Make France Great Again-Chapter 862 - 853: Declaration of War on the Kaijia Dynasty!
Just as Jerome Bonaparte was intensively clearing the British spies remaining in Paris, the British Ambassador in France, Kaoz, likewise sent a telegram to London after various confirmations.
The telegraph operator sitting next to the telegraph machine promptly transcribed the message and then handed it over to Earl of Clarion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
After reading the telegram, Earl of Clarion quickly folded it and put it in his pocket, then called his secretary.
"Your Excellency!" the secretary said respectfully to Earl of Clarion.
"I will be heading to 10 Downing Street immediately. Please postpone all subsequent agendas for a while! If it’s really impossible to delay, then cancel them!" Earl of Clarion promptly ordered the secretary.
"Yes! Your Excellency!" the secretary hurriedly responded to Earl of Clarion.
Afterward, Earl of Clarion got up and left the British Foreign Ministry with great strides.
Since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister’s office are not too far apart (both are on Downing Street), Earl of Clarion chose to walk instead of taking a carriage.
After walking for about 10 minutes, Earl of Clarion arrived at the Prime Minister’s residence and met the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister’s secretary guarding the entrance to the Prime Minister’s office.
"Minister, hello!" The Cabinet Secretary quickly stood up and bowed to Earl of Clarion upon seeing him.
The Prime Minister’s secretary also stood up to salute Earl of Clarion.
"Is the Prime Minister inside, does he have time?" Earl of Clarion directly inquired of the Cabinet Secretary without much small talk.
"Let me check!" The Cabinet Secretary opened the itinerary memo on the desk, glanced at it, then said to Earl of Clarion, "Minister, the Prime Minister has about an hour before he must go to Parliament to receive inquiries from the MPs!
If you have something urgent to discuss with the Prime Minister, it’s best to be quick!
The Prime Minister is resting inside right now!"
"I will be quick!" Earl of Clarion nodded in response to the Cabinet Secretary.
The Cabinet Secretary opened the door and entered the office.
At this moment, Palmerston was resting on his desk, and the entrance of the Cabinet Secretary did not wake the Prime Minister, who had stayed up late several nights in a row.
The Cabinet Secretary walked slowly to Prime Minister Palmerston’s side, gently nudging him a few times, saying, "Prime Minister, Prime Minister! Please wake up!"
Stirred by the Cabinet Secretary, Palmerston gradually woke from his dream, opening his tired eyes and lazily saying, "Is it time?"
"No, Prime Minister!" The Cabinet Secretary hurriedly explained to Palmerston, "It’s the Minister of Foreign Affairs!"
"Oh!" Palmerston yawned again, rubbed his drowsy eyes, and said to the Cabinet Secretary, "Let him stand at the door and wait for 5 minutes!"
"Yes, Prime Minister!" The Cabinet Secretary left Palmerston’s office and closed the door for him.
"The Prime Minister hopes you can wait for 5 minutes!" The Cabinet Secretary relayed Palmerston’s words to Earl of Clarion upon leaving the room.
"I understand!" Earl of Clarion nodded in reply to the Cabinet Secretary and then stood quietly at the door waiting.
Five minutes later, the Cabinet Secretary entered the Prime Minister’s office.
After a while, the Cabinet Secretary came out again, smiling and saying to Earl of Clarion, "Minister, you may go in!"
"Very well!" Earl of Clarion nodded and walked with steady steps into the office.
As soon as he entered the office, Earl of Clarion immediately focused his gaze on Palmerston sitting in the armchair. At this moment, he was no longer the lazy figure he had been before, but more like a sharp blade hidden away.
"Willis, you came!" Palmerston smiled at Earl of Clarion and then extended an invitation, "Please sit down!"
Earl of Clarion sat opposite Palmerston, who then inquired, "The issue I asked you to investigate last time, has your Foreign Ministry clarified it yet?"
"Yes!" Earl of Clarion handed the telegram from his pocket to Palmerston.
After glancing at the content of the telegram, Palmerston showed a hint of surprise. He then looked up earnestly and said to Earl of Clarion, "Willis, how do you assess the authenticity of Ambassador Kaoz’s telegram? Is France deceiving us?"
Earl of Clarion shook his head and analyzed earnestly to Palmerston, "I believe there shouldn’t be any doubts about the authenticity of this telegram. Ambassador Kaoz’s loyalty to the Kingdom of Britain is something you should be very familiar with!"
"I certainly understand Mr. Kaoz’s passion for Britain!" Palmerston responded to Earl of Clarion, "But this doesn’t rule out Ambassador Kaoz being deceived unilaterally by France!
The fact that France sent warships to escort 5,000 people to Gabon, don’t you think it’s too ostentatious!
And what’s their purpose for doing this?"
"I’m not sure!" Earl of Clarion paused for a moment, tentatively offering his opinion, "Perhaps they want to expand their territory!"
