I hereby declare
René Nicolas de Maupeou POV
I stood in front of the door that lead to the King's Chamber. To be in front of the door and meet His Majesty privately which is almost impossible to do after all councils have ended, as His Majesty preferred the company of the fairer sex and vine than politics, though I don't fault His Majesty after all the King is the law and the law is the King, that just how it is, or supposed be.
Yet one force opposes the King. The Parlements.
I took a deep breath and checked if I have everything ready
*knock knock*
I gently knocked on the door.
"Your Majesty, Rene Nicolas de Maupeou is here."
Soon a servant open the door and I entered while the servant bowed and exited the chamber.
I saw King Louis XV already sitting behind a golden-decorated rectangular table with a silver goblet of vine near him.
I bowed and took a seat near him.
"Thank you, your Majesty, for agreeing to a private council."
"Yes, yes, Maupeou. I agreed 'cause you insisted that this is for my ears only so tell me what do you want to tell me, so we can be done quickly and I can get to do more exciting things."
His Majesty said probably referring to his mistress Madame du Barry, I have to acknowledge that this meeting was possible due to her as I talked to her a couple of days back and she readily agreed to help me when I told of my plan to strengthen the King's power and by proxy her powers as well, she had the King's ears after all. It's good that she was politically clumsy, if she was not I would fear for France and its future.
"Your Majesty, I like to talk about the parlaments-"
"Oh, for the love of all that is holy, Maupeou. If this is about the parlaments you just need to tell and I can write a letter, heh, at this point I should write some letters in advance."
The King interrupted me and I tried to explain.
"you have misunderstood, Your Majesty."
"Well then tell me what do I misunderstand, did they finally grow a brain and went back to work while saying that they will never go against my word again. that is what is supposed to happen, no?"
"I have a permanent plan of how to make them obey."
I immediately cut to the chase as the king began rambling and I knew that if I would let him ramble my chances of success would down by the second until he would just order me to leave.
His Majesty grew silent at my words he gently took the silver goblet into his hand and sipped his vine.
"Speak."
He spoke firmly and I saw his brows go into a slight frown, I knew that I got his full attention.
"As you are aware after I issued Édit de règlement et de discipline the parlaments protested by ignoring the summons of duty."
The edit de règlement et de discipline was my first real attempt to curb the power of the unruly parlaments, it was a document forbidding the union of the various branches of the parlement and correspondence with the provincial magistratures. It also made a strike on the part of the parlement punishable by confiscation of goods, and forbade further obstruction to the registration of royal decrees after the royal reply had been given.
And then the parlament members refused to do their duty and ignored 4 summons.
While it overloaded us magisters it did allow for Abbot(Controller-General of Finances) to destroy some of the private tax collectors and change them to state tax collectors and for us to push some minor reforms, but we even I have to admit that the parlaments are the base of France politics, be it judicial or fiscal.
"So I prepared a whole new structure for the parlaments in which they will be split and they will have no rights to oppose royal decrees, some other reforms to their structure, next I have the documents prepared with some information about embezzling of funds and notes of rebellion against the crown, thus we can exile them, while the old will be replaced by the new."
I said to the King as he looked at me with astonishment, yes this is my magnum opus I worked on for a year ever since the young Dauphin gave me the idea, it had opened my eyes that change sometimes is necessary for a better future, just look at Rome it was a kingdom, then republic and lastly an empire it changed and thus it survived and now France needs to change if it wants to stand at the top of the world again.
"So what do you need?"
"Your majesty I need your royal seal and signature, and your personal guard to be mobilized, then for you to visit the parlament of Paris."
...
The King was in deep thought as he looked at the side.
"Will it work?"
"Yes, your Majesty if not I will take the whole responsibility."
"When will it will be ready?"
"If I have the full support of Your Majesty then 4 to 7 days."
"Then Maupeou you have my support. Do not fail me and nobody that you don't trust should not hear a whisper of this."
Then he drank the whole goblet in a single swing and a satisfied smile was visible across his face.
"You are dismissed."
"Understood, your Majesty, your will shall be done."
As I said that the King nodded and gave me his support along with a couple of men from Secred du Roi(A/N: Spies), for as His Majesty said "to get rid of the more unsavory people" hopefully we will not have to resort to such ways, but having plan B always helps.
I exited the King's quarters before bowing and reassuring His Majesty that I will definitely succeed.
I have to succeed if I fail then I'm afraid France is lost and I don't want to know what will become of it at this moment I feel like the great Vespesian who saved the Roman Empire but while he used force I have used pen and paper, both terrible weapons when used right.
Now, all that is left to do is to write a bunch of letters, inform the guard, have the King be in Paris, and then all the reforms can be passed through without the opposition.
