The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1176: Chapter 126: Money Laundering? No, Railway Investment! (6K2)_4

Therefore, he specifically requested the position of Baden Duchy’s consul from President Jackson. Although nominally he’s the consul of the United States, as long as the German States are willing to summon Liszt without prejudice, he will immediately restore his identity as a proud German.

However, it can’t be said that Liszt is not meticulous in his work, because every person has some vanity.

After all, during this era, Europeans going to the United States is actually quite a disgraceful thing. If you tell others you’re a new immigrant to the United States, it’s almost like admitting you couldn’t make it in Europe and are a piece of foreign trash.

Liszt, at least, is a scholar and has been a university professor and a Wurttemberg parliamentarian; people with such status must maintain some dignity.

Whenever Liszt talks about railway construction, his lips go up and down rapidly, spitting flying in all directions.

He introduces the grand blueprint in his mind in detail, having already proposed a feasible plan for connecting Bavaria’s railway network with the port cities within the Hansa Alliance during his time in the United States.

Upon conducting on-site investigations in Germany, he published an article in the newspaper titled “On the Saxony Railway System as the General Foundation of the German Railway System: Also Discussing the Necessity of Building the Leipzig-Dresden Railway”.

Reportedly, his article garnered great attention from King Anton I of Saxony, but due to Liszt’s criminal political history, the conservative Anton I harbors doubts about employing Liszt.

Yet even without employing Liszt, the Saxon Kingdom Government still carefully considered adopting his proposal—to build a railway from Leipzig to Dresden.

If a common person hears Liszt’s words, they’d likely just smile and let it go.

But the problem is, Arthur isn’t an ordinary person. As a young millionaire who made a modest wealth from the Italian revolution, Sir Arthur Hastings is currently at the stage where his pockets are burning with too much money.

Moreover, the source of this surplus fortune is extremely suspicious. Although British Government’s anti-corruption measures aren’t stringent, the problem is, this money hasn’t been divided above, and it was extracted from Viscount Palmeston’s Foreign Office.

Viscount Palmeston is well-liked by London socialites, but for the civil servants at the Foreign Office, there’s no one more terrifying than this vigorous iron-handed minister.

To prevent Viscount Palmeston from discovering the catch, a solution for laundering the money must be found.

The railway investment proposal by Liszt is indeed a very good idea, but Arthur doesn’t want to invest the money elsewhere; instead, he hopes to invest it in the Kingdom of Hanover.

Arthur believes if the money is invested in other German States, given his status, he likely doesn’t have the capacity to impact the government decisions of those countries.

Secondly, due to the unique relationship between the Kingdom of Hanover and Britain, Hanover has always enjoyed many conveniences that the German brother states haven’t—such as relaxed tariff policies and the ease of exchanging industrial and agricultural products.

As a result, many German States even go so far as to let the Kingdom of Hanover take advantage and act as a middleman, selling their agricultural products and lumber through Hanover to Britain.

But the Kingdom of Hanover hasn’t monopolized all advantages, because it naturally lacks a coastal outlet—Hanover is a landlocked country.

Thus, all import and export trade in Hanover must proceed through the free ports of Bremen and Hamburg.

If a railway could be built from Hanover to Bremen and Hamburg, this business couldn’t possibly lose money.

Thinking of this, Arthur looked at Liszt with a renewed warmth. Not only that, even Krupp, the manufacturer of counterfeit instruments, seemed more agreeable in Arthur’s eyes.

Perhaps Krupp’s technology isn’t sufficient for scientific instruments, but if it’s about making rails, shouldn’t they be able to succeed with some effort?

Arthur’s face involuntarily showed the typical gentle smile of a British gentleman at this thought.

And it’s unclear if it’s the effect of British Pounds or alcohol, but this Knight of the third year of King William IV even became enthusiastic about helping with Liszt’s daughter’s debut performance.

Arthur cheerfully decided to put the railway matters aside for now and discuss the debut issue of Miss Liszt, intending first to extend a personal favor: “Mr. Liszt, the railway matters can be discussed slowly, but the most urgent thing now should be your daughter’s debut performance, shouldn’t it?”