Shadow of great britain

The old man holding a cane was walking unsteadily, and suddenly he looked up and spotted Elder in front of him.

The old man raised his hand and said hello indifferently: "Good afternoon, Elder! How is your uncle doing lately?"

Elder took off his hat and said with a stiff smile: "Thanks to your care, he has been doing well recently. It's just an unlucky time. He was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet for rotation last month. Otherwise, today's banquet He can see you."

The old man nodded slightly, and then turned his gaze to Arthur aside: "Who is this?"

Elder quickly introduced him: "This is my friend and the scientist General Codrington invited as a guest today, Mr. Arthur Hastings, Superintendent of Scotland Yard."

"Police?" The old man curled his lips dissatisfied: "I hate the police."

After saying this, the old man walked past the two of them with his cane indifferently. Not long after, they heard a sound like a chicken flying and a dog jumping in the lounge.

"General Smith, why are you here too?"

"What? Can't I come?"

"That's not what I meant. I just heard from my colleagues in the Admiralty that you had moved to Paris, so I thought you would not show up in London."

"Don't you know that there is a revolution in Paris? There has been a lot of trouble there recently. As an old man, I can't stand the trouble, so I went back to London to be quiet and quiet. When does it stop there, I will go back. Hmm...who is this? Yo , Cochrane?! Didn't you swear that you would never return to Britain again in this life? Why, looking at you like this, are you giving in to the Admiralty? "

"It's all in the past, General Smith. Since I supported you and General Pillao in parliament in blocking the Port of Toulon, please be more gentle with your words."

"Port of Toulon? How dare you dare to mention the Port of Toulon?! Were you the one who proposed to the Admiralty to carry out a suicide attack on the Port of Toulon with a fleet of ships filled with explosives? You co-authored and led the fleet outside. It's not you, kid, look at what kind of fucking bullshit suggestions you are making.

Fortunately, the Admiralty had a rare brainstorm and didn't listen to you. Otherwise, if you use the ship for suicide attacks, are you going to let me command the sardines? "

"That was indeed what I mentioned, but you must consider the rationality of this suggestion. I had previously used a fireship offensive to successfully defeat the French Brest fleet led by Alemand in the Battle of the Basque Waterways.

If that son of a bitch Gambier hadn't forced me to retreat, I could have wiped out all 11 French battleships and achieved a result not inferior to the victory at Trafalgar, or at least a victory like the Battle of the Nile Estuary. victory.

But Gambhir, Gambhir that bastard! He vetoed my fire attack proposal before the war started, and accused me of saying, "Fire attack is cruel and an act of war that violates Christian morality." When he found out that I had achieved great results by using fire attack, he strictly ordered me not to pursue him. and asked the fleet to retreat immediately.

The most ridiculous thing is that after the war, he sent me to a military court. Tell me, is he a bastard? "

"Okay, okay, calm down, it was twenty years ago. But I also agree with your point of view, Gambhir is indeed a son of a bitch. On this point, you, me and Eliab General Harvey's opinion is basically the same. James Gambier simply does not have the military literacy and basic abilities to serve as a fleet commander.

That guy had mixed qualifications. He joined the Royal Navy in 1768, completed his internship at sea, and happened to catch up with the spring breeze of the North American War of Independence in 1775, so he successfully passed the Admiralty Examination. Arrived at a captain's position.

But even though he was fighting every day at that time, it took him almost 20 years. It was not until 1794 that he was promoted from frigate captain to battleship captain, and then he was promoted to the rank of major general based on his military service. Then, this bitch was transferred to the navy headquarters to sit in an office.

You should also know what happened next. Our honest and loyal General Gambier suddenly seemed to be favored by God. It only took ten years to complete the leap from major general to lieutenant general and then to general.

By the way, I heard Codrington say before that Gambier, along with Williams-Freeman and Charles Ball, were promoted to marshals of the Royal Navy this year. Is this the Admiralty's brain again? "

"Then what can we do? Who made our Marshal Gambier have a good relationship with His Majesty the King today? You should also know that our King served in North America for twelve years..."

