shadow of britain

Chapter 786 Royal Franchise
The dinner hosted for Arthur at Kensington Palace was not held in the main dining room, but in a small dining room on the east side of Rose Room.

Moreover, the number of people attending the banquet was not as many as Arthur had expected. Usually, the Duchess of Kent's family banquets would include not only her and Victoria, but also the Conroy family, and occasionally the Duke of Sussex and Princess Sofia, who also lived in Kensington Palace, would be invited.

But today, perhaps because of Leopold's visit, Conroy and his family were not invited to dine. The only guests at the table were the Duchess, Leopold, Victoria, and Arthur.

As evening approached, the high windows in the small restaurant wall were not yet fully closed, and daylight streamed in through the window frames, casting a dim, warm glow between the silverware and candles.

The table around which the four people sat was covered with a light pink linen tablecloth, and in the center of the table was a row of small glass vases filled with fresh roses that had just been cut from the garden.

The servants quietly changed the tableware, and the pace of serving the dishes was just right, ensuring that the guests' plates were never empty and that the conversations between diners were never interrupted.

Although the dinner was not large in scale, the food at Kensington Palace was as exquisite as ever.

The first course was a tempting stew of buttered green beans with fried pigeon eggs, followed by Brittany lobster with champagne cream sauce.

The lobster is bright red and translucent, with a crispy exterior and tender interior, and the sauce has a delicate hint of white wine.

However, Arthur's favorite dish was Scottish roasted lamb chops with rosemary mashed potatoes. The lamb chops were roasted to perfection, with a crispy crust and tender meat. A small pinch of mint sauce was placed on the side, which was specially used to neutralize the muttony smell and cut through the richness.

Of course, this doesn't mean Arthur doesn't like the desserts at Kensington Palace. The slightly tart almond milk pudding paired with rosehip jam ice cream is sweet but not cloying, making it the perfect treat for cooling off in the summer.

“Sir Arthur, I recently read an editorial in a British newspaper that said trains are the vehicles of death, and that even the ghosts in the cemetery are too frightened to sleep when they sound their whistles.” Leopold took a sip of his tonic water, smiled, and shook his head. “What do you think?”

Upon hearing this, Arthur reluctantly put down his knife and fork and the ice cream on his plate: "There have indeed been quite a few articles attacking the railway in recent years. Some say that the trains are too fast and will shake the passengers' brains. Others say that the dust from the trains will pollute pastures, and that laying the tracks will disturb the earth's veins and destroy farmland. I remember a while ago some Manchester farmers complained to the government that their chickens stopped laying eggs after the Manchester-Liverpool railway opened."

Victoria, who was eating lamb chops, couldn't help but blink when she heard this. With her uncle present, she was much more talkative at the dinner table today.

Victoria asked, half-seriously, "Does a train really stop chickens from laying eggs?"

Arthur thought about it seriously for a moment, then shook his head and said, "You have no right to speak without investigation. As for the question of whether chickens lay eggs or not... it's really beyond my area of ​​expertise. You should know, Your Highness, I used to be a pig farmer."

The Duchess of Kent, who was feeling down, couldn't help but laugh at Arthur's unfounded joke.

Her laughter was soft, almost like it was floating lightly out of her nose.

The Duchess sighed softly and pointed in his direction with her knife: "Sir Arthur, honesty may be your virtue, but one sentence is about Windsor Castle, and the next you're talking about the alleys of the East End. Sometimes you speak too irreverently."

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Arthur said apologetically. “I know this isn’t very good, but based on the basic qualities of an educator, I feel that agricultural issues cannot be embellished, unlike philosophical issues. In philosophy, we can certainly use Hegel’s dialectics to discuss whether the chicken or the egg came first, and it doesn’t matter if the dialectic is wrong. But in serious agricultural issues, if the hen stops laying eggs, then it simply doesn’t.”

Hearing this, the Duchess of Kent couldn't help but shake her head with a smile: "When Flora told me before that you were from the Hastings family, I was a little skeptical. But now it seems, if you aren't, then who is? Your stubbornness is exactly the same as that of the old Marquis Hastings."

