Make France Great Again-Chapter 921 - 912: Flanking Tactics

For the members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Benjamin Disraeli’s remarks were simply looking for trouble.

Originally, the theme of this parliamentary session was supposed to be a discussion on whether to deploy military forces to India. Now, Benjamin Disraeli has put that on hold and turned to discuss whether to dissolve the East India Company.

This entirely adds difficulty to their work, as most of the members sitting here have received benefits from the East India Company.

Now asking them to vote for the dissolution of the East India Company is somewhat unreasonable.

Of course, as a politician, conscience itself is a luxury.

However, members who are relatively conservative in the political field do indeed not want to dissolve the East India Company.

Even if it were truly to be dissolved, it shouldn’t be at this moment.

At present, it is not their time to question Benjamin Disraeli. They can only continue to listen to Benjamin Disraeli’s upcoming speeches with attentive ears.

Under the gaze of the members, Benjamin Disraeli delivered another half hour of dull speech on stage before ending.

Once Benjamin Disraeli bowed to the members of the House of Commons present, they began to pose questions to him.

At this moment, Benjamin Disraeli displayed a style completely opposite to what he had shown earlier. He appeared as a gladiator about to enter the Roman Colosseum, using a passionate tone to rebut each member questioning him.

All the members who posed questions recalled at this moment that Benjamin Disraeli was an extremely talented orator.

His previous three hours of remarks could very likely have been to numb them.

After all, nearly four hours of speech almost consumed the energy of the members.

As a result, Benjamin Disraeli achieved consecutive victories in the House of Commons.

Several members were left speechless by Benjamin Disraeli’s series of counter-questions.

Until the Speaker of the House of Commons gently tapped the table with a wooden mallet, the crowd in the House of Commons quieted down.

"Everyone, be quiet!" The Speaker of the House of Commons said slowly and solemnly to everyone present.

Then, the Speaker of the House of Commons began the next session, selecting a phrase from the two proposals submitted by Benjamin Disraeli to the Parliament, and opened the proposal: "Now it’s time for the first proposal to vote: Should the Kingdom of Britain dispatch military forces to India!

Those who agree, raise the blue card on your table!

Those who oppose, raise the white card on your table!

I announce the start of the vote!"

After the Speaker of the House of Commons finished speaking, he tapped twice again with a wooden mallet to signal the start of the vote,

The first proposal was passed by the overwhelming majority of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, with only a minority of members expressing opposition.

The Speaker of the House of Commons solemnly announced the number of votes for support and opposition, then tapped the wooden mallet twice again, saying, "I announce that the proposal for whether Britain should deploy military forces to India is passed!"

Next, the Speaker of the House of Commons placed Benjamin Disraeli’s second proposal, "whether to dissolve the East India Company," before the House of Commons.

"The voting begins now!"

This time, the voting situation was clearly incomparable to the last time. Except for the mild conservatives and a few liberals who agreed, the remaining members were clearly opposed,

Ultimately, the second proposal was rejected as opposition votes held a relative advantage over the proposal to dissolve the East India Company."

Benjamin Disraeli, departing from the House of Commons, hurriedly took a carriage to 10 Downing Street, where, under the guidance of the Cabinet Secretary, he entered Palmerston’s office.

At this moment, Palmerston was delicately savoring the Indian tea. The appearance of Benjamin Disraeli prompted Palmerston to set down the tea and inquire of him: "What is the situation in the House of Commons now?"

"Prime Minister, I have good news and bad news! Which would you like to hear first?" Benjamin Disraeli asked Prime Minister Palmerston.

"Let’s hear the good news first!" Prime Minister Palmerston responded with a smile to Benjamin Disraeli.

"The good news is that the proposal for dispatching troops to quell the Indian rebellion has already been passed in the House of Commons!

We just need to gain Her Majesty the Queen’s approval, and we can send troops to India!" Benjamin Disraeli responded to Palmerston.

"Hmm!" Palmerston lightly replied, and then continued to inquire, "What about the bad news?"

"The bad news is that the proposal to dissolve the East India Company was rejected by the House of Commons!

In the short term, we may find it difficult to raise the issue of dissolving the East India Company to the House of Commons again!" Benjamin Disraeli responded slightly dissatisfied to Palmerston.

Palmerston was not much surprised; he responded calmly, "That, too, was within my expectations!"

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, are we really going to let the East India Company go unchecked?" Benjamin Disraeli asked.

