shadow of britain

Chapter 178
Wednesday is the most delicate day of the week.

It's not as abhorrent as Monday, the first day of the week, and it's not as exciting as Friday or Saturday.

For the Duke of Wellington and all Tory members who are still supporting the cabinet, this is also an extremely delicate day.

Because a grand and special agenda has been arranged in Parliament today - the Prime Minister's Question.

On the north bank of the River Thames, around Trafalgar Square, the clock tower pointers of Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church point to twelve noon at the same time.

The seat of the House of Lords and House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - the Palace of Westminster.

In the southwest and northwest corners, two Gothic spiers with a height of more than 100 meters go straight into the sky, seeming to open a gap in the gloomy sky, and under the two spiers, there are also countless small sharp towers. From a distance, it looks like a group of line infantry marching in bright yellow military uniforms carrying flintlock guns.

In front of the dark entrance gate of the Palace of Westminster, countless dark hollow lamp niches stand on the bright yellow outer wall, which emits a faint light, and the light will illuminate the bright red royal guards patrolling the nearby sidewalks. uniform illuminated.

Several dark carriages came from Downing Street and Whitehall Street respectively, they converged in front of the Palace of Westminster, and finally stopped in front of the entrance gate full of people.

As the carriage drove in, the noisy crowd suddenly fell into silence. Under the gaze of everyone, the attendants trotting forward with the carriage stepped forward one by one and opened the door of the carriage, and a pair of hard riding boots gradually stepped out of the carriage. .

The first person to get out of the car was a gentleman in a dark gray tuxedo and a white shirt. He straightened his back and looked calm, but the sharpness in his eyes still made people feel that he was not a good person.

Although as a soldier, he didn't like to show his face in public, but many people in the crowd recognized his identity.

Sir Edward Barnes, who served as the military director of the British Army during the Battle of Waterloo, general of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and who is about to assume the new commander-in-chief of the British Army in India.

Standing beside him was Roland Hill, Viscount of Almaraz, who was the commander of the Second British Army during the Battle of Waterloo, the current Governor of Plymouth, Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and General of the Army.

Beside him was a man in black with a soft appearance but a pair of trousers, who could only walk forward with crutches.

That was the right-hand man of the Duke of Wellington in the Battle of Waterloo, the then Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and the Commander-in-Chief of the Cavalry, the current Secretary of State for Irish Affairs, General of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland-Henry Paget, Marquess of Anglesey.

The three generals looked at each other, then stood respectfully on both sides of the road.

A cold wind suddenly blew up in the gloomy sky. Even though the weather was so cold, the audience present could vaguely feel a lingering smell of gunpowder smoke lingering at the tip of their noses.

A few drops of rain were sprinkled on the brick road in front of the Palace of Westminster. The door was slowly opened by the attendant, and a high-top riding boot slowly stretched out, stepping heavily and forcefully on the rain-soaked brick road. The landing is accompanied by a clanging sound, and with such strength, it seems that the owner of the riding boots does not want to walk, but wants to grind the road bricks into mud.

The Duke of Wellington, dressed in crimson, walked out with a cane. He looked up at the crowd on both sides of the walkway, and was about to wave to them, but he didn't expect an angry accusation to break the original tranquility in the air.

A lady in a white dress accompanied by two servants, who seemed to support the Whig party, said sarcastically: "Your Excellency, if my husband is as opposed to parliamentary reform as you are, then I will definitely be in his house." Poisoned in the breakfast coffee."

Just when everyone thought that the Duke of Wellington, who has always been taciturn in public, would definitely be silent again this time, who would have thought that the white-haired old man who was once praised as a British hero and was ridiculed today as a rusty head looked up and down. The lady glanced at it, then sneered back.

"Madam, if I were your husband, even if I knew that coffee was poisonous, I would drink it without hesitation. With a wife like you, I don't want to live any longer."

After saying this, the Duke of Wellington walked into the Palace of Westminster with a few generals amidst the public's yelling, leaning on his cane without changing his expression.

"Wellington, you will meet Waterloo today!"

"Despotic tyrant, we expected you to be the next George Munch, but you want to be the next Cromwell!"

