The British Ambassador's Stories

A black Carriage House in front of the Royal Palace.

The guards immediately stepped forward and stopped him. "This is Royal Palace. Please state your name."

The coachman took out a small brass token from his person and waved it. The guard immediately stepped aside, bowed his head, and remained silent.

The Carriage went straight to the east side of the Royal Palace and stopped. A person dressed in a black robe with the brim of his hat pulled very low walked quickly up the steps and entered with great familiarity.

The Duke of Orléans sat at his desk, pondered for a moment, and was about to pick up his pen to write a letter when he heard the butler's voice from outside the door, "Sir, the British Ambassador, Mr. Hartley, has arrived."

"Please let him in."

A moment later, the door was pushed open, and Hartley, dressed in all black, touched his chest to the Duke of Orléans, beaming, and said, "Oh, Philip, my old friend! It's been a while."

The Duke of Orléans smiled and nodded, "My dear David! What brings you here?"

Hartley exchanged a few pleasantries with him before getting to the point. "Philip, you know, London is always giving me trouble. And here in Paris, I can only rely on you, old friend."

"Please just tell me what's on your mind."

"That's right, I'd like to publish something in the newspaper."

"Then you've come to the right person," the Duke of Orléans chuckled. "So, is it an advertisement, or some kind of notice?"

"Well, to be precise," Hartley shrugged, "It's about publishing some stories."

"Story?"

"They're some stories about Prussia," Hartley said. "For example, the Duke Schwarz of Prussia vying with that Count of Fersen for Queen Mary."

"The Duke of Schwarz? I had no idea he existed..."

The Duke of Orléans, halfway through his sentence, suddenly smiled knowingly, "Oh, I see. Who cares about the Duke of Schwarz or not? The point is his story with the Austrian Bitch."

Hartley nodded. "You're a clever man. Besides, Baron Ramos of Silesia is having an affair with Princess Therese."

Silesia has now been incorporated into Prussia. Princess Therese was the eldest daughter of Louis XVI and the sister of Joseph. And everything Hartley said was naturally a complete fabrication.

The Duke of Orléans casually added, "Baron Ramos's slave girl caught the eye of the Crown Prince during his tryst, and is said to be pregnant."

Hartley's eyes lit up. "If you were a screenwriter, you'd be famous throughout Europe. Let's do that then, please get these published as soon as possible."

These matters all involve the reputation of the Royal House, and without the Duke of Orléans's connections, they would never have appeared in the newspapers.

The Duke of Orléans smiled slightly, "This is no easy task."

"That's why I'm bothering you. Aren't you the one who calls the shots in the Paris newspapers?"

The Duke of Orléans replied noncommittally, "A large portion of the money I invested in the United Kingdom Automatic Loom industry last time is still under review."

Hartley nodded. "I can help you follow up on that. You know, those government officials aren't very efficient."

The Duke of Orléans finally showed a satisfied expression. "Then it's up to you. As for your stories, they should soon be widely known."

Hartley left shortly afterward.

The Duke of Orléans immediately wrote a letter to the major Newspaper Office he controlled, mainly outlining how to deal with the Tax Law, and ending with a brief mention of the British Ambassador's story.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Joseph's Carriage left the Paris Police Academy and headed back to the Versailles Palace.

He now attends Police Academy two or three times a week, mainly studying tactical command, military surveying, and logistics in the Elite Class.

He knew that as the Industrial Revolution deepened, the Europe continent would begin to be in turmoil, the interests of the old and new powers would be redistributed, and endless wars would ensue.

In order to ensure France's security and stability, one must possess sufficient military knowledge.

At this time, France did not yet possess the tendency to surrender so quickly in later dynasties; in fact, it was quite warlike. A King who could lead France to victory would be loved by all the France people and possess supreme authority.

Even if we concede that we don't personally fight in battles, we should at least know which battles we can fight and which we cannot.

Therefore, he must learn basic military courses, and at the same time, he can also give back to the military Instructor at the Police Academy.

He taught them Military Theory that didn't yet exist, such as artillery- Infantry coordination, Cavalry-Artillery Cover, concentrated use of artillery, and even Deep Penetration. Although he couldn't teach them perfectly, it opened a new world for the Instructor.

Once the concept and general direction are established, they can be allowed to further refine and improve it before incorporating it into the military's training programs.

A few days ago, Diboa arrived at the Police Academy to take on the role of head of the "Strategic and Tactical Research Office." Although he was surprised that a school for training Police would be studying strategy and tactics, he gladly accepted the position.

After reading Joseph's advanced Military Theory, he fully understood the necessity of this research lab—the level of Military Theory at this Police Academy was definitely much higher than that of the Paris Military Academy! He felt fortunate to be valued by the Crown Prince and to be able to work at this military academy, or rather, this Police Academy.

A "Police Academy" equipped with a large number of military horses, as well as three Four-Pound Cannon and one Eight-Pound Cannon...

Joseph sat on the bumpy Carriage, muttering to himself about the Spring Suspension he hadn't had time to fix, and casually picked up the newspaper from the small table in front of him to read.

The publicity surrounding the tax reform bill has been very effective recently; in just a few days, he could already hear people discussing the new Taxation provisions on the streets of Paris.

If this trend continues, it won't be long before the high-ranking Nobility at the Assembly of Notables find it difficult to incite public opinion against the Royal House.

However, when he saw the front page of the Voice of the City, he couldn't help but frown—he had already ordered three months' worth of pages for the newspaper, yet today's front page featured news of Noblewoman's murder.

He then picked up the 《Paris News》, where the front page headline read, "New Tax Law, His Excellency Brienne's Attempt at Arbitrary Tax Increases?"

Joseph looked down with a gloomy face. The whole thing was Lacy and misleading, describing the Tax Law as an arbitrary tax imposed by the Royal House due to excessive spending, which would have a very bad impact.

He slammed the newspaper on the table. How could something like this pass News Censorship?! What were those people doing reviewing it...?

He immediately remembered that News Censorship was a department under the High Court, and since the High Court was fighting the tax reform bill, it naturally turned a blind eye to these messy articles.

Joseph then looked at the French Messenger newspaper, and as expected, the front page read, "High Court Refuses Registration! Perhaps This is a Triumph for Freedom!"

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(End of this chapter)