Oxford Street, in a nondescript café on the corner.

With a pipe in his mouth and a big-brimmed hat on his head, Arthur held the Times, which had just come out this morning, in his hands, with a shocking headline that would strike fear into the hearts of everyone who longed for a peaceful and stable life.

"The Duke of Wellington has been besieged on a high hill by the progressive forces of liberal democracy, and we will annihilate him here"

"Wellington's gold medal beater, Crock, submits the first draft of the 'Insurgency Bill' to the House of Commons, and the isolated old nose tries to give it a go"

"The Insurrection Bill was strongly blocked in the House of Commons, the Whigs voted against it en masse, and the Tory Peel faction was noncommittal about the feasibility of the new bill"

"The big picture is decided? His Majesty the Great King cancelled the toast to the Duke of Wellington's health at a banquet for the directors of the East India Company, and His Majesty's actions may have the following three profound meanings:

"Tonight is the darkest sky the Duke has ever seen since the Battle of Waterloo"

The Duke of Wellington meets Tory members at the Apsley House, including the Duke of Newcastle, the Earl of Elden, the Earl of Winchelsea, Viscount Harding, and others.

"Former Tory Justice Elden Earl gives a violent speech to his supporters after meeting with the Duke of Wellington: Reform is violent democracy, and the direct consequence of democracy is the expropriation of property!" If the reform bill passes in the House of Commons, then we will stop him in the House of Lords! 》

Commander-in-Chief of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Viscount Almaraz, Army General Roland Hill, Former Secretary of State for War and Irish Affairs, Major General Viscount Henry Harding, Former Ordnance Director, Marquess of Anglesey, Army General Henry Paget, Governor of the Colony of Cape Town, Lieutenant General Lord Gellbrath Cole, Former Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in Bangladesh and Vice-General of the Colony of Mauritius, Lieutenant General Charles Brown, Former Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in Bangladesh and Vice-General of the Army Lord Colville issued a joint statement: We implore the Excellencies of the House of Lords to carefully consider whether parliamentary reform is a wise move"

Unforgivable! Old Nose is secretly organizing his defensive positions"

"The Prime Minister Speaks! The Earl of Grey made a public address to the Whig members at the Reform Club, asking all the members to strengthen their confidence: I will weaken the number of 'cannons' displayed in the House of Lords"

"The Prime Minister, Earl Grey, visited Windsor Castle at night and had a three-hour conversation with His Majesty the King"

According to informed sources, the Earl of Grey is trying to persuade His Majesty the King to urgently canonize fifty Whig nobles in order to ensure that the Whigs can have an absolute majority in the House of Lords and to ensure the smooth passage of the Reform Bill"

"Bad News Strikes! His Majesty is rumored to have been in favour of the reforms, but he was still furious at the Earl of Grey's request for the urgent canonization of fifty nobles to the House of Lords"

"His Majesty angrily rebuked the Earl of Grey's bold idea: the House of Lords seat was not a second-hand stall in the Covent Garden Market, and therefore could not be sold wholesale, and that British titles of nobility would be conferred only on those who had meritorious service to the country"

As soon as Arthur saw this, he suddenly noticed a hand on the edge of the newspaper.

A kind and energetic voice rang in his ears: "Reading The Times? I thought you'd never buy their newspapers again since they attacked you. ”

Arthur put down the newspaper and said: "I'm not so careful, and I didn't buy this newspaper, but Scotland Yard distributed it to senior police officers collectively, free things, why don't you take it?" Moreover, despite all the shortcomings of the Times, and the penchant for jumping from side to side, even if their news does not always state the facts, it can still reflect the current direction of the British wind to a certain extent. ”

It was Lionel of the Rothschilds who was talking to Arthur, the eldest young master of the Rothschilds who took off his coat and rested on his chair, and it was impossible to tell from his usual smile whether he was in a good mood lately.

