Arthur and the others chatted all the way to the gates of Grey Sam Academy.

The three of them had not gone far when Arthur saw two familiar faces standing under the birch tree by the college sermon.

It was Alexandre Dumas and the great German poet Heine who smelled like him.

After finalizing the English release of "Travel Sketches" as an agent for "The British", Heine decided to leave for Paris.

Dumas, however, warmly invited his newfound friend to stay in London for a few more days, so that he could enjoy the friendship of the landlord.

For the last week, Dumas had been leading Heine around London during the day, and at night they had been snuggling up at Arthur's house to make some dangerous speeches.

As for the topics of the speeches, most of them revolved around the political differences between France and Germany. Although the two great writers were gorgeous and sharp, their conversation fell into the ears of Arthur, who was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, and it was nothing more than a summary of those few cores.

Alexandre Dumas generally highly affirmed Germany's progress in philosophy and culture in recent years, and from time to time he would add a few famous quotes from Kant and Goethe to express his admiration for the German region. He even went so far as to prove his point by quoting the German historian von Ranke that the Germans were commanded by God to develop a culture and political system completely different from that of the French.

Unexpectedly, this remark, which was meant to be a gesture of goodwill, fell into Heine's ears, which made him feel ironic.

For this reason, Heine, who was mild-mannered in appearance, even did not hesitate to sacrifice his image on the spot, and he bluntly said: "I do not think that God has prepared two paths for human development, unless God thinks that the French and the Germans are two completely different species." Von Ranke is a historian, and I don't know why he wanted to cross over into biology. In my opinion, if he is not insane, then there is something wrong physically, otherwise how can this thing that likes to lick hemorrhoids for people use its mouth to fart so skillfully? ”

Perhaps it was because of von Ranke's assertion that Heine was angered that he would open von Ranke's Black History lecture on time almost every night for a week, and the most commendable thing was that the stories that Heine brought every day were not the same.

The first thing he attacked was von Ranke's famous work "History of Latin and Teutonic Peoples", saying that von Ranke claimed to be a straight book, but on the other hand, he did not believe that the development of history was a process from the lower to the higher, and believed that the factional struggles in human society, and every critical moment, depended on God's will. Von Ranke's sole purpose in doing so was to defend the status quo in Prussia and Austria.

Speaking of which, Heine also shook off von Ranke's sponsorship of the Austrian Imperial Chancellor Metternich in Vienna, and the founding of the Historical and Political Review in Berlin under the auspices of the Prussian Foreign Office to counter the trend of democratic ideas in Germany after the July Revolution in France.

Dumas was naturally shocked when he learned of this, but he was still a little blind to Heine's compliments on the current French July Dynasty. He did everything he could to convince Heine that France wasn't that good, but every time he compared it to the German states, Heine always won easily.

In this way, one of them claimed to be a political prisoner persecuted by the French government, and the other claimed that he was under daily surveillance by the Prussian secret police while he was in Germany. And when the two of them were arguing, the British secret police, which was responsible for persecuting and monitoring political prisoners, was so sleepy that they wanted to go upstairs to sleep.

However, even though Alexandre Dumas and Heine often quarreled over points of view, this did not affect their friendship, and most of the time the two gentlemen were more heroic than heroes.

As Arthur approached, he heard the two of them chatting merrily, and the object of their discussion was, of course, the royal historian of Prussia and Austria, Mr. von Ranke.

Heine scolded with his hands dancing: "Von Ranke is a complete villain, he succeeded in winning the favor of the Prussian authorities with his "History of Latin and Teutonic Peoples", tasted the sweetness of licking hemorrhoids at a young age, and got the teaching position of associate professor of history at the University of Berlin. Since then, he has been out of control, and with a book "Ottoman and Spanish Monarchy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries", he was invited by Metternich to visit Austria. He is admired not because he holds the truth, but because he is held by the people who define what 'truth' is. ”

Arthur walked to the two of them silently and said hello: "Criticizing von Ranke again?" Heinrich, don't be so angry, he didn't cause your work to be banned in Austria. ”

