The old man with his cane was walking staggeringly, and suddenly he looked up and spotted Elder in front of him.

The old man raised his hand and said hello unconcernedly: "Good afternoon, Elder!" How is your uncle doing? ”

Elder took off his hat and smiled stiffly, "Thanks to your care, he's been doing well lately." It's just that the timing is unfortunate, he was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet last month, or he would have been able to see you at today's banquet. ”

The old man nodded slightly, and he turned his gaze to Arthur on the side: "Who is this?" ”

Elder hurriedly introduced him: "This is my friend and the scientist whom General Codrington invited to be a guest today, Mr. Arthur Hastings, Superintendent of Scotland Yard. ”

"Police?" The old man pouted dissatisfiedly: "I hate the police. ”

After that, the old man walked past the two of them with a cane of carelessness, and it was not long before they heard the sound of chickens and dogs jumping in the lounge.

"General Smith, why are you here too?"

"What? Can't I come? ”

"I didn't mean that, I just heard from my colleagues at the Admiralty that you had moved to Paris, so I thought you wouldn't be in London."

"Don't you know that there is a revolution going on in Paris? It's not been peaceful lately, and I, an old man, can't stand the toss, so I go back to London to be quiet. When will it stop over there, when will I go back. Well...... Who's this? Yo, Corcoran?! Didn't you kid swear that he would never go back to Britain in his life? Why, looking at you like this, are you subduing to the Admiralty? ”

"It's all in the past, General Smith, and for the sake of me supporting you and General Peelau in blocking the port of Toulon in Parliament, you old man has a little more affection."

"Port of Toulon? How the fuck do you brat mention the port of Toulon?! Was it you who proposed to the Admiralty a suicide attack on the port of Toulon with a formation of ships filled with explosives? It's not you kid who co-authors the fleet out there, you look at what the fucking shit advice you're proposing.

Fortunately, the Admiralty had a rare brain and didn't listen to you. Otherwise, if you use all the boats for suicide attacks, are you going to let me command the sardines? ”

"That's exactly what I said, but you have to take into account the reasonableness of the suggestion. In the Battle of the Basque Waterways, I had successfully defeated the French fleet of Brest under the command of Allemand with a fireship offensive.

Had it not been for the forced order of the Gambier bitch to retreat, I would have annihilated all 11 French battleships, achieved a victory not inferior to Trafalda's, or at least the Battle of the Nile.

But, Gambil, Gambil, that bastard! He vetoed my proposal for a fire attack before the battle, and accused me of saying that it was a cruel and unethical act of war,' and when he found out that I had achieved great results with fire, he ordered me not to pursue me and demanded that the fleet withdraw immediately.

The most ridiculous thing is that he also sent me to a court-martialed after the war, you tell me, whether he is a donkey bastard! ”

"Okay, okay, you dissipated your anger, it was all twenty years ago. But I agree with you that Gambil was indeed a bitch. On this point, you, I, and Admiral Eliab Harvey are basically of the same opinion, and James Gambier does not have the military qualities and basic abilities to be the commander of a fleet.

That guy is a mixed seniority, he relied on himself to join the Royal Navy in 1768, and after completing his internship at sea, he happened to catch up with the spring breeze of the North American Revolutionary War in 1775, so he just passed the Admiralty exam and smoothly picked up a captain's position.

But even at that time, it took him almost 20 years to fight, and it was not until 1794 that he was promoted from frigate captain to battleship captain, and then he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral by virtue of his mother's military seniority. Then, the dog was transferred to the Navy headquarters to sit in the office.

You should also know the rest of the matter, our honest and loyal General Gambier suddenly seemed to be favored by God, and it only took ten years to complete the leap from major general to lieutenant general to general.

By the way, I heard from Codrington before that Gambier was promoted to Marshal of the Royal Navy this year along with Williams-Freeman and Charles Ball. ”

"So what's the solution? Who made our Marshal Gambier on good terms with His Majesty the King today? As you should know, our Majesty served in North America for twelve years......"

