Shadow of great britain

"Arthur, I fully understand your anger and dissatisfaction. If I were to put myself in your shoes, especially after the Liverpool case, I would also feel that this society is simply hopeless and something must be done. What would make them better.

However, from the perspective of a general affairs officer, our job is only to complete various tasks assigned by the cabinet and parliament and complete our duties. The intelligence system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is much older and more systematic than that of the Police Intelligence Bureau. We know what we are doing.

Having said that, I remember that you were a graduate of the History Department of the University of London, and your grades in school were also very good. Well, you must know Sir Francis Walsingham, right? "

For Arthur, who specializes in European history, the name Francis Walsingham is no stranger.

As the most trusted man of the Virgin Queen Elizabeth I, and also the Queen's Chief Secretary, Walsingham was not only the Queen's most trusted diplomatic adviser, but also her spymaster.

Of course, Walsingham was able to gain such a degree of favor from the Queen not only because he was a handsome guy, but also because of his outstanding work ability that helped Queen Elizabeth usher in the golden age of Britain.

His achievements include but are not limited to:

He prevented several assassination plots against the Queen and helped her execute Mary, Queen of Scots, who had a claim to the throne of England.

After the Catholic Mary was executed, Pope Sixtus V issued an edict announcing that the Holy See would subsidize the troops that invaded England and called on Catholic countries to launch a holy war against Britain.

Based on religious and practical interests, King Philip II of Spain decided to respond to the Pope's call and send troops to invade Britain.

However, Walsingham had already intercepted this information through the Tuscany Embassy in Madrid before the Spaniards had even left land.

On the one hand, he urgently wrote to the Queen to strengthen the defenses of Dover, Plymouth and other ports in southern England. On the other hand, he spent a lot of money to hire the legendary pirate Francis Drake and others to launch an attack on the important coastal towns in Spain, and successfully passed This act disrupted Spain's logistics lines, slowed their build-up, and bought England valuable time to mobilize for war.

After the Spanish Armada left port, Walsingham intercepted their navigation information immediately.

Finally, with the help of hurricanes and Walsingham's intelligence, it was the Spanish flags of Santa Maria and Passion that were raised first at the Battle of Graveline.

This time, God did not side with the Catholics. Instead, he comically turned over and accidentally rolled onto the memorial tablet enshrined by the Protestants.

The combined navy of Britain and the Netherlands only killed five Spanish ships, and the remaining 60 Spanish ships that sank to the bottom of the sea were basically overturned by the storm.

However, although God was the primary contributor in the naval battle that destroyed the Armada, the information delivered by Walsingham still took second place.

Just like the British Protestants' evaluation of Sir Walsingham: This is a pillar of the Protestant faith, a person who is generous, selfless, good at learning, and has a chivalrous spirit.

Of course, Catholics hold an opposing view. They believe that this is a ruthless, dirty villain who is also keen on all kinds of conspiracies.

But no matter how future generations evaluate Walsingham, everyone agrees that this guy is definitely the most accomplished spy in British history.

The English Bureau of Secrecy, which he founded in 1569, is also the oldest spy agency in the world. At its peak, the Bureau of Secrecy employed more than 300 people in England.

As for their overseas branches... According to Arthur's knowledge, the Bureau of Secrecy has established as many as 12 spy bases on the borders of his old friend France alone.

However, this once huge organization no longer exists today, more than two hundred years later.

When Cromwell came to power, he split the Bureau of Secrecy into two domestic and foreign parts, which were placed under the management of the Southern Department and the Northern Department respectively.

After the Colonial Office was established in 1768, some people were transferred to serve there.

As for the Southern and Northern Departments, they were also reorganized into the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the administrative reform of 1782.

The Colonial Office merged with the War Office in 1801.

This has resulted in the current set-up of intelligence agencies in various parts of the UK. The Ministry of Home Affairs has spies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has spies, the Department of War and Colonial Affairs and the Admiralty, which are responsible for the military, naturally have spies, and even the Ministry of Finance has a set of special inspections. Intelligence system on tax evasion.

