One of the oldest of the British government agencies, the War Office was the head of the British Army from the early 17th century until 1967, when the Cabinet transferred its responsibilities to the Ministry of Defence.

The War Office's Elizabethan-style five-storey building at the intersection of Whitehall and Guards Cavalry Boulevard, with its red brick walls and white arched windows, stands out from Whitehall's many government offices, and is much less impressive than the majestic Romanesque Admiralty building.

After Wickham got out of the carriage and straightened his major uniform, he walked towards the door of the building in high spirits. Wickham still remembers that in his previous life, he had a classmate who went to work in the General Office of the Central Committee after graduation, and he was very angry when he saw his old classmate, and now he is also a "national civil servant" who eats imperial food, and the comfort in his heart is not enough for outsiders.

As soon as he arrived at the door, Wickham was stopped by two army guards in red uniforms and bearskin hats: "Mr. Major, please show your ID." The two guards had been on duty in the War Department building for several months, and had never seen a young officer as Wickham, so they approached and asked in a cautious manner.

Wickham took out the appointment papers and documents issued by the War Department and handed them to the guards: "I'm the new auditor of the Quartermaster Service, and it's normal that you haven't seen me. ”

The two guards meticulously checked Wickham's documents and appointment letter, and found that there was nothing wrong, so they saluted Wickham and said apologetically: "Major Wickham, we are very sorry for delaying your time, but this is also our duty, and we ask for your forgiveness." ”

Since the declaration of war between Britain and France, the buildings of the War Office and the Admiralty have also become two of the favorite places of French spies, and there are a large number of secret documents related to battle plans and troop movements, so the guards do not dare to relax their vigilance for a moment, and check the personnel entering and leaving the building day and night.

Wickham couldn't deny it, put away his papers and walked inside. Just as Wickham was about to ask someone where the quartermaster's office was, a smiling senior officer with the rank of lieutenant general came up to him and said, "You are Mr. George Wickham, we met at the salon of the Countess of Crown." ”

Wickham was a little confused, when did he, a mid-ranking officer, meet a big man like a lieutenant general? However, after the other party mentioned the Salon of the Countess of Kron, and compared the appearance, Wickham remembered who the other party was! The lieutenant general officer in front of him is really the golden thigh that Wickham wants to hug in the future - His Royal Highness Prince Frederick!

Wickham smiled politely but appropriately, took off his hat, and greeted, "Your Royal Highness Prince Frederick, I didn't expect to meet you here. ”

In fact, Wickham had long wanted to go up and hug Kim's thighs, but because he was afraid of leaving the impression of sloppy in Prince Frederick's heart, he deliberately made a polite but distant appearance. After all, the two have only met once, and they can't even be considered nodding friends.

Because of the touching poem "When You Are Old", Prince Frederick had a good impression of Wickham, and the smile on his face was very sincere: "I came to the War Department because I had some military affairs to hand over. By the way, Major Wickham, did you come to the War Office for something to do? ”

Three months earlier, the anti-French coalition had been defeated on all fronts at the Battle of Fleuruz, and Frederick, as the top head of the British Army in Europe, was naturally going home to explain the defeat to the War Secretary, the Prime Minister, and the King. He came to the War Department this time to discuss the aftermath with the Minister of War. It's just that he didn't expect to meet Wickham here, so he said hello on a whim.

"Your Royal Highness, I have just been appointed as the Auditor of the Quartermaster Division of the War Department, and I am here to report for duty today." Wickham explained, but he thought about how to relate to the future commander-in-chief of the British Army, Lara, without showing a trace.

Hearing this, Prince Frederick said with some doubts: "I remember that you are a marine, how did you transfer to the War Department?" ”

Wickham thought to himself, I can't tell you that it's because my brother is afraid that he will be beaten into scum by the combined Franco-Spanish fleet at sea, so he deliberately ran to the rear, right?