Heine looked back at Arthur and laughed self-deprecatingly, "Yes! My work could not be published in Austria, but his arguments were not only unhindered throughout Germany, but even received official funding, and there was a difference of several notches between us. ”

When Dumas saw Arthur, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Huh?" How would you be interested in joining us today? Haven't you been leaning back on the couch by the fire for nights on end, drowsy? ”

Arthur just smiled, "Because I think we've been talking about it for so long, it's time to end this topic and talk about something else." ”

Louie, who was following Arthur, asked, "So what?" What is your conclusion? ”

Arthur only shrugged his shoulders and said, "Every country can find some kind of pleasant compensation for its frustrating inadequacies: the ruthless North has its iron strength, the sickly South has its golden sunshine, the gloomy Spain has its faith, the humor of giving to others refreshes poor France, and the fog of England glorifies the power of freedom." ”

Heine couldn't help frowning and asked, "What about Germany?" ”

Arthur laughed: "Germany? Germany had nothing. ”

Heine shook his head slightly when he heard this, "I know." ”

"No, Heinrich, don't misunderstand me."

Arthur began: "As you know German literature, the tradition of German literature is that there is no tradition, and before the eighteenth century Germany could not even produce a work that could be besieged by literary critics. However, after 1750, the soil of German literature seemed to become fertile all at once, and various masters and philosophers emerged one after another. Having nothing is not a bad thing in all cases, because it also means that you don't have to be bound by tradition. Whether this unfettered state is good or bad depends on the Germans themselves. ”

When Dumas heard this, he also laughed and comforted Heine: "That's right, and Germany is not really nothing, at least you still have beautiful German girls." ”

When Heine heard this, his brows furrowed even tighter: "Alexander, as soon as you say this, I know that you have never been to us. The word pretty is not associated with most German girls. Have you ever seen dragoons marching? The German girls, especially our peasant girls, walked exactly like the dragoons. ”

Hearing this, Alexandre Dumas laughed and said, "It's no wonder that the cavalry of the German Legion of the British royal family is far better than the native cavalry of Britain, so they already had their mothers trained when they were in their womb?" ”

As soon as Alexandre Dumas said this, Mr. Cook, a retired second lieutenant of the army who was following Arthur, suddenly became a little unhappy.

He followed with a sarcastic sentence: "When it comes to women's combat effectiveness, I think French girls are the first." If it weren't for Joan of Arc, we might now have the same king as the French. ”

When Dumas heard this, he immediately sneered, "Sir, what kind of good wish are you making?" ”

Not to be outdone, Cook said, "Sir, do you want to fight?" Although I have retired from the army, I have to politely remind you that we can't beat the French girl. But since the Hundred Years' War, Britain and France have fought against each other, and they have always won more than lost. ”

Seeing that the two of them pressed their hands to the pistols on their waists, Arthur hurriedly said to ease the atmosphere: "Alexander, you have already dueled with others three times this month, doesn't your pistol need maintenance?" As for you, Mr. Cook, you also know that you are retired, and that it is still peacetime, so even if you win the duel, the War and Colonial Affairs Department will not give you a promotion. Not only that, but I have to ask you to go to Scotland Yard. ”

As soon as Arthur spoke, Cook had to suppress his desire to fight, and he took off his hat and apologized, "Sorry, Mr. Hastings, I didn't want to trouble you. ”

Alexandre Dumas' hand also left the holster: "Lucky for you, I haven't lost a pistol duel since I came to Britain." ”

Arthur changed the subject and said, "Then again, how did you and Heinrich come to the Royal Society today?" ”

Alexandre Dumas pouted: "We've basically finished shopping around London, and today I was thinking of coming to the Royal Society to listen to a scientific lecture for a change of taste, but I didn't expect to bump into Mr. Faraday giving a lecture." As you know, Faraday's lectures have always had to be booked in advance, and we didn't get tickets, so we had to hang out outside the lecture hall and wait for the next one. ”

When Arthur heard this, he asked, "Didn't you go to Charles?" Even if you don't have a ticket, let him talk to the people of the Royal Society, and most likely he will be able to put you in. ”

"Mr. Wheatstone, forget it."

