shadow of britain

Chapter 461 Conspiracy in the Gutter
At night, classic limestone buildings stand quietly on both sides of the street, with Baroque-style facades and complex sculptures telling stories of the past.

On the cobblestone road, pedestrians wear different clothes, from the noble clothes to the simple clothes of the common people. Everyone is an indispensable part of this picture of the times. Occasionally other carriages would pass by, kicking up a slight cloud of dust.

Suddenly, a group of cavalry leading the way escorted a magnificent carriage and drove in here. Pedestrians were avoiding each other. Street gangsters chewed tobacco in their mouths and stared at the carriage decorated with golden patterns and bronze carvings. He knew that there must be a royal dignitary sitting in the dark wooden carriage, but what he didn't guess was that Paris Police Chief Henri Rissoquet was accompanying the king on his trip today.

The window of the carriage was ajar, and through it one could vaguely see the king having a close conversation with the chief of police sitting opposite.

Perhaps it is because Zhisouquet was not born in the police system, or to be more precise, he was parachuted to the Grand Paris Police Department as the top leader after the July Revolution.

Therefore, the police chief can neither find the professional temperament of a professional policeman like Arthur, nor can he find the sophistication and adaptability of a street detective like Vidocq.

Even though he has a tall and straight figure, wearing a typical black robe of a French police officer, with medals and symbols of honor on his chest, and an iconic top hat on his head, the gold chain of the pocket watch hanging on his chest and placed on his leg The cane on the side still shows his other identity. In addition to the Paris police chief, he is also a banker.

Zhisoke's expression was focused and serious. He was obviously reporting to the king the current important security situation in Paris or the latest information gathered from various channels.

For Zhisouquet, just being the chief of police in Paris could not satisfy his appetite. He also wanted to go higher and have a look, and the news that the king was planning to replace the minister of the interior gave him some small hope.

Zhisoke unfolded the document in his hand and reported to King Louis Philippe in a meticulous manner.

Risokai breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this. He bowed his head slightly and said, "I am very happy to be able to contribute to our civil government."

When Zhisouquet heard this, he knew that Louis Philippe was probably suspicious of him. He said quite frankly: "This is also part of the police reform I am currently carrying out at the Grand Paris Police Department. Many traditional methods are very Lack of efficiency. Since I have been in charge of the Grand Paris Police, I see no point in using undercover agents or sending large numbers of people around to look for a conspiracy that does not exist.

Your Majesty, I must say that the current police system is too deeply connected with all parties. Paris has a history of establishing a police force much earlier than London, but judging from the effectiveness of London and Paris in handling riots last June, we have fallen far behind our neighbors across the strait. "

Another point worth noting is that I think it would be a very dangerous behavior to rely too much on the military to maintain order and stability in France. Our spies have discovered that there is a large group of ignorant and drunken soldiers in the army. They have been corrupted by democratic views. creed.

According to our informant reports, this incendiary group can be seen behind every riot. They tried their best to exploit the potential of every rebellion, trying to turn a food price riot or a demonstration in sympathy with the Poles into a large-scale uprising.

And don't think of the conspirators as a monolith; they often betray each other because of differences of opinion or infighting. For example, the 'Friends of the People and Human Rights Association', they personally sent me many informants. There are so many informants that I sometimes feel that the only purpose of those who join the Human Rights Association and squeeze their way into the leadership is to sell their companions at a higher price and provide better services to the police department. "

This large-scale infiltration of the army is very rare in countries other than France. This kind of unrest and fanatical passion at the social level not only endangers social order, but also poses a threat to the rule of the dynasty. I fully understand that solving this problem is the primary goal of my term. Therefore, since they posed a threat, I had to use all moral and material means to deal with them.

But compared with last year, due to the successful handling of the cholera epidemic that occurred last year and the Paris riots in June by the Grand Paris Police Department, we have reason to believe that this reactionary organization, the 'Association of Friends of the People and Human Rights', which is committed to overthrowing the dynastic rule, has ceased to exist in name only. .

