shadow of britain

Chapter 210 Secret Report
Knightsbridge, southeast corner of Hyde Park, Wellington House - London 1, Apsley House.

The Duke of Wellington was holding a goblet in his hand, and looked at Arthur who came to return with surprise.

"Young man, I thought it would take you a while to get something useful for me, but you have gained something so quickly?"

Arthur smiled and replied: "A little surprise, although it may not be useful, but in view of the increasingly tight time until the meeting, I think that even the smallest news should be notified to you in time, after all, in your hands In fact, sometimes a trivial breakthrough is enough to help Britain gain huge national benefits."

When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he couldn't help laughing and said, "He's really a talkative young man, would you like some drinks? I would recommend the Chateau Margaux Blanc of Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux."

Arthur nodded and said, "I've never been in the army in France, so I don't know much about the wine there. Since you think the wine is good, I choose to believe you."

The Duke of Wellington hummed a tune in a good mood, raised his hand and took out a bottle of white wine with a label on it from the wine cabinet and poured two glasses. One was handed to Arthur, and the other was kept for himself.

He leaned on the sofa chair and took a sip of wine, then asked with a smile: "Okay, boy, tell me what good news you brought me."

Arthur said: "According to your order, I visited the Russian embassy this morning and met Mr. Clemens Metternich, Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire."

"Hmm... Metternich..." Duke Wellington squeezed his chin: "I guessed early on that he would go to find Dorothea right away when he arrived in London, but I guessed it right."

When Arthur heard the Duke say this, he was not stupid enough to ask Wellington why he guessed so, but continued to state: "Besides, I also brought back a Russian-style Austrian copy in the embassy. Souvenirs."

"Souvenir products?" The Duke of Wellington couldn't help joking when he heard this, "Is this some slang word from our Scotland Yard police officers?"

Arthur smiled and said, "It's not from Scotland, but from LPS. Forget it, let me tell you straight, I got some of Mrs. Levin's personal belongings."

"Mrs. Levin's personal belongings?" The Duke of Wellington couldn't help laughing when he heard this, "Coincidentally, I also have a copy here, and it's personal."

Arthur was caught off guard by the Duke of Wellington. He was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the other party was telling dirty jokes.

He was crying or laughing for a while, and he held back for a long time before jumping out: "Your Excellency, the one I got is not from cloth."

"Huh?" The Duke of Wellington raised his eyebrows and said, "It's not made of cloth? That's a novelty."

Arthur emphasized: "To be precise, this personal item is not Mrs. Levin's, but Mr. Metternich's."

"Ah?!" The old duke in his 60s almost spit out the wine in his mouth when he heard this: "Arthur, you young man, do you think I should praise you for your superb skills, or should I say that you are young?" I'm not sensible. You should take that kind of thing back, I don't need that kind of collection."

Seeing that the matter was getting darker and darker, Arthur hurriedly clarified: "To be more precise, it was given to Mrs. Levin by Metternich."

"Oh, that's okay." The Duke of Wellington took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his sweat: "Young man, although we Britons tend to speak more reservedly, in front of soldiers like me, you speak the most It’s easy to pick the point. I was taken aback by what you said, and I thought you had done something extraordinary.”

Arthur saw that his thinking was getting more and more crooked, so he hurriedly pulled out the letterhead and the translation, put them on the table and pushed them over: "This is Metternich's love letter to Mrs. Levin in 1818, please have a look."

"love letter?"

The Duke of Wellington raised his white eyebrows. The old man opened the drawer and took out the magnifying glass. He squinted his eyes and carefully read the original text and the translation of the letter from top to bottom: "Metternich's writing is not bad, no wonder He can thrive in a romantic city like Vienna, it's no wonder that so many wives and ladies are tempted by him..."

Arthur pretended not to hear the Duke's literary appreciation. He just stated the points he had compiled early in the morning as planned.

"According to the report of LPS special intelligence personnel, we only found this letter in Mrs. Levin's bedroom. But based on the information in the letter, we can reasonably infer that Mr. Metternich must have written more than just this love letter to Mrs. Levin .

However, Mrs. Levin deliberately selected this letter when they met today and combined it with this love letter. It was created in Brussels, Belgium. We talked about Belgian independence.

Because of this, I will rush over to report the situation to you as soon as I hear the news.I don't know which step they're talking about, but I think you might be able to factor in the fact that Austria and Russia are on the same side. "

Although Arthur said it tactfully, the Duke of Wellington certainly understood what he meant.

Although the Tories are worried about the July Revolution in France and Belgian independence, the Tories are only worried at most, while Russia and Austria are directly anxious.

As countries on the European continent, these two traditional autocratic powers on the continent have always been highly vigilant against the wave of revolution.

As Metternich is a die-hard supporter of absolutism, it is not surprising that he intends to stand with Russia against France and Belgium.

However, although I have already guessed in advance, it is always good to be able to confirm the true attitude of this Metternich in advance, because the Duke of Wellington happened to invite Metternich to dinner tonight. Well, what the Duke of Wellington likes to fight the most is this kind of battle of knowing the basics.

And so far, under the circumstances that he has an advantage in intelligence, he has not lost a single victory.

With Arthur's advance warning, he had already determined what questions to ask and what tone to use when talking to Metternich tonight.

