On January 10th, at the same time Finance Minister Jean Bart arrived in Paris, Furina received an urgent report from the south.
Valde rushed to Paris in person, bringing the latest movements of the Land Defense Alliance.
The old farmer’s clothes were still stained with mud, and his boots were covered in horse manure; clearly, he had ridden hard without rest, his eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were chapped.
“The Marquis de Luynes has assembled an armed force of over five thousand men,”
The old farmer’s voice was hoarse, carrying a southern accent, like the friction of coarse sandpaper.
“They have occupied the castle in Bordeaux and several surrounding manors, claiming they will fight the ‘Republican thugs’ to the end.
Yesterday, they attacked a committee attempting to survey the land, killed three agricultural officials, and hung their bodies on the castle walls to make an example of them!
They also said…
they also said you are a ‘witch,’ that your reforms are ‘heresy,’ and that the Republic is the ‘Kingdom of Satan’!”
The hall was deathly silent, with only the sound of breathing; anger congealed in the air.
Furina clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms, nearly drawing blood.
The land reform had encountered the most violent resistance.
“What about the southern farmers?
What is their attitude?”
Valde’s eyes lit up, like a fire ignited in the darkness, carrying a kind of primitive fanaticism:
“They support you, Madam President.
They have waited for this moment for centuries!
As long as you give the order, thousands of farmers are willing to pick up hoes and sickles and follow the army to liberate the land!
They are even prepared, even if it means bleeding, even if it means death, to take back the land!”
“But,”
He hesitated for a moment, the light in his eyes dimming slightly.
“Those landowners do indeed control the resources.
Seeds, farm tools, irrigation systems, and many farmers even owe them debts…
If we push forward by force, this year’s spring plowing may be affected.
Furthermore, they have money; they can hire mercenaries, and they can even collude with agents of the German Empire…
This last sentence was like ice water dripping into hot oil, making a sizzling sound.
Furina stood up and walked to the map.
The vast plains of southern France, those golden wheat fields and green vineyards, those lands occupied by landlords for generations.
If the spring plowing is delayed, if the south has a poor harvest, coupled with the work stoppages in the north, famine will be inevitable.
And if the German Empire intervenes…
it will be a repeat of that disaster from twenty years ago.
“Mr.
Valde,”
He turned around, his gaze steady, like two immovable rocks.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course, Madam President.
I stake my life that the southern farmers support you.
If you say fight, we fight; if you say wait, we wait.”
“Then, pass on my order.
Organize a farmer’s militia to protect the Land Committee, but do not initiate an attack on the castle.
We need the army to deal with the Marquis de Luynes’ regular armed forces.
At the same time, strictly monitor the Marquis’s connections with the German Empire, and arrest him immediately once concrete evidence of treason is found.”
On January 15th, reinforcements from Paris arrived in Bordeaux.
Leading the troops were two officers who had made a name for themselves in the Battle of Paris twenty years ago: Colonel Joffre and Lieutenant Colonel Foch.
Furina met with them personally and issued a concise and clear order:
“The Marquis de Luynes has committed rebellion, murder, and treason.
I require you to suppress the rebellion quickly and decisively, capture the Marquis alive, minimize civilian casualties as much as possible, and ensure that the spring plowing is not affected.
I give you complete tactical autonomy.”
Joffre and General Foch formulated a detailed plan.
They adopted an “onion-peeling” tactic, first clearing the castle’s outer strongholds to isolate the Marquis.
General Foch utilized artillery superiority to carry out precise demolitions on the castle walls in the early hours of January 20th, blowing open a breach;
Joffre then led the infantry in a charge, and after six hours of fierce street fighting, they conquered this sturdy fortress.
The Marquis de Luynes was captured by the farmer’s militia while attempting to escape through a secret passage; his silk pajamas were covered in mud, and his former arrogance was gone. Read the latest chapters at NovelPing.
In this battle, Joffre demonstrated calm and collected command ability and the courage to lead from the front, while General Foch displayed excellent artillery tactical innovation capabilities.
Furina immediately signed a promotion order: Joffre was promoted to Brigadier General, serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Bandit Suppression; General Foch was promoted to Colonel, serving as his deputy.
The two then quickly cleared out the remaining rebel forces in the south, ensuring the smooth progress of land reform and the normal conduct of spring plowing.
The news of the Marquis de Luynes’ arrest spread throughout the south, and the wait-and-see landlords gave up resistance one after another.
By early February, more than eighty percent of the planned land had been distributed, and the farmers were sowing seeds on their own land for the first time.
Reform, under the protection of guns and cannons, finally took a solid step forward.
In March, when industrial and agricultural reforms were both progressing steadily, the most dangerous crisis erupted in the financial sector; this was a meticulously planned financial assassination, and the most severe test the reform had faced.
Those financial magnates who failed in the Lockout Alliance, although they lost their factories and land, still had a considerable number of people holding large amounts of cash, francs.
More importantly, those big capitalists who did not participate in the Lockout Alliance but were equally fearful of the New policy, luxury goods merchants, arms smugglers, speculators, and financial brokers who had profited from the old system for years.
They also held large amounts of francs in their hands.
These people had not given up resistance; they were waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to destroy Furina’s government in one fell swoop.
On March 8th, the first batch of bank runners appeared at the entrance of the National Bank in Paris.
They were luxuriously dressed, rode in private carriages, held large amounts of francs, and demanded to exchange them for gold.
At first, the bank officials did not pay attention and proceeded with the exchange according to normal procedures.
But soon, the situation became abnormal; these people seemed endless, and the amount each person exchanged was shockingly huge.
On the first day, the National Bank exchanged gold worth five million francs.
The vault door opened and closed, and the clinking sound of metal echoed in the basement.
On the second day, twelve million were exchanged.
The staff began to feel uneasy; the vault’s reserves were visibly decreasing.
On the third day, twenty million were exchanged.
Empty gold bar boxes were scattered on the bank floor.
By the fifth day, when the exchanged amount reached thirty-five million francs, Governor Zola discovered with horror that nearly two-thirds of the national treasury’s gold reserves had been consumed.
What was even more terrifying was that these people coming to exchange gold were not ordinary depositors, but a group of organized big capitalists.
They even maliciously dumped francs on the black market, bought gold and foreign currency, and created panic about currency devaluation.
On the Paris currency exchange market, the exchange rate of the franc against the German Empire mark plummeted by fifteen percent in a single day.