The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 761 - 361: Your Name, Britain and France_3

The Great Dumas opened his mouth and asked, "Who?"

A rare ripple crossed Stendhal’s face, "Iron Hand, Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult."

Upon hearing these words, the Great Dumas felt as if a fishbone were stuck in his throat. His mouth hung open for quite some time before he finally uttered, "Six infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, one artillery regiment, sixty thousand men, all led by ’Iron Hand’ Soult. If you don’t tell me what this is for, I might think that Louis Philippe plans to stage a fight with the anti-French alliance troops led by Duke Wellington in the outskirts."

Stendhal remained silent for a while before saying, "Mr. Dumas, this is why I do not approve of your return to Paris at this time. The atmosphere in Paris is really tense right now. Whether it’s the Bonapartists or the Republicans, everyone’s mind is stretched tight, and following the cholera outbreak, this tendency has only worsened. Just before I left for London, a scavenger riot had just erupted in Paris."

"A scavenger riot? What’s that about?"

Stendhal began, "I do not know if the authorities are genuinely concerned with managing public health or if it’s to monitor the restless crowd. Anyway, they’ve contracted the entire waste management of Paris to the Salavet Company, and the Paris Police Prefecture has even issued a statement reaffirming its monopoly on the capital’s refuse, prohibiting rural residents and personnel outside of the sanitation companies from picking up garbage or other items on the public roads of Paris.

For the Paris Police Prefecture and the sanitation company, this is of course a happy ending. Not only has the police department reduced its financial burden, but it also hopes to improve the sanitation conditions of Paris through this, and in the process, eliminate those foul-smelling, cityscape-disturbing scavengers."

"Meanwhile, beyond the fixed contract fees, the Salavet Sanitation Company can also earn at least an additional 500,000 Francs profit annually based on their monopoly over garbage collection and sorting. But the problem lies in the fact that this announcement has dealt a heavy blow to the interests of two groups."

"One group is the owners of the old garbage carts, whom ’Le National’ said numbered around 300. Disregarding the profits from selling garbage, each old-style horse cart could earn a rental fee of 15 Francs daily. Their numbers may be small, but because their losses are large, their opposition is particularly fierce."

"The other group is the urban scavengers of Paris, who may number from eight to ten thousand. Cholera cases had just appeared in Paris, and France’s Central Committee, aside from demanding timely treatment of patients and reporting of the epidemic in ’Le Guide’, also decreed a special cleanup, to clear away city garbage."

"Under the government’s urging, the Salavet Company quickly deployed their new garbage carts for cleaning. However, as soon as the news spread, scavengers and the owners of old garbage carts instantly became enraged. They gathered together to attack the sanitation vehicles, beat the drivers, and even set fire to the Salavet Company’s office."

"And while the scavengers were causing disturbances, the Republicans also took the opportunity to cause trouble. They targeted Paris’s St. Pelagie Prison, where Galois was imprisoned, on the very same evening. The prisoners started a riot under the pretext of cholera threatening their survival, and more than two hundred Republicans launched an attack from outside."

As a typical French Republican, the Great Dumas couldn’t help but be invigorated by the news and asked excitedly, "Did they succeed?"

Stendhal shook his head, "Unfortunately, Mr. Dumas. The police were quickly informed of the prison riot, and I suspect Vite had a hand in it since placing informers in prisons is one of his specialties. The disturbance in St. Pelagie Prison had barely started when the National Guard and the mounted police of the Paris Police Department had already arrived for reinforcement. They shot and injured many prisoners and Republicans. However, the good news is that only one unlucky person was killed. And still, some did manage to escape amid the chaos, but Galois was not among them."

The Great Dumas sighed heavily upon hearing this, "If I had been there...things certainly would not have unfolded like this. Damn it! Now I’m even more certain that I should return to Paris instead of staying in London to write some damned play!"

"That won’t do."

Click.

The door to the editor’s office was pushed open, and Arthur, with a pipe in his mouth, touched the brim of his hat, "Alexander, if you want to go back to Paris, you’ll have to apply to your superior first."