With that, I quickly went to my own office and when I opened the door I found myself surprised I saw a person seemingly waiting for me.
It was an elderly gentleman named Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu The Duke of Aiguillon and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
He was quite powerful as a member of the Triumvirate along me and Abbot Terray, he was Madame du Barry's favorite and a seven-year war veteran but while we tried to change something, all he did was try at best, as Poland-Lithaunia is essentially in the hand of Russia and the BAR confederation is good as dead with meager resistance still ongoing, the only thing he did was the renewal of the family compact with the Spanish Burbons and that was not a true alliance more of a mutual agreement, he can't even take credit of Franch-Austrian Alliance as that was done by the now exiled Étienne-François de Choiseul when he was First Minister of State, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Secretary of State for War.
While I hated de Choiseul I would still prefer him over de Richelieu if he was less ambitious.
What is the use of all that power if de Richelieu doesn't know how to use it?
"Ah, Sir de Richelieu, didn't expect you to find here is there any way I can help you?"
I put the more unsavory thought out of my mind as I went behind the desk and took my seat.
He was still a member of the Triumvirate and the king's mistress's favorite, as such I shouldn't antagonize him, he had a strong backing, plus he was a welcomed ally as he hates the parlaments as much as me.
"I heard some rumors about you, Sir, doing something.."
He started and I tensed a bit already planning how could I get rid of him if something happened...
"What rumors?"
I asked him coldly.
"That you are going directly against the parlaments."
He replied and I relaxed, everyone knew that I was anti-parlament.
"I was against them since I became the First Minister of State, Sir."
I quickly replied.
"Yes, I know, but this plan of yours is something decisive."
How did he know that?...
Madame du Barry, I should have known that that woman would tell everything to her favorite, well I guess I can turn this to my advantage.
"Yes, I had just gotten the approval of His Majesty, this will be a decisive blow to the parlaments, hopefully we will never have to hear from them again."
I said to him without going into the detail.
"I see, it strange to see a previous parlament member of Paris nonetheless a former president at that tries actively make moves against them."
Is he questioning my loyalty?
"Former 1st president to be exact, and while the parlaments is an old problem I never went against the crown and actually tried to reconcile the crown and the parlaments, but alas I couldn't do it as my voice was unheard most of the times, so that's why I made myself known to His Majesty and became embroiled in the larger politics and I'm not an exception, Sir Abbot Terray was a once ecclesiastical counsellor in the Parlament of Paris. I'm a loyal servant of His Majesty and France."
While in my time as the 1st president I tried my best to appease both sides, but even I couldn't see all the problems that France at large, I even declined some of the orders of the crown as well as at the time I thought that they were over the top and vent against the law and tradition, but when I left the parlament of Paris 3years Ago and then rising to the position of the first Minister I saw that France is on the principles of collapse and now the roles reversed now I was the one being rejected by the parlaments.
"It is good such men exist as you, if all of the parlaments thought like you then France would be at the top of the world first"
I agree with him on that one, it would be easier if they would agree to reforms but they are a stubborn bunch who think that they are the next robin hood, yet they don't see the bigger picture and they don't have all the information as General Estates were last called in 1614 since then there was no publication of any information about what the royalty or the ministers were doing.
"Thank you, now I don't think you came all the way to say this, so what do you need?"
"Ah, I wish to join and offer my services to you."
I see, well he is pro-King faction as well, plus he had bad experiences with the parlament when he was appointed commandant (governor) of Brittany and soon became unpopular in that province, which had retained a large number of privileges called "liberties" and he was trying to take those away, well and for his credit, he succeeded.
But now let's see how he can help me...
"I don't think that there is anything you can help me with as of now, but if something happens in the future I will be sure to notify you, oh, and be sure to tell Madame du Barry that the King order this to be of top secrecy."
I replied as I don't see the need for his services right now..or wait.
"Now that I think about I could use your assistance."
"What do you need?"
"Well, we need to write some letters and a lot of them."
"Letters?"
I smiled.
"Here let me show you what we need to write exactly."
Thus the rest of my week was all thrown into the preparations for a coup against the parlaments and soon came the fateful day as by the orders of the King his personal guards were mobilized in the early morning as the sun bearly showed themselves.
It was time to reduce the rebelling courts to silence and break their power once and for all.
NEUTRAL POV
France of the 1771 was a shadow of its former self, Long gone the day of Louis XIV The Sun King, countless wars and unsuccessful squabbles left the old powerhouse of Europe weak as it grew quickly into debt.
But the main reason for the decay were the parlaments who started to refuse the crown orders more and more, realizing that they have a say in France and not the King, and the main voice against the crown was the most influential parlament, the parlament of Paris.
