Shadow of great britain

At the banquet, the hall downstairs was full of lights and feasting, and the exciting dance moves of young people and the strong hormonal atmosphere were everywhere.

But when I zoomed to the second floor, I found that the atmosphere here was obviously different from the cheerful dance scene.

In the entertainment room on the second floor, the old men were huddled on the sofa and warming themselves by the fireplace.

In the process of pushing the glasses and changing the cups, I could only see the turbulent wine and the blurred face reflected behind the purple wine.

The place is filled with smoke and the smell of expensive cigars.

In the quiet environment, you can only hear the sound of playing cards falling on the table.

"John, did you deliver the small gift that the association asked you to deliver to Mr. Hastings?"

"Don't worry, let him have fun at the dance first. Drinking a little wine, paired with some women's fragrance that can disturb people's minds, will help young people figure out what they want in this life."

"Didn't you arrange some suitable ladies for him? By the way, do you want to find out some information that is not convenient for men to inquire about?"

"Oh, Robert, looking at this old pocket watch, I can hear the sound of the gears turning in your head. I am different from you. The Gladstone family's business is open and transparent, and I don't need to inquire about anyone. Let it go, I shouldn’t be pleading, but I won’t listen if you ask me to listen.”

"Don't you send people to keep an eye on him? If I had known you wouldn't do this, I would have sent people to do it. I heard that the boy from London has been nowhere to be found today. He is not staying in the hotel with An Anxin. I'm worried about checking the accounts, what are you doing outside?"

"It's not that everyone hasn't been sent, it's just that it's inconvenient for us to do this job. Henry sent someone, and the carriage company under him is best suited to do this."

"Henry, any news?"

"I sent someone to follow him for a while, but he didn't go anywhere. He just walked around the city of Liverpool and then went to the Munro Tavern for a drink."

"Ha, life is going well! It seems that our Mr. Hastings is not a difficult person to get along with. He said so harshly at the Customs Department meeting before. It seems that it was just a joke?"

"The Royal Navy didn't take his words as a joke. They sailed out all the ships last evening. From the looks of it, they were probably hungry after being bored on land for too long."

"The sailors may be coveting the contraband, but the colonels are not necessarily. After all, everyone knows that every captain's position is watched by at least three reserve colonels on shore. Perhaps the Navy Department is not very good at restraining the sailors. , but when it comes to restraining officers, they can do whatever they want."

"I don't care what the Admiralty thinks about it, but we need an explanation from the Board of Trade for the port segregation policy. If they want Liverpool's customs revenue to be cut in half as it was during the Napoleonic Wars, then they can do it all. They will implement a 40-day quarantine. But if they still want to hold on to Liverpool, the hen that can only lay golden eggs, then it is best to be more flexible in their policies."

"You are right. It took Britain several centuries to dominate the trade between the Americas and the Levant. It was unavoidable that Liverpool suffered losses because of Napoleon's Europa plague. We also fully understand Cabinet decision. But now it would be ridiculous if we were to give up these hard-won trade shares just because of a small case of cholera!"

"Keep your voice down, Henry, it's really rude of you to compare Napoleon like this. You may not know yet, but the little follower next to our Superintendent Hastings is from the Napoleon family."

"He is from Napoleon's family?!"

"Yes, if Napoleon and his father had not died, the young man would have been the first in line to the throne of the Netherlands by now."

"How did you know about this?"

"It's very simple. I received a letter from the Foreign Secretary, Viscount Palmerston, this afternoon. In the letter, His Excellency the Viscount introduced me to the current situation in London, and also explained to me the background of Mr. Hastings.

All in all, His Excellency the Viscount’s advice is for us to be patient for now, and the quarantine policy should be adjusted soon. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also believes that the forty-day port quarantine policy goes too far, and this policy has also caused panic in other countries.

Many countries have now classified the UK as a major epidemic area, which means that our ships departing from Britain to other countries must also undergo quarantine upon arrival. The specific number of days of quarantine depends on the policies of different countries.

Because of this incident, the West India Company, the East India Company, the Moscow Company, the Levant Company, the African Company, the Hudson's Bay Company and other large companies that have monopolized franchises have all exploded in the past few days. pot.

