15% would be a good planting rate. After all, potatoes yield four times more than grain, and planting 15% in potatoes could increase the total harvest by 60%.

Varennes explained, "Many minor nobles and independent farmers, seeing the large-scale potato planting by the estate owners, gained confidence in potatoes and followed suit, planting quite a bit themselves."

Joseph nodded with satisfaction, opening the report before him. "What about the other major regions?"

"Mr. Vergniaud, following your method, convinced many estate owners in Burgundy and several southern provinces using brewing techniques. Planting areas in these regions are all around 15%."

Joseph saw the figures in the report: Burgundy 16%, Béarn 15%, Foix 15%.

'Vergniaud worked incredibly fast,' he thought. 'He even exceeded expectations.'

Varennes continued, "Your Highness, Brittany and Normandy also planted a fair amount of potatoes, though not as extensively as the southern regions."

Joseph quickly flipped to the back: Brittany 13%, Normandy 11%. While not large, these were still considered additional gains.

"Did Mr. Vergniaud also go to the west?"

Varennes shook his head. "Mr. Vergniaud moved from the south to Provence, but he enlisted a friend named Gensonné, who took some members of the Brewing Technology Association to promote potatoes in the west."

Gensonné? Joseph found the name somewhat familiar. 'He's one of the future key figures of the Girondins, isn't he? So he and Vergniaud started collaborating this early,' he mused.

That said, these Girondins were quite efficient when it came to commercial promotion.

He continued to review the report, seeing that the Provence and Dauphiné regions also had 6-8% potato planting areas. It was clear that Vergniaud, after the southern provinces, had then tirelessly moved to the southeast.

As Joseph was discussing the potato situation with Varennes, Eman entered the office with a court official, bowing. "Your Highness, His Majesty the King has sent someone."

The official immediately stepped forward and bowed, a wide smile on his face. "Your Highness, His Majesty the King invites you to return to Versailles as soon as possible. He says he has something important to tell you."

Joseph promptly instructed Eman to help him change clothes, preparing to go see his father.

As the group reached the doorway, a messenger hurried over, handing Eman several letters sealed with wax.

Eman glanced at the markings on the envelopes, then whispered to Joseph, "Your Highness, these are from your 'grain purchasers.'"