Shadow of great britain

Faith can be entrusted to God, and the rest must be monitored.

——Motto of the British Secret Intelligence Service

"Secret Service Fund?"

The Duke of Sussex was obviously unfamiliar with this word. He frowned and searched around in his mind, but there was no memory about this fund.

Arthur saw the Duke's doubts, but he couldn't blame him for not knowing about this fund.

Because just as the name of this fund suggests, this is a secret fund, so even many members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords do not know the existence of this fund.

Although Parliament reviews and approves the government's fiscal expenditure for the new year every year, there are only a few MPs who have the patience to read the government's financial report page by page.

Even if the remaining small number of MPs really discovered this special fund with a strange name, they may not ask where the money was used.

Because for most Tory and Whig MPs who abide by party discipline, it is very dangerous to rashly bring it to Parliament for discussion before you figure out the specific whereabouts of a government expenditure.

After all, no one knows which bigwigs this money belongs to. If you insist on getting into trouble with these bigwigs, you will soon understand the importance of "silence is gold".

But for stakeholders like Treasury officials and Arthur, they know the history of the "Secret Service Fund" very well.

This is a very old fund with a long history. It was established in 1660 during the restoration of Charles II. At the beginning of its establishment, this fund was mainly used for propaganda work in continental European countries, buying temporary information providers and amateur spies, and making diplomatic bribes to foreign politicians.

However, as time went by, the government did not pay attention to intelligence work, and this fund was often misappropriated as funds for domestic political activities in the following 100 years.

Walpole, the first Whig prime minister in British history, used the fund for domestic campaigns many times during his 21-year term. In the 1734 election alone, he took nearly 40,000 pounds from it to entertain voters, hold speeches and rallies, etc.

The Tories who came to power later followed suit. When Earl Bute was prime minister, he took out 80,000 pounds from it in one go to bribe MPs to ensure that the Paris Convention that ended the Seven Years' War could be passed in the House of Commons.

During the period when William Pitt the Younger was prime minister, the Secret Service Fund finally returned to its original purpose. Pitt the Younger mainly used it for bribery activities abroad, and France, which was during the Great Revolution, became the largest expenditure of this fund.

Under the instruction of Pitt the Younger, William Wycombe, the British chargé d'affaires in Switzerland, used Switzerland as a base to continue to launch an intelligence war against the French, the good neighbors of the British.

In just three years, Wycombe organized the French royalists to launch rebellions and assassinations many times, including classic works that almost killed Napoleon.

Although all these actions ended in failure and most British spies were arrested, there were also many skilled spies who evaded scrutiny and successfully infiltrated the French army. Even before Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, the British government had already known in advance the French's next military deployment.

Even though the Secret Service Fund played a huge role during the Napoleonic Wars, the British people's inherent mercenary character determined that the fund would be diverted again for other purposes soon after the war ended.

The London Police Intelligence Bureau could not get a bite of meat from this fund, and the Foreign Office, the Home Office, the Royal Navy and the Army could only stare at the money.

After all, no matter which department, intelligence work is regarded as a lowly job.

Therefore, whether it is the Army Topographic Bureau, the Royal Navy Hydrographic Bureau or the Police Intelligence Bureau of Scotland Yard, they have little influence on Whitehall.

I don't know if it's because life is too smooth or because everyone has a high sense of morality. Even British personnel stationed abroad rarely use secret channels to collect intelligence. Those military attachés stationed abroad who are supposed to undertake spy missions are particularly ashamed of spy warfare.

Compared with collecting intelligence from underground channels, they prefer to spend their time reading newspapers and looking for public information from the world's largest military library, which Britain is proud of.

But this cannot be blamed on them. After all, from the perspective of staffing, the Royal Navy, the Army and Scotland Yard have no more than 20 full-time intelligence personnel, and the total annual funding does not exceed 40,000 pounds. However, they are responsible for collecting domestic and foreign naval and land intelligence and domestic security intelligence.

With so much work and so little funding and manpower, it is not surprising that everyone is muddling through.

However, even though they are facing the same problems of lack of funding and staff, there are still significant differences in the quality of work of the three departments.

The Army Topographic Bureau and the Royal Navy Hydrographic Bureau are poor, but they have to be shameless, so the quality of their work is naturally not satisfactory.

Although the London Police Intelligence Bureau is also poor, their work has been repeatedly commended by His Majesty the King and the Ministry of the Interior.

The style of an organization's behavior is usually inseparable from the character of its first leader.

Sir Arthur Hastings pointed out the direction of work for the Police Intelligence Bureau early on: The Intelligence Bureau is a little poor, but we can be shameless!

Although the Police Intelligence Bureau was small and well-equipped, they relied on a few tips from the Ghost Squad agents and 5 Ridley's men, as well as tips from London trawlers and street gangsters, and everyone just came up with the snail. The courage to do the dojo in the shell makes the work successful.

With an annual budget of 10,000 pounds, the Police Intelligence Bureau has taken over most of the evil forces in the East End of London.

If the secret service fund can be used for them, then the bust of Sir Arthur Hastings will be hung in the red light district of every major city in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Of course, some of the hidden secrets here are not suitable to discuss with the Duke of Sussex.

After all, according to Fiona, although she is running a 'small business', Nightingale Mansion can even entertain members of the royal family from time to time.

Arthur is not a person who doesn't understand amorous feelings, so he doesn't want you to have to worry about whether you are being recorded while having a happy time of role-playing.

Arthur told the audience the ins and outs of the Secret Service Fund. As a result, this not only attracted the attention of the Duke of Sussex, but even Disraeli was greatly surprised.

