shadow of britain

Chapter 593: Even among police officers, there are differences

Arthur is one of the most complex souls I have ever seen, with an elusive power hidden in his calmness. His eyes are like the fog in London, cold and dark, as if he has long lost his way in the maze of power. His rationality and calmness make him a defender of the system, but under this strict shell, I can vaguely feel some unfinished struggle - perhaps a yearning for a little freedom, or a higher understanding of the world.

I admire his wisdom and courage, but I can't help but feel deeply sorry for him: How can a person with such a clear mind be willing to be trapped in order and power? Sometimes I wonder if Arthur really understands what he is protecting. Is the order he believes in, the operation of power, and those cold and hard laws a tool for stabilizing society, or an absolute truth that transcends morality and human heart?
I saw him suppress demonstrations and quell riots like a ruthless judge, never questioning the legitimacy of the system. But was he really unshakable? Deep in his heart, he might have had a little doubt about the nature of power. I bet that in his meditation late at night, he might have felt confused for a moment, like a ship drifting in a storm, lonely but unable to deviate from its course.

A man with such insight and determination should have devoted himself to greater ideals and fought for the freedom of the human heart, but he chose to become part of the system. I am not belittling his choice, but I can't help but hope that he can go further, break away from the cold shell of order, and spread his light to more people.

But sometimes I have to admit that Arthur really makes me feel in awe. He is more in control of his own destiny than many of us. His methods, strategies, and manipulation of people's hearts are just like a calm chess player, as if he has already seen through every step of the power game. He can remain calm in any occasion, both as a law enforcer in Scotland Yard and an elegant guest in the diplomatic field.

Even without leaving Whitehall, he can still keep everything under his control. Perhaps it is this calm self-control that allows him to survive in the world of power. Am I too romantic to accept the path he has chosen? I can't help but wonder, am I delusional about changing him, or is he silently reminding me of the limitations of human struggle?

——Alexander Ivanovich Herzen, Past and Remembrance

"Nicholas?"

As expected, when Shubinsky, who had been hiding his true feelings just now, heard the news, he immediately stood up and tried to keep Arthur and Bismarck who were about to leave.

"Artie! My good brother, why are you in such a hurry to leave? We two old friends have met again after a long time. It is not in line with the Russian etiquette to just have a drink and leave."

In desperation, Shubinsky even called out Arthur's nickname.

Hearing this nickname, the York swineherd thought for a moment that he had returned to his hometown in the countryside, because usually only the elders and villagers there would call him that.

As for old friends such as Elder, Disraeli and Dumas, although they occasionally called Arthur this, Arthur always felt that this nickname was too corny, so he always forbade them to use the name "Artie".

But today, since Mr. Shubinsky had important news, Arthur decided to suppress his quirks and indulge him a little.

Shubinsky cordially invited the two friends back to their seats. This secret policeman, whose eyes in Russia could make people feel as if they were falling into an icy cave, now smiled a smile warmer than the sun.

He personally filled the glasses of his two friends and introduced Russian customs to them while pouring wine: "In Russia, it is impolite to have wine in the glass, so..."

Shubinsky raised his glass and clinked it with the two men: "Cheers to our friendship! May it flow like the Volga River and always be full of strength!"

After saying this, Shubinsky took the lead and set an example for them. He drank a full glass of hot whiskey. Instead of feeling dizzy, the Russian colonel looked more energetic.

At the end, he did not forget to fork a piece of salted pork elbow and put it in his mouth to suppress the wine.

While Shubinsky was chewing this best delicacy to keep warm in the ice and snow, he stretched out his hand and made a "please" gesture to Arthur and Bismarck.

Arthur and Bismarck looked at each other and had to follow Shubinsky's example and drink the wine in one gulp.

When Shubinsky saw that their glasses were empty, he immediately wanted to fill them up again.

Arthur saw through his intention to take the initiative immediately. Although he could drink a lot, he was not confident enough to compete with the Russians in drinking.

When he saw Shubinsky was about to pour the wine, he did not refuse directly, but leaned forward slightly, with an apologetic smile on his face: "Sergey, I am honored by your hospitality. However, I have been entrusted with a small responsibility tonight - I must stay sober, otherwise tomorrow's work may be more troublesome."

"Work?" Shubinsky paused. He knew Arthur was making up an excuse, but he was not going to let his 'old friend' off so easily. Shubinsky joked, "What work could be more important than a hangover with a long-lost friend? Are the college students in Göttingen planning to storm the arsenal tomorrow?"

Arthur did not speak, but raised his hand and pointed at the ceiling with a mysterious look: "The premiere of Turandot attracted many distinguished guests, including many who could twist my head off. Sergei, Britain does not have a place of exile like Siberia. You know, if we make mistakes there, we usually go to Australia. Do you want us to drink our next meal on the ship?"

Although Shubinsky knew that this was an excuse, he really had no way to refute the reason given by the other party.

After thinking it over, he finally sighed and decided to explain everything honestly.