In order to beautify his image, Wickham shamelessly put gold on his face and said to Frederick: "Shame on you, Your Royal Highness. A year ago, I went alone into the heart of South Africa to deliver guns and ammunition to the Xhosa tribe, only to run into the Boer militia in Cape Town on the way. I was shot in the right shoulder during that bloody battle, and then I felt terrible pain in my shoulder every time I was at sea in the humid conditions, so I applied to be transferred to the War Department. ”

That mission was a confidential mission, and Wickham didn't mention it much to others, but Prince Frederick was a senior military general and must have known about the plan, so Wickham didn't have anything to shy away from and said it directly.

As for the sequelae of being shot, it was pure nonsense on the part of Wickham, who had discovered that his body had amazing resilience since the crossing, and recovered quickly after that shot, leaving no sequelae. The reason why I say this is simply to make a good impression in front of the prince.

Prince Frederick was pleasantly surprised: "It turns out that the lieutenant officer who went hundreds of miles deep into the heart of South Africa is you!" I really didn't expect that our 'Captain Poet' is not only talented, but also a brave and witty Wang ** official! Haha, Major Wickham, now is not a good time to chat, why don't you come to my London apartment for dinner in the evening? ”

Hearing the Prince's invitation, Wickham felt a burst of ecstasy in his heart, this is a great opportunity to build relationships, and it can't be missed in vain! Wickham suppressed the surprise in his heart and said politely: "Your Royal Highness, will it disturb you?" ”

Seeing Wickham's pampered expression, Prince Frederick was even more satisfied in his heart. Coming into a royal family, he grew tired of being flattered by others, because those people, no matter how respectful they appeared on the surface, were only trying to get some kind of benefit from him.

And Wickham's casual attitude made Prince Frederick feel very comfortable: "How come, Major Wickham, you are always welcome at my apartment in London. By the way, I still have important things to do, so I'll go first. But in the evening, I'll send a carriage to pick you up at the War Building, that's it! After saying that, Frederick didn't care about Wickham's reaction, and left directly.

After bidding farewell to Prince Frederick, Wickham was guided by a non-commissioned officer to the office of the Comptroller General of the Quartermaster's Office. All he needed was to give the Privy Council a letter of appointment to the Comptroller, who was his immediate supervisor.

The Comptroller of the Quartermaster Department is the head of the entire Army Quartermaster Department, so the Comptroller's office is not small. But with a few large pine filing cabinets crammed in, the interior space was much smaller. By the window was a large oak desk with thick stacks of papers. At this time, an old man with gray hair was sitting behind his desk and reviewing documents.

Wickham guessed that the old man should be Lord Clais, the Comptroller of the Quartermaster Service, so he took off his hat and saluted: "Your Excellency Lord Clais, I am the newly reported auditor, Major Wickham, and this is my letter of appointment." ”

The little old man, seeing that Wickham had mistaken himself for Lord Claes, stood up in some haste, and said embarrassedly, "Mr. Major, you have mistaken the person." I'm not Lord Claes, I'm Stoke Mister, Chief Clerk of His Excellency. ”

Seeing that Wickham had made an oolong himself, the non-commissioned officer outside the door who had not yet left couldn't help but laugh, but felt that doing so was a little offensive in front of an officer, so he hurriedly took his leave and left.

Wickham's old face flushed, he didn't expect that he would make a big fuss on the first day, but this is indeed the comptroller's office, yes, he is absolutely not mistaken!

Wickham was a little confused and asked, "Mr. Mister, what's going on?" The nameplate at the door reads the Comptroller's Office, and rightly so, isn't Lord Claes working in this office? ”

Stoke Mister glanced at Wickham a little strangely, as if Wickham was from another planet, and after a moment of deliberation, he hesitated and said, "Major Wickham, not only the War Office, but the entire Royal Government runs like this, and the whole of London knows it. ”

Stoke Mister was now absolutely sure that the young major in front of him must be a newcomer to officialdom, and he had not even been exposed to politics, otherwise he would not have been unaware of these unspoken rules.