Leopold followed up by asking, "Sir Arthur, in your opinion, does the railway actually have a destructive effect on agriculture? I always feel that these opinions are not unfounded. I even read an article that said the railway would eventually destroy rural society in England. That article was very moving, and the author was clearly a true patriot."

Seeing that Leopold was determined to get to the bottom of things, Arthur didn't try to hide it any longer. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know whether the author of the article is patriotic or not, but if the article came from Fleet Street... I'm 80% sure that he received money from the Canal Company."

“Is that so?” Leopold put down his water glass. “Then it seems the author of that article is among the remaining 20%.”

Upon hearing this, Arthur didn't insist any further. He smiled and raised his glass, "Alright, if you insist..."

Unexpectedly, before Arthur could finish speaking, Leopold interjected, "Because that article was published in your publication, The Englishman."

Arthur's glass paused in mid-air, and a subtle embarrassment crept into his smile.

Seeing his fleeting moment of embarrassment, even the Duchess couldn't help but lower her head and chuckle, causing her silver fork to tap softly against the plate.

As for Victoria, she never believed that the considerate Sir Arthur Hastings would accept money to do such a defamatory thing.

Arthur coughed and immediately racked his brains to steer the conversation back on track: "Let me guess, that article wasn't written by Alfred Tennyson, was it? Alfred really disliked the inventions and creations of industrial society. He was a typical poet and opposed anything that might disrupt the tranquil rural life."

Leopold didn't press the young man, nodding in agreement. "You certainly know the authors of *The Englishman* very well; it was indeed written by Mr. Tennyson. However, even if *The Englishman* did receive money from the canal company, I wouldn't find it objectionable. After all, *The Englishman* isn't *The Edinburgh Review* or *The Quarterly Review*; it can't rely on party connections like they do. Nor is it like *The Observer* or *The Times*, which can't reliably secure parliamentary coverage. If it didn't find other sources of funding, how would it pay salaries and maintain operations?"

Arthur, unsure of Leopold's intentions, could only respond cautiously, "Of course, the Imperial Publishing Company maintains partnerships with all sectors, treating canal companies and railway companies equally. To be honest, I was previously a shareholder of the Great Western Railway Company, only donating those shares to the University of London a few days ago for educational purposes. Of course, this doesn't mean I'm pessimistic about the future of railways. Railways are faster than canals, and transportation is not limited by seasons; they can traverse mountains and valleys, are not dependent on hydrological conditions, and are not afraid of frozen rivers. For a long time to come, this will be a good business." Leopold, after hearing Arthur's seemingly plausible but watertight statement, raised an eyebrow slightly, as if pondering something carefully.

Only after Arthur finished saying the last sentence, "This is a good deal," did he slowly say, "It seems I did underestimate your enthusiasm for the railroad."

"I only have a superficial understanding; Your Majesty overestimates me."

“No.” Leopold shook his head slightly. “It’s not that I think too highly of you. I just thought your interest in railways was limited to media topics and stock trading. I never imagined that you would be involved in the planning of the railway line in the Kingdom of Hanover. I ran into the Duke of Sussex while I was walking in the garden the other day. He mentioned to me that the railway line that the Kingdom of Hanover is building, from Hanover to Hamburg, was your idea, and you even persuaded him to participate in the investment and construction.”

When Arthur heard the first part of the sentence, he thought that his money laundering scheme through railroad investments had been exposed. It wasn't until he heard the second part that he finally felt relieved.

"Ah, so you're referring to that railway? Haha, that was just a coincidence. Rather than saying building the railway was my idea, it was Mr. Friedrich List who inspired me. He told me that Hamburg is the gateway to northern Germany, but it's separated from Hanover by vast forests and hills. Every rainy season, the roads become muddy, causing caravans to be stranded and goods to be difficult to transport. Later, we consulted maps and found that if we built a freight railway along the south bank of the Elbe, we could not only bypass the most landslide-prone mountain roads, but also directly connect Hamburg's port capacity with the market of the Kingdom of Hanover. It's a sure-fire way to make money."

Leopold smiled upon hearing this: "However, I've heard... that this project hasn't been progressing smoothly? There have been several setbacks along the way?"

