Shadow of great britain

London, Palace of Westminster.

Passing through the long walkway in the palace and pushing open the heavy door, more than 400 green leather seats in the House of Commons chamber immediately came into view.

Although the size of the chamber is not small, it still looked overcrowded after more than 600 members of the House of Commons and reporters, citizens and petition groups came to observe.

In the bustling environment, no one would notice that a Scotland Yard superintendent was standing on the second floor of the chamber at this moment.

Although Arthur's status has long been different from the past, he has even touched the edge of the real upper class society.

However, compared with the gentlemen present here, his title seems so ordinary.

Many gentlemen here have the suffixes of knight, baronet or even lord printed on their business cards.

As for why there are no more respected titles such as baron, viscount, and earl in the lower house, it is naturally because these noble lords all sit in the upper house next door.

Although the House of Commons is also called the House of Commons, in 19th-century Britain, it would be a big mistake to regard the gentlemen in the House of Commons as genuine commoners just because they did not have noble titles.

For example, there are only two possibilities for holding the title of Lord.

One possibility is that the holder of this title is a genuine holder of the title of baron or above. Whether he is a baron, a viscount, an earl, a marquis or even a duke, he can be collectively called a lord.

But having said that, in practice, people usually just call the baron lord. When facing higher-level nobles, they are generously called dukes, marquises, etc.

As for the reason for doing this, it is also very simple.

To avoid embarrassment of course.

This is just like when people face the deputy director or deputy manager, they will automatically remove the word "vice" and directly call them director or manager.

Of course, the lords who can appear in the House of Commons are not even barons. They belong to another special situation.

That is, their father is a noble, and their father is still alive.

For these second-generation nobles, the British will politely call them Lord according to traditional customs.

For example, the current Minister of the Interior, Viscount Melbourne, was always called Lord before his father passed away, and he stayed in the House of Commons for nearly thirty years due to his civilian status.

After his father's death, His Excellency the Viscount, who inherited his father's title, would of course leave the House of Commons and go to the new world of the House of Lords.

Of course, not everyone is as lucky as Viscount Melbourne, who happens to be the eldest son in the family. As long as he survives his father, he will be promoted to the House of Lords.

For the younger sons in the family, they will lose the honorific title of Lord after the death of their father.

But most fathers usually understand the plight of their sons, so most of them will send their younger sons to the army to gain qualifications before they are alive. When the time and resume are almost laid, they will use some connections to find jobs for their younger sons. The title of knight or baronet.

Although knights and barons are still civilians in the British social system, they can still put a knight's title on their business card, right?

The most successful person who followed this path was undoubtedly Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington.

As the youngest son without inheritance, the Duke of Wellington did not show any particularly outstanding talents when he was a child. Therefore, after graduating from Eton College, his family sent him to the Pinherol Military Academy in Angers, France.

After graduating from the military academy, his second brother Edward Wellesley gave him the position of lieutenant in the 73rd Scottish Highland Infantry Regiment.

After several years of experience in the army, the Duke of Wellington pieced together various pieces of information to donate officers and officials to the position of lieutenant colonel in the army.

After that, the French Revolution broke out, and the young Duke of Wellington was sent to the Netherlands to participate in the war against France. As a result, he suffered the first and only defeat in his life in this first battle.

Perhaps he learned valuable combat experience from this defeat, and the Duke of Wellington, who had experienced the baptism of artillery fire, was out of control.

After recovering from his injuries, he first followed his eldest brother Richard Wellesley to India, where he was promoted to colonel and was responsible for commanding the 33rd Infantry Regiment to participate in the battle against the Kingdom of Mysore in India.

During his five years in India, Wellington repeatedly performed extraordinary feats and almost single-handedly helped Britain win the Fourth Anglo-Malaysian War.

And by virtue of his excellent military exploits, he saved his father a lot of money to be knighted through his connections.

Relying on his merits in India, the Duke of Wellington was canonized as a Knight of the Bath as soon as he returned to China and was promoted to Army Major General. At the same time, he also served as Minister of Irish Affairs in the cabinet.

In the subsequent Peninsular War, the Duke of Wellington even stepped on the heads of several French marshals to gain promotions.

In 1808, after defeating the French Marshal Jean-Andoche Junod at the Battle of Vimeiro, the Duke of Wellington was promoted to lieutenant-general and created Baron Douro of Wellesley, Somerset.

