Chapter 84: Chapter 83: Public Opinion Boomerang

Joseph said somewhat excitedly,

“I have read many of your articles and always wondered why, as a freedom fighter, you never attacked the filthiest, most corrupt, and darkest place in Paris. It was not until I saw that article of yours that I realized I had wronged you.”

Marat blinked in confusion and asked,

“By the filthiest and darkest place, what do you mean?”

Joseph clenched his fist and said,

“Of course, the High Court! It’s full of money and power trades, constantly creating unjust cases. The judges treat the suffering of the victims as a means to wealth, making it the source of all the misery of the Parisian people!”

He didn’t slander the High Court at all—later records show that the High Court at that time was one of the most corrupt places in France, without question!

Due to the gradual hereditary nature of judgeships, coupled with the increasing power of the judges, the outcome of lawsuits completely turned into a competition of bribing the judges.

So much so that many of the lower class, when they had issues, would rather seek help from gangs to resolve them, rather than go to court.

It wasn’t until Napoleon came to power and vigorously reformed the judiciary that the court began to clean up a bit.

Marat furrowed his brows. His sources were very reliable, so he naturally knew about the dirty dealings within the High Court.

Compared with the High Court, the bureaucrats in other departments were as pure as underage girls.

Joseph continued,

“Your article was excellent, denouncing the High Court’s shameless obstruction of the tax law and revealing their dirty dealings with the nobility!”

Marat felt somewhat ashamed upon hearing this. His own article had merely mentioned that the law was beneficial to national finances and that the court had no sufficient reason to reject it, and that three consecutive refusals indicated something fishy was happening.

But it was far from the “denunciation” Mr. Xavier mentioned.

Joseph sounded as if he was making a speech,

“Since the High Court holds the right to review publications, no newspaper has dared to expose their ugliness, but I’ve decided to declare war on them!

“Even if my newspaper is banned, even if I end up behind bars, I will have no regrets! At least the respected Mr. Marat fought alongside me!”

Listening to his impassioned declaration, Marat suddenly felt like nothing more than a coward.

Because subconsciously knowing that writing about the High Court would be difficult to pass the review for publication, he involuntarily avoided this topic, and countless atrocities and injustices were buried beneath lies due to his timidity.

The young Mr. Xavier is the true fighter!

Joseph, seeing the expression on Marat’s face, thought to himself that the success or failure of his plan hung in the balance. He took a deep breath and said,

“Mr. Marat, I know all of this is extremely dangerous, and if you choose to step back, I’d completely understand. But I will continue the fight for the people of France to the very end!”

Marat felt a surge of blood rush to his head. He stood up abruptly, clenched his fists tightly, and declared earnestly,

“I will fight with you, expose the crimes of the High Court! To return justice and dignity to the people!”

…

In the western suburbs of Paris, at the headquarters of the Police Affairs Department.

Accompanied by Fouche and other high-level officials of the Police Affairs Department, Joseph swiftly walked past rooms labeled “Intelligence Team,” “Action Team,” “Resource Team,” and entered the chief’s office at the end of the corridor.

The Police Affairs Department had developed quickly. Fouche had just given him a brief report. The entire Police Affairs Department now had more than four hundred “police officers,” with informants spread throughout Paris.

Important departments such as city halls, courts, and embassies had already established complete intelligence networks that collected and summarized information on schedule every day.

In terms of intelligence-gathering capability, even the Secret Police, with seven or eight times more personnel, wouldn’t dare claim to outperform the Police Affairs Department.

Joseph sat down at the desk, praised Fouche and others for their excellent work, and then began assigning tasks:

“The Police Affairs Department must, within a month, investigate the corruption and criminal behavior of the High Court’s magistrates and key officials!”

In fact, he could have had someone instruct Fouche to do these things, but as it concerned his political future, he decided it was better to personally visit the Police Affairs Department to show its importance.

“Also, the Duke of Seville, Count Seyrelier…” He looked at the note in his hand and read off more than a dozen names, all of whom were the great nobles mentioned by Somiare in the Cabinet meeting as supporters for the dismissal of Brian.

“These people must be thoroughly investigated. Whether it’s seducing women or tax evasion, or even injuring servants, investigate everything you can find!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Joseph then read out a series of street blocks and door numbers, directing to Fouche,

“This is Marat’s address.”

Fouche asked, puzzled,

“Is that the Jean-Paul Marat? The stubborn anti-Royal Family member?”

Joseph nodded,

“For now, he’s ‘one of us.’ You can have your people actively become his informant, passing him the dirt on the High Court that they find.”

He had just successfully guided Marat, the “piranha,” towards the High Court. To get the piranha to bite more fiercely, the prey needed to show some wounds.

…

Paris High Court.

