Shadow of great britain

Napoleon, who had always regarded himself as a liberator, had now become an invader who trampled on the sovereignty of European countries, while the French, who had always aimed at natural borders, had moved deeper into the hinterland of the European continent. France's interests demanded that the great powers stop Napoleon, that they unite and build dams against his insatiable ambitions. Therefore, from 1813 onwards, Napoleon's cause was no longer France's cause.

——Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord

Satirical Cartoon "The Man with Six Faces: Talleyrand"

It was always a surprise to an English guest to learn that public officials serving in the courts would live in a place like Foa Street.

In Britain the judges are always superior. As early as more than 100 years ago, judges already enjoyed an annual salary of more than 1,000 pounds, and this has never changed today. But high income is not the most enviable thing about judges. What everyone talks about most is the power they hold.

Every judge is the supreme ruler of his court, and a single sentence can decide the life or death of others. Even if the king goes to court, he cannot always show off his power.

With the blessing of wealth and status, all legal professions have become more valuable. Even if you are not a judge, but just a court clerk like Dickens in the past, this profession is still very valuable. Decent.

Therefore, without knowing it, almost all British people naturally believe that judges, lawyers and all legal-related professions should live in high-end neighborhoods and live a high-class life served by many servants.

In fact, this situation is the same for most French judges.

But Mr. Dubris is a different kind of alien.

In fact, this gentleman had a bright future when he just graduated from the Sorbonne University. It was during the imperial period, and many old nobles serving in the court were either executed or fled abroad during the Revolution. Therefore, when Napoleon carried out judicial reforms, Dubris became one of the earliest judges of the Paris High Court as soon as he graduated. One, and he was the youngest among them.

As a hard-working and excellent graduate of the Sorbonne University, Mr. Dubris, although young, is sufficiently knowledgeable in the field of law that he would be qualified for such an important position even if he were to directly hold it.

But what is surprising is that Dubris served as a judge at the Paris High Court for eight years. His colleagues who joined the Paris High Court at the same time were promoted one after another. However, Dubris' position remained unchanged, and his superiors also I have no intention of promoting him.

Fortunately, the taciturn Mr. Dubris is not very keen on officialdom. Even without the temptation of a high-ranking official and a generous salary, he will still do his job conscientiously.

Although his hard-working attitude earned him a good reputation in the Paris judicial community, when Mr. Dubris reached his tenth year in office, he was transferred by the Paris High Court to the civil court in the 12th arrondissement of Paris during a personnel adjustment.

Not long after, news came out that shocked all practitioners in the Paris legal industry, because Dubris was not only demoted, but his position was also demoted from a judge to an assistant judge.

When an upright man was treated so unfairly, there must be something hidden in it.

The biggest hidden secret is that although Mr. Dubris can skillfully recite every clause in the Napoleonic Code, he does not know how to be careful and scheming, let alone build relationships with department heads.

If there were people like Mr. Dubris in the entire Paris judicial department, maybe he wouldn't have been targeted so thoroughly.

But when everyone is seeking profit and rushing to send gifts to department heads and show their loyalty, then Dubris' behavior of never visiting the Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice will be regarded as disrespectful.

Therefore, every time a rule change or personnel adjustment was made, the department chief would always move Dubris down a level.

From the central high court to the local civil courts, from magistrate to assistant magistrate. If the rules had not allowed it, perhaps the officials would have reduced such a judge to a bailiff who delivers summonses and escorts prisoners through wind and rain.

But as Arthur knows, there is something called a blessing in disguise.

Although Dubris was suppressed during the imperial period, when Napoleon's empire collapsed, those officials who had bent the law for personal gain and used public power for private purposes during the imperial period were all in bad luck.

Due to Dubris's low position, his experience of being suppressed for many years, and his reputation for fairness and integrity, all these factors combined together instantly made him a celebrity in the judicial circles during the Restoration.

Not only was he transferred back to serve in the High Court, his position was even restored, but he also went a step further and became an associate judge.

However, as the reign of the restored Bourbons grew, Mr. Dubriz's typical role gradually faded over time.

The new chief justice and the minister of justice also disliked this Puritan-like subordinate, but they could not treat him too ruthlessly, so they simply came out of sight and out of mind, and found an excuse to transfer him back to ten. Serves as judge in the Civil Court of the Second District.

Since then, Mr. Dubris has lived a relatively quiet life. Staying away from the political struggles in the core circle of the judiciary may better reflect his life value.

But living in the city of Paris, political struggles are usually not something you can stay away from if you want to.

In 1830, the wildfire of the July Revolution broke out.

The newly-elected Orleans faction began to liquidate the old people of the royalist period, just as the royalists liquidated the Bonapartists.

Although many royalists saved themselves from the new chief justice and the minister of justice during this turmoil by means of "walking through iron shoes". But as we said before, Mr. Dubris is not the kind of person who will take the initiative to visit.

So without exception, although the Orleans faction could not catch Dubris's pigtail and could not directly expel him from the public office, they flexibly used a series of personnel adjustments to allow Mr. Dubris to return to his position as assistant judge.

For such ups and downs, does Dubris have hatred in his heart?

Although Mr. Dubrese is known for not fighting or competing, he cannot be without complaints in his heart.

