章 66: Chapter 66: The British Ambassador’s Tale
Chapter 66: The British Ambassador's Tale
A black carriage rolled up to the Palais-Royal.
A guard immediately stepped forward to stop it. "This is the Palais-Royal. Please state your name."
The driver pulled out a small copper badge and flashed it. The guard instantly stepped aside, opening the gate and bowing his head without another word.
The carriage drove straight to the east side of the Palais-Royal and stopped. A man dressed in a black cloak, with his hat pulled low over his face, quickly ascended the steps and, with practiced ease, pushed open the door and entered.
The Duke of Orléans was sitting at his desk, deep in thought, about to put pen to paper, when he heard the butler's voice outside the door: "Your Grace, the British Ambassador, Mr. Hartley, is here."
"Show him in."
A moment later, the door opened, and Hartley, dressed in all black, bowed to the Duke with a smile on his face. "Oh, Philippe, my old friend! It's been a while since we last met."
The Duke of Orléans smiled and nodded. "Dear David! What brings you here today?"
Hartley exchanged pleasantries with him before getting to the point: "Philippe, you know how London is always causing me trouble. And here in Paris, I can only rely on you, my friend."
"Just tell me what you need."
"Well, I'd like to have a few things published in the newspapers."
"Then you've come to the right person," the Duke of Orléans chuckled. "Tell me, is it an advertisement or some kind of announcement?"
"Uh, to be precise," Hartley spread his hands, "it's some stories I want to publish."
"Stories?"
"Some stories about the Prussians," Hartley said. "For example, Duke Schwarz of Prussia competing with Count Fersen for Queen Marie's affections."
"Duke Schwarz? I've never heard of..." The Duke of Orléans began, then suddenly smiled knowingly. "Oh, I see. It doesn't matter if Duke Schwarz exists or not—the focus is on his supposed affair with the Austrian harlot."
Hartley nodded. "You catch on quickly. There's also Baron Ramos of Silesia having secret meetings with Princess Thérèse."
Silesia was now part of Prussia, and Princess Thérèse was King Louis XVI's eldest daughter, Joseph's sister. Naturally, everything Hartley mentioned was fabricated.
The Duke of Orléans casually added, "And Baron Ramos's maid was supposedly noticed by the Prince during one of these meetings. Rumor has it she's already pregnant."
Hartley's eyes lit up. "If you ever became a playwright, you'd be famous across Europe. Let's proceed with this plan, and please have these stories published as soon as possible."
Stories involving the royal family's reputation couldn't appear in newspapers without the Duke of Orléans' connections.
The Duke of Orléans smiled faintly. "This isn't an easy task."
"That's why I'm asking for your help. After all, aren't most of the newspapers in Paris under your control?"
The Duke of Orléans didn't directly confirm this but instead said, "The money I invested in the British automatic loom industry is still largely tied up in approvals."
Hartley nodded. "I can help expedite that. You know how slow government officials can be."
The Duke of Orléans finally looked satisfied. "Then I'll count on you. As for your stories, they should be known to everyone soon."
Not long after, Hartley left.
The Duke of Orléans immediately wrote letters to several of the major newspapers he controlled, mainly instructing them on how to handle the tax law issue, and at the end, he briefly mentioned the British ambassador's stories.
...
At three in the afternoon, Joseph's carriage left the Paris Police Academy, heading back to Versailles.
He now attended classes at the academy two or three times a week, focusing on elite courses in tactical command, military mapping, and logistics.
He knew that with the industrial revolution progressing, the European continent would begin to destabilize, with the redistribution of interests between old and new powers leading to endless wars.
He needed to acquire sufficient military knowledge to ensure the safety and stability of France.
At this time, France hadn't yet developed the reputation for quick surrender that it would in later years. On the contrary, the country had a strong martial spirit. A king who could lead France to victory in battle would be adored by all the French people and wield supreme authority.
Even if he didn't personally lead troops into battle, Joseph needed to know which wars could be fought and which could not.
So, basic military courses were essential for him. Moreover, he could also share new knowledge with the academy's military instructors.
Concepts like artillery-infantry coordination, cavalry-artillery support, concentrated artillery use, and even large-scale maneuvers—ideas that had yet to be developed—were new to the instructors. While Joseph couldn't teach them in great detail, introducing these concepts was like opening a door to a new world for them.
With these ideas and directions in place, the instructors could further refine and perfect them, eventually incorporating them into the army's training curriculum.
A few days ago, Dubois had arrived at the academy to take up the position of head of the "Strategic and Tactical Research Office." Although he was puzzled as to why a police academy would need to study strategy and tactics, he was happy to accept the position.
After reading Joseph's advanced military theories, Dubois quickly understood the necessity of this research office—this police academy's level of military theory was far higher than that of the Paris Officer School! He was grateful to be favored by the Prince and to have the opportunity to work at this "police academy." Oh, no, it should be called a police academy.
A "police academy" equipped with numerous horses, three four-pound cannons, and one eight-pound cannon...
Sitting in the bumpy carriage, Joseph once again thought about the spring suspension system he hadn't had time to develop. He picked up the newspaper on the small table in front of him to pass the time.
The recent publicity campaign for the tax reform bill had been very effective. In just a few days, he had already heard people on the streets of Paris discussing the new tax provisions.
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before the high nobles in the Assembly of Notables found it difficult to stir up public opinion against the royal family.
However, when Joseph saw the front page of The Voice of the City, he couldn't help but frown. He had already reserved three months of front-page space in this newspaper, but today's front page featured a news story about a noblewoman being murdered.
He picked up The Paris News, and the headline on the front page read: "The New Tax Law: Is Lord Briand Arbitrarily Raising Taxes?"
Joseph scowled as he read through the article, which was full of misleading information and twisted the facts, portraying the tax law as a random tax imposed by the royal family due to excessive spending, with severe negative consequences.
He slammed the newspaper down on the table. How could such drivel pass the news review? What were the censors doing?
Then he remembered that the news review was handled by a department under the High Court. The High Court, which was opposing the tax reform, was naturally turning a blind eye to these nonsense articles.
Joseph then picked up The French Messenger. As expected, the front page headline was: "High Court Rejects Registration! Could This Be a Victory for Freedom?"
(End of chapter)
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