shadow of britain

Chapter 584: German Gambling
In the huge Leipzig Theater, students were excitedly talking about the upcoming play in the boxes.

The audience had not yet entered the venue, so no customers came to complain to the waiters about this group of noisy college students.

For a group of young men who are in the most active period of their lives, living in a small town with a strong academic atmosphere like Göttingen for a long time is indeed too suppressive to their nature.

I get up early at five o'clock every day to read. My mornings and afternoons are filled with classes. I am even called to my professor's home for extra lessons in the evening.

Although this educational method has enabled the University of Göttingen to produce a large number of well-known scholars and senior government officials, and although many years later, when students return to Göttingen, they will thank their alma mater for its strict requirements on them.

However, these principles are still too profound and too inhumane for a group of young people in their teens and twenties.

They didn't like attending classes or reading. The university library with the largest collection of books in Europe and the courses taught by top scholars such as Gauss and Herbart made them want to vomit.

They like to party all night, like to throw bottles out of the window into the street when they are drunk, and like to have a fair duel with those ignorant classmates, and like to fight desperately to leave an ugly scar on the opponent's face. At such times, only the detention room in the school can make them calm down a little.

"Student Duel in Göttingen in the 19s"

Although they could justify their actions and appeal to the campus court, especially law students like Bismarck, as a student of the best law department in Germany, he was qualified to defend his legitimate rights.

However, the prerequisite for a successful defense is that he must surpass the best legal scholars in Germany - the law professors at the University of Göttingen headed by Dahlmann and others - in terms of legal knowledge and debating skills.

The students were having a great time and there was no risk of being put in detention.

But the only person missing from this carnival party was Mr. Bismarck, the most loyal participant in all the parties in Göttingen.

Bismarck was in a terrible mood and had no intention of joining in the carnival.

Looking at the Young Italy badge on his chest, he felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly.

For a young man aspiring to make a career in the Prussian government, there was nothing more distasteful than to be associated with liberals.

Any German, even a country woman like the innkeeper, understood that at this critical juncture, if they wanted to have a good future in the German state, they had to be loyal to the king and the grand dukes.

Moreover, even if we put aside his glorious career and just judge from the perspective of personal thought, Bismarck did not think that liberalism was something worth pursuing.

He received Prussian education since childhood. Although he did not study particularly hard, it did not mean that he did not agree with the ideas and concepts implemented in Prussian textbooks.

What Germany needs is not some bullshit liberalism, but national unity. As for how to achieve the unification of Germany, it must of course rely on supreme authority and strong military strength to implement it.

Of course, these major issues were not Bismarck's turn to consider for the time being.

In this young man's life plan, he first had to rely on the recommendation letter issued by Arthur to pass the first national judicial examination, and then use the remaining influence of his grandfather in the Prussian judicial community to enter the Berlin Court as a trainee judge.

After that, he will pass the second judicial examination with a little effort and then join the provincial judicial committee.

After completing his apprenticeship, he could ask his parents to use their connections to find Ansilon, the then Prussian Foreign Minister and his mother's distant relative, and find an opportunity to transfer him from the judicial department to the diplomatic department.

Although Bismarck felt that Ansilon looked down on Junker nobles like him, for the sake of their relationship, it should not be a big problem for him to help arrange a secretary job in an embassy abroad.

If he could get a good job in Paris or London, he and his friends would play big bowling every morning before or after taking a bath, and they would play bridge, tease some ladies, walk on the beach, eat oysters, shoot rabbits, hunt foxes, and dance for an hour or two in the evening.

It was a monotonous but healthy lifestyle, and most importantly, he could rub shoulders with many ladies at society parties in Paris and London.

Bismarck liked contact with women, as all young men do, but marriage was a dubious proposition for him.

Bismarck's life experience made this energetic young man think twice, because he learned one thing from his mother: there are only a few girls who can satisfy his fantasies.

Bismarck was half happy and half annoyed about his marriage. Whenever he thought about it, he always felt listless and lifeless.

He didn't want to get married so early because he had many new ideas to realize and he wanted to go to Asia to see the scenery elsewhere.

Going to Asia was not only because he was a maverick, but also to change the stage of his life drama.

Moreover, he wanted to go not to the Euphrates River, the Don River, or the Volga River, but to stand like a philosopher by the sparkling Ganges River, wearing a cashmere coat, with a little melancholy in his eyes, the evening breeze blowing his hair, and standing quietly in the sunset smoking his cigarette.

