I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1373 Germania and Africa

It should be noted that if the Law on the Organization of Clergy had not severely damaged the grassroots structure of the French Church, the social order during the reign of the Archbishop would not have collapsed so quickly.

Before the gates of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés Abbey, after Briand's carriage disappeared at the end of the road, Archbishop Sanz looked at Beaumont with some pain: "If the peasants are allowed to buy back the land, the Church will lose a lot of money..."

The redemption price set during the French land reform was very low, and the redemption money had to be paid in installments over many years, so the church ended up losing money.

Archbishop Beaumont sighed heavily: "You know, Grenier and his gang have begun to gain His Highness the Crown Prince's trust. We must take advantage of His Highness's recent busyness with the wedding to quickly resolve these troubles."

Yes, the reformists are vying for 20 archbishop positions, which is far more unacceptable to them than losing some money.

“That’s right.” Archbishop Chartres nodded. “Monge, Talleyrand, Tresaggues and others are all supporting Grenier, while we only have Archbishop Briand as our support in the cabinet. If we don’t completely defeat the reformists before he retires, we will definitely be in an even more passive position in the future.”

Finally, the archbishops fell silent.

Seeing this, Beaumont nodded and instructed, "Archbishop Chartres will accompany me to meet His Highness the Crown Prince the day after tomorrow."

"The rest of you, announce the decision to your respective dioceses..."

The day after Beaumont and others clashed with the reformists at Versailles, three Bern cantonal councilors, dressed in their most formal attire and accompanied by more than a dozen servants, arrived at the gates of Versailles. The servants were responsible for carrying gifts; the Swiss had sold the last of their valuable possessions to finally scrape together a presentable gift.

In the narrow corridor, Count Elach whispered nervously to Frey, "Will this really work? What if we anger His Highness the Crown Prince..."

The latter wiped the sweat from his palms and gritted his teeth, saying, "This is our only chance; we have to try."

"In my experience as a lawyer, using someone's own words is the most likely way to persuade them."

A dozen minutes later, the three of them, led by Emmanuel, entered the Crown Prince’s reception room and immediately saw the handsome young man in cavalry officer’s uniform with an extraordinary air about him.

The Swiss hurriedly stepped forward according to the most standard court etiquette, bowed respectfully, introduced themselves, and presented gifts, completing the whole process in one go—they had practiced it hundreds of times before coming here.

Count Elach was recalling his "lines" when the French Crown Prince nodded to them, saying, "I have heard that you have been subjected to a shameful crime in Paris, and I deeply regret that."

The crown prince then looked at a tall man behind him: "Viscount Besançon."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The French police chief quickly stepped forward and bowed slightly to the Swiss: "Regarding the fraud you encountered, we have roughly figured out the details of the case."

Count Elah was surprised that the Crown Prince would care about his being deceived, and both of them looked flattered.

Besançon replied, "I have seen your police report."

"First of all, those who greeted the so-called 'Viscount Norbert' at the ball in Karlsruhe were probably all accomplices of the criminals."

"And you see that the criminal was working for Count Mirabeau. According to what we learned from His Excellency through the signal tower, he was being interviewed by a reporter from Le Parisien at the time."

"The criminal forged a certificate from the newspaper and pretended to be bad at shorthand, pestering Your Excellency for more than three hours until he was sure you had seen him."

Count Elach's eyes widened immediately, and he asked instinctively, "We were taken to the Minister of Trade's office..." Besançon coughed lightly, "Ahem, Viscount Freiz was indeed negligent in this matter."

"At that time, a shop offered to provide a very exquisitely crafted door. Since it was recommended by a merchant who often served the court, he agreed to let the shop install one in an empty room on the west side of the first floor as a trial."

"Yes, that's the shop run by the fraudsters."

"Then those people started construction, and while the supervisors were having lunch, they hung up the 'Minister of Trade's Office' sign that had been prepared beforehand. The 'craftsmen' quickly took off their coats, revealing their uniforms underneath."

"At that moment, you were brought to the front of that 'office'."

"If I'm not mistaken, the sign at the entrance was taken down as soon as you went in, so no one else saw it."

"Actually, most of the rooms on the west side of the first floor are empty; very few people go there. All the ministers' offices are on the second floor. If you knew this, perhaps you wouldn't..."

"You all know what happened next. The criminal signed the bill in front of you, and then went to the bank to withdraw it after you left."

Count Elach closed his eyes in despair, muttering to himself, "God, I'm such a fool..."

Besançon glanced at Joseph and said to the Swiss man, "Please rest assured, His Highness the Crown Prince has devised a plan to capture the criminals, and those guys should be arrested soon."

Count Elah took it as a consolation, after all, so much time had passed and the fraudsters were long gone. Nevertheless, he immediately bowed to the Crown Prince in thanks.

Joseph gestured to the sofa, indicating that the group should sit down: "What brings you all here to see me?"

Count Elach quickly stood up again, took a deep breath, and proclaimed in a high-pitched aria: "Your Highness, Crown Prince, please allow Avansh to return to the embrace of the great Rome she has longed for!"

Joseph was taken aback and looked at Bai with pleading eyes.

The latter reacted quickly, bowing low and saying, "It is an important city established by the Helvetii in the Upper Germanic province, Your Highness."

The Helvetii? The Upper Germanic Province? Joseph was still confused when Count Elach continued in a high-pitched voice: "Look, the theater in Avansh still stands in the wind, and the thermal baths left by the empire are still filled with mist."

"The roads built by His Majesty Garienus have always connected the empire's provinces on the other side of the Alps, transporting trade and civilization from east to west, and to this day, they continue to bring prosperity to Bern..."

Joseph frantically searched his brain for information, and finally remembered that he had read about Roman history in Tunisia. Garienus seemed to be a Roman emperor in the third century.

So, does Upper Germania refer to the provinces of the Roman era?
The Swiss are referring to the history of the canton of Bern.

Count Elach suddenly bowed to him: "Merciful Your Highness, since you have already allowed the province of Africa to return to the Empire, why do you refuse the pleas of another group of Roman subjects?"

Joseph's eyelid twitched; he genuinely wanted to give these Swiss people a thumbs up.

Africa was the name of Tunisia during the Roman era, and it was through his own efforts that Tunisia's "Roman compatriots" "returned" to France...

(End of this chapter)