Fox of France

The expedition took nearly a month and returned to the vicinity of Saldanha Bay. There, they built a barracks by themselves, and sealed themselves in it, and no one was allowed to enter casually. At the same time, the high-speed traffic ship that has been docked in Saldanha Bay also quickly left the bay and headed north.

On the other hand, in India, the East India Company finally held an enlarged meeting to discuss the situation in South Africa. Compared with South Africa, the British in India actually know more about the situation in Europe, because they can pass through Turkey. Get news on the Continent. Now the French have established a cable telegraph system throughout Europe, organized a transnational cable telegraph alliance, and even have telegraph offices in Petersburg and Istanbul.

Of course, the news from Turkey is not good news, and many British people in India can't believe it completely, but it is certain that the situation is unfavorable. Especially after the news of the North Atlantic naval battle came, the British in India were quite nervous. They all knew that if the British failed in the war, then they should not think about keeping India.

Governor Prima felt that the guys from the East India Company would definitely be willing to accept more reliable British out of consideration for keeping India. But the guys from the East India Company didn't think so. They think that even if all the people in Cape Town come here, can the basic balance of power be changed? If in Europe, the French win in the end, then the French fight over, and with the extra manpower in Cape Town, can they hold India? This is completely dreaming.

Therefore, the future of India depends on the outcome of the war in Europe. If the European side wins, the East India Company doesn't need to let the British from Cape Town come here at all. If Europe loses, what is the best course of action for the Lords of the East India Company? Of course, before the French came to fight, they quickly scraped a piece of land in India, and grabbed the last one before leaving. Then, the British with a lower status and less money brought these raids with them. If you are soft, go to other places, such as Australia or other places. As for the people with higher ranks, they have collected more money, and they have more connections. They have already prepared certain channels, and they can use the money they searched for before the French call. deposited in the Bank of Rome. Then they change their names, buy an identity in Austria, or the German states, and then swagger to Paris, and live a happy, (financially) completely free life ever since.

That being the case, what are the guys from Cape Town doing here? Let them come over and split the money?

Now that such an idea is in place, the reaction speed of the East India Company is naturally conceivable. In short, the representatives sent by Governor Prima were kicked by the East India Company guys like a ball from one department to another. , and kicked from that department to this department. In short, each department has its own set of rhetoric and a road map, and this road map points the "next step" sign to another department.

I don't know whether Kafka, who wrote "The Castle" in later generations, did similar things like running official documents. However, if he could time travel this novel and show it to Major Johnson, he would definitely feel that he was exactly the "K" in the book.

He ran like a silly dog ​​according to the route map given by those guys from the East India Company. He was first informed by the company that this matter must be requested by the Governor of India, Mr. Gilbert Elliott-Murray-Kinningmond, Earl of Minto, before the company can implement it.

"Ah, my friend, you know that when dealing with some political issues these days, the company is very restricted. Things like this, without the approval of Governor Elliott, will definitely not work."

So he was kicked from Mumbai in the west of India to Calcutta in the east of India. and then?

"You know, my friend, we don't have the power to make decisions. You know, according to the 1784 Act ("East India Company Act"), such important decisions must be authorized by the management committee. And the management committee, Now in the country."

According to the "East India Company Act" of 1784, the decision-making power of the East India Company in political aspects is subject to the orders of the British government. To accomplish this task, the act established a governing committee on Indian affairs. The committee includes the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a Secretary of State and four Privy Council advisers appointed by the King. According to this act, all actions involving various political decisions must be approved by this committee.

"That's not right," said Major Johnson. "I remember that in 1786, according to the new Enabling Act, the Commission had delegated more powers to the Governor General of India."

"Ah, the Enabling Act of 1786 did delegate most of the powers to the Governor, but the scope authorized by the Act to Governor Elliott to decide on his own is limited to India, and at most it extends to the Far East, but the Cape London does not belong to the Far East.” The official with a mustache replied, “So, even if Mr. Governor Elliott makes such a request, this request is obviously out of bounds, unless it is approved by the committee, otherwise, Governor Elliott has no authority to authorize such an action."

"But...if we can get the authorization from the committee, it means that the blockade of the British mainland has been broken, and then we don't need this authorization." Major Johnson said.

"Yes, you are right." The mustache official nodded and said, "Who says no, but rules are rules. If you don't follow the rules, isn't it a mess? Besides, if you don't follow the rules If something goes wrong, who do you think will be responsible? I just heard you say that the command of the sea over Cape Town is in the hands of the French. In case, I mean in case, our ships I was hit by their steam warship, and then it was sunk, and a lot of noble people died in one fell swoop. The reason for such a loss is that we made an illegal decision beyond our authority. This responsibility is too great ...Well, so, I suggest that you go directly to the company, don't get involved in political matters, just rent a ship from them in the name of ordinary business behavior..."

So Mustache successfully completed a defensive clearance. Major Johnson didn't even see the Governor, but he kicked him directly from the restricted area on the east side of the stadium to near the restricted area on the west side of the stadium. Ah, it should be from Kolkata in the east of India to Mumbai in the west of India.

and then? Well, of course the company has more solutions.

"Sir, you have shown us the letter of Governor Prima, and we have already recorded this matter, and the record has been signed and filed, so you say now, this is purely economic behavior, It is very difficult to pass our superiors. Of course, if there is no opinion from above, of course I have no objection. Well, I can issue a note to you, and you go directly to our superiors. In fact, the one who made the decision The power is in their hands, even if you convince me, I have no right to make a decision, I can only submit the information to the above."

So, Major Jossen went to the "superior", the "superior"'s equal, and the "superior's" superior. He ran until he felt that he could sign up for the marathon in the next Olympic Games and win the gold medal easily, and finally got a reluctant result.

"You know, the command of the sea in this area is not in our hands. Once our ships encounter enemy warships, it will be very dangerous."

"That's not a problem, sir. The characteristics of steamships are very obvious. We can detect them in advance and avoid them."

"What about night? Can we avoid it in advance at night?"

"We do need to be careful at night. But they may not have enough coal and good enough maintenance to maintain the high-density cruise of the warship when they sailed from a long distance..."

"But overall, it's still pretty dangerous, right?"

Seeing that Major Qiao Sen stopped talking, the "superior" superior smiled slightly and said, "I think you can completely bypass our company, just like you bypassed the governor. You can go directly to those captains and talk to them. , and then we'll pretend we don't know anything..."

So Major Johnson was kicked from the upper floor to the bottom floor again, and went directly to talk to the captains. Then……

"How is this possible? They pretend not to know? Once something goes wrong, isn't it all our responsibility? How can they pretend not to know? This can't be done, can't be done, these upper-level bastards, their butts are sticking out One poke, and I know what they're pulling! My friend, listen to me, it really won't work unless you pay more..."

It is possible to add money, but the price asked by the captains below is a bit too big.

"Why is it so expensive?"

"Isn't this normal? You think, this route is very risky, and you have to fool the superiors, at least not let them send me another mission while we are running this job, and the guy above is pretending I don’t know, it’s not that I really don’t know, so we have to share a lot of our income with the above, and even the bulk of the profits have to be theirs. Then, you also know that if our ship goes to the Turks, I'll take some cargo and make some money along the way. But going to Cape Town, I can't bring anything along the way. That's running an empty boat...so, my friend, my price is really not expensive , is really very, very conscientious."