Arthur read the penny worth of The Poor Man's Guardian with great interest, and it was not until he saw the end of the article that he realized something was wrong.

Hetherington, the founder of The Poor Guardian, is on the Scotland Yard watch list.

Although the Prohibition of Workers' Association Act of 1824 had been repealed and censorship of publications had been gradually liberalized, although the threshold on the surface was no longer set, there were still many small tricks behind the scenes.

Because most of the workers are poor, it is unlikely that they have too much money left on hand to spend on other things besides food, clothing, shelter and transportation.

Therefore, in order to prevent the Workers' Federation from creating influential publications, the British government began to impose stamp duty on newspapers, raising the price of newspapers to fourpence, and limiting the sales of newspapers by raising costs.

Since there is a strategy, there are naturally countermeasures, which is why all kinds of shady tabloids appear in an endless stream on the streets of London.

As long as there are no taxes, the price of a penny is enough to pay for itself, and there is still money to be made.

It's a pity that Arthur never had the opportunity to get such a good price when he bought newspapers.

The street newsboy was still selling cheap newspapers for a penny for a second, but as soon as he passed, there were only regular options left like The Times, The Herald, and The Manchester Guardian.

Arthur snatched Elder from his newspaper, so that he could only talk to Darwin, who was next to him, while drawing a few random strokes on the manuscript paper with the pencil in his hand.

Arthur finished reading the newspaper and was about to talk, when he suddenly saw the villain drawn by Elder Pen.

He frowned, and for a moment, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he snapped his fingers and said, "Elder How's your drawing skills doing?" ”

Elder yawned: "It's okay, why are you asking this?" ”

Arthur smiled and said, "I want to ask you to do something, if it can be done, the remuneration is not a problem." Greenwich Police District's office expenses for the quarter are still somewhat surplus. ”

"Oh?" When Elder heard that there was a reward, he suddenly came to his senses: "You want to ask me to help you draw a map?" ”

"It's not just a map." Arthur took a sip from his teacup: "You should know the 'Thief General' Fred, right?" ”

"Fred? Of course you do! Last time, I asked him to help me dispose of the contraband I brought with me. ”

Arthur had been drinking tea well, but he almost choked to death on a mouthful of water when he heard Elder say this.

"What did you say?!"

Arthur took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his mouth: "You? Smuggle? And also got involved with Fred? ”

Elder didn't care about it, as if he didn't care that he had sinned.

He rested his legs on the table, leaned back in his chair and said, "What's all the fuss about?" The Royal Navy is all smuggling, who doesn't know? ”

Darwin, who was reading the book quietly, was shocked to change his face when he heard this explosive news.

Arthur leaned forward on his elbows: "Tell me in detail, I've been short of big cases lately." ”

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, Elder's face turned blue.

He lowered his voice and scolded, "Arthur, what the fuck, are you still planning to send me in?" Besides, the contraband wasn't mine, I sold it for my uncle. I was not satisfied with the old thing when I had sold it, and thought that the price I had sold was too low, and that I had not been given a penny. ”

Arthur also lowered his voice and said, "Then you are a tainted witness, I can help you get leniency and get your uncle in." A rear admiral in the Royal Navy is enough for me to eat for many years. Don't worry, I will be promoted and rich, and I will never forget you. ”

Elder exclaimed, "Who is covering me when you get him in?" Isn't there something wrong with your head? Besides, if you arrest him, why don't you put the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet in it with you? ”

Hearing this, Darwin on the side also came over: "Is there still the matter of the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet?" ”

Elder said angrily: "That's not it! Are you still planning to involve First Sea Secretary Thomas Hardy? ”

Arthur had planned to make a joke, but before he could even ask, Elder had almost made it all clear.

He hurriedly shouted, "Stop! Don't say it, are you going to put Royal Field Marshal Prince William in it? ”

Elder was stunned for a moment, then raised his hand and punched Arthur in the chest: "You kid can do it!" No wonder you can be a police inspector, how do you know? ”

Arthur hurriedly covered his mouth and glanced around again, until he saw that no one was paying attention to them.

"I don't know anything, you just say the Royal Navy, don't get involved with specific individuals."

Elder spread his hands and said, "Actually, it's not a big deal.

If you think about it, although the officers of the Royal Navy are treated well, the sailors are treated poorly!

If it was better when there was a war, after all, it would still be possible to share the spoils of war, but now it is peacetime.

Under normal circumstances, the income level of sailors running merchant ships can be three or four times higher than that of sailors, and even five or six times higher in the peak transportation season.

And the training of the Royal Navy is still so strict, the internal regulations are stiff, who has nothing to do and wants to be a sailor?

Floating on the sea every day, I can't make a lot of money.

It was difficult for the Navy to recruit full recruits at any time, so much so that recruiters even resorted to kidnapping.

There should be a rumor in your hometown that the navy recruiter came to recruit soldiers, but the local peasants were reluctant to go, so they joined forces to tie up a few passing outsiders to do business.

Or maybe they put criminals on the ship who were supposed to be exiled, and they were supposed to be exiled, but they couldn't be released when they got to the ship.

The treatment is so bad that if the Admiralty still doesn't allow the brethren to smuggle something, and doesn't let people live a good life? ”

Darwin nodded slightly and said, "Although I don't know why, I think what you said seems to have some truth." ”

When Arthur heard this, he smiled helplessly: "Every time I hear you talk about the Royal Navy, it always makes me feel that this place is rotten from top to bottom." But in that case, why are they still so combative? ”

Elder rolled his eyes and said, "Of course, it's because of the money!" Although the big guys get dead wages, if it comes to wartime, the Admiralty has a clear price.

The destruction of an enemy ship is rewarded with a bounty of five shillings for each enemy killed by the entire ship.

After capturing an enemy ship and towing it back to port, the government buys the enemy ship at the market price.

As for the spoils of battle in battle, the rule within the Navy was that the captain took a quarter, the fleet commander took an eighth, and the rest was divided among the sailors.

Relying on this, so no matter how bad the Royal Navy is, it can still fight, and the French don't even dare to go out of the port.

In their eyes, the ships of the French were not enemies at all, that is, gold floating on the sea.

In the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy was able to complete two rounds of artillery bombardment in three and a half minutes.

General Rotherram's frigate dared to chase the French battleship, and he was the first to bite the tail and start a broadside battle when he was outnumbered, and he killed a dozen French sailors with his saber alone.

As for the French, give them three and a half minutes, and it is estimated that the shells have not been taken out of the cabin, and the time to raise the white flag is enough! ”

Speaking of this, Elder covered his mouth mysteriously and said, "Let me tell you a secret, don't tell anyone else!"

I heard from my uncle that some captains had earned more than 300,000 pounds of property after 22 years of fighting in the Napoleonic Wars.

The captain ate meat, and the sailors who followed him naturally drank soup. Do you say that this situation can still be without combat effectiveness? ”

After speaking, he sighed again: "It's a pity that Napoleon is not angry, if he has lasted for more than ten years, won't I be able to make such a fortune?" What a useless thing! ”

Arthur glanced at the guests at the table next to him, and saw that the others were looking at them strangely.

Arthur coughed and reminded Elder that "let's talk about how you met Fred." ”