I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 130

Became a Hidden Power in the British Empire 130

State Letter (2)

– Confirm that Killian Gore’s position as Canadian Plenipotentiary is valid, and set the term to three years.

Disraeli’s proposal was met with overwhelming support, so much so that the chairman didn’t even need to poll the room to see which side was more in favor.

In other words, even the Whig party agreed with the Conservative party’s opinion.

This was partly because there was no readily available candidate from the Canadian side, but also because Disraeli’s logic was irrefutable.

The British Empire prided itself on being the origin of parliamentarism and cabinet responsibility, but being the origin also meant being old and potentially outdated.

Especially since they hadn’t created the system from scratch, declaring, “We’re going to have a cabinet responsibility system from now on!” but rather gradually reduced the king’s power and developed the system organically, there were still many inconsistencies.

It wasn’t uncommon for legally stipulated matters to conflict with customary practices, and when these issues arose, they were often glossed over or fudged.

A prime example is the authority held by the King of the British Empire.

In fact, contrary to popular belief, the authority of the British monarch was still considerable.

Looking only at the powers stipulated by law, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they weren’t merely symbolic but wielded considerable real power.

However, it was an unspoken rule not to use them, so the monarchs didn’t abuse their authority and wouldn’t even dare to consider it.

In reality, if the king went on a rampage, Parliament would take away their authority, but the prevailing view was that they were left alone because they still had symbolic meaning.

Even the King’s boundary between law and custom was ambiguous, so what about the State Letter [a formal document conveying the monarch’s wishes]?

Disraeli insisted on following the law, but that was impossible.

Because a law defining the authority of the State Letter itself didn’t exist.

Even if it had, it had been at least 100 years since the British Empire had last used a State Letter, so how could the system of that time be the same as the system of today?

Until now, they had been glossing over it with the idea that ‘if it works, it works,’ and in fact, Killian Gore had followed that tradition well this time as well.

As soon as he became a State Letter, he immediately gave up his ministerial position without regret and went to the palace to enjoy his honeymoon with the Queen.

But who knew that the Canadian issue would become so complicated?

“But our party hasn’t really suffered any losses, has it? The State Letter is no longer affiliated with the Conservative party, is it?”

“It’s only in name, but he’s still close to the Prime Minister, isn’t he? Even His Royal Highness said that if the Canadian issue is resolved well, it could be recognized as a contribution of the current government.”

“Isn’t the fact that he said that proof that he’s objective? If he really wanted to side with the Conservative party, he wouldn’t have made any remarks that would be disadvantageous to the Conservative party.”

The Whig party gathered to discuss this situation as soon as the meeting ended, but opinions were not easily unified.

It’s not like we’re losing anything, but it’s unsettling to just let it go like this.

And unsurprisingly, John Russell raised his voice, claiming that this was all part of Wellesley’s plan.

“Everyone! That’s not what’s important right now. As everyone saw, Prime Minister Wellesley planned all of this and sent His Royal Highness to Canada. We don’t know what kind of strange tactics he’s plotting. We must be vigilant!”

“So you’re saying that the Prime Minister planned this whole thing?”

“Of course! Haven’t I been saying this all along? We may be puppets dancing in the Prime Minister’s palm.”

“Oh, come on…”

It was such a familiar refrain that Gladstone simply sighed in response.

Instead, Palmerston, who was watching this from the side, objectively analyzed the current situation.

“First of all, what we need to do is to weaken the connection between the royal family and the Conservative party. If His Royal Highness stabilizes Canada well and its economy grows, people may naturally see this as an achievement of the Conservative party. We have to do something about that.”

“That’s a valid point, but the question is, how can we do that?”

“First of all, the Canadian staff are supposed to be recommended jointly by the ruling and opposition parties, so we need to highlight as much as possible that it is a neutral position. And we must continue to emphasize that this is an achievement made by both parties, not an achievement of a specific party.”

In fact, I hadn’t thought Canada would be such a significant issue, but in the current situation, that was a miscalculation.

Millions of people are moving there, and the number of black people migrating from the United States is increasing, so the population is growing rapidly.

Moreover, reports are coming in that cities near the Great Lakes are ideally suited for industrialization.

Not only that, but it’s said that you can practically dig with a shovel and find minerals, and we’ve also learned that the amount of resources buried there is enormous.

If we cultivate this place well, we may be able to make up for the painful mistake of losing the United States [referring to the American Revolution].

The fact that various races and immigrants continue to mix and live there is also noteworthy.

That’s why there are so many intellectuals these days who emphasize that Canada will be a good testing ground to show how the British Empire should manage its colonies in the future.

“Hoo… But if we handle this situation well, there won’t be any major problems. Surely nothing else will happen there in a row. Originally, administrative work doesn’t stand out so much even if you do well, right?”

“Well, that’s true. You can’t really feel it unless you do badly, but you only know the results of doing well after a few years.”

“So if we just take the lead in the early stages and get through it, people will naturally lose interest. Originally, the public doesn’t have a good memory.”

Gladstone didn’t think this was a fatal blow, even though it was an unexpected situation.

As I said just now, a significant number of voters tend to be sensitive only to short-term issues, right?

At first, they will be interested and watch, but who will continue to watch what is happening across the Atlantic, not in the British mainland?

For the English, the struggles of the Irish or black people to survive in the New World are just a happening that briefly catches their attention.

Unexpected situations have occurred, but.

The Whig party concluded that there was no need to pay too much attention to these issues.

* * *

[His Royal Highness’s Patriotic Devotion! Leaving the Honeymoon Behind for Canada?]

[Everything is for the National Interest! What is the Queen’s Reaction?]

Articles were published stating that I would still maintain my position as Plenipotentiary to Canada, but the public’s reaction was that they didn’t care about that.

