I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 519: Go big, check the accounts for ten years

The army outside the city of Asco is only the strongest of the National Guard. According to the report of the Intelligence Bureau, there are at least four other National Guards active in various parts of Corsica.

Although they only have a few hundred soldiers, and the weakest one has less than a hundred people, they are easier to hide and difficult to completely wipe out.

Napoleon lowered his head and thought, if he could use this battle to make the Corsicans hate the National Guard even more, then the remaining small forces would not even have to do it themselves, and the Corsican people would be able to deal with them.

He looked at the map again - this was a very detailed map drawn by the National Guard, but at this time, it was used to deal with them - and soon made a new battle plan.

"Send a message, let Captain Benito lead three companies, bypass the enemy, and set up a defense line at the pass of Mount Roa."

He pointed to the slope on the north side of Ask City: "Place the cannons here, and bombard with all our strength as long as the enemy approaches.

"Other infantrymen go to the east side of the enemy.

"Let the quartermaster go to Port Calvi to prepare sufficient supplies. We may fight here for a long time."

"Yes, Major."

In the next day, with the infantry battalion brought by Napoleon from Marseille as the core, 2,000 French troops quickly went to the preset positions. If you look down from the sky at this time, you can find that the National Guard has been surrounded on the north, east and south sides, leaving only a gap in the direction of Ask City.

Cesari waited for three days, but did not see the opposite side launch an attack. He felt that this French army was weaker than the previous ones, so he decided to take the initiative to attack.

In the early morning, nearly 800 soldiers of the National Guard launched a charge against the French army in the north - the French army there was the smallest and should be the weakest.

However, what awaited them was a fierce artillery bombardment like thunder. In the battalion troops that Napoleon brought to Corsica, only the artillery was the real elite - the artillery company he commanded when he served in the Guards Corps.

The terrifying firepower density and shooting accuracy directly stunned Cesari's soldiers.

Then, the French Rangers who had been waiting nearby rushed into the chaotic ranks of the self-defense army. Immediately afterwards, the two artillery companies also rushed up and fired two rounds of grapeshot at the faces of the self-defense army.

In less than half an hour, Cesari's main force was dispersed and retreated wailing.

At the same time, the main force of the French infantry on the east side also began to press forward.

Because Napoleon was very skeptical about the combat effectiveness of this Corsican garrison, he only made a big show, but actually had no intention of really engaging in the battle.

But Cesari had been bombarded by the artillery and had completely lost the courage to fight. He immediately ordered the entire army to enter the city of Asco and prepare to defend the city to the death.

After all the National Guards entered the city, Napoleon immediately ordered to stop the pursuit, and then mobilized troops to block the two entrances to the city.

For more than half a month, the French army just defended the city and had no intention of attacking.

However, Cesari was in trouble-

Asco had less than 10,000 residents. This is already a big town in Corsica. You know, the capital Ajaccio has only 60,000 to 70,000 people.

And his army still had more than 1,200 people, and had long exhausted supplies, so they could only get food and wine from the city.

So many soldiers quickly exhausted the food in the city.

The hungry self-defense soldiers had guns in their hands, so how could they be willing to starve? So, the last bit of food stored by the citizens of Asco was "dug" out by them in various ways.

The city was suddenly filled with grief, and violent incidents due to scramble for food were everywhere. The citizens' attitude towards the self-defense army quickly changed from sympathy to hatred.

Finally, a month after Napoleon besieged Asco, the people of the city chamber of commerce organized the citizens and quietly set fire to the warehouse where the self-guard stored ammunition.

The next day, Napoleon, who received the news, led his army into the city. The citizens cooperated vigorously with the French army to eliminate the "food-grabbing scum". The battle lasted only half a day and ended.

Almost all of Cesari's soldiers were annihilated, and at least hundreds of them died at the hands of the fierce Corsican citizens.

And Napoleon, who brought a lot of food to Asco, became a great hero of the citizens, and the municipal commissioner also held a grand welcome ceremony for him in the square.

The news that people in Asco starved to death because of the self-guard's food grabbing quickly spread throughout Corsica, and the National Guard became a public enemy.

Less than half a month later, two more National Guards were wiped out by Napoleon. For the first time in nearly a hundred years, the separatist armed forces on this island have almost disappeared.

…

The second floor of the Tuileries Palace.

Robespierre looked at the prince in surprise: "You mean, check the accounts of tax farmers nationwide?"

"Yes," Joseph nodded, "and check the tax accounts of the previous 10 years."

Since those tax farmers chose not to cooperate, he could only give them a big slap.

He was sure that these guys' tax accounts would not be clean. As long as they could be found out, they could be fined heavily. At that time, it would not be solved by buying some national debt.

Robespierre was not familiar with the audit. Fulco, the director of the tax bureau, immediately widened his eyes and said in embarrassment:

"Your Highness, even if we get the tax farmer's account documents, there are tens of millions of tax records that year. It is probably more difficult to find problems than to find a diamond at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean...

"What's more, even if it's difficult to figure out whether there is a problem with the accounts three years ago, it's even more difficult to figure out whether there is a problem with the accounts ten years ago..."

Joseph smiled: "You need to change your mindset.

"If there is a problem with the tax accounts, who knows it best?

"It's the taxpayers.

"If they were overcharged 1 sou in taxes, even if it was ten years ago, they would definitely remember it clearly.

"So we just need to issue a notice and ask the public to go to the tax bureaus in various places to appeal for "tax reconsideration". You can then ask people to find the corresponding accounts based on what they said and check them, and the problem will be found soon.

"Oh, by the way, I will ask all major newspapers to cooperate and list the tax regulations of previous years in detail for the public to check. "

Fulco and Robespierre looked at each other and were quite impressed. His Royal Highness's method was simply brilliant. It would definitely find a lot of accounting problems.

But he immediately looked bitter: "Your Highness, even if it's just a check, with the current staff of the tax bureau, it will probably take more than half a year to complete the check..."

Joseph nodded: "I can ask Archbishop Brian to transfer the staff of the financial department to you.

"In addition, you can also invite accounting guilds and students from various universities to help. If you pay them some salary, they should not refuse."