Shadow of great britain

On the bow of the Beagle, sailors climbed up and down the mast like monkeys, three sails suddenly opened, and the blue flag symbolizing the Royal Navy Reserve was raised high.

Under the orders of Colonel Fitzroy, the Beagle blew its whistle frantically and charged towards the Thames Estuary at full speed.

Such a move naturally attracted a lot of curses from cargo ships plying on the Thames.

"Fuck you! You don't have eyes?"

"Sons of bitches, are you in a hurry to go to hell?"

There were even cargo ship sailors throwing dead rats and fermented herrings at the Beagle from all the distance.

"Get the hell out of here, I'll smoke you bunch of stinky idiots to death!"

The sailors did not respond to the curses of the cargo ship sailors. They just skillfully lifted the wooden boards covering the ten gun emplacements on both sides of the Beagle.

When the sailors of the cargo ship discovered the black twelve-pound gun barrel sticking out of the gun emplacement, even though they had a bad mouth, they instantly became upright and quiet like upper-class ladies who were inexperienced in the world.

In fact, under normal circumstances, sailors are not so enthusiastic about going to sea.

But when they heard that the goal of this trip to sea was to pursue the "Black Thorn", they suddenly felt that their whole bodies were filled with endless energy.

Tom was a little moved when he saw the sailors actively taking on various tasks.

"I know that justice still exists in this world."

But as soon as he finished speaking, Elder poured cold water on him: "Come on, Tom. Maybe the sailors do have justice in their hearts, but I think the main reason is that the target of this attack is a slave smuggling ship." Boat."

Tony was puzzled: "Is there any relationship between the two?"

This time, before Elder could give them an answer, Arthur blew out a smoke ring and said, "For the Royal Navy, since the Escort Act was promulgated in the 18th century, it should be very difficult to encounter such a legal robbery business. Alright."

Elder smiled mischievously and winked at Arthur: "Isn't that right? I just took a look at the nominal displacement of the Black Thorn. If we tow it back, even to be conservative, it would cost five or six thousand. Pounds!

As usual, Captain Fitzroy took a quarter, and there was no fleet commander on board the Beagle, so the rest was divided among the crew. There are a total of 100 people on our boat, and each of us can easily get 45 pounds.

In addition, maybe you can get some awards and honors from the Navy Department. Anyone who doesn't work hard is simply struggling with his own good life. "

"45 pounds?" Tom exclaimed: "This is enough to cover my salary for more than a year!"

Elder grinned and said: "Isn't it? I'm just calculating the value of the merchant ship, and I haven't added the income from other unknown projects. If I add it, the final result will only be more terrifying. Otherwise, you think I Why are you always looking forward to a fight with the French?

Ordinary merchant ships are so expensive. If you drag back a French first-class battleship, tsk tsk... the cost of that thing can easily reach 100,000 pounds. "

When Tony heard this, he couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder so many people become pirates. This business makes money very quickly!"

Elder replied: "Who says it isn't? The good times have passed! Nowadays, the issuance of privateering licenses is too damn strict. Before the Napoleonic Wars, as long as you could pay eight thousand pounds, you could loot legally. Now even If you have money and connections, they may not be given to you.”

As soon as Elder said this, he heard Darwin's voice coming from behind him.

"Arthur, Elder, Colonel Fitzroy has summoned you to the officers' mess for something to eat."

When Elder heard this, he couldn't help but told Arthur: "I've risked my life for you this time. Arthur, please don't play tricks on me about the 'Black Thorn'! Otherwise Even if Colonel Fitzroy doesn't care about me and my uncle hears it, he will still have to skin me."

Arthur glanced at him: "Don't worry, brother can't do anything wrong to you. How could I lie to you about such a thing?"

"That's good."

The two followed Darwin down to the officers' mess in the cabin.

Perhaps due to the narrow size of the Berger, the dining room area is not large, and can barely accommodate a dining table large enough for four people to sit around and a cupboard to store cutlery.

Colonel Fitzroy, neatly dressed, was cutting the lamb chops on the dinner plate with a knife and fork.

When he saw Arthur and Elder coming, he didn't get up. He just smiled and nodded at them and said, "Sit wherever you like."

As soon as Arthur and Elder sat down, their meals were already served by the muscular cook.

Today's officer's breakfast was very rich, including not only lamb chops, but also peas and fried eggs.

Fitzroy saw Arthur's face turned pale by the wind. He couldn't help but smile and asked, "Would you like a glass of 'Nelson's Blood'?"

When Arthur heard this, he asked in confusion: "What is that?"

But before anyone could answer him, the cook had already sent the wine glass on the dinner plate to Arthur.

He replied, fanning himself on his dinner plate: "It's no big deal, it's just Royal Navy style rum. You'll know after you try it."

Elder carelessly put one hand on the chair, picked up a pea with the other and put it into his mouth: "That's right, you'll know after you try it."

