shadow of britain

Chapter 199 The Media Empire and the Polish Commander (5K)

At night, 36 Lancaster Gate, Bayswater, West End.

There were no people on the trail beside Hyde Park. At this time in the past, Arthur and the others had already finished dinner and returned to the house to rest, but today the seats in the restaurant were full of young people from both sides of the English Channel, tall, short, fat, and thin. .

The Red Devil sits on the chandelier swinging with his legs crossed, looking from near to far from his perspective.

Sitting on the right side of the dining table are three Charles, they are Charles Darwin with an inexplicable face, Charles Wheatstone with awkwardness, and Charles Dickens with a dark green canvas bag.

And the person sitting on the left side of the dining table should not be underestimated. It is the Avengers who have just been rejected three times in a row and vowed to avenge their revenge: Alexandre Dumas, the French fat man who scolded the British for being ignorant, was pulled in for no reason. Alfred Tennyson, a famous Cambridge student, and Mr. Elder Carter, who has somehow gotten into the mix and is too otherworldly to seem out of place.

At the top of the dining table, sitting next to Arthur, is Mr. Benjamin Disraeli, a failed parliamentary candidate who is notorious in the British literary circle and dreams of "Blackwood" going bankrupt and liquidating every day.

Whiston looked back and forth at the group of people with his head shrunk, and suddenly stretched out his hand cautiously: "Mr. Hastings, I don't think there is anything wrong with me here, or I'd better leave first. You know that , I'm in a hurry recently, and the orders are very urgent."

Arthur didn't say much when he heard the words, he just pointed to the door and said, "The door is over there."

Hearing this, Wheatstone was taken aback for a moment, and then said ecstatically, "I knew you were not completely unreasonable."

He raised his buttocks and was about to leave the table when he heard another slap, and a flintlock pistol hit the table.

Arthur pointed to the pistol and said, "The bullet is here."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wheatstone put back the buttocks he had just raised, and he looked up to the sky and sighed: "I thought about it again, maybe I'm not in such a hurry."

Tennyson was also taken aback when he saw this situation. He didn't know Arthur that well, and he didn't know the complicated grievances between Arthur and Wheatstone.

He glanced at the gun on the table, then at the spacious and bright house, and asked tentatively, "Mr. Hastings, may I ask you what kind of work you do?"

Unexpectedly, before Arthur could answer, Alexandre Dumas answered for him first. The fat man leaned on the chair and opened his mouth.

"Mr. Hastings has quite a lot of business, such as plundering on the high seas, financial inside information, labor fraud, street fighting, monkey breeding, and secret imprisonment... Anyway, the people you meet here are basically captured by Mr. Hastings. persecuted."

Arthur was not angry when he heard the words, he just said calmly: "Alexander, now that the Tory Party cabinet has gone down, so the Ministry of Internal Affairs' surveillance and protection order for you has also been revoked. If you want to move out, there is no need at all Apply to me. But before you leave, please remember to settle your rent.”

Dumas put one hand on the table, and with the other, he pinched a piece of candy from the fruit plate and threw it into his mouth: "Now there is another one, to suppress French republicanism."

Tennyson was confused by the big hats that Alexandre Dumas threw out one after another. He asked: "Is Mr. Hastings so bad? I think from the gold medal-winning "Farewell to Cambridge" ", he should be a very peaceful and romantic person. By the way, Mr. Hastings, I forgot to ask you last time, which class of Cambridge did you graduate from? I think if you are not a student of Cambridge , I'm afraid I can't be filled with such strong feelings for Cambridge!"

As soon as Tennyson finished speaking, Elder couldn't sit still again. He widened his eyes and asked, "Arthur's poem won the gold medal? Why is he from Cambridge? Are you sure you're not joking?"

Seeing that the situation was wrong, Arthur hurriedly said, "Elder, I know that you, an Oxford graduate, are naturally hostile to Cambridge, but you can't blame Alfred for Cambridge's problems. Besides, you and Isn't Charles getting on well? Have you forgotten? He's also a Cambridge graduate.

You can get on well with Charles from Cambridge Christian College, but can't you get along with Alfred from Trinity College, Cambridge? "

When Darwin heard that Tennyson was actually his alumnus, his attitude became more intimate. He stretched out his hand towards him and said, "Mr. Tennyson, please don't mind the rudeness of my vulgar friend. You understand, he is serving In the Royal Navy, the sailors there usually use some strong words to express their friendliness."

"Is...is it like this?" Tennyson was dubious.

But in any case, under Darwin's explanation, the matter was finally confused.

Taking advantage of the gap between the new editor-in-chief Disraeli's manuscript review, everyone soon started chatting, and the atmosphere in the restaurant gradually became active.

Among the chatterers, Wheatstone seemed restless. He gritted his teeth and got up to Arthur's side, and whispered: "Mr. Hastings, what on earth did you bring me here for today? Throw the gun Hasn’t everything about it been uncovered? And you’re going to be a literary magazine, so what does this have to do with me, who runs a musical instrument store?”

