The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1485: Chapter 241: The Emperor’s Ministers Are Unshadowed, Their Simplicity Is in the Emperor’s Heart

The attendants jogged in to move away the twelve ice crystal prisms, and the sunlight suddenly poured through the stained glass windows.

Arthur had a fleeting glimpse lingering on his retina — those ice mirrors sliced the entire hall into fragments at special angles, each piece reflecting the faces of different officials. Some were wiping sweat, some had their Adams’ apples bobbing, and an old earl in a purple robe was tucking a cross into his collar.

Tsar Nicholas I sat in a gold-plated Byzantine-style dining chair, with his index finger’s old scar pressed against the cover of ”History of Little Russia.”

”Whiskey from your hometown.” The Tsar held up a glass, the clinking of ice causing a slight echo in the hall: ”But we’ve added a bit of Volga River water. I’ve heard that drinking it this way allows you to hear the confessions of those drowned under the ice.”

Arthur gave a slight bow to the Tsar, and at a glance, he saw the table set with china painted with English countryside scenes: ”This is... both whiskey and Wedgwood tableware, you really have put in much thought.”

Seeing Arthur notice his meticulous arrangements, Tsar Nicholas I felt somewhat better: ”You have a good eye; indeed, it’s Wedgwood china. My grandmother loved Wedgwood pottery. She would order from Wedgwood almost every year. Although everyone always says that Saxony’s Meissen porcelain is the symbol of nobility, my dear old grandmother had a particular fondness for British goods in porcelain.”

Hearing these royal anecdotes, Arthur, considering his identity, naturally came out to endorse British manufacturing: ”Catherine the Great had excellent taste in this regard, and was also very wise with household thrift. As you mentioned, Meissen porcelain has been the industry benchmark for nearly a century. But in my view, the reason Meissen porcelain is so coveted is simply because traditional production methods make it scarce — it’s the ’rarity makes it precious’ mentality at work. Yet Wedgwood’s quality pottery perfectly demonstrates a saying — British manufacturing is for the masses, not just for the rich.”

Arthur carefully examined this set of china, noticing the frog heads used for decoration on the edges of the plates, and suddenly remembered something: ”Could this be the Frog Service?”

Tsar Nicholas I was somewhat surprised: ”You’re familiar with this service?”

Arthur nodded slightly: ”To be honest, it’s a bit embarrassing. When I was ordering Wedgwood pottery in London, they recommended their signature product to me — the Queen’s Ware. It’s called that because two queens had ordered products from them. One set was a cream-colored tea set ordered by our own Queen Charlotte, and the other was this 952-piece Frog Service ordered by your grandmother. They said that when this Frog Service was first fired, they even capitalized on the public’s curiosity and advertised it.”

Tsar Nicholas I asked curiously: ”How did they advertise it, in the newspapers?”

”No,” Arthur alluded while complimenting: ”The Wedgwood company took this Empress’ ware to exhibit in London, and tickets were needed to view it. Yet even so, due to it bearing the ’Catherine the Great Exclusive’ title, visitors came in endless streams. After the exhibition ended, the Queen’s Ware name became well-known throughout Britain, making their products’ value soar, practically in high demand.”

Hearing that the Tsar’s reputation was so respected in Britain greatly satisfied Tsar Nicholas I’s vanity, and his bad mood caused by the Moscow fire improved significantly.

Tsar Nicholas I even playfully joked with Arthur: ”Such things could only occur to British merchants. Honestly, sometimes I secretly pray to God that our merchants could have half the wisdom of British merchants.”

Arthur jested in response: ”Perhaps you should also wish for the citizens of St. Petersburg and Moscow to have the same penchant for excitement as Londoners. It’s not just masterpieces like Tsar porcelain — if they found two dogs fighting in the alley, they’d gossip about it for a whole day, maybe even place bets on the dogs winning.”

Tsar Nicholas I sighed: ”No matter how you look at it, British products are practically filling the corners of European royal families. For example, my brother, Leopold of Belgium. I hear when he was just a small Anhalt prince, his countryside estate in Wolitz was designed to look like a little England, from the very British garden, to the very British mullioned windows, and very British neoclassical rooms. He even reserved a perfect place for Wedgwood’s ceramic products, which Goethe visited several times for this very reason.”

Arthur seized the opportunity to recommend to the Tsar: ”Actually, it’s not just porcelain; if you need anything, you should send someone to Sheffield in our country. They produce ninety percent of Britain’s knives, perfect for outfitting a kitchen.”

Tsar Nicholas I looked at the cultural attaché who had suddenly transformed into a salesperson, finding him both admirable and amusing: ”Sending someone for a few sets of knives would be wasteful. However, if they forge cavalry sabers there, I might consider it.”

”Cavalry sabers? If that’s what you have in mind, I think Birmingham is the best place to go,” Arthur replied with a smile. ”Various tools, all kinds of locks, firearms, swords, and household hardware items all come from Birmingham. To be honest, you should know that I took a bullet under the Tower of London, right? That bullet was also a Birmingham product.”