I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 168

Hidden Power (4)

In the 19th century, the center of power in the British Empire was undoubtedly Parliament.

The House of Commons, surpassing the House of Lords, took pride in its increasing representation of the nation. They were not about to be unilaterally defeated by such political attacks.

Of course, press conferences weren’t a weapon exclusive to the House of Lords.

“This is slander by the House of Lords to undermine the House of Commons, the representatives of the people!”

Members of the House of Commons, not just from the Whig party, voiced unusually strong opinions.

This issue was becoming a clear conflict between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, rather than a battle between the Conservative and Whig parties.

Of course, figures like Wellesley or Disraeli didn’t directly appear before the reporters.

The reason was simple.

‘We are politicians known to be privately close to His Royal Highness. If we step forward, it could worsen public opinion.’

Some argued that the Prime Minister should actively intervene during times like these, but the Prime Minister refused the members’ demands, saying that he would be attacked as a traitor the moment he did.

However, he didn’t just stand by idly.

“Backstabbing is a specialty of the House of Lords, not the House of Commons. It’s absurd for the House of Lords to criticize the House of Commons, especially regarding matters related to His Royal Highness!”

Who was it that tried to tame Killian after his heroic exploits in the war against Qing China [referring to the war between Great Britain and Qing Dynasty of China]?

Of course, many of them were senior members of the Conservative Party within the House of Commons, but they had already lost their seats.

However, the House of Lords, with its lifetime appointments, was different.

The lords who had encouraged then-Prime Minister Robert Peel and then quickly abandoned him when things took an unexpected turn still held their seats in the House of Lords.

Wellesley subtly informed the Whig party of the list of these members.

Gladstone and Palmerston immediately brought up this issue, criticizing the House of Lords for being in a position to blame the House of Commons.

“Do you think it’s right for those who tried to drive out the person who returned victorious from war to criticize us in this way? The members of the House of Commons who tried to drive out His Royal Highness at the time have all taken responsibility and resigned from Parliament. However, the House of Lords still has those who created the situation in their seats. Yet, they shamelessly accuse the House of Commons, an act that cannot be tolerated!”

In fact, logically, this wasn’t an effective way to refute the claims of the House of Lords.

However, in public opinion battles, such diversion tactics often work surprisingly well.

Wellesley’s plan to drag the House of Lords into the mud along with them, instead of arguing for their innocence, worked unexpectedly well.

Citizens who remembered why former Prime Minister Robert Peel had fallen realized that the House of Lords was also involved, and they began to criticize their duplicity.

“They pretended to be noble, but in the end, those people weren’t much different, were they?”

“Aren’t they all just the same, whether it’s shit or diarrhea?”

“Boo! Quit! Quit! All the politicians are dirty!”

It was a method where both sides became losers rather than one becoming the winner, but what mattered was preventing those guys from winning.

Neither the House of Commons nor the House of Lords.

In the end, they didn’t realize that they were mutually destroying their images by continuing a public opinion battle, fueled by animosity, exposing each other’s flaws.

But if you’re screwed whether you win or lose, shouldn’t you at least be the winning screwed one?

Still, their goal of constantly diverting attention and causing political fatigue among the citizens seemed to be succeeding.

Until a major scoop broke in the Morning Post.

[Confession of a House of Commons Insider! “Parliament Has Already Abandoned Its Conscience!”]

[“This incident was indeed a plot by the House of Commons. The House of Commons has been plotting to reduce His Royal Highness’s political influence until now.”]

[“The reason for recommending His Royal Highness as a candidate for Prince Consort was also a scheme to exploit the relationship between the two of them. His Royal Highness and Her Majesty the Queen were so deeply in love that it was easy to advocate for their love. The Whig party proposed this to cut off the political influence of His Royal Highness, who was on the rise at the time.”]

Originally, articles in newspapers that featured anonymous informants were mostly fantasies based on non-existent figures.

However, this scoop presented a concrete timeline and solid evidence.

It was a lie that the Whig party knew about the relationship between Killian and Victoria in advance, but everything else was true, so there was no way to refute it.

After all, it was true that they had proposed the marriage to keep Killian in check.

‘Mr. Disraeli, are you really just giving us these valuable materials?’

‘Of course. But as you know, it shouldn’t be revealed that I gave you this. It must be presented as coming from an anonymous member.’

‘Of course. Sales will jump again with this. Mr. James will be very pleased.’

In this situation, heading towards a competition of who is the best at betraying and backstabbing in the British Empire, the Morning Post’s major revelation had a tremendous impact.

“No, how could they involve the royal marriage in such political machinations! What on earth is the House of Commons thinking!”

“This has nothing to do with our Conservative Party! This was originally proposed by the Whig party…”

“Either way, the Conservative Party didn’t agree!”

“Even if political maneuvering is rampant, there are lines that must be kept. How far are you going to go!”

The revelation that they used the marriage of the country’s royal family, especially the Queen’s marriage, as a tool for political strategy, not just general collusion, completely tilted the balance of public opinion that had been barely maintained.

It was said that the Queen and the Prince Consort were originally in love, so there was nothing wrong as a result, but that didn’t give the parliament a free pass for what they did.

The means to achieve their goals were too shady and unpleasant.

“The Whig party must explain! Gladstone and Palmerston must immediately apologize to the citizens!”

“The Prime Minister is also responsible for not controlling the opposition party! The Prime Minister must also apologize!”

“We elected you to do politics, not to try to eliminate those who dedicate themselves to the country!”

“If you have any conscience, resign! Let’s have another election and replace you all!”

The drawn-out, self-destructive war of attrition finally came to an end.

The House of Commons, the representative of the citizens, was completely abandoned by the citizens of the British Empire.

