Flowers, Swords and France

Mr. Pierre Conze, who was promoted to the special commissioner of the Political Police Department amid the envy and jealousy of his colleagues, was currently staying in his small study, reading and thinking about the materials carefully.

The house he rented was on the third floor of a high-rise apartment on St. Roque Street. In addition to the living room, which was not large, the first room was his bedroom and the second room was his study. The boundary wall behind the study is very thick and completely isolated from the outside world. The window faced the street and faced a wall on the opposite corner. There were no windows on the wall, so there was absolutely no fear of prying eyes. The fifth floor is occupied by the owner, and the fourth floor has been rented to a businessman for twenty years. Each tenant has a key to the main door. There is a mailbox downstairs, divided into different levels. Each household receives the letters and packages sent to them, and never cares about other people's things. Secret, quiet, assured and safe.

This is the kingdom of Pierre Konze. Every piece of paper and every brick was obtained by him with every drop of sweat and hard work. He is an orphan with no inheritance and no one to help but himself.

Diligent work has brought us everything we have today. Although it is not rich and luxurious, it still fills people with hope for the future. Yes, France today is full of hope. Today it is a small house, but tomorrow it may be a high-rise building! Even if you are a civilian, even if you are a policeman, doesn't France now give you a chance to make a fortune? Didn’t the Duke of Otterant appear before?

[The Duke of Otterante refers to Fouche, who single-handedly established the French Imperial Police system. He is one of the most famous and capable conspirators in French history. He signed the death sentence of Louis XVI and also served as a member of the Bourbon dynasty. The restoration was vigorous]

Because he could see hope, Kong Ze put aside all other thoughts and concentrated on his work. The work of resolving problems for ministers, prime ministers and His Majesty the King.

How could a person who was born as an orphan and had no background be promoted to the position of special commissioner (deputy director level) of the Political Police Department in his early thirties?

In addition to wisdom, diligence and courage, the most important thing is opportunities and the vision to seize opportunities.

What are the opportunities? An opportunity is a project that your boss wants to do but cannot do, and that others are unable to do anything about. If you do something that everyone can do, it will not make the minister look at you differently. Kong Ze understood this truth very early.

Kong Ze found out very early what the Minister of the Interior was troubled about, so he started making corresponding preparations very early. In this operation of Your Excellency the Minister to track down and annihilate the royalists, because of these preparations, he made outstanding achievements in the operation, and then got the attention of the minister, and was finally introduced to the Prime Minister by the minister. He was personally appointed and appreciated by the Prime Minister.

[The hierarchical sequence and corresponding legal treatment of the French administrative departments at that time were:

Minister le-ministre (fixed annual salary of more than 100,000 francs, free housing and public carriages provided by the government are not included.)

Director (Director) le-directeur (annual salary is about 25,000 francs) \u003ceur (annual salary is about 10,000 francs)

Section chief chef-de-bureau (annual salary 6-8 thousand francs)

The above is just an average estimate, and the actual income of various ministries and commissions is slightly different. At the same time, because key departments can obtain gray income through various means, the actual income of officials in various ministries and commissions varies greatly. For example, the actual income of inspectors in the Ministry of Finance is higher than that of many other departments. senior bureaucrats, so readers cannot ignore it. 】

This kind of promotion and appreciation undoubtedly requires performance in return. The last words of the Prime Minister during the summons also made it very clear. If he never makes valuable achievements, then all the rewards he has received before will be in vain. This is probably the only opportunity he will get in his life to get ahead. disappear. This result is unacceptable.

In this era, the police department's way of doing things is a bit like a contracting system: for every major case, three, four or more capable police detectives will be found to contract. When a minister learns about a conspiracy or plans a conspiracy, he will also say to his right-hand assistants: "I want..., what do you need to complete it?" Once the bugle sounds, what methods will be used, and what methods will be used? It is up to the contractor to determine who will spend what money. How many major cases in France have been solved by these contractor police!

Kong Ze gave an answer, so he must also give a result that is acceptable to the above.

In order to obtain results, he carefully read his own eyeliner and the information borrowed from other departments, and read each page in detail, regardless of the fatigue of his eyes. Although much of the information conveyed in the report is disorganized or even completely invalid, there will still be a lot of useful information retained after screening, enough for him to find some clues.

He firmly believes that his many years of professional experience and intuition make him firmly believe that behind the seemingly loud rebels, there is a more vicious and terrifying conspiracy and the organization that implements this conspiracy. Although this organization does not pull any tricks on the surface, it is more terrifying and more deadly because of this. When they actually take action, the consequences will be disastrous.

Of course, the reason why this conspiracy has not been exposed until now is simply because Mr. Pierre Kongze has not received the trust and authorization from above.

But now, everything is ready, all that is left is the final effort.

A large pile of documents did not make Kong Ze feel tired, but instead made him doubly motivated. When reading these documents, this person who had no relatives and few friends could feel that he was touching the world and was also needed by the world.

