Napoleon in 1812

Chapter 38

7. Gold Rush – 2

“I will not have any mercy for the sneaky rats who have stolen the imperial government’s budget and have eaten the people’s back and flesh!”

As soon as the Imperial Council’s meeting began, Napoleon shouted with visible veins on his neck. The Imperial Council, the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury Administration already had a list of local officials, bourgeois and financiers who were benefiting from fraud. What good could come from hesitating? They immediately issued the highest-level arrest warrants for those on the list. And this great event was soon revealed to the French people through the leading media of the Empire.

Ghosts of the forgotten past engulf the Empire! The reappearance of tax collectors!

The Imperial Treasury Department declared: ‘The total amount of fraudulent taxes made in the Empire so far is estimated to reach 600 million francs…’

Was it because of the tax collectors that the taxes have soared so much?

Hourra (Hooray)! Our Majesty the Emperor promised severe punishment for the economic criminals who have shaken the Empire!

The people of Paris still had vivid memories and raw records of the days when they were oppressed and suffered amid the contradictions and irrationalities of the Ancien Régime. Among the many vices of the old system, there was something hellish for the French people, the tax collectors.

At the end of the 18th century, when the entire country suffered from abnormal weather, disasters, and wars, these vicious tax collectors extorted the taxes of the poor and hungry people in double and triple, and hundreds of thousands of people died across France. After the historical revolution broke out, these tyrannic people were sent to the guillotine.

It shocked the French citizens that there were still remnants of the tax collectors, who were thought to have been completely uprooted by the revolution. Those remnants had been left and had been exploiting and extorting their taxes in the middle? It was like an ember thrown into a gunpowder storage.

Soon after, a violent explosion broke out and swept all over France. Their anger was hotter and rougher than Mount Vesuvius, which burned Pompeii to ashes.

“Guillotine the dirty tax collectors!”

“Guillotine for the wicked tax collectors!”

“We want a real ‘revolution’. Your Majesty!”

It was as expected. All the citizens of Paris came to the streets with fierce faces, holding pickets. They demanded the best punishment for those who illegally took advantage of their taxes. During the revolutionary government, the guillotine was used steadily, but when Napoleon Bonaparte rose to the throne, he removed objects like guillotines that symbolized the revolution and prohibited any mention of it.

However, the citizens were putting the word ‘guillotine’ back in their mouths. And even the dangerous word ‘revolution’ popped up.

It was possible because Napoleon had already tolerated a wide range of freedom of expression, but the learning effects of censorship and surveillance that they had received for years could not be ignored. Nevertheless, if these extreme words were brought up during protests, one could see how strong and extreme the flames of anger emanated from the French people were.

The public opinion was already so intense that it did not matter whether the Imperial Justice Ministry declared severe punishment or not. Napoleon smiled secretly as he heard the people shouting to kill them as soon as possible.

“It went as planned.”

It was obviously Napoleon’s work that broke the tax fraud case through the media. As the war lasted longer, war taxes continued to rise, prices fluctuated, and standards for conscription were lowered. At a time when French public sentiment had become brutal and the citizens’ support for Napoleon was fading, there were limits to policies such as lowering tax revenues or returning to the past conscription standards to reverse the situation.

The cold but best way was to make a scapegoat.

‘Why did your taxes continue to rise? In fact, it’s because tax collectors intercepted it in the middle.’

Napoleon had never directly uttered the above remark. However, he just laid the groundwork so that citizens could think of the above situation. Thanks to this, complaints about the imperial government and Napoleon turned all to the tax collectors with this one turn of events.

Of course, Napoleon had no intention of sending the tax collectors to the guillotine, as most people wished.

‘No matter how much they stole, they’re different from the infamous real tax collectors of the old system. I can’t make an emotional judgment based on public opinion.’

These people were bureaucrats, bourgeois and financiers. That meant that they had a lot of money. Local officials, not to mention bourgeois and financiers, had been gathering quite a fortune while stealing. Moreover, they were now quite frightened by the public opinion of the French people, who were now boiling like wildfire and crying for guillotine.

Was it not suitable enough for a ‘negotiation?

‘They will be punished by proper legal procedures, not by ruthless punishment, and the imperial government will be able to secure reasonable tax revenues.’

They would have to give up more than what they took, anyway. Then how beautiful would it be if a reasonable process based on the law was combined here? Currently, a thorough investigation into the assets of fraudulent recipients who were expected to be arrested was being conducted by the Ministry of Finance.

