Chapter 310: Timely Hastings (K2)
Chapter 308 Timely Rain Hastings (4K2)
“Mr. Faraday, please wait.”
Several Interior Ministry Affairs officers were sweating anxiously, and this was the first time Arthur had ever seen an official from a higher department lose his temper like this.
In the past, when Arthur went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, these guys always had their noses in the air and never looked at the supernumeraries of Scotland Yard with a straight face.
If not for the continued deterioration of the security situation in London, the importance of Scotland Yard has also been highlighted, it is not possible to say that Arthur wants to meet with these guys still have to apply in advance to queue up for an appointment.
The officers stopped in front of Faraday’s body, their faces were full of smiles, and the leading officer even took out the envelope stuffed with a check from his pocket, and pleaded in probably the most humble tone of his life.
“Mr. Faraday, I hereby swear to God on my honor that the minister in no way meant to slight scientific researchers. Everyone knows that the scientists of the Royal Society play a pivotal role in Britain, and while the Linnean Society, the Geological Society, and the Astronomical Society, to name a few scholarly organizations, are equally important, the Royal Society is still, in our opinion, the brightest of the innumerable stars of Britain’s scientific community. How could Viscount Melbourne despise the researchers of the Royal Society? You must have misunderstood him.”
The other affairs officers also spoke up to compliment Faraday.
“Yes, first Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, then Henry Cavendish, John Dalton and your mentor Sir Humphry Davy, and now the Royal Society is uniquely yours for the moment. The scientists of the Royal Society have contributed to Britain the concept of the chemical elements, the discovery of gravity, the calculation of the mass of the earth, the doctrine of the atom, the beginning of the age of chemistry by electrolysis, and you have added to this skyscraper, which is already straight up into the clouds and so high that it cannot be seen, the doctrine of electromagnetic induction.”
“My God! Mr. Faraday, you are creating a century!”
“The Cabinet has always valued the development of science, not to mention that it will not turn its back on scientific researchers who have made significant contributions to the world while still living in poverty themselves. What’s more, I think that under the current circumstances, if Britain can only give scientific subsidies to one person, then I think that person has to be you.”
“Mr. Faraday, I won’t continue to hide the fact that I’m actually one of your overwhelming followers. If someone did insult you, I would be willing to fight him in your place, but Viscount Melbourne is definitely not that kind of person, and you will see with a little attention that he is a rather easy-going gentleman who observes social etiquette.”
However, no matter how much the clerks went around looking for a remedy, Faraday just didn’t buy it.
Faraday raised his palm to signal them to stop, “Regarding the matter of scientific subsidies, I have already left a note for His Excellency the Viscount. If he feels that he can call the scientific researchers at his beck and call, then in that case, I’m sorry about the scientific subsidy. I will not sell my precious time and my dignity as a commoner for such a small subsidy.”
With those words, Faraday passed right through the midst of the affairs officers, never looking back no matter how much they tried to hold them back.
And dispersed the scientific lecture audience to see this situation, gentlemen and ladies can not help but shouted surprise, we do not know exactly what happened, always good-tempered Mr. Faraday and why will be publicly angry.
There are several gentlemen in the crowd to see this situation, suddenly looked at each other with a smile, they took out a small notebook and pen from their jacket pockets, one by one rushed to Faraday left the direction of the chase over.
The discouraged clerks had just caught a glimpse of those gentlemen and were shocked.
“I know those fellows; they’re reporters from the London Morning Post and the Illustrated News!”
“Damn! These unethical things are bound to spill the beans on everything.”
“We’ve got to do something, Viscount Melbourne’s case hasn’t even blown up yet, and if we add Faraday’s to the mix now, he’ll have knives sticking out of him all over the place.”
“The Home Secretary’s position won’t change as a result of this, will it?”
“It’s not so trivial as to cause the Prime Minister to reshuffle the Cabinet, but if His Excellency the Viscount is in a bad mood, we’re not going to get away with a bad job. He’s only been in the position of Home Secretary for a year, and we’ll still have a long time to live with him in the future.”
“These sons of bitches journalists, they’re fucking flies, all you have to do is let out a fart and they’ll smell it and come. If you like it so much, go pour two gallons of Thames water in your mouth! It’s not like there’s a limited fucking supply of that stuff!”
“Stop cursing and try to think of something to take care of them first. Faraday’s looking like he’s got his mind set on it now, so we’ll have to start with the journalists. Do you have any ideas?”
