Descending On France 1780
Chapter 95 - 089 What does it mean to lose money and a daughter?

Chapter 95: 089 What does it mean to lose money and a daughter?

Logically speaking, during this era, nobility would usually send a servant to deliver a message before visiting each other, but Anning couldn’t care less about that; after all, he wasn’t a noble, so he went directly.

He made his way back to the Royal Palace, familiar with the path, and headed straight for the main house.

The butler of the main house was quite perceptive, and upon seeing Anning, he immediately went to notify the Duke.

A moment later, Anning saw the Duke in his study.

"Why have you come? I thought you were busy preparing to set out to suppress the bandits," the Duke greeted him with a strong embrace and then whispered in a low voice, "I feel that Lafayette is quite displeased with your growing reputation, be careful of deception."

Anning gave a wry smile, thinking to himself that he also knew there was deception: "Your Grace, I already knew there was deception. Guess how many men Lafayette has given me?"

"How many?"

"Less than two thousand scattered troops who can’t even march in formation. Moreover, the entire unit has only fifteen trained officers, who will probably break at the first volley."

The Duke frowned: "Isn’t that too obvious? You should protest to the Parliament and demand that Lafayette provide you with more troops."

"Lafayette would say we are just there to pave the way for the main forces."

"So what’s your plan? To fight to the death against the Rebel Army with these few troops?" the Duke asked.

Anning replied, "How could I? Of course, I’ll drag things out once we’re there and see how the situation unfolds. If Lafayette’s forces don’t show up, I’ll come back and complain."

The Duke nodded, "Good, I will also press Lafayette to deploy troops. Is that why you came today?"

"No," Anning shook his head, "I came today for another matter. I hope Your Grace could sponsor some military funds."

The Duke frowned, "Sponsor funds? Didn’t Lafayette give you any money?"

"He did, but in promissory notes, which probably won’t be very useful in the rebellious areas. I need silver coins, Crowns, Livres."

The Duke frowned, looking troubled, "Because of the revolution, I can’t collect taxes from my estates either..."

Anning sneered, knowing well that when it came to money, the Duke wouldn’t be so easygoing. But this excuse was a bit too ridiculing.

It’s true the Duke couldn’t collect taxes from the peasants, but he had mines and factories on his lands, and he held many business firms.

The Duke’s firms, benefiting from his influence, could obtain tax exemptions in many territories and reap profits by importing goods through southern ports like Marseilles.

Thus, the Duke of Orleans was certainly not out of money—rather, for a new noble like him, who had become bourgeois, the peasant’s land tax was trivial and he could afford to give it up.

That’s why the Duke of Orleans was so enthusiastic about pushing the signing of the August Decree last year—sacrificing a little interest for a great reputation was an unprecedented boon.

Anning said, "Your Grace, although I’m just going to put on a show this time, what if I seize a good opportunity and wipe out the Rebel Army in one fell swoop? Isn’t that possibility worth a venture investment for you?"

"If your troops were a bit stronger, I might be willing to give it a try," the Duke shook his head, "But as you just said, they are just a rabble. Naturally, I’d worry about my investment sinking."

Anning replied, "You shouldn’t think that way. In fact, tomorrow you could announce your support in quelling the rebellion and gain immense prestige. Now in the National Assembly, as a great noble, your influence is even less than Mirabeau’s. Don’t you think you should do something to increase your influence at the Parliament?"

The moment the Duke heard Mirabeau’s name, his face darkened.

Mirabeau was originally a writer sponsored by him, mainly employed to write derogatory information about the Queen. Unexpectedly, the underling, leveraging his nimble social skills, was now thriving in the Parliament, naturally to the Duke’s displeasure.

Anning purposely mentioned Mirabeau to provoke the Duke, reminding him not to miss this opportunity to enhance his own reputation.

The Duke stood up and paced back and forth in the study, then pointed at Anning and said, "I can only provide you with a one-time financial aid of ten-thousand Livres, all converted into Crowns. That’s all there is."

Anning immediately gave the Duke a respectful bow: "I greatly appreciate your generous donation."

The Duke said, "I will write to the bank right away to have them prepare the silver coins. Tomorrow... no, the day after tomorrow, the silver coins will be delivered to your manor."

Here, when the Duke mentioned "your manor," it is actually his property and Anning, thinking carefully, was shamelessly taking advantage of him.

Anning bowed again to the Duke: "I have no doubts, and will await the silver coins upon delivery."

The Duke said, "Hmm. By the way, have you eaten yet? If not, why don’t you stay and eat with us?"

Anning replied, "Sorry, I have another urgent matter to attend to tonight."

"What urgent matter?" the Duke asked half-jokingly, "More important than having dinner with your benefactor?"

"I need cavalry. For marching and fighting, it’s impossible without cavalry for scouting and cover. An army without cavalry is like the blind, easily stumbling into the enemy and being annihilated."

Anning paused and continued: "According to the captain who escaped from Liberville, they also lacked cavalry scouts, and as a result, they ran into the Rebel Army head-on and were slaughtered."

The Duke nodded, "Indeed, cavalry is very important. But as far as I know, the entire National Guard doesn’t have a cavalry unit. Where do you plan to get the cavalry? Perhaps from the old troops stationed at Verdun?"

The Duke spoke the truth: cavalry, being expensive and requiring time to train, is completely composed of the old Kingdom Army within France—a fact that leaves the National Guard with zero cavalry units.

Lafayette did consider hiring the cavalry of the Kingdom Army to become part of the National Guard’s cavalry force.

However, most of the cavalry was Hungarian, who consider the King as their employer and scorn the National Guard, which is largely made up of commoners.

As for the French-formed cavalry units, most Cuirassiers are nobles, and the majority of Gun Cavalry also have noble origins, while the Dragon Cavalry, although nominally mounted infantry, are mostly rich or noble as well.

Mainly, horse-riding, aside from nomadic tribes, is a skill almost exclusive to the leisure class from other ethnic groups.

Anning, being a leatherworker who could ride, would inevitably leave many bewildered.

In short, having these people join the National Guard, which is mainly composed of commoners, is somewhat challenging.

No wonder the Duke wondered where Anning would find cavalry.

Anning said, "Indeed, borrowing the army’s cavalry units is probably not feasible. But there is a cavalry unit that I think we might try approaching."

The Duke asked, "Which cavalry unit?"

"The Queen’s Guard Knights, those girls are also cavalry, enough for reconnaissance missions if that’s all we need. Don’t you think that His Majesty is currently very eager to assert his presence?"

The Duke’s mouth formed an ’O’: "You mean Christina and her group? Sometimes I really think you’re whimsically audacious, daring to think of anything."

Anning replied, "Don’t you think this is the most viable way to acquire cavalry under the current situation?"

"If His Majesty can indeed be persuaded by you..." the Duke hesitated in mid-sentence, "damn, His Majesty is probably already scared half to death by you, too frightened to say no. If you are going to see His Majesty, you should leave soon. I wish you swift success... and if you manage to borrow the cavalry, remember not to send my daughter to dangerous places."

Anning reassured him, "Rest assured, I would never really send a group of noble ladies to charge. I couldn’t bear the responsibility if something were to go wrong. Well, I must take my leave now."

Anning stood up, bowed to the Duke, and then backed out of the room.

As soon as he left, the Duke muttered, "Humph, always asking me for money, and now also for my daughter. You better remember the investment I put into this rebellion suppression."