Chapter 258: Police Emperor (K2)
Chapter 257 The Police Emperor (4K2)
All was quiet in the cells of Scotland Yard.
The prisoners waiting to be tried by the court here barely rolled over in their cramped cells, the humidity with a hint of warmth made them feel clammy all over, and almost none of those who came here could sleep well.
Just as the prisoners were getting a little sleepy, suddenly, an impassioned voice echoed in the cell.
“In the vast land of Europa, the lack of confidence of the peoples in their sovereigns has led to a visible and general unrest. And how sad is the monarch who is unable to combine his own interests with those of the public!
How sad, too, when the glory of one cannot bring honor to the other, when the preservation of the one will bring injury to the other, when one cannot trust the promises and oaths of the other!
Yes, as an upright citizen of France and a republican, I should be opposed to monarchies, but I am opposed not to all monarchies, but to those that cannot be united with the interests of the people!
A full decade has passed since Napoleon’s illness and death! Yet the beautiful and rich land of France still spreads his scorn, but today, here, I must appeal to you all! Frenchmen! Be just! Show your gratitude to the man who came from the people and served the people!
When France was plunged into darkness, who spread the light of human talent? It was him. It was Napoleon Bonaparte!
When France was torn apart, who consolidated all the ideas and brought us strength? It was him, it was Napoleon Bonaparte!
When all the countries of Europe were attacking France, when the whole world wanted to erase France from the world, who guaranteed the dignity and national independence of the French nation? It was still him, the great Napoleon Bonaparte!
If one day the people are free, and the happy life of independence, liberty, stability, fairness and equality proliferated that we have been waiting for comes, it is all thanks to Napoleon Bonaparte!
It was he who accustomed the people to virtue, which is the only sure foundation of a republic. Do not blame him for his dictatorial power, for it led us to liberty, just as the iron plow turned over the land and brought us a good harvest. And the misfortune of his rule was simply that he could not reap all the seeds he had sown.
He has rescued France, but is only a foot short of final success. Believe me, O people of France, that our Mother France will be free at last, and that liberty and glory belong to France!”
Louis Bonaparte, holding his own speech, passionately honed his own oratory skills, but such an emotional speech not only failed to win a little applause, but also provoked a piece of cursing in the cell.
“You Frenchman still do not let people sleep?”
“Where is the Duke of Wellington? Save it, I think I hear Napoleon about to be restored.”
“Didn’t you come in because you smashed the glass of the Duke’s window? Why do you think of him at this moment?”
“I smashed the glass because he is opposed to parliamentary reform, but if he turns around and goes to fight the French, then I must still support him!”
In the midst of a chorus of curses, Louis Bonaparte also felt a little frightened in his heart, but in an instant, the arrogance of the young man provoked him to resist opening his mouth to retaliate.
He leaned on the window of the cell, gripping the bars tightly and cursed: “You English ruffians know nothing, you deserve to be locked up in jail! If my uncle were here, would you dare to talk to the noble French like this? Do you know what kind of a record is the 58 victories in 65 battles?”
One by one, the prisoners slapped the beds in their cells and sneered back, “Wow! Our Duke of Wellington didn’t fight as many battles in Europe as Napoleon, only 23, but won 22 of them, and unfortunately, the only one he lost wasn’t the Battle of Waterloo.”
“Whoooooooooooooo!!!”
A cheer went up from the landlubbers, and the brief moment of joy even made them forget that they were about to go to court.
The officer patrolling the cell couldn’t help but speak out when he heard this, “Almost there, it’s only a victory over the French, is it worth being so happy? All sit down, it’s time to sleep, it’s time to eat, Bill, it’s time for you to go to court in a while, I advise you to think more about how to defend yourself for smashing the glass!”
Hearing this, the prisoner named Bill said, dissatisfied, “Mr. Officer, how many times have I told you that I was not the only one who smashed the glass; I just didn’t run as fast as the Frenchman.”
“I ……” Louis Bonaparte stretched out his hand through the barred window, and simply hated to strangle them, “If ever the French people are willing to accept my lead, I am sure I shall teach you what it means to come from continental fear.”
