Knightsbridge, southeast corner of Hyde Park, Wellington Private Residence - 1 London, Apsley House.

The Duke of Wellington held a goblet in his hand and looked at Arthur with a surprised face.

"Young man, I thought it would take you a while to get something useful back for me, and you've got something so soon?"

Arthur smiled and replied, "A little surprise, although it may not come in handy, but given the increasingly tight time before the meeting, I think that even the smallest news should be notified to you in time, after all, in your hands, sometimes a small breakthrough is enough to help Britain gain great national interests." ”

When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "What a talking young man, do you want to have some drink?" I recommend the Margaux Blancs at Château Margaux Bordeaux. ”

Arthur nodded, "I haven't marched in France, so I don't know about the wine there, and since you think it's good, I choose to trust you." ”

The Duke of Wellington was in a good mood humming a ditty, raised his hand and took out a bottle of labeled white wine from the wine cabinet and poured two glasses, one to Arthur and one to himself.

He leaned back in the sofa chair and took a sip of wine, then asked with a smile, "Okay, boy, tell me, what good news have you brought me?" ”

Arthur spoke: "On your orders, I visited the Russian Embassy this morning, and met Mr. Clemens Metternich, Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire. ”

"Hmm...... Metternich ......" The Duke of Wellington pinched his chin: "I guessed early on that he would definitely go to Dorothea as soon as he arrived in London, but I didn't expect that I guessed correctly." ”

When Arthur heard the Duke say this, he was not stupid enough to ask Wellington why he guessed so, but continued to state: "In addition, I also brought back an Austrian souvenir with a Russian style from the embassy. ”

"Souvenirs?" When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he couldn't help but quip: "Is this some kind of nonsense from the officers of Scotland Yard?" ”

Arthur smiled: "Not Scottish, but LPS." Well, I'll tell you as it is, and I've got a little of Mrs. Levine's personal belongings. ”

"Mrs. Levine's personal belongings?" When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he couldn't help laughing and said, "Coincidentally, I also have one here, and it's still close." ”

Arthur was caught off guard by the Duke of Wellington, he was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the other party was telling a meat joke.

He was crying or laughing for a while, and he held back for a long time before he jumped out and said: "Your Excellency, the one I got is not cloth." ”

"Huh?" The Duke of Wellington raised his eyebrows and said, "It's not cloth?" That's a novelty. ”

Arthur emphasized: "It is accurate that this personal belongings do not belong to Madame Levine, but to Monsieur Metternich. ”

"Huh?!" When the old duke, who was in his sixties, heard this, he almost spit out the wine in his mouth: "Arthur, you young man, do you think I should praise you for your skill, or do you say that you are young and ignorant." You better get that kind of thing back, I don't need that kind of collectible. ”

Seeing that things were getting darker and darker, Arthur hurriedly clarified in righteous words: "To be more precise, this is given to Madame Levine by Metternich. ”

"Oh, that's fine." The Duke of Wellington took out a handkerchief from his chest pocket and wiped his sweat: "Young man, although we Britons are more subtle in our speech, but in front of a soldier like me, it is better for you to pick the key point when you speak." What you said scared me, I thought you had done something terrible. ”

Arthur saw that the more he thought about it, the more crooked it became, so he hurriedly took out the letterhead and the translation and put it on the table and pushed it over: "This is a love letter from Metternich to Madame Levine in 1818, please take a look." ”

"Love letters?"

The Duke of Wellington's white eyebrows raised, the old man opened the drawer and took out a magnifying glass, squinted his eyes and savored the original text and translation of the letter from top to bottom: "Metternich is a good writer, no wonder he can be in such a romantic city as Vienna, and no wonder so many ladies and ladies are tempted by him......"

Arthur pretended not to hear the Duke's literary appreciation, and he just stated the ideas that had been sorted out early in the morning as planned.

"According to the report of the LPS Special Intelligence Officer, we found only this letter in Mrs. Levine's bedroom. But from the information contained in the letter, we may reasonably infer that Monsieur Metternich must have written more than this love letter to Madame Levin.

But Madame Levin intended to select this letter at the present meeting to incorporate it into this love letter, which was written in Brussels, Belgium, and I have reasonable suspicion that Mr. Metternich and Madame Levine should have met today not only to rekindle their old friendship, but also to the question of Belgian independence.

That's why I'll be the first to report to you as soon as I hear the news. I don't know exactly what step they talked about, but I think you might be able to take into account the fact that Austria and Russia are on the same side. ”

Arthur was tactful, but the Duke of Wellington certainly understood what he meant.

While the Tories were concerned about the July Revolution in France and the independence of Belgium, the Tory were at best worried, while Russia and Austria were in direct distress.

As countries on the same continent, the two traditional European authoritarian powers have always been highly wary of revolutionary waves.

And it is not surprising that Metternich, a die-hard fan of authoritarianism, intends to side with Russia against France and Belgium.

However, although there were conjectures in advance, it was always good to be able to determine in advance the true attitude of this Metternich, because the Duke of Wellington happened to have dinner with Metternich tonight, and as a battle-hardened veteran, the Duke of Wellington liked to fight this kind of battle that he knew the roots.

So far, he has not lost a single battle with the intelligence advantage.

With Arthur's forewarning, he had already determined what questions to ask and what tone to use when talking to Metternich tonight.

