บท 17: High Council
With the sun's rays peeking through the curtains I woke up.
Sitting up I stretched my arms and neck.
Probably due to my movements Marie who was sleeping next to me woke up.
"Morning."
"Morning, Louis. Is it time to wake up?"
"No, I imagine we still have some time."
Hearing my words Marie just rolled on her other side and went to sleep.
I smiled at that, Marie was akin to a zombie in the mornings.
Well, I will read a book till the servants come, so with that, I pushed my pillow up and grabbed a book that was lying on the table next to our bed.
While reading a book and waiting for servants to come I realized something important.
Yes, I was waiting for servants to come...
If it was a couple of weeks ago I would just get up, get dressed, and start my day, while now I'm waiting for servants.
It is not that only, I began to act more like a noble, holding my head high, and copying some of the mannerisms of other nobles and the King.
It was strange as I didn't pay any attention to my posture or how I talked and walked or did other mundane things, now though I started
subconsciously act on those details.
I started thinking deeper, what else changed?
My thought process was the same, morals were mostly the same.
Then I looked to my left, Marie was sleeping her long white hair contouring her beautiful face.
Well, this is the only thing that changed, I began accepting my fate and Marie as my wife, while bedding her was still a no for me, but I knew that after a year I will have to swallow my morals and do it, that's why I was spending a lot of time with her, trying to get her to know better and now that I think about it I began to like her, while there was nothing too serious for now, yes we spend a lot of time together, but the most thing we did was hold our hands together.
It was like I was hypnotizing myself just to fall for her faster.
Marie Antoinette was a good woman, she was smart at least for this time period, I guess that came with her having a noble education, she was quite a social butterfly as she could get along with almost anyone being it a small child or an old man/woman, that made her a pleasant company as we could talk for hours about everything and nothing at the same time, and lastly, I liked that I wasn't alone trying to get closer to her, as she was quite active too, inviting me to tea parties, balls or just for a walk, there was a couple of times where she entered my room while I was reading or studying just to ask if I needed something.
Soon the door opened and my musings came to the end as Aldric came in with other servants.
"Ah, Your Royal Highness, you're awake, while I see her Royal Highness is still sleeping."
Adlar replied as he immediately directed the servants to prepare my clothes and others to wake up Marie.
"I woke up a couple of minutes earlier."
I replied to him while the servants helped me get dressed.
"You should have called for us, Your Royal Highness."
"I was reading a book, Aldric, so it's fine."
"As you say, Your Royal Highness."
Then the servants helped us get dressed so we could start our day.
And the first order of business was breakfast with all of the royal family eating together.
After that the Royal family split up with my siblings going to their studies, Marie was to attend a tea party with other young noblewomen, while I was to attend a council, High Council to be exact, which was the most important one of the hundreds of them, as you could only attend it if you are invited, not even a dauphin (me) or a first minister can't enter the meeting if he is not invited by the king. I was invited to one after my marriage with Marie and I attended some others, but they like all the other councils most of the time were full of bootlicking and akin to social gatherings for nobles, then a governing apparatus.
But this one was different, the King, me, and all of the ministers of France with all the important nobles were invited today, and then some more people, it will be the highest gathering of people since I started attending council meetings, the High Council will be held in the State Council room which was located next to King's Chamber.
As I entered the State council room there were already a couple of people in attendance and talking, while one of the servants guided me to my seat which was right of the king, with the King sitting at the end of the rectangle table, the table was already papered with snacks and tea. This was more like a gathering than a State meeting, where matters of great importance are discussed and acted upon.
A couple of nobles came to greet me and I greeted them back, but before I could start making small talk or get to know the individuals present, King Louis XV entered, followed by Madame du Barry and the Ministers of France.
Rene de Maupeou, First Minister of State, Chancellor of France, and the Keeper of the Seal.
Joseph Marie Terray, Controller-General of Finances.
Duc d'Aiguillon, The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Louis Francois de Monteynard, The Secretary of State for War.
Pierre-Etienne Bourgeois de Boynes, The Secretary of State for the Navy.
Louis Phelypeaux, The Secretary of State of the Maison du Roi.
All of the nobles bowed as soon as the King entered yet he paid them no mind, with regal steps he came to his chair which the servant quickly moved and King Louis XV sat down.
"By my sovereign power and the blessing of God, I declare the start of the High Council!"
