In the evening, Disraeli sat on a bench next to Hyde Park, looking at the moon and stars rising in the sky and sighing.

Suddenly, he hugged his head in agony, and roared twice into the sky, which not only frightened the passers-by, but also the red-eyed ravens that flew from the Tower of London to the park to eat fruit.

The crows flapped their wings and fled, and a feather as black and deep as the night sky landed in Disraeli's palm.

He looked at the feather and felt that he wanted to cry without tears.

Although he knew that he would not be elected to the council, he was still quite shocked by only three votes in total.

Because according to his expectations, he should have at least four iron ticket slots.

One vote for his father, one vote for his uncle, one vote for his friends who have played since childhood, plus one vote for himself.

It was enough to be betrayed by his relatives and friends, but Disraeli couldn't bear to find out the matter, but this kind of thing made him feel even more uncomfortable.

So, after mustering up all his courage, he finally made up his mind to find out who had betrayed him. But what he never expected was that the investigation ended at the beginning.

His father freely admitted that he did not vote for him, because he felt that his son would not be elected at all, because if a Jew wanted to be elected to the legislature, he had to have a better work ability and a calm personality than the average person. And his dramatic son obviously does not meet this standard.

Moreover, his son doesn't seem to be very reliable, not like the chosen one who has the ability to break the mold. So, based on the principle of maximizing returns, the father believes that valuable votes should not be wasted on Disraeli.

Therefore, he resolutely decided to kill his family and voted for Disraeli's direct rival, another candidate for Westminster, bomb maniac General Thomas Kirkland.

Disraeli didn't understand, and he couldn't figure out, in the eyes of his father, didn't he have a boatload of gunpowder more worthy of voting?

He sat on a bench in the park, feeling only the wind cold of the late autumn evening, but his heart was even colder.

He suddenly knelt on his knees and prayed to the moon in the sky: "Autumn is over, winter is coming, and there is no grass in my heart." My God! Why are you torturing me so much? Why don't you just take me away! ”

But he shouted for a long time, not only did he not get the slightest response, but instead let the crowd passing by spontaneously form a no-man's land with Disraeli as the center and a radius of five or six meters.

He glanced hatefully at the group of fellows who were shunning him, and kicked on the railing of Hyde Park, only to hear a not-so-lazy reminder accompanied by the humming and trembling of the railing.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Disraeli?"

Disraeli jerked back and met Arthur's eyes.

He jumped back in shock, and his pants were hooked into the corners of the railing: "Black...... Officer Hastings? ”

"Just call me Arthur, didn't we have a good time talking last time? But......" Arthur knocked on the iron sign hanging by the wall, "Don't you see this notice?" It is forbidden to destroy the buildings and decorations in the park. ”

"I see it."

"Saw you still kicking the railing?"

"But I didn't see you!"

Disraeli's sudden honesty silenced Arthur for a moment.

He was silent for a while, then sat down on the bench and lit his pipe, spat out the smoke ring, and said, "It seems to make some sense." ”

Disraeli sneered twice and sat down next to him embarrassedly: "I'm sorry, I'm not in a good mood today, you should know, I don't usually do this." ”

"Hmm." Arthur nodded, "You're usually a good person when you're in a good mood, and you help me move things." ”

Disraeli took off his hat and put it on his chest: "Uh...... Arthur, I really don't know what to tell you...... I...... I always felt that I should be popular, I spoke for everyone, and I was determined to be an independent candidate who was not distracted by partisanship.

I thought everyone would support me, but when I looked back, I found that I ...... I was in the middle of a harsh winter in the snowy fields of Siberia, and there was no one behind me as far as the eye could see.

I told you last time that I was proud, but now it seems that I am a proud fart, I have lost 7,000 pounds in business, my manuscript is incomplete, and I have no fun running for parliament now, and I don't know what valuable things I have done in my life. ”

When Arthur heard this, he simply recited Shelley's famous line: "Let the trumpet of prophecy sound!" Oh, west wind, if winter comes, will spring be far away? ”

Disraeli was stunned when he heard this: "What, do you think I can still be saved?" Or are you here to discuss literature with me today? ”

Arthur did not answer directly, but he read again: "If you cherish your feather too much and do not damage it in the slightest, you will lose both wings and will never be able to fly in the air again." ”

Although Disraeli is young and vigorous, he is not stupid, and he can naturally hear Arthur's two metaphors.

"Alas...... You...... Do you think I should choose between the Whigs and the Tories? ”

When Arthur heard this, he frowned slightly and said, "Also? Has anyone else said something similar to you? ”

Disraeli didn't mean to hide it, he nodded, "Whew...... Yes, Mr. Rothschild also told me this, and he told me that there is no future for me alone, and that I must find a strength to rely on to back it up.

In Britain, if you want to win in small constituencies, you have to rely on the power of both parties, because voters in those constituencies are largely controlled by them. And if I choose a large constituency, I also need a voice with enough voice.

For example, the Whig Edinburgh Review or the Tory's Quarterly Review. Posting an article on it has had a much greater impact than I did in a year at Hyde Park. ”

When Arthur heard this, he didn't immediately confide in him, but asked inducingly: "So, if you don't want to be dominated by both parties, but if you want to continue your political career, you can only start a newspaper of your own?" O my God! It must take a lot of money, right? ”

Disraeli waved his hand and said, "Money is not the main problem, after the bankruptcy of the "Representative" I founded with that bitch of Maury a few years ago, the printing machines and venues I bought were still in my hands. And even though it went bankrupt last time, I still have some of the doorways in the publishing world, such as sales channels, and if I really want to do it, I just need to hire a few new employees.

And as I mentioned to you last time, although I converted to the state religion, I grew up in a Jewish community, so our family is also a little connected to the Rothschild bank, and even if I don't have enough money, borrowing from them is not a big problem. ”

Arthur nodded slightly, "Doesn't it all look good?" Why don't you want to start a newspaper again? ”

When Disraeli heard this, he hated and said, "Do you need to say this? Of course, because my book Vivien Gray had offended all the people in the publishing world, and they kept clamoring for me to fix me, to make me have no place in British literary circles. If I were to lead a newspaper, no one would dare to submit to me, because to submit an article would be to declare war on the big literary magazines like Blackwood.

Moreover, newspaper sales are not as easy as you think, and the tastes of readers change every day, and it is not easy to catch their attention. Even if I had to start a new newspaper, I had to figure out who my target group was. ”

When Arthur heard this, he smiled and gave an example: "So, do you think Mrs. Cooper plus Mrs. Codrington, Mrs. Milbanch, and Mrs. Somerville are the lovely ladies of the Blue Sox Society?" Oh, by the way, maybe a couple of Royal Navy gentlemen, including General Thomas Corcorran, who defeated you in the Westminster constituency. ”

Disraeli originally said it casually, but when he heard this series of names coming out of Arthur's mouth, he couldn't help but widen his eyes: "Arthur, are you joking with me?" Why should these gentlemen and ladies buy my newspaper? ”

Arthur didn't say much, he pulled out the manuscript of "The Count of Monte Cristo" from his bosom and stuffed it.

He smiled and said, "Because these gentlemen and ladies told me that if any newspaper published this thing, they would be willing to order it for a year." Also, I'll add that Blackwood just said today that this manuscript is rubbish, so I'm just asking, are you interested in it? ”

(End of chapter)