In 1809, after a surprise attack on French Marshal Jean-de-Die Soult at the Battle of Talavera and the capture of the important Portuguese town of Porto, he was created Viscount Wellington of Talavera and Somerset.

In 1810, he defeated Marshal Andre Massena in the Battle of Bussaco and was created Earl of Wellington.

In July of the same year, he defeated the French Marshal Auguste Marmont in the Battle of Salamanca with less and defeated more. After capturing the Spanish capital Madrid, he was promoted to Army General and was given the title of Marquis of Wellington.

In 1813, he marched thousands of miles and annihilated the 50,000 French troops led by Louis' uncle, King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain, in the Battle of Victoria. He completely drove the French out of the Iberian Peninsula and invaded mainland France. For such a brilliant achievement, the king and parliament naturally awarded him the highest level of praise - he was promoted to field marshal, named Duke of Wellington, and awarded the highest honor in the UK, the Order of the Garter.

Of course, this is far from the Duke of Wellington's full glory.

As a senior medal collection expert, the medals Arthur saw in the cabinet of honor at Apsley House, No. 1, London, his residence, include but are not limited to:

The highest honor of the Kingdom of Portugal - Knight of the Order of the Grand Cross of Tower and Sword.

The highest honor of the Kingdom of Spain - Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

The highest honor of the Kingdom of Sweden - Knight of the Order of the Grand Cross of the Sword, First Class.

The highest honor of the Austrian Empire - Knight of the Order of the Grand Cross of Maria Theresa.

The highest honor of the Russian Empire - the Order of St. Andrew.

The highest honor of the Kingdom of Prussia - the Order of the Black Eagle.

The highest honor in the Kingdom of Sardinia - the Order of the Annunciation.

The highest honor of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies - Saint Ferdinand and the Order of Merit.

In addition, there were many highest medals from small German states, as well as medals that Arthur couldn't even identify.

Of course, the highlight is His Excellency the Duke's eight marshal's staffs.

It can be said that the Duke of Wellington is only one French Legion of Honor away from collecting all European medals.

But in the final analysis, he could only blame himself for not getting this medal. Who asked him to beat Napoleon to abdicate at Waterloo?

Just because Napoleon abdicated, this medal was temporarily out of print, and no one could receive it. Arthur wanted to see what the medal looked like, so he had to go to Talleyrand to apply for it, which was really a heinous crime.

However, although the Duke of Wellington was extremely brilliant, it did not mean that every young son of a nobleman could be as successful as him.

Many people in the House of Commons only have a purchased title of baronet, or a lower-ranking knighthood obtained through backdoor connections.

Of course, there are also those who do not even have the title of baronet or knighthood, such as Mr. Benjamin Disraeli, who is being attacked by a group of Whig MPs in the center of the stage.

Mr. Hunter of the Westminster Union kept slapping the table and fired at Disraeli with a red face.

"Of the 22 prime ministers from 1721 to 1832, 13 were nobles in the House of Lords, 6 were the sons of nobles, and 1 was the grandson of a noble. Some important positions such as the Chancellor, such as Privy Councilors and Ministers of the Guard, were also held by nobles. Served, and Britain's important diplomatic officials are in most cases controlled by big nobles!

From 1734 to 1832, three-quarters of the members were landowners or their close relatives, and the remaining members were either their friends or wealthy businessmen and freelancers nominated by them. As for the army, it belongs to the nobility. Our parliament even explicitly stipulated that military officers should come from wealthy families! Therefore, those who joined the army were mostly landed nobles and landowners.

In Parliament, I have launched background checks on 558 members who have served in the House of Commons for a long time. The survey results show that 107 of them are the sons of nobles, 68 are brothers and grandnephews of nobles, and 129 are barons and their close relatives. This means that 55% of the members of the House of Commons have more or less elements of the aristocracy. .

Parliament and the army were controlled by the nobility, while local judicial and administrative powers were controlled by prestigious squires. The largest number of workers, farmers and small craftsmen in Britain were excluded from national power. The current British government does not represent businessmen or farmers. It represents the nobility who account for less than one ten thousandth of the people in the country!

This is a typical aristocratic oligarchy, where power is concentrated in a few people. If Parliament cannot represent all the people of Britain, Disraeli, how can you continue to have the audacity to claim that you are the representative of the people? How can you have the audacity to claim that parliamentary reform is unnecessary! "

When Disraeli heard Hunter's question, he just wrinkled his nose and snorted softly: "Mr. Hunter, I have never said that I am firmly opposed to parliamentary reform. But I believe that parliamentary reform should be gradual. , moderate change. If you insist on saying that we must implement universal suffrage immediately, well, the first person you need to persuade should be your Whig colleagues standing in the same sewer with you. This is Parliament, not bargaining. Market Square, if you don’t unify yourselves in advance, then any discussion we have here will be redundant..."