When he returned from India, he planned to use these rich life experiences to meet some ladies from old British or French families at social banquets, and develop a happy love with them with his talents.

It would be best if this lady was the only child in her family, the daughter of an earl or a viscount, with millions in cash in her bank account, large sums of gold and silver jewelry and British and French government bonds, as well as several large estates for collecting rent and living in.

Of course, Bismarck did not think these demands were greedy. After all, it was impossible to live in a place like London or Paris without any money.

Even if the father-in-law cannot afford a dowry of 1000 pounds, at least his future wife has to bring him an income of pounds a year.

However, this beautiful fantasy was shattered by the iron fist of Hastings.

“The strongest chains are not the iron rings that bind your wrists, but the hopes and fears that entangle your heart.”

“The power of power lies not in coercion but in the suggestion hidden in the whisper.”

"Whether it is a king's crown or a criminal's chains, they are made of the same metal."

"In the balance of power, the heaviest weights are always those silent secrets and deepest fears."

"If you make people fear you can make them kneel, but only if you make them rely on you can you make them embrace the shackles."

“True power lies not in the orders shouted, but in the suggestions whispered. Obedience is more secure when it is won, than when it is forced to the knee.”

“The real manipulator does not rely on pressure, but on temptation.”

"What have you learned from what you have just said, my dear Otto?"

Bismarck's forehead was covered with sweat, and Arthur's famous words emerged in his mind one after another.

Although Arthur seemed to have said nothing in the political class in the hotel last night, he had said everything.

It seemed that he had a choice, but his only choice was to actively step into the shackles tailored for him by that shameless villain.

Torture, this is torture to the deepest part of the soul.

Slowly, Bismarck began to understand why the police from Scotland Yard were called "Blue Devils" by the citizens of London.

What else could the gang led by the new Satan be but the devil?
Bismarck finally began to regret it. He thought that he became the president of the student union because of the interaction of luck and ability. He once thought that he had met his mentor.

But he should have thought of it earlier. The swineherd did not have the eye to pick out a good horse. He could not even pick out a loyal hound. The only thing he could target was the Yorkshire pigs waiting to be slaughtered.

From the moment he was chosen as the student union president, he had already stepped into Arthur's trap.

For that guy, Bismarck, the Prussian domestic pig, was much easier to control than those petty-bourgeois liberal boars.

Because for those wild boars, they have nothing to lose at all. They are rampaging around the village just to prove that they are qualified to live in the pigsty.

For a domestic pig like Bismarck, who lives in a comfortable Prussian nest, his biggest worry is to be transferred to a pig house with a better environment.

The experienced British swineherd saw through his intentions, so he issued him a bad housing ticket, but then turned around and stamped his butt with a "quarantine failed" label.

Whenever he wanted, he could use this label to claim that Bismarck was infected with the liberal swine fever that only wild boars can get.

If the news of the swine fever spread, not only would he not be able to move to a new pig house, he would even end up wandering the mountains like the wild boars.

"Otto, why do you look so unhappy?"

"That's right. If anyone saw this, they would think you were in detention again by the principal."

"You were like this when you were in detention. How could you be like this when the dean took us to see a play?"

Only his old friend Motley understood Bismarck's mood. He sat down next to Bismarck with a bottle of wine in his hand and said, "Otto, what's wrong? Let me guess. You finally came to a big city like Leipzig, but you are so unhappy... Aha! I know. You probably want to go to the University of Leipzig to teach those ignorant bastards a lesson!"

Mr. 'Light Sword' Schuberland also echoed: "I remember that incident too! The bastards from Leipzig University provoked our Pomeranian Sabre Club before, and shamelessly said that they in Leipzig know more about German martial arts than Göttingen!"

Someone else took the opportunity to ask, "Otto, didn't those sons of bitches at Jena University admire your reputation? When you traveled to Jena, did you promote our Pomeranian style of swordsmanship to them?"

Bismarck waved his hand with a sour face and said, "Don't mention it! As soon as I settled down in Jena, the Dean of Jena University came to find me. He read out the administrative order of the Academic Committee of Jena University in front of me: Due to my bad reputation, Jena University believes that my presence may affect the healthy development of students, so they require me to leave Jena immediately and ban me from entering the city for life."

When the companions heard this, they all laughed so hard that they fell over.

"real or fake?"

"Even the professors at Jena University know about your bad reputation?"

"I think you probably made it up, Otto. You always like to be in the spotlight."

Bismarck curled his lips in disdain: "I never lie about such things. This is true. If you don't believe me, go ask Trotta. He was right next to me at the time."

