shadow of britain

Chapter 184
In the early morning, the wheels drove across the streets of Westminster, and the wheels brought a burst of water.

Standing on the foggy and rainy streets of Whitehall, Arthur looked up and saw countless gentlemen and ladies walking on the road with umbrellas.

He breathed out a breath of white air, took off his gloves, and was about to push open the gate of Metropolitan Metropolitan Police, but before he could step in, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Arthur?"

Arthur turned his head to look, and behind him stood an old gentleman with a strong physique and a hale and hearty body, wearing leather gloves and holding a black umbrella.

Arthur looked at the old gentleman with gray sideburns, and couldn't help showing a smile on his face: "Mr. Judge? Are you leaving get off work so early today?"

"It's not that I get off work early, it's because I retired." The magistrate laughed and said, "Congratulations, Arthur, I finally bid farewell to that damned court, and I can return to the countryside with my retirement annuity to enjoy my life."

Arthur smiled and said: "This is indeed something worthy of congratulations. I have to say, I really envy your life. Retirement annuity, there are not many departments that can enjoy this treatment. I can only pray to God now, Hopefully by the time I retire Scotland Yard will have a retirement annuity in place."

The justice of the peace laughed and said: "You probably don't know, in fact, the justices of the peace were not eligible to enjoy the pension at the beginning. When the retirement annuity system was first established in 1590, only retired officers of the Royal Navy could enjoy this treatment.

Later, Parliament brought the Army into the system.In the 17th and 18th centuries, public utilities and civil departments such as clerks of various government departments and magistrates' courts also began to enjoy this benefit.

In my opinion, sooner or later police officers will also have pensions.As you know, the government is practical now. As long as you can create benefits and make them feel that Scotland Yard's role is far greater than the little funding they provide, then sooner or later the parliament and the cabinet will consider giving Scotland Yard police officers A decent retirement life.

Arthur, remember what I said to you earlier?Everything will be fine with you around, you're a born policing talent.Look at how many big cases you have solved this year. If Scotland Yard lacks a capable person like you, the gang of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will probably be caught blind. "

Upon hearing this, Arthur shrugged his shoulders half-jokingly and said, "I don't dare to ask for any extravagant pensions now. I just hope that they can quickly make up the performance bonus of Scotland Yard in the first half of the year."

The magistrate was stunned and said, "The Ministry of Internal Affairs is still suppressing your performance bonus?"

Arthur smiled helplessly: "Isn't it? You should know that Scotland Yard's funds all come from the local police tax, but every time Director Rowan goes to the Ministry of the Interior to ask the Secretary of State for money, the reply we always get is:' Due to the difficulty in collecting the security tax in some dioceses, the basic salary can only be paid temporarily, and as for the performance bonus in the first half of the year, we need to wait for a while.”

The magistrate frowned and said, "Taxes are not coming up? Then what does the Ministry of Finance do? These bastards really don't do any personnel work other than receiving a dry salary every day. And the Ministry of Internal Affairs doesn't take you seriously. Why don't you know to go to the Ministry of Finance to urge it?

I think those guys are probably used to the benefits of Scotland Yard and think this is what you should do.If one day you suddenly give them a pick and quit, those arrogant bastards with their nostrils up in the sky will know what it means to be powerful. "

Arthur raised his eyebrows, pursed his lips and said with a smile: "You really guessed it right. I heard that the gentlemen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs seem to have nicknamed us Scotland Yard in private."

"Nickname? What nickname?"

Arthur let out a sigh of relief and warmed his hands: "I heard that they call us 'blue cattle'."

"Blue animal?" The magistrate sneered, raised his cane and slammed it heavily on the wet floor tiles: "It's really unreasonable! They don't do things themselves, and they talk so much when they see others doing things?"

Arthur raised his hand to signal the old judge not to be so angry: "It's not a big deal. I guess it might be because Scotland Yard's collective salary increase a while ago made them unhappy. Originally, the police tax was used to maintain the daily operation of Scotland Yard. It's tight, so Scotland Yard's salary increase share is allocated from the office funds of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If they take other people's money, they will be happy.

That's all, let's not talk about these frustrating things, Mr. Judge, you are going to retire, and I am really reluctant to say it.After all, when I first came to Scotland Yard, I dealt with you almost every day.It is always sad to see a competent and responsible colleague leave. "

Hearing this compliment, the magistrate immediately felt refreshed, and he replied with a smile: "It's no big deal, the person who replaces me will definitely do a better job than me, and will definitely not cause trouble for Scotland Yard." .”

"Huh? Has the new judge been selected?"

The justice of the peace joked: "Perhaps you can consider going to the four major bar clubs in London for training. It just so happens that your education is also in line with the admission qualifications of the four bar clubs. Although you are not graduated from Oxford or Cambridge, you still have a university degree.

