shadow of britain

Chapter 588 London Reactionaries

You can place your faith in God, and monitor everything else.

—Motto of the British Secret Intelligence Service
"Secret Service Fund?"

The Duke of Sussex was obviously unfamiliar with the word. He frowned and searched his mind, but he had no memory of this fund.

Arthur could see the Duke's confusion, but he couldn't blame him for not knowing about this fund.

As the name of this fund suggests, it is a secret fund, so even many members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords are not aware of the existence of this fund.

Although Parliament reviews and approves the government's fiscal expenditure for the new year every year, only a few MPs have the patience to read the government's financial report page by page.

Even if the few remaining lawmakers do discover this special fund with an odd name, they may not ask what the money is actually used for.

Because for most Tory and Whig MPs who abide by party discipline, it is very dangerous to bring a government expenditure to Parliament for discussion before you find out exactly where it goes.

After all, no one knows which big guys own the money. If you insist on picking a fight with these big guys, you will soon understand the importance of "silence is golden."

But for Treasury officials and stakeholders like Arthur, they knew the history of the 'Secret Service Fund' very well.

This is a very old fund, which was established during the restoration of Charles II in 1660. In the early days of its establishment, this fund was mainly used for propaganda work on continental European countries, buying temporary informants and amateur spies, and conducting diplomatic bribery on foreign politicians.

However, as time passed and the government paid less attention to intelligence work, this fund was often misappropriated as funding for domestic political activities over the following 100 years.

During his 21-year term, Walpole, the first Whig prime minister in British history, used the fund for domestic election campaigns many times. In the 1734 election alone, he embezzled nearly pounds from the fund to entertain and give gifts to voters, hold speeches and rallies, etc.

The Tories who came to power later followed suit. When Earl Bute was prime minister, he took out 80,000 pounds in one go to bribe MPs to ensure that the Paris Treaty that ended the Seven Years' War would be passed in the House of Commons.

It was not until the time of William Pitt the Younger as Prime Minister that the Secret Service Fund finally returned to its original purpose. Pitt the Younger mainly used it for foreign bribery activities, and France during the French Revolution became the largest expenditure area of ​​the fund.

At the instruction of Pitt the Younger, William Wycombe, the British Chargé d'Affaires in Switzerland, used Switzerland as a base to continue to wage an intelligence war against the French, the British's good neighbors.

In just three years, Wycombe organized the French royalists to launch rebellions and assassinations many times, including the classic one that almost killed Napoleon.

Although all these operations ended in failure and most British spies were arrested, many skilled spies evaded scrutiny and successfully infiltrated the French army. Even before Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, the British government had already known in advance the French's next military deployment.

Even though the Secret Service Fund played a huge role during the Napoleonic Wars, the British people's inherent mercenary character meant that the fund would soon be diverted to other purposes after the war.

London's Metropolitan Police Intelligence Service was unable to get a single penny from the fund, and the Foreign Office, the Home Office, the Royal Navy and the Army could only stare at the money.

After all, no matter which department you are in, intelligence work is considered a menial job.

Thus, neither the Army Topographic Office, the Royal Navy Hydrographic Service, nor Scotland Yard's Police Intelligence had much influence over Whitehall.

I don't know if it's because life has been going too smoothly or because everyone has a high sense of morality, but even British personnel stationed abroad rarely use secret channels to collect intelligence. Military attachés stationed abroad who are supposed to be performing espionage missions are particularly ashamed of espionage warfare.

Rather than gathering intelligence from underground channels, they prefer to spend their time reading newspapers and searching for public information in the world's largest military library, which Britain is proud of.

But this cannot be blamed on them. After all, in terms of staffing, the Royal Navy, Army and Scotland Yard have no more than 20 full-time intelligence personnel, and their total annual funding does not exceed 4 pounds. However, they are responsible for collecting domestic and foreign naval and army intelligence as well as domestic security intelligence.

With so much work to do and so little funding and manpower, you can't blame everyone for muddling through.

However, even though they all face the same problems of lack of funding and staff, there are significant differences in the quality of work among the three departments.

It would be fine if the Army Topographic Bureau and the Royal Navy Hydrographic Bureau were poor, but they also had to maintain their dignity, so the quality of their work is naturally not satisfactory.

Although the London Police Intelligence Bureau is equally poor, their work has been repeatedly commended by His Majesty the King and the Home Office.

The way an organization operates is often closely related to the personality of its first leader.

Sir Arthur Hastings pointed out the working direction of the Police Intelligence Bureau early on: The Intelligence Bureau is a bit poor, but we can be shameless!

Although the Police Intelligence Bureau is small, it has all the necessary facilities. It relies on the agents of the Ghost Team and a few of Ridley's men from the Fifth Division, as well as the tips from London prostitutes and street thugs. Everyone has put in the effort to do their job very well.

With an annual budget of 10,000 pounds, the Police Intelligence Agency has already taken over most of the criminal forces in East London.

If the Secret Service Fund could be used on them, busts of Sir Arthur Hastings would be hanging in the red-light districts of every major city in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Of course, some of the hidden details here are not suitable to be discussed with the Duke of Sussex.

After all, according to Fiona, although she runs a "small business", Nightingale Mansion can even entertain members of the royal family from time to time.

Arthur is not an unromantic person, so he doesn't want you all to worry about being recorded while enjoying your happy role-playing time.

Arthur told the audience the whole story of the Secret Service Fund, which not only attracted the attention of the Duke of Sussex, but even surprised Disraeli.