All in all, the current intelligence system in Britain is focused on one thing.

Naturally, the seniority of the Police Intelligence Bureau under Arthur's leadership cannot be compared with that of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In fact, his importance in the eyes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs may not be as high as that of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' own Secret Service.

Although Arthur holds the title of head of the intelligence agency, Scotland Yard's status is low, and even he, the head of police intelligence, is looked down upon.

But in a sense, these old spies do have reasons to look down on the Police Intelligence Bureau.

After all, Arthur, the director, was blinded when he left London, and he almost died when he went to Liverpool.

How much funding does the Police Intelligence Bureau receive in a year? What is your identity and what are your intelligence capabilities?

Not to mention the intelligence department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, even in the past thirty years, they have carried out heavyweight tasks such as the assassination of Napoleon.

At that time, they united with the Joan faction of the French Royalist Party, imitated an explosive device newly invented by the Paris Police Department, and created a powerful bomb carriage.

On December 24, 1800, after learning that Napoleon and his lover Josephine would go to the Paris Opera House to watch Haydn's opera "Genesis", Juan sent a bomb carriage to the place they must pass - St. Denis Street. .

When Napoleon passed by, the Juan faction detonated explosives instantly, causing the destruction of 46 houses near the explosion point. Josephine's carriage was directly shattered, while Napoleon's carriage was triggered by the explosive device more than ten times later than scheduled. Seconds, he narrowly escaped death.

When Arthur thought of this, he couldn't help but think of what happened in Liverpool.

I have to admit that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did show mercy this time. Although they knew the inside story of the Liverpool assassination, at least they did not provide technical guidance.

As for why the coconut tree was so disparaging about the assassination with explosives, Arthur now understood.

Even such powerful explosives failed to complete the task. This was indeed an inefficient method of assassination.

Seeing Arthur being silent for a long time, Schneider stood up with a smile and patted his shoulder: "Brother, don't always think about those unhappy things. Some cases can be investigated, and some cases cannot. Think carefully about why they You were promoted to the position of Director of Police Intelligence, not someone else. They have high hopes for you, and you cannot plan to go against their wishes as soon as you are promoted.

Of course, I also understand your injustice. Because you are, after all, a native Briton. If you were a Prussian or an Austrian, you probably wouldn't question this situation. But since we are here to eat, you can only make your thinking as Prussian as possible. "

After saying this, Schneider left the room calmly.

But just as he reached the door, his steps suddenly paused.

Schneider turned his head and raised his eyebrows and asked: "Brother, by the way, that spy under me?"

Arthur shrugged: "This was a useful exchange. I got the news I wanted, so you will get what you want."

Schneider laughed and put on his gloves: "This is the style of the director. Goodbye, Arthur, come to my place when you have time in the future. I believe you will be interested in a lot of things I have. Oh, by the way, Remember to come when Viscount Palmerston is away, he doesn't like his subordinates to have close contacts with people from other departments."

Arthur made a joke after hearing this: "It seems that you like excitement very much. This is not like the German style."

Schneider raised his index finger and shook it slightly: "Arthur, please note that I have been a British for a long time. I went to the store on Oxford Street last month. You know, there is pressure in our industry. It’s just too big, and it does need a release once in a while.”

When Arthur heard this, he immediately understood what Schneider was talking about. I don't know whether this German has become a British person, but he has indeed contracted the 'British bad habits'.

Arthur smiled and asked: "Mrs. Chalmers, Mrs. Noe, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Burgess or Mrs. Price's shop?"

"neither."

Schneider smiled meaningfully and said: "Although their services are very good, I still recommend Mrs. Berkeley first. They have many new props designed by Mrs. Berkeley herself, which opens my eyes every time I go. And I also I admire their ability to pay attention to details. They soaked the rattan in water to keep it green and flexible. The whips are also colorful and have various textures. In the summer, they fill the water bottles with fresh nettles. The highest in London The price is not free.”