Elder turned his head and looked at the lounge, with an expression on his face that he had seen a ghost.

It didn't take long for him to find that the three naval captains who were originally staying in the lounge also came out sweating profusely.

When Arthur saw the three of them, he couldn't help but smile and asked: "Are the three of you out of matches too?"

The three navy captains looked at each other and smiled bitterly.

Colonel Fitzroy said: "Compared to staying in the lounge, maybe buying matches can be considered a good job."

Franklin complained: "Why hasn't General Codrington come yet? Only if he comes can those two men restrain themselves."

After hearing this, Sir Elliot was helpless: "Let's forget it. Although General Thomas Cochran was junior, he did not even obey the orders of Marshal Gambier. He was later sent to a military court. , even directly scolded Marshal Gambier in court for being cowardly and indecisive, and later criticized the Admiralty for corruption and incompetence and rigid management in parliament.

As for General Sidney Smith, he was older than General Codrington and retired as an admiral.

The most important thing is that when he was in the Mediterranean, he didn't even pay attention to General Nelson. His squadron went wherever it wanted to go, and never applied to General Nelson, the commander of Egyptian waters, to enter and exit Egyptian waters. Later, he crossed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs several times and signed an armistice agreement with the French army privately. You can let General Codrington deal with the Ottomans, but he will never be able to handle these two. "

Elder couldn't help but murmured: "Is General Smith most famous for these things? I heard that when he was young, wasn't he suspected of having enlarged Queen Caroline's belly?"

When Colonel Fitzroy heard this, he quickly glared and warned: "Don't mention this matter. It is not clear how this matter was done. General Smith was only involved in it, and the other targets did not include Sir Thomas Lawrence." And Sir George Canning?"

Elder was shocked when he heard this: "What! Did they do it too?"

When Arthur heard this, he hurriedly pulled Elder out. As he walked, he apologized to the colonels behind him: "Sorry, excuse me first. Elder and I have to go and replace General Cochran." Bought matches."

After saying this, he led Elder out of Codrington's mansion quickly. It wasn't until he saw the setting sun and the passing traffic outside that Arthur's steps slowed down.

The two of them stood by the red wall beside the road. Arthur took out his pipe and matchbox and took a sip.

Smoke rose and Arthur threw the matchbox to Elder.

Elder was about to light a cigarette, but before he could light it, he heard Arthur ask: "About Queen Caroline..."

When Elder heard the name, his hand almost burned with a match.

He spat and said, "If you want to hear it so much, why did you drag me out just now?"

Arthur shrugged: "Isn't the person involved sitting inside? I'm worried that letting him hear it will affect your great future in the future."

Hearing this, Elder didn't care at all, he replied.

"Actually, it's nothing. When our old king George IV was still the Prince of Wales, he had a bad relationship with the Crown Princess Caroline. Even not long after Caroline gave birth to Princess Charlotte, the two of them officially became friends. They were separated. And when George IV became king later, he even wanted to kick her away.

As you know, Queen Caroline fought a long lawsuit over this title issue. With both spirit and body empty, doesn't Queen Caroline have to find some comfort in the arms of others? "

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but hold his chin and nodded: "That seems to make sense, continue."

Elder received Arthur's affirmation and immediately talked about the gossip he collected from various channels with great joy.

"You just heard that Queen Caroline has three scandal targets.

Among them, Sir George Canning was the most popular politician in Britain at that time.

Sir Thomas Lawrence was recognized as the best portrait painter in England at the time.

General Sidney Smith was a shining star who complemented Nelson and a famous eccentric in the Admiralty.

Although these rumors are not necessarily true, after all, these three people have many enemies because of their personalities and achievements. Perhaps this news was released by their political opponents to attack them.

However, it is certain that Queen Caroline became pregnant during her separation from His Majesty, and that the Queen was closely associated with these three people during that period.

As for whether it was the three of them who did it, it's unclear. But according to my personal opinion, the most likely of these three people may actually be General Sidney Smith. "

Hearing this, Arthur leaned against the red wall and blew out a smoke ring: "How can you see it?"

