Chapter 277: Dialogue with the Foreign Minister (K)
Chapter 276 Dialogue with the Foreign Secretary (5K)
London, Westminster, Whitehall Street, Foreign Secretary’s residence.
Arthur had just stepped into the gates of the Foreign Office, and the first thing he felt was the busy atmosphere of the place.
The officials of the Foreign Ministry were coming and going, and a number of them were even trotting along, Arthur was about to go upstairs, when he suddenly heard the whispers of an old and a young two service officers who were passing by him.
“Has the minister gone mad? Why should we continue to help the Russians to underwrite that loan to Hope? We stipulated in the Peace of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in the first place that this economic subsidy to Russia would be immediately suspended if the Russians violated the terms of the treaty. Now the Russians are moving against Poland, which is a clear violation of the Vienna treaty. And now the Minister wants to sign a supplementary agreement with the Russians to continue to honor the economic aid to Russia? If this action is known to the Parliament, how should we reply then?”
“That is how skillfully Viscount Palmerston uses his power. Have you not forgotten that The parliament will be dissolved soon, and while the members are busy doing electioneering during this period of time, the new parliament hasn’t been convened yet, that’s why he’s desperately requesting us to draft a proposal as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the parliament gets the news, it will be ……”
The Red Devil propped his tail on the ground and leaned back gently, putting his body weight on it.
He grinned and looked down as he clipped his nails and spoke, “Wow, my dear Arthur, have you brought me to the labyrinth on Crete? Why is this place full of mystery and unseen? So, what’s next, are you going to meet that horrible Minotaur?”
Arthur glanced at him and swept his eyes over the hall of the residence that was so busy that the atmosphere was extremely depressing, and he spoke, “Whether His Excellency the Viscount is the Minotaur or not, I don’t know. But I have long heard from some superintendents of Scotland Yard that back in the day, when Viscount Palmerston was the Minister of War for the Army, he had a nickname, and they all called him the Brutal Overseer. Now it seems that he must have brought that habit to the Foreign Office as well.”
Arthur fished out his pocket watch from his pocket and glanced at it, then couldn’t stop shaking his head, “It’s already tea time, yet I don’t see half a smile on this group of people’s faces. What’s even more unbelievable is that these people standing in front of me are also old bureaucrats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It seems that Viscount Palmerston has been in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for just over half a year, and he has already given them a taste of the ‘dipping whip’ that even the Army can’t stand.”
Agareth took out a file and sharpened his pinky, then raised his hand to the light of the oil lamp hanging over the hall, admiring his masterpiece with satisfaction, “Isn’t that so? My dear Arthur, you wouldn’t be able to stand it if you had such an energetic, hard-working boss who also found a lot of time to savor the eighteen arts and enjoy life to the fullest with Mrs. Cowper.”
“Eighteen martial arts, heh ……” Arthur cupped his chin and looked at the red devil and opened his mouth, “Agares, I can’t imagine that you know quite a lot!”
Agares playfully put away the file and put on another doctor’s hat for himself as he opened his mouth and inquired, “Arthur, I can teach you the first nine for free, but you’ll have to pay for the last nine. Only pay for one soul, but your whole life will be much better.”
Arthur stroked his white gloves, “Well …… that sounds like a pretty good deal.”
“You’re impressed?” Agareth exulted, “Wow, Arthur, for being such a good student, I’ll even allow you to publish this in the Britannica this time. It doesn’t have to be a famous author, or you can choose to hold it over Elder’s head if you like.”
Arthur just smiled and shook his head, “I’m sorry, Agareth, as interested as I am, I don’t intend to buy a useless paragraph to take home for my collection, given that I don’t have anyone to practice it on at the moment.”
No sooner had Arthur’s words left his mouth than he heard a rush of footsteps from behind him.
Arthur twisted his head to look, a gentleman who was dressed decently and neatly, with his eyebrows revealing some fatigue, walked quickly down the steps and approached him with a big stride, “Superintendent Hastings, I apologize for keeping you waiting. Viscount Palmerston has just finished receiving several representatives of citizen groups, and he is now free to see you.”
Arthur took off his hat and responded politely, “Then I’d be grateful if you could show me the way, this is my first visit to the Foreign Office so I’m not familiar with the distribution of the offices.”
“Of course, please follow me.”
The affairs officer led Arthur towards the second floor while still not forgetting to crack a few jokes with Arthur on the way, “How is it? Do you feel that Scotland Yard is usually as busy as the Foreign Ministry?”
Arthur just laughed, “In terms of work intensity, the two sides may be about the same, but after all, our work content is still different.”
The affairs officer laughed and shook his head, “No, in my opinion actually the nature of Scotland Yard’s work is exactly the same as that of the Foreign Ministry, even to the extent that the scope of our business is a little bit broader.”
“How so?”
The clerk spoke, “As we all know, police officers face thieves, crooks, robbers, prostitutes, as well as drunkards all day long, whereas the Foreign Ministry’s work involves facing the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Russia, Spain, and even Bavaria.”
