I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 356

Became a Hidden Tycoon of the British Empire – Episode 356

The emergence of the new Kingdom of Canada, the inauguration of a new king, and the implementation of a general election.

Even just mentioning them highlights the significant scale of each event, but actually carrying them out has caused a tremendous social impact.

This is because Canada becoming a member of the United Kingdom wasn’t simply about increasing the number of kingdoms from four to five.

The majority of citizens were preoccupied with their livelihoods and simply accepted the government’s decisions, but the upper class did not.

The question of what to do with the Union Jack, the symbol of the British Empire, was immediately raised in Parliament.

The British Empire currently uses a flag that appropriately blends the symbols of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Therefore, the logic was that if Canada joined the United Kingdom, Canada’s symbol should also be included in the flag, but opinions were divided on this as well.

“Canada has stated that they will use the maple leaf as their symbol, so shouldn’t the Union Jack also include a maple leaf?”

“It is not necessary to include a symbol on the flag just because it is a member of the United Kingdom. The current Union Jack does not have the Welsh dragon on it.”

“Wales was not a kingdom at the time, but a principality, so that’s why.”

“Canada was also a colony and a principality. So, let’s just follow the precedent of Wales and not change the flag.”

Making changes to the flag was definitely a sensitive issue, so neither side strongly pushed their opinions.

In the end, the flag debate naturally shifted to the idea of waiting and seeing before making a decision.

This was possible because there was an even more important issue at hand.

“The King of the United Kingdom is Her Majesty Victoria, but if Canada also has a king, there will inevitably be confusion.”

“Her Majesty is officially an Empress, not a Queen. So, there won’t be a problem.”

“But the terminology has not been clearly defined. Other European countries still classify Her Majesty as the Queen of the British Empire and the Empress of Asia.”

“Then we should take this opportunity to clarify it. Our British Empire has influence over five continents and five oceans. What empire in history has shown such an achievement? Mongolia? Rome?”

“That’s right! The Royal Family should become the Imperial Family, and Her Majesty the Queen should become Her Majesty the Empress. We must correct the mixed titles and prevent any confusion that may arise in the future.”

The time was the late 19th century.

It might be said that titles like empire and emperor don’t matter now, but people still valued national pride.

The world’s strongest country must have the dignity of the world’s strongest country.

Of course, it was an era ripe for satire if one were to forcibly extract obedience from neighboring countries while shouting ‘I am the Emperor’ alone, but that was not the case with the current British Empire.

Asian countries were already treating them as an empire, and was there even one European country receiving such treatment now?

Moreover, Canada’s size alone was growing to be as large as any European country.

Its territory, the rate of population growth, and the vast granary in the south that could accommodate that population.

Its industrial production capacity, which was spewing out from richer underground resources than any other European country.

Wouldn’t it be normal to call the head of a country that possessed such kingdoms an emperor?

There was no need to cling to the symbolism of Rome like other countries on the European continent.

“Long live Empress Victoria!”

“God! Bless the Empress of the British Empire!”

Even though nothing changed practically and only the titles were changed from Queen to Empress and Duke to King, the impact on domestic and foreign affairs was by no means small.

This was because there was no better event to fill the citizens with national pride.

Moreover, the citizens’ response was on a different level because labor law reforms and basic social security systems were being implemented at the same time, as if a crow flew and a pear fell [a coincidental occurrence].

It was an unrelated event, but they couldn’t help but accept that such good things were happening because Her Majesty the Queen had become the Empress.

In fact, I had been publishing articles like this through the media, which also played a part.

“Wow! I’m enjoying life these days thanks to Her Majesty the Empress, you know?”

“You too? I was planning to go out with my family for the first time in a while this holiday. I heard that the labor law was changed because His Royal Highness the Prince Consort strongly persuaded the parliamentarians?”

“That’s right. They say that the whole world will refer to our British Empire’s system from now on. In other words, aren’t we the first to benefit from these policies? It’s all thanks to the kind Empress and the Prince Consort.”

“Indeed, the newspapers are full of such stories. I heard that there will be some kind of commemorative event this time, and the Imperial Family will bear the cost? Her Majesty said that she didn’t want to host Imperial Family events with the taxes from the sweat and blood of the workers.”

In fact, even if there is no causal relationship, it all looks plausible if you forcibly connect them.

Moreover, the government and parliament did not want to be accused of easing labor conditions out of awareness of communism, so they were tacitly tolerating the formation of public opinion, even though they knew it.

Of course, she, the person involved, couldn’t just accept this embarrassing situation as fun.

“Hey, my dear and beloved husband? You should say something in your defense, right?”

“…I do feel a bit sorry. My deepest apologies…”

“No, are you kidding me? You clearly didn’t tell me that you were going to make such a big deal out of it.”

“So, I did talk about it after I came back…”

Including Canada in the United Kingdom was a plan that had been completed from the beginning.

But he didn’t say a word that I would become king and detonate a mega-event that would make Victoria a real Empress.

It couldn’t be helped because this plan change was decided after seeing the local situation in Canada.

“Still, isn’t it a good thing that you’ve become a real Empress now, not some strange position like Empress of Asia…?”

“Look at this newspaper. The economy is booming and exports are increasing thanks to Her Majesty the Empress. People can live a life with weekends thanks to Her Majesty the Empress. The crime rate has decreased slightly thanks to Her Majesty the Empress. At this rate, there will be an article saying that the weather is good tomorrow thanks to Her Majesty the Empress? You did this, didn’t you?”

“Ahem, it’s part of the work to create an Imperial Family that is loved by the citizens…”

“Noooo! What is this embarrassing, mindless praise? It’s like you’re making fun of me!”

