The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 762 - 362: The Duality of Britain and France

Although Arthur was in London, he knew far more about the situation in Paris than Stendhal, who had just arrived in Britain from Paris.

The head of intelligence at Scotland Yard had long been in letter correspondence with Victor, the chief of the Paris Police Prefecture. Moreover, after Heine and Chopin went to Paris, they also often wrote to Arthur to share some of their observations in the city.

Of course, even if these people were willing to exchange information with Arthur, it wouldn’t be useful if the information didn’t travel fast enough.

Fortunately, Arthur had a friend with the surname Rothschild, so he naturally enjoyed the most time-efficient courier service in Europe at the moment—the Rothschild Express.

In the European Continent, massive amounts of letters were sent out daily from the five major branches of the Rothschild Family’s locations in London, Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt, and Naples, with the most important part—information that could affect the rise and fall of the European bond and stock markets—being sent via express delivery, aiming to reach the Rothschild family members in charge within three days.

Thanks to the long-standing good reputation of the Rothschild courier service, not only sensitive businessmen chose to use Rothschild messengers, but European royals and political bigwigs also preferred to send letters through Rothschild.

Even in Britain, for example, the long-term clients of the Rothschild courier service included King William IV, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Peel, and others.

Following the cholera outbreak in Britain, Arthur promptly informed Victor of a series of bizarre phenomena occurring during the epidemic and also made many well-intentioned suggestions to his colleague.

But as it turned out, despite the warnings, Paris would still end up following its own course in the end.

Most of the phenomena seen in Britain were nearly classically replicated in France.

However, due to the different national conditions of the two countries, there were some subtle differences in detail.

Parisians also denied the existence of cholera, and because most of them lacked trust in the government, with republicans and Bonapartists fanning the flames, many citizens even believed that the so-called cholera was actually a result of the government poisoning the populace.

The root cause of such a belief, ultimately, was a small suggestion that Arthur had made to Victor.

In a letter, Arthur told Victor about how he reversed the cholera situation in Liverpool by closing off dirty wells, advising him to emulate his actions if necessary.

Victor promptly reported this suggestion to Henry Juscoke, the head of the Paris Police Prefecture.

That same evening, Juscoke went to see the new Prime Minister, Casimir Perier.

After Perier convened the French Central Health Committee for an all-night discussion, the French displayed their usual efficiency by actively applying the Liverpool experience, which was not even fully implemented in Britain, to the cholera prevention efforts in Paris.

If such control measures had been successfully implemented, it should have been a good thing.

However, as soon as the Paris Police Prefecture’s order to close the wells was issued, rumors immediately spread through the streets and alleys of Paris that the police were closing the wells to facilitate poisoning.

The "Constitutional Newspaper" in Paris openly stated, "At this moment, not a single district is not terrified of the narrative of poisoning."

With the spread of the poisoning rumors, the subsequent developments in Paris gradually began to align with the situation in Britain over the past few months, and from certain perspectives, the reaction of Parisians was even more heated.

Some started pointing fingers at the government, venting their anger on doctors, claiming that cholera was nothing but an invention by the government and doctors intended to eliminate the poor.

And a few days later, voices calling for the public to revolt emerged on the streets of Paris.

Facing the escalating rumors and turbulent situation, even the Paris Police Prefecture, many times more forceful than Scotland Yard, couldn’t withstand the pressure.

Jusco, the prefect, had to make multiple public statements to dispel the rumors and issued internal orders to the police chiefs of the Paris districts:

The permanent enemies of social order seek to find a shameful excuse for the catastrophe that torments our people at this moment, to realize a conspiracy they have been brewing for a long time. They try to use our misfortune, the suffering of families, to seduce the public.

They spread the message that the patients’ unfortunate victimhood is the result of poisoning. They are trying their hardest to convince the least enlightened social strata that cholera does not exist. They aim to disturb the governmental and medical assistance provided to patients. Fortunately, so far, these despicable schemes have not been very successful.

The sporadic street violence and brutal acts we see today are the result of them tempting a portion of the public into the wrong path. I command you to closely monitor this situation, you have an obligation to explain matters to citizens who may be misled and offer them wise advice.

All officers should remind the public that, for their own sake as well as the public interest, they should not blindly believe the slander and shameless rumors of evil-doers. Because the bad people just want to intimidate the public, leading to our inability to quickly rid the capital of the disaster that rages.

But although Jusco exerted every effort to dispel the rumors, to the people of Paris, it seemed that the more Jusco denied, the more likely it was that the rumors were true.