Arthur snickered, “Have you forgotten about France? And wouldn’t you be elevating the Kingdom of Bavaria a bit by putting them on the same level of importance as such great powers as Austria and Russia.”
“The French are still much more peaceful these days than they were during Napoleon’s time, and as for Bavaria, I admit that I have a bit of a family tradition bias against them, in case you didn’t know, my father was an immigrant from Hesse, Germany, so ……”
Arthur smiled and asked, “So what do Hessians think of Bavaria?”
The diplomat smiled and spoke, “My father used to say, Bavarians are a transitional species between Austrians and humans.”
Hearing this, Arthur couldn’t help but joke as well, “In that case, perhaps I happen to have an authentic Bavarian among my friends.”
The diplomat stopped and pretended to mourn, “Wow, Superintendent Hastings, that’s unfortunate to hear.”
Arthur smiled and shook his head, “It’s nothing, I’m used to it anyway, and it’s no big deal to be friends with a Bavarian. On the bright side, it’s better than getting along with the Austrians.”
The diplomat laughed out loud, pointing at Arthur, “Maybe you shouldn’t have become a policeman, our Foreign Ministry is also very short of people like you. If you were sent to Bavaria as an ambassador, I believe you would do a good job.”
Arthur responded wryly, “It would be a good job, at the very least it would be better than the London Zoo that he was sent to manage.”
With a serious look on his face, the diplomat said, “Mr. Hastings, I have to politely remind you that elections to the House of Commons are not the responsibility of the Foreign Office.”
Arthur also responded seriously, “I understand that, and I’ve been around the Foreign Office halls before you arrived. I didn’t see the little hammer that shuts up the baboons here.”
At the end of the sentence, the two men looked at each other and then both couldn’t help but burst out laughing. The clerk led Arthur to the door of the minister’s office and the smile on his face tightened, “Well, Mr. Hastings, that’s as far as I’ll take you. It’s been a real pleasure chatting with you, and for the sake of you saving me from the tedious working environment of the Foreign Office, I’ll take the liberty of giving you a heads up.
Although Viscount Palmerston is not directly in charge of the Ministry of the Interior, you should be aware of his relationship with Viscount Melbourne, the Home Secretary. Viscount Melbourne s sister, Mrs. Cowper, well …… I am afraid it would be impolite to say more. Therefore, when you talk to His Excellency the Viscount, you had better try to show some sincerity.
He despises those who are not as clever as he is, and, at the same time, scorns those who are cleverer than he is. Be careful of his compliments, and take great care of his rebukes. In short, it is not easy to get along with him, and as you are in such a good humor, I do not wish to be unable to hear your jokes when I am a guest at Scotland Yard in the future.”
Arthur tipped the brim of his hat with his fingertips and nodded slightly, “Thank you for the warning.”
The clerk knocked on the door of the office room and asked aloud, “Your Excellency, Superintendent Hastings has arrived.”
“Coming so soon? The afternoon tea I intended to treat him to is not yet ready. Why don’t you go to the restaurant on the corner and urge them to bring the meal quickly, while I have a quick chat with Mr. Hastings.”
Arthur was invited into the room, and had just entered when he saw the volumes piled up as spectacularly as a hill in front of Palmerston’s case.
Parmeston took off his glasses and rose with a smile on his face with a cup of tea, “How have you been lately? Scotland Yard’s work is very busy, but wait until the London District Attorney’s Office is established, the burden pressed on you can be even heavier. But I feel sure a lad who can be taken in by Lord Brougham can’t be far behind. Here, sit down first.”
Arthur followed Palmerston to the sofa and sat down, he took off his wet hat and placed it on the table, and before he could speak he heard Palmerston rambling on again.
Palmerston put down his white china cup and said, “It’s just this damn weather in London. It’s a pity I’m a minister now, otherwise, as was my custom when I was a backbencher, I would have taken a vacation in Cornwall during the closing of such a parliament. If it were a little further afield, perhaps to France or the Apennines, where the sunshine is no match for England. By the way, Arthur, where did you go on your post-college tour?”
The Red Devil leaned back on the couch and grinned wickedly, “Wow, Arthur, look at that! The Minotaur is starting to set you up, is he trying to eat you in one bite? Let’s see, how are you going to get out of this labyrinth? Are you going to give yourself the wings of Icarus? But with all due respect, the sun is just too close to you at this point. If you do that, you’ll definitely get your wings melted and fall into the ocean like Eldar.”
Arthur just laughed softly at his words, “Your Excellency, the expense of a continental school trip is still too exorbitant for me. Although it is a tradition in the educational world of Britain, a trip that lasts for two years and costs over five hundred pounds a year in expenses is really not a small amount for me.”
When Palmerston heard this, he just laughed and shook his head, “No, Arthur, it is purely a matter of you not being happy about it. You probably thought I was a nobleman, so I must be very wealthy. If you are saying that to the current me, that is indeed true. But if you knew my condition when I first graduated from Cambridge, you would have laughed at me for being a poor boy.”
Arthur asked, “Did you have some kind of change of heart then?”
