Chapter 79 Declaration of War

Dasumial and Virzhin immediately looked towards the Duke of Orleans - they had made a careful plan, but they did not expect this situation.

According to the usual pattern of political struggle, when they suddenly attack, the unprepared Brian can only have two responses:

First, he accepted the defeat and directly announced his resignation.

Second, he tried to shirk the blame and wait until the cabinet meeting was over before looking for political help to break the situation.

And I have long been prepared to mobilize more nobles and unite the banking industry to put pressure on the queen. What awaits Brian in the end is still the fate of being dismissed.

However, who knew Brian would actually fight back on the spot!

The Duke of Orleans frowned and said coldly: "Archbishop Briand, you were unable to do anything to promote the tax bill before, how come you are so confident all of a sudden?

"France's financial situation is already extremely serious and if you still fail to get the bill passed in two months..."

Brian glanced at Joseph out of the corner of his eye, and when he saw his affirmative look, he immediately became worried and said loudly: "Duke Orleans, how do you know that the previous few times were not my tests of the High Court? And the bill was rejected. It’s also part of my overall plan.”

He is also a veteran in politics, telling the truth and lies at the drop of a hat.

He looked at Queen Mary again and said resolutely: "Your Majesty, if the tax bill has not been registered in two months, please exile me to Corsica!"

France has a tradition of exiling high-ranking officials who have made mistakes, but they are usually exiled to remote towns such as Lorraine or Perpignan. Exiling to an island outside the mainland is a very serious punishment.

In fact, Brian had expected that he would be dismissed sooner or later, and he was originally prepared to accept it calmly, but for some reason, he had a hunch at that moment that the crown prince could really get the bill passed!

He was not willing to let his political life end, so he immediately made a decision - believe in the crown prince and take a big gamble!

Seeing the hesitation in the Queen's eyes, the Duke of Orleans immediately said loudly: "There is no need to waste another two months. Mr. Necker should be asked to save France's finances immediately!"

Joseph smiled calmly and said: "May I ask the Duke of Orleans, is Mr. Necker confident that the tax bill will be passed within two months?"

The Duke of Orleans hesitated. He himself was one of the masterminds behind blocking the tax bill, so he could only shake his head: "Probably not..."

Joseph immediately turned to the queen: "Your Majesty, since Mr. Necker can't do it, what reason do we have for not giving Archbishop Briand a chance?"

Orleans said anxiously: "Your Majesty, Archbishop Briand will only worsen the financial situation!"

Joseph immediately said: "Only by passing the tax bill can the financial situation be improved. And Mr. Necker can't do anything about it."

In fact, he also knew that charging more taxes from the nobles would only be better than nothing for the French finance. But whether this bill is passed or not is an important symbolic event in the contest between the royal power and the big aristocratic group! Whoever loses will be severely defeated on the political battlefield.

Therefore, this bill must be passed!

Seeing the tit-for-tat confrontation between the two, Queen Mary couldn't help but rub her brows tiredly. The weight of these national events was still too heavy for a woman like her.

Her eyes wandered back and forth between Joseph and the Duke of Orleans. Although the former seemed to make more sense, the latter was a minister with rich political experience, and his opinions might be more worthy of reference.

She then thought of Brian's confident look, as if he really had a chance to win, but the attitudes of the big nobles in the "Meeting of Nobles" and the banking industry also had to be considered...

She just felt that various factors were in a melee in her head, and she didn't know who to listen to for a while.

For a long time, Queen Mary looked to the other cabinet ministers for help: "What do you think of this matter?"

None of the neutral cabinet ministers wanted to take sides rashly, so they all bowed their heads and remained silent. Home Secretary Mono opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Seeing that no one said anything, the Queen looked at the Duke of Orleans and Brian again, and finally folded her hands feebly on the conference table in front of her, and said softly: "Then, whether Archbishop Brian will continue to be in charge of financial affairs, until the two Regarding the matter a few months later, I urge you to make a fair judgment based on the common interests of all France.

"I have decided to temporarily adjourn the meeting and continue to hold a cabinet meeting tomorrow to make a cabinet decision on this matter."

The "resolution" she refers to is a collective vote by cabinet ministers on difficult-to-decided government affairs.

After she made the announcement, as if she had exhausted all her strength, she motioned for the meeting to end, and she took the lead in walking towards the golden door with the support of the maid.

Joseph frowned secretly. He did not expect that the queen was so lacking in decision-making and courage that she actually left the problem to her ministers.

The Duke of Orleans gave Brian a proud look, said nothing, and left the conference hall with his group of people.

The two sides have declared war, and there is no room for compromise. All that is left is to use their own methods to engage in political compromise.

…

Joseph and Brian came to the chancellor's office together.

After closing the door, Brian immediately leaned forward and said, "Thank you for your help, Your Highness. You saved me and France's finances."

Then he eagerly asked the question he was most concerned about: "Please tell me the truth. Are you really sure that the bill will be passed?"

Joseph knew that the interests of the two were now tied together, so there was no need to worry about him leaking the secret. He nodded and said, "Please rest assured, I am sure.

"Although the 'Conference of Nobles' seems to be a political monster that is difficult to fight, it actually has two fatal weaknesses.

"First, it is not a very united whole, but a union of the great nobles and the capital nobles... You can simply understand it as the new nobles who have quickly accumulated a lot of wealth. We can divide and disintegrate it.

"Second, it relies too much on the High Court. Without the support of the High Court, they are just a group of ordinary nobles without power. And the High Court is corrupt by nature, and there are many handles that can be attacked. "

Brian heard this and nodded thoughtfully: "Your analysis is very thorough, but we only have two months..."

Joseph immediately smiled and said, "Please rest assured. Now I have enough interests and means to divide the 'Conference of Nobles', and I also have the public opinion tools that can make the High Court surrender. In addition to your political capital, as long as it is handled properly, it will take less than two months to pass the bill. "

Brian's eyes suddenly lit up, and until this moment, he was finally sure that his bet was right!

As the two were talking, they heard the voice of Emmanuel: "Your Highness, Count Monod is here."

Brian and Joseph looked at each other, and then said loudly: "Please come in, the door is not locked."

The door was pushed open, and the Minister of the Interior Monod walked in with a serious look.

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