The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1133: Chapter 111: An Honorary Doctor Isn’t a Real Doctor?

Without bold conjectures, there can be no great discoveries.

——Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss

In the Gottingen University Main Hall, the arched ceiling was adorned with mythological patterns from Ancient Greece and Rome, with wooden benches neatly arranged, solemn and dignified. Sunlight streamed in through the tall stained glass windows, casting light on the academic honor shields and portraits of historical figures on the walls, adding a sacred hue to this century-old temple of learning.

Dressed in black robes, holding lecture notes and memos, the professors were arriving one after another. They quickly found familiar spots on the benches, whispering in groups of threes and fives, discussing the latest developments in their respective disciplines, while others talked about the recently appointed National Special Representative — the young Sir Arthur Hastings.

After the Frankfurt garrison incident, the professors generally believed that the Ministry of Education would appoint a traditional hardline noble to the position of Göttingen University Supervisor. In fact, when they first learned of Sir Arthur Hastings’s resume, the professors thought their previous speculations were indeed confirmed.

According to British newspaper accounts, before coming to Göttingen University, this young Sir was the most notorious police chief in all of Britain, ordering fire on protestors during the 1832 British Parliament reform. Moreover, after leaving Scotland Yard, many of the dark secrets during Arthur Hastings’s tenure gradually came to light.

Although no one could produce related evidence, the Fleet Street media in London insisted that during his time as the Police Intelligence Department director, Arthur Hastings was extravagantly bribing hooligans to act as police informants, creating various conveniences for these criminals to monitor the good citizens of London from all aspects.

According to some unnamed local informants, this scoundrel Arthur Hastings should face numerous serious charges, including but not limited to: abuse of power interfering with police equipment procurement tenders, retaliation against others, financial and political interest transfers to specific groups, judicial investigation interference by tampering with evidence and influencing witnesses, and so on.

Of course, the evaluation of Sir Arthur Hastings by Fleet Street was not entirely one-sided criticism.

The Times, a publication partly owned by the Rothschild Family, London’s hottest fashion-literature magazine ”Brits”, and the political-economic magazine ”Economist” most favored by Financial City bankers, among others, unanimously supported Sir Arthur Hastings.

The Times recently even praised Sir Arthur Hastings as truly the greatest and most professionally competent British police officer of the 19th century.

He made a generous and passionate speech as his debut gift, helping the British people end the dark history of the ”Bloody Code”.

During the night of the London riots, he again demonstrated extraordinary calm and steadiness, guiding the nation through the final darkness before dawn.

After the parliament reform was completed, Arthur Hastings indeed ’departed lightly, hiding his merits and fame.’

Despite high salaries and positions being seen as dirt, and the Home Office repeatedly urging him to stay, Sir Arthur Hastings resolutely resigned from the Assistant Police Director position at the Royal Greater London Police Department, proactively taking all accountability for certain excessive actions by the Metropolitan Police during the riot night.

Superintendent Laidley King from Scotland Yard, in tears during an interview, said, ”On the day Sir left Scotland Yard, I begged him not to leave us, but Sir just stood by the window with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sun, telling us: ’If someone must be held responsible for this, I hope it’s me, and it can only be me.’”

Alongside him, Superintendent Tony Eckhart, Superintendent Tom Flanders, and Inspector Thomas Plunkett, other senior police officers trusted by the public, also confirmed to The Times reporters: ”Yes, that’s how it was.”

The Times reporters also felt a deep sense of loss for the British public over losing such an outstanding police commander. They even initiated a vote on Arthur Hastings subsequently in the newspaper.

The final vote showed that 50% of the people wished for Sir to return to Scotland Yard, while the remaining 50% demanded to hang this executioner under the Tower of London.

Interestingly, the reasons given by voters wishing Arthur’s return and those demanding his execution were astonishingly similar: everyone thought Arthur Hastings was indeed too capable.

However, whether Arthur Hastings is a capable and upright police officer or a capable executioner, after taking office as Göttingen University Supervisor, he should make some moves.

Surprisingly, the new Supervisor, after taking office, didn’t even make a big news, not even a small one.

What the professors did know is that on the first day Hastings School Director took office, he was mistaken as a riot student by the Gottingen police station and taken in.

However, afterward, he neither retaliated against the police chief as the London media said nor ordered a strict punishment on the riot students.

After a few days of calm, professors heard from the law faculty professors that they occasionally saw this new Supervisor ’military training’ the problem student Bismarck on the campus lawn.