The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1286: Chapter 166: Hastings’s Circle of Friends

Russia is a country that cannot be understood with reason, nor can it be measured by ordinary standards: Russia has its unique essence—we can only choose to believe in it. Russia’s history is unique and astonishing, and our reality is resplendent and glorious.

The Slavs will never be good students of the West, for we are destined to become the teachers of all humanity. The future of Russia is boundless, dear compatriots, as we can all see, Russia is entering its unprecedented millennium of prosperity!

—— Fedor Ivanovich Chutchev

What is the biggest reason for our disputes with the Russians? In my view, Your Majesty, the Parliament, the Cabinet, and British citizens each have their own considerations. Perhaps they are angry at the atrocities committed by the Russians in the Battle of Sinope, or perhaps they wish to protest against the Russian military occupation of the Principality of Wallachia and the Principality of Moldavia.

However, for me, the Russians’ unwillingness to unify the scientific measurement units like ’year’ and ’month’ with the mainstream standards of the European scientific community is my greatest concern as a scientific researcher at the moment.

Fortunately, this is not just a concern of the Royal Society. My friends at the French Academy of Sciences are also very concerned about the Russians’ eccentricity in defining scientific units.

Thus, the joint scientific delegation of Britain and France is prepared to go to Crimea to personally tell our dear Russian friends: although Mr. Chutchev is a poet, even poets are not as casual in defining time. In Britain and France, at least, we usually define a millennium as 365242.5 days.

—— On the eve of the Crimean War in 1853, ”Nature” magazine’s social sciences column ”Sir Arthur Hastings: Stubborn Russians Intend to Obstruct Scientific and Technological Development”

Sorry, Your Majesty, Prussia has decided to remain neutral in this conflict between Russia and Britain. In this war, you better not count on Vienna, and certainly cannot rely on Berlin. This is both a collective decision of the Prussian monarch and his government, and a result of my personal instincts.

To be honest, I have been standing neutral between Britain and Russia for as long as 20 years. And let me remind you, a few days ago when Sir Arthur Hastings led a British peace delegation to visit, and you intended to intimidate him, it was destined to be a wrong move.

Of course, I am not accusing all British people of being petty. But, you are a wise person, a flawless ruler, so you must be able to discern human nature, and certainly understand that there are exceptions to everything.

Even more regrettably, under the current geopolitical situation, you have allowed him to grab a perfect banner, and indirectly facilitated a political reconciliation between Viscount Palmerston and Sir Arthur Hastings. These two mutually loathing fellows have accepted your arrangement for a ’political matchmaking’, enduring each other in the same room, publicly affectionate as if they were newlyweds.

Prussia and I personally, we absolutely support your decision in spirit. However, on a practical level, you should currently focus your energy on how to independently handle these two troublesome nuisances. Oh, no, I almost forgot, there are actually three nuisances, for Napoleon III has also chosen to stand on their side this time.

—— Otto von Bismarck, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Envoy of the Kingdom of Prussia to the Russian Empire, 1853 Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, notice to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia

”Leadership?”

The young man’s German vocabulary is obviously not very high, he hasn’t learned this word, he guessed it might be a rank among the professors at Deutsch University: ”What is leadership? Do you mean associate professor?”

”What is leadership? That’s a tough one for me.”

Arthur seriously recalled his actions at the University of Gottingen, then methodically explained to the young man: ”Leadership refers to those who do not engage in any specific tasks, yet can monopolize all achievements.”

The young man understood immediately, clapping his thigh as if realizing a great truth, then sarcastically said: ”So you are the Tsar of the University of Gottingen.”

Arthur glanced at this lad, opened the minibar in the smoking room, poured some red wine: ”If you don’t plan on returning to Russia, then you can express it so candidly. By the way, it seems Russian university students are not much more cautious than German ones.”

The young man was completely indifferent to Arthur’s kindly reminder.

He smiled cheerfully, not taking the idea of making a joke about the Tsar as a big deal at all.

Privately speaking ill of the Tsar is indeed a serious political issue in Russia, but the important thing is, isn’t he in Leipzig now?

A stranger in the smoking room, a foreigner teaching at the University of Gottingen, would he travel all the way to Russia just to specifically complain to the Tsar?

In young Herzen’s view, there should be no such despicable and nosy person in this world.

Even in Russia, the despicable ones, those Russian secret police, mostly serve under Count Bendendorf, head of the Imperial Office Third Bureau.

He was just engaging on a whim today, celebrating graduation by coming to Leipzig with his classmates to enjoy the premiere of the new opera by the great musician Mendelssohn.

If he were to coincidentally bump into a Russian secret police operative lurking abroad, Herzen thought he might really need to consult a Gypsy witch to have his fortune told.