The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1271: Chapter 160: The German Gamble

In the vast Leipzig Theatre, students excitedly discussed the upcoming performance in the private boxes.

At this time, the audience had not yet arrived, so there were no guests complaining to the staff about the boisterous university students.

For a group of young men at the most active stage of their lives, living long-term in a small, academically intense town like Gottingen really stifled their nature.

Rising early at five every morning to study, with both the morning and afternoon packed with courses, and even being called to professors’ homes for additional lessons in the evenings.

Though such an educational approach produced numerous renowned scholars and high-ranking officials from the University of Gottingen, many years later, when the students returned there, they all expressed gratitude for their alma mater’s strict demands on them back then.

However, for a group of teenagers and early twenty-somethings, these arguments were too profound and too indifferent.

They didn’t enjoy attending classes, nor reading books; the university library with the largest collection in Europe and the courses of top scholars like Gauss and Herbart only made them want to vomit.

They enjoyed all-night revelry, liked throwing bottles out of windows onto the street while in drunken stupors, and enjoyed dueling with those less sensible classmates and leaving an unsightly scar on their opponent’s face at all costs. At such times, only the confinement rooms in school could calm them down a bit.

“Duels among Gottingen students in the 1830s”

Although they could argue for their behavior, appeal at the campus court, especially law students like Bismarck, as students from the best law school in Germany, they were qualified to defend their legitimate rights.

However, the prerequisite for a successful defense was that he had to surpass the best legal scholars in Germany, led by the law professors of the University of Gottingen, like Dalman, in terms of legal knowledge reserves and debating skills.

The classmates were all reveling, with no risk of being confined.

But in this revelry party, there was a lack of Mr. Bismarck, the most loyal participant of Gottingen’s major parties.

Bismarck was in a terrible mood, with no intention of joining this revelry.

Staring at the Young Italy badge pinned to his chest, he felt as uncomfortable as if he’d swallowed a fly.

For a young man determined to make a career in the Prussian government, nothing was more distressing than being associated with the Liberals.

Every German, even a countryside woman like a hotel hostess, understood that at this critical moment, to find a good path in the German States, one had to pledge allegiance to the King and the Grand Dukes.

Moreover, even aside from the glorious career path, just in terms of personal ideology, Bismarck did not find Liberalism something worth pursuing.

He had received a Prussian education since childhood, and although he was not particularly diligent in his studies, this did not mean he did not acknowledge the ideological concepts enshrined in Prussian textbooks.

What Germany needed wasn’t some damned Liberalism, but national unity. As to how to achieve Germany’s unification, that undoubtedly required supreme authority and strong military power to execute it.

Of course, these important matters were not yet Bismarck’s concern.

In this young man’s life plan, he first had to pass the first national judicial examination with a recommendation letter from Arthur, and then rely on a bit of influence from his grandfather remaining in the Prussian judiciary to enter the Berlin Court as an intern judge.

Subsequently, with a little effort, he would pass the second judicial exam, and then work in a provincial judicial committee.

After the internship, he could have his parents pull some strings to reach the current Prussian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ansilong, who was a distant relative of his mother, to find an opportunity to transfer him from the judicial route to the diplomatic route.

Though Bismarck felt Ansilong somewhat looked down on Junker nobility like him, considering the family relationship, asking him to help arrange a position like a secretary at a foreign embassy shouldn’t be much of an issue.

If he could be assigned to a lucrative post in Paris or London, he could play large games of bowling with friends every morning before or after his bath, playing bridge with friends during the remaining time, teasing ladies, strolling on beaches, eating hearty oysters, hunting rabbits, fox, and then dancing for an hour or two at night.

It was a monotonous yet healthy lifestyle; most importantly, at the social banquets in Paris and London, he could also associate with many ladies.

Bismarck enjoyed associating with women, every young lad enjoyed associating with women, but marriage was a dubious proposition for him.

Bismarck’s life experience made this energetic young man think twice, for he learned a bit from his mother: girls who could fulfill one’s fantasies were ultimately few.

Towards marriage, Bismarck felt partly comforted and partly annoyed, feeling dispirited and lacking vitality each time he thought about it.

He didn’t want to marry so early because he still had many novel ideas to realize; he wanted to visit Asia and see other sceneries.

Going to Asia was not just because he was eccentric, but also to change the theatrical stage of his life.

Moreover, the place he wished to visit was not the Euphrates River, not the Don River, or the Volga River; instead, like a philosopher, he wanted to stand beside the shimmering Ganges River, draped in a cashmere coat, with a hint of melancholy in his eyes, as the evening wind ruffled his hair, calmly standing in the sunset, smoking his cigarette.