Although the two men were of different nationalities, the secret police's concerns were the same. Arthur did not want to be exiled to Australia, just as he did not want to go to Siberia.

Shubinsky said self-deprecatingly: "Being exiled to Australia is not so bad, at least you can still take a ship. In Russia, exile to Siberia not only has no means of transportation for you to take, but you also have to wear handcuffs and shackles along with your entire family. What's worse is that in most cases, except for a few clothes on your body, all your other property will be confiscated."

Shubinski raised his head and took a sip from the bottle. He leaned against the bar and rubbed his hair. "Well, since we are all friends, I won't hide it from you. I came to Leipzig not for vacation, but to play a cat-and-mouse game and track several students who were on the surveillance list. We suspect that they left the country to contact Polish Zionists."

Arthur saw Shubinsky's expression and consoled him, "Is it that serious? Just like you said before, how much trouble can a few students cause? If they insist on doing stupid things, they will only end up destroying themselves."

"Artie, you don't understand! You have a constitutional government in Britain, but in Russia, the Tsar has the final say!"

Maybe it was because of the pressure from work or the fear of being exiled to Siberia, but Shubinsky, who was as strong as an iron tower, couldn't help crying with his face covered: "If I don't make any progress, but some of my enemies find out something first... if this gets to the ears of Count Benckendorff and His Majesty the Tsar, do you know what will happen?"

Shubinsky grabbed Arthur's shoulders with both hands and shook him violently: "If things go wrong, I will be accused of being an accomplice of the students! This has happened before in the third round!"

Bismarck was startled by Shubinski's sudden outburst, and the Prussian boy stammered, "Is it... is it that serious?"

Shubinsky turned his head to look at Bismarck and taught him word by word: "Young man, you are still young, so I forgive you. Because you don't have enough experience to understand what's going on here. If you have the opportunity to go to Russia in the future and become an official serving the Tsar like me, you have to be careful! Every step you take forward, there will be a hundred people! A thousand people! They are all staring at the position under your butt. These people are like maggots in the sewer, waiting for you to make a mistake at any time, and then step on you, take your position, and replace them with them! And in Russia, if you make a mistake, it will not only affect you, but your entire family. If you are unlucky, maybe several generations will not be able to turn over! The road to leaving Moscow and St. Petersburg has always been unobstructed, but if you want to come back, you have to cross the Ural Mountains, paddle across the Don River and the Volga River, and walk a long, long way on the snow in a single piece of clothing!"

Shubinsky seemed to recall something sad when he spoke of this. He sighed and continued, "I have a friend whose father was arrested for political denunciation during the reign of Paul I. His family was first imprisoned in Schlusselburg and later exiled to Siberia for permanent residence. Fortunately, the new emperor showed mercy and pardoned thousands of people exiled by his father after the Holy King ascended the throne.

The family had a hard life in Siberia. They were short of food and clothing. The three sisters only had one pair of shoes, so they only wore shoes when they went out to avoid being seen by others. Fortunately, the family was strong enough to survive the difficult time. It was winter when they were pardoned. It was not easy for such a family to leave from Tobolsk Province without coats and money!
On the other hand, they wanted to fly back immediately, because it would be even more unbearable to stay where they were after the exile was over. A local peasant woman had breastfed their child when the mother was sick. When she learned that they were going back to Moscow, she took out the money she had saved with great difficulty to provide them with travel expenses, only asking them to take her with them.

Fortunately, the officials at the local post station treated them well and allowed them to ride for free, and sent them to the border. Some members of the family took the bus, while others walked. The young people took turns walking, and in this way, they crossed the ice and snow, crossed the Ural Mountains, and arrived in Moscow. Moscow was the place they longed for, their hope, but what awaited them there was hunger.

Do you know why? This is because the government pardoned them but did not return their property. To make matters worse, the long years of hard work and long journeys made the breadwinner of the family sick, and the family had no food to eat in Moscow. At that time, it happened to be the coronation ceremony of His Majesty Nicholas I, so the two girls in the family secretly wrote a petition, hoping to sneak into the parade and hand it to His Majesty when he walked down the red steps in front of the Kremlin. "Bismarck couldn't help asking: "Did the two girls succeed?"

Shubinsky looked at Bismarck sadly. He said nothing, but silence was the best answer.

Arthur stirred the cup of red tea he had just brought. "Otto, why bother yourself? Haven't you ever read a newspaper? Nicholas I is different from his gentle brother, the Holy King. He is an emperor with an iron will. He was born to accomplish great things. You'd better not bother him with such trivial matters."

Shubinsky said with a sad face: "Arti, you have to help me. Apart from me, I can't find anyone else to turn to."

Arthur didn't believe Shubinsky's lies, just as Shubinsky didn't believe him.

But he still maintained sympathy for Shubinsky on his face: "Sergey, I understand you, but I still think you are a little neurotic. At an occasion like today, the King of Saxony, the Duke of Sussex of our country, and a large group of dignitaries from the Kingdom of Saxony are present. How could the Poles get in? This is Leipzig, not Liverpool."

