Yes, the farmers' lives would become better.
That was Joseph's goal.
Whether it was a minor riot or a major revolt, they all stemmed from people's dissatisfaction with their lives.
Improve the quality of life for the common folk, and they won't care whether you're the King or the National Assembly, they would be too busy supporting you. Whoever dared to disrupt the nation, they would be the first to disagree.
Indeed, after those farmers repeatedly confirmed with the priest that this was indeed a decree issued by the King, they immediately began to shout "Long live the King" and dispersed to their homes to report the great news to their families.
In the afternoon, the local Stadtholder gathered the villagers in front of the small church and announced the forthcoming "Star of France" contest.
More than ten people registered on the spot.
The chaotic situation in the southern provinces had been initially controlled.
Especially after it was published in the newspapers that a laundrymaid from Mulan won the "Star of France" competition, earning a prize of 3,000 livres, and was hired by Duchess Vilar as her personal musician, all attention turned to the contest.
Ah, to increase the popularity of the "Star of France", Mulan had proceeded with the preliminaries ahead of time, swiftly completing the competition in less than a week. Duchess Vilar also made an appearance as a favor requested by the Crown Prince.
Suddenly, all over France, people were seen practicing dance or warming up their voices on the streets, everyone hoping to be as lucky as the laundrymaid.
Subsequently, preliminaries in various places commenced, and to accommodate working individuals, the competition would continue until 9 o'clock every night, so they could participate after work.
The city halls and squares were brightly lit everywhere, and just organizing this event cost a city nearly ten thousand livres, not to mention the prize money for the winners.
But all of it was worth it.
Even if the citizens themselves weren't competing, they followed the participation of relatives and friends. People gathered in front of city halls every day to enjoy performances, cheer for the winners, or to listen to the touching stories of the contestants until dark before reluctantly returning home.
The riots seemed like a thing of the distant past.
With the funds for police reform in place—this money was borrowed from banks initially, demonstrating impressive efficiency for the time—the new police officers received their first month's salary, clearly more motivated than ever.
The riots from more than ten days ago were being re-investigated. Not targeting those who had "protested" at the homes of the great nobles, but rather those who had muddied the waters, stealing and robbing from ordinary people.
Palace of Versailles.
In the south gallery, several nobles wearing worried expressions were whispering, "… and then, the Duke was brutally murdered by that mob. They found his body in a muddy pit outside the manor..."
The others shook their heads in sorrow: "I heard they even took his clothes, not leaving him the last shred of dignity!"
"These shameless, cursed scoundrels!"
"Heavenly Father, is France about to descend into chaos?"
"I've been waking up from nightmares every day, where those rioters tie me to a stake and roast me... God, I am thinking of selling off the assets back home, otherwise one day the rioters will seize them..."
"I have considered the same, perhaps it would be safer to take some money and go abroad."
A noble caught sight of the Crown Prince approaching and quickly signaled to those beside him.
They immediately stepped to the side of the corridor, bowing respectfully to the Crown Prince.
Joseph faintly heard their discussion, and though he had nodded and walked past, he paused to think, then turned back and smiled at the men, "Gentlemen, the riot has passed. Believe me, it was merely chaos brought about by a drought and severe cold that comes once in a century.
"A new police force has begun forming in the provinces. They are as outstanding as the Paris Police and will excellently uphold local public order. Such riots will not occur again.
"Oh, and those who incited the riots and murdered nobles have been arrested as well and will soon be publicly tried."
The nobles exchanged looks, their faces alight with excitement, "Your Highness, is this true?"
"Of course, it's true. I believe you will soon see the news in the newspapers. If you are interested, you can go to Paris to witness the trial of the rioters."
Joseph knew that to entirely end the riots, it wasn't enough just to disperse the troublemaking crowds; it was also necessary to restore order in people's hearts.
Besides those significant nobles who plagued the country, the vast majority of nobility needed to be won over—even the Old Nobility, as long as they accepted reform and integrated into the nation's development, could indeed become the backbone of France.
After all, they still controlled most of France's wealth, and among them were many educated and capable individuals; France could not do without them.
Even as a counterbalance to the Capitalist Nobility, the Royal Family could not do without them.
The art of monarchical rule lies primarily in finding balance among various powers.
Therefore, after dealing with the troublemakers from the Assembly of Notables, it was crucial to reassure the other law-abiding nobles, to prevent the country from descending into turmoil.
And how could the nobles feel at ease if the rioters were not severely punished?
So it was not only necessary to enforce strict punishment, but it was also crucial to have enough rioters to serve as a warning to others!
Of course, Joseph would never go after the common people who were involved in the riots. The scapegoats had been prepped in advance.
Those were the gang members initially stirred up by the Duke of Orleans to incite the riots.
They were later "taken over" by the Police Affairs Department and reused; now, they were en route to Paris.
These guys were still waiting for their wages, so the Police Affairs Department easily captured all of them. It was kind of a nationwide public order rectification action.
A two-thousand-man column composed of police cadets from the Paris Police Academy and soldiers from Bertier's Corps marched neatly into Paris City.
Following them were over a hundred gang members extradited from various southern provinces. In reality, nearly 400 gang members had been arrested, but to avoid chaos, the rest were directly imprisoned at Paris Police Headquarters.
At the very front of the procession, there were dozens of soldiers wearing yellow sashes and different levels of medals on their chests.
Behind them were drummers and flag bearers. Two tall flag bearers carried banners proclaiming the "Successful Suppression of the Southern Riots," leading the soldiers with pride as they marched through the center of the street.
Nearly all Parisians had gathered on either side of the road, loudly shouting slogans like "Long live the King" and "Praise the brave."
The triumphant procession made its way through half the city, eventually heading toward the Palace of Versailles.