Chapter 338: Washington from America
Chapter 335 – Washington from America
The sound of rumbling artillery faded Liverpool’s pajamas, and sleepy-eyed citizens rose from their beds with tight frowns.
Although a few curses could not be avoided from the mouths of the group, the sound of cannon fire coming from the sea almost every day these days had eventually gotten them used to it.
And naturally, the citizens of Liverpool were not the only ones who stayed awake amidst the sound of cannon fire, there were also some people who stayed up all night with their own thoughts.
Liverpool old dock, the Golden Lion Hotel opposite the street is full of inns.
As a port city, it is not unusual to have many inns near the docks that specialize in the business of tourists and sailors.
However, due to the recent segregation policy in the harbor, the business of all of them is generally very poor.
There are now empty rooms everywhere in what used to be overcrowded hotels, and business is already booming if you can keep your money.
However, thanks to the fact that the commissioners from London are staying at the Golden Lion, the neighboring hotels, which have a close view of the commissioners’ rooms, can occasionally receive a few orders.
The people who stayed here were basically sent by various departments and companies in Liverpool to keep an eye on them, and their first task was to report the daily itinerary of Arthur and his party to their respective employers.
Of course, not all of them had the same purpose.
At least the guest in room 304 of the Oak Tree Hotel was harboring a different mood.
Room 304 curtains hanging low, in the blue curtains between the narrow gap, if not closely observed, certainly can not be found in this place actually exists a stretched monocular telescope.
Through the lens of the monocular, one could see that in the second floor room of the Golden Lion Hotel, Arthur, who had just woken up recently, was also holding a telescope and observing the azure ocean in the distance.
As Arthur watched the smoke and dust rising from the sea, his mouth broke into a whisper, “It seems that today’s report of the Royal Navy is going to add another new battle achievement.”
On the side, Dumas yawned and took a bite of his bagel over the mellow black coffee, “A dozen ships were impounded in a few days’ time, and even though they were all ‘fast crabs’ of modest size, this efficiency is still marvelous. If Liverpool had maintained this kind of efficiency in combating smuggling earlier, London wouldn’t have had to send you here. So in the end, it’s not all snakes and rats and collusion.”
Arthur put away his binoculars and returned to the table to pick up his cup of tea, “Alexander, that’s an unfair statement. Perhaps the middle and upper echelons of the Royal Navy can hang with the smugglers. But the ordinary sailors below and the officers on board must want to fight smuggling from the bottom of their hearts.”
“Why?” Dumas raised an eyebrow, “Just because the spoils of war would be split for them?”
“You’re oversimplifying the issue, there’s more to it than just money.”
Arthur spoke, “According to the War Regulations issued by the Ministry of the Navy, it is stipulated that: those who receive an order and do not carry it out, those who meet an enemy ship that they have the duty to attack and do not attack it, those who have the possibility of fighting and do not motivate their subordinates to fight valiantly: the Fleet Commander, the Captains, and the Commanding Officers, shall be sentenced to the death penalty or other imprisonment by the court-martial. All persons in the fleet who do not fight bravely, who engage in cunning behavior or cowardly surrenders shall be sentenced to death by a court-martial.
Even though it’s just cholera control now, not a war. But it is always considered that the Admiralty has given an order to severely punish smuggling. If the Royal Navy doesn’t see a smuggling ship, it’s fine, but if they do but don’t go on the offensive, then the captain of that ship is definitely to blame. Although it’s not a death sentence, the captain will definitely be stripped of his duties.”
Dumas chewed on his bagel and pondered, “Then, as long as the captain is willing to pay to get rid of the people underneath him, that’s fine. As long as he can buy the people below him, then he can give orders on the ship however he wants.”
Arthur asked, “You should know about things like logbooks, right?”
“Of course I know. Is there any difference between the logbook of the Royal Navy and the logbook of the French Navy?”
Arthur spoke, “In order to prevent the kind of situation you’re talking about, the Admiralty expressly stipulates that the Royal Navy’s logbook is divided into three types, one is the captain’s logbook, one is the navigator’s logbook, and the other is the officer’s logbook. The officer’s log, on the other hand, is not just one copy, but one copy for the captains on board.
At the end of each voyage, these logbooks will be sealed and transported to the Admiralty building in London for inspection. If there was any inconsistency in any of the descriptions in the logbooks, then all the logbook writers of the ship were individually scrutinized. If they were found to have committed fraud, then the least severe consequence was dismissal from the service.
