Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

The sky gradually darkened.

The Crown Prince's carriage finally left the General Prison in France.

Joseph sat in the carriage, looking at the list of more than 50 officials in his hand, smiled and tossed it to Eman, "Please help me keep this in the study's clutter cabinet."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Joseph didn't need this list to purge the officials.

Although the people on the list were all involved in corruption and dereliction of duty, they had not stood up against the tax reform. At least for now, it wasn't appropriate to move against them.

That's how politics worked; the scope of attack had to be focused, making it clear to officials whether they were safe. That way, those not involved would distance themselves from the targets and support the Royal Family.

If political purges spread indefinitely, officials would panic and take measures to protect themselves, which might eventually trigger political instability.

Of course, using this list to give the bureaucrats a knock on the head was entirely feasible.

If you don't give these powerful people a sharp reminder, they easily forget who they are and who really is the boss.

The next day, Joseph, accompanied by Fouche, visited the General Prison again.

He personally "visited" an Assistant Governor arrested by Mala, while Fouche followed his instructions and went to the cell of the municipal commissioner, Kasitong.

Joseph had limited energy and could only take care of provincial-level officials; the rest, the small fries, were left for the intelligence agency to handle, especially since many implicated officials hadn't been brought to Paris, and he couldn't run around the country for such a minor issue.

Joseph estimated that after "threatening" all 40-plus officials, he could gather incriminating material on thousands of officials.

Currently, excluding North Africa and Luxembourg, France had just over ten thousand officials. Removing the judicial system and some ceremonial positions, this coverage already exceeded 10%.

Enough to initiate the bureaucratic reform that was needed.

Joseph watched the Assistant Governor of Picardie province busily documenting the incriminating material, silently planning in his mind:

First, the officials needed a good scare.

Then, the Royal Family would step in as the savior, aiding the "helpless" officials.

These gentlemen, having received grace, would certainly not refuse to enter University to further their knowledge in management and other professional skills to repay His Majesty the King.

Joseph knew that France's bureaucratic system had been operating for many years, and the inherent inertia was huge. If he directly implemented the "Civil Service Examination" system like in North Africa, it would likely provoke strong opposition from the entire bureaucratic class, including the nobles.

Thus, he had to change the approach.

That was to establish the "French Royal School of Administrative Management" with the King as the president, allowing many senior officials to enroll for further education.
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In this way, "academically inclined" officials would gradually start to sideline colleagues with "non-academic" backgrounds, forcing the latter to seek further education as well.

At that time, entrance examinations could be introduced.

Those who couldn't pass the entrance exams, well, sorry, without the Royal Family lifting a finger, their academically inclined peers would marginalize them.

Later, it would gradually evolve to the point where no one could enter the bureaucracy without a degree from the School of Administrative Management.

Eventually, even low-level positions like clerks, secretaries, and record keepers would all fall under the University's purview.

By then, the entrance exam of the School of Administrative Management would have become France's civil service examination. Unknowingly, the most crucial step of bureaucratic reform would be complete!

To make this plan work, the biggest challenge was how to get as many officials as possible into the school.

And this "massive corruption case" provided Joseph with just the opportunity.

As Joseph pondered the bureaucratic reforms, the carriage slowly came to a halt, and Eman reminded, "Your Highness, we have arrived at Notre Dame."

Joseph nodded and looked out the window, seeing Archbishop Beaumont of Paris already waiting respectfully with a large group of priests at the church's main entrance.

He immediately smiled, stepped out of the carriage, and exchanged greetings with Beaumont, then got straight to the point, "Respected Archbishop, I need your help to build a university."

Yes, when it came to matters of education, it was most suitable to turn to France's "Ministry of Education"—the Catholic Church.

The Church not only had rich experience in running schools, with the ability to mobilize teaching resources at any time, but it was also very committed to upholding royal authority.

Furthermore, the School of Administrative Management wasn't like a police academy, where one could simply set up a warehouse and a training field in the wilderness. The School of Administrative Management represented the face of the French bureaucratic system; it couldn't cut corners on necessary facilities.

Archbishop Beaumont immediately beamed with joy. The Crown Prince building a university meant that the Church would handle substantial funds, a rare lucrative opportunity.

He eagerly nodded continuously, "Your Highness, it is my great honor to serve you. May I know what kind of university you wish to build and its scale?"

"The Royal School of Administrative Management," Joseph walked familiarly towards the reception room behind Notre Dame, telling Beaumont, "It will primarily teach economics, management, social studies, law, engineering, and the like. Oh, of course, not as deeply as the University of Paris teaches, all courses should be completed within a year, or even six months."

He then briefly introduced the main function of the university before adding, "As for the scale, initially build for 1500 students, but reserve space for expansion."

Archbishop Beaumont signaled his assistant to take detailed notes and then offered many suggestions on establishing the school. Finally, wringing his hands with a smile, he said, "Your Highness, only the timeframe you have given is too short, just three months, which could greatly increase construction costs…"

Joseph nodded nonchalantly, "Then, we'll have to trouble the Church to advance some funds."

"Ah, thank you, Your Highness…" Beaumont unconsciously replied, but suddenly froze, exclaiming, "Wait, Your Highness, did you say let the Church advance the funds?

"This university might need 500,000

francs for construction, the Church can't come up with so much money…"

Joseph patted his back, leaning in and saying, "The Church has an estate to the east of the Seine River, just remodel it a bit and it should be usable, shouldn't cost that much, and could speed up progress."

Beaumont's eyes widened in panic, "Your Highness, this is not…"

Joseph smiled mysteriously, lowering his voice, "Archbishop, a large number of officials might be investigated soon, I think, we could allow some people from the Church to fill some positions."

This bureaucratic reform for France was akin to a major surgical operation; Joseph couldn't predict what unexpected issues he might encounter. To be safe, he decided to pull in the Church to back him up.

Despite the Church not being as dominant as during the era of Louis XIII, it still possessed some political influence. At least with the Church involved, it could prevent them from colluding with the bureaucratic system.