Through this, they would decide whether to rip off twice the amount of illegal receipts, three times, or more. This would give France a short grace period. Shocked by the empty vaults of the French Empire, he had found some way to save money.

Only then could Napoleon breathe a sigh of relief.

==

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The Fleury Palace was the palace where Marie-Louise lived, but it was also where Napoleon II was born and raised.

Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s unique legitimate son. Unless there is an unexpected change, he would be the next Emperor with absolute power and inherit and run this huge Empire. Napoleon, the current French Emperor, thought differently, but… that was the way people looked at him anyway.

‘This little boy is my son…’

Napoleon gazed at Napoleon François Joseph Charles Bonaparte, 111 his son, who had bright eyes.

He put his hand between his little son’s armpits and lifted him up. Mrs. Montesquiou, 21 who was in charge of raising the child, had a hard look on her face, like she wanted to say something, but Napoleon did not care. There was no such thing as a fateful attraction for your own blood like in a novel.

In fact, this boy was the son of the original owner of this body, Nabot, but Napoleon himself did not want to have one. He did not feel any paternal love. However, he wanted to raise his son as a good man who could take care of himself even if he was not part of an imperial family.

Struggling

“Well… Your Majesty, if you hold His Highness Charles up and lift him up in that way, he might be uncomfortable.”

“So how can I hold him so he can feel comfortable?”

“Please hand over His Highness Charles to me for a moment… so that he can rest a bit…”

Lady Montesquiou held Charles (Napoleon II) in a skillful manner. Charles’ expression of discomfort as he struggled calmed down.

Napoleon looked at him mysteriously.

“This little guy is already starting to assert himself.”

“If we don’t listen to what he wants, he gets angry and annoyed. He also understands simple everyday words.”

“Oh, really? Is this kid a genius?”

“…He’s not. His Highness Charles is now one and a half years old. Other babies are like this at this age.”

Looking at Napoleon again, Mrs. Montesquiou felt something strange. She remembered having a similar conversation with the Emperor before he left for Russia, and she had also taught him how to hold a baby. But it was as if it were his first time learning… Whether Mrs. Montesquiou raised a question mark in her head or not, Napoleon looked carefully at Charles again. Delicate features, a child’s unique white skin, plump cheeks, and a savory and sweet body smell. All babies were cute enough to conquer adults. But Charles looked especially cute and lovely.

He just thought that he did not feel paternal love… Napoleon laughed unconsciously.

Giggle

“Huh? His Highness Charles laughed along. I think he recognizes his father.”

“It’s been a few months since we’ve seen each other, so i don’t think he recognizes his father. It’s just that a weird person laughs in front of him, so he laughs, too.”

Even while saying that, a smile was drawn on Napoleon’s face.

His first son… It was much better than he thought. Beside that, Charles smiled as well.

“That’s a good smile. Don’t you ever cry?”

“He does. He cried all day yesterday, too. I’m sorry to tell you this, but… His Highness Charles is quite picky.”

“All the people in my family are. I grew up hearing my angry mother saying that she was raising ugly children.”

Mrs. Montesquiou only smiled awkwardly at the words.

Mrs. Montesquiou and a nanny said that Charles’ cries were harsh, stubborn and wicked, but he never cried when he was with Napoleon. As if fascinated, he looked at him with sparkling eyes, turned his head, looked at him again, and turned it again and again when the eyes met.

That was why it felt like he recognized his father and was acting cute.

“How long has it been since I’ve spent this much time laying down heavy responsibilities and duties? It’s almost the first time since I’ve come to this world.’

Although he did not originally want a son, he lost track of time with this smart and bold guy.

“But where is the Empress, have you not heard from her? It’s been a while since I’ve come to the Fleury Palace, but how come she hasn’t shown her face yet?”

He did not want to burden Marie-Louise, so he deliberately visited the palace just in time for her outing. After spending time with Charles, he was planning to leave when Marie-Louise came back so that she could take over Charles. Mrs. Montesquiou did not seem to know. It was the same for the nannies.

Napoleon clicked his tongue inside.

Charles needed his mother more than anyone else, but she had been away from the palace for hours, leaving her one-year-old son. Marie-Louise did not seem to be a very good parent either.

‘Who’s cursing who? It’s the same for me so far.’

Napoleon thought that he should pay more attention to his son in the future while watching Charles playing and putting the toys brought by his nanny in his mouth. He did not want to leave Charles with a personality flaw created by an unstable family, like himself and the Bonaparte family.

TL notes

[1] Napoleon II

[2] Louise Charlotte Françoise de Montesquiou