Chapter 333: Corruption.

Chapter 330 Corrupted

“Hahaha, Mr. Hastings, before I met you, I thought you were a traditional gentleman who was difficult to get along with. But after actually talking to you today, I realized that you are a person with a really good sense of humor.”

“Both young and old people can chat with you. Even an old man like me who can’t keep up with the times can find common ground with you, and anyone who says you’re not easy to get along with is slandering your reputation.”

In the smoking room, old Gladstone and Hurst chatted feverishly with Arthur as they talked from the Far East to the Near East and the Near East to the Americas.

Relying on their knowledge of international trade, which they knew like the back of their hands, Arthur followed suit and gained a lot of insight.

“If it’s business in the Levant, a promise from the Egyptian pasha Mohammed Ali can work better than the Ottoman sultan Mahmoud II.”

“Didn’t I hear that Ali had a falling out with the Sultan in the last two years over the rule of Crete and Syria?”

“Yes, it was Mahmud II who tricked him in this matter. Originally he promised Ali that if he would go to Greece to put down the rebellion, he would be crowned ruler of Crete, Damascus, Tripoli, and Syria after the deed was done.

Ali was so impressed by this offer that he took the deal, and in 1825 he sent his son Ibrahim to land in the Peloponnese with an Egyptian army of more than 18,000 men, and although the first year of the war was a difficult one, in April of the next year he captured the Greek town of Mytholongeon, where Lord Byron had died. And by August, Athens had also lost ground to the Egyptian onslaught, and the Greek insurgents, utterly unable to resist, were beaten back, and the whole of the Greek country north of the Gulf of Corinth fell back into the hands of the Ottomans.”

Hearing this, Arthur casually asked, “Is it not the turn of Britain, France and Russia to intervene in the Greek War of Independence after this?”

Old Gladstone smiled and said, “That’s right, the negotiations started when Athens was under siege. Britain, France, and Russia demanded that the Ottomans immediately cease fire with Greece, and Ali was the first to say that he was willing to accept it, but the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II was adamantly opposed to signing a peace treaty, and he demanded that Ali continue to fight.”

Hurst smiled and said, “The Sultan doesn’t want a ceasefire, but Britain’s willingness to send troops isn’t strong either, after all, we don’t want to defeat the Ottomans either. So, the Foreign Office then offered the old trick of sending a combined fleet of three countries to cut off the supply lines between the Egyptian army and the Ottoman Empire at the London Conference.”

Old Gladstone nodded, “Then there was the Naval Battle of Navarino where the Ottomans mistakenly pissed off Admiral Codrington, which resulted in causing him to go on a rampage and completely annihilate the Ottoman Navy.”

Young Gladstone’s face also became strange when he heard this, “I heard some of the old MPs in the party say that when the news of Admiral Codrington’s great victory over the Ottoman Navy was sent back to London, the Foreign Office was as quiet as the Ottoman Empire’s court.

Immediately afterwards the Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Dudley, thumped his fist on his desk in a fit of rage and shouted: ‘Codrington is an idiot with an underdeveloped brain! Who on earth authorized him to fire on the Ottoman Navy? I swear to God! If circumstances permit, I’ll have him transferred to Westminster to guard the royal tomb!'”

Arthur couldn’t help but jump with his eyebrows when he heard this, and he shook his wine glass and spoke, “Wow, it seems like it’s too bad that General Codrington didn’t further his education in a seminary, he missed out on a great opportunity to be able to become the Bishop of Westminster.”

Hurst laughed out loud, “It’s not so bad now, wasn’t he pressed into service this year as Commander of the Portsmouth Base after stepping down as Commander of the Channel Fleet? From the Mediterranean Fleet to the Channel Fleet, and from the Channel Fleet to the Portsmouth base, he’s getting close to Westminster.”

Speaking of this, Old Gladstone suddenly patted the suitcase he was carrying.

Seeing this, Hurst hurriedly got up with a flourish and said, “Mr. Hastings, Mr. Gladstone, you two take your time to chat, my dance partner is probably waiting anxiously outside. I can’t make a lady too anxious, that would not be in line with a gentleman’s basic social etiquette.”

Old Gladstone smiled back, “Of course, enjoy your evening.”

Hurst pushed the door out, and Old Gladstone shifted his gaze to his son again, “William, you go out as well.”

Young Gladstone sniffed and hesitated for a moment, he leaned down and pleaded in his father’s ear, “Father, I think you don’t have to do this privately, just go through the process normally.”

Hearing this, Old Gladstone only patted his son’s face in a doting manner, “William, that won’t do, this is the rule. If everything is done on the table, and all is honorable, then it is not called politics. Aren’t you in love with Catherine at the old pocket watch house? Go out to her and have a good dance and a chat about what you saw at Oxford, or if you like, about the Bank of England’s interest in raising interest rates. As long as you don’t seek her hand in marriage, I’m quite open-minded as a father when it comes to my children’s love affairs.”

Young Gladstone felt the weight passing from his father’s hand, and he was silent for a moment, eventually just looking up at Arthur, before exiting the smoking room without a word.