When we don't do business, we can at most take a short vacation, but there are still so many people in these companies who have to support themselves. Therefore, during this period, letters of protest were falling like snowflakes to the Foreign Office and the Department of War and Colonial Affairs. Even if the two departments can hold on for a while, or they may decide on a whim to join forces with the Chancery of Justice to fight against everyone's opinions.

Then after the opening of the new parliament, the positions of Foreign Secretary and Secretary of War and Colonial Affairs are expected to be changed. We all know how many of the congressmen’s brothers and nephews work in these companies. They usually have good food and drink, and a high salary to cover their expenses. Now is the critical moment, and it’s time for these slackers to make some contribution to the company. "

"Mike, why do you look so sure of victory? Can Palmerston's words give you so much confidence? Don't forget, he has a criminal record in this area. He signed the order to dispatch the cavalry to Peterloo to suppress it. That's him, he was also one of the leaders of the six special laws. If he talks nicely, the Whigs won't change their minds by then, right?"

"They must have the ability to change their minds! The Prime Minister, Earl Gray, is currently at loggerheads with the Duke of Wellington over parliamentary reform. Although the distinguished Duke is now in opposition, he still has the Governor of Cinque Ports and the Governor of Cinque Ports on his head. What about the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Army. If the Cabinet wants to use force and the Duke of Wellington doesn't agree, who do you think the Army will listen to?"

"I guess the cabinet will send someone to St. Helena to dig out Napoleon's coffin and invite it to London."

"Our company will handle this business, as long as the cabinet doesn't let me implement the quarantine policy."

"Of course it can't be quarantined. The body will be quarantined for forty days and maggots will not be allowed to grow when it is transported to the shore?"

"As soon as I opened the cabin, the whole room was filled with miasma."

"Ah...it's been going on for a long time. Was the cholera caused by Napoleon?"

"Otherwise, most of the trouble in Britain is the French disease."

At this point, the old men laughed heartily, and their top hats fell to the ground with laughter.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door outside the entertainment room.

Gladstone walked into the room, and before he could speak, the old pocket watch Mr. Rothwell asked with a smile: "Oh, my dear William, did you enjoy your stay tonight?"

Gladstone's face turned slightly red when he heard this. He held the wine glass and nodded: "It's quite pleasant, Mr. Roswell. I had a great time tonight. My friends and I talked about music, literature, art, and of course , and the Bible.”

When Mr. Roswell heard this, he just held his chin and shook his head and said, "William, the conversation is still too superficial. You can talk about more in-depth topics."

"Uh..." Gladstone was silent for a while and suddenly asked: "Are you saying that I should talk about the recent sudden announcement of interest rate cuts by the Bank of England and Barings Bank?"

The bad old men on the side heard this and started cheering.

"William, that's right, let's talk about this, we are interested."

"You can also talk about your views on overseas trade and the devastating impact the quarantine policy will have on the price of cotton and linen products."

"By the way, let me talk about my views on the overseas political situation. Recently, the Egyptian Pasha of the Ottoman Empire, Muhammad Ali, has been restless! I hope he will not affect my business in the Levant."

When Roswell heard this, he quickly spoke up to cover up the voices of a bunch of crooked people.

"William, don't listen to them. If you don't want to talk about something in-depth, just talk about something shallow. It doesn't matter whether it's Latin, Spanish or French. Oh, by the way, there's also a piano! I spent so much money on it. The tutor is not hired for free!"

Old Gladstone finally couldn't bear it after hearing this. He had always looked down on Mr. Pocket Watch, a nouveau riche man who started out as a street vendor.

Although Old Gladstone himself was only from a middle-class background, this did not prevent him from feeling that Roswell, a watchmaker, was unreasonably vulgar.

He gathered the cards in his hand and asked, "William, what's the matter with you?"

When Gladstone heard this, he quickly leaned down beside his father and whispered: "I just saw Mr. Hurst, the harbor master, go to the smoking room. Mr. Hastings was also there, and they stayed in the smoking room." It was a little too long there.”

"Oh? Really?" After hearing this, Old Gladstone threw the poker in his hand on the table, lit a cigar and stood up to say goodbye to his friends: "Always playing cards is not good for your health. Dance for me." When it’s time for a dance, I’ll be right back.”

…

In the smoking room, Arthur sat on a chair with a pipe in his mouth, watching the Port Master Hester in front of him flipping through the documents in his hand page by page.

