British writer

the next day.

Arthur Conan Doyle turned over in his sleep, but his right hand did not touch his beloved wife Hawkins, so he woke up slowly.

It's daybreak,

The sun shines through the curtains into the house, casting mottled silhouettes on the floor and bed.

"Ha~~~~"

Doyle couldn't help but yawn.

Yesterday, he stayed up all night again, not because of writing Sherlock Holmes' new series "The Return", but because of reading a novel over and over again——

"Rural Teacher".

This book was first published in Paris,

But because it is bilingual in English and French, some booksellers in London also got the goods.

Doyle spent a lot of money to buy this copy.

He rolled out of bed and stretched, then opened the curtains and cast his eyes on the novel on the bedside table. He couldn't help but feel itchy, wanting to read it again like a cat scratching.

At this moment, there was a loud noise outside,

And Hawkins’ cry: “Arthur!”

Doyle opened the bedroom door.

I saw Hawkins standing at the door, with bags filled with various ingredients hanging on both arms.

"Arthur, come and help me."

Doyle walked over and helped Hawkins pick off the bits and pieces hanging from his body.

Hawkins asked, "Did you just wake up?"

Doyle nodded.

"Well, I'm just getting ready..."

His eyes were attracted by a piece of paper, but he didn't finish what he said.

Hawkins did not notice the strangeness of her husband. While wiping the sweat from his forehead, he scolded: "You should rinse your mouth and shave first, and then prepare to write the book quickly. If you don't hurry up, it will be bad for Smith." Explain."

Doyle didn't answer.

He squinted, pulled out the piece of paper, and asked, "What is this?"

Hawkins glanced at it,

"As it says above, "The 20 Greatest Britons" seems to be a poll, and many people participated. Next to the ballot box, there is also information introducing the deeds of the candidate celebrities, but it can only be read on the spot. I Didn’t bring it back.”

The corners of Doyle's lips curled up,

"There are more than 20 great men in our British Empire."

As he spoke, his eyes slowly scanned the list.

Hawkins also came forward, suddenly with a surprised expression on his face, and walked quickly into her husband's study,

She came back not long after, holding a pen in her hand.

She murmured: "It's her."

Put a check mark next to a name.

Doyle:? ? ?

"What are you doing?"

Hawkins said: "I'm voting. Isn't it for the greatest Englishman?"

Doyle looked at the name his wife had ticked——

Emmeline Pankhurst.

He doesn't even know him,

"Who is this?"

Hawkins sighed deeply and said, "Why do you still like to brag that men care about politics? This lady has spoken in parliament many times, and you don't even know?"

Doyle was even more confused.

"Speech? Woman speaking in Parliament? Westminster?"

Hawkins flipped his hair;

"It's Clough of Manchester."

Doyle fell into deep thought;

After a long time, he showed an expression of realization and said: "Then I understand, you are talking about the Independent Labor Party. By the way, wasn't the spokesperson of that party summoned by the police for disorderly conduct? They also refused to pay the fine, and most of them They’re all in jail.”

Hawkins nodded,

"So, the responsibility of speaking later fell to Emmeline."

Doyle was shocked;

"You actually called her 'Emeline'? Do you know her?"

He did not remember his wife having any friends from the Independent Labor Party;

What's more, she's a woman.

Hawkins glared at her husband and said, "I have indeed never met Emmeline. But her spirit can infect me, and even every woman!"

After hearing this, Doyle understood,

It turns out that Emmeline Pankhurst was a leader of the feminist movement, and most likely she was committed to changing the misfortunes of poor women and supporting women's parliamentary suffrage.

Doyle scratched his head and rubbed the check mark with his fingers.

He complained: "You should have used a pencil. Now it's like this. There's nothing you can do to change it."

Hawkins was dissatisfied;

"Why do you need to change it!?"

Doyle couldn't help but was speechless for a while, and said: "It's better not to get involved in this kind of thing. I heard that some women in Paris have become obsessed and are fighting for their rights through violent means, destroying facilities, setting fires, committing suicide..."

Hawkins rolled his eyes.

"Can't I just vote for this one person?"

Doyle sighed,

"I just think you should vote for someone greater."

Hawkins complained: "What's 'greater'! You can't recognize all the people here, so why should you say who is greater than others?"

Doyle was no longer convinced.

"You are looking down on me! I am a treasure trove of all the great men in England."

After hearing what her husband said, Hawkins pointed casually and said, "Okay, then tell me, who is this Edward Jenner? What great achievements has he made?"

Doyle: "..."

Unexpectedly, he was silenced by his wife on the spot after just one sentence.

Hawkins was slightly proud and said "hum".