In politics, he is not interested in Bonapartism, royalism, republicanism and Orleanism, but he has been labeled as a royalist, and he is a die-hard.

Because no matter how the Orleanists' chief justice and justice minister hinted, how they showed their "tolerance and generosity", even as long as Dubrese was willing to visit them once, they could forgive Dubrese's previous "disrespectful behavior". However, Dubrese had no intention of giving in to them.

Although Dubrese himself may never have thought of disrespecting his superiors, at least in the eyes of his superiors, he thought so in his heart.

If Dubrese didn't even understand this, how could he become a judge in Paris?

Dubrese was also confused and indignant in his heart. How did a group of guys who couldn't even recite the laws and regulations become chief justices and justice ministers in France?

Dubris believed that he was never an extremist, but normal people like him were portrayed as too extreme by this society.

Ever since Dubris stamped the forged identity document of the royalist, his life has been completely disrupted.

He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep for nights. In the empty room at night, only holding his wife's portrait could bring a trace of peace in his heart.

This was the first time he had done something to bend the law for personal gain in all his years in court. However, the first time he bent the law for personal gain, it was related to the king's life.

To be honest, he was a little scared at the beginning. Sometimes he even thought about whether he should step on the left leg or the right leg first when he walked to the guillotine, and whether his neck should be placed forward or backward so as not to cause trouble for the executioner.

But as time went on, the inertia of life helped him calm down, and the royalists have not contacted him since then.

Dubris went to work as usual in the morning, had a bowl of vegetable soup and two eggs at a small restaurant outside the court at noon, and took the court files home to study them carefully in the evening after work to prepare for the next day's work.

However, his life just after returning to the old road was disrupted by two uninvited guests.

Dubris actually discovered Arthur and Louis when they stepped into this small courtyard. Their clothes were very conspicuous in places like Foa Street. People wearing such clothes generally would not rush here. There was neither the wine they liked nor the beautiful cars and beauties. The last social dance held on Foa Street was traced back to a century ago.

Who are they?

They are Paris detectives!

Dubris came up with this answer almost instantly.

As a judge, no one knows better than him how bad the temperament of the Paris police is.

The duty given to them by the public is to fight crime, and when there is no crime, they are keen to create crime. These people naturally think that playing with criminals like cat and mouse is their power, and at the same time, it is also a way to relieve stress.

They like to make the prisoners fall into despair, because this can easily get the confessions and promotion chips they want from their mouths.

The longer Dubris observed, the stronger his thoughts became.

Anger, panic, sadness, all kinds of complex emotions intertwined in his heart, but in the end, a heroic generosity occupied his whole heart.

He decided to face the two villains directly. Instead of waiting to die, it is better to take the initiative.

Perhaps, the title of court judge can scare off these two vultures that feed on carrion.

Dubris's stern eyes met the sleepy-looking "Paris villain": "Aren't you two here for the court case?"

"The court case?"

Arthur stretched his body. Since Thiers's guarantee, his mood has obviously relaxed a lot.

Although it is unknown what the French government is planning, they obviously do not intend to treat this assassination as a simple assassination. In other words, they do want to catch the murderer, but it does not matter whether the murderer who is finally caught is the real assassin.

Arthur looked up and down at the gentleman's facial features, mentally checked with the information the royalists had left for him a few days ago, and then politely took off his hat and asked: "Edraldo Dub Mr. Reese?"

Hearing the other party read his name, Dubris took half a step back in shock, but he quickly stabilized his body and asked cryptically: "So you are indeed here to see me for the court case. ?”

"Well... you can say that." Arthur lit the pipe: "I heard from a friend that you can stamp false identification documents. Now I have a few friends who need to solve this problem. You can help me. ?"

When Dubris heard this, his eyes instantly turned cold.

As expected, his forgery case came to light!

However, this guy did not arrest me immediately, but deliberately showed me that he knew the case...

Dubris thought about it and made a quick judgment: "Are you asking me for a bribe? Didn't your boss tell you that Edraldo Dubris never does this kind of thing? Can you now Take me away, but you can't insult my personality over and over again. If I dare to do such a thing, I have already prepared myself for death. You don't need to use these dirty tricks on me. !”

Louis looked at the two people who suddenly broke out into a quarrel and was deeply shocked. He thought this was some secret code for British spies to contact.

Arthur was also stunned for a moment, but after thinking about it for a while, he soon realized that Dubris seemed to have misunderstood.

But you can't blame him. With such a big case on his back, everyone would be nervous.

Arthur opened his mouth to explain: "I think you may have misunderstood. I don't work for the government."

Dubris snorted, and for a moment he spoke generously as if he was possessed by Danton and Robespierre: "I am also not working for the government, but for the French citizens! Go and tell your chief, Riso Kai, you can use this trick on others, but there is no need to use his tricks on me. Even if he wants to use tricks, he should send the insidious devil Vidocq instead of the two of you. The kid is out."

Seeing Dubris's attitude, Arthur scratched his head in embarrassment: "Mr. Vidoc? He was fired from the Paris Police Department a while ago."

"Of course I know!" Dubris slapped the railing angrily: "Because I was the one who handled the case on the Champs Elysées! Does he still want to hide it in front of me?"