Chapter 230 Arthur, You Must Survive to the End (4K4)

London No. 1, in the entertainment room of Apsley Mansion, there are two new players on the card table.

Dumas glanced at his hand, and seeing a small hand made him feel numb.

Disraeli had just settled the royalties paid to him yesterday, and in just a short time, he had already lost a lot at the card table.

Compared with the anxious Alexandre Dumas, Arthur, who was sitting opposite him calmly and holding a pipe in his mouth, seemed much calmer. Although his cards were also not big, fortunately, he had a king in his hand, and most importantly, he There is a clown devil next to him. As long as he doesn't want to lose, no one can win money from him.

Sitting next to Arthur were Talleyrand who was humming a tune and the Duke of Wellington who was belatedly arriving. These two old gentlemen were not so much playing cards as talking trash to each other.

The Duke of Wellington's eyes were fixed on Talleyrand's hand: "My old brother, you have finally come here. Do you want to see my eight marshal's staffs? The British marshal's staff. Joseph Bonaparte gave it to me during the Peninsular War, and the remaining seven were given to me by Napoleon at Waterloo.”

As soon as the Duke of Wellington finished speaking, Talleyrand had not yet made any move, but Alexandre Dumas, who was holding a card in his hand, took the lead in red temperature.

He was about to speak when he saw Talleyrand raising his hand and patting his thigh with a smile, and then threw a Q to suppress the Duke's J.

Talleyrand said: "Your Majesty the Duke, I have always believed that war is too serious, so it must be left to soldiers like you. However, the failure of the war certainly makes me sad, but fortunately, after you, There would be no one in Britain who could snatch eight marshal's sticks from France. If we had known that knocking you down would be as easy as finding a lover in Paris, there would be no need for a Napoleon. We should have just grabbed someone from London. The mob goes back to be king."

The Duke of Wellington raised his eyebrows: "You still have such a mouth. When you heard that Paul I of Russia passed away from a stroke, you just wanted to make a wisecrack in front of the Russian ambassador: I think you guys should really do it in the future. It’s boring to think of a new reason for your monarch’s death. It’s because of this wisecrack that the Russians have held a grudge against you for a long time, right?”

Talleyrand laughed loudly and said: "You have lived in Paris for a while, then you should understand that the French can shed their blood for a wisecrack. The reason why I can get to where I am now from a cripple without inheritance Well, it's all about my ability to make wisecracks. If you don't let me make jokes, you might as well kill me.

As for the Russians, I just told the truth to their faces. And you see, when Alexander I died two years ago, didn't the cause of death change? The middle-aged tsar in the prime of his life died in a sanatorium due to ineffective treatment. This sounds much more pleasant than a stroke. It can be seen that Russians are quite good at accepting other people's opinions. "

As soon as Talleyrand finished speaking, not only the Duke of Wellington, but even the many gentlemen watching their card game burst out laughing.

Talleyrand threw a card and raised his head at Arthur: "Young man, it's your turn. Don't be distracted when you play cards with me! Otherwise, you will lose all your salary this month." In my hand."

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and pressed the cards in his hand on the table one by one: "Sir, it seems that I don't need to live on my salary this month."

"ah?"

Talleyrand looked at the cards on the table. After counting the cards, he knocked on the table helplessly and muttered to the entourage beside him: "I have bad luck today, that's all, it's just a small amount of money." "Molay, pay for it, ten pounds. Oh, by the way, don't forget to put the money on the embassy's account."

When the attendant on the side heard this, he leaned over and asked gently: "I understand, are you still concerned about travel expenses as before?"

Talleyrand sipped the red wine: "This month's travel expenses are a bit too much. Let's change the name. Well... what do you think of the banquet expenses?"

The attendant held an album in one hand and a quill in the other: "Isn't the ten pounds banquet fee a bit low?"

"That's right." Talleyrand swung the red wine glass and pondered: "Just remember the one hundred and twenty pounds, give ten pounds to Mr. Hastings, and keep the hundred pounds for us to play another game tomorrow night. , and the remaining ten pounds will be considered as your writing fee."

