shadow of britain

Chapter 38 The Naval Smuggling Problem

Arthur read the penny-worth of "Poor People's Guardian" with great interest, and he didn't realize something was wrong until he saw the end of the article.

Hetherington, the founder of The Poor People's Guardian, is on the watch list of Scotland Yard.

Although the "Prohibition of Workers' Association Act" in 1824 has been abolished, and publication censorship has been gradually relaxed, although the threshold on the surface has not been set, there are still many tricks behind the scenes.

Because most of the workers are from the poor class, it is unlikely that there will be too much money on hand to spend on other aspects besides basic necessities of life.

Therefore, in order to prevent the Workers' Union from creating influential publications, the British government began to impose stamp duties on newspapers, raising the price of newspapers to four pence, and limiting the sales of newspapers by increasing costs.

Since there are strategies, there are naturally countermeasures, which is why all kinds of shady tabloids emerge in endlessly on the streets of London.

As long as no tax is paid, the selling price of one penny is enough to cover the cost, and there is still a profit.

It's a pity that Arthur never had the chance to get such good and cheap things when he bought newspapers.

Obviously, the street newsboy was still selling cheap newspapers for a penny last second, but as soon as he passed by, there were only formal choices like "The Times", "Morning Herald" and "Manchester Guardian".

Arthur snatched Elder's newspaper, so that he could only chat with Darwin beside him, and at the same time draw a few random strokes on the manuscript paper with the pencil in his hand.

Arthur finished reading the newspaper and was about to strike up a conversation when he suddenly saw the villain drawn by Elder.

He frowned, and for a moment, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he snapped his fingers and said, "Elder, how is your drawing skills doing?"

Elder yawned: "It's okay, why are you asking this?"

Arthur said with a smile: "I want to ask you to do something. If it can be done, the remuneration is not a problem. The office funds of the Greenwich Police District for this quarter are still somewhat surplus."

"Oh?" Elder immediately cheered up when he heard that there was a reward, "Do you want to ask me to draw a map for you?"

"It's not just the map." Arthur took a sip from his teacup, "You should know 'Thief General' Fred, right?"

"Fred? Of course I know! Last time I asked him to help me dispose of the smuggled goods I brought over."

Arthur was drinking tea well, but he almost choked to death when he heard Elder's words.

"What did you say?!"

Arthur took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his mouth: "You? Smuggling? And got involved with Fred?"

Unexpectedly, Elder didn't care about it, as if he didn't care that he had committed a crime.

He put his legs on the table, leaned his head against the back of the chair and said, "What's all the fuss about? The Royal Navy is smuggling, who doesn't know?"

Darwin on the side was originally reading the book quietly, but when he heard the explosive news, his face changed in shock.

Arthur propped his elbows and leaned forward: "Tell me about it in detail, I'm short of a big case recently."

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, Elder's face turned blue.

He lowered his voice and scolded: "Arthur, you fucking, are you still planning to send me in? Besides, the smuggled goods are not mine, I sold them for my uncle. After I sold that old thing, I returned it. Dissatisfied, I thought the price I sold was too low, so I didn’t give me a penny.”

Arthur also lowered his voice and said, "Then you are a tainted witness. I can help you fight for leniency, just get your uncle in. A rear admiral of the Royal Navy is enough for me for many years. Don't worry, I will get promoted and get rich , I will never forget you."

Elder was annoyed: "Who is covering me when you get him in? Is there something wrong with your head! Besides, if you arrest him, you can't lock him in with the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet?"

Hearing this, Darwin on the side also came over: "Is there something about the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet?"

Elder said angrily: "That's not true! Are you still planning to involve the First Sea Lord Thomas Hardy?"

Arthur originally planned to make a joke, but before he started asking, Elder almost explained everything clearly.

He hurriedly shouted: "Stop it! Don't talk about it. If you stab up again, are you planning to put Prince William, the Royal Navy Admiral?"

Elder was taken aback for a moment, then raised his hand and punched Arthur in the chest: "You can do it, boy! No wonder you can be a police inspector, how do you know?"

Arthur quickly covered his mouth, and then glanced around again, until he found that no one was paying attention to them, and then replied.

"I don't know anything, just talk about the Royal Navy, don't talk about specific individuals."

Elder spread his hands and said, "Actually, it's not a big deal.

Think about it, although the treatment of the officers of the Royal Navy is good, the treatment of the sailors is poor!

If it was better during the war, after all, the spoils of war could be shared, but it is a time of peace.

Under normal circumstances, the income level of sailors who run merchant ships can be three or four times higher than that of sailors, and it can even be five or six times higher in peak shipping seasons.

Moreover, the training of the Royal Navy is still so strict, and the internal regulations are rigid. Who would like to be a sailor if they have nothing to do?

Floating on the sea every day, I can't make much money.

It is so difficult for the Navy to recruit enough recruits every time, so that recruiters even use the method of kidnapping.

There should be such rumors in your hometown. When you met a naval recruiter to recruit soldiers, but the local farmers were unwilling to go, so they teamed up to kidnap a few passing foreigners to do business.

Or it is to get those criminals who should have been exiled onto the ship, and it was originally agreed to be exiled, but they couldn't be released after they were flown on the ship.

The treatment is so poor, if the Admiralty does not allow the brothers to smuggle something, will they let people live a good life? "

Darwin nodded slightly and said, "Although I don't know why, I think what you said seems to make sense."

When Arthur heard this, he smiled helplessly: "Every time I hear you talk about the Royal Navy, it always makes me feel that this place is rotten from top to bottom. But if this is the case, why are they still so effective?"

Elder rolled his eyes and said: "Of course it's because of money! Although the big guys are paid dead wages, if it comes to war, the Ministry of the Navy will have a clearly marked price.

For destroying an enemy ship, a bounty of five shillings per person for the number of enemies destroyed by the entire ship will be rewarded.

After capturing an enemy ship and towing it back to the port, the government will purchase the enemy ship at the market price.

As for the spoils obtained in the battle, the internal rule of the navy is that the captain gets a quarter, the fleet commander gets an eighth, and the rest is divided among the sailors.

Relying on this, no matter how bad the Royal Navy is, it can still fight. The French dare not even leave the port.

In their eyes, the French ship is not an enemy at all, it is the gold floating on the sea.

In the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy could complete two rounds of bombardment in three and a half minutes.

General Rotheram's frigate dared to chase after the French battleships, and he bit his tail and launched a boarding battle at the first time when he was outnumbered. He killed more than a dozen French sailors with his saber alone.

As for the French, given them three and a half minutes, it is estimated that the shells have not been taken out of the cabin, and the time to raise the white flag is enough! "

Having said that, Elder covered his mouth mysteriously and said, "I'll tell you a secret, don't tell others!
I heard from my uncle that some captains earned more than 22 pounds after fighting the Napoleonic Wars for 30 years.

The captain ate meat, and the sailors who followed him naturally also drank soup.Do you think there is no combat effectiveness in this situation? "

After finishing speaking, he sighed again: "It's a pity that Napoleon didn't live up to it. If he survived for more than ten years, wouldn't I be able to make a fortune like this? It's really useless!"

Arthur glanced at the guests at the table next to him, and saw that everyone else was looking at them strangely.

So, Arthur could only cough and reminded Elder: "Let's talk about how you know Fred."

(End of this chapter)