Chapter 317: Chapter 313 Military Reform Predicament
"Are you suggesting that for the military to return to its former state, a large-scale military engagement is essential!"
Major General Niel was startled by Jerome Bonaparte’s sudden war rhetoric. Heaven help him, his original intention was merely to advise Jerome Bonaparte not to rush too much on the path of military reform.
After all, military reform is not something that happens overnight, especially peacetime reforms, which require balancing various interests to find a compromise point to complete the military reforms.
Reforms that seek quick success and instant benefits will only meet resistance from all sides, decreasing the military’s combat effectiveness rather than increasing it.
Of course, using war to indirectly promote reform is not an unworthy method.
"Your Majesty, actually the reform of the barracks involves all aspects of interests... and these issues are far beyond what a single war can resolve. Our military has also engaged in wars in Spain and Belgium..." Major General Niel explained solemnly to Jerome Bonaparte, attempting to persuade Jerome Bonaparte to abandon the idea of quickly resolving the barracks issue.
"Major General Niel! If you were in charge of reorganizing the barracks, how long would it take you to restore it to its original functions!" After listening to Major General Niel’s explanation, Jerome Bonaparte immediately smiled and asked Major General Niel, believing that Niel should already have a solution in mind.
As Jerome Bonaparte expected, Major General Niel raised three fingers in response to Jerome Bonaparte: "Three years! Your Excellency, please give me three years, and I can restore the recruitment function of the barracks!"
"What about the material function?" Jerome Bonaparte keenly detected Major General Niel’s "flaw".
"I’m afraid it will take another two years!" Major General Niel explained to Jerome Bonaparte: "Your Excellency, we must ensure the location of the barracks connects with the railway, which means existing barracks must be torn down and rebuilt, taking at least three years to establish a brand-new barracks system!"
Niel’s explanation convinced Jerome Bonaparte that Niel had the capability to drive military reform, and he immediately promised, "Alright! I can give you three years!"
"In addition, you also have to agree to a few conditions of mine!" Niel proceeded to state his conditions.
"Hmm?" Jerome Bonaparte responded with an intrigued smile, "Let’s hear them, what are the conditions!"
"The first condition is that I hope the number of recruits can be increased from next year!" Niel stated his first condition.
"Are you saying that the reserves of the French Army are already exhausted?" Jerome Bonaparte curiously asked.
"Yes and no!" Major General Niel awkwardly voiced a "major" issue the military was currently facing, which is an "aging" army, "Our army has too many seasoned veterans, most of them have served for more than ten, even twenty years, with a large number of soldiers aged forty to fifty staying in the army! Such soldiers often become a cancer within the army, entirely corrupting the whole force! Therefore, we must clear these people from the army."
Major General Niel intended to rectify the existing conscription system of the French Republic by reorganizing the barracks.
"Major General Niel, have you considered how those eliminated from the military should live in this society!" Jerome Bonaparte immediately countered with a question, "Some joined the army in their teens and have stayed for over twenty years! They are virtually isolated from the world, only knowing how to kill and drink! If you suddenly kick them out of the army, how are they supposed to survive thereafter!"
Jerome Bonaparte’s question indeed made Major General Niel realize a problem he had never considered before, which is the settlement of retired veterans, "I had not thought of that!"
After carefully considering a solution adopted by a major country in the future, Jerome Bonaparte replied, "Here’s what we will do! For any soldier who reaches a certain service period, the military will issue a subsidy, which will be based on circumstances. For those who have served over twelve years, the nation has the obligation to find them positions, while the government will also send documents to each major region, province, and city-level state-owned enterprises and private businesses, to ensure the proper settlement of these veterans! At the very least, they could also serve as security personnel in factories! We must ensure these men leaving the military do not become an unstable factor in society!"
Jerome Bonaparte’s solution is neither entirely good nor bad. Although a large influx of unemployed soldiers into state-owned and private enterprises could cause financial losses, from the perspective of maintaining stability, re-employment of soldiers benefits the stability between the military and society.
At least soldiers won’t become social "scum" as before, despised by all.
After finishing, Jerome Bonaparte once again asked Niel how many additional soldiers should be recruited each year.
"Your Excellency, I believe there should be an additional 20,000 every year, meaning from the original 80,000 to 100,000!" Major General Niel told Jerome Bonaparte.
Hearing Major General Niel’s words, Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh, "Do you know what it means to increase by 20,000?"
"It means a significant increase in military expenditure!" Major General Niel answered with firm resolve, standing straight in front of Jerome Bonaparte.
