Just by sharing a box of cigarettes, Arthur quickly warmed up with the two military attachés.

The three of them chatted and talked about the world, from the customs of England to the snowy land of Russia, and in the end, because of the same professional resonance, the three couldn't help but scold the ignorant superior leaders and Mingzhu secretly cast themselves.

In trivial words, Arthur finally vaguely constructed a basic impression of this large European power in the East.

In the past, Arthur's knowledge of 19th-century Russia was nothing more than a few outstanding writers and the serfdom and obscure administrative system that were criticized by the writers.

As for the understanding of the mysterious organization of the Russian Imperial Office, it is limited to a little sporadic and simple information.

But now, the concept is finally a little clearer.

The Imperial Office of Russia, formerly known as the Office of His Majesty the Tsar established during the time of Peter the Great, was changed to the Imperial Secretariat during the time of Catherine the Great, and the status continued to rise during the reign of Paul I, and was officially renamed the Imperial Office.

It's just that throughout the 18th century, the Imperial Office was a secret organization, and the terms of reference of the Office had no definite number and legal basis, purely depending on the mood of the Tsar.

After 1812, in response to Napoleon's attack on Russia, the Imperial Office was officially declared public, and its functions and subordinate relations began to be close to those of the Qing Dynasty's Military Aircraft Department, which was not responsible for any department, but reported directly to the Tsar, and they were responsible for collecting and communicating all the matters and wishes of interest to Alexander I.

For example: communicating with commanders, housing prisoners of war, arranging for army supplies and camping, and so on.

Fortunately, there were no machine guns at this time, and there was no telegraph as a means of quickly transmitting orders, otherwise Alexander I, who was sitting in St. Petersburg, could have asked the front line to move the machine gun position five meters to the left through the Imperial Office.

After the Napoleonic Wars, the power of the Imperial Office began to expand, and this uncontrolled power was successfully stipulated in the form of provisions.

The Regulations on the Office of His Majesty the Tsar directly stipulate that the Office of His Majesty the Tsar exists to deal with matters that are directly studied and decided by the Tsar himself, and that all affairs here are handled directly by the Tsar or by the Chief of Staff authorized by the Tsar. The scope of the Tsar's will could not be determined, and therefore the competence and system of His Majesty's Office could not be determined.

To sum up, this passage is almost equal to the power of the Imperial Office.

Soon after, the power to evaluate and promote high-ranking Russian officials and evaluate the administration of local administration and police agencies was also firmly held in the hands of the Imperial Office.

In front of it, the rest of Russia's departments are afraid, and anyone who offends the Imperial Office will end his political career early.

The expansion of power naturally brought about a huge expansion of the size of the institution, and the Imperial Office soon expanded from one office to four in just a few years.

The First Office oversees all departments, and all the heads of departments, with the exception of the Admiralty and the War Department, and even the Orthodox Attorney General, are required to report to the First Office every morning.

The Second Department, on the other hand, held the legislative power in its hands, and the Russian Ministry of Justice was only responsible for implementing the resolutions of the Second Department.

As for the third hall, it is even more heavyweight.

To be precise, the Third Hall encompasses almost all the powers that Arthur, the Superintendent of Scotland Yard, could not even think of.

The third department consists of five divisions, the first of which is responsible for political investigations, secretly monitoring domestic revolutionary organizations and social activists, and handling political cases.

The second unit is responsible for combating separatist and religious radicals.

The third department is dedicated to foreign intelligence, not only to monitor foreigners in the territory, but also to spy on foreign information.

The fourth is mobile, and they are responsible for dealing with sudden public opinion and major events in the country, and collecting important information.

As for the fifth department, their job responsibilities are mediocre compared to those of several brother departments. It specializes in the review of books, newspapers, plays, and other cultural publishing fields.

And in order to ensure that the Third Department can successfully complete its work, they of course also have their own executive body, which is the well-trained Russian gendarmes throughout the country.

Being directly accountable to the Tsar, not being bound by law, and being able to dispatch the gendarmerie at any time and place made the Third Hall the most difficult department in the Imperial Office and even in all of Russia.