Arthur took a sip from the glass and thought about it carefully. He felt that it was no different from ordinary rum.

Just when he was about to put down his glass, he looked up and found that the cook, Elder, and Colonel Fitzroy were all looking at him with malicious expressions.

Even Agares, who had been silent beside him, couldn't help but cover his mouth and chuckle.

Arthur instantly felt something was wrong.

"you……"

The fat cook held the dinner plate and asked with a grin: "Young man, do you know why this thing is called Nelson's Blood?"

"Why?"

Elder couldn't hold it in anymore. He banged the table with his fist and laughed loudly.

"Because when General Nelson died in the battle at Trafalgar, in order to prevent his body from decaying, the Royal Navy soaked the body in a rum barrel to keep it fresh. But when the fleet returned to England, the Admiralty discovered the barrel There was actually not a drop of rum left in it. Now you know where the nickname Nelson’s Blood came from, right?”

The cook also laughed and said: "But don't worry, the barrels on our Beagle are very clean. I washed them with clean water many times before boarding the ship. But, have they been filled with anything else before? , I can’t guarantee it.”

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but pick up the tablecloth on the table and wipe his mouth: "I have heard that there are a lot of nasty things on the ship a long time ago, and now it seems that it is true."

"Where are you going?" Elder said to the cook: "Alan, did you bring any sheep on board this time? Go and get one for my good brother."

When Colonel Fitzroy heard this, he couldn't help but throw the white gloves he took off on the table into Elder's face, and he glared.

"Elder! It's almost done! You don't want to embarrass me enough, so you really plan to tell everyone about everything! The sea training only lasts for a week. If you can't even bear it, go to the trawl net yourself. Fish come up and take care of it!”

After being scolded, Elder had to slap his mouth twice and eat his mutton chops obediently.

Seeing that he was calm, Fitzroy put on a smile, turned his head and said to Arthur.

"Mr. Hastings, it's not that I don't believe you about chasing the Black Thorn. But out of caution, I need to get more information from you. If it is really a slave smuggling ship, then It must have a certain degree of basic firepower.

In this case, I have to consider what tactics I should use to approach.

And if it is just an ordinary merchant ship, then I have to explain to you that there is certainly no problem with me ordering the Beagle to stop it for boarding inspection.

However, if you fire at it, you may not know that shelling domestic merchant ships will result in a military court..."

After hearing this, Arthur also understood what concerns the colonel had.

He took out his Scotland Yard police officer's badge directly from his pocket: "You should have seen my name in the newspaper, Arthur Hastings, Inspector of the Greenwich District of the London Metropolitan Police. Mr. Colonel, you don't want to I'm joking about your future, and I'm the same as you, can you trust me now?"

Colonel Fitzroy picked up the police officer's certificate and took a look at it before exclaiming: "Let me tell you, how can an ordinary person be covered by newspapers? No wonder your family won't let you board the ship. It turns out that you graduated from the Army. The path after retirement has been planned by his family.

As soon as you entered Scotland Yard, you became a police inspector. It seems that the position of Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in the future will be yours. First, work at Scotland Yard for a few years to build up some popularity and hone your skills. After that, you can be elected as a member of Parliament and then be assigned to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

If you are lucky, by the time you are in your forties, you may have entered the cabinet, and it is not impossible to become prime minister in the future.

This road is indeed much better than coming to the Royal Navy. Young man, if you are fine, you should listen to your family more. Your future is bright! "

When Elder heard this, he just lowered his head and ate the mutton chops. He was so suppressed that his whole body was shaking.

Arthur did not comment on Colonel Fitzroy's bold guess. He just nodded: "Thank you for your good advice."

Arthur's non-denial seemed to Colonel Fitzroy to be an admission. At this time, his mind was already filled with the scenario of Arthur becoming Lord of the Admiralty in the future.

When he thought that the young man in front of him might become the future boss of the Royal Navy, even the usually calm colonel couldn't help but start to think about him being appointed by Arthur as the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff of the Royal Navy. scene.

He stood up in a daze and almost saluted Arthur on the spot. It wasn't until he raised his hand halfway that the colonel noticed something was wrong.

He saw the strange looks Arthur and Elder looked at him, and quickly put down his hands in embarrassment, then patted his chest and assured them.

"Please rest assured that the Black Thorn will not escape my grasp this time. I will do my best to cooperate with Scotland Yard in completing this pursuit."

After saying this, the colonel picked up his gloves and rushed out of the officers' mess. Not long after, Colonel Fitzroy's huge roar came from the deck.

"Helmsman, go and eat. You are driving so slowly. Today I will teach you what the top steering skills are!"

The Red Devil glanced at the direction the colonel was leaving, leaned over Arthur and whispered: "Did you see it? Arthur. This is the charm of power. Even if it is just an imaginary power, it can still make a Royal Navy officer The colonel was delirious about it.”