The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1109: Chapter 101: His Majesty Has Decreed—Proceed Immediately to Teach at the University of Gottingen

In this context, Feng Kromeier had even more reason to believe that the activities of Young Italy could bring him the attention of the Vienna court.

And this student uprising not only influenced Feng Kromeier’s future but also involved Arthur’s job transfer.

Arthur had just received orders from London yesterday, where His Majesty the King urged him to set off immediately for the Kingdom of Hanover.

And this was not just to quickly help Hanover pass the new constitution, but also to cooperate with the latest resolutions of the German Confederation.

Although the Kingdom of Hanover formed a personal union with Britain, it was also a member country of the German Confederation, so it needed to comply with the collective decisions of the Confederation Parliament.

After the outbreak of the Frankfurt student armed uprising, the German Confederation passed an amendment to the ”Carlsbad Resolutions,” further strengthening the monitoring of university professors and student movements.

All Deutsch Universities were required to implement the relevant provisions of the ”University Law,” students and professors would be monitored, teachers with tendencies towards democracy and freedom would be dismissed, the All German Student Association would be temporarily halted, and the black-red-gold tricolor flag could not be displayed in schools.

All printed materials had to be inspected by the authorities, and periodicals had to be submitted for inspection before publication.

If this regulation was violated, the publishing license of the publisher could be revoked without any reason, and newspapers or journals would be completely banned and sealed, while the editor-in-chief would be sentenced to not engage in the publishing industry for five years.

To strengthen the government’s management of universities, each university was also required to establish a ’National Special Representative’ position, which could be selected from the then Academic Directors of the university or approved by the government from other personnel.

The function of the National Special Representative was to ensure that the universities strictly implemented the relevant law policies of the German Confederation, supervise the spiritual outlook of teachers and students, and guide students in good civic behavior. For teachers who went beyond teaching duties and ’poisoned’ the minds of young students, the representative had responsibility and obligation to urge the governments of the states to dismiss them.

As for student clubs and organizations, they could only continue to exist with special permission from the representative.

With all this said, everyone can probably guess Sir Arthur Hastings’ new identity.

Although he had never been to Germany or engaged in educational work, both His Majesty the King, the British Government, and the Kingdom Government of Hanover highly recognized the policing talents he displayed during his tenure at Scotland Yard.

So, for some unknown reason, Arthur was abruptly dismissed by the Foreign Office before even taking up his post in Hanover.

Subsequently, he was selected by the prestigious ’University of Gottingen,’ the jewel of higher education in the Kingdom of Hanover, as the first Professor of Electromagnetism in the school’s history, under the guise of a natural philosophy researcher.

Afterward, Sir Arthur Hastings was elected by a large majority as a member of the Academic Committee at the University of Gottingen, and in his absence, he received unanimous support from the committee members and was unanimously elected as the Göttingen University Supervisor.

Then, King William IV ordered the Governor of Hanover, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Adolph Frederick, to notify the Kingdom Parliament of Hanover and mandate that he, as the King, sign the Imperial Seal Decree on his behalf, appointing Sir Arthur Hastings as the new National Special Representative at the University of Gottingen, simultaneously serving as a Constitutional Reform Advisor for the Kingdom of Hanover in his role as a scholar.

Even with Arthur’s disposition, he was left speechless for half a day upon first hearing this news, stunned by this series of maneuvers.

It must be said, even though they are countries under the same monarch, the democratic efficiency of the Deutsch outstripped that of the Britons by a significant margin.

It took him a good four to five months to be finally confirmed as Assistant Police Director at Scotland Yard.

But on the Hanoverian side, it only took half a month for him to traverse a path that would normally take an average researcher in natural philosophy a lifetime to walk.

From obtaining a university teaching post, being promoted to professor, being elected as a member of the Academic Committee, and then from the Academic Committee to University Supervisor, he even took on the role of National Special Representative.

The most unbelievable part was that the whole process was completely reasonable and legal.

Because, in any case, he could indeed be considered a natural researcher in the field of electromagnetism, and apart from Faraday, the pioneer in this new field, there were indeed very few who could match him in reputation.

Thus, giving him a professorship in electromagnetism seemed not very hard to understand.

With the Department of Electromagnetism being a new department, he was the only genuine professor, and there were no students, so it was only natural for him to represent the Department of Electromagnetism in entering the university’s Academic Committee.

As for being elected as the University Supervisor by the Academic Committee, the whole process was very democratic, with not a single vote against it.

As the most respected professor by His Majesty the King at the University of Gottingen, it was only fitting for Sir Arthur Hastings to serve as the National Special Representative, which was not only a significant promotion of young talent but also reflected a lack of academic politicization; scholars running schools was undoubtedly an enlightened governance.

After this manipulation, Arthur’s reputation preceded him, even before he reached the place. At this point, he seemed to finally begin to understand why Heine had so many complaints about his alma mater, the University of Gottingen.

Schneider congratulated Arthur with a laugh: ”Arthur, sometimes when luck comes, it’s unstoppable. I thought when you went to Hanover, you went to lie low, but I didn’t expect the sound of gunfire from the students attacking the arsenal in Frankfurt to drive you out of the embassy. The University Supervisor of Gottingen is a far more dignified identity than a second-class secretary in the Foreign Office.”

But Arthur didn’t seem as happy as Schneider imagined, on the contrary, after witnessing the display at the French Academy of Sciences, he had been contemplating staying as far away from educational institutions as possible.

Yet for unknown reasons, his wish always went against his desires; he not only failed to stay away from educational institutions but also became a professor.

Perhaps the big names at the University of Gottingen weren’t as numerous as those at the French Academy of Sciences, but they should be enough to constrain him in natural philosophy.

The worst part was that once the news spread of Arthur being appointed as a professor at the University of Gottingen, several friends he knew from the French Academy of Sciences came to congratulate him and enthusiastically informed the new University Supervisor that a delegation from the French Academy of Sciences might visit Gottingen in the second half of the year.

Arthur took a sip of smoke, his hands resting on the stone railing, watching the glistening Seine River and asked: ”August, do you know of any hot spring resorts near Gottingen? I’m planning to take some time off in the latter half of the year.”

”Hot spring resorts? There are quite a few.”

Schneider tapped Arthur’s chest with the back of his hand: ”But we’re not in a hurry right now, have you packed your things? You’re saying goodbye to friends in the morning, and you’ll be with me in the same carriage in the afternoon. His Majesty is urging us, and we have to leave today.”

Arthur had been waiting for Schneider to bring this matter up voluntarily.

Although the Royalists had already mixed quite a few of their personnel’s names into the Young Italy roster, because the members of Young Italy were all male, the Royalists’ female members were not included.

But fortunately, this portion of people was not many, just a handful, so Arthur planned to do a good deed to the end, taking the opportunity of this trip to Hanover, to use Schneider’s diplomat identity as a cover and take them out of the French borders together.

Arthur took out his pocket watch and glanced at it: ”In that case, see you at the old place at three in the afternoon.”