If Metternich refused to budge, the Duke of Wellington felt that he might have to talk to the powerful Austrian prime minister about the huge war debts Austria owed during the Napoleonic Wars.

According to the Duke of Wellington's understanding, Austria's debt problem has reached the point where it needs to issue new debt to repay the interest on old debt.

It is true that Russia can also eat part of the new national debt for Austria, but a large part of Austria's old national debt is held by the United Kingdom.

As long as Metternich, an old oilman, dares to show the slightest tough stance, Britain will dare to sell Austrian national debt, lower the issue price of their new national debt and increase the cost of paying interest on their national debt.

As long as we focus on this point, the Duke of Wellington guarantees that the Austrians will not be able to have a good Christmas in the next few years.

Of course, he did not plan to have a showdown with Metternich so soon. After all, Austria's tough attitude was also a bargaining chip used by Britain to bargain with France.

Although the United Kingdom feels that Belgium is independent or not, even if Belgium is independent, it cannot become a pro-French regime.

Whether it is the Netherlands or Belgium, they must become Great Britain's loyal little brother.

And this is also the focus of the constant debate between him and the French ambassador to Britain, Talleyrand, during this period.

Now that Austria has been grasped, then just focus on how to solve France and Russia.

Judging from the attitude shown by Talleyrand in the past two days, France's bottom line seems to be very clear. As long as the Netherlands makes Belgium independent, other issues can be discussed.

After all, after their defeat in the Napoleonic Wars, they have been facing the problem of being deeply trapped in the anti-French encirclement net. As long as they can tear a hole in the encirclement net, it will be a huge improvement compared to before.

But Tsarist Russia's appetite may not be so satisfying. Nicholas I is a ruler with a strong desire for power control, and Tsarist Russia, which is constantly advancing westward, naturally hopes to suffocate France, a Western European power, in the encirclement net.

If Austria retreats, Tsarist Russia's attitude may loosen, and the rest depends on how to negotiate terms.

But just as the UK does not want a powerful France, the UK also does not want a Russia that spans Eastern and Western Europe.

It was uncomfortable enough to see Russia's Mediterranean fleet unimpeded in the Dardanelles, but now they are planning to expand westward on land, and Britain can't agree to anything.

The Duke of Wellington wondered, maybe he could ask Foreign Minister Palmerston to contact the Prussian delegation, or let King William IV of England write a letter to King William I of Prussia?

Although the King of Prussia is the cousin of the King of the Netherlands, to put it bluntly, our King William IV is also the King of Hanover, and Hanover is also part of the German Confederation.

In terms of geographical relations, Hannover and Prussia are closer than the Netherlands and Prussia, right?
The Duke of Wellington thought of this, put down his goblet and got up and said, "Arthur, I will trouble you this time. I will report the matter of Metternich to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If this London meeting can be a complete success, what will happen here?" Your help is definitely indispensable.”

Arthur also got up and said: "Your Excellency, this love letter is a surprise. According to my plan, later this week, LPS intelligence personnel will go to the Russian embassy to try their luck again. In order to disperse the Russian mission I just gave Mrs. Levine some concert tickets today, and judging from her attitude, she will definitely attend this weekend."

Having said that, Arthur took out a few tickets from his jacket pocket and put them on the table: "If you plan to meet Mrs. Levin in person, this weekend's concert is also an opportunity. I will reserve the tickets for you Here, if you don't have time, you can also give it to friends or family members. This concert will feature Mr. Mocheles, Mr. Mendelssohn and even Mr. Clementi. It's a pity."

"Will Clementi perform?" Duke Wellington was surprised when he heard this, and then picked up the ticket and glanced at it: "It is indeed a good concert, and the level of the participants is very high. !"

When he said this, Arthur's name suddenly caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye. The Duke couldn't help laughing and said, "Why? You're in there too?"

Arthur smiled and said: "I have to be inside, otherwise it would be too suspicious for me to send this ticket to Mrs. Levin. But don't worry, although I don't play very well, I can barely handle a piece of music."

When the Duke heard this, he stuffed the ticket into his jacket pocket logically: "It's okay if you can't handle it. Don't you have that phonograph? Just take it with you. I'm quite curious about that gadget. Is it as amazing as everyone says? If it is true, I will have to consider buying one to play someday."

Hearing this, Arthur suddenly remembered what Wheatstone had mentioned to him before, and he said at the right time: "If you want to get one, I'll send someone to deliver it to your house later on. But, You may have to wait a little while, as the maker of the phonograph, Mr Wheatstone, has recently been distracted by a patent application."

"Patent? Isn't that simple?"

Wellington took out a quill pen from the table, wrote a note and handed it over: "You ask that Wheatstone to take this when he applies for a patent. If anyone asks, he will say that I sent him. In about a week, the patent will be released." If it can be done, if it is not possible to be stuck with His Majesty the King for a few days, it is estimated that this thing can be done in three days. If it has not been completed after the time limit, please come and tell me, I will personally ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Hall of Justice , what the hell are they doing?"

　I feel a little better in the past two days. Recently, I have resumed 2 updates per day of 6K+.There are currently 12 updates this month, and the update amount will be gradually increased in the future, trying to make up for the 7W update amount this month.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)