Chapter 1429: 1335: Husband and Wife Duo

Chapter 1429: Chapter 1335: Husband and Wife Duo

The second floor of the Palace of Versailles.

Eman bowed slightly and said, “Your Highness, Archbishop Beaumont, Archbishop Bovais, Archbishop Asery and others request an audience.”

“I thought they would hold on for a while longer.” Joseph glanced at the luxurious church carriages parked in the Marble Courtyard and gestured to Eman, “Please go inform the Crown Princess that the ‘performance’ is about to begin.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Before long, Beaumont arrived at the Crown Prince’s reception room with six high-ranking clerics.

After the group had paid their respects, Joseph looked at Archbishop Beaumont and said calmly, “If you’re here to plead on behalf of some people, I think it’s better to…”

“Your Highness, this matter is a disgrace to the church!” Beaumont suddenly burst into tears, pointing strongly at Archbishop Bovais and others, “I have already made them submit a confession to the Holy See.”

He sneaked a glance at the expressionless Crown Prince, then hastily raised his voice: “Of course, this is far from enough!

“They, including the entire church hierarchy, must be subjected to the severest punishment!”

He gave Archbishop Asery a look, and the latter took out a list, stepped forward cautiously and said, “The abbots, vice abbots, financial officers, and mentors of 16 monasteries, including the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Petit-Picpus Abbey, and Saint Denis Monastery, have all been relieved of their clerical positions and sent to southern monasteries for repentance.

“All embezzled funds must be immediately returned to the church, and double fines paid to the Royal Chapel.

“The church will form an ‘Investigation Committee’ to cooperate with the Bureau of Fair Investigation to audit all monastery and church accounts in the shortest time possible. If any issues are discovered, the same penalties will apply.”

Seeing that the Crown Prince remained silent, Beaumont had to grit his teeth and continue, “Moreover, the church will allocate 2 million francs to improve the conditions of welfare homes nationwide and send people for regular inspections to ensure abuse does not occur again.

“And also…”

To be honest, Joseph hadn’t expected the church to come and admit their mistakes, and with quite a sincere attitude at that.

It should be known that the amount of embezzlement Mala had uncovered had reached as high as 1.64 million francs. The church not only had to return it all but also pay 3.28 million francs in fines to the Royal Chapel—Versailles’s internal chapel, which essentially meant handing it over to the Royal Family.

Moreover, the nationwide investigation into monasteries wasn’t conducted internally by the church but in cooperation with the Bureau of Fair Investigation.

Even if churches everywhere started destroying evidence immediately, with Mala’s experience, they would certainly still find countless issues.

This seems to be a solid plan to thoroughly cleanse the church of corruption.

However, this left Joseph a bit at a loss—it threw off his original plan to wait for the church to quibble, resist, or even create some big ruckus, so that his prepared countermeasures could come into play.

Then, with the entire church in turmoil, he could seize the opportunity to push for church reform, and the resistance would definitely be minimized.

But now, with the church adopting a repentant and corrective stance, you can’t very well say not to give them the chance to mend their ways, right?

As he was pondering how to deal with the current situation, Alexandra entered the room in a dark red gown, her hair adorned with eagle feathers.

“Your Highness, what do you think of my new dress?”

The Crown Princess curtsied to Joseph before pretending to suddenly notice the archbishops in the room, letting her gaze sweep over them until it settled on Archbishop Bovais: “Oh, the esteemed Archbishop Bovais, have you come to present your miracles to His Highness?”

“Miracles?” He was taken aback.

“Your educational miracle, one that doesn’t require decades of investment in teachers’ salaries, school renovations, or library enhancements, yet for merely a small sum of 3,000 francs, you can produce a national mathematics champion for all of France. Such efficient and low-cost talent cultivation is truly the greatest miracle in this world.”

Beaumont’s face turned bright red, and he coughed twice, awkwardly saying, “Your Highness the Crown Princess, regarding that incident, the Oratory had only thought they had found a genius boy, unaware that he had been educated at a New Primary School…”

Alexandra sneered at him, “‘Found a genius’? Ha, after being established for four hundred years, there isn’t a single student in the Oratory who can excel in a mathematics competition, and you have to try your luck outside?

“Oh, I see, you must be strictly adhering to the Holy See’s traditions.”

Beaumont was also taken aback, instinctively asking, “What tradition?”

“Have you forgotten? The Holy See once banned Newton’s ‘Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy’, so it seems to this day, Oratory students are not allowed to access it. Archbishop Bovais had no choice but to ‘sacrifice’ three thousand francs for this ancient tradition.

“Oh, but you do have your unique curriculum—miracle mathematics. The first chapter is on solving all mathematical problems: just untie the purse strings, and the question naturally resolves itself.”

Joseph stifled his laughter forcefully, inwardly giving his wife a silent thumbs up. Her words were truly sharp.

Beaumont and the others’ faces had turned liver-colored, but after being caught red-handed during the competition hosted by the Crown Princess, they could only hold their tongues.

Well, if they retorted now, they’d probably end up even worse.

Seizing the momentum “built” by Alexandra, Joseph said to Archbishop Bovais, “By the way, you once promised me that this math competition would secure the top three positions.”

Archbishop Bovais felt aggrieved, thinking it was clearly you who asked me to secure the top three, so how did it become my promise?

But at this moment, he dared not voice any objection and stood silently.

Joseph continued, “Indeed, you did not accomplish it, and yet such a scandal erupted.

“The Oratory annually invests 10,000 to 13,000 francs per church school, while that little noble’s New Primary School requires only 7,000 francs per school.

“As a result, your students are inferior in every aspect to the children of the New Primary School.”

Beaumont, hearing the Prince’s unhappy tone, hurriedly said, “Your Highness, we are deeply ashamed of this, and we will certainly find ways to improve…”

“Hold on,” Joseph interrupted him, “put aside the church school matters first. Archbishop Beaumont, do you remember what I told you about the importance of public childcare?”

“I do remember, Your Highness.”

Joseph said coldly, “With such an important matter, so much time has passed, and you, alongside the archbishops present that day, have only managed to establish two kindergartens?”

“This, this…”

Joseph stood up, patted his arm, and spoke more gently, “Clearly, the church finds it difficult to manage the current, entirely new educational system.

“Perhaps, it’s time to let someone else take on these responsibilities.”