Chapter 228: Special Citation (K8)
Chapter 227 Special Citation (4K8)
London, outside the Palace of Westminster, Scotland Yard has mobilized almost all the police force it can today to take charge of the security here.
On the road everywhere you can see the Scotland Yard police in full uniform, patrolling in formation, and in the position close to the palace gates, there are military police with flintlock muskets and live ammunition on guard, and they are also from Britain’s most elite troops – Coldstream Close Guard Infantry Regiment.
As a big Scotland Yard loafer deeply trusted by the senior figures of both parties, Arthur, who had been groping for fish for more than a week, finally went to work for a proper day today.
Officer’s knife, white gloves, dark blue blackened swallowtail uniform and tight white breeches plus high-top riding boots, after completing the routine patrol tasks, Arthur boredly removed the black bowler hat, revealing the oily back of the head, wrestling with the gloves to dust off the dust stained on the brim of the hat.
Such action quickly attracted the attention of the surrounding military police, just when they wanted to go forward to reprimand this young police officer who was not working hard, the rest of their vision glanced at the rank insignia on Arthur’s shoulder, which was a brand-new, spotless gold and red crown.
Although the infantrymen of Cold Creek didn’t really understand exactly how police ranks were arranged in Scotland Yard, but since the entire Scotland Yard police rank system was basically established on the basis of the Army ranks, a single crown insignia was already enough for the soldiers to understand what kind of status this young man, who appeared to be only in his early twenties, was probably in.
At least in the army, a crown represented a major, which also meant that he had the right to command an infantry company of 150 men, or a cavalry squadron of 50 men.
A couple of corporals to reprimand a major?
He’d be in a good mood if he got a couple of smacks.
Although the soldiers didn’t think they were too smart, they still had some brains.
Arthur hadn’t stood outside the avenue of the Palace of Westminster for long before he felt someone behind him tapping him on the shoulder, he turned his head to see that it was Vidocq who had returned to his normal attire.
“Good afternoon, Arthur. Those copies I gave you, they’re not too bad, are they?”
Arthur fished a carton of cigarettes out of his pocket and tossed it over, “They look okay to me, but whether they’re good or not depends on what the higher-ups say. To put it bluntly, it depends on how the meeting goes today.”
Vidocq struck a match and took a drag, “Heh, it’s been said: the Cockney Foreign Office puts on a perpetually aloof, matter-of-fact attitude when it comes to foreign policy. I used to think it was just a joke, but now that I hear you say it, it seems to be true. You’ve done so much at least, whether it’s worked or not, there’s still hard work to be done, even if you don’t get credit for it.”
Although Arthur looked at Vidocq smoking, only feel his throat itchy, but in the way of this time is performing official duties, he can only feel out of his pocket a piece of sugar to contain the gluttony: “In Britain, there is no so-called hard work, counting on the upper head because you do how many meaningless things on the promotion of you, that is impossible.”
Vidocq said, “So, your government is filled with elites?”
Arthur shook his head and said, “That’s not true, there are quite a few useless people in our place, but the reason why they are kept is naturally useful.”
“Like what?”
Arthur said, “For example, I know that the Ministry of Finance keeps two worthless but extremely senior affairs officers, and the only purpose of their existence is to make up a three-person shortlist with the guy the Minister of Finance really wants to promote when it comes time for the promotion rubric.
Those two guys are so useless that even if you were to take a donkey off the street and put it on the promotion list with the two of them, the donkey would be able to move up to the next level.”
When Vidocq heard this, he didn’t inhale a mouthful of smoke well, choking his mouth and nostrils together, and he laughed and cursed, “You Brits are pretty damn creative.”
Arthur shrugged, “If you’re referring to the speculation aspect of it, then I think it is indeed. But then again, what did Ambassador Talleyrand think of what I gave you to bring him?”
Vidocq whistled, “Mr. Talleyrand was pleased, though I’m not sure what use it was to him, but all in all, he was satisfied. He got what he wanted, the meeting passed smoothly, and my position as head of security should be secure.”
Arthur spoke up, “Is that a promise from Mr. Talleyrand? I remember his famous saying – it is the chameleon that is the badge of politics, kings often change their ministers, so I often change my king. He moved first from Louis XVI. to the Republic, then from the Republic to the Doge’s Government, the Doge’s Government to Napoleon, then from Napoleon to the restored Bourbons, and now from the Bourbons to Louis-Philippe, and you are sure that the promises he has given you work?”
Vidocq just laughed, “I know Mr. Talleyrand doesn’t have too good a reputation, but calling him a chameleon is too much. In fact, if you really get along with him, you’ll find that he’s not only not a chameleon, but at certain times he’s even a person who’s honest to the point of surprising the group. As for why Mr. Talleyrand has changed his allegiance to the king six times, I joked about that with him the other day, and guess what he answered me?”