You're right, political activists are generally difficult to track, most of them are highly alert. But on the other hand, these guys are afraid of doing it themselves, so to a certain extent they need to recruit laborers from the lower classes. Therefore, as long as these people at the bottom are slightly careless in their words and deeds, we will eventually find their leaders.

Because even though such a crowd does not exceed five people at first, it quickly swells. If our officers don't arrive in time, half an hour or an hour later, at 5pm or as late as midnight, the situation can quickly turn into a small-scale riot.

Louis-Philippe asked: "What if there are no conflicts within these groups? How do you make informants emerge among them?"

For most riots, I am not dealing with organized conspiracies. Most of the targets the police deal with are identifiable interest groups, and we must use any known means to defeat these groups that may attack at any time. interest group.

"Police reform will be given top priority after the education reform proposed by Guizot is completed. However, at this moment, it is not a good idea to carry out drastic reforms to the current police system. "

Having said this, Zhisoke paused for a moment and then added: "If you have time in your recent schedule, you can condescend to come to our headquarters on Jerusalem Road for an inspection. In the archives of the headquarters, you can Read at any time the more than 3000 files on political suspects created by these human rights association leaders for the police department.”

The criminal Kontreich, who tried to set fire to Notre Dame Cathedral last year to cause riots, also admitted that he had a background as a member of the Friends of the People and Human Rights Association, and he frankly admitted that he was a "rioter" by profession.

Louis Philippe nodded, and he immediately spoke again: "But there is one thing I want to ask clearly. Those real political activists are usually cautious, so most of them are difficult to track. But yours in Paris In every riot, there are almost no predictions. Why?”

"Since the beginning of this year, due to the gradual improvement of the economic situation, the number of people gathering on the streets has been significantly reduced. However, the Grand Paris Police Department will not relax its supervision of such people for the time being.

Having said this, Louis Philippe slightly raised his head and looked at Risoke: "However, Risoke, you can realize that your current job is essentially a political job, which makes me feel very relieved. This year, Lyon, Saint-Egypt There were riots over working conditions and food in Tiennes, Nantes, Avignon and Paris, and of these cities Paris handled them best, and everyone saw them."

Louis Philippe's hand was holding the dark umbrella handle. France's most distinguished 'equal citizen' seemed to be thinking about something.

The best way to solve this problem is to separate our police force from the local security system and the military system, and use Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom as a model to establish a highly professional, independently budgeted, and owned police force. An independent administrative police system.

This group of Republicans has never accurately estimated their numbers. They hope that many people will join in. They believe that their comrades number in the hundreds of thousands, but after the first shot is fired, those bystanders will disperse. , their number was reduced to only a few hundred.

"It's very rare that there are no conflicts. But even if they don't have conflicts, we can create conflicts for them."

"What does it mean?"

Risokai smiled and said: "When encountering this kind of situation, we usually harass members of various societies by searching houses. We arrest some people, but don't ask any questions, and then release them safely. In this way, those who are arrested and interrogated and then released will be suspected of having surrendered to the police. They will be severely ostracized, and some of them who are not determined may eventually become police officers. Informants. The appearance of these informants will further increase the suspicion within the group, and over time, they will start fighting among themselves. "

Louis-Philippe smiled generously and said: "Thank you, Henry, for answering my long-standing doubts. You work very hard, and can be compared with Fouche, the Minister of Police during the Napoleonic period."

Zhisoke said modestly: "Your Majesty, I am not very qualified, but I am good at learning. This is not because of my intelligence, but because I used some of the police management experience during the imperial period, and even referred to part of Scotland Yard's successful experience in London. ”

When Louis-Philippe heard Zissequet mentioning Scotland Yard, he suddenly seemed to remember something. He joked: "Speaking of Scotland Yard, when I was chatting with the boy from Napoleon's family a few days ago, I heard him mention it. But he also served there when he was in London. Is this what he told you?"

Zhisoke broke into a cold sweat when he heard this. He quickly clarified: "Your Majesty, you don't actually need to find Mr. Louis Bonaparte to ask about these Scotland Yard experiences. Do you remember François Vidoc?" He had a good personal relationship with a senior police officer at Scotland Yard, and it was he who submitted all this British experience.”