Elder turned his head to look at the lounge, a look of hell on his face.

It didn't take long for him to find that the three admirals who had been in the lounge had also come out sweating profusely.

When Arthur saw the three of them, he couldn't help but smile and asked, "Don't the three of you have matches?" ”

The three admirals looked at each other and smiled wryly.

Colonel Fitzroy said, "Perhaps buying matches is a good thing to do than staying in the lounge." ”

Franklin complained, "Why hasn't General Codrington come yet?" Only when he came over could the two of them restrain themselves a little. ”

When Ser Elliot heard this, he was helpless: "Forget it." General Thomas Corcorran, though of his young age, did not even shake the orders of Marshal Gambier. Later, he was sent to a court-martial, and he directly scolded Marshal Gambier in court for being cowardly and indecisive, and later attacked the Admiralty in parliament for its corruption and incompetence and rigid management.

As for General Sidney Smith, he was older than General Codrington and retired as an admiral.

The most important thing is that when he was in the Mediterranean, he didn't even pay attention to General Nelson, his detachment went wherever it wanted, and he never applied to General Nelson, the commander of Egyptian waters, to enter and leave Egyptian waters. Later, he also bypassed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs several times and privately signed an armistice agreement with the French army. You can let General Codrington deal with the Ottomans, but he definitely can't handle them. ”

Elder couldn't help but mutter, "Is General Smith the most famous for these things?" I heard that when he was younger, didn't he seem to have enlarged Queen Caroline's belly? ”

When Colonel Fitzroy heard this, he hurriedly glared at him and warned, "Don't mention this matter." It's unclear how this happened. General Smith was only involved, and didn't the others include Sir Thomas Lawrence and Sir George Canning? ”

Elder was shocked when he heard this: "What! Did they do it too? ”

When Arthur heard this, he hurriedly pulled Elder out, and as he went, he apologized to the colonels behind him: "Sorry, I'll miss you first, Elder and I have to go buy matches for General Corcoran." ”

With that, he walked briskly out of the Codrington mansion with Elder in tow, and it was not until he saw the sun setting in the west and the traffic that Arthur's pace slowed.

The two stood by the red wall on the side of the road, and Arthur took out his pipe and matchbox and took a puff.

Smoke rises, and Arthur tosses the matchbox to Held.

Elder was about to light a cigarette, but before he could do so, he heard Arthur ask, "What about Queen Caroline......

As soon as Elder heard the name, the match almost burned his hand.

He spat at the foam and said, "You want to hear it so much, what did you pull me out just now?" ”

Arthur shrugged: "Isn't the party sitting inside?" I'm afraid that letting him hear it will affect your great future in the future. ”

Elder didn't care, he replied.

"Actually, it's nothing, when our old King George IV was still the Prince of Wales, he had a discordant relationship with the crown princess Caroline, and even not long after Caroline gave birth to Princess Charlotte, the two of them officially separated. And when George IV became king later, he wanted to kick her away.

As you know, Queen Caroline has been fighting a lawsuit for a long time over this issue. With the double emptiness of spirit and body, doesn't Queen Caroline have to find a little solace in the arms of others? ”

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help pinching his chin and nodded: "It seems to make some sense, continue." ”

Elder received Arthur's affirmation, and immediately raised his eyebrows and talked about the gossip he had gathered from various sources.

"As you heard just now, Queen Caroline has three scandals.

Among them, Sir George Canning was the most popular politician in Britain at that time,

Sir Thomas Lawrence was widely regarded as the best portrait painter in England at the time,

General Sidney Smith is a shining general who complements Nelson and a famous freak in the Admiralty.

Although these rumors are not necessarily true, after all, these three people have a lot of enemies because of their personalities and achievements. Perhaps this news was released by their political enemies to attack them.

However, it is certain that Queen Caroline had a large belly during the days of her separation from His Majesty, and that the Queen had a close relationship with the three men during that period.