“Ways? Of course there is. Journalists, they just want money, and their professional ethics are no better than prostitutes. It’s a good thing we ran into a couple of small-time reporters today and not Thomas Barnes from the Times.”
“What’s the difference between Barnes and a small-time reporter?”
“Of course, Barnes is the editor-in-chief and still owns The Times, so instead of being short of money, he’s already making a name for himself!”
The clerks were swearing and cursing when suddenly a voice so calm that it did not have a single rise or fall came to their ears.
“Excuse me, I seem to have just heard someone mention the word ‘whore’. According to the bill recently passed by the Parliament and the newly revised Town Police Regulations by the Ministry of the Interior, the use of this title is now officially banned due to its insulting connotations as well as the unique social stigma attached to it. According to the regulations, any person or social group that uses the word will be sentenced to three to seven days of hard labor then ……”
Hearing this, the officers couldn’t help but turn their heads to look that toward the young officer and his deputy who had appeared beside them at some point with a bandage around their necks.
“Superintendent Hastings? And …… Officer Bonaparte?”
Arthur, who had been falsely supervising Louis beside him as he wrote his statement of case, looked up in feigned surprise at these words and asked, “You know me?”
After the officer saw Arthur’s face clearly, he was first stunned, then surprised: “It’s really you!”
Arthur frowned in silence for half a day and suddenly spoke, “Sir, it’s useless to get close to the police after being caught in the act of committing a crime. I see your dress, you should also be a decent person. If you don’t want to be punished with hard labor, you can also pay a fine. Since this is your first offense and the circumstances are less serious, you only need to promise not to do it again in the future, and pay three shillings and the matter will be settled.”
The clerk, hearing this, hastened to excuse himself, “Mr. Hastings, have you forgotten? I have met you before, when you came to the Ministry of the Interior earlier this year to submit the equipment needs of the Police Intelligence Bureau. I, ah, Frank Barth of the Interior Department.” “Frank Bart?” Arthur mused with a frown, “Submitting equipment needs? Sorry, that was too long ago, can you hint at something more specific?”
The clerk hurriedly added, “It was raining and quite windy that day, and there was a problem with the formatting of your equipment list, which took several trips in a row down Whitehall Street, with a fall in the middle of it, and it wasn’t until the fourth trip that you ……”
The clerk said this, and before Arthur could tell him to shut up, he closed his own mouth and stopped talking.
Bart awkwardly smiled and said, “Mr. Hastings, if it was about that, then I apologize. But you have to understand that it’s a departmental rule, and we do what we’re told.”
This time, without waiting for Arthur to speak, Louis on the side had already written up the case statement, and with a hissing sound, he pulled off the notebook paper and rushed to speak to Arthur, “Sir, according to the rules, we need to turn this Mr. Bart over to Scotland Yard. You’re injured and can’t move well, so why don’t you let me do it for you.”
Bart sniffed and quickly changed his tone, “Mr. Hastings, regulations are regulations, but people are always adaptable. The main thing that day was that the Interior Department ran out of forms, or I wouldn’t have been able to get you to run to the printer to reprint one. But don’t worry, the Internal Affairs Department has recruited a lot of new people this year, and this kind of low-level mistake is definitely not likely to happen again, and even if it does, it won’t happen to you.”
The young officer of affairs on the side couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose slightly when he saw that the superintendent of Scotland Yard was able to ride on the head of a higher authority.
While the leading transactional officer saw this, he hurriedly glared at them, and then spoke to Arthur with a smile on his face, “Superintendent Hastings, everyone knows that you have a very diligent work ethic, and that you like to do everything yourself. However, please allow me to make some inappropriate comments, such as submitting the equipment list of such a small matter, by you such as a senior police officer to participate in it is really too much of a mobilization.
After all, at the beginning of the year, the Police Intelligence Bureau was short of staff, and often you couldn’t find anyone to share the task with you. This is something that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will definitely take into consideration when preparing the next year’s budget, and it’s completely necessary to create a few additional civilian positions in a key department like the Police Intelligence Bureau. Don’t you think so?”
Arthur finally revealed a smile when he heard this, and he shook the other party’s hand, “Thank you for your understanding of the work of the lower departments, our task is indeed very heavy. But considering that the work of the rest of the departments is equally not easy, that’s why I’ve been holding back from submitting a request for expansion to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The fact that you were able to take the initiative to propose the creation of six additional civilian positions with the rank of Sergeant has indeed solved our pressing problem.”
The moment Arthur’s words came out, the rest of the clerical officers sucked in a breath of cold air.