Soon, a secret report from an informant caught his attention. He read the report carefully and closed his eyes to think. Suddenly, he stood up and changed into his clothes for going out. Then he walked out of the door.

With the help of a rented carriage, he quickly found the informant, and then, under the lead and guidance of the informant, they entered an empty alley. Not long after, they waited for the information provider.

The visitor was a slightly fat girl, short in stature, with thick and red arms, a very ordinary face, and a pink cloth hat on her head. She was in her twenties and looked ordinary. There were so many strong girls like this who came to Paris from other provinces to work every day. She carefully peeked around, then tiptoed over, and her slightly fat body made people laugh.

"Is this your head?" the girl asked the informant, her voice was loud and had a Norman accent.

"Yes, this is my head, you can tell her in detail." The informant whispered.

"Give me my share first!" Like all uneducated and not smart girls, she felt extremely uncomfortable facing a man, her broad knuckles kept rubbing the corners of her clothes nervously, and then she used a slightly rough attitude to cover up her nervousness.

"Tell me in detail what you heard." Kong Ze's voice was very low, but the tone was unquestionable.

"Sir, I am a servant for others. A few days ago, I was sent to a country villa to help as a servant..."

At this time in Paris, the nobles and bourgeois bourgeois often went out of the city to spend the summer in villas. When holding various parties, they needed servants and cooks. If a cook was hired, a girl would naturally be hired as an assistant. Few families would hire servants in country villas for a long time, so there would be special companies that provide servants for rent to meet the needs of these families. This girl belongs to one of such companies.

"There seems to be only one gentleman in that family. He looks middle-aged, fat, and doesn't talk much. He looks kind and speaks to me kindly. He came with a servant, and the servant looked fierce! He also invited a few guests. It was evening that day, and the carriages came in the dark. And those guests all looked nervous, didn't talk much to each other, and didn't look like good people at first glance..."

"Then what?"

"Then there's dinner... We have to cook for them. When the chef is about to finish a dish or finish the sauce, he always finds an excuse to send me away and send me out of the kitchen..." When she talked about this, there seemed to be a hint of hatred in her tone.

In this era, there was a popular custom among the maids in the kitchens of wealthy families - they wanted to steal some tricks from the cooks, and when they learned how to make sauces and cook, they would find an opportunity to go out and work as a cook in other rich families' homes. Some maids, because they were slightly pretty, could fulfill this dream by seducing the cooks; others were much less lucky and could only attack in a roundabout way by stealing.

"Then what?" Kong Ze didn't care about the maid's complaints at all.

"After being kicked out of the kitchen, when I went to the storage room to get vegetables, I vaguely heard voices coming from the attic above... But I couldn't hear it clearly. Anyway, I heard something about the emperor... railways, and financing... Anyway, although I couldn't hear it clearly, I always felt something was wrong."

The original text can be read in Liu # 9 @Book/Bar!

"Very good." Whether it was really overheard accidentally, or it was the kind of desire that maids had to eavesdrop on their masters, Kong Ze didn't care at all, he only cared about the effect. "Who is the owner of that villa? Where is it?"

"I don't know the owner, and his servants won't tell me. Maybe the company will have records, but many people simply provide fake names, or let the servants do it. Anyway, as long as the money is paid, the company will not check. As for the place..." The other party dragged out the sound.

Kong Ze took out a few Napoleon gold coins from his arms expressionlessly, and then gently threw one of them into the girl's hand.

The girl who got twenty francs was overjoyed, and then looked at Kong Ze eagerly. "I can take you there and show you!"

"Which one of the things you reported before is worth it," Kong Ze still had that wooden expression, and then gently shook the remaining gold coin in his hand. "If you want another one...you need to tell me more things."

"What do you need me to do!" The girl asked hurriedly. "I won't be sent there all the time! And that family doesn't live there often, so I don't have many opportunities to help in the kitchen!"

"I will help you. I will go to your company and use other names to find out the family's background, and talk to your boss by the way." Kong Ze replied. "If the family wants you again next time, let them send you there again."

Then, he stared at the girl, "You should find a chance to find out where the host is from and where he lives. You should also pay more attention to who the guests are and what they look like. If you have the chance, listen to what they talk about and report everything to me when the time comes!"

He took out a few more banknotes from his pocket.

Under the dual temptation of banknotes and gold coins, the maid's breathing became a little rapid.

"Okay!"

"Very good." Kong Ze said again, and then put all the coins back into his pocket. "Think about it carefully and see if there is anything else you can tell me?"

Under the urging of money, the maid frowned and started to recall, and suddenly seemed to have discovered something.

"I remember, vaguely, I heard someone calling another person Mr. Friedland!"

"Ding", another silver coin worth 5 francs fell to the maid's feet with a crisp sound and a beautiful arc.

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