Alexandre Dumas shook his head: "You also know his character, and entrusting people to do things has never been in his consideration. And in order to prevent others from approaching him, that guy also learned Mr. Faraday and put himself in a Faraday cage to do research with peace of mind. The room was full of high-voltage electricity, and I didn't want to go in and be electrocuted. Then again, what are you doing at the Royal Society today? ”

"Me?" Arthur took out a manuscript from his bosom and raised it at Alexandre Dumas: "The paper I promised Mr. Faraday is finally finished, so I will take the time to give it to him while there is nothing to do today." ”

When Dumas heard this, he immediately remembered what had happened before, and he suddenly realized: "Is this paper the reason why you plucked so many potatoes from me?" But I still don't understand what potatoes have to do with electromagnetism. ”

Louis had seen Arthur's invention before, so he smiled and helped explain, "It's hard to believe, but I did see with my own eyes how Arthur took a few potatoes to generate electricity. ”

As soon as Louis finished speaking, Cook was puzzled.

The medical student at the University of Heidelberg touched the back of his head and wondered: "Potatoes? Generate electricity? How do these two things come together? ”

Arthur just smiled: "The specific principle still needs to be studied, this is like the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, maybe someone will get some inspiration from this phenomenon, and maybe burst out with such an idea as the telegraph." ”

Cook shook his head again and again: "Although I don't want to admit it, but the profession of scientific research sometimes does require some talent. Geniuses like you and Mr. Faraday spend an afternoon discovering what a mediocre like me would have to spend months or even years trying to understand. The Royal Society just published the findings of the Faraday Wave this morning, and you brought me potato batteries in the afternoon, which is really ......"

Arthur looked at Cook who was in distress, and just smiled and waved his hand at him: "Mr. Cook, don't be presumptuous, the telegraph you mentioned to me earlier has made me extremely interested. I assure you that if you can develop it, I will be able to place an order with you on behalf of Scotland Yard in no time. Not only that, but I'm sure the City side will be interested in this stuff as well. After all, for those stockbrokers, if they learned the news a day earlier, they might be able to earn tons of gold. ”

As soon as Arthur said this, Cook, who was still a little depressed just now, immediately swept away his depression, and the young man, who had already stepped on the edge of the precipice of bankruptcy with one foot, patted his chest and promised: "Mr. Hastings, you can rest assured about the telegraph. I dare to pack you a ticket, this thing is completely feasible in theory, and it is only a matter of time before it is built. ”

"If that's the case......" Arthur smiled slightly, "Maybe I can also help you and Charles solve the patent problem, take the fast track, and you can get down in a week." Merely...... Mr. Cook, you also know that, just like you did in the Army, it must have taken a little effort to go down this path in patent applications. ”

Cook nodded deeply: "Of course...... That's it for doing business in Britain, I see what you mean. Those bastards all recognize money and don't recognize people, and they are ashamed to call this commodity economy and free trade, which is really shameless. ”

Arthur smiled and shook his head: "No, Mr. Cook, you misunderstood. Money has never been an issue, and the wealthy Mr. Wheatstone will solve it. And on my side, as you know, Scotland Yard is the police department, so we just need a clear non-disclosure agreement. ”

"Non-disclosure agreement?"

Before Cook could react to what was going on, he saw a crowd outside the lecture hall.

And in this crowd, Faraday, wearing a frilly white shirt and an old tuxedo, still stands out from the crowd.

It's just that Faraday didn't have his trademark gentle smile on his face today.

Faraday, on the other hand, had an ugly expression, and even a hint of anger could be detected between his eyebrows.

Several neatly dressed men followed Faraday in a panic and chased after him: "Mr. Faraday, Mr. Faraday, please listen to our explanation, the minister absolutely did not mean to offend you at that time. He's usually so spontaneous, whether it's in front of the prime minister or the rest of the cabinet, he's like that. We assure you that the Chancellor is not doing this against you alone. ”

Arthur didn't care about those people at first, but when he looked closely, he found that the gentlemen who were chasing Faraday were all familiar faces, and they were all officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs without exception.

"Did the Viscount of Melbourne offend Faraday?"

Arthur pondered for a moment, but finally followed suit.

(End of chapter)