Shadow of great britain

In the coffee shop opposite the Greenwich Police Station, Arthur was enjoying rare peace and quiet.

At the next table, Tony and Tom were seriously studying the basic knowledge of natural history and medicine with Darwin.

Robin's case had a great impact on both of them. For the first time in their lives, the two police officers felt that learning was such an important thing, not only for the three shilling subsidy given by Arthur, but also for the sake of protection. The lives of Londoners.

Sitting opposite Arthur was Elder, who looked like he was about to die.

Although today's lunch was Arthur's treat, Master Elder rarely had any appetite.

Arthur glanced at his half-dead expression and asked nonchalantly: "What's wrong with you? Didn't you say that Sir Isaac Newton is the only sun in your heart? Why not now that you have time? Went to Gresham College for a science lecture?”

"Listening to a science lecture? Why am I in such a mood now?"

Elder held his head and said in pain: "Arthur, you don't know, the modification of the Beagle is almost completed. If we continue at this pace, Charles and I may have to board the ship after a while. Got sea training.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows and said: "You are a draftsman of the Royal Navy. Isn't it normal to go to sea for training? This can prepare you for future voyages around the world, and when you are floating at sea, can't you get double what you can get on land? Salary?”

"Arthur!" Elder sighed: "If I have a choice, I don't want that money. At sea, there is no place to spend the money, and the Admiralty doesn't actually pay a few more cents. I'm not I don’t have such a high salary as a captain or navigator.”

Arthur turned to the next page of the newspaper and said, "Elder, think more about the good things. Didn't your uncle also spend more than 20 years floating at sea before he saved more than 100,000 yuan? ? If you keep working hard, maybe you can be like him."

Elder covered his face and lamented: "He just caught up with a good time and caught the last train of the Napoleonic War. Otherwise, where would you let him get so much money?

In order to fight against Napoleon and his alliance, shipyards across the country were working at full capacity to build warships, and the Royal Navy was also continuously capturing warships. So as soon as my uncle was promoted to colonel, he was immediately assigned to a ship as captain.

But what now? The Royal Navy has more than a thousand ships, and there are almost 2,000 captains. The young ones have to wait on the shore to line up to board the ship.

Some people may never be able to become captains in their lifetime, and there are also many people who get retired with land allowance from the Navy Department.

If it weren't for the large number of people and the small number of ships, why do you think the Admiralty is so comfortable letting young captains serve as navigators, responsible for writing logbooks and supervising captains?

Because for the captains, killing a captain is equivalent to adding a hole in the ship. As long as they grab the captain's pigtails, they will never show mercy to their old bosses in the military court. "

Arthur was stunned for a long time after hearing this: "If the Admiralty does this, isn't it afraid that the captains will falsely accuse the captain?"

"False accusation? Unless the captain is mentally ill, this rarely happens."

Elder put one leg on the table and leaned his head back on the chair: "Because the promotion of captain requires a letter of recommendation from the captain. If he dared to perjury, he failed to kill the captain in the end. , then he will have to endure it in the future.

Besides, there was more than one captain on the ship. Unless they colluded together, it would be so easy for false accusations to succeed.

In the end, even if they colluded, there was still a sergeant major on the ship.

Chief sergeants are always held by skilled veteran sailors, because there is no hope for promotion of chief sergeants, and their appointment and dismissal are not controlled by the captain, but directly decided by the Navy Department, so chief sergeants are generally too lazy to tell lies.

If a captain can offend several captains and sergeants on the ship at the same time, then he will probably not be able to win if he is sent out to fight, and he deserves to be laid off. "

When Arthur heard this, he touched his chin and said: "Doesn't this sound good? Then why are you so reluctant to do sea training? I just saw you looking like you were dying, and I thought you would do it as soon as you went to sea. Tied to the corner by Colonel Fitzroy."

"He dares!" Elder glared and said: "Originally, he was the one who made the suggestion of sea training, but everyone was reluctant. If he ties me to the collision angle again, I promise to wait until the Beagle returns. , he would have to lay off his job.

Who knows what is wrong with his brain? He did six sea trainings in three months, each lasting for more than a week. My uncle's Mediterranean fleet training was not as diligent as him! "

"How do you train the Mediterranean fleet?"

When Elder heard this, he glanced around mysteriously, then covered his mouth with his hand and whispered.

"I'm telling you, don't tell anyone! In fact, I heard my uncle say that their Mediterranean fleet spends more than half of the year lying in the port.

Moreover, this phenomenon is very common in all fleets stationed abroad. The more pleasant the climate and the better the living conditions where the fleet is stationed, the longer the fleet will stay in bed.

The Mediterranean fleet spends the longest time lying in bed among all fleets. In severe cases, it spends 60% of the time in port every year. The Baltic Fleet is much more diligent. They only spend about 30% to 40% of their time recuperating on shore.

After all, this is not a war period, so why is the training so strict? Brothers in the Royal Navy can find part-time jobs on land and earn higher wages than staying on board ships. "

"Isn't it during the war?" Arthur said this, and pushed the newspaper on the table in front of Elder with a smile: "Look at what this is? Maybe, we will really have to fight in a while."

Elder waved his hands nonchalantly and said: "Isn't it just that the king is dead? What's the big deal? It's not that I don't know. Newspapers are full of news scolding him. Even the tabloid I read dedicated two Blame him on every page.

I still remember the tabloid quoting a review from The Times, saying that there had never been a king like this who died without being regretted by even one of his people. I wonder who shed tears for him? Is there any heart that throbs and evokes sincere sorrow for him?

From nobles to priests to ordinary citizens, everyone scolded him. Moreover, he died when he died, and he delayed me from reading tabloid stories. He really deserves to be scolded! "

"Yeah?"

Arthur raised his brows and said: "You may not know that I heard from a journalist friend who was doing parliamentary reporting, the court clerk Charles Dickens, that the Duke of Wellington praised him in the eulogy read out in the House of Lords. The late king was 'the most educated gentleman of our time'."

Elder was stunned when he heard this: "Can the Duke of Wellington say this? I remember when the king blocked the Catholic Emancipation Act, didn't he privately curse the king as the worst, most selfish, and most shameless person he had ever encountered in his life? Faithful, the most evil-hearted of men, and what is more serious, a king who has absolutely no merit to compensate for his shortcomings?”

Arthur pursed his lips and smiled: "Elder, you don't understand. Being a prime minister has to be like this, with two faces. Do you know what the Duke of Wellington's reaction was when he heard that the king had died of illness?

He exclaimed: ‘I used to swear to His Majesty the King that he might not be able to do even one good thing in his life, but now it seems that maybe I was wrong’. "

Elder laughed and said: "No wonder he called His Majesty the King 'the most educated gentleman of our time'. But what does this have to do with the possibility of war?"

Arthur pointed to today's news headlines and said: "Because what I'm talking about is not about Great Britain at all. Look at what the headlines are today."

Elder turned the newspaper over and moved it in front of him.

The title of the news is simple, but the meaning revealed is profound - "Revolution breaks out in France, National Guards occupy Paris"