The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 654 - 320 Disraeli’s Ambition_2

Disraeli heard this and his expression turned from black to green and then to red, "His criticism is a bit too wide-ranging!"

Arthur consoled him, "Benjamin, why the hurry? I think he’s mostly targeting those usurers. Isn’t your father a literary critic? He doesn’t work in the Financial City. Even if someone has to be worried, it should be Rothschild’s Lionel, not you. Heinrich’s cannons haven’t reached you yet."

Disraeli sat down and took a big gulp of wine, almost choking on a guinea in the process.

He spat out the coin and said, "Now I finally understand why Lionel was so insistent that we keep an eye on Heine’s works. This fellow really does curse wherever he goes—a true case of old habits dying hard. Haven’t we settled his fees? Let’s quickly send him back to Paris; let the French deal with this great poet."

Even then, he seemed not fully relieved, adding, "I always knew it, those Ashkenazi Jews living in Eastern Europe are stubborn and rebellious, and most of the bad reputation of Jews is brewed by them."

"Hmm?" Arthur asked, "Aren’t you from the same stock?"

"Of course not," Disraeli proudly declared, "I am a noble Sephardic Jew, my mother was a Spanish Jew, the noblest among Jews. And my father was an Italian Jew, my grandfather came from the city of wealth, Venice."

But as soon as he said this, Disraeli felt something was off, and he quickly added, "Of course, my grandfather had nothing to do with Shylock, the miser in ’The Merchant of Venice’. My lineage proves that I am a nobleman among Jews."

Arthur, swirling his wine glass, replied, "Of course, I’ve known this for a while now. Benjamin, because of that speech in the House of Commons, the whole of Britain now knows your ancestors were Jewish rabbis in Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem."

Disraeli blushed at this, a rare occurrence, "Arthur, you know I’m not a spiteful person. I didn’t mean to insult everyone; it was just some uncouth members of the parliament who angered me."

Disraeli thought that Arthur would be upset because of his speech in the House of Commons, but to his surprise, his friend didn’t care at all.

Arthur shrugged and said, "I’m not really concerned about those words. In my view, it’s better for a political figure to have a personality than none at all. Rather than apologizing to me, you should take better care of Mrs. Sykes’ feelings."

Disraeli replied with a smile, "You don’t need to worry about Mrs. Sykes. My relationship with her... how should I put it? Our affection is very strong. Apart from my sister Sarah, I can’t find any woman who has been better to me than she has.

She admires my work, recognizes my talent, and even after learning about my old grievance with ’Blackwood’s’, planned to confront them for me. Of course, as a gentleman of breeding, I cannot allow her to take such a risk."

You know, ’Blackwood’s’ bunch bite even mad dogs, they don’t spare the fairer sex. Moreover, I was able to ascend to the stage of the House of Commons largely thanks to Mrs. Sykes, who introduced me to Earl Lyndhurst. Oh, Arthur, you have no idea, her care for me is almost as if she wants to hold me in her arms!"

Upon hearing this, Arthur simply looked bemusedly at Disraeli, "Benjamin, I’m increasingly finding Alexander’s comment about you quite apt."

"Hmm? What did he secretly say about me?"

"Nothing much,"

Arthur recalled the disdainful expression on the face of the Frenchman and imitating his tone, said, "Rather than saying Benjamin is looking for a lover, it would be better to say he is looking for a new mother."

"Ah!" Disraeli’s eyes widened, but his microexpressions revealed a guilty conscience, "That bastard, how dare he be so rude!"

Arthur, with hands pressing down, said, "Calm down, Benjamin. It’s not really a criticism of you, and you’re not the first successful man I’ve met today who’s in a hurry to find a new mother."

Disraeli was about to swear, but Arthur’s comment made him hold back, "Damn... Hmm? To what extent was the first successful man successful?"

Arthur waved the smoke in front of him, "Do you still remember the scene of Hell I introduced to you before?"

"Of course, I remember."

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "If it were up to me to judge, I would have sentenced him to be tortured under Plutus’s supervision for ten thousand years."

"Francis Bacon? You resurrected him?"

"Huh? What does this have to do with Bacon?"

Disraeli rolled his eyes, "Don’t you know? Bacon was one of Britain’s most notorious corrupt officials. When he was High Chancellor, he often blatantly accepted bribes from litigants in person. For this, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and fined forty thousand pounds."

However, Bacon was quite honest about it. He was not like other corrupt officials who would do everything to argue their innocence; instead, he pleaded guilty in court. Even his confession was quite unique. He said, ’I was the most righteous judge in Britain for the past fifty years, but my conviction was the most righteous decision made by Parliament in the last two hundred years.’

Hearing this, Arthur just smiled, "The first guest I met today was not as honest as Bacon, but his power exceeded Bacon’s by far."

"So, who exactly is he?"

"Former Foreign Minister of the French Republic, Foreign Secretary of the French Empire, Court Guard Commander, Prince of Benevento, Imperial Grand Elector, Chairman of the Ministerial Council and Foreign Secretary of the Bourbon Dynasty of France, and currently the Ambassador of the July Monarchy in Britain, Mr. Talleyrand-Perigord."

"Talleyrand?" Disraeli heard the name and immediately felt that something was off, "What are you doing meeting with him?"

Arthur replied seriously, "It concerns national security issues, so I am not at liberty to discuss this with you alone."

Although Arthur didn’t say it, Disraeli had already keenly sensed that this must certainly be related to the Liverpool assassination case.

Linking this to the impeachment case of Palmerston that Arthur had alluded to earlier, the politically savvy Jewish young man finally realized the gravity of the situation.

"Even the French are involved..."

Disraeli pondered for a moment, then suddenly hinted, "Arthur, even if you hadn’t come to find me today, I was actually planning to look for you. I have just entered the House of Commons, so I have not yet decided which committee to join. However, with Christmas approaching and Parliament about to adjourn, I must make a decision soon. Do you think I should go to the Foreign Affairs Committee for experience, or would joining the newly established Liverpool Inquiry Committee be better?"

Arthur just smiled in response, "Benjamin, although I would like to see justice served for a friend like me, in my view, if you are striving to become Prime Minister, you must exert your intelligence and try to get into the finance-related committees. As for the assassination case, Alexander and others will take care of it for me, but there is one thing that only you can do."

"What is it?"

Arthur took out the municipal engineering renovation plan he brought back from Liverpool from his briefcase, "Although we cannot yet make a definitive determination, the preliminary prevention measures in Liverpool almost certainly link the spread of cholera to the dirty environment and unclean water sources. Therefore, if we want to completely resolve this issue, we must undertake a large-scale renovation of the slums in Liverpool, and the sewer system will need a thorough overhaul."

Disraeli took the renovation plan and glanced at it, "I don’t know much about medical matters, but even if Liverpool is to be renovated, what does that have to do with me joining the finance committee?"

Arthur just smiled lightly, "Do you know that the Treasury has set debt ceilings for local governments? The specific body responsible for approving these debt limits is the House of Commons’ Public Works Committee."