Shadow of great britain

For people who do not understand the cues of a look, no amount of explanation will help, because such people are not naturally suitable for politics.

——Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord

Great examples can always make an entire generation fall or rise. If a person like Napoleon Bonaparte appears in an era, then everyone around him will be faced with a choice, either to feel ashamed in front of him, be frightened by his greatness, and disappear from the scene, or to follow his example. Give full play to your own strength and reach the point of indulgence and wantonness. The people around Napoleon can only become his slaves or his opponents. Such a great man who is head and shoulders above others cannot tolerate mediocrity for a long time. In this respect, Arthur Hastings was like Napoleon, except that he usually called his slaves: my friends.

According to his autobiography, during his early interactions with Talleyrand, there were a few words that he learned throughout his life - the so-called ambition of a person refers to the full display of one's intelligence. There are usually two ways to improve one's status in the world. The first is through one's own abilities, and the second is by taking advantage of others' stupidity. Noble status is like a high cliff that only eagles and geckos can climb.

So is he an eagle or a gecko? Maybe it’s neither, maybe it’s both.

The heart of the eagle was bound in the body of the gecko, eventually creating this strange species that even Darwin could not easily conclude.

——Stephen Zweig, "Arthur Hastings: The Driven Ambition of a Prisoner of Reason"

The moment Arthur finished speaking, the air in the room seemed to suddenly freeze, and time seemed to be frozen by some invisible force. There was only the faint flicker of candlelight and the ticking sound of the clock in the room. Hutte stood there quietly, his eyes slightly lowered, but his heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

He took a deep breath and slowly loosened his slightly tightened fingers, as if he was forcing the inner longing back to the bottom of his heart.

Then, he nodded slowly, his voice as calm as if there was no emotion: "Although I don't know where you got this news from, I think you are a credible person. However, like the second officer of the Embassy in Russia, For such an important position as secretary, there must be a lot of requirements for the person taking the position, right? "

Arthur did not look at Hute, but smiled and poured him a cup of black tea: "Of course, this is an important position. Although Sir Arthur Hastings is an amiable man, he treats his work badly. There are always high standards and strict requirements. For example, this person must be proficient in Russian and English, and because of the close ties between the embassy and the Moscow company, he must be familiar with the Moscow company and British business work in Russia.”

Hute said with deep understanding: "Of course, this cannot be ambiguous at all."

Arthur sat down comfortably next to the fire and took a sip from the tea cup: "And you must be flexible in your approach to work."

Hute nodded repeatedly: "Isn't that right? Gentleness, friendliness, and sophistication are all indispensable."

Arthur raised a finger: "Especially reliable."

"Reliable?" Hueter was stunned for a moment, then sat upright and said, "Yes, it must be reliable."

When Arthur saw Hueter, he not only agreed with him, but even started to make requests for himself. The old British spy instantly realized that the other party must have completely understood his subtext.

Arthur put down the tea cup, crossed his legs and said: "Yes, as you said, as the British Cultural Counselor in Russia, I have the obligation and responsibility to recommend a second-class candidate who fully meets these conditions for the Ambassador to Russia, Earl Durham. secretary."

"No, Colonel!" Hueter suddenly interrupted Arthur.

Arthur frowned slightly: "What's wrong?"

Hutte said solemnly: "I don't want to blame you, but in line with my rigorous character, I must correct a trivial flaw in your words just now - it is not your responsibility to recommend the second secretary to the ambassador, but Asia It is the duty of Sir Arthur Hastings to recommend the Second Secretary to the Ambassador."

"Oh..." Arthur smiled slightly apologetically: "This is indeed my fault, Richard. I must say, you seem to be a very reliable person."

Hueter raised his hand and saluted: "You know, Colonel, this is what we do as a military police officer."

After saying that, Hute continued: "However, I am still very grateful for your praise of me. But can I take the liberty to ask, among the people you have met in this life, how reliable am I?"