“I guess so.” Arthur nodded slightly. “If it weren’t for the Duke of Sussex putting pressure on the Kingdom of Hanover, the approval for the railway construction would probably have been delayed for another year or two.”

Leopold chuckled softly, as if he had finally found a suitable turning point: "So, Sir, if one day the Belgian government also wants to build a railway that runs through forests and hills, connecting ports and the inland... do you think it could also be considered a sure-fire way to make money?"

Upon hearing this, Victoria, who had been engrossed in enjoying her dessert, immediately perked up her ears, while the Duchess of Kent raised an eyebrow slightly. She finally realized that her brother's dinner tonight was not just about meeting the "agricultural expert" Hastings.

Upon hearing this, Arthur's heart began to pound. Leopold's words sounded exactly like he was trying to solicit investment from him.

The problem is that although he is no longer considered a poor peasant, it doesn't mean he's a wealthy household!
It's true that Imperial Publishing Company has just gone public and has a little bit of money left in its books.

However, they still have to support the English Electromagnetic Telegraph Company, which is currently just a money-losing business that only makes a name for itself.

Arthur calmly put down the silver spoon. He did not answer immediately, but after a pause, he asked a question instead: "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold, what is the current state of railway construction in Belgium? I remember someone saying that Belgium's railway construction seems to be ahead of that railway in the Kingdom of Hanover."

Upon hearing this, Leopold put down his water glass and said, “The construction of the Belgian railway line was the first major industrial project I initiated after becoming King. In 1831, when I first visited England as King, I made a special trip to visit the major railway companies in London. I also personally invited Mr. George Stephenson, the inventor of the rocket, to Belgium. However, although our steam railway plan was proposed five years ago, the railway line plan was not actually completed until 1833. Then, parliamentary approval took another year, and construction took another year. Just last month, on the 5th, the 40-mile-long Brussels-Mechelen railway was officially completed and opened to traffic.”

Upon hearing this, Arthur couldn't help but laugh and said, "Your Majesty, you are being too modest. It was opened to traffic last month? Then you have left the French, Prussian, and Austria behind in railway construction. I remember that steam railways in other European countries don't officially open to traffic for at least a year or two."

Leopold gestured for Arthur to stop: "This is only part of Belgium's national railway network plan. According to our plan, we also have four other railway lines in the east, west, south, and north that are about to start construction."

“According to our plan…” Leopold’s tone revealed a long-lost sense of excitement: “Mechelen will serve as the national railway hub, with the eastern line extending to Liège and the Prussian border, the western line connecting Bruges and the port of Ostend, the northern line leading to Antwerp and bordering the Netherlands, and the southern line passing through Mons all the way to the French border, with a total length of more than eight hundred miles.”

He paused, then turned his gaze to Arthur: "And of these lines, half will be built under government leadership, while the other half will be licensed to private companies. Incidentally, we've already passed the relevant ninety-year operating concession scheme in parliament. In other words, are you interested in railway construction in Belgium? I think you're mostly interested, after all, you've already taken some action in Hanover, haven't you?"

Arthur nodded slightly upon hearing this, but inwardly he was already groaning in despair.

His initial reasons for investing in the Hanover railway were twofold: first, to launder the aid funds embezzled from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and second, to appease Schneider, by using joint investment to forge a closer bond between himself and the assistant vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thus preventing potential betrayal and ensuring Schneider's willingness to help him transfer young Italian members such as Garibaldi.

But Leopold is now asking him to invest in railroads…

He doesn't have that much money on hand if he accepts it.

If he refused, it would inevitably cause the king, who had a close relationship with Kensington Palace, to harbor resentment towards him.

After thinking it over, Arthur suddenly smiled and said, "Railway construction, Your Majesty, I am certainly interested. However... compared to directly building the railway, I now prefer to make supporting investments for it. If you have any needs in this regard, I would be very willing to help."

“Supporting investment?” Leopold paused, somewhat confused by Arthur’s words. “You mean, opening a steel mill? Or building locomotives?”

"No, no, I prefer to be one step ahead of others rather than follow the rules and work in known areas."

Leopold frowned slightly and said, "You mean..."

Arthur laughed and said, "Your Majesty, have you ever heard of wired telegraph? A mature railway line cannot function without telegraph technology."

(End of this chapter)