As for Lionel, although he didn't know about the secret service fund, he was not surprised because Rothschild's courier business had long cooperated with the Ministry of the Interior and other departments, and they occasionally acted as middlemen between the British government and foreign officials, so they were very familiar with this business.

Of course, Rothschild never favored London, Paris or Vienna. His father Nathan was a broker for the British government, his uncle James was a political broker for the French government, and his uncle Solomon was one of the pillars that Austrian Prime Minister Metternich relied on.

As for the German Confederation and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, they were the territories of Amschel and Uncle Karl respectively.

Although Arthur tried his best to explain to the Duke of Sussex the importance of integrating the intelligence system, this was obviously not enough to impress this consistent liberal.

The Duke shook his head regretfully and said, "Arthur, I'm not saying your suggestion is bad. Anyone who has carefully read your report knows that you have put a lot of effort into police research. Your report is as good as your academic papers, or even better. But it doesn't conform to our philosophy. The British system determines that we can't follow the old path. We must embrace new ideas."

Arthur understood the Duke of Sussex's subtext: this matter was non-negotiable.

Arthur couldn't help but feel like complaining when his wish to be transferred back to London was sentenced to death.

In his opinion, perhaps it was because last year's London riots were handled too well that the cabinet came up with some unrealistic ideas.

Perhaps Whitehall feels that they can rest easy after passing parliamentary reform. After all, compared with continental European countries, Britain is simply a model of liberalism. Do the British have anything to complain about the existing political system?
As for external intelligence...

Unless there is another Napoleon in Europe, Britain has always been more concerned with food than war when it comes to foreign intelligence.

Ok?
Arthur frowned, and an idea flashed through his mind.

sit back and relax?

Another Napoleon?

It seemed that he had just the conditions to bring about the outbreak of both problems.

The Red Devil leaning on the sofa took a sip of red wine. Agares saw at a glance what was in the mind of this boy who had been with him day and night for more than ten years.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the theater that inspired his artistic talent. Agares put one hand on his forehead and performed Shakespeare's famous play "Hamlet" with a sad face: "This is really the depravity of human nature! Once depraved, there is nothing to save."

Arthur simply glanced at the Red Devil, gathered his clothes, and responded softly with the lines from Shakespeare's famous play "Macbeth": "I have dipped into the river of blood, and there is no turning back."

The Duke of Sussex, with his back turned, had no idea what this promising young man was thinking. He wanted to make Arthur feel the weight of his words in this way, but he didn't expect that it would only have the opposite effect.

As Macbeth said, for those who have waded too deep into the river of blood, even if they stop and no longer move forward, it will be as difficult to turn back as to continue moving forward.

The London police with blood on their hands would never be considered as one of their own by the liberals who were fiercely demanding progress. And those authoritarians would not look down on a York mud-legged man who was born as a pig farmer.

Therefore, Arthur had no choice but to rush down the road of conservatism.

The room fell into silence. The Duke of Sussex felt that the atmosphere was brewing enough, so he turned around and spoke to Arthur.

"Of course, Arthur, your proposal was not completely rejected. On the contrary, whether it is His Majesty the King, the Home Office, or your old department, Scotland Yard, they all think that your proposal to update police equipment is very desirable. Especially after experiencing the night of the London riots, everyone realized that the police officers' protection was too weak.

Although white trousers, tailcoats and top hats look gentlemanly, they can't protect against the clubs in the hands of rioters. Moreover, wearing this uniform on the street does look too bright in the crowd. The Royal Police should have the spirit of the Royal Police, and this spirit, seriousness and safety should first be reflected in the uniform.

The high helmet you designed based on the German military helmet and the dark black uniform with buttons and waist are not only practical, but also beautiful and in line with royal majesty. Although your intelligence plan encountered resistance, your suggestion to change the uniforms won unanimous support from everyone. I think if everything goes well, when you return to London, you will see your old colleagues wearing the uniforms you designed. "

Arthur heard this and forced a smile: "I'm glad I can still do my part for Scotland Yard."

The Duke of Sussex saw that Arthur did not bother about police intelligence, and nodded with satisfaction: "Arthur, you know your ability, I know your ability, and His Majesty the King and the Cabinet know your ability even better. We all think that keeping you in Scotland Yard is a waste of your talent, so your Excellencies will transfer you to Hanover.

This is a test and training for you. You should look further ahead. You are a gentleman, so don't limit your focus to jobs that are not considered ashamed by gentlemen. Although there are some things I shouldn't tell you, given our personal relationship, I can reveal to you some key information that others are not comfortable to reveal and that few people know. "

"Key information?"

When Disraeli and Lionel heard this, they tactfully excused themselves and said, "Your Highness, we have some personal matters to attend to, so..."

Unexpectedly, the Duke of Sussex waved his hand and motioned for the two to stay: "It's okay. You are all outstanding young people in Britain. It's okay to tell you. I believe you will not spread it around."

Disraeli and Lionel looked at each other.

Both of them understood the meaning of each other's eyes.

Since the Duke said this, he intended to let them spread it everywhere.

The Duke of Sussex paced the room with his cane. "Arthur, His Majesty the King thinks highly of you, and of course, so does the Duke of Wellington. But they both think that it is inappropriate to use a young man from a police background in the current situation. Moreover, if a man, a British man loyal to the country and the royal family, has not experienced the experience of the army and the Royal Navy, his life is incomplete."

The Duke of Sussex stopped, looked into Arthur's eyes and asked, "Arthur, do you understand me? Just be patient and don't worry."

(End of this chapter)