Elder continued his analysis with a proud look on his face: "Arthur, think about it! When the news about Queen Caroline's pregnancy came out, it was probably 1802, not long after Sir Canning got married, and He is busy attacking Viscount Sidmouth’s cabinet in Parliament every day so that William Pitt Jr. can return to power. According to Viscount Sidmouth’s insidious personality, it is entirely possible to release this kind of news to attack Sir Canning. .

And in the following years, these scandals did not affect Sir Canning's political career. He not only served as Foreign Secretary, but also served as Prime Minister. You know, he is just the child of an actress, and he has no other background other than a banker uncle. If he really had an affair with the queen, how could he get off the ground smoothly?

As for Sir Thomas Lawrence, although he was very influential in the art world, this scandal did not affect his subsequent development. The Duke of Wellington, the Marchioness of Londonderry, the Earl of Aberdeen, Pius VII, and even His Majesty the King himself all asked him to paint portraits as usual, and also knighted him and made him president of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. So, he won't have any problem.

But General Sidney Smith was the only one who was thrown out of Britain when the scandal spread. At that time, he had been ordered to retire from the Royal Navy for disobeying the command, but as the scandal spread more and more, the Admiralty finally had to pick him up by the nose, and then kicked him to the Atlantic Ocean to let him blow. The sea breeze is calm and calm. "

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly looked at Elder with a little more respect in his eyes: "Elder, I seem to have finally discovered your ability. If you don't engage in intelligence work in your life, you will be a waste. The spirit of hard work and the ability to tirelessly pursue the ultimate details!”

Elder was startled by him: "What? Are you suggesting that after I return from my global voyage, I join the Geographic Surveying and Topology Information and Statistics Department of the Navy? They are engaged in navigational intelligence. But I heard , the requirements there are stricter, and I don’t know if it will work for me with my free and casual temperament.”

"Okay, why not?" Arthur smiled and replied: "You listen to me, can I still lie to you?"

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, he suddenly felt someone hit his waist.

He turned around suddenly and saw a little boy standing behind him with his hands in his hands, wearing a ragged felt hat and a dirty face. He looked to be about ten years old.

The little boy blinked his eyes and spoke intermittently with a Scottish accent that was different from the London accent: "First... sir, please... please have mercy on me, I haven't eaten for two days."

Arthur first looked up at the crowd around him, and after making sure there were no police officers nearby, he took out a coin from his pocket and put it in his hand.

"Young man, if you come to the West District to beg in the future, you'd better not be on this street. The frequency of police patrols here is very frequent. If they find you, although you won't be thrown into jail, you will inevitably get a few sticks. Or sent to the workhouse."

The little boy stared blankly at the silver coins in his hand. He couldn't believe his luck today.

That was half a crown, worth two and a half shillings.

"Is this...is this really for me? First...sir, I have never seen you so grand."

Arthur just smiled when he heard this and raised his head at Elder beside him: "Am I grand? No, you think I'm grand because you didn't recognize the gentleman next to me and asked him to call you See what real atmosphere is.”

Elder originally wanted to rub oil on the soles of his feet, but as soon as Arthur said these words, and with the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of several young ladies who were getting off the carriage and looking at them smiling.

At this time, our Mr. Elder could only put his trembling hand into his pocket, took out a silver coin larger than Arthur and put it into the boy's palm.

"Take this, a crown, on behalf of my grateful heart, my child, and take it to eat something good."

When the little boy saw this, he couldn't help but smile with joy. He took off his hat and bowed: "Thank you, kind sir."

Just as he was happily planning to take these things and have a good meal, he suddenly heard Elder's shout from behind him again.

"Wait a minute, kid!"

Elder rushed in front of the little boy. He glanced at the ladies and ladies who had walked away. He embarrassedly took back the half-crown silver coin given by Arthur from the little boy's hand: "Young man, you forgot to give me the silver coin." I’ll give you change.”