Shadow of great britain

"Maybe you should find a brighter house, the office environment here is a bit too bad."

The belatedly arrived Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Schneider, took off his hat and hung it on the coat rack at hand. He barely squeezed out a seat among the debris, pulled out the chair used for entertaining guests, and sat down.

Arthur took out an iron box containing shredded tobacco from his pocket and threw it over: "I will tidy it up a little later. This house has just been rented not long ago, so you have to give me some time to improve."

Schneider lowered his head to glance at the tobacco and joked: "Aren't you afraid of setting the house on fire if you smoke in such a crowded environment?"

"It's lit just right." Arthur struck the match and lowered his head to light the cigarette: "I have more than a few hot documents here. If there is a fire, many problems will be solved."

Schneider laughed loudly when he heard this: "It seems that we all have the same worries, but in a sense, your domestic intelligence is more sensitive than my foreign intelligence."

Arthur took a puff of cigarette and asked casually: "Mr. Schneider, since we will have many opportunities to communicate with each other in the future, do you have to explain some things to me? When I was in Liverpool last time, I left the port for Azov. There should be more than just General Napier who travels to the Seer Islands, right? Although I am not interested in foreign intelligence, there is no need for you to hide it from me so deliberately. "

When Schneider heard this, he didn't take it to heart, but joked: "Brother, the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not as easy as you think. If I let you know the news in advance before I get it done... …If anything happens, what’s waiting for me is not as simple as being dismissed from office.”

Arthur asked casually: "Who is so important? Has a higher confidentiality level than General Napier?"

Schneider held his pipe in his mouth and laughed: "Arthur, I don't want you to think that I am deliberately trying to trick you. So, now that the confidentiality period has passed, I will let the matter go. I left the port with General Napier. It’s Pedro.”

"Pedro?" Arthur was stunned for a moment, then realized: "The Emperor of Brazil?"

"That's right."

Schneider nodded and said: "When I came, I entered the country secretly, and when I left, it was also kept secret at the highest level. If His Majesty hadn't come to London in person to ask for help, he had persuaded His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister to deal with the Portuguese liberals led by his 12-year-old daughter. Reach out, we can't immediately decide to reinstate General Napier."

Arthur thought for a while and then said: "That's no wonder. I have seen the front page headline of The Times this morning. Portugal has officially appointed General Charlie Napier as Commander of the Royal Navy of Portugal. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also After more than a year of ambiguity, I publicly announced that I would side with the liberal camp led by Queen Maria in the Portuguese Civil War. The world was changing rapidly, and everything seemed to have changed overnight, so much so that my thinking was a bit confusing. I can’t keep up.”

Schneider certainly knew what Arthur was talking about, because just over a year ago, Britain's Wellington cabinet expressed support for Portugal's authoritarian rebel leader Prince Miguel.

In response to Arthur's doubts, Schneider just smiled and replied: "Come on, Arthur, you are a smart man, of course you know why."

Arthur shook his head: "Perhaps I can somewhat understand the changes in our country, but why did King Ferdinand VII of Spain, the 'irritable king', turn to support Queen Maria of Portugal? If I If I remember correctly, he had previously planned to personally send troops to help Miguel win the Portuguese crown."

"Well... we have to mention some humanity."

Schneider gave a little reminder: "When Ferdinand VII wanted to intervene in the Portuguese Civil War, he had no legal heirs. But God may want to praise his piety and achievements, so Princess Isabella of Spain is like an angel. It suddenly came.

At this time, His Majesty, who could not be offended, suddenly discovered that his heir was actually a minor woman like Queen Maria. If he wanted to resolutely implement the Salic Law that prohibited women from becoming kings and opposed Queen Maria's rule of Portugal, his daughter Princess Isabella would also lose her right to inherit.

Perhaps Ferdinand VII's temper was a bit irritable, but his mind was still very good. Therefore, without us even having to send someone to explain to him, he had already taken the lead in expressing his understanding of our foreign policy and repeatedly emphasized to us that Spain was not interested in interfering in Portugal's internal affairs.

But if Queen Maria wanted to crush those rebellious rebels, he would be happy to help the little queen, because it has always been Spain's mission to hoe the strong and help the weak, and to demonstrate the Lord's mercy and faith. "

"This sounds much more logical." Arthur pulled out another newspaper from the table: "But what happened in Spain can be explained. What is happening in the German states cannot be because of those small states. Let’s have sex.”

Due to Schneider's German immigrant status, he obviously knows better than Arthur what is happening in his hometown.

He didn't even need to read the newspaper to know that Arthur must be talking about a series of near-revolutionary events that occurred in Germany a while ago.

Roethke and Welke's liberal speeches at the Karlsruhe Assembly won over the house, and newspapers throughout Germany praised their views and courage.

Archduke Friedrich of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was pressured to reform the state congress.

Archduke Leopold I of Baden also announced that he would decentralize some financial and administrative powers to parliament and relax publication censorship to promote press freedom due to the continued turmoil and protest marches in the territory.

As for the Kingdom of Bavaria, their King Ludwig I was originally an enlightened patron of art and science. Since his accession to the throne in 1825, he has been committed to pursuing grand architectural tastes and building Munich, the capital of Bavaria, into the richest literary and artistic city in Europe. One of the beautiful cities with breathtaking atmosphere.

For this reason, he even spent a lot of money to move the entire Bavarian State University-Landshut University to Munich.

But his liberal image has been undermined by the recent wave of widespread reforms in Germany.

I don’t know whether he was frightened by the July Revolution in France in 1830, or because he was dissatisfied with the Bavarian Parliament’s long-term restrictions on his large-scale investment in architecture and art. Ludwig I refused to let go this time, saying anything. They are unwilling to continue to strengthen the power of parliament and promote liberal reforms.

