The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 552 - 285: The Insightful Hastings_3

"A hundred thousand pounds can hire more than just a few thousand French soldiers; it’s more than enough to hire a thousand Elds. This time Eld went to sea, even with the special global navigation subsidy, he only got 85 pounds a year."

Arthur laughed and replied, "So, you see how much of a great value your 1,500 pounds was now, Benjamin?"

Great Dumas shook his head, "Enough already, I feel like Benjamin won’t last long in this position. You don’t know what nonsense he was spouting in his election victory speech. Didn’t Charles go over there to help with his campaign? In a letter he sent me, he said that Benjamin, as soon as he went on stage, looked like he had just drunk two kegs of whiskey, his face was red from head to toe, and his whole body was shaking with excitement."

Arthur nodded slightly, "It’s his first time as a representative, so excitement is natural, there’s nothing wrong with that."

Great Dumas widened his eyes, "Excitement is hard to avoid, but speaking nonsense is not acceptable. Charles said, Benjamin started his speech by dropping catchphrases. In front of thousands of people, he said: ’A great nation is one that can give birth to great men, just as Rome gave birth to Caesar, Ancient Greece to Homer, Britain to Shakespeare. And today, just today! Britain has given birth to another remarkable person, you have elected his Augustus! My dear voters, God is truly blessing this nation! While it may be a small step for me, it is destined to be a great leap for the whole of Britain!’"

Upon hearing this, Arthur slapped his forehead, "So, what then? What was the reaction of the people who attended the meeting?"

Great Dumas spoke with a strange expression, "The mood of the people was quite stable; after all, the money was already in their pockets, listening to a young man’s emotional outburst wasn’t much of anything. You know, besides writing books, Benjamin is also quite professional when it comes to hiring people."

"That’s true." Arthur sighed in relief and lit his pipe, "I almost forgot about that."

Great Dumas asked, "You’re so confident in Benjamin’s election? I’m really curious, where on earth do you see his political talent? Could it be that you really have a discerning eye?"

Arthur laughed and said, "What’s there to it? I even think Louis might become emperor someday."

Great Dumas scoffed at this, "Arthur, that’s enough; the Bonaparte family is already France’s past, I don’t think there’s any need to bring them back. More importantly, France doesn’t need an emperor; we need republicanism."

Arthur simply laughed and replied, "No harm, there could be a republican emperor. And just because you don’t need it doesn’t mean all the French don’t. So, as I said before, this is just human narrow-mindedness."

Great Dumas asked back, "Are you saying I’m narrow-minded?"

"No." Arthur replied, "You could also consider those who are trying to make him emperor as the narrow-minded ones. Alexander, you’re my friend; in this respect, I absolutely support you."

"Arthur!" Great Dumas seemed genuinely angry, "Are you treating the revolution as a joke?"

Arthur replied, "Humanity is essentially playing around in nature, whether it’s Scotland Yard or the British Cabinet, you can consider them somewhat as makeshift troupes. The so-called rules and systems are just there to make us look official, but when it comes down to implementation, it’s another story..."

At this point, Arthur suddenly heard a flurry of footsteps in the hallway.

Sometime later, a dusty Louis appeared at Arthur’s door with a group of people.

"Arthur, Mr. John Stuart Mill has arrived."

John Stuart Mill, dressed in a neat tailcoat, hurriedly shook hands with Arthur.

"Arthur, upon receiving your official correspondence, the company was very enthusiastic and decided to accept the invitation to assist with the investigation. However, since we are currently in the midst of the annual internal audit period for the East India Company, our internal audit department cannot allocate many suitable candidates. We can only manage to assemble three auditors, including myself, with difficulty.

Considering the current situation in Liverpool, the company, with its initial intention to uphold the public interest, specifically contacted our long-term partners in London for you. However, since the Parliament had just passed the ’Personal Bankruptcy Act’ this year, the accountancy firms in London are quite busy, and senior accountants have been requested by the London bankruptcy court to serve as bankruptcy liquidators.

But fortunately, where there is a will, there is a way. After the company made inquiries everywhere, they finally found that our partner in Bristol, ’Bradley Barnard Accountancy Firm,’ was still taking on business. Therefore, before I came to Liverpool, I made a special trip to Bristol, which caused me to arrive a bit later than the time I had previously arranged with you. To apologize, the company has already authorized me to advance the audit fees on behalf of the government to the accountancy firm, hoping you won’t mind it too much."

Everyone knew that the East India Company had been displeased with the Liverpool import and export consortium for a long time, but the extent of their animosity was somewhat beyond Arthur’s expectations.

From the information revealed in Mil’s words, it seemed the East India Company would be only too happy if Liverpool were occupied by the French.

Arthur said with a smile, "John, it’s okay. The fact that you could arrive in Liverpool against all odds has already brought me great joy."

Mil was not a vague man; he immediately turned to introduce the accountants behind him to Arthur.

"This is..."

However, as Arthur’s gaze turned towards the group of accountants, his heart involuntarily tightened.

The reason was simple: these people looked far too young.

So young that calling them ’youths’ wouldn’t be entirely accurate; they were practically children whose whiskers had not yet fully grown.

The smallest among the accountants wasn’t even as tall as Arthur’s chest. From his little red nose and his face full of innocent freckles, it seemed this kid wasn’t much older than Adam and Pinkerton.

Arthur couldn’t help but ask, "John, these accountants... are they apprentices?"

Mil nodded nonchalantly, "They are apprentices. This profession generally attracts the young, and this year’s ’Personal Bankruptcy Act’ has greatly impacted our industry. Slightly experienced accountants have all been summoned by the court for liquidation services. These apprentices from ’Bradley Barnard’ were also cobbled together for you. But Arthur, you need not worry about their capabilities. On the train to Liverpool, I had already tested their mathematical skills. Especially this one named Pryce; if he weren’t so young, I would believe he might own his own office."

"Pryce?" Arthur looked in the direction Mil was pointing, referring to the smallest child.

Perhaps worried about the deal falling through, the freckled-faced boy quickly stood up, took off his hat, and greeted Arthur: "Samuel Pryce, at your service, sir."

Although it was normal to employ child labor in these times, Arthur still found it rather odd to have such a group of children working through the night on the accounts.

Pointing to the various voluminous books and documents sent over by the Customs on the table behind him, Arthur asked, "Boy, how long will it take you to handle these?"

Pryce looked up at the documents, then at Mil beside him, and replied, "Sir, if Mr. Mil is guiding us, we could have an answer for you by tomorrow evening."