Arthur was lying on the railing on the second floor, listening to Disraeli's speech at the speaker's seat in the center of Parliament, and couldn't help but comment: "It seems that Benjamin has quickly become familiar with his new responsibilities."

When Alexandre Dumas heard Disraeli's remarks, he couldn't help but shake his head: "Benjamin, this kid has really hidden it deep enough. But I really can't figure it out, how can a Jewish kid become a conservative? Parliament?" Could the reforms be bad for the Jews? How did he end up with the Tories?"

Arthur leaned on the railing and said: "Alexander, this is not a butt matter, this is a political matter. He is now first of all a Tory MP protected by the Earl of Lyndhurst, and secondly a Jew. In At this stage, he can’t put forward too many opinions of his own.”

Alexandre Dumas sneered and said: "Perhaps the Earl of Lyndhurst chose him because of this, right? The Jews who have been discriminated against are on their side, so how can anyone else propose further reform views?" ?”

Arthur shook his head after hearing this: "In my opinion, it is obviously better to get the support of the Earl of Lyndhurst than the support of the Duke of Newcastle. The Earl of Lyndhurst is at least as close as Peel in the Tory Party. The Lord is on the same side as the liberals, and the Duke of Newcastle and the Earl of Eldon are the most difficult to deal with. In the second vote on the last parliamentary reform bill, half of the 76 objections in the House of Commons came from them .”

"Only half?" Alexandre Dumas asked: "Then who voted for the other half?"

Arthur played with the gold-plated snuff bottle given by Inspector Jones and said, "What's the point? Of course he is a conservative of the Duke of Wellington."

Alexandre Dumas frowned and said: "Didn't the extreme wing of the Tory party break with the Duke of Wellington over the Catholic Emancipation Act? How come they are in the same hole again when it comes to the issue of parliamentary reform?"

"This time, that time."

Arthur looked at the noisy MPs downstairs and said: "The Catholic Emancipation Act offended all the clergy, but there are also some in the extreme Tory party who are not so pious. In fact, the Tory party is now Not only are the liberals split, but even the extremists are split in half. If the Tories hadn't still held an absolute majority in the House of Lords, the Parliamentary Reform Bill would have been passed by now."

Alexandre Dumas asked: "That's why I say that the British House of Commons is a complete decoration. As long as you control the upper house, you can forcibly veto the bill passed in the lower house. If this is the case, what is the use of the British forcibly having an upper and lower house? Just to appear. Are you very democratic?"

Arthur just shook his head after hearing this: "Alexander, you don't understand. Although the House of Lords can indeed veto the bill of the House of Commons, trouble will occur if this power is used too much. The current protests and demonstrations about parliamentary reform that have broken out across Britain have already shown this. Problem."

Alexandre Dumas shrugged: "Really? But so what? Isn't the Ministry of the Interior planning to establish permanent police agencies across the country? Are you still afraid of protests and marches?"

Arthur just glanced at him: "Yes, the Ministry of Internal Affairs intends to do this. But are you presupposing a political position for the police agency? I want to remind you that the Whig Party is currently in power, and the Parliamentary Reform Act They proposed it, and then they plan to add local police agencies. Although the original intention of this approach is indeed to maintain local security and order, do you think it is just that simple?"

"Otherwise?" Alexandre Dumas raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are they wary of anything besides demonstrations and riots?"

Arthur just laughed when he heard this: "Alexander, I thought the French were particularly sensitive to this aspect. But you, a guy who participated in the July Revolution, are particularly insensitive."

Alexandre Dumas thought for a moment and was about to get to the bottom of it.

Suddenly, someone reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

"Arthur, Alexander, although I don't want to disturb your interest in watching the debate in the House of Commons, we have to get down to business at this time. Mr. Harrison is here, and he is at the door of the Parliament Chamber."

Alexandre Dumas turned around and saw that it was Louis who was speaking: "But, I have to ask clearly! These British guys always say one thing and hide another."

Arthur gathered his shirt and chuckled softly: "I don't know if you ask me. Regarding this matter, you should ask Louis for advice. He is an expert in this field."