The next day,

Friday.

The Salon on Fleet Street made headlines in the major newspapers.

Each newspaper has a different focus.

"The Times" made a preview of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", which is an official announcement of the return of Sherlock Holmes,

This bombshell news and Doyle's interview took up almost ninety percent of the article, and Lu, the mysterious author of "No One Survived", was squeezed into a very marginal corner;

On the other hand, the Manchester Guardian praised Lu as if there was nothing in heaven and nothing on earth, and Doyle became a foil.

The two newspapers often fight, but most of them are different in political statements.

This time, it involves the field of literature, which is quite rare, and it inevitably arouses the curiosity of London citizens.

Even the gentlemen at the Palace of Westminster and Whitehall would ask the coachman to wait for him at work and buy a newspaper with the opposite political leanings of his party and join in the fun.

One of these politicians is very special, as a Conservative MP, but the Times, the Daily Telegraph, and the Manchester Guardian take it all, regardless of the inclination, and will not refuse to come.

The messenger knocked on the door of the office,

"Mr. Churchill, the newspaper has been delivered."

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill,

It's a long name.

But his professional history and resume are longer,

Politician, writer, historian, orator, journalist, and, 61st and 63rd Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Of course, at the moment, Churchill was still a small parliamentarian, and although he had already occupied a place in the Palace of Westminster, he was only in the back row.

He opened a crack in the door for the messenger,

"Give it to me."

The voice was deeper than usual, as if to hide something.

The newspaper delivery man subconsciously glanced inside the door, and found that there was another gentleman sitting there, so he quickly looked away,

"Your newspaper, sir."

Three newspapers came in through the crack in the door.

Churchill waved his hand,

"There you go."

The messenger hurried away.

Churchill closed the door, returned to his desk, lined up the three newspapers, and squinted at the front page.

He said to the man across from him, "Winston, every time I see you reading the newspaper like this, I feel amazing. ”

This man's name was John Wardhouse, the first Earl of Kimberley.

At the same time, he is also a Liberal Party bigwig.

Churchill didn't even raise his head,

"Dear sir, are you still there? I thought you were leaving~ If it's okay, you can go out quickly, I'm afraid that my comrades will misunderstand, and I won't be able to argue with it when the time comes~"

Misunderstand a hammer!

Churchill is now an outlier in the Conservative Party.

Wardhouse sarcastically replied: "It's quite indisputable, you see your current office, it's pitifully small, and you've been excluded, right?" ”

As he spoke, he didn't forget to look around, and his mouth made a "tsk" sound.

Indeed, the office is shabby, with a desk that is only a little over three meters away from the front door, and the only decoration is a pot of ornamental plants that are about to die and a pot of ornamental plants that are already dead.

Churchill didn't care,

"It doesn't matter, anyway, the councillors are ants here, and how many of them don't even have their own territory."

Ostensibly, he was talking about offices, as the vast majority of parliamentarians did not have a fixed office location in the Palace of Westminster,

But in reality, this is undoubtedly a pun.

Wardhouse smiled,

"Do you have the ambition to expand your territory?"

It's also a pun intended.

Churchill did not want to answer this question and got up to make black tea for himself,

At this time, he was not the image of the pot-bellied poop in those photos of later generations, because he had just returned from the Anglo-Bu battlefield, his body was well-proportioned, his waist was straight, and he looked quite handsome when he was young.

Wardhouse didn't expect Churchill to answer positively,

He digressed the subject: "Finished reading? What do you think? ”

As he spoke, he bowed his head in the direction of the newspaper.

Churchill said: "Well, it's interesting, especially the attitude of the Daily Telegraph, which is so rare as impartiality. No, it can't be said that the Telegraph compares Dr. Doyle to Lu, and is a bit of a jack of the former. ”

Wardhouse couldn't help but be stunned,

"Looking up to the former? You're talking about Dr. Doyle, right? ”

He even thought he had misheard.

Churchill explained: "Don't get me wrong, I'm talking about Dr. Doyle, who is now very difficult to innovate. And "No One Survives" is the opposite, with nursery rhyme prophecies and island killings both groundbreaking. ”

Wardhouse nodded,

He agrees on this.

He said: "So you think this return of Sherlock Holmes will be full of resistance? ”

Churchill laughed,

"How is that possible? That's Sherlock Holmes! People all over Britain love Sherlock Holmes! ”

Wardhouse was speechless.

Churchill took a sip of black tea and said, "Actually, what really makes me feel interesting is one of the characters in No One Survives, Philip Lombard. ”

Wardhouse asked, "The soldier?" ”

Churchill nodded,

"That's right. I always feel that the description of him in the book is strange, not like he has been on the battlefield of Britain and Bou, but like he has served in East Africa, India and other regions. If I'm guessing correctly, Lu Bacheng has changed his background. ”

Waldhouse's eyes narrowed,

Churchill was a hero who returned from the Anglo-Boer War, and his judgment should be correct,

As for the reason why Lu changed the background of the characters in the book, just think about the newspaper in which "No One Survives" was serialized.

But here's the problem......

Will there be liberals among the Chinese with braided hair and still engaged in feudalism?

How outrageous is this conclusion.

Churchill touched the wing of his nose and said, "I have inquired about some specific episodes in the salon, and this Lu may not be as simple as imagined." ”

Wardhouse shook his head,

"You're worried."

Churchill did not take the stubble, but continued: "I also heard some interesting news from a noble lady that Lu had a very particular view of the rise of the United States, and that germs were also important factors. ”

Germs?

For the second time today, Waldhouse thought he had misheard.

He didn't speak, waiting for an explanation.

Churchill followed the topic and said: "He thinks that when the Europeans set foot on the American continent, they brought with them not only science, but also smallpox, mumps, measles, cholera, gonorrhoea and yellow fever, which killed the primitive 'landlords' on the American continent and completed complete land reform." ”

This is a very new idea.

Wardhouse pondered for a moment and said, "It seems reasonable, but in fact it is ridiculously crooked." There was no need for the British Empire to kill, because it could be colonized. ”

Churchill shook his head,

"Colonization? So do you say that our colonization of Japan has succeeded or failed? Was the colonization of North America a success or a failure? Taking a step back, if colonization really works, will our army still fight a bad war in South Africa? ”

He had come to the realization that the sun never set on the control of the empire could not reach forever.

Waldhouse didn't think so,

"I think you've been a little irrational by that experience as a captive. This Lu is certainly a magical Chinese boy, but China ...... Humph......"

At the mention of China, Wardhouse shook his head.

Churchill, on the other hand, held a different view, believing that Britain could not colonize China for a long time.

But he didn't bother to refute it, saying, "I reserve my opinion." Actually, I'm quite interested in Lu himself, and I should probably meet him if I have the chance. ”