shadow of britain

Chapter 878 When the wall falls, everyone pushes it down; when the drum is broken, everyone beats it.
In fact, Arthur had foreseen the downfall of Socoutai when he visited Paris four years earlier.

As is well known, in June 1832, London and Paris, affected by cholera and the rise of liberalism, also experienced large-scale upheavals.

However, compared to the Tower of London incident, the June Uprising in Paris was much larger and more widespread. If it hadn't been dealt with in time, and if King Louis-Philippe of France hadn't rushed back to Paris to stabilize the morale of the army, the rule of the July Monarchy might have come to an end.

However, although both governments quickly quelled the situation, compared to Britain's lukewarm approach, France's attitude towards the June uprising was quite ruthless.

Immediately after the June uprising, the Commissioner of the Paris Police Department, Jean-Jacques de Gérard, issued an order requiring all medical personnel in Paris, including surgeons, pharmacists, and other medical professionals, to report the names, addresses, and identities of the wounded they treated to the local police station within 24 hours.

As for why he did this?
Given the Paris police's usual modus operandi, no one could think of any other possibility but that they would settle scores later.

This measure immediately drew widespread condemnation from society, with relevant practitioners refusing to comply with the order.

Under pressure, Rissokai had no choice but to abandon his efforts to forcefully implement this order.

However, the following year, in 1833, when Arthur arrived in Paris, Grissoc once again attracted public attention, not only because of the assassination of Louis Philippe, but also because he issued a decree after the incident prohibiting news vendors from selling newspapers, publications and prints on the street without official permission.

Although the law was overturned by the judiciary after a trial and appeal process, under the leadership of Jisokai, they quickly pushed through a new law requiring street newspaper vendors to obtain administrative licenses in order to operate.

Socouté's series of actions naturally made it difficult for the Republicans and Bonapartists to give him a friendly look.

However, this does not mean that Zsoké has a good reputation among the Orleans faction.

When the July Monarchy was first established in 1830, Jessokai was commissioned by the government to purchase 30 rifles. Ultimately, Jessokai successfully purchased 56.6 British-made weapons from Britain through commercial negotiations.

At first glance, it seemed that Gessokaet had done a good job, but a year later, the Tribune, realizing that something was wrong, suddenly questioned Prime Minister Périère and Army Commander-in-Chief Soult for allegedly receiving millions of francs in kickbacks from the arms and wool trade.

A few days later, the newspaper Revolution also raised similar questions.

Sokai's response was: "Both newspapers have been shut down, and the relevant persons in charge have been sent to a serious criminal court."

However, a subsequent parliamentary investigation confirmed that Zessokai handled the procurement in his private capacity and purchased defective British rifles at high prices. Some of the weapons that were rejected by then-War Secretary Marshal Gérard were surprisingly accepted by Marshal Soult, Gérard's successor, a few months later.

Even though the investigation results confirmed that the allegations made by L'Forum and L'Revolution were reasonable and well-founded, under the direction of Gessoker, the court still sentenced Armand Marastre, the editor-in-chief of L'Forum, to six months in prison, fined him 3000 francs, and ordered him to pay 25 francs in damages to Gessoker for defamation.

Although this incident did not shake Giuschault's position as head of the Paris police department at the time, its social impact was so severe that even the moderate left wing of the Orleans faction, led by Education Minister Guizot, deliberately distanced themselves from him afterward.

The Parisian press, on the other hand, were so eager to destroy Giesoukai that they scrutinized his every move with a magnifying glass.

To some extent, Vidocq's forced resignation from the security department was also due to his connection with Zhysokai.

If journalists treat a nobody like Vidocq this way, when they discover that Zysoké has suffered a major setback in the Bergier Street incident, wouldn't they spread the news far and wide?
Even more so, if we look at things in a darker light, it's possible that those false intelligence reports were provided to Rissokai by them.

All the negative opinions about the Paris police system erupted because of this incident, and neither the Republicans, the Bonapartists, nor the Orleansists were willing to stand up and support Gissoquet.

At this time, the new prime minister Thiers had just taken office. This short and young prime minister was unwilling to sacrifice his political future for Ghissoker, who was not related to him. Therefore, he quickly removed Ghissoker from the powerful position of chief of the Paris police and gave him the title of special state advisor.