If Metternich did not budge, the Duke of Wellington felt that he might have to talk to the powerful Austrian Chancellor about the huge war debt owed by Austria during the Napoleonic Wars.

According to the Duke of Wellington's knowledge, Austria's debt problem had reached the point where it was necessary to issue new debts to pay interest on old debts.

It is true that Russia can also eat a part of the new national debt for Austria, but a large part of the old Austrian national debt is held by Britain.

But whenever Metternich, an old oilman, dared to take a tough stance, Britain dared to sell Austrian government bonds, lower the price of their new government bonds, and raise the cost of interest payments on their government bonds.

As long as this point is choked, the Duke of Wellington guarantees that the Austrians will not have a good Christmas in the next few years.

Of course, he did not intend to have a showdown with Metternich so soon, after all, Austria's hard-line attitude was also a bargaining chip used by Britain to bargain with France.

Although Britain felt that Belgium could be independent or not, even if Belgium was independent, it would not be a pro-French regime.

Both the Netherlands and Belgium must be the loyal little brother of Great Britain.

And this is also the focus of his constant struggle with the French ambassador to the United Kingdom, Talleyrand.

Now that Austria has been pinched, then the next step is to focus on thinking about how to solve the problem of France and Russia.

Judging from the attitude shown by Talleyrand in the past two days, France's bottom line seems to be very clear, as long as the Netherlands lets Belgium become independent, other issues can be discussed.

After all, after the defeat of the Napoleonic War, they have been faced with the problem of being deeply trapped in the anti-French encirclement network, as long as they can tear a hole in the encirclement network, it is already a huge improvement compared to before.

But Tsarist Russia's appetite may not be so satisfied, Nicholas I was a ruler with a strong desire for power, and Tsarist Russia, which was constantly moving westward, naturally wanted to suffocate France, a Western European power, in the encirclement network.

If Austria retreats, the attitude of Tsarist Russia may be softened, and the rest will depend on how to negotiate conditions.

But just as Britain does not want a strong France, it does not want a Russia that straddles eastern and western Europe.

It was hard enough to see the Russian Mediterranean fleet unimpeded in the Dardanelles, but now they are planning to expand westward on land, and Britain cannot agree to anything.

The Duke of Wellington wondered if he could have Foreign Secretary Palmerston contact the Prussian delegation, or that King William IV of England could write a letter to King William I of Prussia.

Although the King of Prussia is a cousin of the King of the Netherlands, it is fair to say that our King Wilhelm IV still holds the title of King of Hanover, which is also part of the German Confederation.

If we talk about geographical relations, Hanover and Prussia are always closer than the Netherlands than Prussia, right?

Thinking of this, the Duke of Wellington put down his goblet and got up and said, "Arthur, I'll trouble you this time." I will report to the Foreign Office on the matter of Metternich, and if this meeting in London can be a complete success, your help will definitely be indispensable to this. ”

Arthur also stood up and said, "Your Excellency, this love letter is a surprise. According to my plan, later this week, LPS intelligence officers will try their luck at the Russian embassy again. In order to distract the Russian mission, I have just given Mrs. Levine a couple of tickets to the concert today, and judging by her attitude, she will definitely be present this weekend. ”

With that, Arthur took a few more tickets from his jacket pocket and placed them on the table: "If you plan to meet Mrs. Levine in person, this weekend's concert is also an opportunity. I've reserved your tickets here, so if you don't have time, you can give them to a friend or family member. Mr. Moscheles, Mr. Mendelssohn and even Mr. Clementi will be in this concert, and it would be a pity to waste the tickets. ”

"Will Clementi star?" When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he was first surprised, and then picked up the ticket and glanced at it: "It's indeed a good concert, and the level of the participants is very high!" ”

When he said this, his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of Arthur's name again, and the Duke couldn't help but laugh: "What? Are you in there too? ”

Arthur smiled, "I have to be inside, or it will be too suspicious for me to give this ticket to Mrs. Levine." But don't worry, I can't play it well, but I can barely handle a tune. ”

When the duke heard this, he naturally stuffed the ticket into his jacket pocket: "It's okay if you can't handle it, don't you have that gramophone?" Just take it with you, I'm curious about that little thing, is that really as amazing as everyone says it is? If that's true, I'll have to consider buying one another day. ”

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly remembered what Wheatstone had mentioned to him before, and he said at the right time: "If you want to get one, I'll just send someone to send it to the house for you when you go back." However, you may have to wait a little longer, because Mr. Wheatstone, the producer of the gramophone, has recently been unable to concentrate on making the product because of a patent application. ”

"Patents? Isn't that easy? ”

Wellington took a quill from the table and wrote a note and handed it over: "You asked that Wheatstone to take this when he applied for a patent, and when someone asked, he said that I sent him." In about a week, the patent will be done, and if it is not possible to get it stuck in a few days with His Majesty, it is estimated that it will be done in three days. If you don't do it after the time limit, you come and tell me, and I'll ask the Ministry of the Interior and the Chancellor's Hall what they're up to. ”

I feel a little better in the past two days, and recently I have recovered 2 more 6K+ per day. This month, there are currently 120,007, and the follow-up will slowly increase the update amount, and strive to make up for the 18W update volume this month.

(End of chapter)