Pitt the Younger was sinking into silence when he heard Grenville's attendant lightly knock on the door and say, "Prime Minister, Lord Duncan wishes to see you." Lord Duncan was the commander of the British North Sea Fleet, ranked among the top five in the sequence of British Navy commanders. For him to have come specially to see the Prime Minister, it had to be something major.
Pitt the Younger was just about to excuse himself, but Grenville had already called loudly to the attendant, "Please let him in."
Duncan entered the room, first glanced at Pitt the Younger, then bowed slightly to Grenville. "Prime Minister, I have some matters regarding this large-scale breakdown in the Mediterranean Fleet that I would like to discuss with you."
"There is no need to avoid anything. Please speak."
"Er, in fact, I have received some information that Chatham Shipyard has had astonishing corruption in recent years, and this directly caused the massive failures among our steam warships..."
In truth, this sort of systemic corruption in the navy had already existed for centuries, but the premise was that the warships you built did not run into problems.
Once problems appeared, they would inevitably stir up a "bloody wind and fishy rain" throughout the naval system.
When Admiral Jervis arrived at 10 Downing Street, he immediately saw the naval insignia on the carriage stopped outside the door, and his heart tightened at once. The Prime Minister's attendant bowed politely to him. "General, the Prime Minister may be rather busy at the moment..."
"I must see the Prime Minister at once. It concerns the future of the navy!"
The attendant had no choice but to lead him inside.
When he was still seven or eight meters from the Prime Minister's office, Jervis had already heard Duncan's