Chapter 485 Royal University of French Administration
It's getting dark.
The Dauphin's carriage finally left France's First Prison.
Joseph sat in the car, looked at the list of more than 30 officials in his hand, smiled, and threw it to Emang:
"Please put it in the locker in the study for me."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Joseph did not ask for this list to purge officials at all.
Although the people on the list were involved in corruption, malfeasance and other matters, they did not stand up against tax reform. Then at least it's not appropriate to touch them for now.
That's what politics is like. The scope of attack must be concentrated so that officials know whether they are safe. In this way, people who are not involved in the incident will draw a clear line from the target and support the royal family.
If political purges spread indefinitely, panicked officials will inevitably resort to various means to protect themselves, which may eventually lead to political turmoil.
However, it is entirely possible to use this list to beat the bureaucrats.
If you don't hurt these domineering big shots, they will easily forget who they are and who is the boss.
The next day, Joseph took Fouche to the first prison again.
He personally "visited" an assistant to the governor who had been captured by Marat. Fouche followed his instructions and went to the cell of the municipal commissioner Caston.
Joseph's energy was limited and he could only take care of the provincial-level officials. The rest was left to the Intelligence Bureau to deal with. Especially since many officials involved in the case had not been sent to Paris, he could not do anything about it. Things are running all over the country.
Joseph estimated that after all the more than 40 officials were "threatened", they would be able to obtain exposing materials for thousands of officials.
France currently has only more than 10,000 officials, excluding North Africa and Luxembourg.
The number of people who have obtained the evidence themselves is enough to initiate the reform of officialdom.
Joseph looked at the Assistant Governor of Picardy Province who was immersed in writing exposé materials, and silently planned in his mind:
First, officials need to be nervous.
Then, it was the royal family who stepped in as a savior to save them at the critical moment.
These gentlemen who have been favored will certainly not refuse to go to university to learn professional knowledge and improve their business capabilities to repay His Majesty the King.
Joseph knew that the French bureaucracy had been in operation for too many years and the inherent inertia was very strong. If the "metric system" was copied from North Africa, it would probably arouse strong opposition from the entire bureaucracy and even the nobles.
Therefore, he can only operate in another mode.
That is to prepare for the establishment of a "French Royal Administrative University", with the king as the president, and to allow a large number of high-ranking officials to study at the school.
In this way, in the future, "academic" officials will gradually begin to exclude their colleagues with "wild backgrounds", forcing the latter to seek further study in schools.
At this time, the entrance exam can be started.
Those who cannot pass the entrance exam, sorry, your academic colleagues will marginalize you without the royal family taking action. After that, it gradually evolved to the point where people without a diploma from a university in administration could not even think of entering officialdom.
Eventually, even low-level positions such as clerks, secretaries, and document clerks were included in the scope of university education.
At that time, the entrance exam for the Administrative University had become the French civil service exam. Before you know it, the most important step in the reform of officialdom has been completed!
If this plan can be implemented, the biggest difficulty lies in how to get as many officials as possible to enter the school for further study.
And this "large-scale corruption case" just provided an opportunity for Joseph.
Joseph was thinking about the reform of government affairs. The carriage had slowly stopped. Eman reminded: "Your Highness, Notre Dame has arrived."
Joseph nodded and looked out the car window, and saw Archbishop Beaumont of Paris leading a large group of priests waiting respectfully in the square in front of the main entrance of the church.
He immediately got out of the car with a smile, exchanged greetings with Beaumont who came up to him, and then said straight to the point:
"Honored Archbishop, I need your help to build a university for me."
Yes, when it comes to education, it’s best to approach France’s “Ministry of Education”—the Catholic Church.
The church not only has rich experience in running schools and can mobilize teachers at any time, but it is also very concerned about maintaining the royal power.
Moreover, the Administration University is not like a police academy, where classes can be held just by setting up a warehouse and a playground on a wasteland. The Administrative University represents more of the face of the French bureaucracy, and we cannot omit the necessary things.
When Archbishop Beaumont heard this, he suddenly smiled - the Crown Prince wanted to build a university, which meant that a large amount of money would be spent on the church, which was a rare advantage.
He nodded quickly: "Your Highness, it is a great honor for me to serve you. I wonder what kind of university you want to build and how big it will be?"
"Royal Administrative University." Joseph walked to the reception room behind Notre Dame with familiarity, facing Beaumont and said, "It mainly teaches courses such as economics, management, society, law, and engineering. Oh, of course, you don't need to be like The teaching at the University of Paris is so in-depth that all courses can be completed within one year, or even completed in half a year.”
He then briefly introduced the main functions of the university, and then said: "As for the scale, it will be built on a scale of 1,500 students in the early stage, but space for expansion must be reserved."
Archbishop Beaumont motioned to his assistant to take notes carefully, and gave many suggestions on building the school. Finally, he rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "Your Highness, the time you gave is just too short, only three months. This may significantly increase construction costs..."
Joseph nodded carelessly: "Then I'll have to ask the church to pay in advance."
"Ah, thank you Your Highness..." Beaumont responded subconsciously, but suddenly froze and exclaimed, "No, Your Highness, you said you would let the church pay in advance?
"This university may cost 500,000 francs to build. How can the church come up with so much money..."
Joseph patted him on the back, came closer and said, "The church's manor east of the Seine River can be renovated and used. It shouldn't cost so much, and it can speed up the progress."
Beaumont became anxious when he heard this: "Your Highness, this is not..."
Joseph smiled mysteriously and lowered his voice: "Archbishop, a large number of officials may have been investigated recently. I think people from the church can fill some positions."
This administrative reform is tantamount to a major surgical operation for France. It was difficult for Joseph to predict what emergencies he would encounter. To be on the safe side, he decided to enlist the help of the church to support him.
Even though the church is far less powerful than it was under Louis XIII, it still has some political influence. At least by roping in the church, we can prevent them from colluding with the bureaucracy.
(End of chapter)