Gladstone Sr. looked helplessly at his son’s back and skimmed his lips, then raised his eyebrows at Arthur again, signaling him if he wanted Dumas and the others to follow along and exit as well.

Arthur just waved his hand at him, ”Mr. Gladstone, there’s no need to be so troublesome. These are all short-term workers who have their own occupations and came with me to Liverpool just to be fresh and see the world.”

Seeing Arthur say that, Gladstone only had to pick the conversation to the other side, he opened his mouth and asked, “What do you think of my boy, William, what do you think of him?”

Arthur took a sip of his wine and replied back, “Sir, it’s not really appropriate for you to ask me that, as I’m actually not much older than Mr. Gladstone.”

Old Gladstone asked, “What year were you born?”

“1810.”

Old Gladstone first stared at his words, then laughed out loud and said, “Then you are not older than William, but younger than him; he was born in 1809. But I for one never judge people by their age. Some people live to be thirty years old but have better insight than others who live to be eighty years old. Although you are younger than William, it seems to me that you should be more mature than him. Therefore, you are perfectly qualified to judge him, and as a father, I would very much like to hear your opinion of my child.”

Seeing that he was adamant in his request, Arthur was not too good to keep pushing back, so he only had to deliberate for a while and opened his mouth to respond, “In my opinion, young Mr. Gladstone has a good educational background and a deep family heritage, and while he is learned, he also has expertise in financial affairs, so as long as he is given time, he will definitely become a very good official of the Ministry of Finance. What is even more remarkable is that he also has great integrity.”

Hearing this, old Gladstone just shook his head and said, “Mr. Hastings, your last disparaging sentence almost overshadows all the praise of the previous one.”

“No, that was not a depreciation.” Arthur smiled, “Integrity is not a depreciation, at least not in my case. It is, in my opinion, a valuable quality to be cherished.”

Old Gladstone savored the words and suddenly asked, “And do you possess that quality?”

Arthur simply stroked his chin and returned, “You must know, sir, that what you do not have is only valuable, and only what you have lost can be cherished. I had something like that a year or two ago, but I accidentally lost it in the process of moving up the ladder. Do you have a good eye? If it’s good, please help me find where I lost it.”

Old Gladstone smiled brightly as he set the suitcase beside the sofa on the coffee table, “You must know that I am a businessman. To be a businessman is to be able to anticipate the needs of your customers beforehand. Your integrity I have found, it is locked in this suitcase.

Of course, I can’t figure out which pile is your integrity and which pile is a missed tariff. It is possible that every pile is yours, and it is also possible that every pile is a tariff. After all, I’ve never seen what your uprights look like, so I’ll simply leave it all up to you to judge for yourself.” At that, Old Gladstone also got up and said goodbye to Arthur, turned and walked out of the smoking room.

Louis followed closely to the door of the smoking room, his back pressed against the door panel and took off his hat to fan himself and said, “He’s gone far away, should I open it first?”

“Of course!” Dumas doesn’t care about security and confidentiality, just like Arthur said, he came to Liverpool purely for the sake of seeing the world and having a good time, even if Arthur pointed a gun at him, he had to see how many dirty gold coins were contained in it.

He lifted the edge of the box inch by inch, and before he could open it completely, the bright golden light almost blinded the French fat man.

He covered his eyes and sat on the ground with a thud, “Gold coins, it’s full of gold coins!”

“Let me take a look too.” Heine also squatted down and peeled open a slit to take a look, “One, two, three, four …… My God! Ten pieces per pile, a hundred piles in all, there are a thousand guineas here! Wait, that’s not right, there’s ten more tickets lying on the guineas, each one a thousand pound bill of exchange, and they’re fucking bearer! Let me do the math, a guinea is 21 shillings, that’s a pound a shilling, and with these ten tickets, that’s a total of ……11050 pounds?”

Arthur, seeing this, just pressed his hand on the lid of the box with an expressionless face, “What are you doing? This is filled with Liverpool’s omitted duties, are you coveting the government property of Britain? As Liverpool’s special anti-smuggling inspector, I will never allow you to pocket these 8,000 pounds of customs duties into your personal pockets.”

“Eight thousand pounds?” Heine raised one eyebrow and said, “Arthur, have you miscalculated? I counted 11,050 pounds!”

Louis, who was leaning against the door panel, sipped his cigarette and said, “Arthur didn’t miscalculate, and neither did you, but you used different algorithms. You used the algorithm of the German poets, Arthur used the algorithm of the Scotland Yard police. The final result is different because you didn’t multiply the difference in exchange rates between you.”

Dumas asked with an odd look on his face, “Is that so? Can I take the liberty of asking what the exchange rate is in France?”

Louis was silent for a moment and then spoke, “The exchange rate in France that’s complicated, even the exchange rate used between each person is different. Do you know Talleyrand? I happen to know a little bit about his conversion method.”

“Talleyrand? Of course I know.” Dumas spoke up, “He’s the one who lifted my warrant.”

“He lifted your warrant?” Louis asked, “How much did you give him up?”

