I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 486 Let’s Poke a Hole in the Sky First

As for allowing clergy to participate in politics, this has a long history in France. In the past, there were outstanding politicians like Archbishop Richelieu, and now there are "active" ministers like Briand and Talleyrand.

Therefore, giving the church some places to replace officials will not have any major impact on French politics.

In fact, judging from past experience, priests who enter politics basically become pure bureaucrats, and their ties with the church gradually fade. After all, the butt determines the head.

Moreover, this group of priests entering politics will inevitably take the lead in entering the University of Public Administration for further studies - since it is a university built by their own church, they must support it, right?
When Archbishop Beaumont heard that he could "allocate" official positions to the church, he immediately smiled again: "It is also the church's duty to help His Majesty the King govern his people."

He asked carefully, "Your Highness, how many people are needed so that the church can make some preparations in advance."

In the past, priests were selected by the king for their outstanding personal abilities, and there were not many of them. It was even rarer for priests to hold local positions.

Beaumont knew very well that more than 40 officials were arrested this time, and they were all high-ranking local officials. This was definitely a rare opportunity for the church!

Joseph glanced at him and said in a long tone:

“Well, at least 10 positions. At least one of them will be the assistant to the municipal commissioner.

“Depending on the progress of the Administrative Management University, there may be more.”

Beaumont was immediately overjoyed. If the church's manor was used for renovation, the cost of building a university would not exceed 20 francs. Well, the previous 50 included "oil and water", so this deal was very cost-effective.

He hurriedly said: "Please rest assured, I will personally supervise the construction of the Political Management University and will definitely satisfy you!"

Joseph continued, "By the way, the positions that the church is filling this time are all left by officials who were previously punished for corruption. I also want to take this opportunity to reorganize the bureaucracy, and I hope the church can cooperate."

Beaumont hurriedly put on a solemn expression of a clergyman: "Those corrupt guys will not go to heaven. The church has always taught the world with the teachings of God, and one of the Ten Commandments is not to be greedy for money. This time the church will definitely severely condemn their crimes and praise Your Majesty for the fair punishment they have received."

“Thank you for your words of warning.” Joseph smiled and nodded, then pulled the archbishop aside and said, “There will be branches of the Administrative University in Lyon and Bordeaux, which may also require the Church’s help…”

A week later.

Nearly a thousand people gathered outside the Paris High Court, looking through the iron fence.

Today is the day when the Earl of Norfolk, Governor of Poitou, will be tried.

Although it was not a public trial, it had been widely publicized in newspapers beforehand, and even the church had twice publicly condemned the recent large-scale corruption. Therefore, the public was extremely concerned about the trial and gathered here early in the morning to wait for the result.

In the courtroom on the first floor of the High Court, the presiding judge, Dubois, listened to the shouts outside the window of "severely punish corrupt officials", and looked at Norfolk who was staggering to the dock, and could not help but sigh in his heart.

Obviously, the royal family wanted to make an example of him, but if they sentenced a governor severely, they would inevitably suffer dissatisfaction from the bureaucracy. After all, the death of a rabbit makes the fox mourn. You know, in the past, if such noble officials only embezzled a few hundred thousand livres, they only needed to make up the money, or at most they would be dismissed, and they would not even be prosecuted.

He took a deep breath, read his opening remarks according to the procedure, and then the trial began.

While he was still thinking about how to satisfy the royal family and give Norfolk the lightest sentence possible, the prosecutor had finished his prosecution statement and the defendant's lawyer began to speak. The lawyer glanced at the Governor of Poitou and said to Duport: "Your Honor, my client has something to say."

Norfolk gritted his teeth and immediately said loudly: "I want to expose it, hoping to reduce my guilt."

He recalled the list of names he had given to the Crown Prince before and said, "First is Baron Bellandt, the financial assistant of Angoumoir. He once bribed me with 8 livres to ask me to help him..."

This sentence made more than a dozen nobles in the audience open their eyes wide and were so shocked that they were speechless.

This kind of thing of accusing someone in court is absolutely a taboo in the officialdom! Norfolk not only offended Baron Bellandt, but also the entire bureaucracy. Not to mention that he can no longer think about being an official, whether he is doing business or farming, as long as he is in France, someone will secretly attack him and will not stop until he is killed.

Unexpectedly, Norfolk was in a completely "letting himself go" posture. After talking about Bellandt, he started to expose the municipal assistant of Angoumoir...

In this way, the nobles who were listening listened with shock on their faces as the Earl of Norfolk kept saying the names of people one by one, and he had forgotten how many names he was.

In short, the entire Poitou officialdom was bound to fall.

Dibol's hands were shaking slightly. Why should such a thing happen in his own court?
Will the officials who were dragged into the Norfolk incident blame themselves in the future? God, who am I? Why am I here? What am I doing?
He listened to the revelations for several hours, and finally, with a blank mind, announced a temporary adjournment of the court and would resume the court tomorrow. Then he fled from the court as if he had seen a ghost and drove directly to the Tuileries Palace.

The clerk standing by looked at the dozens of pages of confession he had copied, and stood there not knowing what to do.

At the same time, a similar scene was playing out in several nearby courtrooms - officials involved in corruption were frantically exposing their colleagues, and in this morning alone, hundreds of senior officials were dragged into the water.

As the news from the court spread, there was an explosion outside the High Court.

The reporters pounced on the nobles who had just attended the trial like hungry wolves, asking them about the officials who had been exposed and almost tearing them into pieces.

The people were furious and began to march along the streets outside the High Court, shouting "Hang", "Let all corrupt officials go to hell" and the names of the officials who had just been tried.

As more citizens heard the news and joined the parade, the number of people quickly doubled.

Then someone shouted "Petition to His Majesty the King", and the marchers immediately rushed towards the Palace of Versailles.

That afternoon, an extremely efficient newspaper published the names of the officials who had been exposed in court. The Press and Publication Bureau had already received Joseph's instructions and gave the green light to such news.

……

Second floor of the Tuileries Palace.

Supreme Court President Duport walked into the Crown Prince's office with a pale face. He even forgot to salute and cried out: "Your Highness, this is terrible! Norfolk has implicated more than 30 people in court. No, maybe 50 people! They are all corrupt, derelict of duty, etc...."

Joseph just smiled at him and said, "Mr. Dean, if I remember correctly, you have another court hearing this afternoon, right? Oh, please sit down and have a cup of tea, and then you have to go back as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)