Being a police officer to the extent of being the third hall can be regarded as the pinnacle. At least in Britain, Arthur couldn't have thought of it.

On this small island, not to mention the establishment of an organization like the Third Hall, even the establishment of an ordinary security organization like Scotland Yard, there are a bunch of people who are reluctant.

The dioceses of London complained in Parliament not long ago: "I originally thought that the establishment of Scotland Yard would reduce the cost of policing in the diocese a lot, but at the end of the year, I found that in previous years, the Diocese of London only needed to spend 170,000 pounds to hire a sheriff on its own, but this year's budget of Scotland Yard has exceeded 250,000 pounds." It's such a costly thing, why don't you just dissolve it? ”

However, although the clergy of the various dioceses mentioned this, the Home Office was unusually tough on this issue, and there was no talk of dissolving Scotland Yard.

As the saying goes, it's easy to set up a department, but it's hard to dismantle one.

Perhaps the clergy are really thinking about the people of the parish and need to lower the security tax, but in the eyes of the Ministry of the Interior, this is a usurpation of my power!

You can remove Scotland Yard today, and tomorrow you are going to remove our Home Office?

Want to cut taxes? Yes! You go to the parliament to apply for the disbandment of the Royal Navy, what is the use of them burning so much military spending every year?

You let them build two less ships, and use the money to build battleships to subsidize the parishioners.

Arthur spoke of this place, and the two bearded military attachés were also amused by him.

The more they looked at the Englishman, the more pleasing they became, and just as they were thinking about asking him where to have a big drink in the evening, suddenly a middle-aged and elderly man with wavy curly hair, a cane, a black trench coat, and a large-brimmed hat came out of the embassy.

When the two military attachés saw the old gentleman, they hurriedly smiled and stretched out their hands to say hello: "Guten tag!" herr metternich。 ”

When the old gentleman heard this, he raised his hand and touched the brim of his hat lightly, and then he walked down the steps with heavy and powerful steps, and in a short time he was out of the gate of the embassy.

Arthur's brows furrowed slightly, and the other party seemed to speak German.

Although the history department offered courses in Latin and Greek in order to enable students to read the official documents of medieval Europe, German was clearly not taught.

However, although Arthur did not learn German, he had seen some German videos in his last life, but unfortunately, he only knew one reactionary slogan - Heil Hitler, but it is clear that the other party is definitely not talking about this sentence today, and it is at least half a century before the birth of Mr. Mustache.

He was about to ask who the old gentleman who had just passed by the military attache was, when he heard a burst of laughter.

"You must be Mr. Hastings, right?"

Arthur turned his head to look at a beautiful lady who was dragging a beige brocade dress, wearing two emerald earrings, a diamond necklace around her white neck, and a pigeon's blood red ring on her lace white gloves.

In London, there are many rich ladies and even more beautiful ladies, but there should be only one who is rich and beautiful, and can still live in the Russian embassy.

Arthur took off his hat and saluted, "Madam, it's a pleasure to meet you." ”

Mrs. Levine looked at Arthur with a smile: "It's exactly what Emily described, a typical English gentleman indeed." No one would have guessed that you would be a Scottish Yard police officer who has been dealing with criminals for many years. ”

Arthur didn't dare to take it lightly when he heard the compliment of his wife, after all, he knew very well that the beautiful lady in front of him could make waves in Europe just by gently fanning the pleated skirt.

Arthur smiled and handed the gramophone to the servant next to him, then took his wallet out of his pocket, pulled out four concert tickets and handed them over.

