Shadow of great britain

Knightsbridge, southeast corner of Hyde Park, Wellington's private residence - London No. 1, Apsley House.

The Duke of Wellington held the goblet in his hand and looked at Arthur who came to return with surprise.

"Young man, I thought it would take you a while to get something useful for me, but you have gained something so quickly?"

Arthur smiled and replied: "A little unexpected surprise, although it may not come in handy, but in view of the increasingly tight time before the meeting, I think that even the smallest news should be notified to you in time. After all, it is in your hands." "Sometimes just a trivial breakthrough is enough to help Britain obtain huge national interests."

When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he couldn't help but smile and said: "He is really a talkative young man. Would you like some drinks? I would rather recommend Pavilion Margaux at Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux."

Arthur nodded and said: "I have never marched in France, so I don't know much about the wine there. Since you think this wine is good, I choose to believe you."

The Duke of Wellington hummed a tune in a good mood, raised his hand and took out a bottle of white wine with a label on it from the wine cabinet and poured two glasses. One was handed to Arthur, and the other was kept for himself.

He leaned on the sofa chair and took a sip of wine, then asked with a smile: "Okay, boy, tell me what good news you brought me."

Arthur said: "According to your order, I visited the Russian Embassy this morning and met Mr. Clemens Metternich, Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire, there."

"Well... Metternich..." Duke Wellington pinched his chin: "I guessed early on that he would definitely go to Dorothea immediately after arriving in London. I didn't expect that I was right."

When Arthur heard what the Duke said, he was not stupid enough to ask Wellington why he guessed so, but continued to state: "In addition, I also brought back a Russian-style Austrian document from the embassy. Souvenirs.”

"Souvenir?" When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he couldn't help but joked: "Is this some slang for you Scotland Yard police officers?"

Arthur smiled and said: "It's not from Scotland, but from LPS. That's all, I'll just tell you the truth. I got some of Mrs. Leven's personal belongings."

"Mrs. Leven's personal belongings?" Duke Wellington couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "What a coincidence, I also have a copy here, and it's personal."

Arthur was caught off guard by the Duke of Wellington. He was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the other party was telling dirty jokes.

He was either crying or laughing for a moment. He held it in for a long time before he said: "Sir, the one I got is not for cloth."

"Huh?" Duke Wellington raised his eyebrows and said, "It's not made of cloth? That's quite novel."

Arthur emphasized: "To be precise, this personal item does not belong to Mrs. Leven, but to Mr. Metternich."

"Ah?!" When the sixty-year-old Duke heard this, he almost spat out the wine in his mouth: "Arthur, you young man, do you think I should praise you for your superb skills, or should I praise you? You're young and ignorant. You'd better take that kind of thing back, I don't need that kind of collection."

Seeing the situation getting darker and darker, Arthur quickly clarified: "To be more precise, Metternich gave it to Mrs. Leven."

"Oh, that's not bad." Duke Wellington took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his sweat: "Young man, although we Britons are more reserved in our speech, in front of soldiers like me, you still speak the most. It’s easy to pick out the key points. What you said shocked me, I thought you had done something big and big.”

Seeing that he was getting more and more confused, Arthur had to quickly take out the letter and the translation, put them on the table and push them over: "This is the love letter that Metternich wrote to Mrs. Leven in 1818. Please read it."

"love letter?"

The Duke of Wellington raised his white eyebrows. The old man opened the drawer and took out a magnifying glass. He squinted and carefully read the original text and translation of the letter from top to bottom, word by word: "Metternich's writing is good, no wonder He can thrive in a fashionable city like Vienna, so it’s no wonder that so many ladies are attracted to him..."

Arthur pretended not to hear the Duke's literary appreciation. He just stated the points he had compiled early in the morning as planned.

"According to the report of the LPS special intelligence officer, we only found this letter in Mrs. Leven's bedroom. But based on the information in the letter, we can reasonably infer that Mr. Metternich must have written more than just this love letter to Mrs. Leven. .

However, Mrs. Leven deliberately selected this letter during today's meeting and combined it with the fact that this love letter was written in Brussels, Belgium. Therefore, I reasonably suspect that in addition to rekindling old friendship, Mr. Metternich and Mrs. Leven should also meet today. The issue of Belgian independence was discussed.

Because of this, I will rush over to report the situation to you as soon as I hear the news. While I don't know exactly what step they're talking about, I think you could probably factor in a situation where Austria and Russia are on the same side. "

Although Arthur said it tactfully, the Duke of Wellington certainly understood what he meant.

Although the Tories are worried about the July Revolution in France and the independence of Belgium, the Tories are only worried at best, while Russia and Austria are directly anxious.

As countries on the same continent, these two traditional European autocratic powers have always been highly vigilant against revolutionary waves.

As a die-hard supporter of authoritarianism, Metternich intended to stand with Russia against France and Belgium.

However, although there have been guesses in advance, it is always good to be able to determine Metternich’s true attitude in advance, because the Duke of Wellington happened to have an appointment with Metternich for dinner tonight. As a battle-tested veteran, , what the Duke of Wellington likes to fight most is this kind of knowing battle.

So far, he has achieved no defeat despite having an intelligence advantage.

With Arthur's advance warning, he had already determined what questions to ask and what tone to use when talking to Metternich tonight.