The most important people who are me, Madame Du Barry, The Secretaries of France, and the most powerful nobles sat down at the table, while others had chairs further away from the table and then a couple of people were standing.
After a couple of more ceremonial chatter, Rene de Moupeu rose from his seat.
"Would please Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne, The Duke of Bouillon, present his case towards the council."
The First Minister of State addressed the crowd sternly, his voice covering the entire room and now everyone has their attention on him.
On the other end of the table a man gently stood up his movements were full of grace and purpose, he was Godefroy a middle age man around his forties, with a slightly balding head at the front and a big nose, with dark eyebrows like a sickle, he was dressed in blue and white.
"Your majesty, By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois, The Well-Beloved. I'm Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne, The Duke of Bouillon."
After the words of the Duke, I observed the King as he tilted his head a tad bit upwards, puffed his chest, and with a pleased smile splattered across his face nodded to the Duke who continued.
"I bring news that in my province of Bouillon there was a riot, due to grain prices, that was quickly put down."
Godfrey stopped as all of the nobles straightened up, even I was surprised to hear that there were riots due to grain.
"As we know this is not the first riot breaking out due to high grain prices as southern realm peasants were the first to start rioting, but now I'm afraid the same problem affects the northern realms as it is not only me who had riots but other dukes as well."
It was to be noted that one of the reasons that the French Revolution happened was the price of bread but to think that even in 1771 there was such a problem... I found my respect grow for the French people as they have had the patience to wait for 18 years till 1789 with high bread prices.
The further we go the more I feel that the throne instead of being made of hot rocks suddenly became one on top of an active volcano, such deeply rooted problems will have to be dealt quickly if I'm to survive, but how to deal with them in the first place?
"I humbly ask the His Majesty to show leniency and lower the prices of the grain for the northern provinces and give some of the royal supplies as a relief."
"I highly disagree, if northern dukes want relief, then the South asks for the same and some gold to compensate for the loses inflicted during the riots."
Another duke stood up and the room quickly became one big bickering mess as everyone started bringing their own agenda and trying to insult or humiliate the other party.
It still surprised me that they started bickering and the King didn't say a word to stop them, instead, he was sitting still and just watching everything play out like he was watching an amusing film.
"GENTLEMEN!"
Rene de Maupeou, First Minister of State, raised his voice a bit to get everyone's attention.
"Did you forget that you are in the presence of His Majesty and His Royal Highness?"
The voices of the dukes died down and everybody went to their seats, then Rene continued.
"Now then, I'm pleased that The Duke of Bouillon for bringing down the riots and getting this situation under control and firming us of the situation. But I'm sat to say we can't send any relief as The Southern Dukes make a good point that we then should send something to them too and we want to reduce money wastage to the minimum."
"But Sir-!"
"I understand you Sir Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne, I really do, but if we give you grain from the Royal storages, the other will demand that too and then the Crown will be left with nothing, and when a plague or famine comes we will be left with nothing just because we gave everything out."
"But what about the grain prices, if they were not that high this situation could be avoided."
One of the gathered nobles said and others nodded their heads in approval.
"I'm afraid we can't really do that too."
Rene said and the nobles frowned.
"This is not for you sir to decide! We are in the presence of His Majesty, he and he alone can only say what is good for the realm."
One of the nobles rose up and proclaimed loudly. Rene immediately glared daggers at that man, while other nobles started rallying behind that man.
"What is your name?"
The King inquired the man.
"Thibault Paquet, Representor from the Paris Parlament."
The man did a quick bow.
"Ah, then we will not do anything."
The King said and Thibault frowned.
"Your Majesty-"
"We. Will do. Nothing. Or are you going to defy my will?"
I could see that Paris Parlament Representor wanted to say something, but he quickly looked around and everyone was staring at him, then he simply sat down.
"Good, we will keep the situation as it is if the situation worsens then we will take action."
The King said and the room was silent.
"Your Majesty, please reconsider, the grain prices are-"
Another noble started talking.
"I said my will, obey!"
"Y-yes, Your Majesty!"
"Now that is sorted let's move on to another topic."
The King said and then Duc d'Aiguillon, The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs rose up from his seat.