Established in the city of Paris since the thirteen century, the parlament of Paris was the most prestigious law court in France. It stood witness to many momentous epochs in the history of France, and it acquired an international reputation and the respect and admiration of the French people. Soon all of the French parlaments expanded their influence outwards as for people who lived in its jurisdiction, the parlaments represented the supreme court of appeal. But this reflected only a part of the bigger picture as the parlaments shared responsibilities for a host of judicial and administrative functions.
The parlaments upheld the public order, censorship, and provisioning of bread and firewood, and oversaw the many guilds, corporations, and hospitals.
The overreliance of the French Kings on the many parlaments and their growing presence in everyday citizens and even noble life allowed them to grow in power and start to directly oppose the new laws that the Crown wanted to legislate.
There were many tries to deal with the parlaments, but the fact that the parlementers were legally unmovable, other than through voluntary resignation or conviction for a serious crime. Thus the parlaments warred against the crown even if disobedience might bring punishment in front of exiles or imprisonments but with their offices recognized as personal property, they could not be easily dismissed and Louis was not into a habit of confiscating the patrimony of his subjects, and the financial weakness of the crown made it difficult to find sums needed to reimburse the office holder. Other than in exceptional circumstances, the parlamenters were secure, and they policed their own membership and internal organization with little royal interference. It made it difficult for Louis XV to exercise his authority over the parlaments.
Then came René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou who was open about his stance against the parlaments. The parlaments grew more unruly and exercised their power against the crown until The first minister of state wrote edit de règlement et de discipline in which the parlaments collectively protested and refused to do their duties even ignoring 4 royal summons.
The parlamenters thought that soon enough the crown will brake and give up.
Yet they didn't expect that Maupeou had a plan for how to deal with them once and for all.
...
*knock* *knock*
It was an early morning the sun was bearly visible over the horizon and
a group of 6 scarlet-dressed uniformed men with blue tabards, wearing black tricorns with flintlocks stood in front of the door of a 2 story house with one of the men who had a white feather on his tricorn.(pic in comments)
Soon enough the door was opened by what appeared to be a servant by the looks of his clothes.
"Good Morning, I'm Laurent Marion Corporal in service of His Majesty's, Louis XV The Beloved, King's Musketeers. I came here to deliver lit de justice to Jacques Hercule Lachapelle."
The corporal indentured himself while showing the letter with a royal seal on it.
"I will call the Sir quickly."
The servant bowed to the musketeers and quickly went to call his master.
Soon came running a man who was about 40 years old, you can see that he just woke up as he still hadn't had his wig, nor makeup and he only wore a white shirt and red breeches as he appeared before the soldiers.
"Sir, by the order of Louis XV The Beloved, By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre, Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent, Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois, you are to resign your post at parlament of Paris and exile or have yourself sentenced for trying to entice a revolt against the crown."
Laurent Marion plainly said as he handed the letter to the dumbfounded man.
"Under His Majesty's orders, you have till tomorrow dawn to move out or you will be sentenced."
"W-What?"
The parlament member only asked, various emotions could be seen on his face.
"All is written in the letter and according to His Majesty's Will we are to stay and oversee that his will be carried out, So what will it be will the Sir choose exile or do you wish to face the court for your crimes."
The Corporal said calmly while his hand right-hand went to the hilt of his Spadron which hung on his left as he noticed that Jacques Hercule Lachapelle crumpled the letter and his hands were in fists.
"YOu can't do this! I'm a member of the Paris parlament, and my position is patrimonial I demand a reimbursement!"
The man shouted at the musketeers full of rage at the notion that his position would be taken from him, yet he knew that the law was partially on his side even if the king wrote this letter, yet he forgot that the musketeer told him that he could choose exile or be judged for instigating rebellion against the crown.
"So the sir wishes to be judged in court for instigating revolts?"
"What? What are you talking about? I didn't instigate any revolts."
"Sir, all the information is in the letter you are know instigator."
The man's eyes went wide at the accusations.
"Why you insolent-"
"Sir, we are authorized to use force, please don't act rashly or I will be forced."
The corporal said as the man just ripped off the envelope and started reading the letter while cursing as he read, but his curses grew quietly and then he grew completely silent even fearful.
He looked at the musketeers and then quietly muttered.
"I choose exile"
At those words, the Corporal of the King's Musketeers relaxed his stance.
"A wise choice."
This was not the only instance of King's Musketeers going to the various members of Paris parlament member houses, yet sadly not all of those were as this.
"I will never surrender! The King has gone mad this is not how a monarch should rule! He is a despot! The people will know of this"
Shouted a man as he was on the ground two of the Musketeers holding him, his family behind him his sons and daughters and wife looked with tears in their eyes while a couple of Musketeers stood in front of them with their muskets raised.
