A thorough investigation of the French Guard
Marat put down his pen and looked up at Desmoulins: "Camille, as you know, the rumors about those shameless officers only omit their misdeeds, and almost never involve wrongdoing. ☺👤 🍫👑"
"Besides, I only wrote 'perhaps' and 'there are indications' that the officers won't be punished for this. The Gendarmerie will definitely investigate thoroughly. Wouldn't it be great if they found concrete evidence?"
He continued writing his whistleblower letter, "What I regret most is that the Fair Investigation Department doesn't have the resources to investigate those bastards in the military."
Yes, after learning that the Gendarmerie would be responsible for the investigation of the French Guard, Joseph immediately began the next steps in his response.
He first had Fouche hand over some damaging information about French Guard officers to Marat, much of which he had heard from an officer named Tiru during the investigation of the Farmhouse Bombardment Incident.
Given Marat's personality, he naturally couldn't tolerate these wicked officers and immediately launched an investigation. Sure enough, through his journalistic channels, he learned more about the officers' sordid affairs—which was also "thanks" to the fact that corruption and violence were so prevalent in the old army that a simple investigation would yield a huge amount of information.
Joseph then had someone "casually" tell Marat that the Minister of Justice and the Gendarmerie were conducting a large-scale investigation of officers, and that they might need some leads.
Marat immediately and generously shared what he knew about the officers with the Minister of Justice.
At the French Guard Military Camp, the Gendarmerie Department had to reinvestigate officers whose investigations had already been completed.
With the Minister of Justice and the Second Captain of the Queen's Guard keeping an eye on things, they couldn't openly show favoritism. So, in less than three days, they actually managed to uncover some clues about the allegations.
Left with no other option, the Gendarmerie had to allocate more manpower and resources to conduct a larger-scale investigation...
And so, nearly half a month later, the investigation into the First Batch of Nine Officers was still not over.
The entire French Guard has more than two hundred mid- to high-ranking officers and seven or eight hundred junior officers.
These people are currently confined to the Military Camp, anxiously awaiting the impending investigation, but the more anxious they are, the slower the investigation process becomes.
The most agonizing feeling is having a knife hanging over your head that never falls.
Moreover, these officers used to have at least eight hours of free time every day, free to go out and have fun in Paris at any time. Now, they are stuck in the barracks, with no balls or women to go around, and even the food they eat is just the rough rations in the barracks. For them, this is no different from being in prison.
Soon, rumors began to spread in the Military Camp that the Queen, angered by the attack on the Crown Prince, was taking her anger out on the French Guard and was preparing to exile all the officers.
Of course, it was Joseph who had this news spread.
The officers, already living in constant fear, had long lost the ability to calmly distinguish truth from falsehood. Almost no one questioned these rumors, and they only grew more exaggerated with each passing day.
As a result, the officers began to use all their ingenuity, frantically contacting their own connections to find a solution. Almost half of the Military Noble Group was alarmed.
The Duke of Orléans also heard about the situation in the French Guard Military Camp, and had no choice but to approach the Minister of War, Saint-Priest, again, promising to increase "operational funds" in order to protect those officers—these were his key figures in the army.
The Marquis of Saint-Priest did not dare to accept this "windfall," because he had no way of dealing with the matter at all.
In recent days, many influential military Nobility have come to greet him or written him personal letters, urging him to expedite the review process for the French Guard.
If it were an ordinary case that few people knew about, he could have easily gotten away with it by doing something behind the scenes. But the situation with the French Guard required daily reports to the Queen, and the reporters had somehow obtained letters accusing officers, so now all the major newspapers were filled with reports investigating the officers.
With so many eyes watching him from above and below, even if he wanted to, he wouldn't find an opening to strike...
That night, in the Villa of an officer in the Southern Suburbs of Paris, Saint-Priest was racking his brains with several high-ranking officers of the Gendarmerie Department when Gendarmerie Department General Astu knocked on the door in a panic and whispered a few words in his ear.
Astu was immediately shocked. "Really?!"
The aide-de-camp, with a troubled expression, handed over a newspaper. "General, it's already been published in the paper. Apparently, the Minister of Justice has also received evidence."
Saint-Priest and the others hurriedly looked over. "General Astu, what happened?"
Astu said with a grim expression, "Have you heard about the Farmhouse in the Southern Suburbs of Paris that was shelled last month, killing two people?"
The people around him all nodded.
Astu gestured towards the newspaper. "There are reports that it was done by members of the French Guard, who then framed the Paris Police Academy. It seems that Breteuil has already received the evidence."
Early the next morning, hundreds of protesters had already gathered outside the French Guard Camp, demanding severe punishment for the murderers of the Axel couple.
This is only because the Military Camp is relatively far from the city center; otherwise, there would definitely be more people protesting.
The previous shelling incident caused a great uproar, but Joseph skillfully defused it through Crisis Management. Now, however, the boomerang has hit the French Guard, and they have no means of dealing with it.
Based on the clues he received, Breteuil had the Gendarmerie find the cannon that the Police Intelligence Division had originally identified as having actually bombarded the Axel family, and arrested all the gunners responsible for operating it.
After interrogation, the gunner, who had been under constant tension, quickly confessed and implicated his officer, which eventually led to the arrest of Colonel Theo, the commander of the 2nd Artillery Battalion of the French Guards.
When the news reached Paris, the whole Paris was in an uproar. People took to the streets, angrily demanding the execution of Teodoro and the other murderers.
Meanwhile, many people gathered outside the Paris Police Academy to apologize for having wrongly accused the Police Academy.
The fact that the Paris Police Department, despite being wrongly accused, went to great lengths to help the Axel family repair their house and provided them with thousands of Livre of assistance became widely known, and their reputation soared.
For a time, the Paris Police were almost seen as role models for "caring for the poor." Even when on patrol, they held their heads higher than usual.
The number of young people who came to register for the Police Academy that day exceeded five hundred. The Police Academy's Dean of Academic Affairs Friant, had to temporarily close the admissions process.
Versailles Palace.
Berthier glanced cautiously toward the direction of the Crown Prince's Palace, nervously adjusting his appearance, feeling quite uneasy.
Although he has not yet taken office, he is considered a battalion commander of the French Guard. It is unknown whether the Crown Prince will hold him accountable for the Guard's poor performance in protecting him.
Dear readers, please, I beg you! Give me all your monthly votes! Qidian is having a double monthly vote event right now, and if I get over 1000 votes this month, I can enter a prize draw. I've never entered a prize draw before! I hope you can give me this chance!
Please, family members!
(End of this chapter)
→