“What he said.”
Vidocq took a drag on his cigarette, “He said, I will not sacrifice the interests of Mother France to the government when I serve her. My policy has always been the policy of France, the policy of the nation, the wise policy, the policy according to the needs of the times. I have been loyal to the King as long as they have followed the public will. And to any party, I have never turned my back on it until it has turned on itself. If those who dislike me in the outside world were to measure all my actions by this yardstick, they would see that there is no contradiction in my various actions, whatever they may appear to be, and from this it is clear that I have always been consistent as a man.”
“Loyal to the country but not to the government?”
Arthur smiled, “That seems to make some sense, but it’s something the government probably doesn’t like to hear. But the fact that Mr. Talleyrand has that attitude and yet has been rehired in five different governments shows that he is indeed capable. Perhaps I should have a chat with him if I get the chance.”
Vidocq joked, “In the capacity of Superintendent of the Greater London Police?”
“No, of course not. Neither Robespierre nor Napoleon could catch Mr. Talleyrand, a wily old loach, and I, a petty policeman from Scotland Yard, have no interest in arresting him.”
Arthur crunched the sugar cube, “I merely wish to talk to him as a strange friend with a young scion.”
Vidocq spoke up, “If you really want to, I can introduce you in a couple of days. The London conference will be going on for days anyway, and there should still be time later. But today is definitely out of the question.”
“Why?”
“Because Mr. Talleyrand just had a fight with the Austrian Prime Minister, Mr. Metternich, this morning.”
Arthur raised an eyebrow, always interested in such topics, and as head of the LPS, he didn’t always collect political news.
Arthur asked, “What did they argue about?”
Vidocq stifled a laugh and said, “Metternich says he will not condone the French ruling Belgium, nor will he allow the cripple Talleyrand to ride atop Austria. If all of you sitting here intend to sit back and watch Belgium become independent, then what happened to Napoleon will soon be repeated on the continent.”
“And how does Mr. Talleyrand respond?”
“Mr. Talleyrand said, I have always admired Metternich, and I thought that Prussian diplomats could not predict what would happen even a week from now, while Metternich could just about predict what would happen a week from now, not even a day more. I thought that was a very high opinion, but Mr. Metternich is obviously not satisfied, he must think he is God, and has already begun to talk nonsense. Also, I wish to remind Mr. Metternich of a word of caution, acting as a prophet in the state is, if not useless or dangerous, at least an out and out role.”
No sooner had Vidocq’s words finished than Arthur heard a dull, scattered footstep from behind him.
It was a group of gentlemen of varying heights, shapes, and sizes, dressed very differently, yet it was such a handful of people who, when gathered together, were able to trigger an earthquake throughout Europe.
However, although Arthur did not know the content of today’s negotiation, he was still able to analyze part of the result from the lightness of the crowd’s pace and the expressions on their faces. The British and French delegations are very light on their feet, while Prussia is following behind.
As for the Austrian and Russian entourage, they were all worried and speechless.
Belgium and Holland, as the countries concerned, were sandwiched between the two groups, and there was no room for them to speak.
The Duke of Wellington was the first to walk out of the hall, followed closely by Viscount Palmerston, the new Whig Foreign Minister, who talked and laughed at his side.
The two were originally probing for words, but when the Duke walked down the steps and found Arthur on duty, Wellington, who had never liked to show his preferences in public places, actually raised one hand on his cane and the other to greet him, “It’s a nice day, Arthur.”
When Arthur heard this, he just looked up at the overcast sky, when suddenly a gust of wind blew by and the rain pattered on his cheeks.
Arthur shook out his water dipped hair and nodded with a smile, “Yes, like you, I quite like the rain.”
“Hahaha.” The Duke of Wellington did not care about this little episode, the attendant on the side hurriedly held up the umbrella for the Duke, taking advantage of this momentary stay, the Duke also did not forget to introduce the young man standing in front of him for the Viscount Palmerston beside him, “This is ……”
Viscount Palmerston smiled and returned, “Officer Arthur Hastings, I also listened to his piano performance last night at the Coburg Theater, and indeed he plays as well as everyone rumors.”
Hearing this, the Duke of Wellington just laughed and spoke at Arthur, “You were quite busy last night, doing your job while still finding time to play a tune?”
Hearing this, Arthur just smiled and returned, “If I could mobilize more people, I might be able to get more things done.”
The Duke of Wellington also understood what he meant, he had heard Sir Peel talk about LPS a long time ago, only that at that time he had more important things to be busy with, so he hadn’t been very interested in this organization.
However, he did not expect that in today’s meeting, Britain actually gained an unprecedented advantage with Arthur’s intelligence.
Originally strongly advocated to intervene by force of the Russians, although in the early days of the meeting and is not willing to change their position, and the Polish uprising know nothing about Austria is the same die-hard, and with these two big brother backing, Prussia’s back naturally hard.
