I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1372 Brian's Advice

Archbishop Beaumont and the others immediately exchanged surprised glances.

You should know that the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Abbey is a place where these high-ranking church officials discuss matters in private. How did Brian end up here?

After a moment's hesitation, Bomon nodded and said, "Please ask him to go to the dean's office."

A little over ten minutes later, in the spacious director's office, Briand smiled and bowed to Archbishop Beaumont: "So you're here after all."

The latter quickly returned the greeting, saying, "I've come to consult some ancient texts..."

Archbishop Briand waved his hand and said, "If I'm not mistaken, Thierry and Lancelot should be here too, right?"

He was referring to the names of Archbishop Chartres and Archbishop Sanz.

Archbishop Beaumont frowned: "What do you mean by this?"

Archbishop Briand sat down in a chair: "The Church is facing such a big problem, everyone must come together to discuss countermeasures."

"Oh, please don't look at me like that. I'm also a member of the church. How can I stand by and watch those attention-seeking guys cause trouble?"

Bomon's expression softened somewhat: "So, you want to?"

Instead of answering, Brian asked, "Have you thought of any solutions?"

Seeing that Beaumont remained silent, he nodded and said, "It seems not yet. Why don't you hear my opinion? Oh, let everyone come over."

A short while later, Briand looked at the seven most influential archbishops in France and went straight to the point: "Currently, we face two main troubles—"

"First of all, the account books that Robespierre took would cause a lot of problems if they were made public."

"Secondly, there's the public debate with Grenier and his group. Frankly, we simply can't win against them, especially when it comes to the Vatican's assessment..."

Archbishop Sans, unable to contain himself, asked, "Then what should we do?"

In just a few words, he had already tacitly accepted that Brian was on his side.

This is understandable, as Brian is the Archbishop of Toulouse. Although he dragged his feet in dealing with the Vatican's review committee, he did indeed help.

Brian sighed first: "If those ledgers are made public, it will definitely cause a huge mess, and the tithes will most likely be lost."

"In that case, we might as well take the initiative to announce the renunciation of tithes and forgive Robespierre."

"In this way, we can retrieve the accounting books under the guise of 'organizing tax documents from previous years,' then compile them into a total report and hand it over to the tax bureau."

"I can suggest to His Highness the Crown Prince at the Cabinet meeting that the unused tithes be left to the Church."

Although the archbishops, including Beaumont, looked reluctant, none of them expressed any objection.

Brian's method at least ensured they weathered the accounting crisis. Moreover, leaving a balance of tithes—though not even a few hundred thousand francs—meaned the tax authorities would no longer inquire about the whereabouts of previous taxes, allowing their past embezzlement to be buried in the dustbin of history.

Archbishop Beaumont and the others discussed it briefly and nodded in approval of Brian's plan.

Brian sighed again and continued, "As for a public debate, that might not be so easy to resolve... Grenier and his ilk are clearly trying to seize control of the church."

Archbishop Beaumont nodded solemnly: "Therefore, we must do everything in our power to stop this debate!"

Brian shook his head: "Even if we can stop them this time, they will look for other opportunities."

"What should I do?"

Brian said in a deep voice, "Do what the reformers were going to do ahead of time, so that they lose their reason for existence!" Upon hearing this, the faces of all the archbishops darkened—so you mean if we throw all the money into the sea, we won't have to worry about thieves, right?

Brian quickly explained, "You see, after paying the tithes, the reformists' core demand is left with only relinquishing church assets..."

Archbishop Tours glared at him and said, "No, that's absolutely not going to happen!"

Brian raised his hand to signal him not to get excited: "We can use some 'tricks'."

"The church says that the land should be given up, but the tenant farmers need to pay to buy it back, just like the previous land reforms."

"In this way, the church assets that are most easily targeted are gone. What can the reformists say?"

He then gave the archbishops a knowing look and lowered his voice, saying, "Besides, francs are much easier to 'manipulate' than those lands."

Everyone nodded knowingly.

The church wouldn't suffer much loss by letting the farmers redeem their land, but with so much money involved, there's plenty of room for embezzlement.

Archbishop Chartres, however, expressed some concern: "What if Grenier and his ilk turn their attention to the money used to redeem the land?"

Archbishop Briand really wanted to praise him, as this was the question he was originally going to ask next.

“That’s certainly a possibility,” he said, feigning a moment of thought. “We could invest that money in an industrial development fund or buy railroad stock. As long as the church doesn’t have cash in its accounts, they’ll have nothing to attack.”

"Ha, this can be my achievement. You know, my health isn't very good, but 'securing a large investment for the Industrial Development Fund' will allow me to retire in style."

Archbishop Beaumont nodded slowly: "That is indeed a good idea."

Industrial development funds and railways are both highly profitable projects. Investing money in these will definitely bring in more income for the church than it would from rent.

However, he overlooked one point: the fund and the railway company were both controlled by the Crown Prince. Once the church invested money in them, they could forget about taking it out again.

Joseph had countless ways to hold onto the church's capital—

For example, investigate the embezzlement of a certain archbishop who advocates selling off the fund. They could even establish a "fund management committee" within the church, placing members of the royal family in key positions.

After all, money, being something that flows, is much easier to manage than land that is fixed in place.

Archbishop Briand stood up, his expression arrogant, and said, "After doing all this, the reformers will look like clowns. I am absolutely confident that I can persuade His Highness the Crown Prince to ban the 'Order of Pious France'."

"As for any debate, no one will remember it!"

At three o'clock in the afternoon, several archbishops and others escorted Brian to the entrance of the monastery.

Archbishop Beaumont held up three fingers and whispered to him, "Thank you for your help. I will have these sent to your steward as drafts."

Well, for something that nearly saved the church, 30 francs isn't much of a 'reward'.

Brian smiled and nodded, then said goodbye to the others and got into the car.

He looked back at the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Abbey and said to himself, “Your Highness, I have finally accomplished another proud task for you before I retire.”

Yes, Joseph never intended for the church and reformers to engage in a public debate, as that would only damage the church's reputation and plunge it into serious infighting and division.

In this era, the church functioned like a community council and a local civil servant, serving as a ballast for stability in French grassroots society. Joseph would never want the church to descend into chaos unless absolutely necessary.

(End of this chapter)