The officers frowned and turned to look at the Duke of Orleans.
However, the latter smiled and said, "The legion controlled by the Royal Family is expanding rapidly. As far as I know, after their return to Paris, they recruited nearly a thousand new soldiers in a short period of time.
"Now, including Mulan's corps that has pledged allegiance to the Royal Family and the Swiss mercenaries, the Royal Family has over ten thousand soldiers at their disposal,"
"You've forgotten the Flander Regiment; oh, now it's called the Paris Legion," Mono chimed in, "They've always been cozying up to the Royal Family."
"Thanks for the reminder. So, that makes 13,000 men," the Duke of Orleans glanced at the Marquis of Saint Priest, "Following this trend, it won't be long before the Royal Family has a formidable army, and you all will become worthless."
General Astou snorted disdainfully, "Just over 10,000 men, not even enough to maintain order in France."
The Duke of Orleans smiled and asked, "Do you know what kind of weapons and equipment Bertier's Corps has?"
As he spoke, he took out an Auguste-style caplock gun along with a small bag of percussion caps and threw them to General Astou. These weapons, which were beginning to be mass-produced, were not difficult to obtain in one or two pieces from the arsenal if one was willing to spend the money.
After a group of military heavyweights understood the usage of the caplock guns and took turns firing them, expressions of grave concern appeared on their faces.
"You experts can certainly see how much this kind of gun can enhance the combat effectiveness of an army."
The Duke of Orleans did not wait for the officers to object and immediately continued, "In fact, the most dangerous element lies in the new promotion mechanism that the Royal Family is implementing in the army."
"Promotion mechanism?"
"Haven't you heard?" the Duke of Orleans said with an exaggerated expression, "In the Royal Army, commoners can be promoted to officers based on their military merits, with no limitations, and they can even become generals! Moreover, promotion does not require a 'promotion fee', and they receive a substantial bonus."
The officers' expressions instantly turned cold upon hearing this.
This system was like desecrating their ancestors' graves!
They had always monopolized military officer positions through lineage and status. If now even commoners could become generals, their descendants might very well lose control over the army in the future.
What would follow was a substantial loss of income.
Mono muttered timely, "Oh, maybe in the future everyone will be taking orders from some lowborn, fighting bloody battles with the enemy. Meanwhile, he's mocking you from the command post..."
"This cannot be allowed!" General Astou roared, "The Royal Family is desecrating the traditions of the military!"
The other officers also began to curse, but the Marquis of Saint Priest watched the Duke of Orleans with a grave expression, "Your Grace, we've actually been wanting to show the Royal Family the military's stance for quite some time. However, we need an opportunity, such as an enemy the Royal Family cannot handle."
"That opportunity is about to arise," the Duke of Orleans declared loudly, "Soon the Royal Family will be in a huge predicament."
"Oh? Why are you so certain?"
Mono interjected from the side, "Because a massive famine is about to happen, and there will soon be mobs causing trouble everywhere."
"Mobs?" the Minister of War shook his head, "Those riffraff pose no threat at all."
The Duke of Orleans smiled, "If we give them a little 'push', the situation will be entirely different."
He briefly outlined his plan, concluding, "This time we also have the support of the Assembly of Notables. Yes, the recent actions of the Royal Family have gone too far, and everyone wants to correct the King's mistakes."
The eyes of the dozen or so officers present lit up.
"I'm so stupid, really!"
A common carriage was heading towards the Saint-Germain District in the face of the setting sun. Inside, Soleil clenched her hands together and berated herself, "I can't believe I thought those two guys were heroes coming to save Celine, and I rashly asked for the Crown Prince's help to get them off the hook!"
She shook her slightly curly black hair vigorously, "The Crown Prince must think I'm in cahoots with those two now..."
The handsome young man sitting opposite her tried to comfort her, "Tulip, you need not blame yourself too much, anyone can be blinded. Besides, we'll be able to make up for this mistake soon."
The muscular man beside him snorted, "Hmph, asking the bastards of the Royal Family for help was the wrong decision in the first place. Why worry about their misunderstanding..."
Soleil immediately glared at him, "How can you talk about the Crown Prince like that! You have no idea; the Crown Prince and the rest of the Royal Family are completely different, he is kind and has a strong sense of justice!"
The muscular man shrugged and turned his head away, "Fine, have it your way..."
The handsome young man opened the curtain and glanced outside, "Let's all review the operation plan, we're approaching the Bastille."
The carriage fell into silence.
A few minutes later, two carriages stopped one after the other on the street corner opposite the Bastille. Soleil and five young men alighted, gazing at the formidable fortress.
"This is probably the most dangerous mission I've undertaken in years," a wiry redhead said softly.
"For the sake of fairness and justice, no danger is too great!" the handsome young man immediately replied.
Soleil nodded, "Twilight is right! The Brotherhood is always with justice!"
These few individuals were members of The Brotherhood, which Soleil belonged to[Note 1]. This Brotherhood had nearly twenty members, all of whom were nobles' sons that enjoyed playing heroes in Paris, and although they were quite melodramatic, they indeed helped many of the poor.