"Madame, it is a pleasure to be able to help you in some trivial matter. Thanks to your enthusiastic support and that of Mrs. Cooper, I have successfully joined the London Philharmonic Society, and after consultation with Mr. Moscheles, we intend to give the first public performance of the Philharmonic Society's Third Symphony at the Coburg Theatre this weekend. If you can bring your family or friends to the concert in your busy schedule, the London Philharmonic Society will be in for it. ”

Mrs. Levine took the ticket and the program list attached to the ticket, and after just a glance at it, her eyes lit up and she said, "Oh! My God! Are you sure you didn't get it wrong? In addition to you, Mr. Mocheles and Mr. Mendelssohn will also be on stage at this concert? ”

Arthur nodded with a smile: "That's right, the association attaches great importance to the debut of the Third Symphony, and Mr. Moscheles, as the head of the association, always holds his breath and wants to make the Third Orchestra famous." Therefore, he specially summoned Mr. Mendelssohn, who was traveling in Italy, back.

In addition to this, I can also tell you privately that Mr. Moscheles is trying to get Mr. Cipriani Potter, who is also teaching at the Royal Academy of Music in London, to join the concert. From what I've heard from Mr. Moscheles so far, the situation is very positive for Mr. Potter's arrival. ”

Even a lady like Mrs. Levine couldn't help but feel a little excited when she heard the unprecedentedly strong line-up of this concert.

Ignaz Moscheles, Principal Conductor of the prestigious London Philharmonic Society and Academic Member of the Royal Academy of Music,

Felix Mendelssohn, a genius pianist who became famous in Europe at the age of 21 and the author of "A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture",

and Sipriani Porter, the best Mozart and Beethoven piano player in England.

Plus a Paganini of Scotland Yard, who is not well-known now, but will certainly become popular quickly in the future - Arthur Hastings.

Such a lavish line-up was enough to support a large-scale show like a Christmas party, and it was really overkill in Mrs. Levine's opinion that it was only used for a routine Sunday concert.

Arthur saw that Mrs. Levine was moved, but not to the point of decisiveness, so he continued to add: "Of course, although Moscheles, Mendelssohn, and Potter are absolutely powerful pianists, they are still dwarfed by the special guests of the concert. ”

When Mrs. Levine heard this, she couldn't help but cover her mouth with a white glove: "You mean, there are still masters?" ”

Arthur smiled and nodded, "I heard Mr. Moscheles say that his teacher, Mr. Muzio Clementi, the teacher of the pianists of Great Britain, will be present at this concert. ”

"Muzio Clementi?" Mrs. Levine's eyes widened when she heard the name, and she said in surprise: "Hasn't he held a concert for more than ten years?" ”

Arthur smiled, "As you said, Mr. Clementy started his full-time career in music education more than ten years ago and no longer attends concert performances. But this time was an exception, and he was old enough to retire in the near future. This time, it should be his curtain call.

It is for this reason that, on behalf of Mr. Moscheles, I would like to ask you to be present at this concert, and he wants to be able to present a dignified farewell concert to his teacher. If a celebrity like you would like to attend, Mr. Moscheles will be grateful. ”

When Mrs. Levine heard this, she finally stopped hesitating.

Although the name Muzio Clementi was not as famous as Mozart and Beethoven in later generations, in 19th-century Europe, the master who composed more than 110 piano pieces in his lifetime was a legendary pianist on a par with Mozart and Beethoven.

Even in England, he surpassed Mozart and Beethoven in fame and admiration, and the romantic pianist from the Apennine Peninsula was definitely the leader of the British music scene.

Mrs. Levine immediately said, "Please rest assured that it is a great honour to be present at Mr. Clementy's farewell performance. Even if you don't ask me today, I will definitely take the initiative to help Mr. Clementi promote this concert in the club.

A trip to Vienna without hearing Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven play is to achieve nothing, and to come to London without hearing Mr. Clementi play is to live in vain. I recently had a friend who came from Austria and I could take him with me to see how Clementi's playing style compares to that of the Viennese pianists. ”

"A friend from Austria?" When Arthur heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and he suddenly remembered the German sentence that the two Russian military attachés had just said - Herr Metternich.

Metternich？

Metternich?

He jerked his head back, but the old gentleman was long gone.

Damn it!

The one just now was the Chancellor of the Austrian Empire - Clemens Metternich?

What did he come to the Russian embassy for?

(End of chapter)