Chapter 18 The fog over London (2)
Because at the beginning of the war, Britain was in a very bad situation. In North America, the British army was divided and surrounded; in Kolkata, India, the terror of "black hole", the allies, Frederick, surrendered to the enemy; Minorka Island fell. Due to the defeat in the war, the British government executed General Barn as a scapegoat in order to shirk responsibility. When the entire country was in turmoil, William Pitt was ordered to be in danger. He fully confidently organized and implemented political and military reforms with an unparalleled world strategy.
The huge kingdom war machine began to work well, and a series of victories followed one after another. At the Paris Peace Treaty in 1763, Britain once again won the victory against its old rival France. In North America, the French lost all the Canadian territory and the French territory west of the 13 continents; in India, except for two very small trading posts, Britain won most of the Indian peninsula, and the British East India Company controlled almost the entire Indian Ocean maritime trade, and the world became better.
However, the good times did not last long. Just when Old Pete was about to bring the British Empire to another level, George III ascended the throne. This young and energetic king revived the actual rule of the monarch unscrupulously, abused the nobles' confidants internally, deprived Old Pete of the Prime Minister and replaced it with Lord North. Externally, in order to transfer the large fiscal deficits generated in the seven-year war, he lent his levies in various colonies, which eventually led to the independence revolution in the 13 continents of North America. The former opponents also took the blame. The French, Spanish and Dutch either sent fleets to fight or paid money to retaliate against Britain. The ending was that North America 13 completely broke away from British rule and declared the establishment of the United States of America with Washington as president. This was the first time in the history of the British Empire.
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"Maybe I should not accept the appointment of the king and serve as the prime minister, but I must not lose my father's face and ruin the reputation of the family." After looking at Old Pete's strong, resolute and fearless expression again, the prime minister took his attention.
Little Pete called the guards and asked him to run to the cabinet meeting immediately, and in the name of the Prime Minister, he would ask or pull the Foreign and Home Secretary to his office to discuss matters.
Despite being mentally prepared, the Prime Minister sitting in the office was still stunned by the "tragic situation" of the two ministers who came in. The Foreign Minister lost his wig, and the straps and buttons on his clothes were torn off, which was not much better than the Irish victims. The Interior Minister was also more funny. His clothes were almost completely torn, and his pointed nose turned red. I believe he was an old punch, and he was like a clown in a circus.
The Prime Minister was not in a good mood to comfort his cabinet members. He simply signaled the two ministers with his hands and let them sit on the sofa. He continued: "Celebrities, how many times have the battle just now? I believe you don't know much. This situation cannot continue. As the Prime Minister of the Empire, I must change this chaos. You, the King's Home Minister, first talk about how to resolve it."
The Minister of the Interior rubbed the parts that were still painful and said carefully: "Prime Minister, the debate between the cabinet and the government and the people is nothing more than the loss of Toulon. Since the defeat has become a reality, someone must take responsibility to calm the dissatisfaction of the nobles and allies, so the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet will be unlucky." At this point, the Minister of the Red Nose retorted: "But it seems inappropriate to have all the blame for General Nelson. After all, this will cause more intense conflicts, so we must find a way, the best way to be accepted by both sides..." The Minister of the Interior stopped here because he knew that the foreign minister who were both new nobles (Note: New nobles refer to the great bourgeoisie and nouveau riche who were appointed from the Cromwell era to the Glorious Revolution, which was different from the traditional old nobles).
"Yes, I agree with the Home Secretary's suggestion that General Nelson's actions must be punished," the Foreign Minister held up his lace and continued: "This can evade the attacks of the opposition and the criticism of his allies. But this is only a formal measure, and the fleet commander can be transferred to the local coast for defense, preferably near the Ireland Islands, where mob activities are becoming increasingly rampant. According to intelligence, the Irish Association, the rebel group, is contacting the Revolutionary France. This is a dangerous signal that if you let it go, the backyard of the British Empire will catch fire again, so an excellent naval general can stop this great damage to the interests of the empire on the sea."
"Yeah, it's not bad, what about the yellow-skinned Satan?" Obviously, the Prime Minister was quite satisfied with the solution to the problem, but he raised another new question. These days, in front of his mansion, a large number of French fugitive nobles came to cry, because among these people, many of their relatives were martyred in the Toulon Massacre.
"This is simple. The cabinet can submit a petition to the parliament to the rebellious France with the royal families on the continent. Of course, for many reasons, the British government would be better off paying, guns, ships, rather than troops. As for the issue of the Eastern butcher, it is easier. The intelligence department sent a large number of spies in France, and the same is true for the Spanish. We can work together with the Spanish to get rid of him." The Foreign Minister obviously hated General Andrew very much, but the reason was that he loved the gold coins sent by the French exiled nobles.
"Assassination should not be something gentlemen should do." Little Pete was a little worried.
"There is no obstacle. The Spanish will hate their tyrants more than us. As the nephew of the Bourbon dynasty, the Spanish royal family has always been hostile to the revolutionary France; not to mention that General Gonzalez died at Andrew, who is the royal nobleman, so we only need to provide enough information for allies with a stiff mind. As for whom to assassinate, of course, it is for the foolish to do it, and we British people have it all.
Noble sentiment and gentlemanly demeanor, the white gloves cannot be covered with blood; the best part is that no matter whether the Spaniard succeeds, there will naturally be people who spread the inside story of assassination. By then, the anger of the French will definitely be concentrated on the unlucky Spaniards. Hehe, let the two annoying guys consume their own strengths from each other, and the interests of Britain can also be guaranteed." The insidious argument of the Interior Minister was highly praised by the emerging powerful people present.
"Damn the old red-nose ghost, you should take over me and be a foreign minister." The foreign minister was obviously a little jealous.
"A gentleman does noble things, and a villain does mean things. I like it. OK, just do it according to your wishes. When the ministers are tired of fighting, we will go back. What do you two want to drink now?" The Prime Minister was also very happy because the problem was solved.
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Chapter completed!