“I didn’t pay up.” Dumas returned on Arthur’s shoulder, “But I don’t know if my friend did the exchange rate conversion with him for me.”

Arthur returned, “Neither did I. More than that, he lost me a couple dozen pounds at cards.”

When Louis heard this, he just sneered, “Heh, let’s just say it does have a Talleyrand style, he’s never seen fit to play for small amounts of money, he’ll play for big ones. If it was up to him to deal with Liverpool, then I’m afraid not a penny would be left for the government.”

Heine was both shocked and puzzled at this, “Does he play so big?”

Louis recalled what his uncle had told him earlier, and couldn’t help but say in exasperation, “Even 10,000 pounds would only be over 200,000 francs. Talleyrand is playing much bigger than that.

I heard my uncle say that when Talleyrand was in the Revolution, he was initially just an ordinary bishop, he was against the Revolution from the very beginning, and even went to the palace overnight to ask for the army to be assembled to suppress the revolution. But then he saw that the situation was not right, so he hurriedly abandoned Louis XVI, and turned his spear overnight, and took the initiative in the Constituent Assembly to propose that church property should be returned to the government. By this act of generosity he won a good reputation as a bishop of the people.

And by the time of the Doge’s Government, Talleyrand had become Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in two years had received twelve million francs in favors. There was a famous saying in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time that one had to talk to Talleyrand before negotiating with the French government, and that if Talleyrand didn’t give the nod, no diplomatic documents from other countries could be sent over.

At that time the Americans passed a bill in Congress that wanted to renege on all their international debts. The Americans claimed that the debts were owed by the previous government, which was a British colonial government, and therefore the debts belonged to Britain and had nothing to do with the current US government.

But as you know, in order to help the Americans fight the War of Independence, France gave the United States a huge loan. However, these rednecks saw that France was in the midst of the Revolution and had no room to clean up after them, so they tried to muddle through and renege on this one, and that Governor’s government surely couldn’t agree to that.

So in retaliation for the Americans forcing them to pay back the debt, the Governor ordered the French Navy to seize more than 300 American merchant ships in the Caribbean, and also hired pirates to strike their trade lines in the Mediterranean. The Americans were scared, so they planned to send a mission to beg for peace and mend their relationship.

As a result, Talleyrand hid the American mission from his country, and he privately sent his own agent to negotiate with the United States, demanding that the United States must give Talleyrand £50,000 in favor fees, in addition to providing France with a loan of 32 million guilders to help France deal with the anti-French coalition.

But this group of American hicks did not understand this European set, no matter what they said, they did not agree to pay a bribe to Talleyrand. As a result, Talleyrand angrily dragged the United States mission for half a year, the Americans saw no hope, so they could only return home to declare the failure of the negotiations, began to buy armed merchant ships, ready to fight with the French to a undeclared war.

In this way, France and the United States in the sea for two years of war in a confused manner, Talleyrand’s matter only exploded. Only it happened to be when my uncle came to power, and Talleyrand took a lot of credit for helping him get to the top, so the two countries signed a peace treaty, and the matter was hastily put behind them.”

Heine was shocked by what he heard, “I’ve heard a lot about corruption, but it’s the first time I’ve learned about a war between two countries due to corruption.”

Louis rolled his eyes and said, “Where is this coming from? Americans have learned from that, when the United States and France were negotiating a treaty of commerce, the negotiations were slow to progress. The Americans saw the situation is not good, a clap of the head rushed to send three million francs to Talleyrand over, the results of the next day the treaty was signed.

France and Austria armistice that time is more classic, in order to ensure the smooth signing of the treaty, Austria first sent hundreds of thousands of francs to the Talleyrand, but the Talleyrand is a direct lion’s mouth towards the Austrian 15 million.

Austria does not agree, Talleyrand simply directly to the 15 million counted in the war reparations, after the signing of the Treaty of Luneville, Austria in addition to the reparations to France, but also to Talleyrand and then separate reparations. Can put the corruption and bribery to do his part, that is really regardless of the East and West, throughout the thousands of years, it is difficult to find such a person in history.”

Dumas took a deep breath and asked, “Can Napoleon tolerate him to be so greedy?”

“What can I do if I don’t put up with it?”

Louis said helplessly, “After all, we still have to count on Talleyrand to negotiate. It’s true he’s greedy, but everyone is willing to negotiate with him. A treaty, others go and don’t take a penny, but the negotiations can’t be done. In the past, Talleyrand was so greedy that he was able to establish a treaty. What would you have my uncle do? Moreover, although I don’t like Talleyrand, the Bonaparte family does owe its existence to him. The restored Bourbons wanted to liquidate us, but Talleyrand was always against it, and was even marginalized because of it. All in all, there’s good and bad, I guess.”

Hearing this, Dumas’ heart finally relaxed, and he rushed to Arthur, “It’s just a matter of taking on such a small amount of money. Arthur, and Talleyrand a comparison, only to draw so much, I think you do is really too clean. In my opinion …… we, it is better to draw a little more, right? Take less, I’m afraid they are not assured ah!”

(End of chapter)