Chapter 390 Britain’s Crisis

Protests, shouts, angry crowds.

From time to time, a pile of stones flew out from the crowd, and the iron railings and windows were hit by stones and made a crackling sound.

This is the real situation that has happened near No. 1 Apsley House in London recently.

"Beep!!!"

A shrill siren cut through the sky, accompanied by a tight and scattered sound of hard boots stepping on the water.

Someone in the crowd shouted: "The Blue Devil is coming!"

Hearing this, the protesters who had just expressed their dissatisfaction in the rainstorm suddenly became chaotic.

The leader of the protesters who was standing on the wooden box and speaking loudly saw this and hurriedly shouted: "Don't be afraid! Let's unite, those government running dogs and these Scotland Yard police can't beat us! Let them see the power of our workers' unity!"

But...

Although his words were beautiful, it was still a fantasy to want civilians who had not received systematic organizational training to compete with the police with just one speech.

This gentleman with a tattered felt hat and a red nose was surrounded by the police who were marching in a line before he could even shout out the second slogan.

In an instant, four or five policemen pressed him to the ground, and even the wooden box he used as a footstool was kicked away by the police officers who followed closely.

He was pressed to the ground, his nose was almost squeezed into the cracks of the bricks on the road, and almost in an instant, his hands were handcuffed.

"You shameless guys, you sold your souls to the devil! You wagged your tail at him and barked at him to show your goodwill, and the purpose of your servility was just to get a few pieces of black bread that slipped through his fingers!"

The leader of the protesters screamed wildly, and he tried his best to get up, but the answer he got was the civilized stick that fell like raindrops.

Seeing that the leaders and organizers had fallen, the protesters suddenly became like a flock of sheep that had lost their backbone. Everyone fled in panic, trying to slip out of every gap left by the police.

If there was anything lucky on this unfortunate day, it was that the police accidentally left a lot of gaps.

And this is all thanks to the fact that the police commander who led the riot today is a young but experienced public enemy - Mr. Arthur Hastings.

Give the protesters ample opportunities to escape and leave enough gaps in the elaborate encirclement.

This is Arthur Hastings's riot control code, which is also an additional clause of the latest edition of the "Greater London Police Security Management Manual" in 1832.

Speaking of which, Arthur doesn't want to explain too much about how he turned from a police star praised by Londoners to a public enemy overnight.

Because in this regard, The Times and Manchester Guardian are the first responsible persons.

Since he helped the Home Office complete the prosecution of thousands of participants in the Swain Riots as a police representative of the London District Attorney's Office some time ago, he has won such a shining new title from the pens of Fleet Street reporters.

The reputation of Western reporters who believe everything they hear is almost perfectly verified by these guys.

Although their sources must have known that His Majesty the King would grant amnesty to most of the rioters sentenced to death, this did not prevent them from making a big news with the trial before the amnesty was implemented.

What's worse is that when the royal amnesty was a foregone conclusion and Arthur's popularity was about to disappear, the wave of parliamentary reform rose again.

Since Scotland Yard was established not long ago, it was extremely short of police commanders with sufficient riot control experience. The Home Office was worried that the rough working methods would further escalate the situation, so it did not dare to let most of the senior police officers who had served in the army for a long time work hard, so they remembered Arthur who had performed well in the previous riot control activities.

Because of this, Arthur, who had finally escaped from the front-line chores, was drafted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs again. He was appointed to be responsible for the riot control work in the key areas of the West End.

As for why Arthur was only responsible for the West End instead of directly commanding the overall situation, the only reasonable explanation is that the West End of London is the residence of most of the dignitaries in London.

The residence of dignitaries also means that the West End has better exposure, so the "enemy of the people" trend search that Arthur had just suppressed was soon hyped up again.

If it was someone who was scolded by a stick, it would be fine, after all, he really got a stick.

Arthur also accepted being sprayed by the Manchester Guardian, after all, the Guardian has been advocating parliamentary reform for a long time.

But if even the stuff like the Times has been talking too much, this makes Arthur a little unhappy.

Because he likes to read newspapers and has a good memory, he still remembers clearly that The Times was a great standard-bearer that firmly opposed parliamentary reform more than half a year ago, but now it has changed its appearance and is a moral role model, standing on the high point of freedom and progress and pointing fingers at others, as if they had not just climbed up, but had always stood there.

This situation reminded Arthur of a chat with the Duke of Wellington in the past.

"Although I don't want to express hatred for others, I still have to say that I hate the news media, especially The Times."

"Is it because they often slander you?"

"If they can slander me for decades, just like Byron did, then maybe I won't hate them so much. What I hate most about them is that they are full of fake news and rely on fake news to create topics , and then use a completely opposite truth to gain more sales. This kind of behavior is not only beneficial to themselves and satisfies the curiosity of the citizens, but it is completely harmful to others, especially soldiers like me. They could literally kill us."