“So, it’s not about voting for the actual ‘greatest,’ it’s about voting for the ‘greatest’ in your mind.”

A word to wake up the dreamer.

Doyle didn't expect that his wife could see things more clearly than he did.

He leaned forward and kissed his wife,

Hawkins was a little shy, pushed him in disgust, and said, "Let you rinse your mouth first, you...that's all, I forgive you."

His eyes turned to the voting paper,

"Who are you going to vote for?"

Doyle said: "First of all, there must be Shakespeare. There is no doubt about it, right? He is the greatest English writer. His plays can be said to be the representative of our British culture. I can even say that Shakespeare is equal to Britain."

Hawkins shrugged noncommittally.

Doyle asked: "What's wrong? Dissent?"

Hawkins curled his lips and said, "No objection. After all, you are a writer, and I am the writer's wife. It is natural for us to vote for Shakespeare, a great writer."

There was a hint of sarcasm in this statement.

Doyle heard it, but did not feel dissatisfied. He said, "You just said that this is not a vote for the 'greatest' in fact, but a vote for the 'greatest' in your mind. I am not following you." Do you want to follow this idea?"

Hawkins: "(ˉ▽￣~)Tch~~"

"Don't blame me."

Doyle continued looking down and put check marks next to Charles Dickens, William Tyndale, William Wallace, and Robert I.

Needless to say, Dickens

The last three people,

William Tyndale was an English Bible translator;

William Wallace, Scottish national hero;

Robert I, King of Scotland, defended Scotland's independence at the Battle of Bannockburn.

Doyle's choice is very much in keeping with the identity of the Scottish writer.

Hawkins lacks interest;

"You can do it yourself. I'll scramble some eggs and cut some bread."

After saying that, she carried the ingredients and prepared to go into the kitchen.

Doyle scratched his head,

"Is there anyone else you want to vote for?"

Hawkins thought for a while and replied: "Why should we choose Her Majesty the Queen?"

…

Palace of Westminster.

Wodehouse's office.

Churchill held the cigar between the index finger and thumb of his right hand, took a slow puff, and showed a happy expression.

Opposite him, Wodehouse looked helpless.

"Can't you stop grabbing my cigar?"

Churchill spread his hands,

"cannot."

He chuckled, glanced at the paper on the table, raised the corners of his mouth, and said: ""The 20 Greatest Britons"? Interesting! Really interesting!"

Wodehouse asked curiously: "What?"

Churchill said: "Do you think voting and ranking are objective?"

Wodehouse pondered, obviously hesitant.

After all, even elected members like them can’t be considered truly “objective”.

Churchill took a cigar and burned a hole next to the name "Robert Gascoigne-Cecile".

This behavior is like a fire seal,

Very ceremonial.

Wodehouse frowned and asked: "What? Are you dissatisfied with the current Prime Minister? Or do you think he is one of the greatest British people?"

Churchill held his cigar in his mouth with a smile and replied vaguely: "It's up to you to interpret it."

Wodehouse looked at Churchill;

He always felt that the other person's smile was not funny, but had a slightly sinister feeling.

Churchill spread his hands,

"Hey, you say he is not great, right? He is indeed not great. After all, he has an unshirkable responsibility for the Anglo-Boer War. But it is inappropriate to draw a conclusion like this. He is considered the heir of Disraeli. He is in Berlin. When he was just a little follower, he helped the Conservative Party survive when Gladstone was prosperous. Isn’t this great?”

Wodehouse looked dark;

"If you say so, then I will also..."

Churchill interrupted the other person's boast and continued: "Speaking of Disraeli, he was also a great prime minister. He almost begged all the way to become prime minister. He was also a poor writer. He was good at dancing, chatting and laughing, and accomplished a lot of big things. , and he did a lot of petty theft."

Wodehouse raised his eyebrows;

Faintly, he realized what Churchill wanted to say.

Churchill chuckled,

"If you ask me, there is nothing 'greatest' in this world."

He might not have said that if he had known he would be voted number one in a BBC survey of the 100 Greatest Britons in 2002.

Wodehouse raised the corners of his mouth and looked at the list.

"Too bad there is no Benjamin Disraeli."

Churchill laughed,

"Hahahahaha! We politicians can't always think about choosing our own people, right?"

Wodehouse complained: "You come here every day to grab my cigars. Your cat stays in my office all morning, making you smell like smoke. How dare you say that you are a member of the Conservative Party? That's it." !”

Churchill waved his hand,

"Don't talk about this."

He picked up the pen and marked next to Queen Victoria,

Prime Minister of flowing water,

The iron queen,

No matter how awesome the prime ministers are, they can't compare to Lafayette.