"The appearance of a person like you in the position of prime minister is the greatest stain on British democracy!"

However, the Duke of Wellington turned a blind eye to these scolding, which he had heard too much these days.He even felt that these yells were far gentler than the mobs who attacked his mansion.

Although he is already an old man in his 60s, the Duke of Wellington's pace is still brisk.

In the Palace of Westminster, a huge palace with more than a thousand rooms and more than a hundred staircases, the promenade running through the entire palace is 3 miles long.

Thankfully, the Duke of Wellington didn't have to go the full length of it.

He stood right in the center of the Palace of Westminster.

On his right is the seat of the House of Lords - the Hall of Lords.

And to his left is the Common People's Hall, which represents the seat of the House of Commons.

Although the Duke of Wellington, as an aristocrat, has participated in politics in the House of Lords all year round, but today, the Common People's Hall is his destination.

The Duke of Wellington's cane was stuck on the floor of the palace with gorgeous and complicated patterns, and only the sound of thumping could be heard gradually from near to far.

The hall of the House of Commons was getting closer and closer. After a short period of darkness and silence, the crowd shouted more and more loudly, and the eyes of the Duke of Wellington gradually became brighter.

Although the size of the chamber is not small, after cramming 658 members of the House of Commons and many members of the House of Lords who came to participate in the questioning, it still makes this hall with only more than 400 green leather seats look overcrowded.

The members of the Tory Party and the Whig Party are clearly divided into two camps. They use the speaker's seat and the table as the dividing line. The Whig Party supporters sit on the left side, while the ruling Tory Party sits Right.

Although the questioning has not yet started, the smell of gunpowder in the air is already quite strong. It can be seen from the ugly faces of the Home Secretary Sir Peel, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Goulburn, and the Foreign Secretary, the Earl of Aberdeen, who are in the front row on the right. The House of Commons meeting this morning must have gone very poorly.

And when the Duke of Wellington appeared at the venue, the already restless atmosphere was pushed to a new climax.

Whig backbenchers even yelled 'NAY' (against) at him, in an attempt to give him a slap in the face before the questioning began.

"John, show our Prime Minister a little bit of power!"

"Didn't you go to St. Helena and meet Napoleon? Did he tell you how to beat Wellington?"

"We will beat you here!"

"Just today, right here!"

The Tories stood up and chanted 'YEA' (support) in support of the leader, the Duke of Wellington.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, since you can lead Britain to defeat the French, there is no reason why you will lose to these Whigs today."

"John Russell, if you have any tricks, just use them!"

"If you can't stand it, why don't you go with your brother, the Duke of Bedford!"

"If it wasn't enough, you might as well dig Napoleon out of the ground!"

Members of the two parties were fighting each other. Seeing that a quarrel was about to start before the questioning began, the speaker sitting in the middle of the members of the two parties had to raise his gavel and knocked repeatedly: "Silence! Silence! Silence!"

However, MPs turned a blind eye to the speaker's request.

Perhaps it was due to the heated debate in the morning that raised the mood of the two groups, but the appearance of the Duke of Wellington was like a spark that completely ignited the powder keg.

The backbench members of the two parties can't keep their mouths shut. They are fighting with each other. Even if the Speaker repeatedly asks, it is just useless.

A member of the Tory party scolded him emotionally, and actually picked up the documents on the table and threw them at the Whig party opposite.

He smashed it and cursed: "Edward! You have to be glad that this is not the 14th century. If Edward II hadn't banned swords and armor in the Parliament Building, I would have to take your head off and kick it as a ball today!"

The Whig MP called Edward retorted without showing any weakness: "Can't you fight a duel without a weapon? Alex, in my opinion, your fist is not half as hard as your mouth!"

"You rude person, it seems that I must teach you a lesson today!"

As soon as this sentence was finished, the Tory backbench MP named Alex couldn't help but rushed to the front row, waving his fists and trying to compete with him.

Seeing this situation, the speaker couldn't help but slammed the wooden mallet on the table and roared: "I repeat, no one is allowed to die in the parliament! Security officer! Security officer! Immediately put these two rude Throw me out!"

(End of this chapter)