"Are you talking about the time you went to court-martial?"

"No, it's not. The Times went even further than that. They said that I died in the battle on the Iberian Peninsula, and that the British Army was completely wiped out by Napoleon's army."

"Well... this is indeed an irresponsible report, which will cause widespread panic in the country."

"Compared with pride, panic is not so scary. Because The Times had previously reported on the Battle of Austerlitz. They said that Napoleon was defeated by the Russian and Austrian forces and was so embarrassed that he only left with He fled in a hurry with fifty bodyguards, and he didn't even have time to take his mistress Josephine with him before leaving. "

"This is nonsense. Didn't I hear that Josephine didn't go?"

"Young man, your focus is always very unique, but the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were more concerned about another factual error in the news report. Because of this report, we mistakenly believed that the main force of the French army had been eliminated. As a result, I almost made a strategic misjudgment. If such a disastrous consequence really happens, then I swear I will go to Fleet Street and hang those reporters who write the news with their eyes closed."

At that time, Arthur could not understand why the Duke of Wellington was so hostile to The Times. But now, he not only understood it, but also had the idea of ​​hanging these reporters.

But what is helpless is that with the speed at which The Times adapts to the changing circumstances, it will probably not give him a chance to make a move.

As for how to deal with The Times, hanging the Duke of Wellington would definitely not work. After all, Britain is not Prussia.

In this contradictory island where opinions are divided, free and unrestrained, but conservative and outdated, he can only refer to Viscount Palmerston's method of supporting the "Morning Post" as his own mouthpiece, and use "The British" as a position to communicate with "The British". The Times made the move.

Isn’t it big news?

As long as the Police Intelligence Bureau wants to do it, things like Senator Harrison's investment in Poland can happen everywhere.

If anything like this happens again in the future, The Times will be prohibited from participating.

Arthur looked at the crowd of demonstrators who were fleeing, and suddenly Louis' voice came to his ears.

Yes, this member of the Bonaparte family was the on-site execution commander of this riot control operation.

During the period when the situation in London took a turn for the worse, perhaps even Louis himself did not expect that his commanding skills, which he had no chance to use during the Carbonari uprising in Italy, would instead be put to use on British soil.

And according to Arthur's observation, although the opponent was not strong, Louis was able to quickly control the situation in chaotic scenes several times, which is enough to show that what he learned in the Swiss Military Academy was not a fake trick.

Not to mention how strong his commanding ability is, but he is still more than enough to serve as a school-level commander above the standard. He is not a complete waste like the legend says.

Or, even if he takes a step back, he at least inherited his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte's ability to suppress riots.

Louis patted his trousers that were splattered with mud, lit his pipe and let out a sigh of relief: "This mission has been successfully completed again. The leader has just been identified by our informant, and he is from the National Workers' Union of Britain." A provocateur, a weaver by trade.”

Arthur borrowed a light from Louis: "Weavers? Don't they have to go to work at this time?"

Louis waved his hand and said: "No, Arthur, you misunderstood me. He is a manual worker, has his own small family workshop, not working in a factory. And not only him, the members of the National Workers' Alliance are basically They are all manual workers.”

As soon as Arthur heard this, he immediately understood what was going on.

After he had previously become suspicious of the frequent riots in London, he began to dispatch agents from the Police Intelligence Bureau to infiltrate major protest organizations in London.

After the undercover investigation by the detectives, the social identities of most of the riot members were basically sorted out.

As Louis stated, in fact, only a very small number of factory operators were rioting on the streets of London, and most of the rioters were hand weavers in the textile industry.

These weavers are basically family units and have made a living using traditional looms to produce consumer goods such as cotton cloth and handmade socks all year round or even for several generations.

However, after the textile revolution, large-scale textile factories that sprung up quickly occupied their ecological niche in society.

The products of big factories are not only of better quality and brighter colors than theirs, but even the selling price can be reduced to a fraction of theirs.

Over the past half century, the profit margins of these manual workers have been squeezed step by step by factory products, and sometimes their incomes have been even lower than those of farm laborers.

This situation naturally led to their dissatisfaction. This was the reason for the Luddite movement in 1811 that smashed factory machinery in Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Leicestershire and other places.

Although the Parliament passed a series of relevant legislation such as the "Security of Public Security Act" and the "Punishment of Machinery Destruction Act" and sent a large number of military police and British Army troops in an attempt to intimidate these troublesome manual workers with the death penalty, it actually had no effect. Too big an effect.

The Luddite Movement lasted intermittently from 1811 to 1816, and the reason why it did not continue was not because the government's control measures suddenly changed, but because the Napoleonic War was over.

