Chapter 204 Arthur's French Counterpart (4K6)

London No. 1, Wellington's private residence, Apsley House.

The Duke of Wellington leaned back on a bright red velvet sofa, looking at Arthur, who was dressed neatly in a police officer's tailcoat, a black hat, spotless white gloves, and a police officer's knife on his waist.

The gray-haired Duke of Wellington tapped the table with his fingertips and said, "You look in good spirits, young man."

Arthur just smiled: "If you had called me here a few days ago, I wouldn't have this expression."

Wellington took a sip of tea: "Really? But you're right, you used to be too close to me and Peel. After the Whigs came up, those who were uncomfortable with you would inevitably have to deal with you. But looking at you like this, are you getting through the crisis smoothly?"

"I guess so."

Arthur didn't want to hide his relationship with the Whigs. After all, for someone like the Duke of Wellington, it was not worth it to specifically target a small shrimp like him.

According to Arthur's understanding of the world, beggars and millionaires rarely envy each other. Beggars only envy beggars with higher incomes, and the same is true for millionaires.

Everyone likes to fight with opponents of the same level. If you fight monsters above your level, it is either because you are desperate or because you are a lunatic who overestimates your own abilities.

Arthur said: "I was almost finished when the Whigs came to power this time. But you should know that I graduated from the University of London. And the new Lord Chief Justice, Lord Brougham, happens to be the chairman of the board of directors of the University of London. I have attended his lectures several times before, and he has a good impression of me, so he saved me this time."

"Brugham?"

When Wellington heard the name, he suddenly realized: "I almost forgot about him, that eccentric lawyer, he has a bad temper. It's not easy for you to get along with him. But your luck is really good. The Whigs came to power just after the death of the former King George IV. If the former king hadn't died, Brougham would never have been able to get the position of Lord Chief Justice. I know that the late king has always been upset about Brougham helping Queen Caroline win the divorce lawsuit. "At this point, Wellington changed the subject: "However, it is you who came to see me today. Is Scotland Yard going to give you all my security during the London Conference?" Arthur heard this and joked: "I hope you don't get angry about this. The security of Viscount Palmerston, the other British representative at the London Conference, is personally in charge of by Director Rowan. It may be a bit low for me to be in charge of you." The Red Devil on the side heard this and couldn't help laughing: "Oh! Arthur, you little bastard. You are planning to kill Rowan. It's not enough to lay mines for him on the Whig side, but you turn around and give him on the Tory side. "

Sure enough, Wellington raised his eyebrows when he heard this and said, "Oh! Rowan's ability to change his attitude according to the situation is really strong. But it doesn't matter to him. Anyway, I am only attending the meeting as a consultant this time. According to legal procedures, Palmerston's security level should be higher than mine. "

Arthur smiled and leaned over and said, "With your broad mind, you really don't care about these details, but even if you don't care, as the person in charge of security, I still need to conduct a detailed investigation of the terrain and environment inside and outside the Apsley Mansion to ensure that there will be no problems during the meeting. "

Wellington heard this, stood up and knocked on the iron window of his house with his fingers, and joked self-deprecatingly: "In fact, there is nothing to investigate. Look at this window, it's simply a knot. It couldn't be stronger. Didn't The Times say that my whole body is made of iron? If you want to assassinate me, the Iron Duke, you probably can't just get a few bullets.

But if you want to investigate intelligence, go ahead. I understand your feelings. Before the war, knowing nothing about the terrain, troops, deployment, and weather will always make people feel unsure. By the way, when you are free, you can go and have a good chat with Mr. Francois Vidocq, who is in charge of the security of French Ambassador Talleyrand, at the London Conference.

But in terms of police intelligence work, the French "Security Brigade" under his jurisdiction can be said to be the best in Europe. If you can learn a trick from him, I believe it will help improve your work ability. "

Security Brigade?

When Arthur heard the name of this organization, he immediately understood what the Duke of Wellington meant.

In fact, when it comes to the time when the police organization was established, France is much earlier than Britain.

As early as 1667, King Louis XIV of France ordered the establishment of the Paris Police Department. However, due to the excessive violence of the law enforcement style of the Paris police, it was almost difficult to distinguish the French police from the army in the early days. Even the highest officer of the Paris police at that time was the rank of Lieutenant General of the Police.

During the French Revolution, the Paris Police Department was reorganized into the Paris Police General Department. After Napoleon became emperor, it was reorganized into the Grand Paris Police Department. Their law enforcement style and scope of responsibilities gradually moved closer to modern municipal police.

