British writer

The room fell into silence.

Lu Shi looked at Hadi with amusement in his eyes.

Hadi already expressed his demands, but regained his calmness as a politician, and looked at Lu Shi without looking away.

Eyes crossed,

The atmosphere became slightly anxious.

George Bernard Shaw cleared his throat,

"Ahem..."

This move made the air in the room feel lighter.

Lu Shi glanced away,

"Mr. Superintendent, what do you mean?"

Bernard Shaw smiled slyly,

"Hey, I'm just the chancellor of the London School of Economics and Political Science, not the honorary president of the University of London Union. I have no control over the affairs of the Mirror~"

Lu Shi: "..."

I secretly thought that I was a cunning person.

Unexpectedly, Bernard Shaw quickly put away his smile and said solemnly: "Lu, what you mean is what I mean. But if you want to ask for my advice, then I think you should refuse."

Hardy was shocked and looked at George Bernard Shaw in surprise.

Bernard Shaw spread his hands,

"James, people change."

Although he was still a believer in Fabianism, some of his ideas had subtly changed after working with Lu Shi.

Hardy said seriously: "George, you should know the impact of the Tap Valley case. I heard that Cecil has made up his mind. He will put pressure on the court to order the union to pay more than 20,000 pounds in compensation."

No one said anything in the room.

Lu Shi, Bernard Shaw, and Natsume Soseki all looked at Hardy with calm faces.

Hardy:? ? ?

Repeated: "Twenty thousand pounds!"

As a result, no one has any comment on this number.

Hardy was completely stunned. He glanced at the people in the room, even the cat, but found that even I was just eating the French smoked chicken calmly, occasionally "meowing~".

George Bernard Shaw reached out and patted Hardy on the shoulder.

"James, I know what you want to express. But the figure of twenty thousand pounds..."

As he spoke, he shook his head and tapped Lu Shi with his finger, "James, sitting in front of you is the founder of "Mirror" and the author of the best-selling books "No Survival" and "Roger Mystery". Money is not a stimulus. To him."

Hardy: "..."

I won't be able to get rid of it at all.

After a while, he calmed down and regained his composure: "Professor Lu, you may not have thought that my first job was when I was seven years old. At that time, I was assigned to work at the Anchor Line Steamship Company. From that day on, I lost the opportunity to go to school. I later worked in a series of low-paying entry-level jobs, working as an apprentice in a parts shop, heating rivets in a shipyard, working as a toll collector in a bakery... the most. At that time, I could only earn four shillings a week. Fortunately, my parents..."

Hardy actually burst into tears.

Natsume Soseki on the side also sighed: "Alas..."

Lu Shi raised his hand speechlessly,

"Mr. Hardy, please calm down. This is not a campaign stage for you to win votes, so you don't need to give a speech. We can be honest."

One sentence shattered Hardy's brewing emotions.

Bernard Shaw couldn't help but laugh,

"Hahaha!"

Hardy's face turned red and white. He straightened his collar, looked at Lu Shi, and said, "Well, it seems that Professor Lu can't be impressed by either the macro or the micro."

Lu Shi took a sip of tea.

"move?"

He rubbed his neck and continued: "Mr. Hardy, when you mentioned the Prime Minister, wasn't it because you heard about the discord between me and the Conservative Party?"

Hardy couldn't help but frown,

Obviously, he didn't expect Lu Shi to be so sharp.

Lu Shi continued: "As far as I know, suppressing your activities is not the exclusive domain of the Conservative Party. The Liberal Party's methods seem to be more harsh. This is why you established the Labor Representative Committee instead of the Labor Party."

This is the disadvantage of voting,

Because there are many similarities in the program, the Liberal Party is disgusted with the unions and worries that they may win the votes of workers who belong to the Liberal Party at some point in the future.

Lu Shi asked back: "What? Heretics are more hateful than heretics?"

This is a joke,

But to Hardy, it sounded like a wise saying.

He had to admit: "Indeed, the most the heretic wants is your life; the heresy not only wants your life, but also status and the right to speak. Wasn't there a burning rack hundreds of years ago?"

Lu Shi stretched himself.

"Furthermore, I don't think the Conservative Party will explode on the spot. Since its birth, they have been fighting the Whigs, the split Peel faction, and the Liberal Party. In the future, they may fight you. Their opponents are changing. But conservatism stands.”

George Bernard Shaw laughed and said: "Why did you tell Wodehouse at that time, 'The Conservatives are not all conservative, but the Liberals are all liberal', right?"

Hardy looked at Lu Shi,

"Are these Professor Lu's original words?"

He really couldn't understand why a Chinese could see British politics so deeply.

This goes far beyond "Yes!" Prime Minister" shock.

