The Shadow of Great Britain

And among all the graduates, those who fared the worst happened to be Arthur and Eld, coming from history, classical literature, and other social science majors.

Because the most crucial employment channels for these majors—government departments—are almost entirely dominated by Oxford and Cambridge alumni.

The students from the University of London, squeezed out of these job opportunities, can only sharpen their wits to squeeze into academia and publishing. If they can’t even get into these two circles, then in better times, they might find a job as a clerk in a company...

What?

You ask what happens if the times aren’t good?

Heh...

Then I’d advise these young people not to aim too high; joining Scotland Yard is quite a good career choice.

Although this job has a somewhat bad reputation, and each officer needs to work night shifts for eight months and day shifts for four months a year, and the average daily working hours are 12 hours, if you’re thick-skinned enough, you can still tell others you’re working at White Hall.

Moreover, working at Scotland Yard comes with a baton, a police whistle, a lantern, an oilcloth cloak, and two sets of uniforms per year, and soon, coal and candle allowances will be issued too!

And as soon as you enter Scotland Yard, you can apply for government-provided low-rent housing, and with the current situation of the rising house rents in London, at least you won’t have to worry about accommodation after joining Scotland Yard.

The most important thing is that Sir Arthur Hastings has set up a complete career development system for all the young people joining Scotland Yard. New officers start as Junior Patrol Officers, earning a weekly salary of 19 shillings, and then gradually get promoted—through experience—to Third-level Patrol Officer with 21 shillings weekly, Second-level Patrol Officer with 23 shillings weekly, and First-level Patrol Officer with 25 shillings weekly.

If promoted to Chief of Police, the weekly salary skyrockets to 28 shillings.

If you are promoted to Police Superintendent, joining the honorable ranks of 88, then it becomes a matter of annual salary!

A Police Superintendent’s annual salary is 100 pounds, and even in London, this is quite a high salary.

And once you reach the position of Police Superintendent, you’re not far from becoming a Police Chief, naturally.

If you’re lucky enough to join the elite group of 22, you’ll become a real leader in the London police force.

By then, you’ll either control a district with a population of at least 200,000 or be the head of a major department at Scotland Yard. Though London is under the Queen’s feet and thus restrained, even so, your words in your domain will still carry weight like nails. Besides, you’ll enjoy an annual income of 200 pounds, becoming a golden bachelor in the hearts of countless young women in London.

Or perhaps your ambitions are even greater, aiming to touch the two chairs occupied by Minister Luo Wan and Deputy Minister Mayne?

Though these two chairs seem unreachable, young people are entitled to dream; after all, the annual salary for these positions is a substantial 800 pounds!

However, even a young person capable of daydreaming should stop here.

Touching Luo Wan and Mayne’s behinds might still be forgivable, but if you aim higher, then Sir Arthur might get upset.

According to his advice, young people shouldn’t enter the field aiming to become the Home Secretary, Prime Minister, or Permanent Secretary of the Privy Council; sometimes, one must simmer down.

Work hard, the paths have been paved by your senior alumnus for you!

From Patrol Officer, to Chief of Police, to Police Superintendent, to Police Chief, and even to Minister, ultimately leading to the Home Office...

This path, as long as someone passes it once, will become tradition.

Sir Arthur has made arrangements for the children from poor families, and perhaps Mr. Carter at the Navy Department will have arrangements soon too.

And as for those who enter the group with funding, Sir Arthur harbors no prejudice; such alumni are equally valuable.

”However...” Arthur suddenly shifted to a more pragmatic and far-reaching topic: ”If we truly wish to make this path a tradition... relying solely on Scotland Yard isn’t enough.”

Eld blinked: ”What do you mean?”

”Everything must be seized from the source.” Arthur put down his teacup and said: ”Therefore, I plan to increase the investment in the Hastings Scholarship.”

Eld almost spurted out the tea in his mouth: ”Is your dividend sufficient? You’re not issuing mere scholarships of a few pounds or tens of pounds; you’re offering a noble version of the scholarship covering tuition, accommodation, and living expenses all at once!”

”Rest assured, it’s just right that something happened at the University of Gottingen, so I have a reason to stop the scholarship over there.”

”But you give to so many people every year...”

”At most eight.”

”That’s quite a few!”

”But compared to the benefits, this investment is almost negligible,” Arthur said lightly. ”I’ve already been invited to attend the committee meeting the day after tomorrow, with the meeting’s theme being this year’s scholarship awardees.”

Eld immediately perked up: ”Have this year’s awardees been decided?”

”Pretty much, the original plan was five people, but three applicants are simply too exceptional, I can’t possibly reject them.”

”Are they really that outstanding? Even deserving a special temporary meeting for them?”

Arthur coughed and took a list from his pocket: ”Look here, Isaac Todd Hunt, this young man comes highly recommended by Professor Augustus De Morgan, proficient in Greek and Latin. He originally attended our night school, but his academic performance is exceptionally outstanding, not only having talent in mathematics but also mastering French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Russian in just a year at night school. If he develops well in the future, either at the Foreign Office or Treasury, he will have prospects.”

Not waiting for Eld to finish reading, Arthur pointed to another name and began: ”And then there’s this one, John Quinn from the law faculty. This young man just withdrew from the University of Gottingen, with high evaluations from several professors hailing from Gottingen, and his cousin Richard Quinn and elder brother Jones Quinn are also our school’s anatomy professors, giving him a scholarship slot is also quite reasonable.”

Eld flipped through the introductions of the two, finding no faults as Arthur said. However, his attention quickly shifted to the third candidate: ”And what about this one? James Stansfield, does this fellow have anything special? His academic achievements are indeed good, but compared with the first two, doesn’t seem overly outstanding, does he?”

”You mean James? His academic performance isn’t as good as the first two but is still commendable. The crucial aspect is...” Arthur chuckled as he spoke: ”His distant cousin, Mr. William Cramppton-Stansfield, was recently elected as a Member of Parliament for the Huddersfield district, and his uncle Hammer Stanfield is a committee member on the Leeds municipal committee. I think he certainly holds promise.”