Lionel said: "Arthur, the Liverpool city construction bond issued by the Ministry of Finance, you should have come to me for cooperation first. Although Bahrain has a stronger say in the issuance of British government bonds than we do, Rothschild is not completely speechless. If there is such a good thing in the future, you must discuss it with us first. Both the Rothschilds and the Bahraini family started out in Germany, and our business philosophy and management model are no worse than theirs. ”

Arthur tilted his head and plucked out his ears: "This kind of money-making business, I will definitely find you as soon as possible." But at that time, everything was not a certainty, and no one knew if Liverpool's city bonds would be approved, so I definitely couldn't push you out of this kind of risky thing. Lionel, I still remember what you said to me. Rothschild pursues a steady stream of water and stable income. ”

Lionel pursed his lips with a smile when he heard this, and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "If it's just this level of risk, we can still take it." But I can understand if you look at Bahrain, after all, the Public Works Commission is basically in their hands, and they have a larger stake in the Bank of England than we do. So, even if you find me, I have to go to Bahrain in the end. Liverpool's first bite is nothing to give them a mouthful, but if London is going to break ground, it won't be okay to ignore us. ”

Arthur replied, "I'll help him relay this to Benjamin." After all, as you know, I'm just a Scottish Yard policeman, and Benjamin is already a member of the Public Works Committee, and he has a lot more say in matters than I do in matters of finance. ”

Lionel took the coffee cup from the waiter's hand, stirred it with a spoon, and asked, "Then again, why don't you go sit with Benjamin with me another day?" By the way, there are also officers Alexander and Bonaparte, call them together. I just bought a manor house in the countryside a while ago, and it's close to Highgate Forest, so we can ride out to the forest to hunt foxes after lunch. ”

"I'd love to accept your invitation, but ......"

Arthur shook his head slightly and said: "Lionel, you should be more well-informed than me, the current situation in London, it is impossible for me to take time off and go hunting in the countryside." Moreover, I asked you to come here today precisely to verify one thing with you. ”

Lionel looked at Arthur's face, he was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "Okay, since you said so, I probably know what is going on." ”

Arthur took out a document from the leather bag he was carrying: "You should know that various protest groups have sprung up in London recently, including middle-class people, artisanal workers, dock workers, and protests against urban sanitation and cholera control.

Some of them don't want to work, so I can understand their actions. But the other part of the people, they are not short of work to do, they have a legitimate job, they have a salary that is not too high but not too low.

Therefore, even if they want to protest against social injustice, it is generally not their turn to charge. But they just came out, and I kept wondering what they were going to eat by roaming the streets all day.

But then, my informant told me that someone was behind them and that their job was to protest in the streets, and that the money would always end up in the head of the City, no matter how much it went around. Bankers and stockbrokers either pay them directly or feed the protesters.

Of course, I have no problem with this group of gentlemen being so politically zealous and wholeheartedly supporting the cause of parliamentary reform. In Britain, everyone has the right to express his views freely. But, Lionel, there is one thing that I have recently discovered that worries me deeply. ”

Lionel took a sip of coffee and asked with a smile, "What did you find?" ”

Arthur paused for a moment, then tapped his finger on the document in his hand: "The Police Intelligence Bureau has sufficient evidence that there should be at least one assassination plot against the Duke of Wellington right now. I am not against parliamentary reform, but if parliamentary reform leads to the accidental assassination of His Excellency the Duke, that is what I do not want to see. You know what that will lead to, a civil war will break out in Britain, the royalists will fight Parliament, and the Cromwell story will be repeated in this country. ”

When Lionel heard this, he didn't show much panic, he just calmly tasted the bitterness of the coffee.

"Arthur, maybe you don't believe me, but I'll say it anyway. Actually, I have the same opinion as you on this matter. I support parliamentary reform, but I will not endorse any plot to assassinate the Duke of Wellington. You know, I'm a banker, and the Rothschilds are also one of the main holders of British bonds, do you think we'd like to fight a civil war in Britain?

No kidding, that's going to make the price of our government debt go down. And it's not just us, Bahrain shares the same view, and the bigger banks like us, the more they hate risk. If we may, we would prefer that His Majesty the King agree to the Earl of Grey's suggestion that the Reform Bill pass the House of Lords peacefully and unfazedly. ”

Speaking of which, Lionel also deliberately added: "Speaking of the revolution, Arthur, you may not know that I was in Paris when the July Revolution broke out in France the year before. My father sent me there to assist Uncle James in some business concerning French public debt.

Paris tasted very bad on the eve of the revolution, and in order to ensure that there would be no revolution in France, Uncle James went several times to the French Prime Minister Polignac to make sure that he would not carry out an armed coup d'état, nor would he take any illegal acts. After repeated promises from Polygnac, we agreed to eat 3.3 million francs of government bonds, which helped them stabilize the price of government bonds at 82.40 points.

But when Charles X announced the dissolution of Parliament, we finally realized that things were getting more and more wrong. Although Charles X, as always, declared that he would support his government, Uncle James had been disillusioned by his actions.

