Shadow of great britain

Stop the Duke and get the gold!

If you were to vote on what was the popular word in Britain in 1832, then the above paragraph would definitely be the favorite.

When the Duke of Wellington announced that he would be ordered to form a government, almost overnight the streets of London were plastered with such slogans.

The small City of London is crowded with people from all corners of the city. They are engaged in different professions and have different educational backgrounds and growth experiences.

The only thing these people have in common is that each of them is waving their life savings high in their hands, one pound after another or other acceptance notes.

When talking about the British monetary system, the first thing that comes to mind is that Sir Isaac Newton submitted the famous report "Report to His Excellency the Committee on Finance and Taxation of the House of Lords" to Parliament when he was the Director of the Mint, which established the gold standard system for the United Kingdom. prototype.

However, during the tenure of Director Niu, the gold standard had not yet been implemented at the legal level, and had always been implemented in the form of temporary regulations. The true establishment of the gold standard system at the legal level had to wait until the "Gold Standard Act" passed by Parliament in 1816.

At that time, in order to boost the domestic economy that was in dire need after the Napoleonic War and save the monetary credit of the pound, the British government passed the "Gold Standard Act", promulgated the "Gold Standard Currency Act", and ordered to stop minting gold guineas that had been in circulation for 150 years. Mint domestic metal currency. The newly minted gold coin is named tsavorin. The tsavorin is minted with standard gold with a purity of 91.67%. One tsavorin is worth 1 pound.

In 1819, at the urging of Lord Peel, the supplementary regulations to the Gold Standard Act, the Peel Regulations, were approved by both houses of Parliament. The new regulations further stipulated that each ounce of gold was worth 3 pounds, 17 shillings and 10 pence, or 1 pound. The banknotes are exchanged for 7.32238 gold.

With gold as the basis for currency issuance, the credit of the pound has naturally become stronger, and British public bonds have become a high-quality investment project that is widely praised around the world.

But to enjoy the benefits of the gold standard, you must also bear its constraints.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that even if all the world's gold mining is supplied to Britain, it may not be able to keep up with Britain's current train-driven economic development.

In order to meet the surge in currency demand in Britain during the period of economic development, it is inevitable that the major banks in the UK will not be able to honestly comply with the requirements of the Ministry of Finance and print as many pounds as they have gold reserves.

However, the excessive issuance of currency does not mean that the British gold standard system will collapse. As long as everyone closes their eyes, deceives themselves, and does not go to banks all the time to ask for gold exchange, then Britain can still live happily.

But if most people plan to be sensible, then this matter will be difficult to do. In other words, the outbreak of the British banking crisis in 1827 and the British economic recession caused by the banking crisis were caused by too many honest and understanding people.

Since the banking crisis broke out, the British people have finally understood that when it comes to money, it is best not to do things that everyone is drunk and only one is sober. Gold can be exchanged, but don't exchange it with everyone. If everyone cashes in together, the final result will be that no one will be able to cash in.

Among the smart people in Britain, there are even more talented people who realized the reverse expansion of the gold standard from some reactionary elements with malicious intentions.

If I can't redeem it, then I will make sure that the nobles, bankers and big businessmen can't redeem it either. My life savings are only a few dozen pounds. Although I may not be able to afford food in the next few months without this money, those with hundreds of thousands of pounds in their pockets can't afford it either. What do I have to be afraid of? of?

Seeing that the threshold of their own banks was almost breached by bankers, even leading British banks such as Rothschild and Bahrain had to announce the temporary suspension of exchange operations five days later.

As for those small and medium-sized banks, most of them surrendered on the third day.

Seeing that the situation was not good, these bankers directly shut down the company and announced that they were firmly opposed to the Duke of Wellington's formation of a cabinet. Since the bank's employees collectively went on strike to participate in protests and demonstrations, they would suspend operations until the reform bill was passed.