"Expanding territory? In Western Africa?" Palmerston seemed unwilling to believe that Jerome Bonaparte had set his sights on West Africa because, in his view, the land in West Africa didn’t hold much value for occupation.
If the land in West Africa were good, the Kingdom of Britain would not have left it unchecked.
So far, the only place in West Africa with ties to Britain, apart from a single Nigerian protectorate, has been elsewhere.
"Prime Minister, aside from that, we truly have no other suitable reasons!" Earl of Clarion responded to Palmerston.
"By the way, how did Ambassador Kaotz obtain this information?" Palmerston further inquired.
Earl of Clarion shook his head and said to Palmerston, "Ambassador Kaotz did not tell me the specifics! However, I think he probably utilized the hidden lines we have in Paris!"
"You mean those guys?" Palmerston recalled a document submitted to him by the Ministry of War.
The document stated that in order to prevent the French Empire from launching an attack on the Kingdom of Britain someday in the future, the Ministry of War hoped to establish a department to monitor Paris. This department would recruit members to secretly watch every move in Paris... All members would be directly commanded by the Ministry of War.
After reading the document, Palmerston felt the idea was excellent and conducive to diplomatic work.
Thus, Palmerston immediately approved the Ministry of War’s plan.
However, when establishing this department, Palmerston specifically emphasized that ambassadors abroad also have the right to "guide" the department’s members.
"Exactly! Those guys from the Ministry of War!" Earl of Clarion affirmed Palmerston’s response.
Palmerston pondered silently for a moment and then said to Earl of Clarion, "Willis, this time your department did very well!"
"Thank you for your praise!" Earl of Clarion humbly replied.
Subsequently, Palmerston and Clarion exchanged views again on the Kaijia Dynasty’s intent to seize Herat. Both believed that the Kaijia Dynasty’s actions were destroying the hard-won peace in Central Asia and that if successful, their ambition would only grow.
One Herat would not satisfy the Kaijia Dynasty’s desires; they would turn their attention to Afghanistan, striving to reclaim it.
At that point, India would be endangered by the Kaijia Dynasty’s threats.
To ensure the safety around India, the Kingdom of Britain must engage in battle against the Kaijia Dynasty.
"I am about to go to Parliament to persuade the parliamentarians to agree to launch an attack on the Kaijia Dynasty!
Only by doing so can we utterly crush the Kaijia Dynasty’s ambition to annex Herat!" Palmerston, like a gladiator about to enter the arena, responded to Earl of Clarion with determination.
"Prime Minister, I wish you success in advance!" Earl of Clarion insincerely congratulated Prime Minister Palmerston.
He knew that Palmerston would certainly gain the recognition of the noble members of the Upper House since most of the Upper House’s members had invested their money in India.
India’s prosperity directly related to the dividends they could earn; therefore, they dared not allow the Kaijia Dynasty to jeopardize India’s safety.
Palmerston’s trip to the Upper House was merely a formality.
"Let’s hope so!" Palmerston smiled, then left the Prime Minister’s office with Earl of Clarion.
...
In the Upper House, when questioned by the noble members of the Upper House if he intended to provoke a war between the Kingdom of Britain and the Kaijia Dynasty to maintain his position as Prime Minister, Palmerston declared to the Upper House that he had never thought of using war to stabilize his position. His proposal for war with the Kaijia Dynasty was entirely to protect the Kingdom of Britain’s interests in India.
"If the Kaijia Dynasty refuses to stop after annexing Herat, then their next target will certainly be Afghanistan, followed by all of India!
They will invade India like their ancestors did, destroying the system we painstakingly established there!
If the Kingdom of Britain loses India as a market, our factories may go bankrupt in batches, and our bonds will become worthless!" Palmerston exerted all his efforts to emphasize the threat of the Kaijia Dynasty to India and the importance of India to the Kingdom of Britain.
The Parliament, already fearful of the Kaijia Dynasty’s attack on Herat, was more inclined towards Palmerston after hearing his words.
After Palmerston’s speech, the members of the Upper House applauded him.
Then, the Speaker of the Upper House announced the official start of the vote on "whether to take countermeasures against the Kaijia Dynasty’s impending military actions."
The members of the Upper House raised their approving votes, with only a few leftist-leaning noble members opposing.
After the vote concluded, those in favor of countermeasures won with an overwhelming majority. Only a formality in the Lower House remained before the Kingdom of Britain could announce war against the Kaijia Dynasty at any moment.
Days later, the Lower House also began an intense vote.
This time the vote was evidently more heated than in the Upper House; those for and against the countermeasures were nearly evenly matched.
Ultimately, those in favor of the countermeasures had a slight edge over the opposition by a few votes.
The narrow victory in the Lower House officially granted Palmerston the power to declare war on the Kaijia Dynasty. Palmerston then passed this power to the Duke of Cambridge, who was soon to head to Central Asia, advising him to use this power judiciously.
