In the training field of the Paris Police Academy, a police officer hurried over and reported the situation outside to Joseph and the others.
“Baron Besanval?” When Joseph heard this name, he couldn’t help but frown slightly.
Wasn’t this the commander of the French Guard?
Back when the Parisians attacked the Bastille, not only did this man fail to stop them, but he also moved all his troops to the Mars Field on the outskirts.
If he had only watched on, it would have been one thing, but he actually dispatched a team of artillery to assist in bombarding the Bastille. And his troops often resupplied at the Royal Palace, so it was basically confirmed that he was part of the Orleans faction. For Louis XVI to entrust Paris to such a man—it would be a miracle if he could maintain control.
This was someone Joseph definitely planned to replace, but at the moment, he needed to stabilize the military nobility group, so he had yet to make a move.
However, now that the man had come to him, there was no need to show him any courtesy.
…
After a short while, Frient emerged from the training field and tipped his hat in greeting:
“You must be General Besanval, yes? It’s a pleasure to meet you.
“My name is Frient, the Chief Academic Officer of the Paris Police Academy. May I know how I can be of service to you?”
Baron Besanval sat upright on his horse, nodded slightly, and pointed towards the training field with his riding crop, “Why do I hear the sound of cannons here?”
“Cannon fire?” Frient, following the Paris Police Academy’s “Confidentiality Plan,” replied with a smile, “Ah, we’re holding a ceremony to mark the completion of an assessment, and we need to fire cannons in celebration.”
Baron Besanval was taken aback and said irritably, “I’m asking you, why are there cannons in the training field of the Police Academy!”
“Your excellency, General, there’s no law that forbids the Police Academy from having cannons, is there?”
Baron Besanval was taken aback again; it seemed there really wasn’t—before the existence of police academies, where would there be any related laws?
He frowned and asked, “Why did you buy cannons?”
Frient stood his ground and asserted, “Of course, it is to maintain urban security.”
“You need cannons to maintain order?!”
Frient nodded, “General Besanval, do you remember the street barricades the rioters piled up at the street corners during the ‘Flour War’ a few years ago? At that time, even the forces sent to quell the disturbance couldn’t cross those barriers.
“We believe that if similar events occur in Paris, we can only rely on cannons to restore order.”
“If a real riot were to break out, it wouldn’t be up to you policemen to resolve it,” Besanval said dismissively as he looked at him sideways and scoffed, “Speaking of which, when the mob besieged the High Court for so long last month, I didn’t see any police daring to suppress it.”
Frient replied with a look of shock, “Your excellency, General, those protesting citizens were demanding severe punishment for the wicked Vergniaud. Surely you don’t think they ought to be suppressed?”
“You…”
Baron Besanval was choked with anger. The current public opinion had already equated Vergniaud with evil. Anyone who dared to make the slightest mistake on this issue was waiting to be blasted by the Parisians.
He glared at Frient fiercely and haughtily said, “Please step aside. An important personage will visit soon, and I must ensure the security of this area. Now, I need to conduct an inspection.”
Frient didn’t budge an inch and smiled thinly, “I am afraid that won’t be possible, General, unless you have an order from His Majesty the King or from Police Headquarters.”
Baron Besanval had never taken the police seriously, and he turned his head and gave his guard a look.
Several guards immediately stepped forward to take Frient away, but then the sound of footsteps came from the direction of the training field, and more than thirty police officers ran out in formation.
The police officer leading the team issued a series of commands. The thirty-some people quickly spread out, forming two horizontal rows and aimed their guns at Besanval.
The latter’s face rigidified at once. He believed even the Director of Police Services would have to be respectful upon seeing him, and he had not expected an official from the Paris Police Academy to dare point a gun at him.
“You! You will regret your actions today!” Besanval snorted coldly, yanked the horse’s reins, and left dejectedly with his men.
Joseph didn’t pay too much attention to this little episode; after all, the Police Academy was nominally under the municipality’s jurisdiction, and Besanval would not dare do anything to it.
…
In the northeast of France, Lorraine Province.
Marquis Latour, the Governor, glanced over the document in his hand and asked his assistant with a frown, “Charlie, isn’t this the order I issued to Morris the day before yesterday?”
“Oh, my lord, it is here.” The assistant hurriedly pointed to a line of fine print, “Viscount Leneveu thought there might be a conflict with the recruitment decree from the year before last, so he specifically sought your confirmation.”
Latour frowned again, “So, is there a conflict or not?”
“Ah, I believe there should be none…”
Latour nodded, signed the document, and was about to hand it back to his assistant when an officer hurried into the office, bowed, and said, “My lord Marquis, a document has just arrived from the Palace of Versailles.”
“What’s it about?”
“It seems to be a request for you to immediately dispatch someone to tally the potatoes in preparation for shipping.”
Latour took the document and skimmed through it, expressing surprise, “Where did these potatoes come from? Morris just sent back the document about purchasing potatoes to me.”
The officer replied, “My lord, it appears to be Viscount Valrand who had people acquire them. Oh, his people arrived at noon, and they are now waiting outside.”
Latour instructed to let in Valrand’s subordinate and after understanding the situation, he learned that Valrand, entrusted by someone, had begun acquiring potatoes five days ago throughout the territories; now over a million pounds had been amassed, all clogging up the docks waiting to be tallied and loaded onto ships.
Latour hurriedly had a document drafted, reviewed it, signed, and distributed it to the corresponding Governor’s deputies.
Then he had another document drafted, reporting to the Palace of Versailles about the previous work that was terminated due to order changes and the assistance of merchants.
Valrand’s subordinate, following his master’s instructions, used money to expedite the document transfer through the clerk and followed him all the way to the Governor’s deputy…
According to France’s administrative process at the time, the primary responsibility of the Governor was merely to mediate and issue documents, relaying instructions from the Palace of Versailles to the various Governor’s deputies.
The Governor’s deputies had to confirm the documents, and if there were issues, they would have to be sent back for resigning. If there were no issues, it was up to them to identify the local official responsible for the matter, who would then request funding and hire people to carry out the task.
Of course, if there were concerns with the file at the lower levels, it would be sent back up for confirmation…
By Lorraine Province’s administrative efficiency, they had just barely reached the halfway point of the first step, and it would probably take another four or five days before the potato acquisition work could begin. Meanwhile, the merchant friends Mirabeau had found had already amassed over a million pounds of potatoes, with even more in transport by land.
The fleet of vehicles and ships used for the transportation were also sourced by Mirabeau’s friends; otherwise, his Excellency the Governor would still be slowly gathering the necessary transport.
However, just dispatching officials to tally the quantity of potatoes took a full three days—an aspect of the process merchants absolutely could not undertake. Without an official’s signed confirmation, they could not receive the funds for buying the potatoes.
An additional day elapsed by the time they finished tallying and loading the over one million pounds of potatoes onto the ships.
At this point, only about twenty days remained until France’s usual time for spring planting, and it was almost certain that the southernmost provinces would definitely miss planting potatoes.
The first group of ships, filled with potatoes, set sail along the Orne River towards the more distant Bordeaux.