"By the order of Louis XV The Beloved, By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre, Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent, Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois,
you are charged for the crimes of disobedience, money laundering, and assault of His Majesty's Musketeers your sentence will be decided by the court."
"What court you cur?! We are the justice court! And that despot disollved us! Ha there will be no court for me and when I will be free you will pay for this humiliation!"
Not wanting to be hear anything more the leading musketeer order his men to take him away.
*Bang* *bang*
A shot was heard.
"Why are you not moving dogs? Shots were heard in Paris? Does that despot doesn't even care about his people now?!"
The parlamenter barked but the leading musketeer just smiled at him.
"That was not a crime shot that was the shot of His Majesty's justice."
The noble pealed at that and began shouting even more profanities then one of the musketeers aimed his musket at the man.
"If you don't want the same fate, move and speak for your crimes at court."
While a few hundred meters away a Musketeer calmly put his musket pistol in its holster watching as the pool of blood began gathering under the downed man while another Musketeer was looking at him.
It all began when he introduced himself and stated the purpose of his visit as where expected of them, a servant went to get his master, but the master came in armed so first the musketeers raised their muskets in return, then even the sons and a couple of servants joined and aimed their weapons against the musketeers, both sides knew that nobody would miss their shots at this distance so the leading Musketeer tried to defuse the situation and say that this will lead to nothing the Parlaments are disbanded, so he could just exile himself and leave a quite live or he could try defending himself, but the man knew that no way he could defend himself as he was smuggling guns, he gave valuable information to spies of other countries and he was involved in money laundering and killing, so he was good as dead, so he didn't believe going to exile or going to court.
If he is to die then he would die fighting.
And when the situation grew tenser and soon it would go into violence.
It was suddenly stopped as a shot rang out hitting the man and both sides were surprised, but Musketeers quickly gathered their wits and opened fire killing the servants and the man's sons while moving inside to secure other people.
The leading Musketeer looked to the side and saw another group of musketeers just about 20 meters away.
"Captain!"
The man saluted as an elderly musketeer just waved him off as he put his musket pistol away.
"At ease, Sergant."
"Was it the right option, Sir?"
The sergeant asked his superior.
"He was dead either way and I would better kill a deadman than let my mean die, now stop questioning your superiors and clear the body the people are gathering around."
Just as Captain said, some people were looking through the windows while some still in their nightwear started gathering around, fear can be seen on their faces.
"Yes, Sir!"
Said the sergeant as he began his tasks.
One of the people gathered went to the captain.
"Excuse me, S-sir, what is happening?"
The man said as he bowed.
"Nothing to see here people! He was a traitor to the crown and he tried to kill servants of His Majesty, be assured that we have dealt with everything! You are safe!"
The Captain shouted then he looked at the man.
"Does this answer your question?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good now clear away we are still securing the house."
"A-at ounce, Sir!"
Thus the morning in Paris began with the arrestation of parlamenters of Paris, the majority choose exile, others tried their luck defending themselves at the court, others were killed and the most influential ones were dragged to the parlament of Paris by musketeers.
As the hours went by the Parlament of Paris filled with parlamenters some still in nightgowns, some without stockings, without make-up all of them were in various states as they fearfully awaited what is to come.
All they knew was that they were summoned by the King and by lit de justice they had to comply or be sentenced.
And when they saw their colleagues they grew more fearful as they realized that the King definitely didn't come to reconcile, he came here for far worse.
Soon enough a royal announcer came in and started speaking.
"Stand! His Majesty Louis XV The Beloved, By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre, Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent, Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois is making an appearance."
And soon the door swung open and the King dressed in all white came in followed by a couple of nobles and a retinue of soldiers.
and everybody bowed to him
He took his seat and parlamenters anxiously awaited for the King to speak, while the King just looked around and smiled at the appearance of the various members of the parlament.
"Sit."
The King ordered and the parlamenters sat down.
"Ah, how long have awaited for this day, look at you now, not so mighty now, refusing royal summons thinking that this will make me bend, guess what I don't bend, It's YOU WHO BEND TO ME! I'M THE KING! I'M THE STATE! I WILL NEVER CHANGE!"
The King vented his pent-up anger and how good it felt he will definitely reward Maupeu after this.
After a couple of more minutes of venting Lous XV was satisfied.
"Well, whatever, let's get it over with."
The King said as he rose from his seat and addressed the parlament of Paris.
"I Louis XV,hereby declare the parlament disolved!"
A/N: Happy easter!
Well I finished this chapter somehow, a couple of more chapters and I think I will skip to the coronation of Louis XVI
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