"Maybe you should find a bright house, the office environment here is a little too bad."

Mr. Schneider, assistant under-secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was belated, took off his hat and hung it on the coat rack at hand, barely squeezed a place between the miscellaneous items, and pulled out the chair used to entertain the guests and sat down.

Arthur took out a tin box containing tobacco from his pocket and threw it over: "I'll clean up a little later, this house has just been rented for a short time, so you have to leave me some time to improve." ”

Schneider looked down at the tobacco and quipped, "Aren't you afraid to set the house on fire when you smoke in such a crowded environment?" ”

"It's just right." Arthur struck a match and lowered his head to light a cigarette: "I have more than a few hot documents here, and if there is a fire, many problems will be solved." ”

Schneider laughed when he heard this: "It seems that our troubles are similar, but in a sense, your domestic intelligence is hotter than my foreign intelligence." ”

Arthur took a puff of his cigarette and asked casually, "Mr. Schneider, since we still have many opportunities to communicate with each other in the future, do you have to tell me about some things?" Last time I was in Liverpool, General Napier was not the only one who left the port to go to the Azores, right? Although I am not interested in foreign intelligence, you don't need to hide it from me so deliberately. ”

When Schneider heard this, he didn't take it to heart, but joked: "Brother, the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not as easy to do as you think, if I let the news out to you in advance before I get things done...... If something happens, what awaits me is not as simple as dismissal. ”

Arthur casually asked, "Who is so important?" More secrecy than General Napier? ”

Schneider chuckled as he took his pipe: "Arthur, I don't want you to think I'm deliberately cheating. So, since the secrecy period has passed, I'll talk about it. Leaving the port with General Napier was Pedro. ”

"Pedro?" Arthur was stunned for a moment, and then reacted: "The Brazilian emperor? ”

"That's right."

Schneider nodded: "When I came, I entered the country secretly, and when I left, it was also the highest level of secrecy." Had it not been for the fact that His Majesty had come to London to ask for help, and had persuaded His Majesty and the Prime Minister to come to the aid of the Portuguese liberals under the command of his 12-year-old daughter, we would not have decided at once to reinstate General Napier. ”

Arthur pondered for a moment before he spoke, "That's no wonder. I have already seen the headline on the front page of The Times this morning, Portugal has officially appointed General Charles Napier as commander of the Royal Portuguese Navy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also publicly announced that it will side with the liberal camp led by Queen Maria in the Portuguese Civil War after more than a year of ambiguity. The world was changing, and it felt like everything had changed overnight, so much so that my mind couldn't keep up. ”

Schneider, of course, knew what Arthur was talking about, because just over a year ago, Britain's Wellington cabinet had expressed support for Prince Miguel, the leader of Portugal's authoritarian rebels.

In response to Arthur's doubts, Schneider just smiled and replied, "Come on, Arthur, you are a smart man, of course you know why." ”

Arthur shook his head: "Maybe I can understand the changes in our country, but why did King Ferdinand VII of Spain, the 'grumpy king', also turn to support Queen Maria of Portugal?" If I'm not mistaken, he had planned to personally send troops to help Miguel win the Portuguese crown. ”

"Well...... It's time to mention some humanity. ”

Schneider reminded him slightly: "When Ferdinand VII wanted to intervene in the Portuguese Civil War, he did not have legal heirs. But God may have wanted to praise him for his piety and merits, so Princess Isabella of Spain suddenly came down like an angel.

At this time, the inoffensive majesty suddenly discovered that his heir was actually a minor woman like Queen Mary. If he wanted to enforce the Salic Law, which forbade women as kings, and oppose Queen Maria's rule in Portugal, his daughter Princess Isabella would also lose her inheritance.

Ferdinand VII may have had a bit of a short temper, but he was still in a good mind. Thus, without even us sending someone to explain it to him, he was the first to express his understanding of our foreign policy, and to stress to us again and again that Spain was not interested in interfering in the internal affairs of Portugal.

But if Queen Maria wants to crush the rebels, he will be happy to help the little queen, because it has always been Spain's mission to help the weak and show the mercy and faith of the Lord. ”

"That sounds a lot more logical." Arthur pulled out another newspaper from the table: "But the things in Spain are explained, and what is happening in the German states must not also be because of the change of sex of those small states." ”

Because of Schneider's German immigrant status, he apparently knew more about what was going on back home than Arthur.

He didn't even have to read the newspaper to know that Arthur must have said a series of events that bordered on revolution in Germany a while ago.

The liberal speeches of Rotke and Welke at the Karlsruhe parliament were so well received that newspapers throughout Germany appreciated their views and courage.

Archduke Friedrich of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach was pressured to reform the State Congress.

Leopold I, Grand Duke of Baden, also announced the decentralization of some of his financial and administrative powers to parliament and the relaxation of censorship of publications to promote freedom of the press.

As for the Kingdom of Bavaria, their King Ludwig I was originally an enlightened patron of art and science, and since his accession to the throne in 1825, he has been committed to the pursuit of grand architectural taste, making the Bavarian capital Munich one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.

For this reason, he even spent a lot of money to relocate the Bavarian State University, Landshut University, to Munich.

But his image of openness has been struck by the recent wave of general reform in Germany.

It is unknown whether he was frightened by the July Revolution of 1830 in France, or whether he was dissatisfied with the Bavarian parliament's long-standing restrictions on his large-scale investment in architecture and art, and Ludwig I did not let up this time, saying that he was unwilling to continue to strengthen the power of the parliament and promote liberalization reforms.

