I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 489 The First Step of Administrative Reform

Reims, a province just east of Paris.

Market inspector Viscount Duran felt solemn as he watched hundreds of majestic policemen marching past him in neat steps.

He clearly remembered that just a year ago, the police in Reims were no different from street thugs. Not to mention that hundreds of people walked with the same sound as now, it was even difficult to get them to stand up straight.

Now, these police officers are highly paid, very disciplined, and are directly commanded by the Police Department, not the City Hall.

He sighed inwardly, the police were no longer under the control of the nobles...

Joseph originally wanted to hold a police review ceremony in Reims like the one in Paris, but the police training here was still a little poor. The Police Bureau said that it would take a month of preparation in advance to barely achieve the effect he wanted.

So he had to change the review into a police parade around the city, but he didn't expect that because a large number of citizens followed behind to watch, it eventually turned into a large-scale parade of thousands of people, and the momentum was not much weaker than that in Paris.

"Hey, have you heard?" An official wearing a black long coat and with prominent cheekbones suddenly came up to Viscount Duran, nudged him with his elbow, and said mysteriously, "The reason why the Earl of Norfolk and his people exposed other officials in court was because they were forced by the Intelligence Agency..."

Viscount Duran's face suddenly changed. He rubbed his ears with exaggerated movements and said loudly: "Baron Chevalier, the drums are too loud. What did you say? I didn't hear clearly."

"I mean……"

Chevalier was about to say it again, but he saw Duran turned around and greeted a middle-aged man, "Mr. Gerard, long time no see, you are here too."

Chevalier had no choice but to turn to another official and tell him the "big story" he had heard, but the latter soon avoided him with a strange look on his face.

He suddenly felt a little depressed, and happened to see his cousin-in-law, Baron Alex, the financial assistant of Reims, in the crowd, so he squeezed over, waved to him and said, "Henry, it's great to see you.

"Well, regarding the person implicated in the recent corruption case, I heard that it was from the Intelligence Bureau..."

He was just halfway through his sentence when his cousin's husband interrupted him harshly: "Stop talking!"

The latter looked around and whispered seriously, "I always remind you not to listen to other people's nonsense, and don't spread it around."

"No, this is not a rumor. Viscount Charles Berni said it..."

Viscount Berni was one of the more than 40 senior officials tried for corruption this time.

Baron Alex glanced nervously at the police line carrying flintlock rifles not far away, and raised his hand to cover his mouth: "The royal family has suppressed this matter, which is the best result. You are still saying this, are you trying to attract the Notary Investigation Bureau to investigate us?"

He lowered his voice even more: "Before, the High Court only tried four people, and hundreds of officials were implicated. When the trials of the 4-plus people behind are all completed, it is very likely that we will be on the list of those exposed!
"The most important thing is that no matter you, me, the municipal commissioner, or the trade coordinator, no one can withstand the investigation...so we just need to cooperate with the royal family and don't make any trouble!"

When he saw Chevalier nod, he let go of his mouth and reminded him again: "When you go back, make preparations and go to Paris with me in a few days to register for the Royal Administrative University..."

When the police parade was over, Baron Alex pondered for a moment and told the driver to go to the police station.

Soon, he said to the police officer who received him: "I want to report that Viscount Charles Berni spread rumors and framed the Intelligence Bureau..."

In the office next door, Viscount Duran was also reporting the same thing. …

After presiding over the police parade in Bordeaux, Joseph returned to Paris.

He first made a detour to the Administrative College to give a speech at the opening ceremony on behalf of Louis XVI.

Yes, with the huge sponsorship and constant urging of many officials, the university completed the preparatory work at lightning speed in just one and a half months and was ready to start classes.

There were more than 600 students in the first batch, far exceeding the original plan.

Moreover, if one wanted to be among the first to attend the class, one had to go through the church’s back door, with thousands of officials waiting in line behind him.

When Joseph came out of school, he looked up and saw a rental notice hanging on the house across the street. The rent was as high as 40 francs a month!

This price is almost equivalent to an ordinary civil servant's monthly salary.

He slapped his forehead, feeling extremely regretful. Why had he not thought of such a good real estate project before?
This is a top-notch school district house. There is no problem selling it for 20,000 or 30,000 francs.

You know, the people who live here are all officials, so they can afford this little money. And even if they don't live in the house, they can easily rent it out at a high price. Some savvy businessmen will also come to invest in buying houses.

If we build a new residential area in this area, we can earn at least tens of millions of francs!
Thinking of this, Joseph hurriedly told Emmanuel to send someone to buy all the vacant land near the Administrative University. It is not too late to mend the fence after the sheep have been lost. Wouldn't this raise more funds for tax reform?

The next day.

At the Palace of Versailles, a routine cabinet meeting is being held in the conference hall.

"Next is the proposal of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Brian said in a steady tone, looking at the documents in front of him, "His Royal Highness suggests that officials in charge of road administration, water conservancy, etc., should be allowed to go to university to study because their areas of responsibility require a lot of professional knowledge.

"If these officials fail the professional assessment, it proves that they are not suitable for the job and other people can be transferred to the position."

Mirabeau immediately nodded in agreement. "Your Highness has given it a very thoughtful consideration. It is hard to imagine that a road director who cannot even understand the roadbed construction drawings can build a road of acceptable quality."

Brian looked around at several cabinet ministers and said, “Then we will follow your highness’s suggestion and allow officials in these fields to enter the Administrative University for further studies in batches.

"And in the future, for positions that require higher professional knowledge, people should first study and obtain relevant diplomas before they can take up the position."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

There are not many official positions in water conservancy and road administration, and the power they hold is not great, so no one pays too much attention to them.

The ministers all turned to look at Queen Mary.

The latter was still admiring a beautiful bird outside the window - now the Dauphin could help her take care of most things, and she was becoming more and more lazy to worry about it - until Brian coughed lightly, she turned back suddenly and smiled awkwardly.

(End of this chapter)