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and pressed him on the chair beside him: "Charles, don't be so anxious. I really treat you as a friend. Think about it, since you met me, your business Is it getting bigger and bigger? You should have received many orders for gramophones these days, right?
Even if you make a profit of five pounds from a phonograph, according to its current popularity in London social circles, a few of them can be sold for three to five hundred in the future, which is an income of one to two thousand pounds.If you are willing to work a little harder, hire a dozen apprentices to work with you, increase production efficiency, and lower the cost, then maybe a slightly affluent middle-level family will also be willing to buy one.

Didn't you realize that you could live on the invention of the phonograph for the rest of your life? "

If Arthur mentioned something else, Wheatstone might not be willing to accept it, but he did receive a lot of help from Arthur in the invention of the phonograph.And as Arthur said, the gramophone orders he has accumulated these days have accumulated more than one hundred.

Although Wheatstone is afraid of socializing, he is also considering expanding production capacity recently.

As for dealing with his apprentices, in the face of the glistening wealth, Wheatstone felt that he could still overcome it with difficulty.

After all, the so-called social terror only fears people, and he didn't have trouble with money.

Hearing this, Wheatstone just pinched his chin and asked softly: "Actually... I'm also thinking about hiring people. You may not know that from my grandfather's generation, our Wheatstone family has been As a musical instrument maker, my father also opened a musical instrument workshop, so he has some experience in this area.

The phonograph is certainly a good new invention, but if I open up a workshop just for it, in case people buy it just for fun, then when the heat passes, not only will I not be able to make money, but I will have to pay the labor cost Pay it in. "

Arthur nodded and said: "You're right, but do you think the gramophone will be a 3-minute hot thing? You may not know that I went to the Royal Society a while ago. According to Mr. Faraday, there is also a phonograph inside the Royal Society. In the hot discussion on the gramophone, many members directly called it the best invention of the year."

Hearing this, Wheatstone was surprised and said, "This...Although I also think that the phonograph is really amazing, do those people in the Royal Society think so too?"

"Of course." Arthur's smile was warm and innocent: "Not only that, they also plan to ask you to give another lecture, specifically to talk about the gramophone."

"What did you say?!"

Hearing this, Wheatstone held his heart and almost fainted: "My God! Can't they think of a good idea?"

The red devil sitting on the chandelier couldn't help raising his eyebrows when he heard this. He took a bite of an apple and muttered, "Damn it, Arthur, you're getting more and more proficient at this kind of thing."

Arthur glanced at the red devil, and immediately put on a gentle voice to comfort him: "Mr. Wheatstone, don't always think of the worst in everything. Think carefully about who is the audience of the Royal Society lectures? Mainly middle-level people. Ladies above the class, this group of people has a strong spending power. As long as you are willing to stand on the podium, you may be able to bring in hundreds of orders at a time, isn't that a good thing?"

"But... a good thing is a good thing... but the speech..."

When Wheatstone thought of the scene of countless pairs of eyes converging on him, he felt the hairs all over his body stand on end, and even his calves were trembling.

"That's too fucking exciting! Arthur, I know it might make money, but I'm afraid I'll be scared to death in the lecture, and now that the gun you gave me is gone, I really can't take the courage .

Alas... Arthur, even if I beg you, reject the invitation to the Royal Society for me. As for the publicity, I can think of other ways. "

"Think about other ways? Why do you need to think about ways?" Arthur leaned forward, put his arms on the table, and crossed his hands to support his chin: "Mr. Wheatstone, do you think I invited you here today, is it just Is it just a simple meal? I want to help you solve your problems! I knew that you might not like to promote new products through lectures, so I prepared another plan in advance."

Arthur patted Disraeli, who was concentrating on reviewing the manuscript, and said, "Benjamin, come on, let's get acquainted. This is the big advertiser of our new magazine—the owner of Wheatstone Musical Instruments, the owner of the phonograph. Inventor, Mr. Charles Wheatstone, the British leader in the field of acoustics."

When Disraeli heard that the benefactor was actually sitting in front of him, he hurriedly put down the manuscript in his hand, shook Wheatstone's hand vigorously and said, "Oh! It turns out that the big businessman who wants to advertise for a year is you. Is it? I thought you were also here to contribute, I was really rude."

"One year advertisement?" Wheatstone was dumbfounded when he heard that, he raised his eyes and stared at Arthur beside him: "Mr. Hastings, when did I say..."

But before Wheatstone finished speaking, Arthur interrupted his speech: "Actually, our advertiser currently has two candidates, one is your Wheatstone Music Store, and the other is the Royal Society .If you don't vote, we can only promote the Wheatstone Lectures for the Royal Society, which will be held regularly every month."

Hearing this, Wheatstone almost gritted his teeth. He hissed and his chest heaved, but in the end, the foul language in his stomach turned into a long conversation like resignation: "Really No, I'll just spend some money. Mr. Hastings, why do you say this... Actually, even if you don't mention it, I plan to pay you the record fee for the song "The Bell".

