When he went down to the hall on the first floor of the War Department, Wan Hu asked a little strangely: "Childe, aren't you on an errand in the yamen?" Wouldn't it be bad if the old man in the yamen ordered it? "Wan Hu once saw the errand in the county yali deserted and was caught by the county master, and he was beaten on the spot with 20 boards. Wan Hu began to think crankily.

"Someone will work for me." Wickham doesn't plan to explain in detail, and when Wan Hu stays in the UK for a long time, he will naturally understand the twists and turns.

As soon as Wickham came out of the door, he bumped into Bert, who was arguing with the guards at the door, this guy was wearing a neat captain's uniform, it seemed that this guy was promoted, and he jumped two levels from second lieutenant to captain.

"George, I was about to go up to you, but these two guys who look down on people won't let me in." Bert's face flushed with anger, and he was now glaring indignantly at the two guards at the door.

The two soldiers standing guard had already removed the muskets they were carrying on their shoulders and said with a wary expression: "Please forgive my rudeness, Mr. Captain. But there is a stipulation that no outsiders can enter the War Office building without the guarantee of an internal staff member of the War Department. ”

Yesterday it was well known in London that a French spy dressed in the uniform of a British admiral and then swaggered into the Admiralty building to steal documents. That's why these two soldiers are so strict with the rules, and if something goes wrong, the two of them will go to a military court, and there will be no place to cry when the time comes.

Wickham had no choice but to say to the two guards: "Soldier, this captain is my former colleague in the army, I can vouch for it." ”

The two soldiers received a guarantee from Wickham, so they put their smoothbore guns behind their backs and apologized to Bert embarrassedly: "I'm very sorry, Mr. Captain, the French spies are so rampant during this time, we have to be on guard." ”

Bert glared at the guard dissatisfied, as the first heir to the Chelsea family, he had never been so swept up in face: "Damn, if I join the army, I will definitely teach these two sons of a lesson and let them know the prestige of my young master Chelsea." ”

Wickham knew that this kid had committed another crime, and said with some amusement: "It seems that in the two years that you have been away from London, the prestige of the young master of Chelsea has fallen a lot." But people are also responsible, if you let you go, it is estimated that tomorrow they will have to roll up and leave. By the way, what are you doing in such a hurry to come to the War Department early in the morning? ”

Bert pulled Wickham down the stairs and said, "Do you remember Ruhr and Smith?" Barnett sent him two out of the army yesterday, and I didn't bring someone to you. Bert knows the best about Wickham's situation, and because Wickham has no family support behind him, he has to do everything himself. At this time, it was the time when Wickham was short of people, so Bert didn't think much about sending the two of them Ruer and Smith over.

Wickham looked behind him, and sure enough, he saw Ruhr and Smith, who were wearing old military uniforms without ranks, and at a glance they knew that they were veterans who had just been discharged from the army.

"Sir, it's a pleasure to see you again." Ruhr cleverly greeted Wickham, knowing that after he was discharged from the army, he would have to rely on Wickham for a good job, and he didn't want to go back to Hampshire to work as a weaver.

Smith, who had always been stupid, just smirked and saluted Wickham.

Wickham stepped forward and patted Ruhr on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "You kid is still as clever as before, how can you read words, can you read simple letters?" "Ruhr is a man of brilliant minds, his only drawback is that he is illiterate, and if Ruhl can learn simple grammar, Wickham will not mind sending him some errands to take care of.

Bert interjected with a big grin: "George, this kid Ruhl seems to have been favored by the goddess of wisdom, and he can learn anything quickly, as long as it is not too difficult. But it's a pity, if this guy had gone to public school, he would have been able to get a position as a priest in the diocese. In addition, Ruhl is very sensitive to numbers, and has helped me reconcile a lot of accounts recently. ”

The accounts were not difficult in those days, but they were a bit cumbersome, and yesterday Mr. Chelsea Sr. forced his son to review the accounts of the Chelsea shipping company, and if it weren't for the fact that Ruhr was with him at the time, Bert would have stayed up all night to deal with those accounts.

Listening to Bert's words, Wickham was overjoyed, now he really needs a secretary-like entourage, otherwise he has to do everything himself, and he won't tire people to death? "Ruhl, if you don't mind, how about I be my attendant and set the annuity at thirty ginis first?"

