At this time, the lounge was already much more lively than when Arthur first came.

While the invited gentlemen and ladies chatted in the lounge with champagne glasses, Arthur was busy in the courtyard commissioning the Faraday cage and hand-cranked generator that had just arrived here from the Royal Society.

Arthur turned the hand-cranked generator and raised the discharge rod to aim at the Faraday cage, and it wasn't long before he saw an arc of wire thick between the cage and the discharge rod.

When Arthur finished debugging and raised his hand to wipe his sweat, he found that three generals had come behind him at some point.

Needless to say, these three are Maj. Gen. Thomas Cochran, Lieutenant General Edward Codrington, and Admiral Sidney Smith.

General Smith pinched his chin and muttered as he looked at the discharge pole, "It's kind of interesting." ”

Coderrington dragged his wine glass and said with a smile, "General Smith, I didn't lie to you. Mr. Hastings is currently the second most electromagnetist after Michael Faraday, look at this pole that can discharge an electric arc, is that what ordinary people can make? ”

When Corcoran heard Faraday's name, he shuddered at first, and then asked in Codrington's ear with a frown: "This Hastings's temper shouldn't be as violent as Faraday, right?" Last time, I just mentioned to him about killing enemies with chlorine, and he was angrily kicked out of the laboratory......"

This time, without waiting for Codrington's reply, Arthur took the conversation as he put down his discharge rod and said, "Mr. Faraday's temper is pretty good for the most part. He is angry with you because it is really inhumane to use chlorine for chemical warfare.

Chlorine is far more brutal and destructive than you might think, and it's not too complicated to prepare, and if you insist on throwing it into war, your enemies will soon be using it against you.

If you're going to treat the Royal Navy's precious sailors as one-time consumables, you can do so, and it won't be long before Britain will be able to harvest hordes of cripples with lung sequelae who will never be able to work again for the rest of their lives.

Besides, even if you want to gain a battlefield advantage through science and technology, you can't use chlorine at all. I think that the current brilliant scientists of Britain can support one of the most advanced navies in the world.

These tactics are only necessary when the weak challenge the strong. If one day, the Royal Navy, which is now able to cope with the attacks of three maritime powers at once, declines, I believe that you, known as the 'Sea Wolf' by Napoleon, will still be able to use your superior tactical skills to lead us to defeat a powerful enemy once again." ”

Corcoran was about to get angry, but when he listened to Arthur's words, he suddenly lost his anger.

He patted Arthur on the shoulder with his wine glass, and said to the other two generals with a grin, "Look, look!" Scientists are better than the Admiralty's brain-soaked stuff! Young man, if it weren't Gambier who was the supreme commander in the Battle of the Basque Waterways, but you, we would have won. ”

Sidney Smith also nodded slightly: "It seems that Mr. Hastings is a little easier to get along with than Faraday." When Elder said you were a police officer, I thought you weren't a good person. It seems that Scotland Yard is not all bad guys, and occasionally a few decent things will come out. ”

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and replied, "That's right, at this point, Scotland Yard is like the Royal Navy. ”

General Corcoran laughed when he heard this, and he raised his eyebrows and replied humorously: "The council is actually the same thing. ”

Codrington laughed when he heard this, he handed Arthur one of the two glasses of wine in his hand, he pointed to Corkland, who was currently a member of the House of Commons, and then pointed to Arthur, Smith and himself, and asked.

"So, now, the best of Scotland Yard, the Royal Navy, and the Parliament are all here?"

Admiral Smith raised his glass and clinked glasses to the crowd in turn: "Come, let's have a drink, and good luck to all the fucking bitches in Scotland Yard, the Royal Navy, and the Parliament!" ”

Only the clanging sound of wine glasses was heard, and the four of them raised their wine glasses and drank them all.

General Smith finished drinking the wine and couldn't help but savor the aftertaste in his mouth: "It tastes good, or this Hawk wine is strong enough!" ”

Corcoran put down his glass with great interest and picked up the hand-cranked generator and discharge rod that Arthur had put down, and he asked as he turned the generator to discharge, "Is there a possibility, Mr. Hastings...... Is it that we are going to apply this thing to the battlefield? That is, we have each soldier carry one of these generators on their backs, and as they move forward, they use the discharge rod to release lightning at the enemy. ”

Arthur thought about the kind of scene that Corcoran depicted, he always felt as if he had seen it somewhere, he was silent for a long time, and suddenly as if he thought of something, he asked tentatively, "Magnetism...... Magnetic explosion infantry? ”

When Corcoran heard this, he was overjoyed and pointed at Arthur and said, "Yes, yes, yes! I read the journal of the Royal Society before, and the principle of the hand-cranked generator is magnetism, and it seems that there is no problem with calling it magnetic explosive infantry. Besides, you came up with a name so quickly, it seems that my idea has a certain viability? ”

Seeing Corcoran's excited look, Arthur couldn't temper him, so he could only remind him euphemistically: "Although for now, I don't think the power output of the hand-cranked generator is enough to support its use as a weapon, and considering the different physical abilities of soldiers, not everyone has a thick arm to turn the generator."