Motley smiled and said, "I don't think Otto would lie about such a thing. Which of the things he did in Göttingen seems true? He threw a bottle of wine into the street after getting drunk, and it hit a pedestrian. The principal interviewed him for this, but he showed up at the door of the principal's office in a strange outfit, still holding a long cigarette in his mouth, and leading his English dog. The principal was caught off guard and hid behind his desk because of the sudden appearance of the hound, but Otto couldn't help laughing. In this way, the admonishment talk was immediately upgraded to paying a fine. What's even funnier is that Otto even argued to the principal that what he threw out of the window was not a wine bottle, but an ink bottle. He thought he could avoid punishment this way, but the principal gave him an additional three days of confinement on top of the fine."

When Bismarck heard Motley expose his shortcomings, he was not ashamed but proud and said: "If the confinement can offset the fine, I would rather let him lock me up for a week. But the old man is very cunning and he insisted on paying the fine."

At this point, Bismarck began to accuse his companions present: "You are definitely the ones who should be most ashamed of this matter. The party was held in my house, but I was not the only participant that day. I took all the blame for everyone, but instead of being grateful, you laughed at me."

"Okay, let's not talk about this one. Let's talk about the gun duel."

Bismarck's face turned red with anger. "That time was even more bullshit! I was clearly there to mediate the fight, not to participate in the gun duel, but none of the professors believed me. They insisted that I was there to add fuel to the fire and put me in solitary confinement for ten days. This is the best law department in Germany. What do you think we law students can learn here?"

"Who made you famous?"

"Three semesters, twenty-eight duels, Otto, you hold the school record."

"Hahaha! Otto, you carry too much guilt."

Schuberland stood up to defend Bismarck and said, "No, that's not the case. In my opinion, this is not a crime, but an honor. If Otto had not been so honorable, how could the University of Jena be afraid of his reputation?"

Everyone laughed, and someone even said, "Otto, now that we're in Leipzig, why don't we find a chance to teach those ignorant guys at Leipzig University a lesson? You see, you're here, and Schuberland is here too. We have two 'masters', plus our 'division commanders', which should be enough to deal with those bastards."

When Bismarck heard this suggestion, his first reaction was to agree, but before he could stand up, his boiling blood was immediately extinguished by an invisible basin of cold water.

If it had happened in the past, he would have taken his classmates to the University of Leipzig to break up the place and start a fight, and when he returned to Göttingen he would have been put in solitary confinement.

At most, they would be expelled from school or forced to transfer to another school.

But what about now?
If he angered Dean Hastings, he probably wouldn't have to go back to Göttingen with him. The best option would be to follow Garibaldi and the others on the ship to South America.

Bismarck looked down at the Young Italy badge on his chest, shrugged helplessly, turned around and shouted at everyone: "Please be kind, gentlemen, I have turned over a new leaf. I am no longer the idle college student. Now I have a greater responsibility on my shoulders. I am the Gestapo, and the leader of the Gestapo."

Seeing that Bismarck was not taking the bait, the classmates could not help but feel a little discouraged: "Otto, you have changed. You have become boring."

"There's still so much time before the show. We have to have some fun. Are we just going to sit here and drink? If we do that, we'll probably all be drunk before the show starts. Otto, I still want to see the opera."

"There will surely be many ladies visiting the theater today, and I don't want to give them the impression that I'm a drunkard."

"Don't pretend to be a gentleman, William. You are a drunkard, as it were."

Bismarck saw these guys complaining everywhere and knew he had to find some fun for them.

As one of them, Bismarck knew that nothing was more likely to cause trouble than idle college students.

Bismarck quickly suggested: "Why don't we make a bet?"

"Bet?" When a group of people heard about gambling, they immediately became interested: "What are you betting on?"

Bismarck's eyes turned, and his eyes fell on the Young Italy emblem on his chest again: "Italians are eager for unification, and so are Germans. In this case, let's bet on whether Germany will be unified within 30 years."

Hearing this, Motley continued the bet as if he was sure of winning: "This is simply giving me money. I bet you 25 bottles of champagne that it won't happen."

Motley's words immediately attracted the attention of a group of German students. Motley's words made them very unhappy, but they could not think of any suitable reason to refute.

From any perspective, it did not look like Germany could achieve unification within 30 years.

When everyone was silent, Bismarck accepted Motley's bet generously: "Okay, 25 bottles of champagne, I bet with you. If Germany completes unification in 30 years, I don't want your champagne. I just want you to swim across the Atlantic from Hamburg to Boston."

(End of this chapter)