Although Ruhl had saved more than twenty pounds for the spoils of his voyage, he was still moved by the thirty Gini annuities: "Thank you, Master Wickham, it is my pleasure to serve you. Ruhr cleverly changed the name of Wickham, and from now on their relationship was no longer superior-subordinate relationship, but master-servant relationship.

"Smith, what about you, would you like to serve the Wickham family?" Although Smith was just a blacksmith and had no special talents, Wickham valued Smith more because he saved his life, and such subordinates were absolutely reliable in terms of loyalty. Sometimes, a person's loyalty is even more important than their own talents.

Smith smiled shyly and said with some embarrassment, "Of course I'm happy to serve the Wickham family, sir." But I still have family in Hampshire, and I want to go back and see it first. Smith thought of his wife, whom he hadn't seen for two years, and his heart was hot, and yesterday he used the money he earned in the past two years to buy several beautiful clothes, and he wanted to go back to surprise his wife. Sometimes, the happiness of ordinary people comes a little easier.

Wickham was a little surprised, but quickly adjusted his mentality, which also showed that Smith was a man of affection: "So be it, Smith, you go back to Hampshire to see your wife first, and then return to London, I have a position here for you at any time, it is better than you continue to play sledgehammers in the blacksmith shop." Of course, if you can't rest assured of your wife, you can bring her to London. ”

Smith was very touched by Wickham's generosity, and said gratefully: "Master Wickham, don't worry, I will return to London in a month at most, and I will do whatever the young master asks me to do when the time comes." Smith had already figured it out, his life was saved by Wickham, even if Wickham wanted to take it back, he would never say anything.

After Smith left with a small cloth bag, Wickham said thoughtfully to Bert: "Bert, are you Chelsea family familiar with the textile industry?" "Wickham figured it out the day before yesterday, and now that there is someone in the War Department to act as his substitute, he doesn't have to come here every day to spend it, he has to find a career to do. The cotton textile industry is a good choice, because the light industry requires little investment and rapid return on investment, which is the first choice for industry in this era.

Bert glanced back at Wickham with some surprise: "George, are you interested in the cotton textile industry?" But I advise you not to invest your money in it, the price of cotton yarn fell by more than half last year, and many once glorious textile mills have closed down. ”

The economic crisis in Britain was caused by the cotton textile industry, and many of the new upstarts who made their fortunes from this became poor overnight. To put it bluntly, the current cotton textile industry is a big hole in the eyes of the British, and it is still the kind that can't get up as soon as you jump.

Wickham knew that Bert was well-intentioned, but he couldn't say to Bert: "My lord comes from the world more than two hundred years later, and soon the textile industry will flourish again because of the stimulation of military orders. "If Wickham dares to say that, it's more likely that he'll be called crazy.

"Why do you ask such a question, I didn't find out that you kid is a chatter before. All you have to do is answer my questions honestly. Wickham didn't explain much, and he couldn't explain it clearly.

Bert put away his smile and said solemnly, "George, are you really here?" "Bert really considers Wickham a friend, and he doesn't want Wickham to invest in an industry where the future is not very clear.

Wickham rolled his eyes and replied, "Don't worry, Bert, do you think I'm like that kind of guy who is stupid and has a lot of money?" Since I decided to invest in the textile industry, there is naturally a profit to be made here. ”

Seeing that Wickham was not joking, Bert had no choice but to reluctantly say: "Our Chelsea family's business scope does not include the textile industry, so we are not familiar with it. But many of our customers at Chelsea Shipping are large and small textile mills in Manchester, and our company is responsible for supplying them with cotton from the southern United States and Egypt. If you're looking to buy a textile mill to play with, I can give you a lead, and who knows how many textile mills are out of business and haven't found a suitable buyer yet. ”

Ruhl, who had been silent, interjected, "Please forgive my presumptuousness, Master Wickham. You know I was a worker in a textile factory before I joined the army, so I was familiar with the machines and the plant. If you are going to buy a textile factory, I can give you a lot of advice, at least to ensure that you will not buy an outdated factory, young master. ”

Wickham slapped his forehead, his new entourage was a former textile worker, otherwise he was a liberal arts student majoring in international trade, and he would not have to be blinded when he ran to the engineering territory: "That's great, Ruhl." ”

After asking Bert to keep an eye on the textile mill for sale, Wickham returned to the Wickham mansion with Wanhu and Ruhr, but he had to accompany Alice and the little one to lunch.