"Mr. Hurst, I have asked Mr. Mill of the East India Company to briefly review the report you submitted to me. The problems revealed above are indeed beyond my expectations, and the various problems are shocking."

Hester pretended to be confused and asked: "Mr. Hastings, the Port Authority does have many shortcomings in its work. However, I believe that with your correction, we will be able to correct these bad habits quickly. "

Hester's attitude was extremely clear. The Port Authority was of course willing to cooperate with Arthur's work, but how and in what aspects mainly depended on what Arthur found.

Although the Liverpool Association has prepared nearly 20,000 pounds of disposable funds for peace of mind, in line with the principle of spending less is more, if Arthur's appetite is not so big, it is okay to let them say more nice words.

Seeing the iron bastard's unwillingness to let go, Arthur knew that he had to give the old boy some evidence.

After all, even if it was on Scotland Yard's territory, Arthur would have to apply for an arrest warrant to arrest someone, not to mention that this was someone else's territory.

The reason why Hester can be so confident is simply because he has a lot of support behind him.

There are indeed problems with the port expansion project, but he is not the only one who is benefiting from the money. If the sky falls, there will be a giant Goliath to hold it up. Besides, London's West India Docks project and the Thames River Tunnel project that is about to be opened to traffic will be Is it really that clean?

In fact, Arthur didn't know whether the West India Wharf project could be completed, but Arthur knew clearly whether the Thames Tunnel project could be completed. After all, he still held nearly 1,000 pounds of Tunnel Company stock in his hands.

Therefore, since he was already a toad in a puddle, Arthur certainly had no intention of embarrassing him with the port project.

Besides, we have to discuss this aspect in detail later. Just serve some appetizers at the beginning.

However, although Arthur wanted to be an appetizer, he never had such a foreplay-level handle.

But fortunately, thanks to the meticulous work of accountant apprentices such as Mill and Price, Arthur discovered a minor problem in the Port Authority's annual expenditure bills before attending the ball.

This issue is not close to anyone else's, but it is the only one that can kill the Port Administrator, Mr. Hester.

Arthur raised his hand slightly and shouted: "Louis."

Upon hearing this, Louis took out a bill from the document bag in his hand and placed it in front of Mr. Hester.

"Mr. Hurst, our audit team noticed that starting five years ago when you took office as Port Director, there has been a strange expense labeled 'health care' in almost every year's bills. And its specific amount is constantly changing. Yes, some months it may be as little as a few pounds, and sometimes it may be as much as hundreds of pounds. After interviewing some Port Authority employees individually, we found that the Port Authority has never shouldered their medical expenses, so you Now can you explain what this money is used for?”

"This..." Hearst heard this, and his relaxed and carefree tone immediately became uncertain: "Medical care does not cover all employees of the Port Authority. We only started to trial it in the management. , if the effect is good, we will consider continuing to promote it in the future.”

"Oh...special benefits from the management?"

Arthur raised his eyebrows and smiled: "Well, I can understand it. After all, you and the leaders of the Port Authority have a lot to do, and it is appropriate to enjoy some special treatment. However, I want to know, why does this amount change at any time? And can you tell us about the health care project you mentioned and the hospital responsible for it?”

"The hospital..." Hester's momentum suddenly weakened: "Well, the hospital is not fixed."

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and asked: "Really? Mr. Hester, you'd better think about it again. Today, my Sheriff Charles Field happened to contact someone who had provided services to the Port Authority. Doctor! According to her, the designated nursing home hospital of the Port Authority is actually quite fixed."

When Hester heard this, he almost jumped out of fear. Because the accounts in this area were too small, the people below didn't know what the money was used for, so they just let it go. Mr. Hurst himself didn't even notice when he presented the bill to Arthur. However, who would have thought that such a small trick would be caught.

In fact, this kind of shady thing about falsely reporting accounts has happened in Britain a few years ago, and the person who did it was the Minister of Finance, Viscount Godrich. At that time, Viscount Godrich almost resigned as chancellor because of this case.

Although he was eventually saved, his political reputation was no longer what it was before. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is like this, let alone the Port Master.

Hester's hand clenched tighter and tighter. He held it in for a long time, and suddenly a smile emerged from his face and asked: "Mr. Hastings, these are all small problems. Why don't we talk about smuggling? That's the problem." It’s serious business.”