Palmerston felt that one was bigger than the other. It was not that he was afraid of being sued. Why would Whitehall be afraid of you, a newspaper publisher? As an old bureaucrat and an old gangster, if you don't have such means, you are still messing around!
The problem is, he really can't go to this lawsuit, because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is really unreasonable about the Kehong incident, and judging from what was disclosed in the newspaper, they probably have evidence in their hands. And even if it can be solved through official means
The lawsuit is not lost, but once the lawsuit is heard, it will inevitably attract the attention of the whole society. Doesn't that mean the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is being roasted on the fire?
And according to John Russell's intention, let him eliminate the influence as soon as possible, the sooner the better, so directly confronting the court, wouldn't it be a way to add fuel to the fire? Russell will definitely explode in this way, and it will happen in minutes.
How about killing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?
Therefore, it is definitely not advisable to litigate directly. Palmerston has neither the time nor the energy. What's more, these damn newspaper sellers are the best at hype. They will definitely use this case to stir up Cohon's affairs in the clouds.
!
By then it will be Palmerston who will be disgraced, and even if John Walter loses the lawsuit, the newspaper will be famous, the public opinion will be created, and the sales volume will be booming. He will never pay compensation, okay?
!
Palmerston can guarantee that John Walter definitely hopes that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will litigate with him, preferably for a year and a half, then his newspaper will not worry about sales at all.
It should be said that Palmerston guessed well. The reason why John Walter agreed to publish the Cohoon scandal was because he hoped to increase sales. It would be even more perfect if he could touch the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and fight a lawsuit of the century.
.Because in recent years, The Times has really been forced to jump by cheap newspapers.
For John Walter, he really needs such eye-catching super news to turn over. So even though he is also a conservative, under the requirements of his vital interests, he will never give Palmerston any face.
of.
Even John Walter deliberately mentioned a lawsuit just now, which actually meant to irritate Palmerston. If Palmerston really filed a lawsuit with his newspaper in the name of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then John Walter would wake up laughing in his dreams, okay?
good!
Palmerston looked at John Walter, who seemed to be a serious person, and silently gave the newspaper tycoon the title of a fox. How could he fall for such a bad trick? He only heard that he was neither salty nor indifferent.
replied:
"The reason why I invited you here is because I want to have a frank and in-depth chat with you. It would be best if the misunderstanding can be resolved. After all, as the Foreign Secretary, I don't want to see the reputation of our country's famous "The Times" be disgraced.
Regardless, this is a huge loss!"
This is not what he really wants to say, but is just an opening statement. His real killer move is actually yet to come:
"But what I didn't expect was that as the owner of The Times, you would be so... so stubborn and indiscriminate. This is really disappointing... If you continue like this, you
Your newspaper will become the public enemy of all Whitehall! All servants of the British Empire will regard you as an enemy!"
This is the real threat. Palmerston's subtext is actually: "If you don't cooperate, I will use the official influence to kill you!"
Can John Walter hear it? Of course he can, but is he afraid? He is also afraid, but now he has a more serious existential crisis. If "The Times" collapses, what's the point of just being afraid or surrendering?
?
Nowadays, John Walter is actually barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes. He is completely risking his life. Why should people be afraid of death if they are not afraid of death? Therefore, Palmerston's threat is completely meaningless.
Even Palmerston's threat had the opposite effect, which completely aroused John Walter's anger and resistance, and he immediately gave up: "Are you threatening me?"
Palmerston was stunned. He had no idea that John Walter had taken the wrong medicine. Why couldn't he understand human speech? I've already made it so clear, why are you still so stunned?
So he responded coldly: "Threat? No! This is advice!"
John Walter snorted in his heart and asked: "What if I don't accept your so-called advice!"
Palmerston's eyes were fierce and he said bitterly: "Sir, I think it's better for you to accept my advice... If not, the consequences will be extremely serious! I assure you, I don't want to see such a situation.
Arrived, what do you think?"
But this did not scare John Walter, or he had no other way out, so his answer was still: "I have thought about it very clearly. I refuse to accept your advice, thank you!"
Palmerston was also convinced by this kind of ungrateful thing. In his eyes, John Walter was just a piece of meat, which made him a little helpless.
"That's your freedom!"
After holding back for a long time, Palmerston finally squeezed out such a harmless sentence. This made John Walter a little funny. He originally thought that a minister as powerful as Palmerston should be more powerful.
In the end, this threat was a bit weak, giving people the impression that the thunder was not loud and the rain was small.
"Your Excellency, if there is nothing else, please allow me to take my leave."
The words were not speculative, and naturally there was no need to say anything more. John Walter stood up and paid tribute in a very gentlemanly manner, and then as long as Palmerston allowed it, he would immediately leave.
It's just that Palmerston is not that gentleman. He definitely doesn't like the meat on the hob. He just snorted coldly, neither stood up nor shook hands, and said coldly: "Then you can do whatever you want.
Got it!"
This undoubtedly made John Walter's impression of him even worse. The newspaper giant had already decided to give instructions to his editors after he returned, asking them to do more than lash out at Robert Cohon in tomorrow's newspaper.
In addition, in order to criticize Palmerston as well, it is best to reveal all the dark history of this guy and let the public see how incompetent and stupid the Foreign Secretary is.
Palmerston didn't know John Walter's plan, and of course even if he knew, he wouldn't change his attitude towards him. Palmerston is also a person with personality, and he will never be merciful to people or things he doesn't like.
That’s really a ruthless person who will make you unhappy for the rest of your life if you make me unhappy for a minute!
"Contact me Steven Knight from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and tell him that I will treat him to dinner at noon!"
Palmerston's decision to deal with The Times was definitely not just words. After years of hard work in politics, nothing else. He still has a lot of good friends, especially those who owe him a lot.
Friends and good friends, it’s time to put them to work!