shadow of britain

Chapter 65 Wellington and Peale's Calculations

London, Borough of Westminster, Whitehall Street, United Kingdom Home Office.

In the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sir Peel was sitting on an office chair, holding a copy of "The Times" that was newly released this morning in his hand, and next to him was a copy that had just been delivered to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Manchester Guardian with rain on it.

He carefully read every word in the newspaper, but the more he read, the more his hands trembled.

In the end, he had to slap the newspaper on the desk.

"It's nonsense! These people will do everything they can to force the cabinet to fall!"

His private secretary just opened the door and came in at this moment. Seeing this scene, he couldn't help being startled. The private secretary was stunned for a while, and then remembered his task.

"Sir, the Duke of Wellington just sent a message that he called you to No. 10 Downing Street."

Unexpectedly, just as the secretary finished speaking, a wet head appeared behind him. Sir Peel recognized this familiar face at a glance. It was the exclusive messenger of the Duke of Wellington.

"Sir, the Duke of Wellington sent me to inform you just now that you don't need to go to him, he should come here by himself."

As soon as the messenger finished speaking, there was another sound of boots stepping on the floor and hurried steps in the hall outside the minister's office. The deputy chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs pushed away the two people standing in front of him and said in a hurry.

"Sir, His Excellency's carriage has been-"

This time, before he could finish speaking, Duke Wellington's angry voice sounded in the hall of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Robert, have you read today's newspaper! Those people are crazy! Why don't they dare to say these things in front of me? According to people familiar with the matter, every newspaper has it! Do they think that by hiding the word Tory, I won't know who the insiders are!"

The voice of the Duke of Wellington came almost at the same time. He frowned and looked at the messengers, private secretaries and permanent under-secretaries crowded at the door of the office, and rebuked dissatisfiedly: "Don't you have something to do? What are you all doing here ?”

The three of them looked at each other and defended themselves: "Your Excellency, we are only here to convey your order."

"Convey my order?"

The Duke of Wellington was obviously angry, and he sarcastically said: "I thought that the Prussian reinforcements in the Battle of Waterloo were slow enough, but compared with the three of you, I think Marshal Blücher is pretty good." Active."

The three smiled awkwardly, and immediately stepped aside, invited the Duke of Wellington in, and then gently closed the door.

The Duke of Wellington dragged a chair and sat down in front of the desk with an angry face.

Seeing his appearance, Sir Peel could only smile helplessly, then got up and went to the cabinet in the office and asked, "A cup of tea or some sherry?"

The Duke of Wellington waved his hand impatiently: "Just watch."

When Sir Peel heard this, he could only shrug his shoulders, then took out two goblets and the long-preserved sherry, and poured a little for each of them.

The Duke of Wellington shook the wine glass, first sniffed the golden yellow liquid, then took a sip, and immediately commented.

"Not bad wine. This taste should be from St. Mary's Port in Andalusia, right?"

Sir Peel nodded with a smile: "You really know wine very well."

Perhaps the wine played a role, and Duke Wellington's bad mood finally calmed down a lot.

He said: "If you fought the Peninsular War, you would understand it too. From Lisbon in Portugal, to Madrid in Spain, to Toulouse in France, I wish I didn't understand wine that much.

Robert, remember what I told you?Going to war is a very bad thing.Even the most cruel man, if he is thrown into battle for a day, he will pray to God, don't let him go to fight for an hour more!
The Catholic Emancipation Act must be passed and there must be no civil war in Great Britain.Those opponents simply can't understand how important peace is. They just keep clamoring. Only when the shells fall on their heads will they know what pain is. "

Sir Peel shook his head and said, "Your Excellency, those extremists in the party are different from what you think. A considerable number of them think that war is a good thing.

The 22-year Napoleonic War caused Great Britain to suffer a long-term continental trade blockade. As a result, domestic food prices skyrocketed, and land rents also rose year after year.

However, it is easy to increase the land rent, but it is difficult to lower it. Those people are used to living a good life of luxury and money, so how could they be willing to return to the old life again?
If it weren't for their insistence on not lowering the land rent, how could such a large-scale 'Swain Riot' have been caused in the past few months? "

When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he couldn't help cursing: "I'm so angry when I say this! This group of people disagreed with the reduction of land rent, and they also did not agree to continue to amend the "Corn Law". The reason is pushed to my head!
What a good word, let them take up!Well now, the Whigs are proposing reforming things again!If all the declining constituencies are cancelled, I wonder how this group of people will enter the House of Commons in the future! "

When Sir Peel heard this, he could only put his hands on his temples and frowned, thinking: "This is not going to work, some people in the party have already begun to sway towards the Whig Party.

Without their support, we will not be able to maintain an absolute majority in the House of Commons.We must find a way to win the support of some people. "

The Duke of Wellington said: "I have calculated that due to the passage of the "Catholic Emancipation Act", we can now win the support of almost all constituency members in Southern Ireland, plus some moderate party members in Northern Ireland, we can probably Gain support for at least 105 of Ireland's 80 House of Commons seats.

At present, there are about 200 Tory members in England, Wales and Scotland who have made it clear that they are willing to support us. This adds up to 280 seats. "

Sir Peel frowned and shook his head: "But it's still not enough. I'm not worried about having you in the House of Lords. But there are 658 seats in the House of Commons, and we must win the support of 330 seats. Now the key to determining whether the cabinet can continue , It depends on whether we can win those congressmen who hold a middle ground."

Hearing this, Wellington couldn't help sighing: "Robert, it's really not possible. I'll just reconcile with Huskisson. Although he has gone further and further away from the mainstream of the party in the past two years, he still hasn't announced a formal agreement. Break away from the Tories. Those Huskisson MPs who follow him, probably have 30-odd seats."

When Peel heard this, he couldn't help showing a smile: "I didn't expect you to be willing to take the initiative to ask this question."

"Otherwise what should I do?"

The Duke of Wellington said helplessly: "I can't really be like what was written in the "Manchester Guardian": domineering, completely ignoring the laws of philosophy, holding deep-rooted prejudices, and being stubborn while being mediocre? "

Sir Peel squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "So you saw it too. I thought that following your temper, you came to me today because you wanted me to order the Scotland Yard police to arrest them."

"Prohibition? I'm too lazy to do this kind of thing. They can say what they like, anyway, their mouths grow on them, so let them do what they want."

The Duke of Wellington stood up and straightened his clothes: "Then it's settled, I'll go and get Huskisson done first, and I will rely on your help to fight for the remaining dozen seats, Robert. I know you and Some of the Whigs are on good terms, try and win them over."

Sir Peel nodded: "I'll go find a few intermediaries in a while and see if I have a chance to get in touch with them."

As soon as he finished speaking, suddenly, the door of the office was pushed open with a creak, and the private secretary stuck his head out from the crack of the door, and spoke weakly.

"Sir..."

Seeing his appearance, Sir Peel couldn't help laughing and said before him: "Who sent you to deliver the message this time?"

"No, he's already downstairs."

The Duke of Wellington also laughed when he heard this, and he drank the sherry wine: "It seems that you have made progress, and there is not so much nonsense."

Sir Peel asked: "Who's here this time?"

The private secretary blinked twice: "Inspector of Scotland Yard, Mr. Arthur Hastings has requested to see you."

"Oh?"

Sir Peel and the Duke of Wellington smiled at each other.

"Please come in."

(End of this chapter)