With Wheatstone's cooperation, Arthur naturally couldn't make him feel cold, he reminded with a smile.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Wheatstone, you haven't submitted a patent application to the Ministry of the Interior, have you? With all due respect, the principle of the phonograph is actually not complicated. Similar imitations. Maybe you can establish your own competitive advantage through technological upgrading, but seeking protection from a legal point of view is also essential.”

When Wheatstone heard Arthur mentioning the patent on his own initiative, he couldn't help but sigh: "Of course I know that I need to apply for a patent, but if the patent approval process goes through completely, it may take a year and a half at the earliest. The patent for the phonograph has not yet been completed, and the phonograph probably has to be placed one row behind."

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help asking curiously, "Is the patent application so complicated?"

Wheatstone nodded slightly: "Well, according to the procedure, I first need to prepare an application and submit it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a patent statement that meets strict specifications.

After the Ministry of Home Affairs has reviewed and approved it, it will issue a certificate of receipt of the application by the Secretary of State and send it to the Attorney-General.Thereafter, a patent report is issued to His Majesty the King by the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Chamber of Lord Chancellors.

Then the king signed the leave and asked the Attorney General to prepare a patent proposal, prepare a proposal and make two backups.

The master case, upon receipt of the Letter of Permission, will be converted into a 'King's Proposal' and kept at the Seal Office.

One record is affixed with the seal of the Minister of State and turned into a 'Seal Proposal', and the other backup is turned into a 'Royal Seal Proposal', and finally the corresponding 'Royal Seal Proposal' with a patent model is submitted to the House of Lords for submission to the Royal Parliament The process is complete only after the judge approves it.

This process is time-consuming, labor-intensive, costly, and human-friendly. After all, you should know that applying for a patent has to go through [-] to [-] statutory procedures. If you want to pass it smoothly, it is absolutely impossible not to manage it carefully. "

Just as Wheatstone said this, suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Dumas leaned back on the chair, leaned back, stretched out his hand and opened the door handle, he stretched out his head to look outside, and shouted at Arthur: "Arthur, I'm looking for you."

"Looking for me?"

Arthur got up and walked to the door. Before he could see the face of the person coming, he heard an anxious voice.

Charles Field, who had just been promoted to sheriff by Arthur, stood outside the door, holding a brand new document in his hand: "Superintendent Hastings, something is wrong!"

Arthur frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Field sighed, and stuffed the document in Arthur's hand: "Take a look."

Arthur took the document, just glanced at it, and froze in place.

Metropolitan Police's decision to adjust the terms of reference of Superintendent Arthur Hastings in East London

He hastily turned to the next page of the file.

Just like the title of the file, the content of the file is not complicated.

Arthur just glanced at it briefly, and quickly summed up the general idea in the document—removed all the regional duties of Superintendent Arthur Hastings of the East London Region, and was reassigned to be in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Metropolitan Metropolitan Police Department people.

Although on the surface, he seems to have been promoted, but from the perspective of the senior police officer of Scotland Yard, this is completely kicking him to the marginal department.

Because until this Saturday, Arthur had never heard of any special criminal investigation department in Scotland Yard.

In other words, it may not have been a day since the establishment of this department.

Arthur continued to look down, until he turned to the last page of the document, and then he figured out what was going on.

——In order to deal with the increasingly serious vicious crimes, the Ministry of the Interior formally approved the establishment of a special criminal investigation department composed of police elite forces with the rank of Sheriff and above upon the application of Charles Rowan, the Chief of the Greater London Metropolitan Police Department.

——After the reorganization, the criminal investigation department will be led by Superintendent Arthur Hastings, under the jurisdiction of three sheriffs, Charles Field, Tony Eckhart, and Tom Flanders, who will be responsible for the detection of major cases Work.

Standing beside Arthur, the Red Devil couldn't stop laughing after glancing at the document. He grinned wide, dragging his saliva-stained red tongue, and shot at the calm Arthur.

"Oh! Look who the hell is this? My dear Arthur! Could it be that your boy has become a polished commander like me, the once majestic Duke of Hell? Rowan is really ruthless, from the top I'll clean you up next time."

Arthur didn't answer Agares either, he just glanced at the Red Devil, then put his shoulders on Sergeant Field's shoulder and said with a relaxed smile: "It's no big deal, Charles, at least the four of us are still together. Life, It's normal to have ups and downs, it's cold outside, would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"

Field still felt uneasy after hearing this, and asked for instructions: "Superintendent Hastings, do we need to prepare in advance? To be honest, I just got this document, and many people probably don't know it yet. For example Sergeant Jones in Whitechapel, do we need to check with him?"

"Jones?"

Upon hearing this name, Arthur suddenly raised his head to look at the stars in the sky outside the door.

He blinked his red shimmering eyes, just smiled and said, "I think he better understand something."

　Let’s start with this update today. There are some new materials today, and I have to supplement the materials.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)