Although the Paris police are gradually becoming civilized, their historical traditions are there after all. Even if they become civilized, it is only relative. In most cases, the Paris police still adhere to the hard truth that guns are better than mouths.

It is precisely because of their notoriety that even Arthur and other British colleagues of the Paris police have been affected.

At the beginning of the establishment of Scotland Yard, London citizens almost equated them with terms such as repression, violence, and bloodshed, which is one of the important reasons why the front-line patrol officers of Scotland Yard often encounter attacks during their daily patrols.

But no matter what, in today's world, countries such as Britain and France, which claim to be world models, hope to use as little violence as possible and do their best to bridge domestic conflicts. After all, no one wants to stage a revolution on their own territory.

In order to make themselves at least look civilized on the surface, the Paris Police Department has come up with various crooked ideas.

More than a decade before Arthur proposed to Sir Peel to establish LPS, the French, who were quite creative in this regard, had already taken the lead in practicing domestic security intelligence work.

François Vidocq, mentioned by the Duke of Wellington, is the founder and head of the intelligence department of the Greater Paris Police Department. This old spy with outstanding work ability and outstanding military exploits for the Greater Paris Police Department has a very proud resume.

At the age of 14, Mr. Vidocq accidentally killed someone in a sword duel and had to flee his hometown. After changing his appearance, he came to Paris alone, but fell in love with a French actress, but this sister-brother relationship did not end well, and Mr. Vidocq spent all his money.

It happened that the French Revolution broke out at this time, so Mr. Vidocq took advantage of the situation to join the army. At first, his performance was good, and he was very brave in the first half of the battle.

But soon, his love of the limelight and his disobedience got him into big trouble. He challenged an officer who opposed him everywhere, but was rejected.

Unconvinced, Vidocq drew his sword and attacked directly. In the 1V15 battle, he successfully killed two officers and was hanged after being subdued.

Before the execution, Mr. Vidocq, who had always been bold, certainly would not sit and wait for death. He fully exerted his high-powered force, led the majority of inmates to escape from prison, and fled back to his hometown all the way.

His unlucky father was also shocked after learning about his son's experience over the years. He could only pat his son on the shoulder and earnestly admonish him: "You will die on the street sooner or later. Get married quickly, at least leave a seed for our old Wei family."

Victor also honestly followed his father's advice and found a girl from his hometown to marry.

Fortunately, a few months after Victor got married, his wife gave birth to a big fat boy for him.

But Victor held the child, but he felt something was wrong.

It's not right, don't other people have a pregnancy for ten months? Why did my son give birth in six months? Could it be a gift?

Unable to figure it out, Victor finally left his hometown on a rainy night and ran back to Paris. He was imprisoned again for fighting soon after.

And the experience of being in prison many times finally made him enlightened in prison. He learned the high-end technology of making false certificates from an old French pickpocket, and was repeatedly imprisoned for this.

The Grand Paris Police, unable to bear his presence, finally put him in the Navy Prison, but they obviously underestimated Vidocq's ability. Not long after, Vidocq bribed the guards to get a navy uniform and then escaped from prison.

When he was captured again, the Grand Paris Police also raised his risk rating to the highest level, so this time, he was sent to Toulon Prison, the most heavily guarded and tightly managed prison in France.

But Vidocq, in line with the principle of "as long as the mind does not slip, there are always more solutions than difficulties", escaped from Toulon Prison again and again.

He and the Grand Paris Police fought for ten years in this way, "you come out 3, I come out 4, you come out 5, I come out 6". With these experiences, Vidocq's reputation in France became more and more famous, and many friends in the French underworld regarded Vidocq as an idol.

At a banquet held by the Parisian underworld to celebrate Mr. Vidocq's Nth successful escape from prison, Vidocq just sneered, took out a certificate from his jacket pocket and slapped it on the table: "Sorry, I'm a policeman."

Soon after, the Grand Paris Police Department publicly announced that the respected Mr. Eugene François Vidocq had turned from evil to good, and he would serve as the chief executive of the police intelligence department of the Grand Paris Police Department, responsible for leading the newly established Paris plainclothes detective team - Sreté.

And this Sreté is the predecessor of the Paris Security Brigade mentioned by the Duke of Wellington.