All three countries spent the morning calling for forceful intervention in the question of Belgian independence.
And in the face of pressure from the three countries, has learned in advance that the Russians are in the strong calm Duke of Wellington and Viscount Palmerston exudes the attitude is very ambiguous.
They neither said they agreed nor explicitly opposed, but just let the French and the three countries attack each other.
But as the negotiations continued, at the noon recess, the French ambassador Talleyrand actually took the initiative to approach his old friend, the Duke of Wellington, and put forward the proposal that Prince Leopold, the widower of Princess Charlotte of England, should be the King of Belgium.
This solution greatly exceeded Britain’s psychological expectations, Talleyrand this has been almost explicit, as long as Britain supports the independence of Belgium, geographically unraveling the network of encirclement of France, France does not care about Belgium’s new government can be a pro-British regime.
Such a tempting bargaining chip, the Duke of Wellington and Viscount Palmerston of course, a mouthful of agreement, they can not think of any reason to refuse.
And after Britain shifted to support France, after realizing that this meeting could be a protracted tug-of-war, Russia’s attitude obviously loosened, which basically confirmed that Arthur’s intelligence was reliable.
And Talleyrand’s concession in turn showed that the vague reports on France that Arthur had handed in to the case early this morning were also in order.
A temporary organization without any appropriation, a twenty-year-old young man can accomplish such great achievements, which is no wonder the Duke of Wellington does not appreciate him.
He patted Arthur’s shoulder and spoke at Viscount Palmerston, “I feel that the greatest gain for Britain in this London conference may not be Belgium, but Arthur Hastings. Scotland Yard has unearthed an unrivaled diamond for us.”
Viscount Palmerston also smiled and nodded in agreement, and suddenly he opened his mouth and rushed to ask Arthur, “Mr. Hastings, I wonder if you are interested in serving in the Foreign Ministry? Perhaps you don’t know that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs actually has its own intelligence department, but of course, what they do is completely inferior to you.”
Regarding the invitation from the big shot in front of him, if it were anyone else, they might have agreed in one breath.
But for Arthur, he didn’t like superiors like Palmerston who took too stark a stance, not to mention the fact that this guy also had the nickname ‘Brutal Supervisor’.
Almost every department that Palmerston worked in would have some not-so-good news, this guy was not only a workaholic with so much energy that he had no place to exert it, he also demanded that his subordinates must do the same as him. Working under him was never considered a good job.
More importantly, even if you want to change the door, in addition to Palmerston, Arthur felt that he still has a lot of choices, whether it is the rightful Chancellor Lord Brougham, or the ousted Sir Peel, these two people and Arthur, one dipped in the disciple, one dipped in the deceased official, how to think of it than Palmerston is more close to.
However, he did not want to directly refute the other party’s interest, after all, Palmerston’s heart is not big heart revenge is also known.
Arthur opened his mouth and laughed: “The matter of departmental transfer is not something I can personally decide, perhaps you should talk to Viscount Melbourne about this. But even if I continue to work at Scotland Yard, it is still equally possible to contribute to the Foreign Ministry, just like this London conference.”
Palmerston heard this and understood Arthur’s intentions, but he did not take it to heart, “Instead of talking to Viscount Melbourne, I’d rather talk to Lord Brougham about you, he knows a lot more about you than William does. However, Lord Brougham is a famously eccentric gentleman, I’m afraid he’ll be angry if I steal his student. So, forget it. Mr. Hastings, the music last night was very good, and the phonographs of the Wheatstone Musical Instrument Company are of first-rate quality, so I’ll see you next time.”
With these words, Viscount Palmerston raised his hand and touched the brim of his hat, then boarded the carriage and departed.
Arthur watched him go and exhaled slightly.
The Duke on the side saw this look on his face and couldn’t help but skim his lips, then raised his eyebrows and laughed inexplicably.
“Inaction is a quality, positivity is a vice. Knowing how to wait is a skill in politics, and patience often leads to a strong position. When an opportunity presents itself, seize it aggressively. While waiting, one can be sloppy and lazy.”
Arthur heard this and froze, then froze, “Your Excellency?”
The Duke of Wellington looked at him like this and simply asked, “Do you have an appointment tomorrow night? If it’s an appointment with a lady, I won’t keep you. If it’s an appointment with a man, then put it off. Tomorrow night I’m going to host several of my friends at the mansion, including your old boss Sir Pierre and Mr. Talleyrand, the author of the quote just now, would you be interested in coming over to try our family cook’s handiwork then?”
Perhaps worried about Arthur’s refusal, the Duke of Wellington also emphasized at the end, “Believe me, talking to them more will help you in the future, especially going to listen to Mr. Talleyrand speak about his experiences. It will probably be more precious than the power and honor you will soon receive.”
(End of chapter)