Russell's idea was to sit firmly on the Diaoyutai and listen to Palmerston's conditions first. If the conditions were good, he would agree to let Palmerston get out of the house. If the conditions were not good, he would refuse outright.
But Russell didn't expect that Palmerston's mentality was completely different at this moment. In the past, he was nostalgic for the position of Foreign Secretary, wanted to do things and implement his own ideas, so he would still work hard to maintain the unity of the cabinet and would
Give Russell some face.
But now the situation is that Palmerston knows that his position as Foreign Secretary must have come to an end. He has arranged everything and has no desires or desires. Will he still let you control him?
So even if Russell didn't say anything, he wouldn't say anything either. You can just throw me away with a few chicken feathers if you want. It's not that good!
When Palmerston didn't say anything, Russell was dumbfounded. If someone said he wanted to resign, he, as the prime minister, would have to express his position no matter what, whether it was a false plea to stay or direct approval.
But the problem is, it seems that nothing he says is appropriate now. If he agrees directly, it will appear that he is a mean and unkind prime minister, which will be hard to hear. And he has not expressed anything. Palmerston is totally fine.
After resigning, he directly threw himself into the arms of the opposition and directly split the cabinet.
This is not what Russell wants to see. Russell hopes that even if Palmerston resigns, he will neither speak ill of him as Prime Minister nor surrender to the enemy, and just accept the job he gives him and wait until death.
But this guy didn’t even ask for anything. What does that mean?
Alternatively, how about Russell pretending to stay? What if Palmerston is a fool and just pretends to be real? If you try to keep me, I won't leave and will continue to be the Foreign Secretary, what then?
At that time Russell was really in pain!
After thinking about it, Russell could only grit his teeth and ask: "My friend, I am extremely reluctant to resign, but as you said, there are too many rumors now. If you continue to stay,
The position of Foreign Minister is not conducive to the party or the cabinet... Well, what do you want to do after resigning as Foreign Minister?"
This was Russell's painful asking price. For Palmerston, Russell's asking price gave him more leeway, so he also made endless offers: "How about I become Chancellor of the Exchequer?"
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is a position in the cabinet second only to the Foreign Secretary, and it is also a first-class job. Generally, this position can only be held by the Prime Minister's most trusted cronies. Let's put it this way, Russell would never let Palmerston go.
As Chancellor of the Exchequer, how could he let Palmerston take charge of his own pocketbook and hand over the economic lifeline to him?
So Russell immediately said: "No, you are not familiar with financial work, and a sudden change is not suitable!"
Palmerston immediately said: "How about I go to the Home Office?"
The Ministry of Home Affairs is also one of the most powerful departments and one of the three giants in the cabinet. Russell would definitely not be willing to give such a key position to Palmerston, so he still refused:
"It's great that you are willing to go to the Ministry of Interior, but you are overqualified for this department. I think you can still play a role in a more critical department. What do you think?"
At this time, Palmerston also knew that the heat was almost over. He had already made two requests in a row and Russell rejected both of them, but one could only be two or the other. Russell could not refuse the next request no matter what. If this guy continued
If he refuses, he can really choose to fall out.
"Is that so, I don't care about the minister?"
Chances are that not many friends know about this position. The minister is also called the minister, which sounds cute. Is the minister the minister who has nothing to do with anything?
Is this the legendary department that takes free money?
Well, you can put it that way, but it doesn’t really mean that it doesn’t care about anything. It seems like it doesn’t care about anything, and it doesn’t have a specific position, but it does serve as an official in the cabinet. To put it simply, it doesn’t matter whether the minister does not care about something.
affairs, but can also participate in cabinet meetings and decision-making.
You want to say that the minister is not important, and it is indeed not important because he does not take care of things. But you want to say that he is really unimportant, right? This guy can have a hand in everything, which is very strange, right?
For Palmerston, other positions in the cabinet are actually not very attractive to him. Whether it is managing money, internal affairs or business, he has not much interest and is not expert. He still likes to do diplomacy.
But if he is really assigned to be a minister in other departments with real power, he will definitely not be able to control the foreign affairs, and it will be a choke point. However, such a weird position as minister is just right for him. It seems that he doesn't care about anything, but he
Being able to participate in decision-making, even having a hand in foreign affairs is reasonable.
Russell definitely didn't want to give Palmerston the position he liked. After all, Russell's purpose was to get Palmerston out, not to continue to allow him to participate in foreign affairs. But, as I said just now, he has refused continuously.
I have made two requests to Palmerston, and it would be really inappropriate to refuse once.
And after all, Palmerston is the Foreign Secretary and the first minister in the cabinet. When such an important minister leaves office, you cannot give him the responsibility for the health, transportation or sports departments. If you do so, it will be a slap in the face. Regardless.
The minister's degree is just right. He is not too shabby and does not have too much power. It is just right to send Palmerston away.
Russell hesitated, because Palmerston's condition was just right. It was just at his psychological limit. It was acceptable but not particularly pleasant. It was a pain in the ass!
It's just that Russell quickly made a calculation. It was already a profit to oust Palmerston from the throne of foreign secretary. It was better to let him be a minister than to continue to cause trouble in foreign policy.
So Russell gritted his teeth and stamped his feet: "Okay, I agree!"
It's just that Russell agreed a little too early, because Palmerston still had conditions. He soon laid out the conditions given by Peel, which made Russell so angry that he almost regretted it on the spot.
But when Russell looked at the elated Palmerston, he endured it again. He felt that the reason why Palmerston made such a condition was probably intentional, just to let him retreat and refuse.
If the two sides cannot reach an agreement, Palmerston can continue to be his foreign secretary with confidence.
Thinking of this, Russell once again risked his life, because he was really fed up with Palmerston. As long as he could be kicked out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he agreed to all these conditions. Russell didn't believe it anymore. Look at you, get out of here.