Descending On France 1780
Chapter 113 - 107 Houses with Maids

Chapter 113: 107 Houses with Maids

Anning: "That’s something for much later. Right now, everything seems to be moving in a positive direction."

Duke chuckled, "Indeed, there is an optimistic spirit permeating the Parliament. Many people think that the revolution is over by this point, and only good days lie ahead. Only a few, like myself, are still fraught with worry."

Anning: "Let’s not talk about that anymore. Everyone is here now, butler, bring out the appetizers."

Just as Anning finished speaking, the little young master of the Duke’s household, who had been waiting on the chair, pounded the table: "Yes, I’m hungry, daddy!"

The Duke sighed, nodded to the butler, signalling him to serve the food.

**

After finishing the meal at the Duke’s house, Christina decided to stay at home to have a good chat with her parents, so Anning rode back alone to the manor in the suburbs.

As he approached the manor, Anning saw a lone lantern near the entrance of the manor, isolated from the lights of the manor itself.

Anning adjusted the position of his sword to quickly draw it if needed, and then spurred his horse forward.

Vanni, holding a lantern, waited quietly outside the entrance of the manor.

Anning dismounted and went up to give Vanni a hug.

However, Vanni quickly dodged it.

Vanni: "Show some restraint. The young ladies of the Royal Guard Cavalry are living in the courtyard; they might see us from the terrace."

Anning: "Then let’s wait till we are inside, in a place out of sight, to hug."

"If you must take advantage of me, I’ll have to comply," Vanni replied, "but I’d still prefer not to."

Anning scratched his head: "Alright, alright, it’s just that I’ve missed you so much. It’s been too long."

"It’s only been a few months, not that long," Vanni said and then changed the subject, "I’ve prepared the bathwater and remade the bed with velvet. After the news of your great victory, many people sent gifts to the manor, I’ve piled them in the hall and prepared an inventory list."

Anning: "So the velvet bed was a gift too?"

"Of course, we couldn’t afford velvet with our own finances."

Anning: "Understood. By the way, prepare for us to move to Conte. We will be living there for a long time."

Vanni: "Are you going to resign from your role as a member of the National Assembly? Isn’t it a crucial period for the constitution?"

Anning: "I can’t help it, the situation in Conte is not promising. That’s why I’ve become the Parliament’s military special commissioner stationed in Conte, fully handling affairs there."

"Is this a promotion or a demotion?" Vanni asked curiously.

"Of course, it’s a promotion; I’ve even become a Major General—no, a Brigadier General," Anning replied.

Vanni: "But I heard that you might become the commander of the Paris garrison."

"Who said that?"

"Everyone says so, and also that you’re going to split half of Lafayette’s forces."

"That’s not the case. Anyway, start preparing for the move to Conte tomorrow."

Vanni nodded, "Okay, got it. Are we going to live in a manor in Conte too?"

"No, we’ll reside in a large monastery and, because it’s a monastery without a manor garden, there’s no need to bring gardeners or the like."

Vanni: "A monastery, huh? Is it that kind of fortress-like monastery?"

"Yes, it’s that kind of monastery that resembles a fortress."

"Understood," Vanni nodded gently, "Let’s not talk about this anymore, let’s go inside. Oh, there’s something very important I haven’t said yet, young master, welcome back."

Anning nodded: "Yes, I have returned."

**

In the following days, guests at Anning’s estate were ceaselessly coming and going.

The Duke said he would introduce a major cannon trader to Anning, and the next day the trader came with a letter of introduction from the Duke.

Anning promptly bought one hundred of the latest eight-pound cannons, and also ordered about four thousand flintlock guns and one thousand rifles with rifling.

The trader was greatly shocked by the order for the rifles, as only certain elite Hunters from particular countries used these rifled-muskets.

These rifles are much more accurate and have a longer range than smoothbore guns, but they have a fatal flaw: they are loaded from the muzzle, and to maximize the benefits of the rifling, the bullet must fit tightly against the walls of the barrel.

Thus, loading a rifle is very slow, requiring a small hammer to pound the ramrod to finally push the bullet all the way into the barrel.

Due to the slow firing rate, the accuracy advantage of the rifles is negated.

Moreover, since the rifling has to be carved manually, the production is very slow and the cost is exorbitantly high.

Thus, these rifles are classified as auxiliary weapons, generally assigned to Hunters or skirmishers to harass battalions of foot soldiers.

Anning’s sudden order of a thousand rifles astonished the merchant.

However, no one would refuse business that comes knocking at their door, so eventually the merchant agreed with Anning that the rifled-muskets would be delivered in batches, with production to be completed over the next two years.

When the merchant left the estate, his face was radiant with joy, clearly very satisfied with the transaction.

Anning was also satisfied; after all, it wasn’t his own money being spent, as the Duke was footing the bill, and using another’s generosity was quite excellent.

In fact, what Anning really wanted to acquire was an Austrian Kilandoni air rifle.

In this era, Austria had an elite corps of Air Rifle Hunters, who had greatly troubled the French Army on the battlefield. It was said that many French Army units, in private, did not allow Air Rifle Hunters to surrender and would kill them if captured.

Unfortunately, as soon as Anning made the request, the merchant frowned.

"The Kilandoni air rifles are very expensive, and even in Austria itself, only the Royal Guard are equipped with a small number. I could manage to get a few for Major General to equip his Guards. Arming an army with them is out of the question."

Thus, Anning had to give up his plan of organizing an air rifle corps.

Anning had this idea because, when playing Total War Empire, his favorite troops from Austria were the Air Rifle Hunters, which achieved a very high kill-to-death ratio.

Apart from the arms dealer, most people who visited Anning’s estate brought gifts, and some even brought their daughters.

Anning was still unmarried, and suddenly became the most sought-after bachelor in Paris, with many former noble families eager to marry their daughters to this son of a former leatherworker.

Vanni commented unapologetically: "These nobles pushing their daughters, they look just like old farmers selling livestock at a fair. At times, the master’s living room was packed with a dozen noble ladies, as bustling as a marketplace!"

Anning did consider taking the opportunity to find a wife, thereby fulfilling a persistent longing from his previous life. Unfortunately, for some reason, the trend among Parisian ladies lately was to style their hair very voluminously, like an explosion.

Whenever Anning saw these hairstyles, he felt like critiquing them, totally void of desire.

So in the end, Anning did not take a liking to any of them.

And so, a week passed, and the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille was approaching.

Parliament had designated this day as "Revolution Festival" and had renamed the former Louis XV Square to "Revolution Square" (which would be renamed again to Concord Square after the Bourbon restoration).

Parliament decided to hold a grand celebration at Revolution Square on July 14.