“Now, now, my dear wife. Everyone is excited right now, and they will calm down over time, so don’t worry about it. You know that this kind of thing is just a flash in the pan, right?”

Actually, I didn’t know this would be so effective.

I was just trying to increase the Imperial Family’s favorability to a moderate level, but I overlooked the fact that the favorability was already at its maximum, with no more room to rise.

The citizens were seriously praising it in their own way, but it was no wonder that the person involved was embarrassed to the point of blushing.

Even the absolute monarchies of the 18th century, let alone the 19th century, were not so blatant.

“And what I’m most embarrassed about right now is that you’re going to Canada as King. You’re not planning to stay in Canada, are you?”

“Of course! There’s no way I would leave you and the children and leave London.”

“Hmm… I’m uneasy. Because you always lie.”

In the past, she would believe me with her eyes shining brightly no matter what I said, but time is so cruel.

Still, I was sincere in saying that I would not completely settle in Canada.

Of course, I will be going back and forth more often than now, but it would be too difficult if I did everything… no, there would be no point in having a parliament.

A country should be run democratically.

So, slowly.

The time has come to plant my henchmen in the parliament and administration of Canada as well.

* * *

“I am an alumnus of Eton [a prestigious boarding school in England] with His Highness!”

“I graduated from the same department as His Highness!”

“I am…!”

As Disraeli had expected, as they began to prepare for the elections to be held in Canada in earnest, countless people came to him wanting to run for election under the name of the Conservative Party.

And what they claimed was all about their friendship with Killian.

Of course, there were hardly any people who had a real, plausible friendship.

Most of them were just trying to find a connection and forcibly connect with him.

The situation was not much different even if it was the Liberal Party, so it was time to somehow distinguish the genuine from the fake here.

Logically, people should be hired locally in Canada, so someone who can reside in Canada is needed.

However, people with high influence in the central political world would not readily take on the job of settling in Canada.

No matter how important Canada is emerging as a region, the center of the world is London, and Canada was a remote area even worse than Ireland.

In that respect, it was a huge boon for the Conservative Party that Robert willingly took charge of this election.

Robert distinguished the pro-Killian faction with the eyes of a hawk more strictly than anyone else, as if he were a true Killian fanatic, and mercilessly kicked out those who were even slightly lacking.

“You were a university alumnus with the Prince Consort?”

“Yes! It was so long ago that His Royal Highness may not remember, but I had academic discussions with His Royal Highness…”

“Ah, wait a minute. Then, do you know the name of the paper that His Highness published when he was in the department?”

“Yes? That’s… well…”

“Eliminated.”

Kheu, reliable Jigo.

Look at that strict standard that does not allow a single exception so far.

Fashion Killian worshippers could never escape Robert’s sharp yardstick.

“I am a person who respects His Highness’s actions more than anyone else. I have studied deeply about His Highness and understood His Highness’s will to create new politics in Canada…”

“You understood and studied His Highness’s actions? Then you must have read ‘Killian Roaring Towards the Continent’, which details the contents of His Highness kneeling Qing China. There you will find the Qing official who initially negotiated with His Highness when he went to Qing China. You know that person’s name, right?”

“…Eh? W-wait a minute. So, this…”

“It’s Lin Zexu. How can you say that you have deeply studied His Highness’s actions without even knowing that much? Eliminated.”

Robert was applying strict standards as if he was going to fill the Canadian parliament with Killian’s bodyguards, but Disraeli did not dissuade him.

According to reports coming in from Canada, there were more true Killian believers overflowing there than in the mainland.

You can easily see it when you look at Ireland right away.

The general election in Ireland’s constituencies has long been divided into who respects Killian more and who can be more helpful to the royal family.

Canada would not be much different, so Robert’s deliberate creation of Killian’s bodyguards would be beneficial to the election, not a loss.

If it is a bodyguard organized like that, it will be able to easily trample on the candidates of the opposing party in the debate.

Policy debate? Well, these days, most of them just memorize and repeat the same words.

And the citizens just want to hear good words and are not very interested in in-depth policy discussions.

So, what Disraeli was aiming for was different.

“Robert, how is it? Are the candidates organized to a satisfactory level?”

“There are no people who meet 100 points, but I have organized them with candidates who are at least 70 points with regret.”

How many points would Disraeli himself receive if he entered this human’s evaluation criteria?

He was not confident that he would exceed 70 points, but when he looked at the list, he had not only picked out the useless people who blindly believed in Killian.

It was honestly a bit surprising that they all had good academic backgrounds and were skilled in their own way.

“It’s amazing. Are these people with such outstanding abilities so following His Highness?”

“It’s a natural thing. Rather, because they are so talented, they revere geniuses who are far more talented than themselves.”

“…Is that so? Then let’s just assume that’s the case.”

I really don’t know the hearts of young people these days.

But it was inevitable that I felt a little dizzy when I gathered so many people like this.

Everywhere I looked, there were discussions about Killian, praise for Killian, and even people who followed Killian’s clothing style.

The whole world is just Killian.

“Hoo… good. Very trustworthy. It’s so trustworthy that I feel a little nauseous. It seems that it was the right answer to entrust this to you, Robert.”

“It was a rewarding time for me too. Now, Disraeli, don’t worry about anything and just wait leisurely for us to win in Canada.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

The election has not even been properly selected yet.

Disraeli could easily imagine the Canadian parliament being filled with the Conservative Party.

No, to be precise, are they not members of the Conservative Party but worshippers of Killian?

I wondered if he had been aiming for this situation from the beginning, but he didn’t bother to say it out loud.

After all, Robert would have said something like, ‘Didn’t you know? This is also His Highness’s dignity.’

Disraeli was not foolish enough to ask a question when the answer was obvious.