Shadow of great britain

In the evening, Disraeli sat on a bench next to Hyde Park, looking at the rising moon and stars in the sky and sighing.

Suddenly, he hugged his head in pain and yelled twice at the sky. This roar not only scared the passers-by, but also scared the red-eyed ferry who flew from the Tower of London to the park to eat fruit. crow.

The crows fluttered their wings and fled, and a feather as black and deep as the night sky fell into Disraeli's hand.

He looked at the feather and felt like crying.

Although he had known that he would not be elected as a member of the parliament, he was still shocked by the fact that he only received three votes in total.

Because according to his expectations, he should have at least four votes in the iron ticket warehouse.

His father's vote, his uncle's vote, his childhood friends' vote, plus his own vote.

Being betrayed by his relatives and friends was already bad enough for him, but Disraeli couldn't bear to reveal the matter, but keeping this kind of thing inside made him feel even more uncomfortable.

Therefore, after gathering up his courage, he finally made up his mind to find out who betrayed him. But what he never expected was that the investigation ended as soon as it started.

His father frankly admitted that he did not vote for him because he felt that his son would not be elected at all, because if a Jew wants to be elected as a member of the parliament, he must have more outstanding work ability and calm character than the average person. And his son, who is like a dramatist, obviously does not meet this standard.

Moreover, his son seemed unreliable, not like the chosen one who had the ability to break the rules. Therefore, based on the principle of maximizing returns, my father believed that valuable votes should not be wasted on Disraeli.

Therefore, he resolutely voted for Disraeli's direct rival, another candidate for Westminster, the bomb maniac General Thomas Kirkland.

Disraeli didn't understand or figure it out. In his father's eyes, wasn't he more worthy of voting than a boatload of gunpowder?

Sitting on a bench in the park, he felt the cold wind in the late autumn evening, but his heart was even colder.

He suddenly knelt down and prayed to the moon in the sky: "Autumn is over, winter is coming, and there is no grass growing in my heart. God! Why do you torture me like this? You might as well just take me away!"

But after he shouted for a long time, not only did he get no response, but the crowds passing by spontaneously formed a no-man's land with Disraeli as the center and a radius of five or six meters.

He glanced hatefully at the group of guys who were avoiding him, and kicked on the railing of Hyde Park. He only heard a not-so-lazy reminder accompanied by the buzzing and trembling sound of the railing.

"Mr. Disraeli, what are you doing?"

Disraeli looked back sharply and met Arthur's eyes.

He jumped back in shock, his pants caught on the edge of the railing: "Black...Officer Hastings?"

"Just call me Arthur. Didn't we have a good chat last time? But..." Arthur knocked on the iron sign hanging on the wall: "Didn't you see this notice? It is prohibited to damage the buildings in the park. and decoration.”

"I saw it."

"You kicked the railing when I saw it?"

"But I didn't see you!"

Disraeli's sudden honesty silenced Arthur for a moment.

He was silent for a while, then sat on a bench, lit his pipe, blew out a smoke ring and said, "That seems to make sense."

Disraeli sneered twice and sat down next to him sheepishly: "Sorry, I'm not in a good mood today. You should know. I'm not usually like this."

"Yes." Arthur nodded: "You are usually a good person when you are in a good mood, and you even help me move things."

Disraeli took off his hat and put it on his chest: "Uh... Arthur, I really don't know how to tell you... I... I always thought that I should be quite popular. I speak for everyone, I am determined to be an independent candidate without party interference.

I thought everyone would support me, but when I looked back, I found that... I felt like I was in the harsh winter of the Siberian snowfields. When I looked around, there was no one behind me.

I told you last time that I was very proud. Now it seems that I am so proud. I lost 7,000 pounds in business. I wrote a novel that made me scolded. Now I have no chance of being elected as a member of parliament. I don’t even know what I am going to do in this life. Did something valuable. "

When Arthur heard this, he just recited Shelley's famous line: "Let the trumpet of prophecy sound! O west wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

Disraeli was stunned when he heard this: "Why, do you think I can still be saved? Or are you here to discuss literature with me today?"

Arthur did not answer directly. He read another sentence: "If you cherish your feathers too much and don't damage them, then you will lose two wings and never be able to fly again."

Although Disraeli was young and vigorous, he was not stupid. He could naturally hear the underlying meaning of these two metaphors from Arthur.

"Well...you...you also think I should choose between the Whigs and the Tories?"

When Arthur heard this, he frowned slightly and said, "Yeah? Has anyone else said similar things to you?"

Disraeli didn't mean to hide it. He nodded and said: "Huh... yes, Mr. Rothschild also told me this. He told me that there is no future for a person to fight alone. I have to find a source of support for myself.

In Britain, if you want to win in small constituencies, you have to rely on the power of both parties, because the voters in those constituencies are basically controlled by them. And if I choose a large constituency, I also need a voice channel with enough voice.

For example, the Whig "Edinburgh Review" or the Tory "Quarterly Review". The impact of publishing an article there would be far greater than the impact I would receive from speaking in Hyde Park for a year. "

When Arthur heard this, he did not immediately reveal his feelings, but asked inductively: "So, if you don't want to be dominated by the two parties, but if you want to continue your political career, you can only start a newspaper of your own. Yes? Oh my god! That must cost a lot of money, right?"

Disraeli waved his hand and said: "Money is not the main problem. After the "Representative" that I founded with that son of a bitch Morrie a few years ago went bankrupt, I still have the printing machines and venues I purchased earlier. . And even though I went bankrupt last time, I still figured out some of the ways in the publishing industry, such as sales channels and so on. If I really wanted to do it, I would just need to recruit a few more employees.

And as I mentioned to you last time, although I converted to the state religion, I grew up in a Jewish community, so our family has some connections with Rothschild Bank. Even if I don’t have enough money on hand, I can find It wouldn't be a big problem if they borrowed it at all. "

Arthur nodded slightly and said: "Then doesn't everything look good? Why don't you want to re-register?"

When Disraeli heard this, he said bitterly: "Do you need to say this? Of course it's because my book "Vivian Gray" has completely offended everyone in the publishing industry. They have been clamoring to punish me and let me go. I have no place in the British literary circle. If I take the lead in running a newspaper, no one will dare to submit articles to me, because submitting articles to me is tantamount to declaring war on big literary magazines such as "Blackwood".

Moreover, selling newspapers is not as easy as you think. Readers' tastes change every day, and it is not easy to catch their attention. Even if I want to start a newspaper again, I have to find out my position first and figure out who my target group is. "

When Arthur heard this, he smiled and gave an example: "So, do you think it would be okay for Mrs. Cowper to add Mrs. Codrington, Mrs. Millbank, Mrs. Somerville and other lovely ladies from the Bluestocking Club? Oh, yes, and perhaps a few Royal Navy gentlemen, including General Thomas Cochrane, who defeated you at Westminster."

Disraeli originally said it casually, but when he heard this series of names coming out of Arthur's mouth, he couldn't help but widen his eyes: "Arthur, you are kidding me. Really? Why do these gentlemen and ladies want to buy my newspaper?"

Arthur didn't say much. He took out the manuscript of "The Count of Monte Cristo" from his arms and stuffed it into it.

He smiled and said: "Because these gentlemen and ladies told me that as long as any newspaper publishes this article, they are willing to order it for a year. In addition, I would like to add that "Blackwood" just announced this manuscript today It’s garbage, so I’m here to ask, are you interested in it?”