Shadow of great britain

"Mr. Faraday, please wait a moment."

Several internal affairs officers were sweating profusely. This was the first time Arthur had seen officials from higher-level departments lose their composure.

In the past, when Arthur went to the Home Office, these guys had always been non-staff personnel who never looked at Scotland Yard with their noses in the air.

If the security situation in London hadn't continued to deteriorate, and the importance of Scotland Yard had continued to become more prominent, Arthur might have had to apply for an appointment in advance if he wanted to meet these guys.

The clerks were the first to stop in front of Faraday. All of them had smiles on their faces. The leading clerk took out the envelope stuffed with the check directly from his arms. requested in the most humble tone.

"Mr. Faraday, I swear to God on my honor here that the minister has no intention of looking down on scientific researchers. Everyone knows that scientists from the Royal Society play a pivotal role in Britain. Although the Linnaean Society, Academic organizations such as the Geological Society and the Astronomical Society are equally important, but in our view, the Royal Society is still the brightest among the stars of countless scientific groups in Britain. How can Viscount Melbourne see the researchers of the Royal Society clearly? You must be I misunderstood what he meant.”

The other affairs officers also praised Faraday.

"Yes, first Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, then Henry Cavendish, John Dalton, your mentor Sir Humphrey Davy, and now the Royal Society A moment unique to you. Scientists from the Royal Society contributed to Britain the concept of chemical elements, the discovery of gravity, calculated the mass of the earth, proposed the atomic theory, and opened the era of electrolysis to study chemistry, and you are here The theory of electromagnetic induction has been added to a skyscraper that reaches straight into the clouds and reaches no peak."

"My God! Mr. Faraday, you are creating a century!"

"The cabinet has always attached great importance to the development of science, and will not turn a blind eye to those scientific researchers who have made significant contributions to the world but are still living in poverty. What's more, I feel that as far as the current situation is concerned, if Britain only If you can give a scientific subsidy to one person, then I think that person must be you."

"Mr. Faraday, I won't hide it anymore. In fact, I am one of your overwhelming followers. If someone really insults you, I am willing to fight him in your place. But Viscount Melbourne is definitely not that kind of person. You As long as you pay a little attention, you will find that he is a very approachable gentleman who observes social etiquette."

However, no matter how the stewards tried to find excuses, Faraday just didn't buy it.

Faraday raised his palms to signal them to stop: "I have already left a note to His Excellency the Viscount about scientific subsidies. If he feels that he can call scientific researchers in and out at once, then in that case, scientific subsidies It's hard to accept orders. I won't sell my precious time and dignity as an ordinary person for such a small subsidy."

After saying this, Faraday walked directly through the stewards, and no matter how they tried to persuade them to stay, Faraday never looked back.

When the audience of the science lecture ended, the gentlemen and ladies couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise when they saw this situation. Everyone didn't know what happened, and why Mr. Faraday, who had always been good-tempered, became angry in public.

When several gentlemen in the crowd saw this, they suddenly looked at each other and smiled. They took out small notebooks and pens from their coat pockets and chased after Faraday one by one.

The frustrated clerks couldn't help but slap their foreheads in shock when they caught a glimpse of those gentlemen.

"I know those guys, they're reporters from the London Morning Post and the Illustrated News!"

"Damn it! These unscrupulous people will definitely reveal everything."

"We have to think of something. The Viscount Melbourne case hasn't come out yet. If Faraday is added to the list now, then he will have knives all over his body."

"The position of the Minister of the Interior will not be changed because of this, right?"

"Such a trivial matter will not cause the Prime Minister to reshuffle the cabinet, but if His Excellency the Viscount is in a bad mood, we will definitely not be able to escape the label of being unlucky. He has just been in the position of Minister of the Interior for a year, and we will get along with him in the future. The days are still long.”

"These bastard reporters are like flies. You just fart and they will smell it and they will come. If you like strong flavors so much, go ahead and drink two gallons of Thames water! That thing is fucking It’s not a limited supply!”

"Stop scolding, let's find a way to deal with them first. Faraday seems to be determined now. We can only start with reporters first. Do you have any ideas?"