…

Isle of Wight.

Osborne House, the Queen's bedroom.

All the descendants of Her Majesty the Queen gathered around the bedside and looked at the old Queen.

They all had a premonition,

The life of the old man in front of me is about to disappear.

Although the Queen closed her eyes tightly, her eyelids were obviously shaking, and it could be seen that the eyes inside seemed to be turning restlessly, as if she was dreaming.

At this time, the doctor beside the bed slowly stood up and said,

He took off his gloves and shook his head imperceptibly at the Prince of Wales.

The silence speaks.

If the queen feels something, open her right eye,

I don't know whether it was because of fatigue or because it was not controlled by the brain. It was slightly closed and only squinted.

The queen scanned everyone in this "one-eyed" state,

"what time is it?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Margarita was the first to react and whispered: "A quarter past three in the afternoon."

The queen sighed,

"Fossey came to see me today."

Fossey is short for Francis.

And Francis is the Queen’s husband, Prince Albert’s name.

For a moment, the room became quiet,

"..."

"..."

"..."

Margarita was the first to lose control and turned sideways, tears streaming down her face.

Kaiser Wilhelm II reached out and patted Margarita on the shoulder comfortingly.

At this moment, the door was gently pushed open.

The female officer walked in, leaned next to the Prince of Wales, whispered for a while, and then handed over the voting paper for "The 20 Greatest Britons".

The Prince of Wales showed an expression of disbelief,

He didn't expect that Lu Shi would use this kind of problem-solving idea.

The imagination of this Chinese is so wild!

The Prince of Wales stepped forward;

"Mom, in my hand is the voting paper for "The 20 Greatest Britons"."

The queen's originally chaotic brain suddenly became clear.

Lu Shi took action!

She said, "Read it to me."

The Prince of Wales immediately said: "The list seems to be sorted by initial letter, including Edward Jenner, Isaac Newton..."

The Queen interrupted: "Wait a minute. Who is Edward Jenner?"

All the royal family members were stunned;

They have never heard of this person.

The Queen sighed and said: "Ignorant. Who among you is going to find out who this Edward Jenner is?"

As a result, after she asked, the doctor next to her spoke,

"Dr. Jenner is a medical scientist who is famous for his research and promotion of cowpox vaccine to prevent smallpox. He is known as the father of immunology. He opened the way for future research and prompted Pasteur and others to seek solutions for other diseases. Approaches to treatment and immunity.”

I have never heard of Jenner, but I have always heard of smallpox.

The queen showed a satisfied expression,

“The British Empire is full of talented people.”

He then asked the Prince of Wales to continue.

The Prince of Wales read out the list slowly, and whenever he came to an unfamiliar name, he sought help from the sidelines.

Fortunately, Osborne Palace has an independent library and archives, so it is not too difficult.

Just like that, more than an hour passed,

The list is finished.

As if he had just gone through a long period of popular science, the room fell silent.

After a while, the queen said: "I didn't expect that I could be ranked with such wise kings as Charles III, Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, Henry V, Henry II, and Edward I."

The kings and queens she mentioned all achieved immortal achievements during their reign.

Take Henry V as an example. He defeated the French army in the Hundred Years' War, defeated and severely damaged France, captured almost half of France, became the heir to the French throne, and even created the idea of ​​an "English and French Empire".

This is simply a script that only time travelers can afford.

Margarita said: "Grandma, you are the greatest king."

This sentence was said sincerely and did not mean the slightest bit of flattery.

But after hearing this, the queen did not express anything. Instead, she asked: "From a global perspective, which one is greater, Jesus or the Prophet Muhammad?"

Margarita was asked,

"this……"

The Queen added: "Then let me ask you again, who is greater, Euclid or Sir Newton?"

Her words stunned everyone.

No one knew what the queen wanted to express.

The Queen did not explain much, but stretched out her thin hand and said to the Prince of Wales: "My child, hand me that ballot paper."

The Prince of Wales' heart beat violently,

For some reason, he didn't really want to hand over the paper in his hand, as if he would face unspeakable suffering after handing it over.

However, the queen was extremely determined,

"Give me."

The Prince of Wales stepped forward and handed over the ballot paper.

The Queen took it and murmured to herself: ""The 20 Greatest Britons"... cough cough cough..."

Her voice was drowned out by a series of coughs.

Margarita quickly said: "Grandma, don't look at it for now, you need to rest! There will be plenty of opportunities when you recover from your illness."

With that said, he went to draw the voting paper from the queen's hand.

But the queen held it tightly and muttered something repeatedly, which seemed to be the word "Greatest".

The Prince of Wales patted Margarita on the shoulder,

"Let's get out."