Lu Shi didn't say much about this topic, but instead said: "So, let's talk about business and matters, let's not talk about what is and isn't, and let's talk about the interview version."

Hardy nodded,

"How much do I need to pay if the Mirror interviews me?"

Don't play with those empty heads, just talk about the exchange of interests.

Lu Shi didn't have to think about the answer to this question at all. He knew on his knees that it would be impossible for the "Mirror" to interview a leader of the Labor Representative Committee like Hardy.

The risk is too high!

He said: "The interview version needs authenticity the most. Please come forward. Is there any truth left?"

Hardy's face turned dark.

But he was not Pankhurst after all, and he did not say those threatening words.

He just pretended to be sorry and said: "Professor Lu, I thought that you, an international student from China, would naturally feel close to us in a foreign country."

Lu Shi shook his head,

"Don't use 'we' or 'you'. I still say the same thing, in Shangyan..."

Unexpectedly, before he finished saying "business in business", there was another knock on the door outside.

Everyone's eyes moved to the door.

George Bernard Shaw whispered: "Do we need to avoid it?"

Lu Shi looked around,

"Where can we hide? In the closet or under the bed? How about you climb out of the window?"

Bernard Shaw couldn't help but laugh,

"forget it."

Lu Shi nodded and walked over to open the door.

This time, the person standing outside the door came from a bigger background——

Edward VII.

His Majesty the King nodded to Lu Shi, looked into the room, and then showed a slightly apologetic expression and said: "Are there guests? Do you need me... Well... That is, the great playwright George Bernard Shaw, and... Is there…James Hardy?”

It’s normal to know Bernard Shaw;

Because entertainment was scarce in this era, members of the royal family often went to the theater.

But meeting Hardy was unexpected.

Lu Shi was surprised,

"Your Majesty, you are..."

The corners of Edward VII's mouth twitched, but without answering, he asked: "Professor Lu, can I come in?"

Lu Shi only agreed,

"sure."

King Edward VII then straightened his uniform and walked slowly into the room.

Behind him, Stephenson followed quickly. When he passed by Lu Shi, he lowered his voice and said, "Professor Lu, how do you know that kind of troublemaker?"

This "troublemaker" is undoubtedly referring to Hardy.

Lu Shi said, "Today is the first time we meet."

Stephenson said "Oh\

,""I see."

Lu Shi asked: "What's going on? Why does your Majesty know him?"

Stephenson looked at the back of Edward VII and told a short story at a very fast speed.

In 1894, an explosion in a coal mine near Pontypridd killed 251 miners.

And that year, the royal heir was born, and Hadi asked to invite the victim's relatives to the congratulatory banquet.

This request was of course denied.

So Hadi delivered a speech attacking the monarchy,

The first sentence of the speech is:

"

'From childhood, the boy will be surrounded by sycophantic jesters. ’

"

The offensiveness of the entire speech can be imagined.

As luck would have it, the royal heir was the later Edward VIII, the grandson of Edward VII.

This is crazy...

"hiss……"

Lu Shi took a breath of cold air and said to himself that in this era, there are really everyone, and today he met a strong man.

He and Stephenson hurried into the house.

In the room, Edward VII and Hardy had already introduced themselves to each other,

The air seemed to be filled with the smell of gunpowder.

Edward VII was curious,

"Mr. Hardy, are you here to see Professor Lu? What do you mean?"

Logically speaking, this involves privacy, so you don't have to answer.

But Hardy dared to attack the monarchy, and it was true. He said: "Has your Majesty ever heard of the Tarf Valley case in Wales? I think you have many things to do, so you probably don't know much about it."

King Edward VII said tit for tat: "It seems that Mr. Hardy has forgotten what the title of the Crown Prince of Great Britain is."

The title of the British Crown Prince is Prince of Wales, the head of the Principality of Wales.

After England annexed Wales in 1301, the King of England gave this title to his eldest son. From then on, it gradually became customary to give the king's male heir the title "Prince of Wales", and "Prince of Wales" became the title of the British Crown Prince. Synonyms.

Edward VII raised his voice and opened his arms in a dramatic embrace.

"

‘A Prince who was born in Wales, spoke no English, and spoke Welsh for the first time since he was born’!

"

This was the promise given by Edward I when he conquered Wales.

Of course, when Edward VII said it, he sounded indescribably "grand" and very pretentious.

The atmosphere in the room was strange.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Everyone was silent.

Edward VII also seemed to be aware of the embarrassment. He coughed slightly, sat down, returned to his normal voice, and said, "Of course I know about the Tap Valley case."

Hardy leaned forward;

"Your Majesty, what do you think of this?"

Edward VII smiled and did not answer in a very amused manner. Instead, he turned to look at Lu Shi.

"Professor Lu, I'm here to find you."