By taking down Zesokai, Thiers made the governing platform of the new cabinet clear, as he stated in his speech to the National Assembly: "Our country is in an unprecedented crisis and we must do everything in our power to contain the chaos. To save the revolution, we must prevent it from going to extremes. Whether these extreme actions come from street riots or the abuse of the system, I will respond with strong measures."

And so, by sheer coincidence, Gissocket became the chicken Thiers used to make an example of him, which helped him win applause, the support of the Parisian press, and parliamentary approval with 251 votes to 99.

Of course, Thiers' dream of becoming prime minister didn't last long, as he stepped down after only six months.

The reason was that Thiers advised King Louis Philippe to emulate the British constitutional monarchy and allow the Prime Minister and Cabinet full authority to handle foreign and military affairs.

As expected, Louis Philippe, who had only intended to use Thiers as a puppet, flatly rejected Thiers's outlandish suggestion. He also insisted that France was not England, that the two countries had different national conditions, and that the constitutional monarchy of France stipulated that the king was the one who formulated foreign policy and was the supreme commander of the army.

Anyone who has been in a relationship knows that once this question is asked, regardless of the outcome, it means the relationship is about to break down.

Feeling he had no other choice, Thiers resigned as prime minister, handing over the hard-won position to the conservative monarchist Louis-Mathieu Morais.

Vidocq couldn't help but chuckle as he said this: "I heard that Prince Talleyrand told His Majesty the King, 'You can never truly make Thiers, but he will be an excellent tool. However, he is the kind of person who can only be used by satisfying his desires, and he is never satisfied. The greatest misfortune for you and him is that you cannot appoint him as a cardinal.' Now it seems that he was absolutely right."

Arthur glanced down from the second-floor balcony. They had arrived at just the right time. As Vidoc led them up to the second floor, the theater's strings had already begun their somber introduction.

One by one, the candlesticks below the stage were lit, their reflections illuminating the murals on the dome and making the entire Italian opera house look like an exquisite jewel box.

“We’ve come at the perfect time tonight,” Victor said in a low voice, raising an eyebrow with that familiar smugness. “This is the real Parisian spectacle. Miss Grisci’s performance of ‘Norma’ has tickets going up to astronomical prices, but no worries, we have reserved box seats.” The moment Victor pushed open the box door, an air of extravagance washed over him.

The heavy velvet curtains blocked out the noise, but inside was a completely different world.

The gold-trimmed armchairs and the silver candlesticks reflected the light onto several prepared ice buckets.

"Come on, calm down first." Vidocq flicked his wrist and opened two bottles of Bordeaux. The amber-colored wine swirled in the glass, releasing a sweet and intense aroma.

He handed the glasses to Arthur and Elder, then tilted his head back and took a swig, before letting out a satisfied sigh: "If you ask me, after a long day, nothing is more refreshing than a chilled Bordeaux."

Elder couldn't help but wipe his face with his hand: "Damn Paris... In London, at most you'd get a few beers and some roast meat at a theater bar, not this stuff while watching a play. Damn, even the lights are so flashy. Arthur, look at those girls."

Arthur leaned back on the sofa, took a sip of his drink, and turned to Victor: "Dude, you didn't drag me here today just so we could listen to Miss Grisie sing, did you?"

“Yes!” Elder had been forcibly suppressing his restless emotions on the way here, but now that Arthur had brought it up, he hurriedly asked, “Isn’t there anything else to do?”

Vidocq narrowed his eyes and said with a chuckle, "As expected, I knew I couldn't hide it from you two brothers."

Arthur leaned forward slightly, changing the subject: "You've been talking about Mr. Titalieran...did he send you?"

Vidocq chuckled. “That’s right. He’s surrounded by too many people, and his health isn’t good these days, so it’s inconvenient for him to come and invite you himself. That’s why he remembered me, his old dog who’s done a few dirty tricks for him. Don’t worry, it’s not a bad thing. You probably know that he doesn’t have the ability or the inclination to do bad things anymore. You might not know, but he’s started believing in God again, so… he just wants to invite you to his mansion in Place de la Concorde to try the cooking of Anthony Karem, the best chef in all of Paris.”