However, I think you might be able to apply to the Admiralty for a pilot study, such as trying to use it for the time being, maybe it will solve the problem of resupplying part of the ocean-going fleet? ”

Arthur was originally joking, but he didn't expect Corcoran to think about it seriously, and then nodded and said, "That's right, I'll think about it." ”

And while Arthur was chatting with several generals, Mrs. Codrington, who had been waiting in the lounge, with gray sideburns and dressed to attend, also ran out lonely.

Madame complained, "Edward, the guests are all inside, how can you, the hostess, run here to hide and relax?" ”

When General Codrington heard this, he scratched his bald head and smiled cheerfully: "Honey, am I not helping Mr. Hastings with the preparation of the scientific show?" Haven't you ladies of the Blue Sox Club always wanted to meet this up-and-coming British scientist? ”

"Really?" Mrs. Codrington was a little skeptical, "And what have you prepared for Mr. Hastings?" ”

General Smith put his arm on General Codrington's shoulders heroically, his face was flushed, and he was already drunk before the reception began: "Don't worry, Anna, your Edward naturally knows how to be hospitable. He had just come to give Mr. Hastings a glass of Hawk to help the young man lift his spirits. ”

"What? Oh! O my God! Edward, can you please save me some snacks? ”

Mrs. Codrington lifted her skirt and walked down the steps with a look of concern, and asked Arthur with concern, "Mr. Hastings, I remember you told me earlier that this experiment might be dangerous, and you shouldn't be drunk, right?" ”

When Arthur heard this, he was relieved: "Although I don't drink well, a glass of Hawk is still fine. ”

General Codrington also nodded, "I just said, it's nothing for a young man to drink a little wine." I'm thinking I'll be back in the Navy and get Mr. Hastings as my scientific secretary. If you want to have a good future in the Royal Navy, how can you just fight and not drink? ”

When Corcoran heard this, he couldn't help but grin and said with a yin and yang monster: "That's right, if you can drink, you don't need to be able to fight." Look at our Marshal Gambier, right? No one knows better than him how to make our former Royal Marshal and Lord of the Admiralty, His Majesty William IV the present. ”

After that, he patted Arthur's chest and whispered in his ear: "Young man, if you had been in contact with General Sidney Smith a few years ago, he would have been an active admiral at that time." But now, he's an old man hiding from debt, and do you know why he lives in Paris? It's because if he lives in London, he will be sued by the debtor in less than two days, and then thrown into the debtor's prison by your Scotland Yard police. ”

When Arthur heard this, he finally understood why Corcoran's notoriety could spread across South America and Britain.

With his mouth, if it weren't for his father of Earl Dundonald and his two older brothers who served in the army and navy respectively, it is estimated that when he committed crimes before, it would not have been as simple as being ordered to retire.

Arthur looked up at the darkening sky, and politely asked Mrs. Codrington, "It's almost time, why don't you call the guests out." This kind of large-scale laboratory equipment is really not suitable for moving into a house, so today's first scientific presentation will be held outdoors. ”

When Mrs. Coderrington heard this, she pressed her handkerchief with some trepidation.

Today was the first time she had hosted a salon dinner in months, and she had never imagined that Mrs. Cooper, who had always politely rejected her, would inexplicably accept her invitation.

Mrs. Cooper was at the top of the whole of London's high society, and Mrs. Codrington did not want to lose face in front of her today, no matter what.

After much thought, Mrs. Codrington had no choice but to speak, "Mr. Hastings, didn't you say that you have a scientific assistant today?" You see you've been drinking, and in order to prevent accidents, you might as well let that science assistant do something dangerous, and you can do it safely. ”

Arthur listened, but did not object, he nodded slightly, "That is fine, then please tell Mr. Elder Carter, that Arthur Hastings needs him to get into the cage immediately." ”

"Into the cage?" Mrs. Codrington was stunned: "Oh God! I thought your cage was for monkeys, are you sure you really want Mr. Carter to get into it for the sake of science? ”

When Arthur heard this, he had to correct: "Madam, you can't say that. It seems to me that the monkey's contribution to science is far from being comparable to that of Mr. Carter. ”

(End of chapter)