Shadow of great britain

Arthur read the one-penny Poor People's Guardian with great interest. It wasn't until he read the end of the article that he realized something was wrong.

Hetherington, the founder of the Poor People's Guardian, was on Scotland Yard's watch list.

Although the "Workers' Association Prohibition Act" has been repealed in 1824, and the censorship of publications has been gradually relaxed, although the threshold is no longer set, there are still many dirty tricks behind the scenes.

Because workers are mostly from the poor, it is unlikely that they will have too much money left on hand to spend on other things besides food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Therefore, in order to prevent the workers' federation from establishing influential publications, the British government began to impose stamp duties on newspapers and increased the selling price of newspapers to four pence to limit the sales of newspapers by increasing costs.

Since there are strategies from above, there are also countermeasures from below. This is why all kinds of shady tabloids appear in endless streams on the streets of London.

As long as there is no tax, the selling price of one penny is enough to recoup the cost and still make a profit.

It's a pity that Arthur has never had the opportunity to get such high-quality and cheap things when buying newspapers.

It was clear that one second the street newsboy was still selling cheap one-penny newspapers, but as soon as he passed by, there were only regular choices like The Times, The Morning Herald, and The Manchester Guardian.

Arthur snatched Elder's newspaper, leaving him to chat with Darwin beside him and draw a few random strokes on the manuscript paper with the pencil in his hand.

Arthur finished reading the newspaper and was about to talk when he suddenly saw the little man drawn by Elder.

He frowned, and for a moment, an idea flashed through his mind, and he snapped his fingers and said, "Elder, how are you doing with your drawing skills?"

Elder yawned: "It's okay, why do you ask?"

Arthur smiled and said: "I want to ask you to do something. If it can be done, remuneration is not a problem. The Greenwich Police District's office funds this quarter are still somewhat surplus."

"Oh?" Elder suddenly became more energetic when he heard that there was a reward: "You want me to help you draw a map?"

"It's not just the map." Arthur picked up the tea cup and took a sip: "You should know Fred, the 'Thief General', right?"

"Fred? Of course you know! I asked him to help me get rid of the contraband I brought here last time."

Arthur was drinking tea well, but when he heard Elder's words, he almost choked to death on a mouthful of water.

"What did you say?!"

Arthur took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his mouth: "You? Smuggling? And you have something to do with Fred?"

Unexpectedly, Elder didn't care about this, as if he didn't care at all that he had committed a crime.

He put his legs on the table, leaned back on the chair and said, "What's all the fuss about? The Royal Navy is smuggling, who doesn't know?"

Darwin on the side was reading a book quietly, but when he heard the explosive news, his face changed with shock.

Arthur leaned forward on his elbows: "Tell me in detail, I'm currently short of a big case."

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, Elder's face turned blue.

He lowered his voice and cursed: "Arthur, damn, are you still planning to send me in? Besides, the contraband is not mine, I helped my uncle sell it. After I sold it, that old thing still has He was not satisfied and thought my selling price was too low, so he didn’t even give me a penny.”

Arthur also lowered his voice and said: "Then you are a tainted witness. I can help you get leniency and get your uncle in. A rear admiral in the Royal Navy can feed me for many years. Don't worry, I will be promoted and make a fortune. , I will never forget you."

Elder said angrily: "Who will cover me if you let him in? Is there something wrong with your head? Besides, if you arrest him, why don't you also put the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet in jail?"

Hearing this, Darwin on the side also came over: "Is there anything about the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet?"

Elder said angrily: "That's not true! Are you still planning to involve First Sea Lord Thomas Hardy?"

Arthur originally planned to make a joke, but before he started asking, Elder almost explained everything clearly.

He hurriedly shouted: "Stop it! You must stop talking. If you go further, do you plan to put Prince William, the marshal of the Royal Navy, in it?"

Elder was stunned for a moment, then raised his hand and punched Arthur in the chest: "You can do it! No wonder you can become a police inspector. How did you know?"

Arthur hurriedly covered his mouth and glanced around again. He didn't reply until he found that no one was paying attention to them.

"I don't know anything. Just talk about the Royal Navy. Don't get involved with specific individuals."

Elder spread his hands and said: "Actually, it's not a big deal.

Think about it, although the treatment of officers in the Royal Navy is good, the treatment of sailors is poor!

If things had been better during the war, they would still be able to share the spoils, but this is peacetime.

Under normal circumstances, the income level of sailors working on merchant ships can be three to four times higher than that of sailors. If there is a peak transportation season, it can even be five or six times higher.

Moreover, the training of the Royal Navy is still so strict and the internal regulations are rigid. Who would be willing to become a sailor if they have nothing to do?

I float on the sea every day and make very little money.

It is difficult for the Navy to recruit enough people every time it recruits, so much so that recruiters even resort to kidnapping.

There should be rumors like that in your hometown. When a navy recruiter came to recruit soldiers, the local farmers were unwilling to go, so they got together to kidnap a few passing outlanders for business.

Or maybe they put criminals who should have been exiled on board the ship. They originally agreed to be exiled, but in the end they couldn't be released after they got on the ship.

The treatment is so bad. If the Admiralty still doesn't allow the brothers to smuggle some things, will it allow them to live a good life? "

Darwin nodded slightly and said, "I don't know why, but I think what you said makes sense."

When Arthur heard this, he smiled helplessly: "Every time I hear you talk about the Royal Navy, it always makes me feel that this place is rotten from top to bottom. But if that's the case, why can they still be so effective in fighting?"

Elder rolled his eyes and said: "Of course it's because of money! Although the big guys are paid dead wages, if there is a war, the Navy Department has clearly marked the price.

For the destruction of an enemy ship, a bounty of five shillings will be awarded to each person on board for the number of enemies destroyed on the ship.

After capturing an enemy ship and towing it back to the port, the government will purchase the enemy ship at market price.

As for the spoils obtained in battle, the internal rules of the navy are that the captain gets one-quarter, the fleet commander gets one-eighth, and the rest is divided among the sailors.

Relying on this, no matter how bad the Royal Navy is, it can still defeat the French who dare not even leave the port.

In their eyes, the French ships were not enemies at all, but gold floating on the sea.

In the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy could complete two rounds of bombardment in three and a half minutes.

General Rotheram's frigate dared to chase the French battleship, and even with a numerical disadvantage, he bit the tail immediately and started a boarding battle. He single-handedly killed more than a dozen French sailors with his saber.

As for the French, if they were given three and a half minutes, they probably wouldn't even have taken out the cannonballs from the cabin. That would be enough time to raise the white flag! "

At this point, Elder covered his mouth mysteriously and said: "I'll tell you a secret, but don't tell anyone else!

I heard from my uncle that some captains earned more than 300,000 pounds of property after fighting in the 22-year Napoleonic War.

The captain eats meat, and the sailors who follow him naturally also drink soup. Do you think we can still have no fighting ability in this situation? "

After he finished speaking, he sighed again: "It's a pity that Napoleon didn't live up to his expectations. If he had held on for more than ten years, wouldn't I have been so rich? What a useless thing!"

Arthur glanced at the guests at the table next to him and found that the others were looking at them strangely.

So, Arthur could only cough and reminded Elder: "Let's talk about how you know Fred."