As for Lionel, although he didn't know about the secret service fund, he was not surprised. Because Rothschild's mailing business has long been cooperating with the Ministry of the Interior and other departments, and they occasionally act as an intermediary between the British government and foreign officials, they are extremely familiar with this business.

Of course, Rothschild has never treated London, Paris and Vienna favorably. His father Nathan is a broker for the British government, his uncle James is a political broker for the French government, and his uncle Solomon is the Prime Minister of Austria. One of the pillars on which Metternich relied.

As for the German Confederation and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, they were the territories of Amschel and Uncle Karl respectively.

Although Arthur strongly stated the importance of integrating the intelligence system to the Duke of Sussex, this was obviously not enough to impress this consistent liberal.

The Duke shook his head regretfully and said: "Arthur, I'm not saying that your suggestion is not good. Everyone who has carefully read your report knows that you have put a lot of effort into police research. Your The report is as good as your academic paper, or even better, but it is not in line with our philosophy. The British system determines that we cannot follow the old path and we must embrace new ideas.”

Arthur understood the Duke of Sussex's subtext: this matter was non-negotiable.

The desire to be transferred back to London was a death sentence, which made Arthur want to complain in his heart.

In his view, perhaps it was because the London riots last year were handled so well that the cabinet had some unrealistic ideas.

Perhaps Whitehall feels that they can rest easy after passing parliamentary reform. After all, compared to continental European countries, Britain is simply a model of liberalism. Do the British have anything to complain about the existing political system?

As for foreign intelligence...

Unless there is another Napoleon in Europe, Britain has always paid attention to food rather than fighting in terms of foreign intelligence.

Um?

Arthur frowned, and a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind.

sit back and relax?

Another Napoleon?

It seems that he has exactly the conditions on hand to facilitate the outbreak of these two problems.

The red devil leaned on the sofa and took a sip of red wine. Agares could see at a glance what was thinking in the mind of this boy who had been with him day and night for more than ten years.

Perhaps the atmosphere of the theater inspired his artistic cells. Agares put his hand on his eyebrows and performed Shakespeare's famous play "Hamlet" with a sad face: "This is really the depravity of human nature! Once depraved, there is no more Nothing to save."

Arthur just glanced at the red devil lightly, gathered up his clothes, and responded softly with lines from Shakespeare's famous play "Macbeth": "I have been immersed in the river of blood, and there is no way back."

The Duke of Sussex, who turned his back, didn't know what this promising young man was thinking. He wanted to make Arthur feel the weight of his words in this way, but he didn't expect this. It only had the opposite effect.

Just like Macbeth said, for those who have waded too deep into the river of blood, even if they stop and stop moving forward, turning back is just as difficult as continuing forward.

The London police with blood on their hands cannot be regarded as one of their own by those liberals who fiercely demand progress. And those absolutists would not look down upon a Yorkist mud-legged man who was born a swineherd.

Therefore, Arthur has no choice. In this case, he can only choose to run all the way on the road of conservatism.

The room fell into silence. The Duke of Sussex felt that the atmosphere was almost brewing, so he turned around and spoke to Arthur.

"Of course, Arthur, your plan has not been completely rejected. On the contrary, whether it is His Majesty the King, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or your old department, Scotland Yard, they all think that your proposal to update police equipment is very desirable. Especially after experiencing the night of riots in London, everyone realized that the police officers' protection was too thin.

White trousers, a tuxedo and a top hat may look gentlemanly, but they are no protection against the sticks in the hands of rioters. And wearing this uniform on the street does look too bright among the crowd. The Royal Police should have the courage of the Royal Police, and this courage, seriousness and safety must first be reflected in the uniform.

The high-barrel helmet you designed after the German military steel helmet and the dark black uniform with buttons at the waist are not only practical, but also beautiful, and in line with royal dignity. Although your intelligence plan met with resistance, your proposal to change the uniforms won everyone's unanimous support. I think, if all goes well, when you return to London, you will be able to see your old colleagues wearing the uniforms you designed. "

When Arthur heard this, he pretended to smile reluctantly: "I'm glad that I can still do my part for Scotland Yard."

Seeing that Arthur did not bother with police intelligence, the Duke of Sussex nodded with satisfaction: "Arthur, you know your abilities, I also know your abilities, and His Majesty the King and the cabinet know you even more. Ability. We all feel that keeping you at Scotland Yard is a waste of your talents, so your Excellencies will transfer you to Hanover.

This is a test and experience for you. You should take a longer-term view. You are a gentleman, so don't focus on jobs that gentlemen are ashamed of. Although there are some things that I shouldn't tell you, given our personal relationship, I can reveal to you some key information that is inconvenient for others to reveal and that few people know. "

"Key information?"

When Disraeli and Lionel heard this, they resigned wisely: "Your Highness, we still have some private matters to deal with, so..."

Unexpectedly, the Duke of Sussex waved his hand and motioned for the two of them to stay: "It doesn't matter. You are all outstanding young people in Britain. It doesn't matter if I tell you. I believe you won't spread it everywhere."

Disraeli and Lionel looked at each other.

Both of them understood the meaning in each other's eyes.

Since the Duke said this, he intended for them to spread it everywhere.

The Duke of Sussex paced the room with a cane: "Arthur, His Majesty the King values ​​you very much. Of course, so does the Duke of Wellington. But both of them believe that it is necessary to use a young man with a police background to work in this current situation." The situation is very inappropriate. And if a man, a British man who is loyal to his country and his crown, his life is incomplete without the experience of the Army and the Royal Navy."

After speaking, the Duke of Sussex stopped, stared into Arthur's eyes and asked: "Arthur, do you understand what I mean? Just be patient and don't be anxious."