Shadow of great britain

"Yes, I am Arthur Hastings."

The average British person always hates this kind of self-interested behavior, but Arthur, as an atypical British gentleman and Scotland Yard police officer, never resists this kind of thing.

Because of his bad habits, he often gets unexpected information from many street encounters, and today this time also brought him extraordinary news.

The middle-aged gentleman excitedly held Arthur's hand when he heard this.

"Oh my god! It turns out it's really you! God bless you. He must have sent you to rescue those poor children!"

"Poor child? Sir, may I venture to ask, who are you?"

"Oh, sorry! I forgot to introduce myself."

The middle-aged gentleman quickly took out a business card from his coat pocket and handed it over respectfully: "I am Edward Brenton, chairman of the British Children's Friends Association. I have seen the introduction in the London newspaper before. Your story is that of an upright and caring gentleman, a Scotland Yard police officer who had no room for evil in his eyes."

Agares, who had just returned from a walk, heard someone flattering Arthur as soon as he opened the door. The Red Devil took off his hat and threw it on the counter. He looked at his butt and drank the beer in hand: "Hiccup! That's okay. ! Arthur, I thought I was the only one who would discuss business with you today, but I didn’t expect that your business is quite busy."

Arthur glanced at the red devil, then turned his gaze back to the gentleman in front of him.

Although he knew that receiving a few kind words from others would probably cost him money, he still planned to hear what kind of price the other party wanted.

"Sir, who introduced you here, and what problems did you encounter?"

Brenton hurriedly introduced: "Mr. Schweizer introduced me here, and my identity is as you can see on the business card. As the chairman of the British Children's Friends Association, I am committed to helping street children find a home. A new home. Or more specifically, we will sponsor their journey to overseas colonies for free..."

"Wait!" Arthur raised his hand and interrupted Brenton: "Sir, do you want to tell me that your business is to send underage children to work overseas? Damn it! I thought Liverpool is now The pillar industry is no longer the slave trade.”

It seems that this is not the first time that Brenton has been thought this way. He defended himself repeatedly: "Don't get me wrong, our association is not engaged in slave trade, and all of our business is non-profit. We sincerely want to "It's far better to help those kids build a career overseas than to have them beg, steal or shine shoes at home."

Arthur put away the documents on the table and stood up: "Sir, since you have read about my experience in the newspaper, you must know which case I solved and started my career. Or even if you take a step back, even if you I really did this with good intentions, and I still don’t think throwing a bunch of children into overseas colonies is an idea worthy of God.

By the way, I would like to ask you to make a concession. Next, I have to go to Mr. Schweizer to have a good talk about his import and export trade. If the Port Authority releases his ships, that's what he intends to do with those ships, so just pretend I didn't mention it to him about advertising. "

Seeing that Arthur was about to leave, Brenton hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Mr. Hastings, why do you need to go to Mr. Swire? I can give you an answer here. We did order a boat from him." Hundreds of children shipped to Canada.”

When the red devil heard this, he slapped his thigh with joy: "This old boy didn't bring it upon himself! Arthur, you quickly kill him with one shot. With multiple souls and multiple chips, you and I can just talk about what's next." Business."

Arthur thought about Agares' words, and he couldn't figure out which of the thirty-six tactics the Red Devil had used today.

But the only thing Arthur can be sure of is that since this gentleman can make Agares, the devil who has no profit and no early time, speak freely, then there must be something about him that can allow the Red Devil to harvest the soul.

Arthur suddenly stopped when he thought of this. He took out his pocket watch and took a look, then asked solemnly: "Mr. Brenton, you'd better explain what's going on here in three minutes. "

Seeing that Arthur finally relented, Brenton quickly seized the opportunity to clarify his request.

"Mr. Hastings, first of all, in order to gain your trust, the association can show you all the accounts. And I can also swear to God with my conscience here, if I make any ill-gotten gains with these children, Then let me go to hell!