How could they not expect that Arthur had blackmailed the Ministry of the Interior with such a small matter even if it was not enough, and even asked for six additional positions with a large opening, and it had to be at the pay grade of the sheriff rank.
A sheriff has to spend about 50 pounds a year on salary subsidies, six is three hundred pounds.
And the fine for speaking out of turn is only three shillings, inside and outside the direct difference of two thousand times the price.
Just now also a cowering posture of Bart heard this price, can not help but angry face is green, he opened his mouth and asked: “Mr. Hastings, I know you are educated at the university. Then you should know that three shillings is less than three hundred pounds.”
Arthur said lightly, “The relationship between three and six thousand was not directly taught to me by the professors at the University of London. But as far as I know, the general perception in the Classics department next door is that what is learned with twenty-three pounds and six shillings of tuition is usually greater than what is learned with one hundred pounds. So I infer from this that three shillings should and can be greater than three hundred pounds.”
“Huh?”
Bart thought Arthur had lost his mind when he heard this, and just as he was about to sneer a few times, the old clerk of the house beside him balked.
“Of course, mathematical changes are always very subtle. In the hands of an able man, three shillings can be worth three thousand pounds. And in the hands of a mediocre man, thirty thousand pounds is worthless. And that is why Viscount Melbourne must send this subsistence allowance of three hundred pounds a year to Mr. Faraday’s hands and no one else’s. It was because we believed that he would be able to devote himself better to the cause of science after he had received this money, without having to run about busily for his living.
And with the six additional sergeants for the Police Intelligence Bureau for the same purpose, we feel, Mr. Hastings, that you could make good use of the leisure time you have after you have got away from the paperwork to do something more worthwhile, such as, for instance, persuading Mr. Faraday to accept the money.”
At the word, the old clerk then rather smoothly pulled out the hot potato containing the check and shoved it into Arthur’s hand, speaking gravely and in a tone that brooked no refusal, “Mr. Hastings, for the sake of Police Intelligence and for the sake of the Ministry of the Interior, I don’t suppose you’ll let Viscount Melbourne down, will you?”
Arthur squeezed the envelope and grimaced slightly, “Well, seeing as the group is thinking of Britain, what the hell is going on here?”
The old affairs officer was relieved to see Arthur take on the task, and he spoke with a smile on his face, “It’s nothing really, just a little misunderstanding between Viscount Melbourne and Mr. Faraday. You should have also heard about it, due to the Royal Society’s income situation has not been too optimistic, it even requires scientists to hold regular scientific lectures to raise funds. As a result, the salary of the Royal Society’s scientific researchers is even less optimistic.
In an attempt to address this problem, Lord Peel made a public appeal in Parliament for the creation of a special annuity to reward those who had made outstanding contributions to science or literature. This was eventually given to the Home Office, and as a token of the importance attached to scientists we arranged for Viscount Melbourne to visit the Royal Society and hand over the annuity to Mr. Faraday, who is at the top of this list.
Unexpectedly, Viscount Melbourne appeared to be distracted in his conversation with Mr. Faraday that day because of some personal matters. And his Excellency the Viscount himself is really not like Sir Peel and his sister Mrs. Cowper love science, so the words slightly show so a little bit of frivolity and …… uh, do not care …… after that, is what you see today. Faraday was enraged.”
Arthur couldn’t help but frown slightly when he heard this.
If this hadn’t come from a senior affairs officer of the Ministry of the Interior, Arthur would have thought the other party was lying.
Because based on his contact with Viscount Melbourne, this soft-spoken noble gentleman would not show it in front of others even if he really didn’t care about the treatment of scientists.
At least, he was also an old man who had been mixed up in politics for decades, if Melbourne was really lacking in heart, he wouldn’t be able to sit on the position of the Minister of the Interior.
Arthur couldn’t help but follow up with, “You said Viscount Melbourne was distracted by some personal matters, can I know what is it?”
The affairs officer heard Arthur pursuing the question, and at first also found it a bit difficult to speak, but in order to let Arthur take over this mess, he finally decided not to hide it anymore.
He couldn’t hide this kind of thing anyway, the affair of the Minister of the Interior would definitely end up spreading all over the city.
The affairs officer sighed and said, ”It’s come to this, so I won’t hide it from you. Someone has taken Viscount Melbourne to court, saying that he has seduced a married woman, corrupted social customs, and apologized to Christ and his relatives. You may well have guessed it when I said that. Yes, the prosecutor is Judge Norton, and the defendants are our minister and Mrs. Norton.”
(End of chapter.)