In the magistrates’ lounge on the second floor, Magistrate Vergniaud violently threw a bunch of newspapers in front of an official, angrily saying,

“What the hell are you doing? How could you let such a thing pass news review!”

The official carefully picked up the newspaper, unfolded it, and saw that it was a copy of the Paris Commercial News, with the front-page headline glaringly reading “The Dangers Brought by the Hereditary Nature of High Court Judges.”

He frowned, then glanced at the following “News and Pictures Paper,” whose front page was titled “Discussion on the Scope of the High Court’s Authority.”

He hurriedly defended himself,

“Count Vergniaud, there aren’t any problems with these articles. I examined them carefully yesterday. Although there are some implications or misleading content…”

The judge with the hooked nose next to Vergniaud frowned and said,

“Are you sure?”

The officer responsible for news censorship stammered,

“Perhaps, I can ask them to change a headline.”

Vergniaud’s face darkened as he said,

“Your censorship standards could be stricter!”

The officer immediately bowed and responded,

“Yes, my lord, I’ll make sure articles like these don’t appear again.”

Vergniaud turned to the judge beside him,

“Let’s just have Rene bring some people to this newspaper office and find some pretext to shut it down.”

“You’re right, I’ll go order him to do so immediately.”

Two hours later, more than thirty publishing police armed with clubs and shields surrounded the front and back doors of the Paris Commercial News Agency.

Although called “police,” the publishing police were not managed by the Police Headquarters but were dispatched by the courts like bailiffs.

Leading the publishing police, Rene took a few people and marched into the agency, grabbed a worker, and demanded loudly,

“Who is in charge here?”

The worker pointed tremblingly towards Denico’s office. Rene pushed him aside and barged into the office, pointing at Denico he commanded,

“You’re in charge here? Get everyone to gather on that empty ground over there immediately. I want to conduct a thorough inspection!”

However, before Denico could reply, Rene heard a series of whistles coming from outside the agency.

Rene turned to look and saw more than a dozen police officers in blue uniforms accompanied by the sound of whistles, running into the premises in formation.

He approached, puzzled, and tipping his hat in salutation to the leading police officer, asked,

“Excuse me, are you here to apprehend criminals?”

The police officer gave him a glance and said coldly,

“What are you doing?”

Rene presented the court’s documents,

“This agency might have contraband. I am here to search on orders!”

But the leading police officer ignored him and said,

“Have your men leave the agency immediately.”

Rene blinked and raised the court’s documents again,

“I’m executing orders, please let us…”

The leading police officer gestured with his hand and the police officers behind him immediately formed two lines. The front row pointed their riot forks at the publishing police, while the back row cocked their fire guns.

Rene, staring at the dark muzzles, recoiled slightly but still blustered boldly,

“What do you intend to do?!”

The leading police officer smiled,

“My task is to prevent any outsider from interfering with the agency’s operations. Please leave at once!”

Rene still wanted to resist but noticed another team of police arriving, surrounding the publishing police at the door.

His publishing police, who usually handled searches for prohibited books and closures of agencies, didn’t dare to go up against the public order police and obediently huddled together.

Rene hastily nodded,

“Alright, alright, we’re leaving.”

Then, he led his dozens of subordinates out of the agency, their tails between their legs.

Joseph had anticipated that the High Court would resort to dirty tricks against the agency and had alerted Besancon beforehand.

The latter had directly set up a police booth opposite the agency and doubled the number of patrol officers in the nearby streets, making sure they protected the normal operation of the agency.

After Rene returned and reported the situation, being scolded by his superior, he had no choice but to bring even more publishing police back to the agency, only to find the police already positioned outside with guns, barring even close access to the main entrance.

The next day, several articles from Paris Commercial News and Journal des Débats had indeed failed the review, forcing them to hastily fill the spaces with innocuous articles.

That same afternoon, numerous pamphlets featured those censored articles, accompanied by a commentary titled “The High Court Trampling on the Freedom of Press.”

The front-page headline of another pamphlet read, “Shocking! Publishing Police Violently Raid! Their Unbelievable Purpose…”

The main content of both pamphlets was thrilling, appealing literature and, priced very cheaply, quickly sold tens of thousands of copies, spread throughout Paris’s streets and alleys.

Two days later, as the contents of the pamphlets fermented, journalists and individuals from the publishing industry began appearing in front of the High Court to protest, demanding non-interference with publishing freedom, insisting that the Paris Commercial News articles contained no banned content and should pass the review.

Other journalists started giving street speeches condemning the High Court for employing violence against an unproblematic agency.

The people of Paris had long been dissatisfied with the corrupt High Court, and many gathered around the speakers, enthusiastically discussing and cheering loudly.

Although by regulation, Paris prohibited unapproved public speaking, the police of Paris had received orders to turn a blind eye to speeches involving the High Court and not to interfere.