"Senior police officer of Scotland Yard?" Louis Philippe pondered for a while: "Bloodhound, Arthur Hastings?"

"Bloodhound?" Risuokai looked confused.

"This is the nickname given to him by the London newspapers. He has also been nicknamed 'The Devil', 'Ironheart', 'Knight in the Mist' and 'Electric Pianist'. The first two were given after June 6 last year. , the latter two started before June 5 last year.”

Speaking of this, Louis Philippe added an explanation: "I often saw this name in the letters Talleyrand sent back to Paris. This young man has an unusually many nicknames."

He shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, I only know that Vidocq has a friend in Scotland Yard, but I don't know what that person's name is."

"Really?" Seeing that he didn't know, Louis Philippe casually mentioned: "Arthur Hastings, the initiator of our plan to bring back the little black fat man, was also Louis Bonaparte's boss at Scotland Yard. , and this young man seems to have a good relationship with Wellington.”

When Zhisoke heard this series of events, he couldn't help but ask for instructions: "If you need it, once this guy leaves Britain, we can arrange for someone to take action."

"No." Louis-Philippe raised his hand: "Zisouquet, your reaction was too extreme. I didn't say there was anything wrong with this young man, let alone that he was a British official. The relationship between France and Britain is of vital importance. It’s important, and Arthur Hastings is still a good friend of ours. Talleyrand asked him to play golf, and I plan to repay him for the help he just gave to France.”

Speaking of this, Louis Philippe seriously asked: "When we get to the banquet later, remember to toast him a glass of wine for me." Risoko pondered the king's words carefully, and it took a long time to confirm that His Majesty the King It shouldn't be the opposite.

Although he didn't understand how a Scotland Yard police officer could help the July Dynasty, since it was the king who spoke so loudly, Zhisoke, who was aspiring to go further, had to pay attention.

Risuokai put a hand on his chest and bowed his head slightly: "Accept your will."

……

While Louis-Philippe and Zissequet were discussing Arthur heatedly, the former London cop with many nicknames was still indulging in the melodious sounds of the banquet's silk and bamboo orchestra.

Perhaps it was because there were so many important figures at this banquet that the Second Secretary of the British Legation in Hanover was a person whose identity could not be brought to the fore.

But for Arthur, this is not without benefits.

As a 24-year-old veteran agent, there is nothing better than being inconspicuous.

He could freely go in and out of every corner of the banquet and listen to the upper class gossips from the guests from time to time.

More importantly, he didn't want to deal with those aristocratic ladies who knew they were spoiled at first sight.

Even though their painting level is quite high, they can speak multiple languages ​​such as Italian, Latin, English and Spanish, they play the piano extremely well, and they have a singing voice that has been trained by many famous teachers.

Even though they appear to be intelligent and literary, they seem to prove Mascaril's words: "Noble people are born knowing everything."

But, for Arthur, hearing such a young lady talk about the Italian school, the Dutch school, the paintings of the Middle Ages or the Renaissance era. She freely criticizes ancient and modern literary works, and uses harsh words to point out the shortcomings of a work, so that the people who fall in love with her believe her every simple word, just like the Turks believe in the sultan's edict. This is really a kind of behavior. torture.

Not to mention, the work she criticized was the masterpiece "Hastings" by the famous British writer Arthur Sigmar.

The old London spies couldn't hear this.

"In my opinion, detective novels are just works that are popular in the market and have no lasting value. In terms of expressiveness, novels are not as good as dramas and are not an elegant art worthy of appreciation. If there is a kind of novel genre It is advisable and worthy of careful reading, so it should be a historical novel rather than a detective novel. In the British literary world, the top writer of historical novels is undoubtedly Sir Walter Scott, who wrote "Robin Hood". Elder Carter..."

Arthur was about to turn around and leave, but after hearing these last words, he couldn't help but stop and turned back to glare at the girl who spoke.

There were so many works on "The British", but she chose "Robin Hood" and placed it on top of "The Hastings Chronicles" without looking at anything else. Although he is not the best in literature, if possible, Arthur still wants to drag Elder from South America to Paris so that this young lady can have a good conversation about literary works with Mr. Carter.

