The Fox of France

Chapter 258: Time for the Mad Genius

Returning from Sir Peter's place, Addington immediately sought out the Minister of the Navy for a comprehensive, well-thought-out plan to blockade the Irish coastline, which he could use as a reference.

He then wrote a letter to the Duke of Norfolk to understand his stance. The Duke naturally supported the blockade of Ireland, but he suggested that the ideal time should be one or two months before the harvest season. Nonetheless, preparations should begin immediately.

Two days later, during a gathering at the Royal Society, a secret was whispered by Addington's secretary to Matthew Bolton, who was present: "The Navy has developed a new weapon for blockading the Irish coast…"

To many, Matthew Bolton's membership in the Royal Society was largely attributed to Watt's influence. While he was indeed a capable engineer, the level of his actual ability fell somewhat short of the Royal Society's standards.

But if you were to talk about trading skills, Bolton was genuinely deserving of saying, "I'm not targeting any of you in this circle." After all, in this business, "nobody understood trade better than me."

Bolton's face changed as soon as he heard the news. After confirming it once more, he found an excuse to leave the gathering with Watt.

In their carriage ride back, Bolton informed Watt of this news. Watt immediately exclaimed, "How can this be? We've just… and our…"

"James, keep your voice down," Bolton advised. "Don't get agitated. I believe Mr. Addington's intention is that the government has not yet made a final decision. Think about it; this is such a huge matter, not only involving us but also affecting many others, such as those in the textile industry. Once we truly resume hostilities with France, you can imagine the losses they'd incur. It's quite possible that we'd see numerous factories shuttering immediately. In such a case, London Bridge might be filled with people trying to jump into the Thames, and it might even collapse under the sheer weight. You know, it reminds me of a nursery rhyme my mother used to sing to me when I was a child: 'London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down…'"

Saying that, Bolton actually started singing.

While Watt wasn't pleased that Bolton would indulge in such humor at this critical moment, Bolton's nonchalant attitude did help relieve some of Watt's tension.

"Matthew, don't act like a child," Watt urged. "The current issue is how we should handle this."

"Of course, the first step is to spread the word, so everyone knows," Bolton replied.

...

Almost simultaneously, in other places, some businessmen with close ties to the Admiralty also received similar information. Some even had detailed news, including technical specifications.

Two days later, in the inaugural issue of a newly established small newspaper, an article titled "Royal Navy Develops Secret Weapon, French Left Astonished" was published. What made it even more damning was that the article straightforwardly declared that the weapon leaving the French "astonished" was a naval mine.

The London police department immediately shut down the newspaper and arrested every individual associated with it, including the editor-in-chief, reporters, printers, and the newsboy - a Mr. Anderson Sobie. They subjected him to an interrogation. During the questioning, Mr. Sobie claimed that his source of information came from a divine revelation. He asserted that God had appeared to him in a dream and granted him this revelation.

Naturally, such a statement left the police officers feeling insulted, believing their intelligence was under attack. As a result, a few policemen took the liberty of giving Mr. Sobie a good beating, leaving him unrecognizable. But Sobie remained unyielding, and whenever he found a moment to catch his breath during the police's efforts to fix him, he continued to preach to them:

"God says the day is near, and you must repent! God is the Almighty, and I am His messenger. You are all going to hell for this! Merciful, omnipotent God, please have mercy on them and forgive their sins because they do not know what they're doing…"

This persistent behavior baffled several police officers; it seemed like this guy really had some mental issues. But could a madman operate a newspaper? And the Navy's representatives were getting increasingly anxious to find out who was hiding behind this person.

However, it didn't take long before representatives from the London Lunatic Asylum came knocking. According to their claims, this individual named Sobie was their patient.

"Ah, Chief John, this man is indeed one of our patients. He has been suffering from delusional disorders for a long time. About six months ago, some patients went missing during our hospital's relocation. We even published a missing persons' notice in the newspaper and reported it to your department," said Mr. Woolf, one of the asylum staff.

"Then how did you find your way here?" Chief John inquired.

"You know, we never gave up searching for them, especially Anderson Sobie. His uncle is quite wealthy and visits him every year… his visit is imminent. Well, he is one of the hospital's major donors. So we've been searching for him, even through private detectives."

A few days ago, Detective Sherlock Moriarty informed us that he had received news of a man who appeared to closely resemble the described Anderson Sobie and was active in the area, so we tracked him down..."

"Are you sure this person is Anderson Sobie? Do you have any proof?" John, the police chief, inquired.

"Of course, we do," Woolf replied. "Chief, we've brought along a complete set of records about Anderson Sobie from the time he entered our hospital five years ago, including his handprint records from five years ago."

"Can we see them?" Chief John asked.

After verification, the handprints on the records from five years ago matched those of the detained Anderson Sobie. Chief John promptly informed the Navy of this development. However, the Navy considered it a conspiracy and believed that there must be spies and saboteurs behind this person.

"So, you're saying that the madman's claims have some basis?" Chief John questioned.

"Chief, I have to remind you that you've crossed a line by asking questions you shouldn't," said Charles, an official from the Admiralty.

"Ah," Chief John was taken aback but quickly composed himself. "Well, it seems there's only one possibility then."

"What possibility?"

"Someone knows a secret, and for some purpose, they want to leak it. However, they know it's dangerous, so they've found this madman and used some method to influence him, insinuating that he received a divine revelation, and then orchestrated this drama. Well, Mr. Charles, I believe that's the most likely scenario."

"So, can you catch the person who influenced him?"

"That's likely to be very difficult," Chief John decided to be frank. "Firstly, this guy is genuinely a madman, and anything he says could be delusion or nonsense. It's hard to obtain any valuable information from him, and even if we do, we can't use his confession as evidence in court. In fact, if you insist on continuing the investigation, I'd suggest you directly consult the London Lunatic Asylum. They might have more experience in dealing with such individuals."

Originally, this matter should have ended with some tabloid headlines. Moreover, because the madman's newspaper had limited circulation, it didn't seem like it would cause much of a stir.

However, right after that, the French newspaper "Le Soleil" prominently reported the story in its humor section. Yet, in the report, there was an interesting statement: "But what's interesting is that the madman was not initially found by the lunatic asylum but was arrested first by the police on suspicion of 'leaking national secrets.' Of course, we have not yet discovered what 'secrets' were involved, as the publication of his newspaper was extremely limited. If any of our readers have indeed seen it, please write to us and enlighten us."

"Le Soleil's" report was just the beginning. Next, the "English Free Press Alliance" followed suit, and they reported the news in their regular news section. Their focus was on the people's freedom of speech.

"A madman writing some fantastical nonsense should have been met with a chuckle and left at that. But our police department went all out to arrest him, even using violence to force a confession... Today, they can throw him in jail for some lunatic writing gibberish. Tomorrow, they could tie up journalists who exposed scandals like 'The Lancet' incident and burn them at the stake using the newspapers that revealed the truth as fuel. 'Le Soleil' is a French newspaper; they can return to France. But we, out of concern and fear, are losing sleep over this nearly every night."

Simultaneously, members of the Textile Industry Association started to become active. They continuously visited various members of Parliament, inquiring about the situation, and, while leaving a bit of money behind, asked them to genuinely protect their interests.

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