Ludwig I insisted that Bavaria's parliamentary power was sufficiently powerful compared to the other states of Germany. After all, he had never seen any other German monarch like him, and even the idea of building an art museum was not approved for a long time.

Although he did not like what he said, on a practical level, what Ludwig I said was all true.

After all, of the many member states of the German Confederation, only Bavaria am Rhine was able to publish a newspaper with an almost republican view, and the German University Youth Federation was the first to revive Bavaria.

This is also the fundamental reason why Heine was willing to put down his shelf and go to Bavaria to find a stable job.

In that environment in Germany, we can pull generals from the bottom of the bar, and we can count on Bavaria.

After all, even those who despise Bavaria like Mr. Schneider once said: "The Austrians are a transitional species between Bavarian and man." ”

Bavaria is no longer closer to humanity than Austria.

The two factions of Portugal went straight to training, and the charcoal-burning uprisings that broke out in Modena, Parma, Bologna, Romagna and other places in Italy last year had just been suppressed by the intervention forces sent by Austria. And in Poland, the Russians were still busy cleaning up the mess of the Warsaw Uprising.

It can be said that there is not a single land of peace and tranquility in the whole of Europe.

Even the Ottoman sultans are currently being attacked by Pasha Muhammad Ali of Egypt.

Recalling Sir Peel's judgment a few years earlier when the July Revolution had just erupted – that every revolution in France would exert equal force in Britain, it is clear that Sir Peel underestimated the impact of the July Revolution.

Many liberals on the continent are still looking forward to the return of the French Emperor, as he did thirty years ago, to expel the absolutist tyrant who rode on their heads.

But this time, they clearly looked at the wrong person.

They pinned their hopes not only on their personal feelings and the tip of the writer's pen, but also on the Committee for the Reconstruction of Poland established by King Louis Philippe of France and the Italian liberation movement advocated by them.

They took Louis Philippe's encouragement and assurances as a guideline, but they didn't notice that the words were all empty cannons.

Before the uprising of the Italian Charcoal Burners, Louis Philippe paid lip service to the Italian exiles' request for troops, promising them that he would send a large army from Marseille.

However, until the Austrian army hanged the last charcoal burner, this imaginary army never appeared on the horizon of the Apennine Peninsula.

As for his commitment to Poland, it is even more needless to mention.

The Russians had not yet officially recognized the legitimacy of the French July Dynasty, and if the atmosphere was right, Louis Philippe, with his personality, would most likely have traded Poland for a ticket to the Tsar's reception.

In other words, the reason why he stirred up trouble in Poland was to prove to the Russians the strength of the July Dynasty.

It's not liberalism, it's just a way to raise prices.

If he really promoted the growth of the wind of freedom to some extent, it was mostly unintentionally planted in the willows.

Unfortunately, when the July Revolution took place, not many people on the European continent could recognize this.

And these hot-blooded guys are the main reason for the deterioration of the current law and order environment in London.

Since the beginning of the year, the number of reported crimes at Scotland Yard has increased exponentially.

And most worrying for the police, the proportion of violent cases is rising.

For example, if the group of protesters in London were to find a room that did not display a lamp in support of the reform at night, the window glass would have to be hit by a few pebbles at the lightest.

As a result of their hard work, there has been a recent surge in window sales in London, and the frightened shopkeepers and factory owners have suddenly become enthusiastic about paying their policing fees.

Although it is only the beginning of spring, Scotland Yard has already received more donations this year than in the past two years combined.

Almost every shop wants Scotland Yard to have one or two police officers patrol their area, even if not 24-hour availability, but only night-time safety.

In the face of unprecedented pressure on law and order, Director Rowan tasked the Police Intelligence Bureau with figuring out who the glass-smashing and attacking shops and residential areas were.

Anyone can do the work of smashing glass, but it is not the work of ordinary thugs to be able to accurately find the family homes of those who oppose parliamentary reform.

Not to mention, in this year, I take to the streets every day to protest that I can still support myself without working, how can I see how wrong this thing is.

And the news sent back to Arthur by the intelligence agent basically confirms this.

Among the protesters were the Capital Political League and the Birmingham National Political League, the former led by the Benthamist Price, and the latter centered on the banker Atwood.

Of course, there were also some old acquaintances of Arthur and Scotland Yard, Mr. Hetherington, the founder of The Poor Guardian.

While Arthur didn't have much of a problem with their smashing of the windows of Parliamentarians' homes, it was impossible to turn a blind eye to these things, given that the Cabinet is accountable to Parliament, and government agencies like Scotland Yard are accountable to the Cabinet.

If Scotland Yard doesn't make a show, then when the recess is over, the MPs who have made the pebbles scared will have to form a group to find trouble with Scotland Yard.

Arthur's fingertips tapped on the table: "August, what do you think about what is happening in Germany and Britain at the moment?" ”

Schneider picked up the teacup and shook his head and said, "I can still talk about Germany, but I don't know about Britain, that's your job." ”

"Really?" Arthur spoke, "If that's the case, I'll have my men take the guy they caught yesterday to the criminal court." Are you really sure that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not lose spies? I distinctly remember that the guy claimed to be a subordinate of Mr. August Schneider, Assistant Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs. ”

"Did you catch one of our people?"

Schneider raised his eyebrows, his expression seemed to be a little surprised: "But there is nothing strange about it, everyone has their own political opinions, and there is no shortage of reformers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." As long as he does his job, it's none of our business what he does after work. Of course, if he violates the law, you can do whatever you want, and you don't have to show me mercy at all. This is Britain, not a foreign country, so naturally he can't enjoy diplomatic and consular immunity. ”

(End of chapter)