Arthur did not answer Huette's question directly, but stood up, turned his back to Huette, and warmed his hands by the fire: "Look, Richard, the true meaning of our business is not to find the right answer. , but it’s about finding the right question. Sometimes, if you ask the right question, you don’t need to give an answer. For example, the emperor wants you to catch a few people. As a Pole, if you really just arrested a few Poles, you didn't do your job well, because the emperor did not mean to make trouble with the Poles, but was worried that someone was plotting to overthrow his government. If you know what the problem is in advance, you don’t have to do the hard work of running errands.”

After hearing this, Hute first rubbed his face, took a deep breath, then raised his head and drank all the black tea in the cup.

"By the way, Colonel, let's change the topic first." Hute smiled: "How many days do you plan to stay in Druisk?"

When Arthur heard this question, he straightened his back, squinted his eyes and nodded slightly: "Well, a very good question. Richard, a very good question!"

Hute said: "I know that you may still have a lot of work to do here. After all, you carry the emperor's secret decree and bear the name of imperial envoy, but with all due respect, a small place like Druisk , It is really not worthy of delaying your trip for several weeks. Your precious body should be sitting in the British clubs in Petersburg and Moscow, enjoying the red wine of Bordeaux and being surrounded by everyone's compliments."

Arthur sat back on the sofa: "Richard, I have to say, I do think so too. Of course, I plan to leave Druisk not because I am shirking my responsibilities, but because as far as I know , Soon the emperor will send an imperial envoy to take over my job. I never do this kind of thing in order to show off my abilities.

Hute took out his notebook from his coat pocket, picked up the quill on the desk with a familiarity and lowered his head to record: "You are right. Although I have just met you not long ago, I can already feel your rigorous style. Besides, you are right. , you are responsible for the routine local inspection work of the third bureau, not the special inspection like the next imperial minister, so there is no need to control the details too strictly. I will explain this clearly to everyone. ”

Arthur nodded slightly: "Of course, I mentioned Sir Arthur Hastings to you just now. The thorny problem he encountered has not been solved yet. During the long journey, diplomatic passports and various All the identity documents fell into the hands of thieves, and even tens of thousands of rubles that I carried with me were lost. This matter is..."

When the red devil squatting on the road beside him heard this, he couldn't help covering his mouth and said with a smile: "Oh, my dear Arthur, didn't you only lose five thousand rubles? Could it be that you didn't lose that money, but I gave a usurious loan to a thief and it more than doubled in just a few days?”

Hueter said sternly: "This matter is a serious diplomatic incident, and it is probably impossible to resolve it with my authority. But please tell Sir, let him rest assured, I will report the matter to the Third Bureau in Petersburg through special channels. Headquarters, I believe that Count Benkendorf will deal with this matter seriously. Even if we cannot recover your losses, we will definitely find ways to compensate you. After all, although the weather in Russia is cold, people's hearts are always warm. We can’t let the guests who come from afar feel cold.”

At this point, Hueter paused again: "However, as for diplomatic passports and identity documents... the third bureau does not have the authority to reissue them."

Arthur knew what Huter's words meant.

The third bureau may not really have the authority to help with reissues, but even if they had this authority, Hueter would not take the initiative to make this request to the bureau. Because the premise for his willingness to help is that Arthur is really Sir Arthur Hastings.

If Arthur cannot take up the post of cultural attaché in Russia, then all the deals reached by the two will be in vain.

Moreover, not only did the deal not count, Hueter might even escort him and the group of Poles to Siberia. After all, there was a price to pay for deceiving a Russian gendarme.

However, this issue has never been a problem for Arthur.

If the new cultural attaché in Russia is not Arthur Hastings, but someone else, such as Elder Carter, then there is really no way to confirm his identity without documents.

At this time, the importance of the first graduating class of the University of London, the three-year academic gold medal, and the top graduate of the history department was immediately highlighted.

Even if Arthur rushes to the gate of the British Embassy in Russia with nothing but clothes, holding a stick and carrying a bowl, as long as he is willing to kneel in front of the door and shout three words of "mentor", Count Dalamo will immediately send someone Open the door for him and give him a bite of hot food.

After all, who on the University of London campus doesn’t know Mr. Jeremy Bentham’s favorite student?

Not to mention anything else, even Alexander I, the late emperor of Russia, once wrote a letter to Mr. Bentham, asking for advice on how to stabilize the country and how to govern the country.

