Viscount Bernard's method is actually not difficult, that is, let Lin Zihan join the Royal Navy first, and then he will use his connections in the army to transfer him to the "Lion", so that Lin Zihan can go to the Qing Kingdom justifiably.

In fact, it is not difficult to return to China, find a random East India Company merchant ship at the London dock, go to India first and then transfer to other merchant ships, even if it is a trouble point, you can reach Guangzhou, the only treaty port of the Qing Dynasty. But this was not enough for Lin Zihan, the Qing government only opened the port of Guangzhou to foreigners at this time, and there was no door to travel to other places in China!

If you want to return to the imperial capital of the city where he and Gao Yuanyuan have lived together for six years, the only way to do so is as a foreign envoy. Although he could only reach Tongzhou Wharf at most as a navy, Lin Zihan was confident that he would let Magalny take him to Beijing City. So Lin Zihan just hesitated for a while, then accepted General Bernard's suggestion and decided to join the British Royal Navy! However, Lin Zihan should be glad that there are still forty-eight years before 1840, otherwise he would have become a veritable traitor if he sailed into the Pearl River Estuary in Guangzhou with a British Royal Navy warship?

Lin Zihan, who was in a good mood, quickly remembered John Walter's invitation, so he took the manuscript of the poems he had written down silently in the past few days with him, and then instructed William to send him to the editorial office of The Times in London.

The editorial office of the Times, the heart of the entire Times, is housed in a four-storey baroque building on East Smithfield Road. In 1785, John Walter founded one of the most legendary newspapers. Originally, the name of the newspaper was not The Times, but the Shijian Daily, which was officially changed to its current name in 1788. Although the Times is not the earliest newspaper in Britain, it is the most typical representative of the British newspaper industry. Its more than 200-year history has witnessed the rise and fall of the British Empire, and a British scholar once said, "If you collect all the issues of The Times, you will get the most detailed history of Britain since the eighteenth century!" This shows how important the Times is in the UK, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a symbol of the British media industry.

The Times was so successful at the time of its launch because it was the first British company to extend its journalistic perspective beyond the UK, particularly France. This has earned The Times a high reputation in political and financial circles. After this, the British elite had not only beef and bread on the breakfast table, but also a copy of the Times. When John Walter Sr. was at the helm of The Times, the newspaper had unimaginable profit margins for its peers, and few newspapers could match it in terms of quality and profitability. For this reason, Times employees, including reporters, editors and columnists, earn more than those who work in other newspapers.

Lin Zihan came to the editorial office of The Times today not only to make a pilgrimage, he touched the manuscript of the poem in his pocket, if he didn't squeeze out a few taels of oil and water from the rich Times today, then wouldn't he be blind in the two years he spent in the marketing department in his last life.

A very well-dressed clerk looked at Lin Zihan, who was smirking at the door, and walked over a little strangely and asked, "This gentleman, do you have anything to do with the editorial office of The Times?"

Lin Zihan hurriedly wiped away the smirk on his face, and just now he thought that he had dug out a large sum of pounds from Walter's pocket, and his mood was a little too agitated. "Hello, I'm here at the invitation of your editor-in-chief, Mr. John Walter, I wonder if your editor-in-chief is here?"

The clerk wasn't sure if what Mr. Lin said was true, because too many self-righteous writers came to the door and wanted to publish their work in The Times. A few days ago, there was a down-and-out guy who claimed to have been invited by the editor-in-chief, and if it weren't for the editor-in-chief's secretary who directly blew that guy away, it is estimated that everyone would have been deceived. Thinking of the situation a few days ago, this little staff member wanted to call the editor-in-chief's secretary over to confirm first, so as not to make a fuss: "Sir, please wait a moment." After speaking, he walked towards the third floor of the editorial office.

After a while, a young man with one-legged eyes appeared in the hall on the first floor and said to Lin Zihan, "Are you Mr. Wickham?" Lin Zihan nodded: "If nothing else, I am the George Wickham in your mouth."

The young man immediately said excitedly, "Mr. Wickham, the poems you have written are truly wonderful, they are simply genius ideas. Every poem you publish in The Times, I have read it! My sister and I are very much looking forward to your new work. Oh, excuse me, Mr. Wickham, for my ramblings. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Stoddat, the secretary of Mr. John Walter. Mr. Walter has explained that if you come, you can go directly to his office on the third floor. ”

Lin Zihan didn't expect to meet his "fans" here, and the vanity in his heart was greatly satisfied, so he happily said to Stoddat: "Mr. Stoddat, please take me there, you know, this is the first time I have come to the editorial office of The Times."

When he came to the editor-in-chief's office, John Walter was holding a copy of the encyclopedia edited by Diodes de Rode, France, and looked at it with relish. Seeing Lin Zihan come in, he reluctantly put down the book in his hand: "Mr. Wickham, welcome to the editorial office of The Times." You're one of London's most famous emerging poets now, so I wonder if you've brought any new works with you this time?"