The Paris Security Brigade, which has absorbed a large number of former criminals, is invincible under the leadership of Vidocq. Relying on his network of relationships in the Parisian underworld for many years and his understanding of criminal psychology, he reduced the crime rate in Paris by 40% in just a few years.

In order to commend Vidocq's work performance, the overjoyed French King Louis XVIII directly pardoned all the crimes Vidocq had committed in the past.

Of course, Victor's success was not entirely due to his connections and experience.

He also introduced many technological innovations and institutional reforms in police work, such as undercover police, ballistics, criminal file preservation systems, plaster casts of criminals' shoe prints, indelible ink, crime scene protection mechanisms, etc.

Because Victor was so successful, Scotland Yard once studied his various innovations at the beginning of its establishment, and incorporated some of them into Scotland Yard's "Police Implementation Manual".

Arthur had thought about meeting this old man, but the funds for Scotland Yard's activities were too tight, and the Tories had been unable to protect themselves before. Even if Sir Peel trusted him, he would not let Arthur go to Paris for a public trip at a time of political turmoil in London.

But unexpectedly, Arthur did not go to Vidocq, but Vidocq came to him.

However, the fact that Vidocq, who has been in charge of the Paris security intelligence system for many years, can accompany him also shows how much the French value the London Conference.

But when Arthur thought of this, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

He frowned slightly and muttered, "Although it is more professional to let the police do security protection, sending Vidocq here, is it not to save Alexander back?"

Arthur suddenly felt a chill in his heart. If Dumas was lost at the London Conference, it would be no small matter.

Although Dumas was not a high-ranking official, due to the previous hype of the news media, this fat man has become an important symbol of Britain's defense of justice.

Although this face issue is actually not very meaningful, it can profoundly affect the public opinion environment and party support rate.

Although most British people do not have the right to vote, this does not mean that the Whigs and Tories dare to ignore their voices. The imagination of the people is the power base of politicians.

For such problems where the direct person responsible can be found, the two parties do not mind pushing someone out to apologize.

If something really happens at that time, even if Lord Brougham wants to protect him, he may have to weigh the pressure of public opinion.

When Arthur thought of this, he suddenly felt that he needed to meet with the famous Mr. Vidocq immediately.

Although it might be difficult for him to pry the truth out of his mouth, even if he could get some information sporadically, it would be of great benefit to Scotland Yard's action deployment during the meeting.

Arthur was thinking about these things, and the Duke of Wellington, who was leaning on the sofa chair holding a red wine glass, suddenly spoke again.

"Arthur, do you mind doing me a small favor?"

Arthur came back to his senses and asked with a smile: "Is it a private favor or a public favor?"

The Duke of Wellington shook his red wine glass: "It doesn't matter, both are fine. If you only use one identity, I'm afraid you can't handle this problem. And since you are responsible for my safety during the London meeting, it should be reasonable for me to give you two orders, right?"

Arthur did not refute this. He pondered what the Duke of Wellington had said before, and suddenly smiled and said: "Do you want me to act like Mr. Vidocq?"

"No, I need you to do better than him."

The Duke of Wellington stood up and paced: "Although I know this may be difficult for you, but in the issue of Belgian independence On this issue, we have some differences with the French and the Russians. Some things are not convenient for me to inquire, but if you inquire from below, you may get some unexpected surprises.

On the French side, you can start with Vidocq. As for the Russian side, I heard from several friends that the Allmark Club has a new pianist named Arthur Hastings? The little gadget called phonograph you brought is also very satisfactory.

At the club dinner last week, I heard from Mrs. Cowper that Lady Leven, the wife of the Russian ambassador Earl Leven, also ordered a phonograph from you? I wonder if you have sent the phonograph to her? "

The Duke of Wellington has said so much, how can Arthur not understand what he means?

Arthur let out a sigh of relief, took off his hat and smiled bitterly: "Sir, you really gave me a difficult problem."

The Duke of Wellington laughed, patted Arthur on the shoulder and said: "Young man, you just need to exercise more. But don't be too stressed about this matter. Although the Whigs and Tories belong to different camps, we have always been consistent in foreign affairs.

As long as you can get this done, the Whigs will definitely be very happy. Of course, even if you can't do it, it's actually no big deal. Anyway, with Brougham here, you probably won't have any problems."

Arthur looked up at the pendulum clock in the corner, and the hour hand just pointed to twelve o'clock. The bell rang, and Arthur put one hand on his chest and bowed slightly: "Sir, I obey."

There is another chapter, a little later