After the war, as France's continental blockade on Britain was completely lifted and the land of Europe was basically plowed by Napoleon, the demand for consumer goods from the British textile industry surged among European countries in the recovery period.

Whether it is factory textiles or handmade textiles, they can be sold. Everyone makes money, and naturally no one is free to make trouble.

Although the reason behind it sounds nonsensical, but let's put it in perspective, it is just because of this money issue.

But this situation of everyone making money cannot last forever, because Britain is the first country in the world to carry out the industrial revolution, so the British are also quite honored to be the first people in the world to experience what It is called the national economic cycle.

As for the textile industry, which was the core of the first industrial revolution, practitioners in this industry naturally have a deeper understanding of the economic cycle.

To put it simply, since the end of the Napoleonic War, those who made a lot of money through the textile industry have unrealistically optimistic expectations for the future, so they have invested their sales profits in the textile industry to increase production capacity.

Those big factory owners have invested in technology and hope to develop more efficient textile machines.

Some are more direct, directly expanding factories, purchasing production equipment, and recruiting more workers. To this end, they even mortgage all their belongings to borrow money from banks to engage in production.

Looking at that posture, they just want the whole world to use their factory's products.

Naturally, the handicraft workers in family workshops are not willing to be left behind. Although they do not have so much capital or sufficient knowledge reserves, they have always remembered the teachings of their ancestors - giving birth to children!

The more children there are, the more labor there is, and the more labor there is, the greater the output of the family workshop.

When the output is high, let the children have children again, and the generations will be like this for endless generations.

Of course, judging from today's situation, it is undoubtedly a tragedy for both textile factories and handicraftsmen.

When they were full of expectations and rushed to the world with more products, they unfortunately discovered that Europe and America together did not need to import so many cotton clothes and trousers.

Even if we turn our perspective back to China, no matter how wasteful the British gentlemen and ladies are, one passion can only tear a pair of silk stockings.

Under this situation, even the factory owners in the textile industry cannot guarantee stable profits, and those family workshops whose products are not as good as theirs will have no choice but to drink from the northwest wind.

But……

These white silk stockings are sewn stitch by stitch. If they can't be sold, wouldn't they be wasted?

Therefore, based on the principle of waste reuse, this group of manual workers resolutely decided to wear stockings on their heads and transform into high-end technical talents to do something high-risk and high-yield.

Of course, this does not mean sneaking into the London Stock Exchange, but some people do have a keen interest in the banks next to the stock exchange.

Bankers who were horrified by this situation couldn't help but want to stand up and speak for the workers. They said that the root cause of this situation was the British political system. If Parliament was reformed, everything would be fine.

Admittedly, Arthur must admit that many bankers are indeed calling for parliamentary reform from a fair, objective, and rational perspective, because some of them started calling for parliamentary reform more than ten years ago or even decades ago. Similar slogans were issued.

But for the remaining people, Arthur could only refuse to comment, just like he did with The Times.

Arthur took the investigation document handed over by Louis from Louis' hand, just flipped through two pages and said: "It's still the same as before. The people arrested today will be put in jail for two days to dry, and when enough is accumulated, Then start a class action lawsuit from the District Attorney's Office. In the current situation, two years of hard labor is enough. If the case is serious, a trip to Australia is enough. "

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, he heard a creak and the closed iron door of Apsley Mansion was opened from behind.

The Duke of Wellington's butler and several valets looked outside for a moment until he saw that the demonstrators had fled. Those who had not escaped were pushed to the ground one by one by Scotland Yard policemen in tuxedos. The butler then He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and came to Arthur with a smile on his face.

"Officer Hastings, I'm bothering you again this time. These thugs are even more arrogant than when the Catholic Emancipation Act was passed. If you hadn't arrived in time, I almost thought they were going to attack the house."

Arthur laughed and said: "It's not like setting the house on fire. I remember, didn't the War Department send extra guards to the Duke of Wellington? Those are the elites of Coldstream. Even if we don't come, they will definitely be able to solve it." questionable."

The butler smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Hastings, if it is as you said, then the matter will not be so difficult. The War Department did send us additional guards, but there are only ten people in total, and the Duke Your Excellency was worried about intensifying the conflict and strictly ordered them not to use guns to disperse the crowd. Even if Lengxi's soldiers were good at fighting, they would not be able to deal with hundreds of thugs. After all, they were not medieval knights with a full set of armor on them. Several retinues assisted in the battle."

Arthur joked after hearing this: "If they want armor, they can go to the armory in the Tower of London to borrow a few sets. There are quite a lot of old antiques there. I have borrowed shields from them before. You may not I believe those shields are from the seventeenth century."

The butler laughed loudly when he heard this, and he invited: "You are still so funny. It's still early, why not go inside and have a cup of tea? Your Excellency, the Duke, has been quite depressed recently. Can you talk to him? Make him feel better."