"Since you know, why do you still want to increase!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Brigadier General Niel, "Now there’s only us two here..."
Jerome Bonaparte looked at Mokar and immediately corrected himself, "Only the three of us, I’ll be frank with you, every facet of France needs money, I don’t have extra funds to allocate to the military! Increasing recruits by 20,000 annually means nearly an additional hundred million francs each year!"
"Your Excellency, I believe it is entirely worthwhile!" Major General Niel showed no sign of backing down, "We can mobilize an additional 100,000 to 150,000 troops!"
Niel’s words struck a chord with Jerome Bonaparte, who was always eager to build up a large force and didn’t care about the so-called issue of military expenses.
Even if France ends up with an additional billion in military spending each year, so what? The extra 20 billion in military expenditure between now and the Franco-Prussian War is truly insignificant compared to the compensation after the war.
"I can agree to your terms!" Jerome Bonaparte responded to Major General Niel.
"The second condition, I hope to increase the amount for conscription avoidance!" Major General Niel once again put forward a condition to Jerome Bonaparte.
Compared to the first "harsh" condition, the second condition appeared much more lenient, "How much do you want to raise it to?"
"4000 francs per person!" Major General Niel said to Jerome Bonaparte.
"4000 francs! (Approximately 12,000 US dollars)" Jerome Bonaparte looked at Major General Niel in surprise: "Gathering this money is not going to be easy!"
A French farmer’s annual income is roughly between 900-1200 francs, and acquiring the right to avoid military service for 4000 francs would equate to an ordinary farmer’s family working without food or drink for four years to save up the money.
Of course, for a bourgeois family, this money is practically not an issue.
"That’s right!" Major General Niel’s purpose was to ensure that French farmers who wanted to avoid conscription simply couldn’t afford it.
The army must have a portion of "children from good families" to maintain its discipline.
"I have a suggestion: when the Ministry of War conducts conscription, could it focus more on urban areas?" Jerome Bonaparte suddenly realized why he should seize this opportunity to shave the bourgeois.
Every year, transfer the money paid by the bourgeois class to avoid military service to the countryside in the form of subsidies, thus reducing the reluctance of rural France to join the army.
Major General Niel said nothing; the specific conscription was resolved by the conscription office (and the recruitment committee) under the Military Supply Department. He was merely a "simple" logistics department director.
"Apart from these two conditions, do you have any other conditions!" Jerome Bonaparte continued to ask Major General Niel.
"No more!" Major General Niel shook his head, "As long as these two conditions are met, then I am confident that within three years the military station will restore its original functions!"
"Remember what you said!" Jerome Bonaparte stood up from the sofa again and said to Major General Niel: "Let’s go!"
"Ah?" Major General Niel looked at Jerome Bonaparte in confusion.
Jerome Bonaparte pointed at the standing clock and said to Major General Niel: "It’s almost eight o’clock, you should be going to work!"
Only then did Major General Niel realize that his work at the Ministry of War was not yet finished.
"Let’s go! Take my carriage!" Jerome Bonaparte invited Major General Niel onto the carriage.
The carriage carried Jerome Bonaparte and Major General Niel to the front of the Ministry of War building.
Entering the hall of the Ministry of War, Jerome Bonaparte, led by Secretary of State Benjamin Clemenceau, entered the office of Minister of War Saint Arno.
"Your Majesty!" Saint Arno felt somewhat surprised at Jerome Bonaparte and Niel entering his office together.
"Major General Niel has already reported the specific situation to me!" Jerome Bonaparte immediately said to Saint Arno: "I understand your difficulties, you fear speaking ill of the Emperor and incurring my displeasure!"
Since Jerome Bonaparte has already broken the unspoken rule, Saint Arno no longer needed to feign ignorance.
"There are some factors..." Saint Arno responded to Jerome Bonaparte: "But there are also no small issues with the military itself..."
"Since you’ve identified the problems, then why not change them?" Jerome Bonaparte’s tone grew somewhat aggressive.
"Your Majesty, the army is a massive whole, to rashly..." Saint Arno feared that sweeping reforms might adversely affect the Bonaparte Faction. In his view, France’s current system still maintained the top army in Europe, and even after reforms, France would remain the first in Europe.
Before reform, it’s Europe’s best; post-reform, it’s still Europe’s best. So why take the significant political risk to reform?
Holding such thoughts was not only Saint Arno but also the majority of military bureaucrats at the Ministry of War who shared Saint Arno’s views.