Both Uses of

expedient
in
Cyrano de Bergerac

Here are six excellent expedients!
Act 3 *

expedients = actions that are speedy or practical

— When I thought of the good expedient To loosen and let fall the scarf which told My military rank; thus I contrived —Without attention waked—to leave the foes, And suddenly returning, reinforced With my own men, to scatter them!†
Act 4

expedient = convenient, speedy, or practical; or an action that is speedy or practical

Definitions:

(1) (expedient)
convenient and practical, but sometimes not the best or most moral choice
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

Much more rarely, expedient can also imply that an action was taken for reasons of self-interest rather than for moral reasons.

In the sense of speedy, the word is less commonly used today than in the past; though it may still be used as in "an expedient end" or "an expedient amount of time," or "We are depending upon your expediency."