Kevin flipped through the loss report and suddenly thought of a question, "You just said that a small town in the outskirts of Namur could muster more than 50 police officers?"
Captain Pickering nodded, "Yes, Mr. Kevin. And that day, they also kept more than 30 people at the police station as a reserve."
"There are so many people?" Kevin was greatly surprised. Even in England, a police station in such a small town would have at most twenty or thirty officers.
Pickering spread his hands, "This is nothing. There are over 800 police officers in Namur city, and the Mons police station even has more than 900 people.
"The police stations in the Walloon Region have two more positions besides officers: 'auxiliary defenders' and 'service squads'. We had always thought the latter two were just menial helpers, but after this failed operation, we discovered that, except for not having uniforms, they were no different from regular police officers in other respects."
Hmm, Joseph, for the stability and control of the Walloon Region, has equipped this place with over six thousand police officers, it's like using them as an army. But in order not to provoke Flanders and the Austrian Government, he changed the titles for some police officers, resulting in only over 1300 officers officially on record.
Kevin hurriedly asked, "So how many police officers, or the likes of them, are there in the entire Walloon Region?"
"There should be over four thousand."
Pickering immediately narrowed his eyes, "The population of the Walloon Region is less than one million, yet there are so many police officers...
"The training and maintenance of these police officers must cost a large sum of money."
Captain Pickering continued, "Moreover, their response speed and shooting level are very high."
Kevin nodded and instructed, "You immediately start investigating the recruitment, training, and funding intelligence of the Walloon Region's police. My gut tells me there might be a problem here."
The diplomatic system and the Intelligence Department have always been closely linked. Even in the 21st century, the embassies of various countries were in fact offices of the Intelligence Department.
And Kevin, as the assistant to the Foreign Minister, had the authority to command some intelligence personnel.
In a room next to the ballroom of Sanssouci Palace, British Foreign Minister Lord Grenville, caressing his walking stick, looked at his assistant and said, "So, the French people spent a considerable amount of money training at least five thousand police officers for the Walloon Region."
Kevin nodded, "These men are mostly equipped with flintlock guns and have over a thousand horses. Oh, and this includes 600 Mounted Police.
"Their salaries are paid 20% by the Walloon Chamber of Commerce, with the rest paid directly by Paris."
Grenville's mind was very agile, and he immediately thought of the key point, "So, what interest does France have in the Walloon Region that requires such a large investment?"
"According to my investigation, the Walloon Chamber of Commerce and the local congress there have almost been controlled by the French people."
"Please tell me the conclusion directly."
Kevin took a breath and said, "Although I haven't obtained conclusive evidence, it is highly possible that the French Industrial Development Fund has bought nearly one-third of the shares of coal mines in the Walloon Region, and most of the remaining two-thirds are also controlled by French companies—even if those coal mines still appear to belong to some Southern Netherlands mine owner on the surface.
"Even those steel mills or coal washing plants are probably backed by French investment."
Lord Grenville's eyes darted, pondering something, "Is that the reason for the failure of this operation?"
Kevin hurriedly said, "I'm not making excuses for my own failure..."
"No, I'm not blaming you." Grenville suddenly smiled, "Actually, your intelligence has given us more room to maneuver and methods."
He patted his assistant's shoulder, "More elegant and effective means than the previous simple reliance on incitement and violence."
Grenville turned back to the ballroom, "That young and impetuous new Emperor in Vienna, as far as I know, is very impulsive and easily influenced by others. He probably won't like the current situation in the Southern Netherlands."
At the Palace of Versailles, in the Peace Hall.
Count Rhinefeels waved his hand vigorously, exclaimed loudly, "The current severely imbalanced trade situation is absolutely unacceptable to our country!
"The Emperor has graciously indicated that he will not pursue the matter of France dominating most of the Southern Germany market, but the tariffs in the Austrian market must be raised, to ensure fair trade between the two nations.
"In addition, for France's steel and chemical products, a new entry system needs to be reestablished."
The French Trade Minister Bailly immediately pushed a copy of the Rhine-Saone Treaty in front of the Austrians, his face expressionless, "It's only been two years since the treaty was signed, my country does not believe there is a need for revision. Forgive my frankness, but what your country should do now is to undergo industrial optimization, reduce costs, rather than pushing all problems onto the trade agreement."
Bailly's diplomatic experience was still not rich enough; faced with the other side's unreasonable demands, he directly countered them. It was just that Talleyrand, who was best at dealing with such situations, had gone to the Ottoman Empire, and Bailly was asked to handle this affair.
Under the orders of Franz II, Count Rhinefeels was trying his best to display a tough attitude, "No, this is the problem with the agreement.
"The cost of France's steel products is nearly 35% lower than ours, evidently, you had concealed the true situation of the industry before, obtaining a lower tariff ratio.
"As for chemicals, furniture, and such, your industries in these areas were almost nonexistent at the time of the signing, so it should be recognized that the previous tariffs were set without basis.
"All this needs to be renegotiated."
Bailly was actually allowed by the Crown Prince to slightly raise the tariffs for Austria, as France's industrial advantage was significant and a slight increase would not have too large an impact on trade.
But the aggressive attitude of the Austrian Foreign Minister clearly showed it wasn't just a matter of slightly raising the percentage.
Furthermore, the other party also mentioned "product entry," meaning that if French steel and chemical products were not specially approved by the Austrian Government, they couldn't be sold in Austria.
With that, there was nothing to discuss.
Bailly also firmly rejected Count Rhinefeels's request, waiting for the other party to soften their stance before negotiating.
But unexpectedly, the Austrian straightaway said, "Then I must remind you, if our country's trade needs cannot be satisfied, we will join forces with the states in the Italy region, imposing punitive tariffs on French products."
Just then, a diplomat crept into the Peace Hall and whispered a few words to Bailly.
The latter immediately frowned at Count Rhinefeels. Austria had assembled 30,000 troops and held a Military Exercise in Tuscany. Clearly, this was to add weight to the renegotiation of the trade agreement.