Chapter 488: The Power of the Royal Family
The officials heard the Crown Prince offer to preside over their matters. All hesitation vanished; they scrambled to nod, declaring, "Thank you for Your Highness's trust. We will follow your lead."
"Yes, yes! We are willing to undergo investigation to prove our innocence."
"We praise you, esteemed Crown Prince. You have given us new life."
Joseph raised a hand, gesturing for quiet. He said casually, "Oh, by the way, His Majesty the King has just established a 'Royal University of Administration'. You can attend courses there during your suspension. Learn about management and sociology. Plus, you'll remain in Paris and can inquire about the investigation results at any time."
The officials exchanged bewildered glances, none understanding the Crown Prince's true intent. But as long as it meant escaping their current predicament, what did a temporary stay at a university matter?
So, the group bowed repeatedly, eager to agree.
Soon, word reached the exposed officials. Feeling as though they'd been granted a great pardon, they rushed to the Crown Prince for help. They had even approached Queen Marie before, but the Queen, completely unaware of the situation, had simply redirected all of them to Archbishop Brienne. This meant the Crown Prince was now their only path to salvation.
However, the Crown Prince had already departed Versailles, and no one could ascertain his whereabouts.
The frantic officials, hearing from their dozen or so "successful" colleagues, learned that His Highness had mentioned attending some university for further studies. Unable to locate the Crown Prince, they resorted to desperate measures and went to the church to inquire about the 'University of Public Administration'.
Three days later, the first grand parade of the Paris Police was held on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Her Majesty the Queen graced the event, but it was the Crown Prince, as the architect of the police reform, who presided over the inspection.
Thanks to the intense promotion by major newspapers over the past few days, the public's attention was fixed on this parade. Even the buzz surrounding the trials of corrupt officials had diminished significantly.
Thousands of citizens gathered along both sides of the Champs-Élysées, peering intently, extremely curious about this unprecedented parade.
After a volley of salutes, solemn and majestic music echoed through the surroundings.
Then, people watched as the Crown Prince, clad in a blue police uniform, slowly passed through the center of the square atop a carriage.
Behind him were more than a dozen tall standard-bearers, each carrying either the royal golden fleur-de-lis banner or a police emblem flag emblazoned with a fleur-de-lis and a shield.
Following closely were four 4-pounder cannons, each drawn by over a dozen horses. The cannon muzzles reflected the sunlight, forcing onlookers to instinctively raise their hands to shield their eyes.
After the cannons passed, five phalanxes of Paris Police entered one after another. Each phalanx consisted of 150 men, all carrying brand-new flintlock muskets, their uniforms crisp and their bearing imposing, exuding an air of grandeur.
As the perfectly aligned police phalanxes marched past Queen Marie's position, the officers immediately shouted, "Long live His Majesty the King!" "Long live Her Majesty the Queen!" and "We vow to defend the peace of France to our dying breath!"
The shouts echoed across the square, startling flocks of birds into the sky. Amidst the solemn and majestic atmosphere, onlookers involuntarily straightened their postures, captivated by the powerful presence of the Paris Police.
As Queen Marie rose and waved to the police phalanxes, the five formations passed the reviewing stand one after another, then took their positions on the square.
Next, Joseph raised his hand to signal the phalanxes. An officer immediately shouted an order, and the leftmost police phalanx swiftly shifted into a semi-encircling formation, beginning a demonstration of an assault on gang members.
The police moved in perfect, practiced unison, pointing their flintlock muskets straight ahead and simultaneously pulling the triggers.
Suddenly, a cloud of black gunpowder smoke enveloped the square, startling the onlookers. However, they quickly realized the muskets weren't loaded with bullets, and then burst into enthusiastic applause, cheering for the police's impressive demonstration.
After the five police phalanxes demonstrated various training exercises, even the cannons performed simulated firing—without cannonballs, of course.
The five or six hundred nobles seated in the viewing stands listened to the deafening roar of the cannons, yet fell into silence. Many among them were officials implicated in the corruption case, and as they watched the police's various displays of force, an unavoidable torrent of thoughts surged through their minds.
One had to remember, these were merely the Paris Police, readily deployable at any moment, enough to immediately calm anyone with impure intentions. And behind the police stood the even more powerful Royal Guard Legion, entirely loyal to the Crown.
Those officials who had initially been disgruntled with the royal family for not conventionally restraining the High Court and allowing Norfolk and others to implicate them, suddenly felt their minds clear. All their grievances against the Crown vanished instantly, and they concluded that resolving issues within the court's framework was, in fact, the most appropriate course of action.
Once the police parade concluded, Joseph ascended the reviewing stand, praising the Paris Police for their contributions to maintaining public order. Then, he suddenly brought up the newly established University of Public Administration:
"After this university is established, officials will attend in batches to study professional courses relevant to their duties, enabling them to better perform their work."
After saying this, he signaled to Viscount of Besançon, the Police Commissioner.
The latter saluted the Crown Prince by tipping his hat, then came onto the stage. He first spoke about matters concerning the police force, then shifted the topic to the recent official corruption case:
"Through the police's recent investigations, it has been largely confirmed that the so-called accusations made by Norfolk, Caston, and others were merely slanders against others, intended to reduce their own sentences. Naturally, further investigations into the accused officials will continue, and we ask everyone to follow the newspaper reports."
On the Champs-Élysées, the officials implicated in the corruption case visibly relaxed upon hearing this. With both the Queen and the Crown Prince present, this seemed to be the royal family's confirmation that they would not pursue the matter further.
In the following days, the University of Public Administration saw its enrollment applications multiply. The officials, being shrewd individuals, had gathered information from various sources and realized that attending courses here was a necessary step to escape the current predicament. Naturally, they dared not delay.
Even officials whose names weren't on the list of accusations, if they felt uneasy, came to register to ensure their safety.
Before the University of Public Administration even opened, its student body had already surpassed a thousand and continued to grow.
What Joseph hadn't expected was that the University of Public Administration also received over 1.1 million francs in donations!
The officials couldn't fathom why the royal family wanted them to study there. Later, some "clever ones" speculated that the Crown might be intending to collect "fines" through tuition fees. Thus, to demonstrate their proactive attitude, they paid the "tuition" in advance.
Naturally, Joseph had no intention of returning this money to them. The national treasury still had a massive 2.2 billion deficit; every little bit helped, as even a small mosquito offered some sustenance.
While France's officialdom was in a state of utter turmoil, Joseph was traveling by carriage to Reims, preparing to hold another police parade there. Afterward, he planned to visit Lyon, Bordeaux, and other cities for similar inspections. Having decided to implement sweeping administrative reforms, it was crucial to display the royal family's authority to deter officials with ulterior motives.
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