A court official hurriedly knocked on the door and entered, bowing to Joseph and Mirabeau, "Your Highness, Lord Count, Her Majesty the Queen requests your immediate presence in the East Hall meeting room."
"What has happened?" Mirabeau had an ominous feeling.
"It seems that riots have broken out in many places..."
When Joseph and Mirabeau arrived in the meeting hall, they saw that the Queen and several ministers were already seated at the conference table, and even the normally reclusive Louis XVI was present; everyone wore a solemn expression.
Without waiting for the two to bow, the Queen gestured for them to sit down, and then said to Brian, "Archbishop, please begin."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Brian turned his head, his face grave, "As everyone is probably aware, riots triggered by food shortages in the southern provinces have become very serious.
From Paris south to Murat, riots have nearly broken out everywhere. The scale of the unrest in Montpellier, Foix, Brittany, and other places has even reached tens of thousands of people."
If Soleil hadn't "raided" the Bastille at night, startling the Duke of Orleans into premature action, even the northwestern provinces would not have been spared from trouble.
Brian paused for a moment, then continued, "Previously, General Namu Ai has submitted a report on behalf of the army, stating that the suddenness of the riots requires at least two months for the military to gather and begin quelling them."
Allowing the riots to continue for two months would completely devastate the local areas.
"They're deliberately stalling!" Baron Breti immediately exclaimed in anger, "When I was in service, I could complete battle preparations in at most a week!"
"Now it seems, it is very possibly as you say." Brian nodded, holding out a document, "Just now, the Duke of Mushi made some suggestions to Her Majesty. They include the following demands:
"Abolish the Royal Supreme Court, reinstate the tradition of the Assembly of Notables electing the Lord Chancellor.
"Repeal the decree requiring the nobility to pay land tax and other taxes.
"Abolish the 'Millers' Rights Act,' dismantle the mills built by each parish..."
The Queen's clasped hands had become bloodless at the joints from clutching too tightly, and she could not help but berate, "They are outright extorting in the face of the rebellion! Extorting His Majesty and the whole of France!"
Joseph took the document lying in front of Brian and saw that it also stated: dissolve the Press Bureau, with the High Court responsible for reviewing the news.
Place Bertier's Corps under the command of General Merit, merge Murat's Corps with the Moncalm Legion.
From now on, when the Royal Family calls upon the army, it must have the signature of the Minister of War's consent, otherwise, the army has the right to refuse execution...
There were six or seven more demands in succession, in short, they were making outrageous demands, blatantly trying to divide the Royal Family's authority. If all were accepted, Joseph's year of reform efforts would be completely undone, and the nobility would climb back on top of the Royal Family's head.
Once the Queen had finished her outburst, Brian continued, "Over 20 generals have signed the Duke of Mushi's proposal in support."
"The Duke of Mushi says that if His Majesty can satisfy these demands, it will greatly increase the efficiency of the military," Brian added.
After a good while, Queen Mary wearily looked at everyone, "Does anyone have any suggestions?"
The Minister of Civil Registry, Nico Herve, cautiously said, "Your Majesty, many places have been rioting for nearly ten days, even Lyon, Treves, and other places have begun to see unrest."
These locations are already in the central-northern part of France, very close to strategic locations such as Murat and Lyon.
Nico continued, "This will cause very serious damage to the country, and the riots may ultimately escalate into... rebellion.
"Many of the Duke of Mushi's suggestions are just a restoration of former practices, Your Majesty might agree to some of them, ending the chaos in the south as soon as possible is of utmost importance."
Joseph slightly frowned, not considering the Duke of Mushi's demands at all, and silently calculated the military forces he could mobilize at the moment.
If all the police academy students were assembled, two groups would amount to about 6,500 individuals, and with Bertier's Corps and Murat's Corps, this made 14,000 men.
The 3,000 men of the Paris Legion could also be counted. In the most extreme cases, even the Paris Police could be mobilized, adding another 3,000 men—with the training and morale of the Paris Police, they would at least be in the upper-middle tier of the old-fashioned French Army.
Additionally, the public order in Paris could be temporarily handed over to the King's Swiss Mercenary Regiment. After the police reform, Parisian gang members were virtually wiped out due to repeated clean-up by the police, so there wasn't severe pressure on public security.
This meant that he could pull together an army of 20,000 men, and a force that was both well-equipped and formidable in combat strength.
The Duke of Orleans had previously conducted a very thorough intelligence survey on the Royal Family and had concluded that the Royal Family could mobilize a maximum force of 13,000 men.
However, he hadn't anticipated that Joseph's strongest fighting force was "hidden" within the police academy.
This was a misconception borne out of inertia, constantly feeling that police were just thugs and ruffians working for the government, believing that even with some training at the police school, they wouldn't have much combat power.
Yet, the Paris Police Academy, from recruitment to training to equipment, had already outclassed most regular military schools and not to mention Joseph had also integrated advanced systems into this force, allowing police academy students to fight two ordinary French Army soldiers.
Joseph tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair, but his mind was slightly shaking his head—currently, with riots rampant in the western and southern provinces of France, relying solely on these 20,000 men would not be sufficient to handle the situation.
Moreover, unless absolutely necessary, it would be best not to conscript the Paris Police, as it would certainly impact the stability of Paris. So under normal circumstances, only 17,000 men would be available.