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Volume 3: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 118: Bagnell

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    10 Downing Street, London, UK.  Prime Minister Gladstone was sitting at the long table, reading documents attentively. On his right was his chief private secretary.  Although he was wearing a wig, a lot of white hair was still exposed under the wig, and it was not difficult to tell that he was old.  Perhaps the greatest British liberal politician of the nineteenth century, after experiencing the defeat in the Anglo-Boer War and the failure to rescue General Gordon in Khartoum in the Sudan, his prestige has been greatly reduced.  Therefore, although he successfully reorganized the cabinet by taking advantage of the internal instability of his rival Conservative Party, he was still very anxious deep down and tried every means to stabilize the status of his cabinet.  The private secretary looked at the clock on the wall, leaned down and whispered: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, it is already three-thirty in the afternoon. Do you want to postpone the afternoon tea with Mr. Barnier at four o'clock in the afternoon?" "Oh.  "It's already so late!" Gladstone looked up at the desk clock, then looked down at the half-read document in his hand. After a moment's hesitation, he put the document in the box, locked it with the key, and put it in his own.  In his pocket, he said: "Prepare the carriage, we will set off immediately!" "Yes, Your Excellency!" The private secretary rang the doorbell, and the carriage driver came in from outside the door. He carefully locked the several boxes filled with documents.  The red suitcases were lifted up, and these suitcases filled with unread documents will be delivered to the Prime Minister's residence for the Prime Minister's review in the evening.  Gladstone himself put on his coat with the help of his personal secretary and walked towards the carriage outside the door.  Gladstone leaned on the back of the carriage. As an old man born in 1809, no matter how he took care of himself, his energy could not be compared with that of the "great William" in his youth.  But the meeting later is very important, related to whether his cabinet can survive for a long time.  As a sober politician, Gladstone has also clearly realized that as time entered the 1870s, British industry no longer had its original absolute advantage in the world. In the eyes of the European continent,  During the economic crisis, the Liberal Party's original free trade policy could no longer bring sustained prosperity. This was also the main reason for the collapse of Gladstone's first cabinet.  He finally came back to power in 1776, but because of his inconsistency on the Irish issue, Irish MPs defected to the Conservative Party, leading to the collapse of Gladstone's second government.  And Charles Stuart Parnell, the MP he was about to meet, was the leader of the Irish Home Rule Party in the House of Commons. The defection of the Irish MPs he represented was an important reason for Gladstone's resignation.  "Your Excellency Prime Minister, Westminster Palace has arrived!" The private secretary gently pulled the rope next to the door, making a crisp ringing sound, then opened the door, jumped out quickly, stretched out his hand to help the carriage from the carriage without leaving any trace.  Prime Minister Gladstone comes down.  Gladstone looked around carefully and walked quickly towards the door.  As soon as Gladstone walked into the revolving door, he immediately felt the aroma of cigar smoke in his nostrils. This smell mixed with the warm air in the room, plus the low voices of conversation and the slight collision of glasses, forming a perfect atmosphere.  A very wonderful atmosphere.  There are offices and restaurants on the first floor of the Palace of Westminster. During tea time, MPs often come here to talk and spend a wonderful afternoon.  Gladstone carefully walked to the pre-arranged corner. The towering sofa back divided the place into a small box to isolate the noise from the outside and make it difficult for others to hear the conversation.  He sat down comfortably and asked the private secretary beside him: "Punch?" When the secretary nodded, Gladstone whispered to the messenger behind him: "Two salmon sandwiches, two glasses of punch."  !" Soon, the waiter brought the wine and food that Gladstone ordered. The private secretary picked up the wine glass and took a sip, but when he saw the Prime Minister sitting there with a stern look on his face, he unconsciously put down the wine glass.  "Humphrey, do you think I was right to meet with Mr. Parnell this time?" "Huh?" Humphrey was stunned, and then he understood what Gladstone was asking him. He hesitated for a moment and said,  He replied in a low voice: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, it is God's authority to judge right and wrong. All we mortals can do is to move forward on our own path!" "You are right, Humphrey, we are just humble mortals!"  A smile appeared on Stone's stern face: "Humphrey, I never thought you had the ability to be a priest!" "Perhaps this is because of my great-grandfather. He was a Scottish Catholic lawyer. When I was a child, I often read from  My father told me so!" "What about your father? What is his occupation?" Humphrey showed an embarrassed look on his face, and then whispered: "He is a businessman, his main business is  They sold opium from India to China and Japan, and later transported black slaves to Brazil!" "Ahem, as you said, it is God's authority to judge right and wrong!" Gladstone said somewhatHe repeated the words of the private secretary awkwardly.  At this moment, a voice broke the awkwardness in the corner.  "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I'm late, please forgive me!" A middle-aged man in his early forties stood at the door of the box. He had a beard with sideburns and Celtic-specific light green eyes under his broad forehead.  , his limbs are burly and well-proportioned, and coupled with his decent clothes, he looks like a handsome British gentleman.  "No, Mr. Parnell, you are not late. It is exactly four o'clock as promised. I am early!" Gladstone took out a pocket watch from his coat pocket, opened it and looked at it. He stretched out his hand to  The seat opposite him made a gesture of asking him to sit down: "Please sit down, Mr. Barnier, would you like something to eat?" "No, Your Excellency, Prime Minister, let us skip the greeting stage!" Charles Stewart?  Barnier sat down opposite Gladstone and looked at Gladstone across from him curiously with his green eyes: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I don't think your relationship with me is good enough to enjoy afternoon tea together.  "Mr. Barnier, I don't have such a pessimistic attitude towards the relationship between you and me!" Gladstone's dry lips twisted and a smile appeared: "Although last six  The collapse of the cabinet in March has nothing to do with you and your party, but we are engaged in politics after all. In this changing era, sometimes we must give up some principles!¡± After hearing what Gladstone said,  The guarded look in Barnier's eyes became less and he smiled: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, although I don't completely agree with what you just said, an afternoon tea is nothing. Give me a cup of punch bar, just like yours!"  "Very good! As your respectable ancestors said, a glass of ale can heat up your brain and bone marrow!" Gladstone made a rare joke, and the private secretary turned around and left the box, returning after a while.  There was already a glass of punch in his hand, and he carefully placed it in front of Barnier. Barnier took a sip and said in a low voice: "After all, your Excellency, Prime Minister, the reason why you invited me here today!" "It's very simple.  , please tell me what requirements must be met in order for you and your party to stand firmly on my side, which is the side of the current cabinet!" "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, just like Cromwell deceived my ancestors back then!  Just like that, you are playing your old tricks again!" A sarcastic smile appeared on Barnier's face: "I patted you on the shoulder and said some sweet words to make my honest-minded compatriots stupid.  who took the word of the cunning Englishmen as their true brothers, until they found themselves deceived again when their pockets were empty. You now need to use me and my party to defeat the Tories, and you will make many promises.  , and then when the floor beneath your feet is firm, all previous promises will be pushed away. The cunning Liberals are always so forgetful!" At this point, Barnier drank the glass of punch in one gulp.  He put the empty glass on the table and said, "Thank you for the wine!" He stood up and walked outside.  "Why don't you sit down and listen to the conditions I propose? I promise, this is something you will never get from the Marquis of Salisbury!" Barnier stopped and turned around: "I believe this.  The land and freedom of the Irish will never come from the English, neither you nor the Marquess of Salisbury, but the difference between the Marquis of Salisbury and you is that he will not lie, he will know it clearly.  Tell you that you will never let the Irish people get land and freedom, instead of making a promise first and then using various methods to invalidate it after you succeed. I have learned your methods personally in prison.