Louis Bonaparte was muttering when suddenly the rest of his eyes caught a glimpse of Arthur leaning against the wall next to the window outside the cell.
He snapped, “Black …… Superintendent Hastings, when did you come?”
Arthur lifted his civilized staff up over the hat covering his eyes, “Been here a while.”
“What are you doing here?”
Arthur drew out a large set of circular keys hanging from his belt and opened the door as he returned, “Your writ of habeas corpus has been filed, so of course I’m here to free you. However, I saw that you were in the middle of your speech, so I didn’t have the heart to disturb you, so I just stood here and quietly listened.”
Louis Bonaparte breathed a soft sigh of relief as he smiled and asked, “So what did you think of my speech? Mr. Wheatstone and I said that you are also a talent in speeches, and it seems that you saved a little boy’s life in court through a speech, right?”
Arthur looked up at him, “Why does Charles tell you everything, how can you have such a broken mouth as an employee of the Intelligence Service?”
“The Intelligence Bureau? What Intelligence Bureau? Is it an organization similar to the Security Department of the Greater Paris Police Department?”
Arthur responded, “Depends on your understanding, but I do have a bit of a friendship with Mr. Vidocq, the head of the Security Department.”
“A little friendship?” Louis Bonaparte pursued, “To what extent?”
Arthur opened the cell door and said, “It’s not much deeper than that, almost too much friendship.”
“This is not deep?” Louis Bonaparte exclaimed, “I have heard it said before that the Britons are hard to get close to, and now it seems to be true. Is it not true that in the eyes of the Britons, unless they die and are buried together, they are not considered friends?”
Nodding slightly, Arthur fished a cigar from the table in his cell and leaned against the wall to light it, “Of course, Mr. Bonaparte, the Britons are not only difficult to get along with, but we can all be very nasty by nature. Perhaps you should take a trip to Ottoman if you have time, hopefully you can deepen your understanding of England from the mouths of the old Ottoman peasants.”
“Why would you need to go to Ottoman to understand the English?”
Arthur exhaled a smoke ring, “Because there is a local Ottoman saying that if you trip over a rock while walking, the rock was more than likely put there by an Englishman. Now, do you understand why?”
Louis Bonaparte laughed, “As far as the Ottomans are concerned? Didn’t you English destroy their Black Sea fleet at the Battle of Navarino?” “Well, that’s true.” Arthur nodded, “In other words, you French don’t hold a grudge against Britain for the Battle of Trafalgar until now, do you?”
Louis Bonaparte turned pale when he heard this, and he emphasized, “Is that just about the Battle of Trafalgar? There was also Waterloo and the Seven Anti-French Alliances!”
“It’s not like the Antifa Alliances were all pulled by Britain.”
“But why were you involved in all seven alliances?”
“To get along, that’s what the British do.”
“And what about the Hundred Years’ War?”
“A little unfriendly tiff between neighbors, isn’t that normal?”
“Friction from 1337 to 1453?”
“Britain was going to make a truce in 1360, but didn’t you French disagree?”
“Nonsense, by then everything from the Loire south to the Pyrenees was occupied by the British, wouldn’t it be silly to make a complete handshake?”
Arthur leaned against the wall and shrugged, “If you put it that way, then I can’t help it. Then again, why would I defend Britain? It’s whatever you say it is anyway, who made your last name Bonaparte and I’m just a petty police superintendent from Scotland Yard? Louis, just be happy.”
Louis Bonaparte only felt more uncomfortable when he saw Arthur’s look, and he bristled, “Originally, I didn’t believe Mr. Wheatstone when he said that you were a master of oratory, but now it seems that your level of oratory, although lacking in passion, is more than enough to cover up the truth.”
Arthur sniffed back, “Actually, I can do the passionate ones, it’s up to you to accept them.”
“Really? You can still be passionate?” Louis Bonaparte would be skeptical, “Say a couple words to verify.”
Arthur sniffed, cleared his throat at first, and then raised his voice loud and clear.