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he couldn't help but take a deep breath. The fat French man muttered: "You are still ruthless in making money!"

Talleyrand took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his mouth. He shook his head and said: "Alexander, don't compete with me. I can play like this because I am Talleyrand. Everyone knows that I like money, and Knowing that I like to make my own money, if I don't do this, they will start to wonder if I am collecting money from other countries. Compared with the more than 10 million francs that Metternich gave me, I got it from Germany. Compared with one million gold pounds, the price of one hundred pounds is still too cheap.”

When Duke Wellington heard this, he couldn't help but joked: "But wasn't most of the military information Metternich bought from you for ten million francs false?"

Talleyrand shrugged his shoulders: "I didn't tell him to keep it safe! I was only responsible for giving him information. As for the screening work, I am not an expert."

The Duke of Wellington laughed loudly when he heard this, and he said to Arthur: "Do you feel now that our British government is actually quite clean?"

When the red devil, who was leaning by the card table, heard this, he couldn't help but hit Arthur with his arm, winked at him and said, "Did you hear that? The way to get rich is right in front of you."

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and said: "I think Lord Talleyrand's method will not work in Britain. The Royal Navy's military intelligence is not valuable, because it is useless if the enemy knows it, anyway, they don't care You can’t win no matter what.”

Arthur's words immediately made everyone present laugh again.

The Duke of Wellington wiped away tears of laughter and said: "It seems that the Whig Party made a wise choice by letting you run the Police Intelligence Bureau. At first, I thought that if you do a good job, you can't point it out, and if you do a bad job, it's a wise choice." There will be a lot of harsh work, so a promising young man like you might not be willing to do it. I didn’t expect you to enjoy it so quickly.”

When Arthur heard this, he just replied: "Actually, the work of Scotland Yard is similar, so for me, it just adds a part of the work content. It's not a big deal."

Talleyrand stood up and said: "Yes, your future job will be much easier than your current job. But your current experience is essential, because there is no smart person in this world who cannot learn from it. There are no unfortunate accidents, nor happy accidents that a reckless person would turn into harm.

And your current experience is just to help you identify whether you are a smart person or not. If so, you'll soon no longer need to do the difficult chores, but just talk like I do. As for the hard work of executing your speech, it must be left to the young people who want to prove their wisdom after you. "

After saying this, Talleyrand raised his head and extended an invitation to the Duke: "I heard that you have a novelty that can play a symphony by itself. Why don't you take me to see that thing? If it's interesting, maybe I should too. Buy one and take it back to Paris.”

The Duke of Wellington did not refuse after hearing this. He had a good personal relationship with Talleyrand. After getting France's promise to give up Belgium, he could be said to be completely obedient to his old friend's request: "If you If you ask Louis Philippe to give you something more, maybe I can send someone to send you some gramophones for free."

When Talleyrand heard this, he just raised his eyebrows and said happily: "You want to bribe me with a few gramophones? Your Excellency, you take me too cheap."

"This is different."

The Duke of Wellington said: "You see, you don't know that our Mr. Hastings is one of the contributors to the patent for the phonograph. By the way, he is also a well-known pianist and just participated in the project not long ago. If we asked him to attend the music concert that caused a sensation in London, in addition to the gramophone, we might also be able to get a copy of the out-of-print record of the Coburg concert, which is now in various art markets in London. It’s almost going crazy.”

"Oh? Really?"

Talleyrand looked back at Arthur: "He is indeed an interesting young man. Well, for the sake of the record, I will consider it."

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he couldn't help but stand up from the card table and said: "Are you going to betray the national interest for a useless record? I remember you just said in front of me that you love France more than Napoleon."

Talleyrand just laughed when he heard this: "Come on, Alexander, don't change my original words. In addition, you must not mention patriotism in front of me. I get a headache when I hear this. Every time Some people advocate patriotism, and their purpose is either to get people to pay or to donate their lives.

Because your good friend Mr. Hastings is so good at telling jokes, your wanted order has been cancelled. Live a good life in London, Alexander, and don't do nothing all day long. That doesn't do anyone any good. "

After saying this, Talleyrand and the Duke of Wellington went out together, leaving only Arthur and Alexandre Dumas in front of the card table.

