The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 946: Chapter 37: Conspiracy in the Gutter_2

Louis Philippe’s hand was on the dark umbrella handle, and this most esteemed ‘equal citizen’ of France seemed to be contemplating something.

“The issue of police reform will be brought to top priority after Gizo’s educational reforms are completed. However, at this moment, it’s not a good idea to make drastic changes to the current police system.”

At this point, Louis Philippe slightly raised his head and looked at Jusco: “However, Jusco, it reassures me greatly that you understand the nature of your current work is essentially political. Since this year, there have been disturbances in Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Nantes, Avignon, and Paris over working conditions and food, and among these cities, Paris has handled it most appropriately, everyone has seen this.”

Jusco breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, he slightly bowed and said: “I am pleased to contribute to our citizens’ government.”

Louis Philippe nodded and promptly continued: “However, there’s one thing I want to clarify: real political activists are usually cautious, so it’s very difficult to track most of them. But in every disturbance in Paris, you seem almost prophetic, why is that?”

On hearing this, Jusco realized that Louis Philippe was probably suspicious of him, so he candidly said: “This is also part of the police reforms I’m conducting at the Great Paris Police Hall. Many traditional methods are extremely inefficient. Since I took charge of the Great Paris Police Hall, I see no point in using secret agents or dispatching a large number of personnel searching for non-existent conspiracies.

You are right, political activists are indeed difficult to track, as most of them are highly vigilant. But on the other hand, these guys are too afraid to act directly, so to some extent, they recruit low-level laborers among the masses. Therefore, as long as these low-level people are slightly careless in their words or deeds, we will eventually find their leaders.

Moreover, you shouldn’t think of these conspirators as a united block; they often betray each other due to disagreements or internal strife. For example, the ‘Friends of the People and the Human Rights Association,’ they personally provided us with many informants. There are so many informants that I sometimes feel the only purpose of those joining the Human Rights Association and squeezing into the leadership is to sell out their companions for a good price and provide better services to the police department.”

At this point, Jusco paused, then added: “If your schedule has any free time recently, you are welcome to visit our headquarters on Jerusalem Road for inspection. In the archive room there, you can view more than 3,000 dossiers created on political suspects by the leaders of the Human Rights Association for the police department at any time.”

Louis Philippe asked: “What if there are no internal conflicts in these groups? How do you make informants emerge among them?”

“The occurrence of no conflicts is very rare. However, even if they have no internal conflicts, we can create conflicts for them.”

“What does this mean?”

Jusco smiled and said: “In such cases, we typically harass the members of various societies by searching their houses. We arrest some people but ask nothing, then release them safely. As a result, those who are arrested and released without questioning will be suspected of having defected to the police. They will face intense ostracism, and some of those with weak resolve might indeed become police informants. The emergence of these informants will further increase internal suspicion within the groups, and over time, they will end up fighting each other.”

Louis Philippe smiled warmly: “Thank you, Henry, you have clarified a long-standing doubt for me. You work very hard, almost comparable to Fouche, the Minister of Police during Napoleon’s time.”

Jusco humbly said: “Your Majesty, I am of dull aptitude, but I am good at learning. This is not my cleverness, but because I applied some police management experience from the imperial period and also referenced some of the successful experiences of Scotland Yard in London.”

Louis Philippe, hearing Jusco mention Scotland Yard, suddenly seemed to recall something and joked: “Speaking of Scotland Yard, I chatted with the young fellow of the Bonaparte family a few days ago, and he mentioned that he had served there during his time in London. Did he share these experiences with you?”

Jusco broke into a cold sweat upon hearing this and quickly clarified: “Your Majesty, these experiences from Scotland Yard do not require asking Mr. Louis Bonaparte. Do you remember Francois Vidocq? He has a great personal relationship with a senior officer at Scotland Yard; all these British experiences were submitted by him.”

“A senior officer at Scotland Yard?” Louis Philippe mused: “Bloodhound, Arthur Hastings?”

“Bloodhound?” Jusco looked puzzled.

“That’s the nickname given to him by the London newspapers. They also call him ‘Grand Duke of the Devil,’ ‘Ironheart,’ ‘Knight in the Mist,’ and ‘Electric Pianist,’ the first two were given after June 5th last year, and the latter two were before June 5th last year.”

At this point, Louis Philippe further explained: “I often see this name in letters Talleyrand sends back to Paris; this young man has an unusually large number of nicknames.”