“Before me stands a people, a people groaning in humiliation! Since the end of that war, our pride as a people is gone! Those victors rode on our necks in power, they trampled at will on our dignity, the dignity of one of the noblest peoples on the continent of Europe!
Tell me, will you choose to be freedom fighters like Napoleon, or to be slaves of the basest kind?
You may say: Mr. Bonaparte, I need a job, a piece of bread. Yes, you are quite right, life is too important. But I will tell you this. There is another thing in this world that is more important than life, and that is freedom! That is dignity!
What we need, is not a piece of bread! Rather, it’s a place to live! A place for a nation to live! A nation that only knows how to protest is a nation without bones! A government that only knows how to protest is a government without bones! This space to survive is not to be realized by begging and protesting, but by iron and blood!”
Arthur paused suddenly as he spoke, reaching up to touch his manhood, “Perhaps it would have been better to add a moustache. But the meaning will do, then again, Louis, what do you think of the speech?”
Louis Bonaparte’s brow furrowed when he heard this, and he returned after a long time, “It was generally not bad, but bread and work are still important, and that’s where my uncle fell foul of it. By the way, did you come up with that speech yourself?”
“I could not think of such a thing.”
Arthur craned his neck, “Only Mr. Hegel’s homeland could have given birth to such thoughts, and this is his favorite rational country. As for Britain, don’t even think about that shit when you can’t even unite the minds of the English with the Scots on this little island. In the end, every country’s situation is different, in Britain to engage in monarchy, in Russia to engage in parliamentary politics, the end result is that the two countries are all messed up, the big guys are living according to their own habits, Britain without the parliament will naturally create another one, the Russians without the Tsar will naturally support another one, at best, just a change of name.”
Hearing this, Louis Bonaparte could not help rejoicing, “So you think so? I told you that France should still have a system that is strong and not despotic, free and not anarchic, independent and not seeking conquest.”
Hearing this, Arthur couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, “I can’t see that you have quite a lot of demands.”
Louis Bonaparte didn’t care about Arthur’s jokes, he just recounted his viewpoints in a heated manner, “In my opinion, France should be governed by the people, the legislature, and the emperor, with the people possessing the right to elect and recognize, the power of deliberation should be in the legislature, and the power of the executive should be in the emperor.”
Arthur sipped his cigar, “You seem to understand which power is the most important.”
Arthur’s words, immediately choked Louis Bonaparte to half a day unable to say a word.
Arthur did not continue to make things difficult for him on this issue, just patted the manuscript that was placed in front of the case: “This ‘Political Thought’ you’d better take it back and continue to change it, although Britain is now practicing the freedom of publication, do not censor any publication, but if you are too poorly edited, it will also affect other people’s evaluation of your books, is not it? Britannia is full of madmen and lunatics, but I have to admit, Mr. Bonaparte, you’re still one of the more exceptional ones I’ve seen.”
After speaking, Arthur patted his shoulder again, “Your mother is waiting for you outside of Scotland Yard, I hope that the next time I see you again, you will be ready to prove your nationality documents, it’s not convenient to go out without a nationality.”
Louis Bonaparte walked halfway, and turned back, he stared at Arthur who was smoking a cigar, and suddenly asked, “If I get British nationality, can I join Scotland Yard?”
“Hm?” Arthur’s smoking action was stalled, he froze for half a day, his eyebrows slightly wrinkled: “What did you say?”
Louis Bonaparte looked at Arthur’s dismayed expression and clenched his fist and pounded his chest, “The charcoal-burning party uprising in Rome failed, and there is no place for me to utilize all the skills I learned in the Swiss Military Academy. Besides, I can’t keep living in uncle’s house, right? I have to find myself a job where I can support myself. Mr. Hastings, I’m kinda interested in that Police Intelligence Bureau of yours, I don’t know why, seeing you always reminds me of Fouche, the former French Imperial Minister of Police, and I want to find out how he did things back in the day through his work at Scotland Yard.”
Arthur stared at him for a while, mulling it over, before pressing his cigar down on the table and crushing it out inch by inch, “If you can get your citizenship and convince your uncle and mother …… I’m short of a police secretary at the moment.”
“Understood, sir!”
(End of chapter)