The young lady seemed to be aware of Arthur's gaze, but she did not avoid it. Instead, she raised her chin slightly and winked at him with interest.

Arthur found that his little eyes were caught, and his suddenly heated head slowly calmed down.

Arthur thought to himself: "Well, what do I argue with Elder? When it comes to the necessary qualities of a writer, I am indeed not as close to him as he is. What's more, he also graduated from the Department of Classical Literature at the University of London. Although there taught him It looks like it was just released from Oxford."

Arthur took off his hat, politely expressed his apology to the lady for glaring just now, and then walked towards the next crowd with a red wine glass in hand.

He now desperately needs a bastard rumor about Hugo or Balzac to cover up his resentment.

Agares put his arm on Arthur's arm. He knew exactly what the boy was thinking.

The red devil clapped his legs and laughed loudly: "My dear Arthur, I think at this time, only a copy of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice can heal your heart."

Arthur said calmly without turning his head: "Agares, if you are willing to put the two bottles of Dijinzhuang back in your pocket, then we can talk about the seven deadly sins again. You tonight His speech was really substandard. According to historians’ speculation that Napoleon was substandard during the Battle of Waterloo, I even have some doubts... Did you hide a bottle somewhere else? "

When Agares heard this, he snapped his fingers with a smile on his face: "You little bastard, how dare you offend Professor Agares like this? Aren't you afraid of getting yourself into trouble?"

"What am I afraid of?" Arthur shrugged: "As you said before, I am a corpse."

Agares watched the humanoid monitor go further and further away, and couldn't help but give his middle finger to his back: "Damn it, Arthur! I promise, if you talk to me like this again, you will be in trouble tonight. I’ll get hemorrhoids!”

Seeing that he ignored him, the red devil angrily pulled out the Dijinzhuang he had put in his pants and took two big sips: "Hiccup! This kid is really getting more and more arrogant. Not only did one death not scare him, On the contrary, I am becoming more and more fearless. If I don’t think of a way to cure you, you really think I don’t have any ideas.”

Agares held his chin and thought about it. When he raised his eyes, he saw the young lady who had been glared at by Arthur just now.

Although the young lady, who was surrounded by stars and the moon in the center of the crowd, already had a smile in her eyes, Agares could vaguely read a hint of absent-mindedness from the corner of her mouth.

The red devil walked slowly to the young lady's side with his hands behind his back. He first dug his ear holes with his nails, then took out the gold-rimmed glasses clipped to his collar and put on the glasses he took out of his trouser pocket. stethoscope.

As soon as he pressed the stethoscope to the young lady's heart, he heard a burst of confused sounds coming from inside.

"He is very unfamiliar, he must not be a native of Paris..."

"There are many English guests at this party, so perhaps he is from London?"

"He looks well-mannered, maybe from an old English family?"

"If you marry an ancient British aristocrat, it is indeed of the same level as marrying an ancient French aristocrat, or even one level higher! Dad often said that due to the Great Revolution, many French aristocrats have lost their generation, so many British The noble families are older than those in France.”

"He seems to be interested in me, but not very interested. Is it because of my makeup today? He doesn't like my pink skirt today?"

"No, you can't make such an arbitrary decision yet. Emily, you have to calm down. Even if he is born in a British aristocracy, it won't work if he is not the eldest son with the right to inherit. Your significant other must be a pure aristocrat, and he must be in the family. You have a seat in the House of Lords. In this way, when you walk on the streets of London, the soldiers will salute you, and the vulgar women in all salons will focus on you. "

"Perhaps I have to inquire about his origins? But who should I ask? It is really inconsistent with my noble status for a lady to ask so straightforwardly."

"Maybe dad knows the identity of the guy just now. After every banquet, he always has various business cards in his pocket, and there must be his among them..."

"Oh!" Agares put away the stethoscope and exclaimed: "Look what I heard? A shocking discovery, a young girl's vanity. Although this thing is ordinary, maybe I can use it It’s perfect to create a terrible marriage. Or it can be used to create a life-and-death relationship where you want to kill your partner day and night!”

(End of this chapter)