“That’s right.” Palmerston sipped his tea, “My father died just after I graduated from Cambridge, he did leave me a substantial inheritance of up to 75,000 pounds, but at the same time he threw me a 90,000 pound debt. I was taking that money and investing it, and it didn’t take long to make close to £20,000, but when I upped the ante, my partner absconded with the money.
It was at this point that I started my European travels. Haha, although I said it was a school trip, but you get the idea, I actually went to hide from my debts. This shows that even if you don’t have much money, or even if you are in debt, you can still go on a study tour. It’s just a matter of bringing fewer servants, eating a little more plainly, and incidentally managing their own hands again, not to get involved in those art auctions. After all, even the nobility, not everyone is like the Earl of Oxford as generous.
You’ve heard of his appalling travel expenses, haven’t you? He spent 4,500 pounds in four months, and that was at the end of the 16th century! That was the end of the 16th century, when the nation’s revenue was only 350,000 pounds. To spend 1.3% of the country’s income in four months, I’m afraid we can’t find a more profligate aristocrat in Britain to this day.”
Arthur asked, “So, when you started traveling, you chose a very different route from the Earl of Oxford?”
Palmerston nodded, “That’s right, but according to the tradition of our Britain, France is definitely the place to go. But as you know, France was in the midst of a revolution when I graduated, and neither Western, Central, nor Southern Europe was at peace. So I chose to head east, you know, and I arrived in Poland, where the people were very hospitable, and the people lived happily under the protection of Russia, until that cannibalistic devil from Corsica shattered the peace and quiet. Arthur, do you know anything about Poland?”
Seeing that Palmerston had finally come around to the point, Arthur smiled and spoke, “I don’t know Poland particularly well, I’ve never even set foot outside of Britain in my life, so how would I know anything about a land so far away? But I like to read the newspapers, and isn’t there a lot of talk about Poland in the papers these days? The Russians have taken over Warsaw and committed a lot of war atrocities there and stuff.”
When Palmerston heard this, he just waved his hand and said, “What the newspapers say certainly has some truth of its own, but those journalists who hold back their writing in their cabins don’t know or understand anything, they only speculate behind their backs, and imagine what’s going on in the far east. Like war atrocities or something, but what war doesn’t kill people? They never think about it with their shriveled little brains.”
Arthur asked, “So you’re saying that the things the newspapers say are made up by journalists?”
“Isn’t it obvious if they’re made up or not, just by seeing if they’ve been to Poland?”
Palmerston said with certainty, “Arthur, I’ll bet you that none of these newspaper reporters have ever been there personally. And the one who has actually been to Poland is sitting right in front of you at this very moment. While I am a supporter of the freedom of the press in Britain, I am also strongly opposed to the fact that these people are taking the facts for granted and passing on false news. While the free press policy was rightly formulated, is it not too much for the free press to be suddenly liberalized to this scale?”
Arthur nodded, “Of course, Scotland Yard is equally committed to upholding the freedom of publication, but we are occasionally responsible for censoring and banning some illegal publications, such as those that don’t strictly enforce the stamp duty, or those that promote depraved erotic literature.”
Palmerston nodded, “That’s right, and in that regard Scotland Yard has always done a good job. However, I feel that those articles that appear to be factually incorrect and those that are not conducive to social harmony should also be included in Scotland Yard’s enforcement level. That said, Arthur, do you know the magazine The Briton? It’s a magazine that’s quite a hot seller in London these days, and the popular stories on it are written in a fun and entertaining way, which is really a great tool for the citizenry to pass the boring time.”
Arthur heard Palmerston take the initiative to mention The Englishman. Still, before giving a positive response, he intended to walk up with Palmerston for two more games.
Arthur replied back, “Of course I know ‘The Englishman’. Your Excellency, you may not know that I am actually also serializing a novel in The Cockney, I wonder if you have read The Hastings Mysteries?”
“Of course! I’ve been through every issue!”
Palmerston laughed and raised his finger to point at Arthur, “I knew that this novel must have something to do with you, both are Hastings, both are legendary detectives of Scotland Yard, this novel should be modeled after you even if you didn’t write it. In other words, you should at least know its author.”
Agareth pushed his glasses up when he heard this and said, “That’s right, he does know it, and the two of us are quite familiar with each other.”
Arthur glanced at Agares and continued to laugh, “So is there something you’re not happy with about The Englishman?”
“Dissatisfaction not to speak of.” Palmerston smiled and exhorted, “However, since you’re the author of ‘The Cockney’, I’d like you to go and have a good talk with their editorial team, for example, and remind them to correct the factual errors in their magazine. The Cockney is indeed a good magazine, but that supplement they recently launched, The Economist, can be ……
Arthur, have you read The Economist? There are some really over-imaginative statements about Poles in that one. And, how can they put a Polish article with the propaganda of the Bonaparte family? Although I hate to speculate, I think, perhaps, they are taking sponsorship from the French? Oh, Arthur, pardon me for using such appalling words. But you may not realize that if someone has suspicious contact with the French, in the eyes of the Foreign Office, that would be prima facie treasonable.”
(End of chapter)