If Metternich refused to give in, the Duke of Wellington felt that he might have to talk to the powerful Austrian Prime Minister about the huge war debts owed by Austria during the Napoleonic Wars.

According to the Duke of Wellington's understanding, Austria's debt problem has reached the point where it needs to issue new debt to repay the interest on old debt.

It is true that Russia can also absorb part of Austria's new national debt, but a large part of Austria's old national debt is held by the United Kingdom.

As long as Metternich, an old man, dared to show even the slightest tough stance, Britain would dare to sell Austrian government bonds, lower the issuance price of their new government bonds and increase the cost of paying interest on their government bonds.

As long as we focus on this point, the Duke of Wellington guarantees that the Austrians will not be able to have a good Christmas in the next few years.

Of course, he did not plan to have a showdown with Metternich so soon. After all, Austria's tough attitude was also a bargaining chip used by Britain to bargain with France.

Although the United Kingdom feels that Belgium can become independent or not, even if Belgium becomes independent, it cannot become a pro-French regime.

Both the Netherlands and Belgium must become Great Britain's loyal little brothers.

This was also the focus of debate between him and Talleyrand, the French ambassador to the UK, during this period.

Now that Austria is under control, then just focus on how to deal with France and Russia.

Judging from the attitude shown by Talleyrand in the past two days, France's bottom line seems to be very clear. As long as the Netherlands allows Belgium to become independent, other issues can be discussed.

After all, after their defeat in the Napoleonic War, they had been facing the problem of being trapped in an anti-French encirclement network. As long as they could open a hole in the encirclement network, it would be a huge improvement compared to before.

But the appetite of Tsarist Russia may not be so easy to satisfy. Nicholas I was a ruler with a strong desire for power and control, and Tsarist Russia, whose power continued to advance westward, naturally hoped to suffocate France, a powerful country in Western Europe, in a network of encirclement.

If Austria retreats, Tsarist Russia's attitude may loosen, and the rest depends on how to negotiate terms.

But just as the United Kingdom does not want a powerful France to emerge, the United Kingdom also does not want a Russia spanning Eastern and Western Europe.

It was already uncomfortable enough to see Russia's Mediterranean fleet operating unimpeded in the Dardanelles Strait. Now they are planning to expand westward on land, and Britain cannot agree to anything.

The Duke of Wellington was thinking that maybe he could ask Foreign Secretary Palmerston to contact the Prussian delegation, or maybe ask King William IV of England to write a letter to King William I of Prussia?

Although the King of Prussia is a cousin of the King of the Netherlands, our King William IV is also known as the King of Hanover, and Hanover is still part of the German Confederation.

In terms of geographical relationship, Hannover and Prussia are closer than the Netherlands and Prussia, right?

Thinking of this, Duke Wellington put down his goblet and stood up and said: "Arthur, I'll trouble you this time. I will report Metternich's matter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If this London meeting can be a complete success, what's going on here?" Your help is definitely indispensable.”

Arthur also stood up and said: "Your Excellency, this love letter is an unexpected surprise. According to my plan, later this week, LPS intelligence officers will go to the Russian Embassy to try their luck. In order to distract the Russian mission I just gave Mrs. Levine some concert tickets today, and judging from her attitude, she will definitely attend this weekend."

Having said this, Arthur took out a few more tickets from his jacket pocket and placed them on the table: "If you plan to meet Mrs. Levine in person, this weekend's concert is also an opportunity. I will reserve the tickets for you. Here, if you don’t have time, you can also give it to a friend or family member. This concert will feature Mr. Moscheles, Mr. Mendelssohn and even Mr. Clementi. If the ticket is wasted, it will be It’s a pity.”

"Will Clementi perform?" Duke Wellington was surprised when he heard this, and then picked up the ticket and glanced at it: "It is indeed a good concert, and the level of the participants is very high. !”

When he said this, he suddenly caught sight of Arthur's name out of the corner of his eye. The Duke couldn't help laughing and said, "What? Are you in there too?"

Arthur smiled and said: "I have to be inside, otherwise it would be too suspicious for me to give this ticket to Mrs. Levine. But don't worry, although I don't play well, I can barely handle a piece of music."

When the Duke heard this, he stuffed the ticket into his jacket pocket logically: "It's okay if you can't handle it. Don't you have that phonograph? Just bring it with you. I'm quite curious about that gadget. That thing is really Is it as magical as everyone says? If it is true, I will have to consider buying one to play with one day."

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly remembered what Wheatstone had mentioned to him before. He said at the right time: "If you want to get one, I can just send someone to deliver it to your house later. But, You may have to wait a while, as Mr. Wheatstone, the maker of the gramophone, has recently been distracted by patent applications and has been unable to concentrate on making the product."

"Patent? Isn't that simple?"

Wellington took out his quill from the table and wrote a note and handed it over: "Ask Wheatstone to take this when he applies for a patent. If anyone asks, just say I sent him. In about a week, the patent will be ready." If it can be done, if it is not stuck with His Majesty the King for several days, it will probably be done in three days. If it is not done after the time limit, come and tell me, and I will personally ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Chancery Chamber. , what on earth are they doing.”

I've been feeling a little better these past two days, and recently resumed updating 6K+ 2 times a day. There are currently 127,000 updates this month, and we will gradually increase the number of updates in the future, striving to make up for the 18,000 updates this month.