Since you are a police officer, you must know how many homeless people are currently living in Britain's urban areas. Take London as an example. According to statistics from our association, there are about 100,000 homeless people in the Greater London area alone. Children account for a considerable portion of these homeless people.

These children do not have mature concepts and lack the ability to judge right and wrong, and are easily instigated by others to do illegal and criminal things. In London's Old Bailey court alone, 103 children under the age of 14 have been sentenced to death for crimes in the past 30 years, and countless more have been sentenced to exile. There are dozens of magistrates' courts in London, such as the Old Bailey.

Even if they have good nature and are not tempted by evil, but intend to support themselves. But...I, I don't know if you've ever been to the factories on the East Side, where the kids didn't get the slightest bit of school time or play time.

I once talked to a seven-year-old girl there, a seven-year-old child who didn't know the meaning of the word 'play', who knew Jesus but not God, who had never left her since she was born. In that cramped area, I had never seen trees or grass, nor did I know what a beautiful daisy was.

Faced with such a situation, do you still insist on letting them stay in the sinful East End and not allow them to go to overseas colonies to find new opportunities? "

As soon as Brenton finished speaking, he felt as if gravity had lost its effect on him. The feeling of lack of oxygen made his face turn red for a moment, and then he realized that his collar had been lifted up at some point, and at this time, his feet were dangling in the air.

It was only then that he remembered that the person standing in front of him was not only a polite young man, but also a government official who specialized in dirty work.

"Mr. Brenton, I said, I will only give you three minutes. If you really want to seek help, please come up with some problems that I can solve instead of questioning me about moral factors. Moral aspects I have asked myself too many things in the past year or so. So, now I want to say something more real. I just want to know, what can I do?"

When the Red Devil saw this situation, he just shook his head in disgust: "Arthur, I told you a long time ago. Kill him with one shot. There will be no problems. If the problem cannot be solved, why are you asking so many questions?"

Brenton's collar suddenly loosened, and he fell from mid-air to the ground. He covered his collar and gasped for breath: "rude! You are so rude."

Arthur leaned on the bar and raised his head at the bartender who came to watch, signaling everyone to go away.

He lit a match and lit his pipe, then opened a corner of his coat to reveal his pistol: "Mr. Brenton, you have one minute. I guarantee that if you don't make the problem clear, you will be even more rude later."

Brenton didn't expect Arthur to have such an attitude. Judging from the brief contact today, this young police officer was not as warm as the newspapers said, nor was he as easy to get along with as Schweizer said. , this is just an unreasonable thug.

Brenton gasped and stood up holding on to the table: "Mr. Swire's ship has been impounded, and our child immigration plan cannot proceed smoothly. To make matters worse, the Port Authority notified us a while ago that the Department of Colonial Affairs The latest regulations state that all private immigration applications will be frozen during the cholera epidemic, regardless of whether they are in or out.

The hundreds of homeless children currently in the association have been in Liverpool for two full months now. If this continues, the funds we have raised will soon dry up. What's worse is that even if we are determined to let them return to wandering, judging from the current situation, various parishes are scrambling to expel homeless people in order to prevent the introduction of cholera.

If the children go back to wandering, they can only wander on the edge of the town, or in the unregulated mountains and forests. You know, in this condition, they won't survive more than a few days. "

While listening to Brenton's statement, Arthur took out white gloves from his pocket and put them on: "I have no right to overturn the decision of the Department of Colonial Affairs. Since they decided to suspend civil immigration, it is a suspension. If it is to take the Royal Navy To be honest, the number of hundreds of people on the exile ship was too conspicuous.

And I doubt the Royal Navy would respect the lives of these street children more than you do. After all, their sailors had to be whipped from time to time, not to mention everyone else. However, if it is just to solve the problem of food, clothing, housing and transportation for this group of street children during the cholera period, then I can still provide some small suggestions. "

Brenton thought Arthur wouldn't help. He was dragging his aching legs out. When he heard this, he couldn't help but turned around: "What suggestions do you have?"