Lu Shi nodded,

"Your Majesty, tell me."

King Edward VII even took out a copy of the Mirror and said: "Today, I saw the new edition of the Mirror and I was very curious."

He pointed to the interview page and asked: "Are these completely true interview records?"

Lu Shi was in trouble,

"Your Majesty, I don't know what level of 'truth' you mean. If you mean an impromptu interview, it's definitely not the case. For example, the reporter of "Mirror" will notify the interviewee in advance to ask questions during the interview. The interviewee makes some preparations. But every word the interviewee says when answering, even some modal particles, will be reported to us."

Edward VII had some regrets;

"That's it. It's different from what I imagined..."

Seeing His Majesty the King like this, Lu Shi really wanted to complain.

But in the end, he held back and remained silent.

King Edward VII thought about it and continued: "It doesn't matter, let's make do with it. Professor Lu, do you still remember what we discussed last time we met? About creating a university ranking to attract talents."

"Well……"

Lu Shi suddenly felt a toothache.

I didn't expect that the other party hadn't forgotten it yet.

A bad premonition gradually rose in my heart.

He asked: "Your Majesty, why did you suddenly mention that matter? Could it be that you wanted to... um... be interviewed? Do you want to be interviewed?"

King Edward VII nodded,

"That's right! I just want to talk about education, university rankings and other issues."

Lu Shi's tooth hurt even more.

"Don't we need to consult the Central Education Agency for this kind of thing? Or should we say, the University Committee of the Privy Council or something?"

Edward VII shook his head repeatedly and said: "That's not necessary. First of all, the global university rankings cannot be produced by the British official organization, for reasons we have discussed before; second, the meaning of my interview is different."

Lu Shi: "..."

I don't want to pick up the fight at all.

Seeing that he remained silent, King Edward VII said to himself: "Let me tell you a Chinese allusion. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao issued an order to recruit talents from all over the world, and then moved east again to conquer cities and territories, and unified China."

Cao Cao?

Head east to capture the city?

Unified China?

…

Lu Shi felt that he had learned history in vain.

On the contrary, Natsume Soseki on the side reacted, whispered in Lu Shi's ear: "Lu, he must have confused the Wei of the Three Kingdoms with the Qin of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods."

Lu Shi: "! @* # ￥%..."

Spoken gibberish.

He thought about how to correct the other person.

But King Edward VII’s mind was filled with the idea that “all the heroes in the world have fallen into my lap.” He was so excited that he continued: “If I were interviewed, I would state that internationalization is an important criterion for university rankings, and welcome students from all over the world to study in the UK. .”

Lu Shi said: "Your Majesty, didn't you say before that university rankings cannot be determined by the authorities, but that the polling organization should be spun off from the university and establish a company?"

Edward VII said: "I have no intention of going back on my word."

Lu Shi was puzzled.

"That……"

When the king looked at Lu like a fool, he continued: "Professor Lu, the reason for my interview is university education. The matter of global university rankings can be raised 'accidentally'~"

Countless grass and mud horses ran wildly through Lu Shi's heart,

grass!

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!

The other party's rhetoric has so many tricks up its sleeve that I don't even know where to start.

Edward VII made rapid progress and continued: "This matter is settled. Remember to send someone to inform me when it will be ready."

With that said, he stood up and prepared to leave.

Before reincarnation, His Majesty the King turned around as if he had thought of something.

"Mr. Hardy, you probably want to appear on the interview page to talk about the Tap Valley case, right?"

Hardy didn't know what was going on;

"Yes, Your Majesty."

King Edward VII thought for a moment and said to Lu Shi: "Let him accept... No, find a worker representative to be interviewed, and share the same page with my interview."

Everyone present:! ! !

Stephenson took a step forward and whispered: "Your Majesty, doing this will definitely make the cabinet..."

King Edward VII raised his hand,

"I know."

Stephenson almost blurted out: "You know you are still seeking death?"

He finally held it back and changed his words to a gentle one: "You know you still do this?"

Edward VII looked deeply and murmured in a voice that almost only he could hear: "When the Queen was alive, she relied on her wrist to make the Constitution deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and her merits will last forever. As her successor, I should also make a difference."

It can be seen that after Queen Victoria, Edward VII was under great pressure.

But Lu Shi remembered that Edward VII in history was by no means a wise king who worked hard to govern. Instead, he was particularly interested in horse racing and yacht racing.

Moreover, he lived an informal life and sometimes lost his integrity.

In other words, the king himself was a bastard.

Could it be that you are working so hard now because you were stimulated by "The 20 Greatest Britons"?

If this was really the case, Lu Shi wanted to slap himself in the face.

It's so awesome that you can get yourself into trouble!

King Edward VII said to Lu Shi: "Professor Lu, I'll trouble you later."