Ludwig I insisted that the Bavarian parliament was powerful enough compared to other German states. After all, he has never seen other German monarchs like him. Even if he wants to build an art museum, he has been unable to get approval.

Although what he said was unpleasant, from a practical perspective, what Ludwig I said was all true.

After all, among the many member countries of the entire German Confederation, only Bavaria on the Rhine could publish newspapers with almost republican views. The German University Youth Federation was also the first to revive its vitality in Bavaria.

This was also the fundamental reason why Heine was willing to put down his arrogance and go to Bavaria to find a stable job.

In the environment in Germany, we can do well in Bavaria if we choose generals from among the poor.

After all, even Mr. Schneider, who looks down on Bavaria, once said: "Austrians are a transitional species between Bavarians and humans."

No matter how bad Bavaria is, it is still closer to humans than Austria.

When the German state was in such trouble, the two factions of Portugal started training directly. The Carbonari uprising that broke out in Modena, Parma, Bologna, Romagna and other places in Italy last year had just been suppressed by the intervention force sent by Austria. In Poland, the Russians were still busy cleaning up the aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising.

It can be said that there is no peaceful and peaceful land in the whole of Europe.

Even the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire is currently suffering from the attacks of the Egyptian Pasha Muhammad Ali.

Now recalling the judgment made by Sir Peel when the July Revolution just broke out a few years ago - every revolution that breaks out in France will release the same power in Britain. It can only be said that Sir Peel obviously underestimated the impact of the July Revolution. force.

Many liberals on the European continent are still looking forward to the French emperor coming again, just as he did thirty years ago, to drive out the absolutist tyrants riding on their heads.

But this time, they clearly saw the wrong person.

They not only pinned their hopes on personal feelings and the pen of a writer, but also pinned their hopes on the Polish Reconstruction Committee established by French King Louis Philippe and the Italian liberation movement advocated.

They took Louis Philippe's encouragement and assurances as their standard, but failed to notice that those words were empty cannons.

Before the Carbonari uprising in Italy, Louis Philippe verbally agreed to the Italian exiles' request for troops, assuring them that he would send a large army from Marseille.

However, until the Austrian army hanged the last Carbonari, this imaginary army never appeared on the horizon of the Apennine Peninsula.

As for his commitment to Poland, there is no need to mention it again.

The Russians have not officially recognized the legal status of the French July Monarchy until now. If the atmosphere is right, with Louis Philippe's personality, he will probably exchange Poland for a ticket to the Tsar's cocktail party.

In other words, the reason why he was making trouble in Poland was to prove the strength of the July Dynasty to the Russians.

This is not liberalism, but a way of raising prices.

If he really promoted the growth of the wind of freedom to some extent, it was probably unintentional.

But unfortunately, after the July Revolution, not many people on the European continent could understand this.

These hot-blooded guys are the main reason why the current security environment in London continues to deteriorate.

Since the beginning of the year, the number of crimes reported to Scotland Yard has increased exponentially.

What worries the police most is that the proportion of violent cases is rising.

Take the recent night-lighting event, which is the most popular event among protesters in London, for example. If the protesters find that a house does not display lights to show support for reform at night, the window glass will be hit with a few pebbles at least.

As a result of their hard work, there has been a recent surge in window sales in London, and frightened shopkeepers and factory owners are suddenly becoming enthusiastic about paying police dues.

Although spring has just begun, Scotland Yard has already received more donations from the community this year than in the past two years combined.

Almost every store hopes that Scotland Yard can allocate one or two police officers to patrol and stand guard at their place. Even if they cannot guarantee 24-hour online access, they can only ensure safety at night.

Faced with unprecedented security pressure, Director Rowan assigned the task to the Police Intelligence Bureau to find out who the gang of guys who smashed windows and attacked shops and residential areas were.

Although anyone can do the job of smashing glass, it is not the job of ordinary thugs to accurately find the family homes of those members who oppose parliamentary reforms.

Not to mention, in this day and age, it doesn’t seem right to go out on the streets every day to protest and support oneself without working.

The information sent back to Arthur by the intelligence bureau operators basically confirmed this.

Among this group of protesters, the well-known forces include the Capital Political League and the Birmingham National Political League. The former organization is led by Benthamist Price, and the latter is centered on banker Atwood. .

Of course, there are also some influences from Arthur and Scotland Yard's old acquaintance, Mr. Hetherington, the founder of the "Poor Guardian".

Although Arthur didn't have much objection to their behavior of smashing the window glass of the MP's house, it was impossible to turn a blind eye to these things. After all, the cabinet was responsible to the parliament, and government agencies like Scotland Yard were responsible to the cabinet.

If Scotland Yard doesn't show off, then by the end of the recess period, those MPs who have made Shi Zi'er frightened will form a group to cause trouble for Scotland Yard.

Arthur's fingertips tapped on the table: "August, what do you think of what is currently happening in Germany and Britain?"

Schneider picked up the teacup, shook his head and said, "I can still talk about Germany, but I don't know about Britain. That's your job."

"Really?" Arthur said: "If this is the case, I will have my men hand over the guy who was caught from the venue yesterday to the criminal court. Are you really sure that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not lose the spy? I know it. As you recall, the guy claimed to be a subordinate of Mr. August Schneider, Assistant Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs."

"Did you catch our man?"

Schneider raised his brows, looking a little surprised: "But this is not surprising. Everyone has their own political views, and there are also reformists in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As long as he does his job well, he can do whatever he wants after work. It's none of our business. Of course, if he violates the law, you can deal with it how you want, without showing any mercy to me. This is Britain, not a foreign country, so naturally he cannot enjoy diplomatic and consular immunity. "