"There is a way? Of course there is. Journalists are just asking for money, and their professional ethics are not necessarily better than those of prostitutes. Fortunately, we only met a few young reporters today and not Thomas Barn of The Times Si.”

"Is there any difference between Barnes and a young reporter?"

"Of course, Barnes is the editor-in-chief, and he is also from The Times, so he is not short of money now, but has already started erecting memorial arches!"

The stewards were cursing, and suddenly, a voice that was so calm that there was no fluctuation came from their ears.

"Sorry, I just heard someone mention the word 'prostitute'. According to the bill recently passed by the Parliament and the newly revised "Town Police Regulations" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, due to the insulting connotation and unique social stigma of this title, So it has been officially banned from use. According to the regulations, any person or social group who uses this word will be sentenced to three to seven days of hard labor, then..."

When the officers heard this, they couldn't help but turn their heads to look at the young police officer and his deputy who appeared next to them at some unknown time with a bandage around their necks.

"Superintendent Hastings? And... Inspector Bonaparte?"

Arthur was pretending to supervise Louis beside him to write a case statement. When he heard this, he raised his head pretending to be surprised and asked: "Do you know me?"

After the clerk saw Arthur's face clearly, he was stunned for a moment, and then said in surprise: "It's really you!"

Arthur frowned and was silent for a long time, then suddenly said: "Sir, it is useless to get close to the police after being caught committing a crime. From what I see in your clothes, you should be a decent person. If you don't want to be fined with hard labor, You can also pay a fine. Since you are the first offender and the circumstances are relatively minor, as long as you promise not to do it again in the future, you can just pay three shillings and it will be over."

When the clerk heard this, he quickly defended: "Mr. Hastings, have you forgotten? I met you when you came to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to submit the equipment requirements for the Police Intelligence Bureau at the beginning of this year. I, Internal Affairs Frank Butt of the Ministry.”

"Frank Bart?" Arthur frowned and thought thoughtfully: "Submit equipment requirements? Sorry, that matter has been in the past for too long. Can you be more specific?"

The clerk hurriedly added: "It was raining that day and the wind was quite strong. There was something wrong with the format of your equipment list. I ran several times on Whitehall Street and even fell in the middle. It wasn't until the fourth time that I ran talent……"

When the steward said this, before Arthur could tell him to shut up, he shut up himself.

Bart smiled awkwardly and said: "Mr. Hastings, if it was because of that, then I apologize to you. But you have to understand that this is a department rule and we also act according to the rules."

This time, before Arthur could speak, Louis on the side had already written a description of the case. He ripped off the paper from his notebook with a hiss and said to Arthur: "Sir, according to the regulations, we need to turn this Mr. Bart to Scotland Yard. You are injured and have difficulty moving, so why not let me do it for you."

Bart heard this and quickly changed his words: "Mr. Hastings, the rules are rules, but people are always flexible. The main reason for that day was that the Ministry of Internal Affairs had used up all the forms, otherwise I would not have asked you to go to the printing factory to reprint one. But don’t worry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has recruited a lot of new people this year, so this kind of low-level mistake will definitely not happen again, and even if it does, it won’t happen to you."

The young affairs officer on the side couldn't help but wrinkled his nose slightly when he saw that the superintendent of Scotland Yard could actually ride on the head of the superior department.

When the leading officer saw this, he quickly glared at them, and then said to Arthur with a smile on his face: "Superintendent Hastings, everyone knows that you have a very diligent work attitude and like to do everything yourself. . But please allow me to make some untimely comments. For a small matter like submitting a list of equipment, it is too much for a senior police officer like you to take action.

But I can understand it, after all, at the beginning of the year, the Police Intelligence Bureau was short of manpower, and many times you couldn't find anyone to help you share tasks. This point will definitely be taken into consideration when the Ministry of Internal Affairs prepares the next annual budget. It is completely necessary to add several civilian positions for key departments such as the Police Intelligence Bureau. Do you think so? "

Arthur finally smiled after hearing this, and shook hands with the other party: "Thank you for your understanding of the work of lower-level departments. Our tasks are indeed very heavy. But considering that the work of other departments is also not easy, I have always insisted I refrained from submitting an expansion request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. You took the initiative to propose the creation of six more civilian positions with the rank of sergeant, which really solved our urgent need."

