The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1285: Chapter 165: Pilgrims of the Land of Winter (Part 2)

Since the route of the Royal Navy was not feasible from the beginning, the so-called proposal to have him join the military was actually a single option for the Army from the start.

Why did the King and the Duke of Wellington want to get him into the Army?

Even a three-year-old could answer this question.

Because the Army is the stronghold of the Conservative Party and the Royalists.

It seems that His Majesty the King was very satisfied with his actions last year; the cold, decisive power Sir Arthur Hastings displayed in times of crisis has been officially defined as a loyal act to the King.

Therefore, to strengthen ties with this beloved subordinate, both the King and the Tory Party bigwig, the Duke of Wellington, intend to make the Tory influence on him even stronger.

But is this really a good idea?

Arthur took a drag on his cigarette and tilted his head to look at the sky, then slowly closed his eyes: “Directly dropping Earl of Dalmo’s job offer to rush into the Army’s dye vat… If that ‘Radical Jack’ gets angry, it might end up being more trouble than it’s worth…”

Arthur was contemplating with eyes closed on how to solve the problem when he suddenly heard the sound of the smoking-room door being pushed open.

With a creak.

Then came a voice that was both youthful and mature: “Hey buddy, got a light?”

Without opening his eyes, Arthur fished out a matchbox from his pocket with two fingers and shook it.

The other person took the matchbox from his hand, and they both heard the sound of a match striking, followed by a heavy inhale and a satisfied exhale.

“Sir, if you ask me, German university students are the noisiest in all of Europe.”

Arthur nodded slightly in agreement: “Though I work in education, I must admit, you’re right, my students have always been quite undisciplined.”

“An educator? You look so young.” The other glanced at Arthur’s face and scratched his head, puzzled: “If you hadn’t said anything, I would have thought you just graduated, like me.”

“Hmm…” Arthur’s professional instinct kicked in: “University? Leipzig University? Oh, wait, your accent sounds quite close to the German spoken in Silesia; perhaps you’re from Graz University or the University of Vienna.”

The other stared at Arthur in amazement, paused, and then, as if playing along, hinted: “Your guess is half right; indeed, I learned German from a Silesian, but I didn’t graduate from a university in the Germanic region.”

Hearing this, Arthur opened his eyes and looked at the young man with thick black hair and a beard standing in front of him, amused: “A Russian? A graduate of Moscow University or St. Petersburg University?”

The young man clearly didn’t expect his identity to be pinned down so quickly. He paused, then chuckled: “Moscow University, how did you guess my identity?”

Arthur smiled and said: “Although your accent is light, when I guessed wrong, you forgot to restrain your enthusiasm, which led me to catch the key hint to your identity.”

The young man, unconvinced, asked: “Then why did you guess Moscow and St. Petersburg? Kazan University and Kharkov University are also options.”

Arthur wiped the ash off his white gloves: “If it were Kazan or Kharkov, you wouldn’t have the confidence to flaunt your alma mater in front of a stranger. With my understanding of a young person’s vanity, as long as you’re Russian, even if you did attend Kazan University or Kharkov University, there’s an eighty percent chance you’d claim to graduate from St. Petersburg University or Moscow University.”

The young man looked at Arthur with wonder, surveyed him up and down, then jokingly said: “And what about you? You must be a graduate of Oxford or Cambridge, right? Don’t tell me you’re not British; you have exactly the same demeanor as those gentlemen in the British Club in Moscow.”

Arthur pursed his lips, shook his head slightly, and said: “I’m afraid you also guessed only half right. Besides, let me remind you, graduates of the University of London don’t pride themselves on Oxford and Cambridge.”

“University of London?” The young man pondered for a moment: “Hmm… Sorry, can I ask you boldly, is the University of London roughly equivalent to Russia’s Kazan University and Kharkov University?”

Arthur was at a loss for words after being topped by that statement.

Seeing Arthur rarely at a loss, Agares imitated by taking a drag on his cigarette, placing a hand on the Russian young man’s shoulder and reprimanding him: “Do we really need to spell things out so clearly?”

Arthur calmed down after a while: “Sir, it seems you haven’t been to Britain, so I forgive your rudeness.”

The young man realized he’d made a mistake and hurriedly tried to remedy it: “Oh, no, sir, I didn’t mean to offend you. Kazan University and Kharkov University are also very good universities, just not as prestigious in Russia as St. Petersburg University and Moscow University.”

Arthur stared at this clumsy fellow for a long while before he finally said: “Let me confirm again, you’re a Russian? A student at Moscow University?”

The young man replied cheerfully: “That’s right, though I’m no longer a student; I just graduated.”

“No problem.” Arthur smiled cheerfully: “I just happen to have a plan to travel to Russia; I can include Moscow University as one of my destinations. Anyway, even for work, I need to visit every Russian university.”

“Work?” The young man slapped his forehead: “I nearly forgot. You’re a professor, right? Such a young professor; you must be very famous in academia.”

At this point, the young man couldn’t help but ridicule his alma mater’s customs: “Moscow University has many academic exchange events. Do you know Mr. Humboldt? The president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, Alexander von Humboldt. A few years ago, when he came to Moscow University for an academic exchange, I still remember the fanfare. The provincial minister and administrative officials, the academic director and department chairs—like flies, they all swarmed. Mr. Humboldt probably didn’t expect it was easier to deal with savages in the jungle than with people at Moscow University. Mr. Humboldt had to bow and doff his hat to almost everyone he met that day; I was afraid his back might suffer from it.”

Hearing this, Arthur spoke calmly: “Mr. Humboldt? I indeed have some private acquaintance with him.”

“You know Humboldt?” The young man was surprised: “Are you also researching geomagnetism?”

“No, once again, you are only half correct. I study electromagnetism.”

“Electromagnetism?” The young man pondered hard and then asked humbly: “Sorry, though I studied natural philosophy at Moscow University, my thesis was on astronomy, so my understanding of electromagnetism is not very deep.”

“Astronomy?” Having been previously annoyed by this person, Arthur now felt like teasing him: “Then you must know Gauss, right?”

“Gauss? Of course! The name rings a bell!” The young man looked at Arthur incredulously: “Are you Mr. Gauss? I didn’t expect you to be so young.”

Arthur shook his head: “Sorry, I also have a private friendship with Mr. Gauss; he’s a very good person, and his academic achievements far surpass mine. But I am not Gauss; I just teach at the same university as him.”

“You’re a colleague of Gauss?!” The young man said excitedly: “That’s quite remarkable too!”

Arthur thought about his academic contributions and humbly declined: “I dare not consider myself a colleague of Mr. Gauss; no one can claim their work is as important as Gauss’s.”

The young man felt like his emotions were on a roller coaster: “Don’t you conduct research?”

“Very little research.” Arthur paused, then smiled and spoke: “At the University of Gottingen, I am mainly responsible for leadership.”