* * *

[Citizens’ Accusations Continue Daily. What Will the House of Commons Decide?]

[Will Her Majesty the Queen Invoke the Power to Dissolve Parliament? “Fully Possible.” Experts Unanimously Agree.]

[The Royal Family Finally Steps Forward! Buckingham Palace Press Conference Schedule Confirmed!]

Hmm, the fire is burning brightly without showing any signs of going out.

As expected, nothing is as effective as controlling public opinion through the media.

The battle between the House of Commons and the House of Lords ended with the victory of the House of Lords as a result of exposing almost all of each other’s flaws.

But if the House of Lords unilaterally beats down the House of Commons, wouldn’t their noses get too high?

So, I deliberately had Wellesley attack the House of Lords.

If Wellesley continued to be passive, the House of Commons might suspect him, so it was also a means to create a smokescreen around my relationship with him.

The goal was to instill in the citizens the perception that the House of Commons was the worst, but they also disliked the House of Lords, and looking at the situation, the plan seemed to be a great success.

The Morning Post, which obtained information from both the House of Lords and the House of Commons first, became the best major newspaper in the British Empire with this incident, and as a result, I firmly grasped the media in this country as well.

The former owner who handed over the Morning Post to James must be regretting it now.

But it’s time to bring this enjoyable public opinion battle to an end.

People were slowly getting tired of this tiresome fight between politicians.

Political apathy, the idea that politicians are all the same and all trash, was taking root throughout London.

What was needed now was someone special who could melt the hearts of these citizens.

And that person everyone was waiting for.

The newspapers, as well as the entire British Empire, were focused on the royal press conference that finally broke the silence.

What would Queen Victoria say?

What criticism would Killian level at the parliament’s outrageous behavior?

Everyone expected the royal family to deliver the final blow to the House of Commons, which was barely clinging to life.

The citizens with expectations of realizing justice.

The House of Commons with fear of the dissolution of parliament.

In the press conference held amidst everyone’s attention, Victoria’s voice, who opened her mouth for the first time, was surprisingly calm.

“It is unprecedented to bring reporters into the palace in this way, but I have determined that I cannot stand still because society has been so chaotic recently. In particular, this matter is also related to the royal family, so I have determined that it is appropriate for me, as the representative of the royal family and the Queen of this country, to express my opinion directly, and I would like to clarify in advance that there is no other intention.”

The hands of the reporters writing down the Queen’s words moved at a terrifying speed.

In the silence filled only with the sound of pens scratching on paper, Victoria slowly continued.

“It is a national loss that the National Assembly, which is responsible for the politics of this country, only blames each other and continues unproductive discussions. I feel deep sadness at the waste of time on such matters at a time when there is not enough time to further develop the British Empire and improve the lives of citizens. Therefore, from now on, Killian, my husband and the cause of this situation, will directly express his opinion on this matter. And I hope that this terrible situation will end as quickly as possible.”

A true queen who, unlike the parliament that only engages in ugly power struggles, prioritizes the lives of citizens even at times like these.

Following Victoria’s scathing criticism, questions poured out from the reporters as I came forward.

“Your Royal Highness! What do you think about this bill from the House of Commons!”

“It is said that both the House of Commons and the House of Lords have plotted to keep Your Royal Highness in check. Were you aware of this?”

“When you were recommended as a candidate for Prince Consort, did you know that this was a plan to keep Your Royal Highness in check?”

“Okay, everyone, calm down and I will answer each question one by one. First of all, it is true that both the House of Lords and the House of Commons tried to keep me in check. But isn’t politics originally a place where competition and checks are taken for granted? Not only me, but all members are checked and also check others.”

As words that seemed to be unexpectedly defending the parliament came out of my mouth, the reporters who were excited to write articles showed a noticeably embarrassed reaction.

Perhaps they expected me to completely crush the parliament on this occasion.

“But the means are so vile and vulgar that the citizens’ anger is piercing the sky. In particular, there were many opinions that the attitude of trying to use even the royal marriage as a tool for political struggle was unacceptable.”

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t upset. However, I love Her Majesty the Queen and I had a desire to make Her the happiest woman in the world. That’s why I accepted the parliament’s proposal. If I had no feelings for Her Majesty the Queen, I would not have resigned from my ministerial position. However, I also agree with the opinion that such political maneuvering should be avoided in the future. Politics may not be able to choose its means and methods, but individual privacy must be thoroughly respected.”

“That’s a very generous statement. Perhaps you can say this because your love for each other is so deep.”

After that, the reporters who were frantically transcribing my words asked the last question.

“You haven’t answered the first question yet. What do you think about the bill that specifies the authority of the Prince Consort, which is the source of this incident?”

If I criticize the parliament’s ridiculous political maneuvering here and say that I cannot accept it, then the life of the current regime is over.

Of course, if this responsibility is entirely passed on to the Whig party, Wellesley will be able to barely escape, and in fact, he believes that I will smash the opposition party in that way.

No, not only Wellesley, but everyone here. Wouldn’t even the members of the House of Commons, who are anxiously waiting for my decision outside, think so?

If they condemn the House of Commons’ atrocities and utilize the support of the citizens, a path will be opened to freely intervene in domestic politics, but what politician in the world would refuse this?

If you refuse this, that person is truly not interested in the politics of the British Empire.

The answer that Killian Gore, who rose to prominence as the youngest minister before becoming Prince Consort and exerted tremendous influence in Canada and Asia, will give has been determined from the beginning.

Everyone was so sure, and that’s exactly why.

“I believe that the traditions of this country should be respected, regardless of the intentions of the parliament.”

The answer that came out of my mouth was a conclusion that was 180 degrees different from everyone’s expectations.