Bismarck continued, "Sir, I think so too. We didn't see any Poles there. If the lord hadn't seen your old friend and insisted on coming downstairs to chat with you, we might have been drinking happily with those college students right now."

Shubinsky was not giving up. "What did you talk about when you were drinking? Did they mention a man named Sungurov to you?"

"Sungurov?" Bismarck recalled: "There was no Sungurov, but I remember there was a man named Ogarev in the room."

"Ogarev?!" Shubinsky exclaimed as if he had grasped a life-saving straw: "Yes! That's right, Ogarev is the leader!"

When Bismarck saw Shubinsky's reaction, he immediately felt that something had gone wrong.

Although he disliked liberals, he also disliked acting as an informer, as such behavior was inconsistent with what he believed to be the spirit of the German aristocracy.

Even when he was acting as a Gestapo under Arthur, Bismarck's leaking of secrets was still restrained. He hated his petty-bourgeois classmates, but rather than letting the police arrest them, Bismarck would rather beat them to a pulp in the duel arena.

He was too young and had not seen many dirty political deals, and the young man's vague sense of morality did not allow him to do anything too despicable.

One of the important reasons why Bismarck was submissive to Arthur in the Gestapo was that, according to his observations in recent months, the British secret police chief had a strange temper and it was difficult to tell what he was trying to do by spying on student activities. He never used this information to arrest anyone, let alone tried any student for the crime of assembly.

The reason why he was collecting information everywhere like a sewer rat and sneaking into every crack like a cockroach seemed more like a personal hobby.

But the Russian secret police in front of him was different. No matter how nice his words were, it was obvious that he wanted to kill people.

Bismarck began to back down, and for a moment he didn't know whether to betray the Russian friend he had just met.

Fortunately, Arthur did not make things difficult for him. Shubinsky's act of playing the victim not only failed to win Arthur's sympathy, but instead allowed him to grasp the other party's weakness.

"Since Ogarev is the student leader of the rebellion, you should have arrested him in Moscow. Sergei, how could you send him to Leipzig? If he escapes, you will be held responsible."

Shubinsky was exposed and quickly reorganized his words to try to fill in the gaps: "I'm sorry, I didn't explain things clearly before. Although Ogarev is involved with Sungurov, we currently have no evidence to prove that he has joined the secret society organized by Sungurov."

Arthur pressed on, vowing to not let Shubinsky get his way until he had him clean out today: "What is Sungurov's society?"

Shubinsky frowned. He didn't like Arthur's strong questioning. "Arthur, I can't say too much about this."

"Well, if you insist, Sergei." Arthur took off his gloves and threw them on the table. "When I am transferred to the Russian Embassy, ​​it won't be a big deal for me to ask around myself."

"To be transferred to the Russian Embassy?" Shubinsky was stunned for a moment: "Aren't you the academic supervisor at the University of Göttingen?"

"Yes now, but I can't work in the education field for a lifetime." Arthur smiled helplessly: "Do you know who the new British ambassador to Russia is?"

"Lord Daramore."

"Yes, he is half my teacher."

Arthur picked up the teacup and took a sip of the black tea. "When the University of London was first established, the main investors were Lord Brougham and Earl Daramore. I studied Russian history well in college, so Earl Daramore thought I would be useful to him. When the constitutional reform of the Kingdom of Hanover is completed, my appointment letter should come. Sergei, the Cultural Counselor of the British Embassy in Russia, there will definitely be many opportunities for us to communicate in the future. As the Cultural Counselor, I will definitely go to Moscow University to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries."

When Shubinsky heard this, beads of sweat suddenly appeared on his forehead.

He thought Arthur had nothing to do with Russia, so he felt at ease telling him some things about Russia.

But if Arthur is about to go to Russia to serve, then...

He talked about quite a few sensitive topics today, some of which even seemed to be remarks that were dissatisfaction with the Tsar...

Finished!

Shubinsky was sweating all over and even started to talk nonsense: "Arthur, congratulations, this should be considered a promotion, right? Haha, I thought I was the only one who made a step forward, but I didn't expect you to be one step ahead of me this time. By the way, the Poles, Liverpool, and Sungurov are really damned! Did you know? The society organized by Sungurov's group claims to be the successor of the Decembrists. This group of damn traitors is also connected with the Poles. For their so-called freedom, they can even sell out the interests of their motherland and insist on standing with foreign forces. Of course, Arthur, the foreign forces I am talking about are not you. Come, have another drink to toast the friendship between Russia and Britain..."

Arthur stared at Shubinsky for a long time, until he saw beads of sweat on his forehead sliding down his temples. Then he chuckled softly and raised his glass to clink with Shubinsky.

Shubinsky was just about to drink it all in one gulp to show his respect, but unexpectedly, Arthur's words frightened him so much that he almost dropped the glass to the ground.

"Sergey, are there any beautiful Polish girls in Moscow? I'd really like to learn Polish."

(End of this chapter)