I Reincarnated as Louis XVI to Stop the Revolution and Be Happy with Antoinette

1st International French Fashion Fair

(173)

"Fashionable"

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April 10, 1774

It has been two months since the arrest of a man (Cardinal Rohan) who seems to be a stain on humanity. That man still pleads his innocence, but his plea is not worth believing. When the investigative agencies conducted a forced search of his stronghold, Strasbourg Minster (Notre-Dame), the surrounding Catholic churches, and various weapon workshops, they found unauthorized weapons from the French government, not only the Model 1773 used in the Boston Riot but also cannons and shells that should have been produced only in designated workshops by the military.

Even the "Model 1773 P-type" alone had 100 units discovered in the underground of Strasbourg Minster, telling the tale of a significant number of illegal firearms being manufactured numbering thousands. When the investigators arrived at the scene, they found that these weapons were being painstakingly produced by children and elderly individuals with nowhere else to go, and were subjected to demanding quotas.

"They hit us if we take even a little break... we get beaten by the foreman... so we can't rest except when eating and sleeping," said one of the boys protected by the investigators, as documented in the report.

Officially, it seemed they were being accepted as part of a program for the relief of the impoverished and vocational training. However, in reality, they were subjected to harsh treatment and forced labor, reminiscent of a dark hero protagonist from a loan shark manga, creating weapons and exploiting orphans and vulnerable individuals with no one to turn to. As if this weren't enough, there's more to the story.

The operation was overseen by former French soldiers, some of whom had the lowest rank of private and others who held the rank of second lieutenant. Cardinal Rohan hired multiple discharged military personnel who had been dishonorably discharged from the French military due to their bad conduct, instructing them to manufacture weapons. Moreover, violence against children was a routine occurrence, and it is reported that some young girls even became pregnant against their will.

The illegal production and smuggling of weapons apparently continued for over three years, generating profits of over 100.000 livres in total. Most of these profits were controlled by Cardinal Rohan and were not distributed to the children and others involved in weapon production. The money earned from these profits was sent as donations to the Papal States to advance his own position, as well as for gifts to favored women, renovations to his residence, and expenses for plots against other religious figures he was in conflict with.

Cardinal Rohan denies any involvement in these matters, but there is no denying his guilt no matter how much he struggles. The former military men who were arrested have all testified: "All instructions for weapon production and smuggling were given by Cardinal Rohan."

After reviewing the contents of this report in its entirety, I became quite angry with myself. I had believed I was safe because I had removed Cardinal Rohan from the political center in this timeline, but he had caused an incident in a different way...

Well, with all this testimony, Cardinal Rohan is doomed, and there is no way he can escape the death penalty. The properties he owned were temporarily seized by the Department of Land Administration on charges of tax evasion. Due to the significant amount of these assets, they will be used to supplement the economic support and educational expenses for the impoverished.

However, while it's good that Cardinal Rohan has been arrested... it seems there is another mastermind. Someone who conspired with him to sell weapons...