Descending On France 1780
Chapter 123 - 117 The problem lies in the economy, fool

Chapter 123: 117 The problem lies in the economy, fool

These days, Anning’s estate is buzzing with activity.

Large numbers of women and former military officers are lining up to enlist with Anning.

Anning assigned the screening of the women to Christina and her battalion commander, then reviewed the enlisting officers with Lazar Kano.

There were so many officers enlisting that Anning suddenly had a new idea and pulled Lazar Kano into a small cabin next to the study where they interviewed the officers, earnestly seeking his opinion: "With so many officers, we can’t just send them all to a training and instruction battalion, can we?"

Lazar Kano: "Since there are so many officers, why not just send them directly to the units?"

Anning: "Do you think that will be okay?"

Lazar Kano smirked: "There will definitely be problems. The soldiers of the National Guard have been enlightened by the revolution and have little respect for the old officer masters, and your troops still have this Soldier Committee thing, I’m afraid there will soon be conflicts between soldiers and officers."

"So," Anning clapped his hands, "I think we should directly form a troop composed of old officers and sergeants, and call it the ’Model Troop.’"

Lazar Kano: "You mean, gather all the officers and sergeants of noble origin together?"

"Yes, sergeants as privates, platoon leaders as lieutenants, company commanders as captains or even majors..."

"This will cost a lot of money, so much just to establish a model troop, is that appropriate?" Lazar Kano asked, puzzled.

Anning: "Don’t worry about the money, I’ve confiscated quite a lot of Church property in Conte, I can still support a company composed entirely of nobles."

Lazar Kano: "Since you say so, I have no objections. And having such a troop entirely made up of nobles, if operated properly later, could ignite a competitive spirit in the troops of common origin."

Anning clapped his hands: "Good, then it’s settled."

Cano: "So, what should we call this all-noble troop? I think calling it directly ’Model Troop’ is not very good, it means to let the commoners learn from the nobles, which might be objected to by the commoners."

Anning scratched his head, he hadn’t thought about it thoroughly when he first brought it up, the inspiration came directly from two hundred years later, during the Soviet Revolution, from Deng Nijin’s White Army, where the troop was basically made up entirely of old Russian officers and sergeants, with majors only serving as company commanders.

After thinking for a few seconds, Anning slapped his forehead: "How about calling it the ’New Noble Company’, after all, they are all loyal to the new regime as new nobles."

Lazar Kano frowned: "New Noble Company... sounds a bit odd."

Clearly Lazar Kano had objections to this name, Anning also felt something was off, but he was very bad at naming, he could only pick from the existing names, so after holding it in for a few seconds, he came up with a new suggestion: "Then maybe call it ’Ultimate Warriors’?"

Cano: "That sounds like it has nothing to do with nobles."

"Then how about ’Emperor’s Fist’?"

Cano: "So this becomes the French King’s troop now, it will be seen as Royalist, your friends are all from the Mountain Faction, even fewer from the Girondists. Moreover, most importantly, we are not an Empire, the French King is not an Emperor..."

Anning, feeling a bit reckless, blurted out: "They are the twilight remnants of the gone Feudal Era, let’s just call them ’Twilight Knights’, abbreviated as ’Grey Knights’."

"Hmm?" Cano raised his eyebrows, "Not bad, this name is quite clever."

— What the heck, clever? Are you sure?

Cano: "The twilight remnants of Feudal Era fighting for the new constitutional Monarch of France, the intention is very good!"

Really good? I was just talking nonsense!

Cano: "Let’s do it this way. It’s better than pushing them into your troops and causing conflicts between soldiers and officers.

"I think your troops should establish a principle, only use sergeants of common origin, all those of noble origin join the Twilight Knights.

"Later on, when tallying battle achievements, publicly show whether the commoners or nobles achieved more! The side with more achievements will receive special rewards."

Anning: "That’s exactly what I want! You’ve perfectly grasped my intent!"