Wickham was not unsophisticated, and when he saw that the old clerk looked like he wanted to speak and stopped, and there was something in his words, he took out a silver tobacco box, handed it over quietly, and then said with a sincere face: "Mr. Mister, I joined the army after graduating from Cambridge University, and have been serving overseas, and now I have just been transferred to the headquarters of the War Department. ”

Although Stoke Mister looked a little old, he was not slow to collect things at all, and in an instant the silver cigarette box in the world disappeared, and it seems that this old guy usually does this kind of thing.

After receiving other people's things, Old Mister's attitude suddenly improved a lot, and he said with a smile: "It turns out that Major Wickham is still a top student in Cambridge, and the army of the kingdom needs a young talent like you, Major." In fact, this is a common thing, and many officials who receive positions are not in charge of specific affairs, and they usually use half or a little more of the post pension to hire a clerk to perform the duties entrusted to him by His Majesty. His Excellency Lord Claes was too busy with the affairs of the House of Lords to be able to get out of charge of the Quartermaster's Office, so he hired me to perform his duties on his behalf. ”

I rub, it can still be like this! Wickham's mouth is so open that he is about to put down an egg, this British "civil servant" is really cool, right, can he still get money if he doesn't work?

According to Wickham's understanding, the annuity for the position of Quartermaster General is about 1,800 pounds, and even if Lord Claes hires Stoke Mister in half of the annuity, he himself can get 900 pounds a year, which is not a small number.

Of course, in such a fat place as the Quartermaster Department, the gray income is hundreds of times that of the annuity. It is said that during the American Revolutionary War, the Comptroller General of the British War Office took advantage of his position during the war to obtain 100,000 pounds in benefits! And this former aristocracy is something that everyone in British politics takes for granted!

Although Lord Claes entrusted the day-to-day affairs to Stoke Mister, he also handled the important matters of procurement himself. Since the beginning of the war between Britain and France, he has reaped no less than 30,000 pounds in benefits by taking advantage of the Army's large-scale procurement of war materials.

And this is only a year, and the end of the war is far away. This shocking corruption was one of the reasons why the British Parliament later decided to reform the civil service system.

Wickham was a little injured, he ran to the War Department to work in high spirits, and was about to fight and win the favor of his boss, but at this time he found that his boss didn't even come to work!

Suddenly, Wickham was in the mood for a few hundred pounds in annuity, and he had kung fu, so he might as well do something of his own under his name. Thinking like this, Wickham thought of hiring someone to take his place, so that he could get out of his business and start his own business.

Stoke Mister has been working in the War Department for decades, and he has long since become a master, and he guessed Wickham's thoughts from Wickham's expression, so he said: "Major Wickham, if you want to hire someone to take over, I have some good candidates here to recommend to you, you see......"

Mr. Stoke Mister has a nephew and nephew who did not go to university but studied at Harrow School, and have a decent education. It's just that the kid hasn't found a satisfying job since he quit. If you can help someone to take a substitute position in the War Department, it can be regarded as a decent way to make a living.

Wickham, of course, understood what Mister was thinking, but as long as he could find someone, he didn't care about the rest: "Then please Mr. Mister, as for the salary, how about two hundred pounds a year?" This salary is already quite good, because the pension of Wickham's position is only about three hundred and forty pounds, and Stoke Mister did not expect the young man in front of him to be so generous, so he thanked him repeatedly.

After completing the check-in process, Mr. Mister personally took Wickham to his office, which was much smaller and slightly cramped with a desk and two cabinets. However, over the years, the number of functional departments in the War Department has increased, so now this office building is a little insufficient, and there is no way to do it.

Wickham thanked him and sat down in his chair. The position of auditor is relatively leisurely, and there is no important business to be done, so Wickham has to take a copy of the Times to pass the time. And just like that, the afternoon was gone, and Wickham got up from behind his desk, stretched, and put on his coat and prepared to go home.

As soon as he left the entrance of the army department, Wickham found a four-horse luxury carriage parked there, which was the most luxurious carriage he had ever encountered in his time, much more stylish than the Lamborghini of later generations!

Prince Frederick was standing next to the carriage and waving at Wickham.