If we really want to talk about it, it is definitely too much to say that the knight's three-thirds of land in Russia was given to the tsar and he was granted the title. But isn't it realistic to give him a person with the same background as the tsar?

Moreover, Arthur gave Tong the first name of the tsar's birth. According to the practice of imperial examination, it is natural to call him Huang Jia Chuanlu.

Arthur didn't reveal Hugh Te's little thoughts, and just said lightly: "You don't have to worry about the knight's affairs. He is the former disciple of Earl Dalamo. Even if he doesn't have a diplomatic passport, he only has a face. No problem.”

Hearing this, Hute quickly stood up and said: "How can this be done? Even if the diplomatic documents cannot be found, at least he must preserve his property for the Sir."

Arthur flipped over this unpleasant episode lightly and continued: "Besides this, there is another matter. If this matter is disclosed, it is likely to be subject to unnecessary misunderstandings."

When Hute heard that the conversation was wrong, he was alert and asked: "What's going on?"

Arthur said: "After losing his diplomatic document, Sir, in order to avoid freezing to death and causing a serious diplomatic incident between Britain and Russia, he used another identity document to enter the city to escape the snow. Regarding this identification document, actually, you know, In an administrative environment like ours, many things often need to be handled in a flexible and reasonable way. To be honest, many times this is not the ideal way we expect, but we have to admit that in some cases. Well, this is indeed a more appropriate solution.

The process of processing this identity document is actually not as complicated as regular procedures. This document fully complies with the existing administrative requirements and is completely within the compliance framework. However, the details have been blurred to a certain extent. Just like those upper-level documents, we often find that their legitimacy does not come entirely from real data, but through a subtle means to demonstrate their relative legitimacy. As for the name, place, and even the history on the document, you can understand that it is due to 'practical needs', or some kind of 'necessary correction' that is in line with the spirit of fairness, or it is more like a certain kind of 'adaptation'.

As for the person in charge of handling the matter at the time, he was a colleague who understood the actual situation quite well. In some subtle administrative contexts, we don't even need too many words. He is fully aware that although certain steps may seem cumbersome, in fact they are nothing more than a procedural form. Without this kind of programming, it would appear to be inconsistent with social needs.

So, while on the surface this may seem a bit unconventional, from a practical perspective it all makes perfect sense and is completely blameless. After all, you know, in complex administrative systems, a lot of things have to be achieved through some kind of - we might call it a 'reasonable curve'. In short, those 'minor changes' on the document were just to make the entire process smoother and to complete the necessary administrative functions without deviation. "

Hutte stood opposite Arthur, his figure upright, but his eyes were staring at him blankly. His mind went blank, a trace of confusion appeared on his face unconsciously, and his brows wrinkled slightly, as if every word he heard became extremely unfamiliar.

He couldn't help but shook his head slightly, an imperceptible daze flashed in his eyes.

Yes, that sounded reasonable, even more "reasonable" than he had imagined.

However, Arthur's eloquent explanation actually made him feel a little unspeakable confusion, like a fog that prevented him from seeing the truth clearly through the appearance.

His eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but he didn't seem to know how to respond. Arthur smiled slightly and seemed in no hurry to wait for an answer. Hute's eyebrows were furrowed, and the corners of his mouth twitched unconsciously. He seemed to be still struggling to digest every word Arthur said.

However, as time passed, that ignorant state gradually changed subtly. Hute's eyes began to become focused, and the chain of his thinking was suddenly broken by some kind of power, and a sudden realization broke through the fog in his heart. His eyes stayed on Arthur for a moment, and suddenly he seemed to be lit up by something, and his whole person seemed to wake up all of a sudden.

His eyes opened wider, and suddenly, as if he had been hit in the head by a boulder, all the previous confusion and hesitation was immediately forgotten.

He came to a conclusion - one that was much simpler than he had imagined.

"You mean, fake... fake?"

Arthur took a sip of tea. He seemed not to take this matter to heart at all: "You know, this kind of matter cannot often be simply regarded as 'forgery'. This is just a formal adjustment, which is reasonable and necessary."