After saying this, he patted Cano on the shoulder.

"So I’ll proceed just like this then." Cano turned and opened the door, returning to the room where the awaiting officers were gathered.

Cano: "Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve just discussed this with Mr. Frost, and none of you need further review. Those of noble origin will be assigned to a unit called the ’Evening Knights.’ Those of common origin will be directly replenished into the troops!"

Anning had entrusted the organization tasks to Lazar Kano, and he himself paced slowly towards where the ladies were to see the situation there.

The cavalry selection was set in the manor’s courtyard, and as soon as Anning stepped out the door and stood on the steps of the main building, he was startled by the dense crowd gathered in the estate.

The key point was to recruit female cavalry, yet there were many grown men and even little kids in the courtyard, leaving Anning somewhat bewildered.

Just then, Christina ran over with a worried face and said: "Andy! Finally, you’re here. Just look at all these people who have come. Many grandmothers have brought their whole family here, saying they can find jobs here!"

Anning frowned: "The whole family came? What do they think we are doing?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a nearby old lady spoke up: "Mr. Frost! Please, look at our family. We’re all capable people. My husband is in his prime, and my two little children can also run errands for you!"

Anning was rather puzzled and asked, "Old lady, haven’t food prices gone down? Life in Paris should have gotten better, right? Why still come to me?"

"Now in Paris, although food prices have decreased, jobs are hard to find! The manager of the factory where my husband used to work adamantly refuses to raise wages. We went to him, and he said the situation has changed. The gentlemen in the Parliament and he are together, saying no wage raise, no rise!

"The Parliament has also banned guilds, and General Lafayette’s National Guard forcibly shut down the guilds! The former guild head, respected old John, has now become a district representative and doesn’t care about us anymore!"

Anning’s eyebrows knotted together; he hadn’t expected Paris to be like this.

The old lady grabbed Anning’s sleeve with one hand: "Mr. Frost, they say you are the Savior. Please think of something. We don’t even need high wages. Just give us twenty, no, fifteen francs per week, and that’s enough for us to survive! We’ll work for you, help you fight!"

Anning frowned; he wasn’t actually a savior.

The Parliament was busy drafting the constitution but overlooked the economic problems. The new nobility took advantage of the situation to reap benefits, utterly indifferent to the populace’s welfare.

Thus, there came the subsequent upheavals; the Pei Yang faction, representing the big nobles and bankers, was overthrown by the Girondists, but the people’s lives didn’t improve, so the Jacobins rose and overthrew the Girondists...

Indeed, what Anning was seeing now was the root of the entire French Revolution Era’s unrest.

This kind of problem wasn’t something that a 21st-century programmer could solve.

However, turning away this old lady, Anning felt somewhat heartbroken.

So Anning turned around to look for Vanni.

"Are you looking for me?" Vanni suddenly materialized!

Anning jumped: "Damn, how do you appear and disappear out of nowhere?"

"Wherever the master needs, there I’ll be. I am a professional maid," Vanni paused and added, "The manor cannot employ so many people. You’d better not consider accommodating everyone here."

Anning pursed his lips.

At this moment, a sergeant promoted by Anning came over and said: "General, perhaps we can do this: I see this lady’s husband could be a good foot soldier. Just as your army is planning to expand, we can enlist the men as infantry soldiers. Let the wife go home and look after the children. With a foot soldier’s military salary, the family should just about manage."

The old lady immediately spoke up: "This kind sir, I can also be a cavalry member, you know—my child can also run errands for the army. He’s very agile, delivering a letter or such would be no problem!"

Anning shook his head repeatedly: "No, we only need young men and women. Neither you nor your child fits the age."

After speaking, Anning turned to the sergeant and said, "Organize it now. Call over a few non-commissioned officers here and set up a recruitment station. But remember, for couples who come together, we only recruit one. As for the children, we cannot allow such young kids to be involved in the war, not at all!"