As soon as Arthur said this, the other affairs officers took a deep breath.

They never thought that Arthur would use such a trivial matter to blackmail the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and even ask for six more positions, and they must be at the salary level of the sergeant.

A police sergeant spends about 50 pounds in salary subsidy every year, six equals 300 pounds.

The fine for rude words was only three shillings, which was a price difference of two thousand times.

Bart, who had been cowering just now, couldn't help but turned green with anger when he heard the price. He asked: "Mr. Hastings, I know you have a college education. Then you should know, Mr. San The order is less than three hundred pounds."

Arthur said lightly: "The professors at the University of London have not directly taught me the relationship between three and six thousand. However, as far as I know, the general understanding of the classical literature department next door is that the tuition fee is twenty-three pounds and six shillings." What is learned is usually greater than what can be learned with one hundred pounds. So I infer from this that three shillings should also be worth more than three hundred pounds."

"ha?"

When Bart heard this, he thought Arthur had gone mad. Just when he was about to make a few sarcastic remarks, the old steward beside him agreed.

"Of course, mathematical changes are always very mysterious. In the hands of a capable person, three shillings can be worth three thousand pounds. But in the hands of a mediocre person, thirty thousand pounds is worthless. And this is why the Viscount of Melbourne must send this annual living allowance of three hundred pounds to Mr. Faraday and not to anyone else. This is because we believe that he will not have to worry about it after receiving this money. With a busy life, you can better devote yourself to science.

The purpose of adding six more sergeants to the Police Intelligence Bureau is also for the same purpose. Mr. Hastings, we think you can make good use of your free time after getting out of the literary world to do something more meaningful, such as persuading Faraday. Sir accept the money. "

After saying this, the old clerk smoothly took out the hot potato containing the check and stuffed it into Arthur's hand. He said in a serious tone that could not be refused: "Mr. Hastings, for the sake of the police, For the Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, you won’t disappoint Viscount Melbourne, right?”

Arthur held the envelope and curled his lips slightly: "Well, seeing that everyone is thinking about Britain, what is going on?"

When the old steward saw Arthur taking over the task, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He said with a smile on his face: "Actually, it's nothing. It's just a small misunderstanding between Viscount Melbourne and Mr. Faraday. You should have heard about it, because the royal family The society's income situation has never been very optimistic, and scientists even need to hold regular scientific lectures to raise funds. Therefore, the salary packages received by the Royal Society's scientific researchers are even more pessimistic.

In order to solve this problem, Sir Peel publicly called for the establishment of a special annuity in Parliament to reward those who have made outstanding contributions in science or literature. This work was eventually handed over to the Ministry of Home Affairs. In order to show the importance to the scientists, we also arranged for the Viscount of Melbourne to personally visit the Royal Society and hand over the annuity to the person who ranked first on this list. Mr. Faraday.

Unexpectedly, Viscount Melbourne seemed absent-minded when talking to Mr. Faraday because of some personal matters that day. Moreover, His Excellency the Viscount himself does not love science as much as Sir Peel and his sister Lady Cowper, so his words showed a little bit of frivolity and...well, don't care...what happened after that is what you see today. Arrived. Faraday was outraged. "

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

If this had not been said by a senior affairs officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Arthur would have definitely thought that the other party was lying.

Because based on his contact with Viscount Melbourne, even if this gentle aristocratic gentleman really didn't care about the treatment of scientists, he would not show it in front of others.

After all, he is a veteran who has been involved in politics for decades. If Melbourne is really short-minded, he will not be able to sit in the position of Minister of the Interior.

Arthur couldn't help but asked: "You said that Viscount Melbourne was distracted by some private matters. Can I know what it is?"

When the clerk heard Arthur's questioning, he felt a little embarrassed at first, but in order to let Arthur take over this mess, he finally decided not to hide it anymore.

He couldn't hide this kind of thing anyway. The affair of the Minister of the Interior would eventually spread to the whole city.

The clerk sighed and said: "Now that it has happened, I won't hide it from you. Someone brought the Viscount of Melbourne to court, saying that he seduced married women, corrupted social customs, and failed both Christ and his relatives. I At this point, you can probably guess it. Yes, the prosecutor is Judge Norton, and the defendant is our minister and Mrs. Norton."