At this critical moment of life and death, regardless of whether they sincerely support parliamentary reform or not, these bankers will block the door of the parliament early every morning, holding signs and shouting the slogan "Stop the Duke and get the gold", trying to fish in troubled waters. Those peers who were slow to respond were crowded out.

Arthur was naturally well aware of all the strange phenomena that occurred in London during this period, because Scotland Yard's most important task during this period was to send people to stand guard at the entrances of major banks.

Although he had previously mentioned the matter of withdrawing gold to Price, a political ally in the capital, the current wave of bank runs in London has attracted more than just protest supporters who want to put pressure on the government through runs.

Many 'high-end technical talents' who have long been registered at the Scotland Yard Criminal Records Center have also stepped into this new trend, intending to break away from the existing market and open up a new track in this blue ocean.

According to the report of the lovely Miss Fiona, many well-known criminal groups in London are also sensitive to the future development direction of the industry. They have set up new strategies for the development of the group after passing a collective vote at the 'Board of Directors' meeting. We have adjusted the direction of this year's layout and determined that 'parliamentary reform' and 'bank runs' are the main tasks and top priorities of this year's work.

Therefore, the group decided to send a large number of experienced, skilled and courageous industry veterans who are waiting for employment to the financial city and protest rally sites where there is a serious shortage of "labor force".

This group of top talents in the industry displayed their magical powers like Moses crossing the sea. In just a few days, major banks in London were ravaged by runs and at the same time experienced a dimensionality reduction blow from the head of London's criminal industry.

Many protesters who came to run on banks also suffered heavy losses. Not only did they not get their gold, they even lost the paper notes in their pockets.

Although it's not the same time, it's the same place. In just five days, the seats at Scotland Yard were filled with heroes from all over the world.

The police officers of Scotland Yard have been working intensively for a week. Director Rowan, Deputy Director Mayne, and Arthur have been unable to get even five hours of sleep for several days in a row.

At this difficult moment, only the letter sent by Vidocq from Paris can give Arthur some comfort.

In the tide of the times, London and Scotland Yard finished second to last, which is certainly disgraceful.

But Paris and the Grand Paris Police Department took the last place. It always shows that Britain has the help of the country across the sea, doesn't it?

According to Vidocq, the situation in Paris has been falling from the bottom to the abyss of hell in recent times.

Because the French government is not in a good position to prevent the epidemic and violent incidents occur frequently.

On May 22, after talks with former Prime Minister Jacques Lafayette, 39 Republicans in the French Congress and some members who were disappointed with the July Monarchy issued a letter to the voters about Casimir Pierre, Prime Minister of the French Cabinet. Perrier's accusation.

What worries Vidocq even more is that although this report did not directly condemn the monarchy, it mentioned that the current social environment in France is consistent with the environment on the eve of the French Revolution in 1789, and severely accused the government of violating citizens' freedom and democratic rights. , behavior that triggers social unrest.

As a pure Frenchman, Vidocq was sensitively aware that although this report did not mention a single word, it was actually implicitly inciting the people to overthrow the royal rule and move towards a republic.

Under the pressure of domestic public opinion, the July Monarchy government had to release some republicans and Bonapartists imprisoned in Saint-Pélagé Prison in order to show its sincerity to the opposition.

But what is worse is that Mr. Evariste Galois, an influential young mathematician among the republicans, died in a duel not long after he was released from prison.

The Republicans were aroused by this. They accused the government and said that Galois's death was a government conspiracy that had been brewing for a long time.

Although Galois apparently chose to duel because of love, his love affair developed in prison, where he fell in love with a doctor's daughter and dueled with her after he was released from prison. The guy in question is none other than the most famous sharpshooter in Paris.

The Republicans did not believe that Galois would engage in such a duel, which was almost suicidal and had no chance of winning, so his death was not due to any romance, but an out-and-out political murder.

In response to the accusations from the republicans, the Paris Police Chief, Rissouquet, learned the lesson of "poisoning rumors" this time and did not choose to refute the rumors. But in the eyes of the Republicans, such behavior is almost equivalent to acquiescence.