Arthur took out his pocket watch and took a look: "Tomorrow at five o'clock in the afternoon, bring your association's accounts and come to see me at the Golden Lion Hotel in the old dock. If nothing else happens, by then, you will have everything to eat and drink. ."

After saying this, Arthur opened the door and walked out.

But halfway through, he suddenly seemed to remember something. He turned and shouted to Brenton: "As for today's share, remember to ask Mr. Shihuaiya to get it. Tell him that the magazine sales have been booming recently, so the advertising column The value has increased slightly."

Agares, who was floating next to Arthur, heard this and couldn't help but sneered: "You might as well say that this is part of the money paid to God."

Arthur ignored the red devil's sarcasm and put on his hat as he walked: "Didn't you say you wanted to discuss business with me? Where are the opportunities to make a fortune?"

Agares swayed slowly with his hands behind his back. The evil red devil kicked away a black cat lying on the ground basking in the sun, and said: "A little reminder, someone is thinking about how to deal with you."

"This tip is worthless." Arthur took a puff of cigarette: "It doesn't interest me in buying it."

"Oh, my dear Arthur." The red devil grinned: "Don't be so anxious, I haven't finished speaking yet. It's not just a group of people who want to deal with you, and it's not just Liverpool."

Arthur walked with a normal expression: "Go on."

The red devil widened his eyes and said, "It's time to pay now!"

Arthur stopped and asked, "What's the price?"

"Oh, the price!" Agares punched the air excitedly: "What a wonderful word! Arthur, do you know how difficult it is to make a deal with you? You, a little scoundrel, have a high family. Almost all the high-end items are gifts from others, whether they are violins or gramophones!"

"No way." Arthur picked his ears nonchalantly: "Everyone is so enthusiastic."

Agares said: "I won't ask you for more money. As a high-quality customer, I only want the souls you have left. Let's settle the account for this order."

"So cheap?" Now Arthur was suspicious.

"Cheap? Of course, the services I provide are always high-quality and low-priced. To be honest, if I hadn't seen that you have a lot of money on hand and are not very motivated to work, I wouldn't bother to ask for the souls of the pirates you have on hand. It's heavy in salt and smells like sweat, and when you bite it, it's like expiration of expired beer."

"Agares, you don't know how to appreciate it. Wine-filled chocolate is a precious thing."

"Fuck you! Only a crazy guy likes this kind of thing."

Perhaps he had been suppressed for too long, but the Red Devil, who finally closed a deal, was extremely excited. At the end of the year, he was very proud to avoid zero trading volume this year.

Agares tugged at the red tie he had come from and announced in an Italian tenor-like tone: "I accidentally learned that the businessmen of the Liverpool Association just gathered together for a brief meeting this morning. A small meeting. The main discussion at the meeting was whether it is more cost-effective to give you a little sweetness or to directly show toughness."

Arthur leaned against the alley wall and smoked: "What's the conclusion?"

The red devil rubbed his hands and said with a playful smile: "Some people want to play soft, some want to play hard, and the final result is of course a combination of soft and hard. To be honest, after so many years, the changes in Britain really surprise me. The energy of the businessmen It's simply not the same as before.

They are no longer the poor people who knelt beside the noble master and begged, but are the power holders who can turn the clouds and rain with their hands. There are not only old Whigs and old Tories in the Liverpool Association, but more importantly, they all have the ability to communicate with London and thus influence government decisions.

From what I understand so far, they have at least started operating their nearest parliament and treasury, so you'd better be careful about that. "

When Arthur heard this, he just replied: "That's all? Agares, if that's all, I have to say that the price of your intelligence is a bit exaggerated. If you are an informant from Scotland Yard, I will definitely I’ll give you some compensation so you can go back and forth from where you came.”

"Oh, Arthur, you are really impatient." The Red Devil covered his mouth and snickered: "Liverpool is a little annoyed with you for the time being and wants to send you away quickly. But the guy from London wants to But it’s your life.”