"As you know there is a war going on in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Charles François Dumouriez was sent as an aid for the Bar Confederation. While the Confederation found success early on, but now the situation changed, at the start of the year the Confederation saw defeats in Greater Poland, and after the battle of Dobra and Błonie, they completely stopped their activities in Lithuanian territory and now they are forced into a mostly defensive, passive stance, the Russians have full control of Eastern realms and the capital Krakow, most of the nobles are in Russian pockets. Me and Sir Louis Francois de Monteynard, The Secretary of State for War, think that there is no way for the Bar Confederation to get back, and slowly they are losing support from Austria and Prussia, as soon as one of them stops their support, defeat will be inevitable, Hereby I recommend withdrawing from the matter entirely."
"Agreed, you can recall Charles François Dumouriez back, we will withdraw from Poland."
The King said, with the nobles agreeing.
But I found it strange as Louis XV's wife was Marie Leszczyńska, the daughter of Stanisław I Leszczyński of the Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth, thus tying the Commonwealth and France into an alliance in form of a political marriage, yet I don't remember France doing anything about the partitions of Poland, I guess Marie Leszczyńska died and the alliance ended, plus with Poland electing their Kings there was no one tying France and the Commonwealth, and now we have an alliance with Austria and Holy Roman Empire with mine marriage to Marie Antoinette. Even then This kind of behavior I managed to see occurring over and over in meetings, the King doesn't care that much about Europe, instead, he limits his interests to France.
Although it should be noted that Louis XV forsake the major politics of Europe because he lost the seven-year war, War of the Austrian Succession, and War of the Polish Succession(sort of), France was left limping, it was not the same country during Louis XIV rain, were France could throw its weight all around Europe and with the giant debt left after the war, the current King Louis XV prioritized internal politics over external ones as long as they don't pose a direct threat to France.
The rest of the High Council nothing of note happened, just everyone talking over the general situation of France and the world, while a couple of nobles presented their own agendas for various projects wanting the financial help of the crown.
"I degree, The High Council to be over!"
The King said and the nobles bowed and started leaving.
"Ah, Joseph Marie Terray, may I have a couple of minutes of your time."
I said to the Controller-General of Finances as he stood up from his chair.
"Your Royal Highness. Of course, how may I help you?"
The elderly Joseph Marie Terray replied.
"Can we take this to your office?"
I asked him and he looked at his colleagues who nodded.
"Of course, please follow me, Your Royal Highness."
"Lead the way, Sir."
I proceed to follow Joseph Marie Terray to his office.
As we neared the office door Joseph Marie Terray opened it and invited me inside.
The room itself was tidy, with bookshelves on the left and right, and a desk at the end with a window behind it, it was quite simple when you compare it to the other rooms which are pompous, full of extravagant embroidery, and adornment in gold.
I took the master seat at the desk and the Controller-General sat in front of me.
"Your Royal Highness, what do you require of me?"
The elderly man asked me.
"I want to ask about the grain."
"Ah I see, I think everything was told in the meeting?"
"Yes it was, but no concrete information was given, why the prices are high, why there is a shortage?"
"Your Highness, have you heard of a saying: don't put your hand there where a dog doesn't put his nose?"
I frowned at that, he was trying to hide.
"Risks come from not knowing with what are you dealing with, I want to know if this will be a problem and how can we fix it, I don't want to inherit a starving kingdom."
I said to him and Joseph Marie Terray just looked into my eyes silently.
"Okay, I will show you, Your Royal Highness."
He got up and went to the right bookshelves after he quickly scrims through a couple of books he picked up one with a Burgundy color cover he then brought it to the table and quickly flipped through the pages and then he gave me it.
"This is the yield of the grain harvest of the last year."
I looked at the book and understood nothing there were numbers and names, but the rest were a mess.
"Not turn 3 pages back and you will see the grain yield of 1769."
I did as he told me and then looked at the page and nodded, yep I understand nothing, but I don't want to ask him anything as then I would look quite ignorant.
"As you see 1769 and 1770 grain yield is low when we compare it for example to 1765."
"Is it really that big to make a difference?"
I asked him and he looked at the book again.
"If it was one year or two off then it would be nothing but as we can see the grain yield is well below average for three years straight, even grapes for wine are the same, numbers don't lie, Your Royal Highness."
Ah now I understand the harvest is low does the supply dwindles while the demand stays the same, thus the prices go up. But what I don't understand is why Joseph Marie Terray instead of regulating prices that they would be affordable instead put them high up.
"Why haven't you told everyone this today? It would have saved a lot of questions and demands."
I asked him, as I haven't seen any need to keep this a secret.
"Your Royal Highness, who do you think has the most money in France?"
He answered my question with another question. This question was quite an easy one so I replied.
"Nobles and merchants course."
