Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

The more than ten people in the room were instantly overjoyed, not expecting such an unexpected windfall that day.

20,000 British Pounds, equivalent to 500,000 francs, was a substantial sum of support; no matter how it was divided, one could get a decent share.

The crowd immediately surrounded Chalmers with fervor, showering him with exaggerated flattery, “You truly are the messenger of freedom and fairness!”

“Your generosity brings hope to all Corsican people!”

“On behalf of the Corsican people, I express our deepest gratitude to you, may Jesus bless you…”

Chalmers smiled and exchanged pleasantries with them, then suddenly turned serious, “However, I have one stipulation regarding the use of this money. The recipient must sever all ties with that Paul guy!”

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in understanding. After all, Paul had embezzled 25,000 British Pounds, which would anger anyone. Moreover, they had just confirmed Paul’s act of betrayal against the organization and were already planning to bring him down.

Girolamo was the first to make a statement: “Mr. Chalmers, rest assured, I will not rest until Paul is ousted from the Restoration organization!” Continue your adventure with My Virtual Library Empire

Chalmers nodded in satisfaction, “That’s great, Mr. Girolamo. I’ve decided to allocate 1,500 British Pounds to support your campaign as a Corsican deputy!”

The intelligence agents and their plants worked in tandem, quickly igniting the enthusiasm of everyone present — 1,500 pounds was 37,000 francs. With such a substantial election fund, their rivals didn’t stand a chance of winning. In reality, even half that amount would be more than enough for a provincial election campaign.

Bartolomeo immediately followed suit, expressing his desire to distance himself from Paul, followed by Eloi, Cesare…

Before long, over ten high-ranking members of the Restoration organization had received between 30,000 to 40,000 francs in support, all beaming with joy and satisfaction, heaping praise upon Chalmers.

However, they all overlooked one issue — 20,000 pounds could have supported many more deputies, but Chalmers had only distributed it among the 13 of them. Their funds were excessively abundant.

In fact, this was the strategy Joseph used to dissolve the Corsican Restoration party — to divide and dissolve, then sway political objectives.

With financial backing, within a short time, these 13 people would become a “dominant group” within the organization and gradually become alienated from the others.

Chalmers could then use his influence over them to encourage them to break away and form another organization.

Soon, the two Restoration organizations competing for political resources would be engaged in fierce competition. Who would remember their original goals by then? It would become a struggle solely for the sake of power.

After all, these deputies had only been involved in election politics for about 20 years. For Joseph, who had witnessed western elections of the future, without the spiritual leader Paul, it would be easy to fragment them by copying a few dirty tricks from partisan struggles.

Keep in mind, the Corsican Restoration organization had its own armed force — the National Self-Defense Force, and also harbored a large number of assassins. Officials the French Government sent to Corsica were often assassinated. Civil unrest never ceased, with the most recent occurring at the end of last year, where nearly a thousand armed rebels battled with the military for over a month before it was barely contained.

If they used the military, as in the time of Louis XV, not only would it be costly, but the results weren’t particularly good — aside from forcing Paul into exile, there were no significant victories.

Historically, even Napoleon had suffered defeat in Corsica.

It was not until Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor and deployed a large number of troops to bloodily purge Corsica that the problem with the Restoration Faction was completely resolved. But because of this act, the Corsican people hated him to the bone; after his exile, they threw his statue into the sea and razed his ancestral home.

Joseph certainly didn’t want to use too much military force in Corsica. Even if he didn’t care about the enormous military expenses and the damage inflicted upon Corsica, the mere fact that military purges would cause the Corsicans to hate the Royal Family even more, was also a loss disproportionate to any gain.

The people, who were alienated from the government, simply couldn’t be expected to earnestly engage in productive construction.

Therefore, Joseph chose a strategy of internal subversion.

By firstly eliminating Paul’s Restoration organization, this cancerous growth, there would no longer be anyone to organize and incite the Corsican populace against the government.

At that time, coupled with suitable policies to improve the livelihood of Corsicans, who would then bother to rebel? Living the enviable life of a French person, wouldn’t making those Russians and Italians jealous be more appealing?

Without the support of the people, the National Self-Defense Force of Corsica naturally couldn’t be maintained. Even if it came to exterminating a small number of stubborn elements, it would still be much easier compared to historical situations.

At present, it seems that after several months of operations by the intelligence service, the Corsican strategy is beginning to show effectiveness, just waiting for the final roundup.

…

London.

Paul’s villa had been completely renovated, and there were no signs that it had once been burned.

Outside the villa gate, Mr. Paul and Miss Isabella in the carriage shared a tender moment, reluctantly waving goodbye before he turned around, only to hear someone anxiously calling out in Italian, “Uncle, you’ve finally returned. I’ve been waiting for you here for hours.”

Paul looked towards the voice and saw his nephew Cesari-Colonna Paoli, also the second in command of the Corsican National Self-Defense Force, standing at the doorway.

“Cesari, how did you get here?” he immediately beamed with joy, stepping forward to embrace his nephew tightly.

Cesari patted his back hastily, then quickly created some distance, his expression grave, “Uncle, the situation is somewhat bad.”

“Oh? What happened?” Paul, sensing something amiss, hurriedly pulled him into the house and went straight to the study on the second floor.

Cesari locked the door, then urgently said, “At last week’s routine meeting, Bartolomeo and Cesare and others accused you of embezzling large amounts of funding, as well as colluding with the French people to betray the Restoration organization, demanding the revocation of your leadership and expulsion from the organization!”

Paul’s face changed at the news, but he soon smiled, “Such baseless accusations will not be believed by anyone.”

“No, Uncle, they have produced evidence,” Cesari recounted how Paul had acquired properties in the United States, and how the timing of the riots was leaked.

“They’re framing me!” Paul roared in anger, “That money was burned, and I never had any contact with the French!”

“I absolutely believe you,” Cesari hurriedly said, “But within the organization, a public opinion unfavorable to you has formed.

“During last week’s vote against you, there were 19 in favor of expelling you, and another 11 agreed to suspend your leadership of the organization. 5 abstained.”

“Damn these bastards!” Paul fumed, veins throbbing on his forehead. There were about 60 people with voting rights for major events within the Restoration organization. Subtracting those not in Corsica, there should be nearly 50 people attending the meeting. Out of them, 30 were against him.

He was less than 2 votes away from the two-thirds threshold for passage!