And the next day, another piece of bad news came.

A leader who enjoys high reputation among both Bonapartists and Republicans. He was a famous general during the French Republic and the First Empire. He was known as the protector of the people because of his close and loving attitude towards the people. He once served as Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte and Napoleon. General Jean-Maximillian Lamarck, his brother-in-law and Murat's chief of staff, was unfortunately infected with cholera while visiting patients in the hospital and died that night.

According to people familiar with the matter, during his last moments, Lamarck held tightly to his chest a sword given to him by officers during the Hundred Days Empire. Napoleon said "the army" when he was dying, but Lamarck said "the fatherland" when he was dying.

After such news spread, it directly raised the current tension in Paris to another level. If the current Paris is a powder keg, then Lamarck's death is tantamount to the spark that ignited this powder keg.

Not only Paris, but also Alexandre Dumas, who was far away in London, got the news. He was so angry that he slapped the table and prepared to return to Paris to prepare for the uprising.

Of course, it was impossible for this heroic French writer to realize his idea. If he wants to return to Paris, he must first deal with the British reactionary standing in front of him.

Unfortunately, this reactionary group moved much faster than Mr. Dumas imagined.

Just before Alexandre Dumas was about to board the ship leaving London, his carriage was urgently stopped at the Thames pier. Along with him, there was also Bona, who was trying to take advantage of the chaos to leave London by taking advantage of his official duties. A member of the Ba family.

The tied-up Alexandre Dumas was sitting in a rickety carriage. He glanced at Louis, who was also tied up like a rice dumpling, and felt angry and funny.

"Louis, I have to say, I have to apologize to you. I used to doubt your revolutionary zeal because your statement about the republican emperor was so puzzling that I thought you were the same person as your uncle. Just like a thief who wants to manipulate the revolution to steal the achievements of the Republic. But today I have to say, I'm sorry, you are a great, true and pure revolutionary like me."

Louis was lying on the floor of the carriage. His face was ashen, but his tone was slightly unconvinced.

"Damn it! Alexander, I didn't expect you to miss me that much. You shouldn't be wary of me. I have always regarded you as a friend. The person you should really be wary of is obviously sitting opposite you."

Crack!

A flash of fire flashed across the carriage, and then, along with a long breath, misty smoke slowly rose.

Arthur put one foot on Louis' back, trying to help him stabilize his body so that he would not roll around in the carriage: "What? The French Revolutionary Unity has begun to unite to the outside world? Louis, Alexander, I told you earlier I beg you, don’t try to return to Paris, because it is dangerous. You are all smart people, so you should have realized that the danger I am talking about does not start when you arrive in Paris.”

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, his face turned red with anger, and his shaggy hair exploded: "Arthur, you damn British guy, I really misjudged you! I thought you were the one who could win over , but you let me down, look what you are doing now. Just helping Wellington suppress the demonstrators, and now you are actually involved with the July Monarchy! You have never even met Louis Philippe. , What benefits did he give you to make you work so hard for him?"

"benefit?"

Arthur put one hand on the car window and looked out at the scenery: "Alexander, whether you believe it or not, I did not receive any benefits from the French. I just don't want to watch you two go back to Paris and die in vain. Besides, if you want to participate in the revolution, why go all the way back to France? Doesn’t the current situation in London give you some sense of participation in the revolution?

Yes, I admit that these things in Britain are all learned from France. They are second-hand and fan works, so they are not as authentic as those in Paris. However, I feel that not everything in the world must be tasted authentically. Besides, you have already tasted the most authentic revolution in Paris, so I suggest that you consider exotic flavors occasionally.

Of course, the most important thing is that if you are making a revolution in London, I can tell you what can and cannot be done. Not only can you express your feelings, but your safety can also be fully guaranteed. Why do you have to go to Paris to seek excitement? Do you think this is true? "