When Arthur heard this, he laughed strangely: "With all due respect, August, Mrs. Berkeley's things are all outdated. I used to be addicted to it, but since I went to Mrs. Ivan's two days ago, After going to the store, I realized that Mrs. Berkeley’s store was full of rubbish.”

"Mrs. Ivan?"

Schneider thought about the name for a while, then he paced and sat back in front of Arthur without anyone noticing: "Why haven't I heard of this name? Could it be a new store? The quality of the new store is not guaranteed. "

Arthur laughed and laughed: "August, you are biased. New doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, and old doesn't necessarily mean it's good. Just go to the store and take a look. The secret rooms there are all decorated. It looked like a torture chamber. There were iron rings specially used for hanging people on the roof. There were also torture benches that could hold people at various angles. The torture rack was almost exactly the same as what we had in Scotland Yard. The whipping The tools used include rattan, leather whips, holly branches and birch sticks. Of course, if you can bear it, a nine-tailed whip bundled with linen will also work."

"Oh! My God!"

Schneider excitedly stretched out his hand to hold his hat that almost fell to the ground: "Brother! You must stop talking. I have to go to work this afternoon. If you say that, I won't be able to finish my work today."

Arthur shrugged slightly and said: "However, it is good there, but one thing is that their prices are too high."

"How high?"

"You have to pay a pound to have two respectable, heavily made-up, elegant and well-educated blond ladies take turns wielding the whip for you with a decent posture and elegant attitude. After all, these days, if you want a lady If they have been engaged in such a profession for a long time that is not in line with their gentle nature, they have to pay a little more materially."

Schneider took a deep breath: "Although the price of one pound is not low, if they are as outstanding as you said, the price is not unacceptable. After all, I used to pay two or three shillings to find it in the newspaper. …”

Arthur was drinking tea, and when he heard this, he almost filled his lungs with water.

Fortunately, the light here was too dark, so Schneider didn't notice his gaffe.

Arthur coughed slightly: "Where else can I find this in the newspaper?"

Schneider chuckled. The affairs officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had completely lost his official attitude just now. He used the tone of an old-timer to support Arthur, a fellow youngster.

"Of course you can find them in newspapers, and such advertisements have a long history, but to find them, you need to have eyes as sharp as an eagle. Of course, people like you and me who are engaged in intelligence work are the least likely to What’s missing is eyes like this.”

Arthur held the tea cup and said seriously: "Can you... be more specific?"

Schneider didn't say anything after hearing this. He just pursed his lips at Arthur and lightly knocked on the table.

Arthur understood and took out the business card that Fiona left him: "August, I wish you have a good time."

Schneider put away his business card with satisfaction, and then said with a smile: "Actually, this is not a secret. Most of our colleagues know how to find suitable trading partners from newspapers. I first heard what Wilson from the Ministry of Finance said. . Do you know Wilson? He is the Assistant Undersecretary of the Treasury. If you have nothing to do, communicate with him more, and you will definitely get some information you want."

Arthur, who was happy to mention the unexpected gain, nodded repeatedly and said: "It seems that next time we can ask him to go out together."

"It's up to you."

Schneider replied with a smile.

"Let's get it on paper. To be precise, if you find in the newspaper's advertising column, for example, "Stern torturer seeks suitable students", "Woman who likes pets solicits pets to come to her playroom", or Titles such as "Mrs. So-and-so is waiting for the tamed slave to come to sign the contract" and "I use traditional methods to correct bad habits" are definitely correct. But take my advice, this kind of self-employment usually has no skills. , it’s okay to try new things occasionally, but if you want high-end craftsmanship, you still have to go to the store.”

When Arthur heard this, he just pondered for a while.

Schneider didn't say that he hadn't discovered that there were still so many intelligence agents waiting for employment hidden in London.

In this society, those who can casually spend two or three shillings for fun activities generally do not have a low social status.

If the Police Intelligence Bureau can establish a good communication mechanism with these ladies who rely on craftsmanship and are passionate about crazy English, wouldn't the source of information be more abundant?

When Arthur thought of this, he immediately stood up, held Schneider's hand, and said with a smile on his face: "August, I really learned from you today."