Start by Being a Minor Official (Please Recommend)

The next morning.

The moment Paris Municipal Commissioner Le Verber saw the Chamber of Commerce President, he waved at him with a face full of jiggling fat. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he said, "By the way, what did you think of the case the Crown Prince solved yesterday?"

Flesselles sighed with feeling. "The Crown Prince's intelligence and talent truly shocked me. I can hardly wait for the day he leads France."

"Isn't that so?" Le Verber said with a smile. "After giving it careful thought, I believe His Highness could absolutely serve as Police Commissioner."

After a round of persuasion from him, Flesselles was finally won over. Since the Crown Prince himself wanted a post in the Police Department, he might as well do him a favor and send the boat along with the current.

Just as Joseph entered the gates of City Hall, he saw the fat mayor come forward to greet him, his face wreathed in smiles. "Your Highness, old Similien, the Police Commissioner of Saint-Antoine District, requested a long sick leave yesterday. I wonder whether you might be interested in becoming Police Commissioner?"

"Saint-Antoine District?" The Chamber of Commerce President froze for a moment, then lowered his head and whispered to Le Verber, "Why didn't you tell me it was there? That place is far too chaotic. What if something happens to His Highness..."

The Municipal Commissioner cut him off in a low voice. "The Crown Prince won't be going out on patrol. Nothing will happen."

Flesselles still wanted to say something, but the fat mayor blocked him from view. "Your Highness, the men Similien left behind are all experienced hands. You need only rest assured."

Joseph was somewhat surprised. How had these two changed their tune so quickly? But he immediately agreed. "All right. I accept the position."

He had looked into it yesterday. A Police Commissioner oversaw all police affairs in an entire district, with the Police Director above him. City Hall was hardly likely to make him Police Director, after all; his age was right there for all to see.

Le Verber immediately launched into another torrent of praise. He escorted the Crown Prince all the way to the Police Bureau and personally watched as the appointment documents were signed and issued before finally leaving in satisfaction.

Joseph did not waste a moment. Under the personal escort of Police Director Guizot and his men, he set off by carriage directly for Saint-Antoine District to assume his post.

After more than an hour on the road, the carriage entered Saint-Antoine District, and the surrounding scene immediately became even more run-down.

The passing residents wore numb expressions. Crude shacks on the verge of collapse stood everywhere, while foul-smelling homeless people lay sprawled carelessly in wall corners. Half the shops had their doors shut, and there were only a handful of roadside vendors. Only the streetwalkers in cheap clothes, half-heartedly soliciting customers, brought a trace of life to the place.

Before long, Joseph witnessed several extortion collections. Later, he encountered two groups of gang members brawling in the street, blood flowing everywhere. The moment passersby saw them from afar, they lowered their heads and fled. Not a single police officer appeared from beginning to end.

Yet Guizot seemed accustomed to such scenes. He spoke excitedly only of balls, even encouraging the Crown Prince to attend a masquerade ball next month.

No wonder this was the first place to erupt during the French Great Revolution, Joseph thought. Anyone living in such an environment for years, amid such extreme poverty, would surely have a bellyful of resentment building up inside them. Once it erupted, its destructive power would be terrifying.

He let out a long breath. It seemed he had come to Saint-Antoine District at exactly the right time.

Another half hour later, the carriage stopped before a small courtyard enclosed by uneven wooden planks. Inside stood a dilapidated building without any visible sign.

Guizot eagerly gestured outside the carriage. "Your Highness, this is the Saint-Antoine District Police Station."

When the police officers outside the courtyard saw that the man stepping down from the carriage was actually the Police Director, they hurried inside to report it. Moments later, several officials from the police station led a group out at a brisk pace to greet them.

Guizot first bowed to Joseph, then turned toward the people before him. Clearing his throat, he announced loudly, "The esteemed Crown Prince has arrived. From now on, he will serve as the Police Commissioner here." The assistant beside him immediately displayed the appointment documents.

Everyone at the Saint-Antoine District Police Station stood rooted to the spot in shock, utterly at a loss. Why had such an important figure come to our tiny place? But wasn't the Crown Prince only thirteen? My God, he was going to be Police Commissioner? The station would probably be turned upside down...

Only after a long while did a tall, thin man with deeply sunken eye sockets step forward. He respectfully bowed and said, "Crown Prince—"

"Your Highness, your arrival has brought glory to our humble little place!" Bonneau, the assistant to the Police Commissioner, said on behalf of everyone present. "We sincerely welcome you."

He then turned slightly and introduced the people beside him. "Your Highness, this is Magoney, Public Security Inspector of the Second Squad, and this is the Public Security Inspector of the Third Squad..."

Several Public Security Inspectors hurried forward to bow. Joseph smiled and returned each greeting in turn. He had seen in City Hall's files that the Police Commissioner's assistant was the second-ranking officer at the station, while Public Security Inspectors commanded police responses and patrols. They usually had more than ten subordinates and belonged to the station's middle ranks.

Bonneau and the others surrounded Joseph as they escorted him into the police station. Magoney quickened his pace and came up beside him, his face full of admiration. "Your Highness, I heard from Cesar that you solved a murder case yesterday in just over ten minutes. You have put us policemen, who have worked for more than ten years, to shame!"

Joseph had not expected the news to reach Saint-Antoine District so quickly, and he hurriedly offered a few modest replies.

Once inside the police station's ramshackle building, Joseph looked at the crowd of officers following close behind him and could not help frowning. He told them not to all follow him and to go do whatever they were supposed to do. He even sent Guizot away.

At last, the area around him quieted down. Led by Bonneau, Joseph arrived at the Police Commissioner's office. He looked around, then sat down behind the broad oak desk.

Bonneau said with a smiling face, "Your Highness, would you like tea or hot cocoa? I will immediately arrange dinner for you."

"Thank you, but there's no need to trouble yourself." Joseph waved to cut him off. "Please bring me the files on the district's situation, as well as its cases and personnel."

Bonneau was rather astonished. He had thought the Crown Prince had merely come to play around for a few days. He had not expected him to be serious!

The documents were quickly delivered. Joseph had only flipped through a few pages when his brows drew tightly together—last month alone, Saint-Antoine District had seen twenty-eight murders, sixty-three robberies, and two hundred and twenty thefts...

And the district had a population of only eighty thousand!

Those figures only covered reported cases. Who knew how many had gone unreported? The situation was far worse than he had imagined.

Joseph picked up the police personnel files next. The whole of Saint-Antoine District had a total of 181 police officers. Of those, 120 had bought their police posts with money, while only 61 had entered the force through inheritance, recruitment, and other means.

Then there were the Patrols spontaneously organized by civilians, numbering more than two hundred people in total.

He had seen in documentaries that the most common thing Paris Police did these days was extort money! From vendors to criminals to victims, they shook down whoever they caught. As for fighting crime? They would get to it when they had time. After all, they had to earn back the money they had spent buying their police posts first, didn't they?

Thus, maintaining public security depended heavily on civilian Patrols. But they were volunteers, had no law-enforcement authority, and possessed only crude weapons. They could merely frighten criminals; they could not even make arrests.

So the truly usable police force probably amounted to only the sixty-odd men recruited into the force.