Alexandre Dumas stood there in silence for a long time with complicated emotions. He suddenly turned around and found that Arthur was collecting the steel coins from the card table one by one.

He sank down on the chair, stretched his arms towards the ceiling, and seemed to be venting his dissatisfaction: "Okay, Arthur, laugh at me, laugh at France. Whatever you say in the future, I won't refute it. Look. , such a person can actually dominate the French political arena for decades! However, many people in France still regard him as a role model in life and workplace. France, this beautiful and rich land, is really rotten to the core. "

Usually when encountering this kind of situation, Arthur would definitely step on Alexandre Dumas, but today he was uncharacteristically not sarcastic.

"Don't be so pessimistic. People like Mr. Talleyrand can get away with it no matter where they are. You may not believe it, but I think if he had been born in Britain, he might have become Prime Minister. . If the Duke of Wellington had some of his friend's cunning and tact, he would not step down now."

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he couldn't help frowning and said: "Arthur, what do you mean? Why do you seem to admire him when I hear this? Why do you treat a criminal who takes bribes and a shameless person who betrays the country? Have a good impression?"

"Why?"

Arthur put the last note into his jacket pocket: "Because I think there are not many capable people in this world who can take into account some collective interests while satisfying their own selfish desires. You think it is a misfortune for France to have Talleyrand, but I think it is France's luck. Because for a long time in the future, perhaps France will never have such an outstanding diplomatic activist again.

Of course, you can also say that I am complimenting him and speaking against my will. Because as Mr. Vidocq said before, whether it is Louis XVI, Robespierre or Napoleon, they are all dead , but Mr. Talleyrand is still alive. If I curse Napoleon, he can't crawl out of the coffin to do anything to me, but if I curse Talleyrand, it is very likely that Mr. Victor will bring coconut trees and others to trouble me tomorrow night.

But the most important thing is that he cancelled the wanted order of a fat friend of mine, and also lost ten pounds of gambling money to me. I am very grateful to him for both. "

Dumas heard this and took a deep breath. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. In the end, he could only sigh helplessly: "Alas..."

Arthur saw that he was so depressed , just patted him on the back, smiled and said: "Alexander, don't worry about this. Even if you really want to do something, you have to start from the most basic things, such as picking up your pen.

Before a truly historic moment, when the stars of mankind shine, there must be a long time that passes by in vain. At this critical moment, those things that usually happen slowly and in parallel are compressed into such a short moment that determines everything. This moment makes an irreversible decision for generations, it determines a person's life or death, a The survival of a nation and even the fate of the entire human race.

But you also have to understand that in every revolution, the winner is not the first person, not the one who is always charging forward, but always the last person, always the one who is the last, the one who takes the revolution as a trophy. Such weirdos will suddenly appear in any major world change. As Mr. Talleyrand said, chameleon is the emblem of politics, and I think that surviving to the end is the secret of politics. "

When Dumas heard this, the fat man looked at the night rain outside the window and the dim lights in the dark night, but remained silent.

Seeing him like this, Agares just leaned on Arthur's shoulder and curled his lips and said, "What a stubborn fat man. Idealist? The meaning of idealism is not knowing the weight of the world and not knowing how much you weigh. "

Seeing this, Arthur could only shake his head. He walked to the door of the entertainment room. His footsteps paused for a moment, and after thinking about it, he decided to close the door for Dumas.

Unexpectedly, before the door was closed, Arthur heard the voice of the fat Frenchman.

"Arthur."

"What's wrong?"

Dumas took a coin from his pocket and flicked it towards him. It was the money he lost to Arthur today.

Dumas took a deep breath and said, "You have to live to the end!"

Through the crack of the door, only a black eye flashing with red light could be seen. The black pupils gradually narrowed, looking like they were smiling, but also like they were doubting.

After a long time, Dumas responded with the same gentle and polite voice as always.

"Thank you for your blessing, Mr. Dumas."

Dumas raised his eyebrows and said, "So?"

Arthur put one hand on his chest and bowed slightly, saying, "I'll try my best."