¡±  This refers to the fact that Parnell was imprisoned by the then-ruling Gladstone in the late 1970s for participating in Ireland's "Land League") "Mr. Parnell, now and then, we must look forward!  Gladstone raised his voice: "What do you think if I agree to push for the passage of the Irish Home Rule Act during my term, and the Irish can have all other rights except diplomatic, military and customs duties?"  I can get your support!" Barnier stopped and turned around: "I don't believe you, Prime Minister, you made a promise that you can't do. Such a bill cannot even be passed within the Liberal Party.  , Mr. Chamberlain will take this opportunity to tear you apart!" "Yes, if he knew, he would do that!" Gladstone replied: "Mr. Barnier, I agree to your request!  Not only is it to allow my cabinet to continue to survive, but the bigger reason is that if Ireland is to remain within the British Empire, she must be given certain autonomy rights. It is inappropriate to treat a civilized nation the same way as barbarians.  There is no doubt that Mr. Joseph Chamberlain loves our motherland, but he did not see the context of the times clearly.?, slaves and slave owners cannot exist in a modern country!  "Barnell looked at Gladstone doubtfully, shook his head and said: "I swear to God, you must be possessed by the devil, otherwise how could I have been almost convinced by you!  This is incredible!  " "Then you can make a cross on your chest!  This way you don¡¯t have to worry about the devil!  Gladstone made a rare joke: "It was the recent overthrow of government that made me understand that it is no longer possible to solve the Irish problem using the old methods. Great Britain cannot have hundreds of people in the country."  Rule the world without all enemies!  Then I should agree to your request. You are Irish and British!  .  You will never ask Ireland to secede from the British Empire!  " "I am British and Irish!  "Barnell repeated Gladstone's words in reverse order: "Of course I don't want Ireland to secede from the British Empire, but as you said, if this continues, Ireland will one day become a nation.  * of the country!  I'm glad you realize this. I can trust you for now, but I hope you can fulfill your promise as soon as possible, Prime Minister!  "Having said this, Barnier extended his hand to Gladstone. "You don't have to worry about this. I will propose the Irish self-government bill in two to three months at most. I think you should have this patience!  Gladstone shook the other person's extended hand: "Of course before that, I hope you can keep today's conversation confidential, which will also be beneficial to the passage of the bill!"  " "I understand this!  "Barnell nodded: "Mr. Joseph Chamberlain is a real lion!  " "Yes, but the lion will always be subdued by the trainer!  Gladstone smiled. It turned out that the Joseph Chamberlain mentioned by Parnell was the famous radical leader of the Liberal Party at that time. This man was a successful businessman before participating in politics, so unlike most other Liberals, he had already  Recognizing that Britain at that time had gradually lost its world-leading industrial advantage, faced with other late-developing industrial countries such as the United States and Germany that protected domestic trade, supported industrial and commercial development, and carried out colonial expansion abroad, Britain's old free trade policy  It was tantamount to inviting a wolf into the house. Therefore, Joseph Chamberlain vigorously advocated for external expansion, internal integration of various territories of the British Empire, making it a unified centralized state, and changing the old free trade policy. He was a rare outlier within the Liberal Party.  Therefore, after Gladstone won the second election in 1882, although he invited him to serve as Minister of Foreign Trade in his cabinet, it is conceivable that within the cabinet, Joseph Chamberlain was marginalized and excluded from the decision-making level.  He knew how he would vigorously oppose it if he learned that Gladstone and the leaders of the Irish Home Rule Party decided to pass the Irish Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons. Finally, I added that this Mr. Joseph Chamberlain had two sons: Austin Chamberlain and Nathan.  Will Chamberlain, Austin Chamberlain served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Neville Chamberlain was the famous British Prime Minister who implemented the appeasement policy against Nazi Germany before World War II. When Barnier left the box, Gladstone was in the box again.  He waited for a while so that the two of them would not go out together to attract the attention of other congressmen and cause unnecessary trouble.
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