And I've been here for so many years, so I'm a bit of a scumbag anyway, so I might as well let this old face go and let them reserve this position for you for a few years.Although this job is not as easy as Scotland Yard, but fortunately, the salary is not bad, no matter what, the annual income is 1000 pounds. "

Arthur also knew that the other party was joking, so he also responded with a joke: "If this is the case, you might as well post this job vacancy, and there will probably be many people willing to pay a high price for it. After that, you With the money from the sale of the position, I paid for the tuition fees of the Four Great Lawyers Guilds, and the tuition fees of three hundred pounds a year are not something that a 'blue animal' like me can afford."

"Hahaha." The magistrate laughed loudly: "Then goodbye, Arthur, and good luck to you."

Arthur took off his hat and said goodbye to him: "I also wish you a satisfactory retirement life."

After parting with the magistrate, Arthur let out a long sigh of relief and pushed open the door of the Metropolitan Police Department.

"Good morning, Superintendent Hastings."

"Well, good morning..."

Arthur greeted his busy colleagues, walked through the corridor and front hall familiarly, climbed the steps and came to the door of the office.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw several inspectors who had been waiting here stand up and salute him.

"Superintendent Hastings."

Arthur glanced at them: "They all came early."

The inspectors all smiled: "I'm used to it."

Arthur didn't talk nonsense with them, but untied his scarf, took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack in the office, then grabbed the tight white shirt and came to his office chair.

Arthur took out a few documents from the files piled up on his desk, he held the documents and said: "We have to hold this police affairs meeting every week, and you must be tired of listening to those polite words. So, some I will make a long story short about the important things, and I will not delay your daily work."

The inspectors straightened their backs and sat on their chairs. Since Arthur didn't want to make a long speech, they were of course happy to end it as soon as possible.

Arthur glanced at them, and read from the manuscript: "Today I mainly read a few documents to you, one is about the promotion of several police officers who have performed outstandingly during the Hyde Park riots and work in recent months.

First, a written application was submitted by Superintendent Arthur Hastings of the Greenwich Police District and Tower Hamlets Police District of the London Metropolitan Police, and was approved by the Greater London Metropolitan Police Senior Police Conference. The official approval approved the promotion of three patrol constables, Tony Eckhart, Tom Flanders, and Charles Field, to the rank of sheriff.

Before there was a vacancy in the post of sheriff in the police district under the Metropolitan Police Force in London, the three newly promoted sheriffs were temporarily incorporated into the London Regional Temporary Survey and Statistics Bureau to assist the Greater London Metropolitan Police Department in completing the street surveying work in the East End of London.

Second, in order to continue to improve the cultural quality of the police, especially to solve the problem of the lack of police officers with the ability to inspect and prosecute in the police district, and to respond to the call for a younger police force put forward by the Minister of the Interior, Sir Peel, the police district will plan to Go to the University of London to find suitable graduates to join the police force.

After you go back, sort out the vacancies of civilian personnel in the sub-jurisdiction, and report to me later.After all, everyone knows our treatment. Although the University of London has not been awarded a royal charter, the graduates are still college students. It is okay for them to patrol the streets occasionally. If they go often, they may run away within a few months. It's over.

After all, there are not many fools like me these days, and even fools like me almost went to the Royal Navy, let alone those who are smarter than me. "

After hearing this, the police inspectors couldn't help holding back their smiles and said, "Superintendent Hastings, don't belittle yourself. It's rare to see someone in this position at such a young age."

"Really?" Arthur joked with the material in his hand: "Isn't there one in front of you?"

Another police inspector got up and raised his own doubts: "Superintendent Hastings, I think it may be difficult for us to recruit graduates from the University of London. You mentioned it just now, so we will be treated like this..."

Another police inspector put his arms around his arms, raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, "That's right, we can only recruit Oxford and Cambridge if we can't afford it. The University of London is a bit difficult to deal with."

Arthur smiled and glanced at him: "Well said. I have considered the question you raised. Anyway, this year's funds are a little richer, so I might as well use part of it as a subsidy for the prosecution. Every day in court that week, Zhou It is only a shilling extra to the salary of the magistrates, which is fair to anyone who can stand up in the magistrate's court and straighten his mouth. The judge and the jury should be willing to consider this matter."

The inspectors nodded repeatedly: "This is a good idea."

Arthur turned to the next page of the document in his hand, and suddenly covered his forehead as if he had a headache: "The last thing, of course, is about maintaining order in the venue for the new parliamentary election. You should also understand that every When the new king takes the throne, the parliament will hold a re-election. However, the situation of this general election is different from the past. Everyone should understand how lively the city of London is these days. There must be no accidents at this stall, or else we will wait for the new election. The cabinet came up and appointed us to feel better..."

(End of this chapter)