[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-life-of-being-a-crown-prince-in-france":3,"chapter-life-of-being-a-crown-prince-in-france-life-of-being-a-crown-prince-in-france-chapter-608":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Life of Being a Crown Prince in France",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},385887,646,"Chapter 607: 518: Go Big, Trace Back the Accounts of Ten Years for Me","life-of-being-a-crown-prince-in-france-chapter-608",608,"\u003Cp>Chapter 607: Chapter 518: Go Big, Trace Back the Accounts of Ten Years for Me\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The army outside Asco City was only the strongest among the National Self-Defense Forces; according to the Intelligence Bureau’s report, there were at least four other Self-Defense Forces active around Corsica.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although they numbered only a few hundred soldiers, with the weakest unit having fewer than a hundred, they were more adept at concealment, making it difficult to completely eradicate them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>ng into the ranks of the disordered Self-Defense Force. Following them, the two artillery companies rushed up overnight, took positions against the Self-Defense Force’s face, and fired two rounds of grapeshot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In less than half an hour, Cesari’s main force was scattered, wailing in retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, the main French infantry force on the eastern side also began to press forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to Napoleon’s great doubts about the combat effectiveness of this Corsican garrison, he only made a grand display but had no real intention of engaging in combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Cesari, already terror-stricken by the artillery bombardment, had entirely lost the courage to fight and ordered his whole army to enter Asco City to prepare for a desperate defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the National Self- Defense Force had entered the city, Napoleon immediately ordered a halt to the pursuit and then maneuvered his troops to block the two access routes into the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the next half month, the French forces merely guarded their positions tightly, showing no intention of attacking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Cesari found himself in a difficult situation—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asco City had fewer than 10,000 residents, which was already considered a sizable town in Corsica; after all, the capital, Ajaccio, only had around sixty to seventy thousand people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And his troops numbered more than 1,200, all of whom had exhausted their rations; they could only obtain food, wine, and other supplies from the town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With so many soldiers, the food in town was quickly depleted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Starving Self-Defense Force soldiers, armed with guns, were not content to go hungry; as a result, they used every method at their disposal to “extract” whatever scant supplies of food the citizens of Asco still had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despair spread throughout the town, as violence over food became commonplace. The citizens’ attitude toward the Self-Defense Force rapidly shifted from sympathy to hatred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, a month after Napoleon had surrounded Asco, the members of the city’s Chamber of Commerce organized the citizens and secretly set fire to the Self-Defense Force’s ammunition warehouse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next day, upon receiving the news, Napoleon led his troops into the city, with the citizens actively aiding the French Army to eradicate the “grain-stealing scum;” the battle ended in less than half a day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nearly all of Cesari’s men were annihilated, with at least a hundred of them killed by the tenacious hands of Corsican citizens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Napoleon, who had brought a large supply of food to Asco, became a great hero to the citizens. The city commissioner even held a grand welcoming ceremony for him in the square.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The story of Asco citizens starving to death due to the Self-Defense Force’s grain looting quickly spread throughout Corsica, turning the National Self-Defense Forces into public enemies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In less than half a month, Napoleon had eradicated two more units of the National Self-Defense Force. For the first time in nearly a hundred years, the island’s fragmented armed forces were nearly completely eliminated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tuileries Palace, second floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Robespierre looked at the Crown Prince with some surprise, “Are you saying, a nationwide public records check of the Tax Farmers’ ledgers?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes,” Joseph nodded, “and not just of the previous year, but of the last ten years of tax records.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If those Tax Farmers chose not to cooperate, then he would simply have to deal with them harshly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was sure their tax records wouldn’t be clean, and once anything was found, he could punish them with hefty fines. This wouldn’t be something they could settle by buying a few bonds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>ulations of previous years in detail, for the public’s reference.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fulco and Robespierre exchanged glances, admiring the Crown Prince’s ingenious method; surely, a large number of discrepancies in the records could be uncovered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But immediately, he looked troubled again, “Your Highness, even just for verification purposes, with the current staff at the tax office, it’s likely to take half a year to finish checking…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Joseph nodded, “I can arrange for Archbishop Brienne to lend you personnel from the finance department.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Additionally, we could invite the Accountants’ Guild and students from universities to help. I’m sure they wouldn’t refuse if they were offered some salary.”\u003C\u002Fp>",763,"2026-05-30T06:21:15.221Z","2026-06-01T04:30:31.323Z",1,"novelbin.me","408eaf08cbd84f9e06e52f6d3e4b439fa7c643a8fac23692b6a094dc43542a29","life-of-being-a-crown-prince-in-france-chapter-609","life-of-being-a-crown-prince-in-france-chapter-607",1568,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Flife-of-being-a-crown-prince-in-france-cover.jpg"]