Talleyrand said he wanted to invite Arthur to dinner, and Arthur didn't doubt it.

After all, when Talleyrand was still working in London, he often boasted to Arthur about his Château de Valenser and its head chef, Anthony Carem.

Of course, this is not entirely boasting, because in addition to serving as the head chef of Talleyrand, Karem also served as the royal chef for Tsar Alexander I of Russia and King George IV of England. Even across the English Channel, Arthur had heard of his reputation as "King of Royal Chefs, Emperor of Chefs".

Even setting aside the issue of eating, Arthur could barely understand why Talleyrand was incapable of doing bad things, let alone having the inclination to do so.

However, the idea that Talleyrand has actually started believing in God again is a bit...

After all, everyone knows that Talleyrand, the former bishop, was excommunicated by the Pope himself.

He even made countless discordant remarks about religion, such as, "Religion is meant to make the ignorant follow the rules," or "The identity of a bishop is just a garment to me; it doesn't matter whether I wear it or not."

“If it’s really as you say, and Mr. Talleyrand has started believing in God again,” Arthur chuckled softly. “Then perhaps I really should go see him, since he already has a premonition that he’s about to go to hell.”

“You really need to see him.” Vidoc put down his wine glass. “After all, His Highness the Prince said this might be the last time you see each other.”

"But what else?" Arthur said, half-jokingly, not believing it. "Did he mention paying me back? He still owes me seventy pounds for gambling."

Vidocq replied with a smile, "The debts between you are beyond my control. After all, I am just an insignificant figure to His Highness the Prince... However, my friend, for your own good and for mine, before you go to see His Highness the Prince, tell me the truth: you should have no connection with the Republicans or the Bonapartists, right?"

“You could at least guess that I have connections with the orthodox faction.” Arthur shrugged. “Mr. Vidocq, you can’t assume that just because I have a good relationship with Louis Bonaparte, I’m trying to incite a Bonapartist uprising in France, can you?”

"The Bonaparte faction is irrelevant, since that's not what the intelligence sources say..."

Arthur knew that Victor's rambling was intentionally meant for him to hear. After all, the world's most outstanding detective would never do something so amateurish as to leak information. He simply wanted to observe whether there was any change in Arthur's expression through the leak.

Vidocq's attempt failed, so he changed the subject, trying to get information out of the British Foreign Office: "But, although you don't have it, does the British Foreign Office exist...?"

“Mr. Vidocq,” Arthur said, looking quite displeased, “you’ve probably forgotten where I was kicked out of here. If you’re not familiar with my relationship with our Foreign Minister, Viscount Palmerston, you can ask Lord Talleyrand.”

Victor was taken aback by Arthur's words, then chuckled twice as if his thoughts had been exposed. "Alright, alright, it's all my fault for asking, brother. Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning on behalf of the Paris police. You know, my old colleagues can't wait for me to go to my grave. It's just that you know the situation in Paris better than anyone else. The republicans are shouting in the streets, the Bonapartists are plotting in the back alleys, and the Orleansists are chattering in the cafes. There are some things I can only discuss with you here in this private room. If you dare to express any opinion on the street, it's like putting your head on the table."

He picked up his glass, took a big gulp of Bordeaux, and then his expression suddenly became more composed as he wiped his mouth.

Seemingly in an attempt to salvage his image in Arthur's eyes—after all, he now had business in London—Victor lowered his voice and added, "His Highness the Prince has invited you, not just for the foie gras and truffles of Karem… He wants to see you because our King has faced too many assassination attempts in recent years, the most recent one carried out by a secret revolutionary organization called the Family Society…"

Vidocq spoke the word "family society" so softly it was almost drowned out by the music from the chorus below: "These guys claim to inherit the Jacobin flame, but deep down they're mixed with many violent elements of the French Revolution. They act extremely, often striking before they even have time to shout political slogans. Although they were caught and arrested by the police before they could act that time, the investigation uncovered a whole host of other groups. After the case was solved, the police discovered they weren't just small, insignificant organizations. It would be hard to believe there wasn't someone funding them behind the scenes..."

(End of this chapter)