Perhaps an ordinary petty officer like a navigator who had risen to the top would be willing to go to extremes for money, but most captains would not agree to end their naval careers so hastily. Not to mention, keeping a truthful record of a captain’s black books could actually be beneficial to their promotion. Captain’s positions in the Royal Navy are always in short supply, so if no one comes down, how can anyone else go up?”
Dumas couldn’t help but wonder at this, “It seems that the Royal Navy is not only well-trained, but these dog-eat-dog rules are also insidious one by one. Now I can understand what the ‘England will fight every enemy’ is all about. It’s not that we have to fight the enemy, but we have to fight the enemy!
Sailors want a share of the loot, and the officers are always watching your ass for the captain’s position, and they also need to build up merit. Usually floating in the sea a few months may not be able to encounter an enemy ship, it is not easy to encounter a, if you still want to run, that eighty percent of the bottom of the people tied to the canvas as a kite to let go.
However, when you think about it, the Royal Navy will always seize the upper hand position of the abnormal behavior of the war can be explained. Other countries like to grab the wind, because once found that the situation is not favorable, at any time can take advantage of the wind to escape from the battle, and in the downwind position of the ship’s maneuverability is much better, will not be blown by the wind to the hull of the ship tilted out of a certain angle.
The Royal Navy grabbed the upper hand because they had no intention of running from the start, and grabbing the upper hand was not good for getting out of the battle, but it was good for pursuit. Although the waves would knock the ship’s hull out at an elevated angle, the cannonballs would also get a range advantage as a result. I have to say, these profit-minded guys are really conceited.”
Arthur read as he ate his breakfast, “They do have reason to be conceited as well, the Royal Navy held the record of no ship sinking for nine consecutive years that year. And the end of that record back then is still slightly comical in retrospect.”
Dumas asked, “Back to that, who ended that record? France?”
Arthur glanced at him, “Alexander, why do you have to make a fool of yourself?”
“Who else could it be if not France?”
Arthur chewed on his bagel and took another sip of his black tea, “Those coffee drinkers in the North American colonies.”
“Wouldn’t that be more humiliating?” Arthur shook his head, “To be precise, it’s already more than disgraceful, but it also makes people wonder if the Royal Navy’s brain is wrong. The Navy is supposed to be a service that is all about skill, yet here in the Royal Navy, they simply emphasize courage more than the British Army.
Perhaps because of nine years of unsinkable record to make them dizzy, so in 1812 the Royal Navy Warrior encountered the tonnage than their own double the United States of America Constitution, the first idea is not to run away, but at the Constitution of a number of gunfire. To add insult to injury, the Warrior had already been damaged during the earlier combat voyage and was on her way back to base for repairs.
As a result, as soon as they saw the Americans, the fact that they only had two-thirds of their speed left was behind them, and they even went so far as to try to rush up and jump on the Yankee ship, only to be sunk before they could get close to it. If you ask me, France is really no good!”
Dumas originally listened with great interest, but heard this last sentence, could not help frowning and asked: “You English and their own sons to fight, what is the matter of France? No matter what happens, the responsibility lies with the French?”
Arthur took a sip of tea, “I say this with good reason, because the Royal Navy’s Warrior was captured from France. Elder always told me that if this had been an authentic British ship, it certainly wouldn’t have been sent in American hands, so in the final analysis, it’s the French that can’t do it.”
Hearing this, Dumas felt like bread stuck in his throat as he stared and asked, “Anymore, the Royal Navy has been disgraced this time. The honor gained by Nelson winning ten times at Trafalgar is not as great as the shame brought to the Royal Navy by the Warrior losing once.”
Arthur nodded, “Alexander, perhaps you should offer your services to our Admiralty.”
“Why?”
“Because the two of you are literally thinking exactly the same thing. After the Admiralty learned of the sinking of the Warrior, everyone from the Secretary of the Navy and the First Sea Lord, down to the cadets at Greenwich and the Admiralty’s caretakers, regarded it as the greatest disgrace since the founding of the Royal Navy. So, to get back at the Americans, the Admiralty had its hands full cleaning up after the Americans while dealing with Napoleon.”
“What did they do?”
