The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1437: Chapter 221: It’s Easy to Get Things Done in Moscow

Although Arthur wanted to enlist Hsuet to deal with Sir David Eckett, who was recklessly acting alone in the Caucasus region, along with the ”The Times” reporter travelling with him, it didn’t mean his conversation with Hsuet was without reservation.

The bayonet could indeed do many things, but relying on it with peace of mind was not easy.

Although this phrase was often used to describe the army, it was quite apt to describe Arthur’s attitude towards Hsuet.

Arthur wasn’t certain if Hsuet was truly ready to change his tune, and besides, if this Constitutional Soldier Captain reported the news that ’a British knight was in the Caucasus region contacting the local mountain guerilla forces’ to the Third Bureau, it would also be quite an achievement.

If he were to think in reverse, if Arthur sat in the position of Count Benkendorf, the director of the Third Bureau, he would be quite willing to reward Hsuet with a major or even a lieutenant colonel’s position for this information.

Moreover, probing for information deep in the Caucasus region was a very dangerous task; if the offer wasn’t high enough, how could it be enticing?

In contrast to the Third Bureau, Arthur’s advantage was that he held information on the movements of Hsuet Captain’s family members.

Two younger brothers, one younger sister.

One brother was a simple shipyard worker, while the other had just been recruited into the ranks of Scotland Yard.

And Hsuet’s brother-in-law, that railway company employee, coincidentally worked for a company controlled by the Rothschild family.

So, in other words, this was an opportune time for Hsuet to evaluate the offers.

Those familiar with Sir Arthur Hastings all knew that even though this former richest citizen of Scotland Yard, profiteering stock artist, and renowned political upstart in London hadn’t changed an inch of his formidable, accustomed austerity, despite possessing tens of thousands of pounds in personal wealth, his private life was almost indistinguishable from when he lived in a single rented room in Greenwich, laboriously earning one shilling a day.

If there were any changes to be found in him, it would merely be that the tobacco he smoked, the spirits he drank, and the tea he brewed were considerably better than before, yet he still rarely gambled, spent little on women or vanity, never bought luxurious personal carriages, and almost never employed servants; he was a genuine York yokel.

However, the way the knight treated his friends remained as generous as ever; the debts owed by Eld to fund his daily life, hundreds of pounds loaned when Disraeli ran for election, short-term loans to Chopin during his exile in London, and reimbursement for medical bills and nutritional fees for Tom, Tony, and many officers who worked under him and were roughed up by thugs in the East District, privately paid by Mr. Hastings.

Especially the latter point, Arthur could almost boast to the police officers at Scotland Yard that he invested half his salary earned as a senior officer back into the organization.

Other matters such as: Young Italy’s special assistance fund, expenses for French Royalist girls restarting their lives, Hastings scholarships awarded to students like Bismarck facing ’risk of losing their education’, all these were topics of widespread discussion.

If Hsuet had worked at Scotland Yard, he surely wouldn’t ask a single extra question, nor consider any alternatives.

After all, our Royal Police fired shots under the Tower of London.

Furthermore, during the London riots, didn’t Sir Arthur earn money from public bonds at the Stock Exchange, which the bureau wasn’t dividing with you or something?

Were you not on the collective pay raise list, up to twenty-five percent, that Sir Arthur secured for the bureau?

One must have conscience!

Stop wielding useless cunning; what identity, what status, what rank do you hold to play the same tricks as the knight?

Isn’t it just a trip to the Caucasus? What’s the big deal?

The brothers have followed the old commander!

But unfortunately, Hsuet hadn’t worked at Scotland Yard, so naturally he couldn’t know what level of prestige and reputation the name Arthur Hastings represented at Scotland Yard.

Nevertheless, even if he hadn’t worked at Scotland Yard, it wouldn’t matter, because he would soon enjoy the treatment once bestowed upon Scotland Yard’s officers.

Arthur didn’t rush into making demands of Hsuet, instead he directly retrieved a checkbook from his pocket, haphazardly added a few zeros, and signed his name on a check.

Hsuet was evidently not expecting Arthur’s actions; clearly, they were still talking about the Caucasus, and the matter hadn’t been clarified, yet Arthur suddenly took this step, a move so abnormal that it made this Constitutional Soldier Captain mentally backtrack.

”Just tell me if there’s anything, no need for undue rewards, I clearly haven’t done anything yet.”

Arthur waved his hand: ”No worries, accept it. I just thought about it, asking you to handle that matter is a bit difficult, so I decided to forego it. This money isn’t for you to handle business in the Caucasus, but because I’ve just arrived in Moscow, unfamiliar with the place, don’t even know where the market is. I rushed here and forgot my snuff, if you’re able, I’d appreciate your help picking some up tomorrow, and the rest of the money is just as thanks.”

What kind of snuff could sell for 5000 rubles?

In ordinary Russian tobacco shops, snuff per Russian pound was but 40 kopeks, even the finest Rabin tobacco per Russian pound topped at most 2 rubles.