Rather, the main topic was my situation – potentially having to go to Canada during the first year of my honeymoon – and how my wife Victoria would react to that.

It was the reaction I expected, so I wasn’t particularly surprised.

Originally, most people don’t really like complicated political stories.

Rather, they tend to focus on simpler and more relatable topics.

Isn’t the story of the Queen of the British Empire getting angry at her husband for trying to go abroad during their honeymoon a million times more interesting than the story of the State Letter of the British Empire having real power or being politically neutral?

The reactions of those who heard about this incident through newspapers or rumors were mostly like that.

‘It’s good for our Royal Highness to work, but I’m worried that Her Majesty will be angry.’

‘Still, he’s working hard for the national interest, so as citizens, we should support him.’

There were even jokes that the husband might be rejected by his wife, so this incident was concluded as a social issue rather than a political one.

“I’ve told the Governor-General of Canada that you’ll continue to do the job. But I guess it’ll be difficult to go to Canada right away, right?”

“I don’t have to go right now. If there’s anything that’s causing problems, I can just give instructions on that. The most important thing is that I, the spiritual pillar, am still in charge.”

“But you’ll have to go at least once, what are you going to say to Her Majesty?”

“I have to say that I’m not going because I want to go, but because of the earnest request of the Parliament and the Prime Minister.”

“No, what…”

Wellesley and Disraeli’s eyes widened, but I slowly brought the teacup to my lips and smiled brightly.

Why? I didn’t say anything wrong.

There’s no one suitable, so I took on the job because they were begging me to do it.

“I’m just stating the facts. When did I ever threaten to demand the Canadian Plenipotentiary position with a knife? I would have been the one who was threatened.”

“No, is this person going to cause big trouble? You clearly said before that if you keep waiting, Canada will have no choice but to look for you.”

“Ebebeb, I don’t know, I don’t remember.

Do you have a recording?”

“I said something similar, but anyway, it’s not like it can’t be done without me. So I’m not going on my own will. You have to make that clear.”

Otherwise, I don’t know what I’ll do to the angry Victoria.

“I understand your feelings a hundred times, but doesn’t that mean I have to bear all of Her Majesty’s anger?”

“No. You don’t have to take all the blame alone. The Whig party will continue to draw a line that what I’m doing has nothing to do with the Conservative party, so why are you trying to take responsibility alone? Just take responsibility together.”

“Ah. So the Whig party was supposed to recommend a suitable person, but it didn’t work out, so you had no choice but to send you. Is that right? Wait, come to think of it, wasn’t Disraeli the one who insisted that your authority was still valid? I had nothing to do with this!”

“Poo-poo! What, what? Prime Minister, you can’t do that now.”

Disraeli, who had been quietly sitting there, was startled when the blame suddenly shifted to him and spat out the tea he was drinking.

“No, didn’t I say anything wrong?”

“You’re wrong! Who was the one who said that we should definitely divide roles and attend the meeting?”

“Hmm… Anyway, the executor is you, not me, right?”

“At least you have to go with me when you explain to Her Majesty. Otherwise, I’ll say that all of this is a plan that came out of the Prime Minister’s head.”

“No, no, you can’t do that. Then Her Majesty will treat me like an enemy!”

The fact that our couple’s relationship is so good that it’s overflowing was a fact widely known throughout England by the royal servants.

But what would be the feelings of a wife who was forced to send her husband abroad during the happiest time of her life?

What if that wife is the Queen of this country?

Isn’t it natural to guess why Wellesley and Disraeli are desperately trying to pass on the responsibility?

Well, I’ve already successfully passed on the responsibility, so I just have to watch the drama unfold.

And strictly speaking, I’m also a victim who has to leave my beloved wife, so if I had a conscience, I couldn’t use the ‘misery loves company’ tactic to ask the parliament to take responsibility with me.

“Come on, don’t worry too much. I’ll talk to Her Majesty as much as possible, so let’s pass all this anger on to the Whig party.”

“That’s right, right? If those guys had done their job properly, things wouldn’t have gone so wrong.”

“I think so too. Gladstone has always pretended to be smart, but he’s not really practical.”

“I don’t have to go down to Canada right now, so I’ll try to enjoy my honeymoon with Her Majesty as happily as possible. I can go down when I see signs of war breaking out.”

A sudden silence.

Disraeli and Wellesley, who had been noisily joking just a moment ago, closed their mouths at the same time.

Ah, this is such a comfortable place that my mouth is getting me into trouble.

“…War? What are you talking about?”

“Why is there a war in America?”

“Oh, well, haha, the situation is so unusual that war may break out someday, something like that.”

“Don’t try to gloss over it with lies! If you say something will happen, it has always become a confirmed future without stopping at expectations! Tell me quickly!”

“That’s right! We need to know so we can prepare!”

I got married and my heart was too relaxed. I, of all people, made such a mistake.

In fact, it’s okay to tell these two everything, but I was going to save it as a surprise a little longer.

But now that it’s like this, it’s better to just shout it out and prepare thoroughly.

I poured another cup of tea without saying anything and said calmly.

“Prime Minister, war in America is inevitable.”

The fact that they are both sending me glances asking what that means is proof that these two are in the dark about the trends in the rapidly changing American continent.

Not only these two, but most people in the British Empire Parliament are like that.

In an era when there was no internet or even telegraph, it was physically impossible to quickly grasp the situation on other continents.

I paused for a moment and looked at the two people’s reactions, then put the true purpose of this plan into words.

“And what we need to gain through this war is not anything else, but the future. We are now at a crossroads where we can maintain the hegemony of the British Empire 100 years from now.”

“…”

I guess you don’t believe me.

You two just keep sitting there. I’m going to tell you an amazing story from now on.