As for whether the three of them did it or not, it is impossible to say. But in my opinion, the most likely of the three is probably General Sidney Smith. ”

When Arthur heard this, he leaned against the red wall and spat out a smoke ring: "How can you see it? ”

Elder continued to analyze with a smug face: "Arthur, you want to! It was probably 1802 when the news of Queen Caroline's belly was enlarged, when Sir Canning had just been married, and he was busy attacking Viscount Sidmers's cabinet in Parliament every day, so that William Pitt Jr. could return to power.

And in the years that followed, these scandals did not affect Sir Canning's political career, and he not only served as foreign secretary, but also as prime minister. You know, he's just an actress's kid, and he doesn't have much background other than a banker uncle. If he really had an affair with the queen, how could he land smoothly?

As for Sir Thomas Lawrence, although he was very influential in the art world, this scandal did not affect his subsequent development. The Duke of Wellington, the Marquess of Londonderry, the Earl of Aberdeen, Pius VII, and even His Majesty himself sought out him to paint his portrait as usual, and knighted him as President of the Royal Academy of Art. So, he won't have any problems either.

But General Sidney Smith was the only one who was thrown out of Britain when the scandal broke. At that time, he had been ordered to retire by the Royal Navy because he did not obey the command, but due to the increasing rumors, in the end, the Admiralty could only pinch his nose and revive him, and then kicked him to the Atlantic Ocean to calm down with the sea breeze. ”

When Arthur heard this, his eyes suddenly showed a little more respect when he looked at Held: "Older, I seem to have finally discovered your ability." If you don't engage in intelligence work in your life, it will simply ruin your spirit of hard work and your ability to tirelessly pursue the ultimate details! ”

Elder was taken aback by him: "What? Do you suggest that I join the Department of Geography and Mapping and Topography Statistics of the Admiralty after returning from a global voyage? That's what they do. But I've heard that the requirements there are stricter, and I don't know if I can do it with my free and loose nature. ”

"Okay, why not?" Arthur replied with a smile: "You listen to me, can I still lie to you?" ”

As soon as Arthur's words fell, he suddenly felt a knock on his waist.

He jerked his head back, only to see a little boy standing behind him, with his hands in his hands, wearing a tattered felt hat, and with a dirty face, who looked to be about ten years old.

The little boy blinked and said intermittently in a Scottish accent different from the London accent, "First...... Trouble sir...... Have mercy on me, I haven't eaten in two days. ”

Arthur first looked up at the crowd around him, and after making sure that there were no police nearby, he took a coin from his pocket and put it in his hand.

"Young man, if you're begging in the West End, you'd better not be on this street. The police patrol here so often that if they find you, you won't be thrown into jail, but you'll be beaten with a few sticks or sent to a workhouse. ”

The little boy looked at the silver coin in his palm in a daze, he couldn't believe his luck today.

It was half a kroner, worth two and a half shillings.

"This ...... Is this really for me? First...... Sir, I have never seen you so magnificent. ”

Arthur just smiled when he heard this, and he raised his head at Elder beside him: "I'm atmospheric? No, you think I'm atmospheric, because you don't know this gentleman next to me, let him let you see what the real atmosphere is. ”

Elder wanted to put oil on the soles of his feet, but as soon as Arthur said this, and his eyes caught a glimpse of several young ladies who were getting out of the carriage, looking at this place and smiling.

Our Mr. Elder could only put his trembling hand into his pocket, and took out a silver coin larger than Arthur and put it in the palm of the boy's hand.

"Take this, one crown, on behalf of my grateful heart, my child, take it and eat something good."

Seeing this, the little boy couldn't help but smile with joy, he took off his hat and bowed, "Thank you, kind sir." ”

Just as he was about to take these things and eat them for a while, he suddenly heard Elder shouting behind him.

"Wait! Child! ”

Elder rushed to the little boy, he looked at the young ladies who had already walked away, and embarrassedly took back the half-kronor silver coin from Arthur's hand: "Young man, you forgot to give me change. ”

(End of chapter)