Lin Zihan looked at the complete set of French encyclopedias on the bookshelf behind John Walter's desk, and sighed in his heart that the Walter family was really rich. Because Wickham had previously helped Darcy buy a complete set of encyclopedias, which sold for more than two thousand five hundred pounds in London, more than the annual income of the Bennett family estate in Pride and Prejudice, it was simply frighteningly expensive. This strengthened Lin Zihan's determination to extort a sum of money from Old John: "Mr. Walter, I am now a columnist for The Times, and of course I will continue to write new poems." After speaking, Lin Zihan handed the prepared poem manuscript to John Walter.

This time, Lin Zihan did not continue to steal the poems of Shelley, Keats and Byron, not because he found his conscience or was morally noble, but because he really did not remember the other poems of the three. After all, Lin Zihan has no special hobbies and studies for foreign countries, and he can remember nearly seven works by the three of them, which is already a very good memory. So the shameless Lin Zihan shifted the target of piracy, and this time he set his sights on Pushkin, the most famous Russian poet in China. The works of that great god are included in Chinese middle school textbooks, which is absolutely powerful.

John Walter was surprised, he just asked so casually, he didn't expect Lin Zihan to really have a new work, and the speed of writing poetry is too fast, right? Although you don't need to write a poem with codewords, but a good poem needs inspiration, and that kind of abstract thing is much more difficult than codeword, is this young man's inspiration readily available?

With this question in mind, Old John took the manuscript of the poem. But soon, Old John was shocked again, these poems were not one, but many! Rub, this poem is written faster than the weaving of a cotton factory using machinery. Hoping that the quality of the poem this time would not drop too much, John Walter, with this idea, opened the manuscript of the poem and carefully browsed it:

If life deceives you,

Don't be sad, don't be anxious!

The need for calmness on a melancholy day:

Believe it,

Happy days will come.

The heart is always towards the future

Now it's often melancholy

Everything is instantaneous

All will pass

And that which passed,

It will become a kind memory.

After reading this poem, Walter no longer knows what to say, the quality of this poem is not only not declining, but even better! He suppressed the excitement in his heart, read the rest of the poems, and finally had to come to a conclusion: the young man in front of him is a poetry factory! Not only is it extremely fast, but also the quality is so high that it can no longer be described by the word genius, but the existence of demons!

Lin Zihan looked at John, whose face was flushed, and wondered if this old man was too excited and had a heart attack? "Mr. John Walter, I have to regret to tell you that I had to resign from my position as a columnist for your newspaper." Lin Zihan said with some apologies, after all, he was not authentic in this matter, and this columnist didn't work for many days, so he picked on it.

Walter chuckled in his heart, and his face suddenly became a little ugly, and at this time a thousand thoughts turned in his heart, why did this young man resign from his position as a columnist? Is it because you are not satisfied with the salary and remuneration? Trying his best to suppress the dissatisfaction in his heart, John Walter said: "Is Mr. Wickham not satisfied with the current remuneration? But with all due respect, Mr. Wickham, there is no newspaper that pays more than The Times!"

Lin Zihan saw that the old gentleman had some misunderstanding, so he explained: "Mr. Walter, you misunderstood, I didn't mean that. It's just that I've got a position in the Royal Navy and will soon be on my way to the East, so it's not convenient for me to be a columnist for your newspaper anymore. These poems were written before I left London. ”

Walter suddenly realized, and the unhappiness in his heart immediately dissipated: "I see, then these poems ......"

Lin Zihan saw that the old fox had taken the bait, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and the moment of slaughter had finally arrived: "My idea is that these poems plus the poems published in the newspaper some time ago, a total of twenty poems are all compiled into a collection of poems and published, what do you think?" As I am about to leave for the East, I hope that Mr. John Walter will buy this book of poems all at once!"

Old John didn't think about it, and answered directly: "Five hundred pounds!"

Lin Zihan listened to the old Walter's offer and shook his head gently, this old guy is really dark enough, worthy of being a profiteer who can develop the Times: "Mr. Walter, you're not joking, are you?" To tell you the truth, these poems have exhausted all my inspiration, and there will be no new poems in the future. Think about it, the last closed work of the genius poet, how attractive this gimmick is! Are these sealed works worth only five hundred pounds? Seven hundred pounds, absolutely not a penny less!"

"No, five hundred and fifty pounds, no more."

"Six hundred and seventy pounds, I have made a great concession!"

……

After some haggling, the two men agreed on the price of six hundred pounds. John Walter took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Mr. Wickham, I suggest that you resign from your position in the Royal Navy, it would be a pity not to do business with your arguments." Six hundred pounds is not a small amount, and a few thousand copies of books published in this era are usually sold well, after all, there are relatively few literate people, and books are expensive, and books are only a luxury that can only be afforded by the middle class and the upper class. Jane Austen earned about £200 from writing a novel. Although poetry has a higher status than novels, Lin Zihan can dig up a huge sum of six hundred pounds with twenty poems, which is already very good.

"Happy working together!"

"Happy working together!"

The two foxes, one old and one young, looked at each other and smiled, which was considered to have completed the transaction. As a result, the most legendary out-of-print poetry collection two hundred years later was published under the planning of the two!