Palmerston shook his head and replied to Benjamin Disraeli, "Nowadays, the confidence in the East India Company still lingers in the Upper and Lower Houses, which is why they chose to veto the proposal in both Houses!

We just need to make them realize that the East India Company is beyond salvation!

Then they’ll naturally be willing to stand with us!"

"How can we make them lose faith in the East India Company?" Benjamin Disraeli seemed at a loss for a moment.

Palmerston took another sip of tea and then said, "My Minister of Finance, you seem to have forgotten the power of our country’s newspapers!"

After Palmerston’s prompting, Benjamin Disraeli immediately understood Palmerston’s implication, "Your Excellency the Prime Minister, you mean we should leverage the power of the newspapers!"

"No!" Palmerston shook his head again, "Most of the time, we and the newspapers have a relationship of mutual utility and mutual caution; we can actively send them to India, and they only need to ensure that one issue on the situation in India is published for Britain’s residents every month.

If the newspapers can truthfully report the situation in India, then the East India Company will undoubtedly announce its dissolution amid the reproaches of Britain’s residents.

By that time, even if they want to protect the East India Company, it will be powerless!

If politics cannot directly solve the enemy, then let’s change our approach and tackle it economically!"

"I understand!" Benjamin Disraeli nodded in response to Palmerston.

"Since you understand, then hurry up and prepare!" Palmerston waved his hand and said to Benjamin Disraeli.

...

In the following days, Prime Minister Palmerston occasionally went to the Duke of Newcastle’s Department of War to inquire about the Duke of Newcastle’s progress in military preparations.

The Duke of Newcastle informed Palmerston that the army would depart from Britain in late July, first heading to the Cape of Good Hope for several months of training (mainly due to climate issues in the Indian region, hence the training at the Cape of Good Hope), and then proceeding to India.

Since this time about 30,000 troops were being transported, the Duke of Newcastle suggested to Palmerston that the army could traverse the whole of France, boarding a ship in Marseille and Toulon to head to Egypt, and then from Egypt to reach the Cape of Good Hope; this way, some time could be saved.

Prime Minister Palmerston pondered for a moment and told the Duke of Newcastle he would quickly send someone to discuss with Emperor Jerome Bonaparte of the French Empire; as long as Jerome Bonaparte’s consent could be obtained, their army would be able to cross France.

Afterward, Prime Minister Palmerston called in Earl of Clarion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and assigned him the task of persuading France.

Confronted with the task forcibly handed to him by Palmerston, Earl of Clarion was decidedly unwilling at heart.

After all, leading an army to cross another country is something no other nation is likely to agree to.

The last time France agreed to allow Britain to cross through them, it was entirely because Britain and France were on the same front, with a common enemy, the Russian Empire.

Currently, India is Britain’s own territory, and Jerome Bonaparte has no obligation to allow them to cross.

Realistically speaking, the French Emperor might already be impatient to see them face difficulties.

The animosity between England and France is not something that can be erased with a few words or battles.

Since this task was assigned to him by Palmerston, Earl of Clarion had no choice but to brace himself and complete it.

At this moment, he was grateful for his foresight in redeploying Ambassador Cowley back to France.

Ambassador Cowley had been in France for 6 or 7 years, and he should have some private rapport with the French Emperor.

The French Emperor himself is someone who values personal connections, so there’s some possibility in the matter of crossing France.

If this task were handed to a new ambassador, persuading Emperor Jerome Bonaparte would not be an easy matter.

Thus, Earl of Clarion once again transmitted the task via telegram to the British Ambassador in France.

Ambassador Cowley, at the embassy, had already anticipated before receiving the telegram from the British Foreign Ministry that the Kingdom of Britain would find him for something.

Indeed, Britain eventually sent a telegram, which the telegraph operator transcribed and handed to Ambassador Cowley.

After reading the telegram, Ambassador Cowley’s face immediately revealed a trace of seriousness.

A moment later, Ambassador Cowley lit the contents of the telegram in front of the telegraph operator and tossed it into the ashtray. Only when the telegram paper turned completely into black fragments did Ambassador Cowley leave.

From the telegraph room to the ground floor, Ambassador Cowley merely greeted the military officer inside the embassy before leaving.

When Ambassador Cowley appeared again, he had already arrived at the Tuileries Palace.

With Bashirio leading the way, Ambassador Cowley met with Napoleon Bonaparte.

Before Ambassador Cowley could speak, Jerome Bonaparte said ahead, "Mr. Ambassador, can I guess the purpose of your visit?"