The whole world was selling off the French public debt, and Uncle James, who did not dare to close his eyes for three days in a row, wrote to my father that he had completely lost his courage. That's why my father sent me to Paris urgently to assist him with our business in Paris.

However, as soon as I arrived in Paris, there was an upheaval. I saw that the newspaper offices on the street were surrounded by soldiers and armed men, who took all the newspapers and arrested the editors and took them to the police station. You also know that if it were in Britain, that alone would be enough to create unrest.

Naturally, all the shops selling small goods on the street were closed, and there was a man selling newspapers in the tavern, but he was immediately arrested, but soon some boys and ordinary citizens immediately took up his role, but in a few minutes everything seemed to be calm again.

The closure of the doors of the Palace Hotel and all the shops is not a big deal in Paris, but in London it is big news, and all the ministers' houses are crowded with armed men. All of this has a lot of people talking.

And at the end of the meeting of the members of the full parliament, they declared that they were the only and true representatives of the people, and that without their approval nothing was lawful, that is, after January 1, everything that the ministers did was illegal, and the people were no longer required to pay taxes to the king.

Of course, the above is only the opinion of the opposition, who believe that we will see a very serious situation again, but in the camp of the king, the people sent by the government have complete control over the army, and they believe that with armed forces can do anything.

The difference in views naturally led to fighting on the streets of Paris, in which more than 800 demonstrators and more than 200 soldiers were killed over the course of two days. Then, the white flag, symbolizing the Bourbons, fell, and the tricolor began to fly over every public building in Paris.

Uncle James told me that he was glad that the revolution had ended much better than he had expected, that it had not caused a large-scale civil war, otherwise the price of French bonds would have fallen to 39 instead of 79 points.

In order to prove that he was genuinely happy, Uncle James immediately expressed his support for the revolution by not only dressing my three-year-old cousin Alphonse in the mini-uniform of the National Guard, but also generously donating 15,000 francs to the innocent citizens who had been injured in street fighting. ”

Speaking of this, Lionel smiled: "Arthur, if you don't believe what I say, you can write a letter to Paris and ask that obnoxious Herr Heinrich Heine." He kept an eye on Rothschild's every move in Paris, and he wrote about Uncle James's relationship with King Louis Philippe of France as if they were lovers. Rothschild will not oppose the government, we will only support the government, whatever it is, as long as he is in power we will support it. As for the civil war, the price to pay for this thing is simply too great for us. ”

Arthur nodded slightly: "It's not just a civil war, even if it's a foreign war, there are many people in the financial city who oppose it, right?" ”

Lionel stared at the corner of Arthur's eyes and replied apologetically: "Arthur, although I am more well-informed than most people, I am not omniscient and omnipotent like God. What happened to you at Liverpool is quite complicated. But I assure you, Rothschild was not involved, we were not involved in the import and export trade. ”

"Of course, Lionel, I have complete confidence in you at this point. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been open to you about the funding of protest groups. ”

Arthur asked, "I'm just trying to figure out how the money came out of the City if it wasn't given by the bankers?" ”

Lionel put down his coffee cup and said, "I'm just saying that bankers of Rothschild's size are unlikely to go to extremes, but that doesn't mean those relatively small guys won't take risks." Just because we're happy with where we're at right now doesn't mean everyone is happy with where they are. Perhaps for some, the civil war was an opportunity, an opportunity to replace Rothschild, to replace Bahrain. There is no shortage of careerists in every era. ”

Arthur asked: "Is there any chance of success if Scotland Yard sends an official document to the City Corporation asking the City police to arrest these people?" ”

"Minimally."

Lionel sighed: "Arthur, you must know that it was not a person, but a group. They also have more seats in the City Corporation than Rothschild and Bahrain combined. They may be nothing if they were brought up separately, but now they have been twisted together under the banner of parliamentary reform.

And as your friend, I advise you to put out this thought quickly. You're working in government, so you should understand how Scotland Yard would make action against the City if the Cabinet really wants to eradicate them? The City is not without police, and it has more police resources there than in the precincts of Scotland Yard. If it really wanted to move, the financial city would have done it on its own long ago.

Arthur, although London is not Liverpool, but in some ways, London is also a large Liverpool. We can only move within the small circle that God has drawn for us, and no one can cross the line. You can go and arrest the murderers who plotted to assassinate the Duke of Wellington and bring them to justice, but you can't do much more. ”

(End of chapter)