The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1169: Chapter 124: Precise German Flattery (Part 3)

Arthur corrected upon hearing: ”It’s not Di Israel, it’s Di...”

Before Arthur could finish his sentence, Disraeli exclaimed: ”Damn it! You actually guessed right.”

This statement surprised Arthur: ”Benjamin, did you change your surname?”

Disraeli said with a displeased face: ”It’s not that I changed my surname, I was originally surnamed Di Israel. Did you forget? I am a second-generation immigrant, my grandfather was from the wealth city Venice in Italy, a true Italian Sephardic Jew. You should know, the Italian middle name ’Di’ is like the German ’Von’, the Dutch ’Van’, meaning ’from’. The true meaning of our family’s surname is ’from Israel’.”

”From Israel?” Arthur counted on his fingers: ”Then it seems your family has rooted in Venice for quite a few years.”

Agares, who was lying on the railing watching the drama, added: ”To be precise, it has been rooted in Venice for two thousand four hundred years. The Hebrew Kingdom established by King Solomon split into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah after his death. The capital of the Kingdom of Israel, Samaria, was conquered by the Assyrian Empire as early as the 8th century BC.”

Arthur frowned and asked Disraeli: ”Benjamin, why did you change your surname for no reason? Is it because you don’t like this surname with Italian and Jewish features?”

”Not at all, I am proud of my Jewish lineage and my family’s Italian tradition.”

Disraeli said: ”But Arthur, you also know, my father is a well-known literati and historian. I have been called ’the son of Mr. Di Israel’ since I was a child, I hate this title, I don’t like being called anyone’s son either. In my opinion, this is a disrespect to my years of hard work. So I removed that dot from the middle of the surname, ever since then, I am no longer anyone’s appendage, but a unique Mr. Disraeli.”

At this point, Krupp could not help but ask curiously: ”You changed your surname, didn’t your father have any opinions?”

”Of course, he had opinions, he even vowed with me.”

Disraeli laughed with pride: ”When I first changed my surname, my father was furious when he saw my newly printed business card, scolding me for disrespecting the tradition of the Di Israel family. I told him, only incompetent people say that, people like me with capability will naturally become the tradition of the entire family in the future. I told him, I will certainly be elected as a national member of parliament, and I will become the Prime Minister. My father didn’t believe it, he vowed with me, if I get elected as an MP, he would change his surname to be like mine.”

Krupp listened keenly: ”And the result?”

”The result?” Disraeli laughed heartily: ”Now my father got what he wished for. Not only has my father’s business card become Disraeli, even my sister’s surname is the same as mine!”

Krupp originally thought Disraeli was joking, because he looked only in his twenties, yet he was a British MP, making the young Krupp couldn’t help but express surprise: ”You... you actually got elected as an MP? And as a Jewish identity?”

”Jewish identity? No.” Disraeli arrogantly tugged at his red bow tie: ”As a man with capability. There are many Jews in Britain, but as far as I know, before me, the Jewish person elected as MP was David Ricardo.”

At the right moment, Krupp complimented: ”I don’t know much about economics, but I’ve heard of David Ricardo’s name, he’s a giant in Britain’s economics circle. I didn’t expect you, at a young age, to already be able to match such a figure as Ricardo.”

Although Disraeli tried hard to appear calm, the smile at the corner of his eye betrayed him.

Although elected as an MP, Disraeli clearly is not a wise and cunning politician in the eyes of the audience. He has an extraordinary desire for performance by nature, always likes standing center stage, and does not like keeping everything to himself.

Disraeli timely diverted the conversation to his old friend, he put his arm around Arthur’s shoulder and said: ”Not only Ricardo, my friend Sir Arthur Hastings here is a disciple of Jeremy Bentham. Meanwhile, he was also the first person in Britain to be knighted as an officer. Don’t blame me for not warning you, in the area of scientific instruments, Arthur is certainly an expert. If he hadn’t been sent to the University of Gottingen to serve as Academic Director, by now he might’ve been holding a position in the Royal Society’s laboratory, he is a master in electromagnetism.”

”Of course, how dare I cheat at the University of Gottingen?”

Krupp, full of sincerity, but eyes constantly signaling to Arthur and Disraeli: ”Would you two be convenient to have a word?”

As the duo who had dealt with the Liverpool urban transformation plan, Disraeli and Arthur knew what the kid wanted at a glance.

It seems things like engineering bidding and equipment procurement are not just British specialties, but the same in Germany.

Disraeli glanced at Arthur, speaking with a smile yet not a smile: ”The weather is a bit hot today, why don’t I treat you two to a drink?”

Upon hearing this, Krupp was relieved halfway.

This order shows promise!

He saw the office manager walking away, then he smiled and asked: ”This is the biggest difference between foreign officers and German officers! No wonder both Prussia and Hanover like to find foreigners to be officials in Germany. If it was a German serving as Academic Director, he might’ve already reached out asking me for money, while you, you two actually want to treat me to a drink!”

The three walked in a row, upon hearing Krupp’s words, Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle: ”Are German officers very corrupt?”

”Oh! Not just corrupt!”

Krupp pretended to speak through gritted teeth.

”Take my hometown, Essen for example. The local tax officials were charged with embezzling public funds the year before last. These scumbags not only falsified tax records to intercept government tax revenue, but also imposed many non-existent taxes on local businessmen and farmers like me. Some of them abused their power to purchase lands from farmers at low prices and then sell them to nobility or merchants at high prices, profiting hugely.

As for the military, it’s even more chaotic. I previously went to bid for the army’s procurement contract, clearly our offer was lower, but we just couldn’t win the bid. Later, I found out that the Prussian army’s high-ranking officials usually only hand supply contracts to friends and relatives of theirs, taking kickbacks and bribes in return.

The military supplies they provided were not only of poor quality, but the military expenses were also grossly inflated. This corruption behavior directly affected the combat effectiveness of the army and resulted in immense financial loss. Although the army has carried out several internal investigations and a number of involved senior officers have been dismissed, due to the nepotism among the high-level connections, it won’t be long until those offending officials are reinstated.”

After speaking, Krupp sighed: ”By comparison, foreign officials like you two are much easier to deal with. No complicated relationships, and speaking is straightforward. Moreover, the kings and grand dukes of various kingdoms trust you very much, almost not being as stringent as they are with German officials. I used to wonder why this was the case, but later someone told me, it’s because such talented foreigners like you were personally invited by the kings and grand dukes, could the kings and grand dukes possibly choose wrongly, picking a corrupt person as an official?”