"Right, and now if they would know that the grain yield is low, what do you think they do?"
I began to think, what would they do? A powerful people with a lot of money and grain supply being low...
"They would buy a lot of it."
I answered him and he nodded.
"Yes and that would cause further trouble as they would buy a lot of it, leaving very little for the peasants, and then they would sell it for a huge profit. Thus as I took my office in 1770 I immediately bought a lot of grain and regulated the prices and restricting the free trade of grain."
"But why keep the prices so high? and why did you buy them instead of leaving them in the market?"
I asked the Controller-General.
"Quite simply, what does a man require the most to live? Food, water and shelter, and bread is the most common food that we eat, so while this sounds like I'm exploiting our people's suffering, I kept the prices high so I could gather extra revenue and taxes from it. For why I bought them, it is to act as a backup if we are to face starvation, if it does not come to that then I will start selling the grain supply at a low price and stabilize the prices."
"Are you not afraid of incurring the wrath of the people and nobles?"
I asked him because his plans had a lot of risks.
"Your Royal Highness, have you heard the word at the court of Pacte de Famine?"
He asked me sternly.
"No"
I genuinely never heard of it nor do I have a recollection of it being mentioned in any books.
"It is a theory that foods, especially grain, were artificially made to be in high prices so that I could profit from it."
He replied.
"But is kinda truth no? In its own twisted way."
I replied to him and the Joseph Terray just smiled.
"The best lies have the grain of truth in them."
"Are you not afraid that the King will bend to the pressure and you will be made a scapegoat?"
"No, Your Royal Highness, I'm not, if it comes to that, then it means God made it this way."
Joseph Marie Terray, Controller-General of Finances replied.
"And, Your Royal Highness, please keep it a secret."
"You have my word."
"Thank you, Your Royal Highness."
Then I stood up and he did too.
"Thank you for your time, Sir."
"It was my pleasure."
Joseph Terray opened the door for me and bowed as I left.
As I walked through the corridors, I mused how did Royalty fell with men like Joseph Marie Terray behind them? I hope he will be one of my future ministers as well.
...
Joseph Marie Terray, Controller-General of Finances POV
I sat at my desk, looking through the various reports as the door of my office opened, and came in a colleague of mine.
Rene de Maupeou, First Minister of State, Chancellor of France, and the Keeper of the Seal.
I greeted him and he quietly took a seat, yet he didn't utter a word. I took no mind to his silence as I kept on working.
"So how did the meeting with his Royal Highness go?"
He asked me.
"It was...good."
I asked him while I made a couple of calculations in my mind and put them on the paper.
"What did he want from you?"
"The truth."
"The truth."
He said and I closed the book I was writing in as I looked up into his eyes.
"He asked about today's High Council, the grain issue to be exact."
"Did you tell him?"
I nodded
"I did, I told him everything."
"Was it wise?"
My colleague asked and I understand him as well, but I saw no risk in telling the Dauphin everything as the further I observed him the further he impressed me, he was still rough around the edges but he is making good progress.
"It will be alright, I told him to keep it a secret and he gave me his word."
"Ha, well if you say so. Anyway, I wanted to ask you if there is a way to lower the grain prices?"
I looked at him and then stood up, I went towards the left bookshelf and picked up a book with a brown cover.
Let's see, what do the numbers tell me... I quickly looked at the numbers and made some calculations.
"I can lower it by 0.2 livres, will that be satisfactory?"
I asked Rene and he smiled and nodded.
"Yes it is, it will please the dukes and people alike. Well then that's it I will leave you to your work Joseph."
"Farewell."
I said as he went away as quickly as he came in.
Now then let's finish reviewing the revenue from exports.
A/N: Ayy I finished.
While it may not look like it, but I have rewritten this chapter 2 times as I'm not a politician so I didn't know how to make everything sound interesting, as I observed my own country's parliament all I saw is them chilling, having small talk and talking or looking to their phones, while in all honesty, they worked only 15minutes max in a 2h session.
Next, during the High Council, I wanted to use really fancy words and make it feel like a theatrical play instead of political bickering, but I found my lexicon quite limited in that regard, I probably need to read Shakespeare or something to up my fancy word game and sound all posh and proper.
My ramblings are finished
Now I hope you are all satisfied with this chapter as the next two will be time skips and then we will get some 007 action.
Join DC as I will be online for two hours after this goes online: https://discord.gg/SUeu6Ddejz
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