Novels online

Chapter 19: Assistant to the Minister of Finance

Upon hearing this, the cabinet ministers, regardless of their private thoughts, all rose to congratulate the Crown Prince, showering him with endless flattery.

As Joseph politely returned their greetings, the grand golden doors of the hall swung open, and the voice of a court official announced, "His Majesty the King, Her Majesty the Queen, have arrived."

The ministers inside were quite surprised by the King's appearance, as it was a rare occurrence for him to attend a cabinet meeting. They quickly turned towards Louis XVI and Marie, who were entering the meeting hall, and respectfully bowed with hands on their chests.

Louis XVI was quite familiar with the cabinet ministers, so his usual social anxiety wasn't as pronounced. He smiled faintly and said, "You all are always so diligent. Oh, can someone tell me what you were discussing?"

Monnot immediately replied with a beaming smile, "Your Majesty, we were just expressing our admiration for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's brilliant achievements in the Police Reform!"

Louis XVI and the Queen took their seats at the head of the conference table, their faces alight with unconcealed joy. Queen Marie, in particular, recounted Joseph's recent exploits with tireless enthusiasm.

Seeing the opportune moment, Monnot cast a meaningful glance at Joseph, cleared his throat twice, and rose. "Your Majesty the Queen, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has fully demonstrated his extraordinary talent during his tenure at the Police Bureau. I recall you once said that if His Highness performed exceptionally at the city hall, he would be appointed as the Assistant to the Minister of Finance."

Queen Marie nodded with a smile.

Beside them, Soumial, the Keeper of the Seals, frowned slightly and glanced sidelong at the Duke of Orleans. Seeing no reaction, he feigned a quiet mumble, 'His Majesty merely said that the Crown Prince would be allowed to access financial matters...'

Queen Marie's smile faded. Her gaze swept over the others, finally landing on Archbishop Brienne, the Chief Minister. "Archbishop Brienne, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

Upon hearing this, Monnot shot Joseph a reassuring look, implying that everything had already been arranged with Brienne.

The round-faced elder, seated in the second-highest position, rose and bowed to the Queen. Without hesitation, he declared, "Your Majesty, I believe His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is perfectly capable of serving as the Assistant to the Minister of Finance."

He was the Archbishop of Toulouse, serving as the Chief Minister and also the Minister of Finance. With his approval, naturally, no one else dared to raise an objection.

A smile returned to Queen Marie's face. Just as she was about to announce the appointment, Brienne spoke again. "Your Royal Highness, the current financial issues are of grave importance, and His Royal Highness is relatively lacking in experience in this area. Therefore, I request to retain the ultimate decision-making power over financial policy. The Crown Prince must not handle financial affairs without consulting me. I hope Your Majesty will approve."

Joseph inwardly offered a wry smile. 'How terrified is this old man that I'll ruin the national treasury? Who else but me can save your coffers now?'

As he pondered how to persuade the old man, the Duke of Orleans suddenly rose and declared, "Archbishop Brienne, there are myriad matters concerning the national finances, and traditionally, many minor tasks have been handled by the Assistant to the Minister of Finance. If you insist on overseeing every single one of these, it will undoubtedly dissipate your energy greatly. I believe your focus now should be on advancing the new Tax Bill, rather than being distracted by miscellaneous duties."

The meeting hall fell silent. Everyone was taken aback—at the last cabinet meeting, the Duke of Orleans and the Crown Prince had been at loggerheads, nearly coming to blows. Why was he speaking up for Joseph now?

Queen Marie cautiously turned to Brienne. "What duties does the Assistant to the Minister of Finance currently handle?"

"Primarily, managing government loans and National Debt repayments, as well as organizing certain provisions of tax bills."

The Queen's brows relaxed. These were all rather straightforward tasks. Loans followed established long-term agreements with banks, and as for organizing legislation, clerks and lawyers would naturally provide assistance.

Joseph would certainly handle these with ease; it would be an excellent opportunity for him to familiarize himself with financial matters.

She immediately ceased her hesitation, politely consulted Louis XVI for a moment, then announced loudly, "The duties previously handled by the Assistant to the Minister of Finance will be entirely managed by the Crown Prince. All other matters must still receive the approval of Archbishop Brienne.

"Let it be formally proclaimed: the Crown Prince is appointed as the Assistant to the Minister of Finance. Earl Balandine, please prepare the letters of appointment."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Joseph bowed to accept the appointment, uttered a few polite formalities, and then, from the corner of his eye, glanced at the Duke of Orleans, wondering, 'What is that fellow up to?'

Though the Duke of Orleans maintained a composed expression, inwardly he smirked with satisfaction.

He knew that given Joseph's recent surge in influence, it would be impossible to prevent his appointment as Assistant to the Minister of Finance. Thus, days ago, he had already begun plotting to dig a pit for Joseph.

Next month, 6 million livres in National Debt would be due for repayment, and he had already reached an agreement with banking capitalists to suspend all loans to the government.

He had even prepared the newspaper headline: 'Crown Prince's Mismanagement Leads to Government Debt Default, Igniting Financial Crisis.'

Queen Marie offered a few words of encouragement to her son, then turned to Brienne. "Please commence today's agenda."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The round-faced elder retrieved his prepared documents, put on his gold-rimmed spectacles, and announced, "Given the state of this year's fiscal revenue and expenditure, I believe budgetary spending for the latter half of the year must be reduced once again."

He looked towards Queen Marie, who nodded. "Yes, I have reviewed your report and strongly concur with this proposal. On behalf of the Royal Family, I declare that the royal household will reduce its annual expenditure by 1 million livres from now on, to alleviate financial pressure."

"I thank Your Majesty for your benevolence." Brienne then looked at the long-faced, large-nosed middle-aged man seated to the right of the conference table. "I propose that the Navy reduce the construction of one Battleship and two second-rate ships. This will save the national treasury 1.35 million livres."

The Marquis de Castries, Minister of the Navy, immediately sprang from his chair and boomed, "That's impossible! The British fleet already far surpasses ours! We need to build an additional four battleships beyond our original plans just to barely maintain our trade routes. Not only are you refusing to increase allocations, but you want to cut one? Oh, and two second-rate ships as well!"

Queen Marie gestured for him to calm down, then looked at the other ministers. "What are your opinions?"

The vast majority agreed with the cuts. The budget was finite; if the Navy wasn't cut, then their own departments would inevitably be. Compared to that, cutting the Navy seemed preferable.

Marquis de Castries was drenched in anxious sweat. Seeing that he couldn't rely on anyone else, his gaze instinctively fell upon the Crown Prince.

He had heard that the Crown Prince had recently led his guards in a skirmish against gang members in the Saint-Antoine district. He should be a hot-blooded hardliner who would support military expansion!

He immediately turned to Joseph. "Your Royal Highness, do you also agree with Archbishop Brienne's proposed cuts? That would leave us even more powerless against the British!"

"No!" Joseph declared firmly. "Cutting a battleship is inappropriate!"

"Exactly..."

Marquis de Castries had barely uttered two words when Joseph's next sentence stunned him into silence. "I believe that all of the Navy's current Battleship construction plans should be suspended entirely!"