Arthur took a sip of tea, “They sent men to crouch around the Caribbean for a few months, and finally seized the opportunity to ambush the Yanks and capture the USS ‘President’. According to the tradition of the Royal Navy, the President was put into service as the flagship of the West Indian Fleet nearby.
And in order to humiliate the Americans, they hadn’t even renamed the President yet, and more than that, the West India Fleet pulled the President to the east coast of the U.S. for strategic cruises whenever it was okay, and this behavior lasted close to half a year before the Admiralty finally took the heat off.”
Hearing this, Dumas laughed so hard that he slapped his thighs and said, “In that case, your Admiralty is really something. This vindictive personality, the behavior of not changing the name of the Presidential ship is simply the best manifestation of the dark little minds of the Britons. But how can I say it, this behavior is still quite to my liking.”
Arthur calmly sipped his tea, “I’m just joking with you about this, you’d better not take it out and talk about it, especially if you still want to order a revolver with Mr. Colt, I’m afraid that he won’t be able to hold back and raise his hand to shoot you.”
Dumas spoke up, “Doesn’t Colt intend to set up a factory in London? Wouldn’t he by any chance come to recognize his ancestors and return to his home with honor?”
Arthur returned, “He’s still hesitating about the nationality thing. After all, he was born and bred in the United States, although in the end he is an Englishman by blood. But there are quite a few Britons who are Germans by blood, and I don’t see many crying out to go to Prussia to do their duty to Frederick III.”
As soon as Arthur’s words left his mouth, a sinister voice came out of the door, “I think I heard someone wanting to go to Frederick III to do his filial duty? With all due respect, there are a bit too many people in Prussia who want to pay their respects to him for you to go there now.”
Heine paced the room and pulled out a chair and sat down.
Dumas raised his hand to greet him, “Good morning, Heinrich! You seem to be in good spirits, cursing Prussia so early in the morning. So it seems that Austria is scheduled for an afternoon game by you today? But listen to my advice, although you hate Germany, you can’t always curse it, right? Look at me, although I also curse France, but I only curse Louis Philippe, I still love the people of France.”
Heine just shook his head when he heard this, “No, Alexander, you are a Frenchman, so you don’t understand such feelings. I love my country as much as you do, and I hate it because I love it. It was for that love that I left there. If one day the people of Germany can be like the people of France, even if we have a Louis Philippe riding on the top of our heads, I will sing Germany’s praises.”
When Dumas heard this he just bristled and said, “Heinrich, with all due respect, I’m afraid you’re asking too little.”
Seeing that the two key political boys were about to start up again, Arthur was about to go out for some fresh air, but before he could get out, Louis pushed open the door and walked in.
He opened his mouth and said, “Just now the Liverpool Board of Health sent someone over to say that the pump handles near the infected area where the cholera outbreak was concentrated have all been removed. In order to compensate these citizens for their losses, in the near future, the Liverpool Municipality will issue them a fixed amount of clean alcohol.
Due to the strain on municipal funds, the City Hall has informed us that this temporary relief is only expected to be distributed for half a month in conjunction with your program. The Liverpool Association, however, seems willing to contribute generously to the beer relief in half a month’s time, and the merchants, under the leadership of old Gladstone, have already begun to hold a charitable collection.
In addition to this, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Rosenberg, has acceded to your request not to deal with Dr. Hudeskal for the time being, provided that he ceases his autopsy activities on the patient immediately. He also wishes to agree with you on the specifics of the local treatment program at the Health Committee meeting later this afternoon.
Commissioner Edward of the Liverpool Post Office has also sent word that the letterhead you delivered was coordinated with the railroad company to send a special train to London yesterday at midnight, and by this time it is presumably on Lord Brougham’s desk in Chancery Hall awaiting his review.”
Hearing the good news one after the other, Arthur’s mood improved considerably.
He glanced through the window at the sky outside, where the sun was rising over the sea.
Arthur opened his mouth and asked, “Let’s go around the infected area while it’s still early.”
Hearing this, Louis took the documents back into the folder and spoke with a smile, “Going around the infected area is certainly possible. Only before that, do you want to consider meeting someone?”
“Meet someone? What person?”
Louis spoke, “The Secretary of the Embassy of the United States of America in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Mr. Washington Irving. God knows why he came to Liverpool, but by the looks of him, he seems to want to ask you to help him with something. If it’s too much trouble for you, it’s fine if I go and put it off for you.”
(End of chapter.)