I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 358

< Killian Plan (3) >

Anything that pits two sides against each other inevitably results in a winner and a loser.

And the law of the world is that it’s absolutely enjoyable to be on the winning side of such a fight.

Enjoying it regardless of winning or losing is just a nice-sounding facade, not a realistic story.

Actually, who was it a long time ago? There was a famous professional Go player who said that when he didn’t care about winning or losing before his retirement and just played the game, it was surprisingly boring.

Politics is similar.

Elections are a ruthless arena where winners and losers are divided, and the winner takes all the glory.

Robert, who crushed the Liberal Party in the debate and was recognized as Killian the Great’s best sword, was truly thriving like a fish in water.

“Politics is like a game of chess. How much do people love chess matches?”

“Councilor Robert, politics is solemn and sacred…”

“Then is chess frivolous? Just because people are enthusiastic and enjoy it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s low-level. The right to vote is expanding, and in the distant future, the era of universal suffrage that even socialists advocate may come. Then we need to find a way to appeal to voters more effectively!”

As expected of a young man, even though he’s a young master from a prestigious noble family, his thinking is free.

Even though it’s an era before even the radio, let alone television, Robert’s approach was definitely effective.

Since there’s no radio or television, the ripple effect isn’t as great, but conversely, the current election has far fewer voters than modern times.

Moreover, all of these voters have a certain level of wealth without exception, so it’s no exaggeration to say that they read newspapers and have a deep interest in politics.

So, reporting on the status of the election with newspapers as if it were a game is bound to be a significant topic among voters.

Of course, the Liberal Party wasn’t just standing still.

Gladstone couldn’t come to Canada himself to lead the charge, but Henry Campbell, a promising young politician from the Liberal Party, desperately tried to reverse the situation.

“I don’t think His Majesty wants the Canadian parliament to be composed only of people who simply follow him. Who among those who want to do politics in Canada doesn’t respect His Majesty? There’s only a difference in the degree of respect, so what’s more important is ability!”

Even though the election was just around the corner, if they put an incompetence frame on the Conservative Party at the last minute, they could secure a certain number of seats.

With this calculation in mind, the Liberal Party tried to change the direction of the election to a competition of abilities.

“What the newly formed Kingdom of Canada needs most is economic growth. The Conservative Party is trying to make this election a kind of fan loyalty competition. What do you think about this?”

“I think that’s a really good point. But one important thing is that our Conservative Party’s motto is that economic growth. The statistics simply show how much the British Empire’s economy has grown since Prime Minister Wellesley took office in the home country. Shall we compare it to when the Whig Party, the predecessor of the Liberal Party, was in power?”

“But the important thing is Canada…”

“Many of our Conservative Party candidates majored in economics, or those who didn’t have actually gained experience in the Ministry of Finance. Citizens! Don’t worry. Our Conservative Party is a party that has already been recognized for its economic achievements in the home country and has succeeded in holding power for more than 20 years.

We will make full use of this ability to grow Canada into a truly economic powerhouse!”

The operation failed spectacularly.

Robert countered as if he had expected it, and the Liberal Party was branded as being behind not only in loyalty but also in economic ability.

They also tried to reverse the atmosphere by uniting minor parties, but most of the people in those minor parties sided with the Conservative Party from the beginning.

It was the result of a truly rational judgment that it was better to receive the spoils of the ruling party in the long term.

With the chance of a reversal gone, the result was obvious.

December 1865.

The general election for the Canadian Parliament, which will be recorded in history, began.

[Expected Result! Overwhelming Gap!]

[Is the British Empire ultimately turning back to the Conservative Party?]

[Liberal Party barely saves face. Even checking the ruling party becomes difficult]

[It is expected that the connection between the mainland and Canada will be further strengthened due to the victory of the Conservative Party]

The expected result that you knew, I knew, and even the Smiths next door knew.

“Our Conservative Party solemnly declares that we will continue to do our best in state affairs as the parliament of His Imperial Majesty and His Royal Majesty!”

“What moves this country is ultimately the will of the citizens. The responsibility of you, the representatives of the citizens, is great, so please continue to think of the national interest and the interests of the citizens as the top priority and work hard.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! Just leave it to us!”

Robert almost knelt down at the opening ceremony and swore an oath of allegiance. And I gave a congratulatory speech to the newly formed members of parliament.

In the middle, I felt like an idol surrounded by a fan club, but this was a very smooth finish.

The newspapers were buzzing every day about the Conservative Party’s victory, highlighting the fact that the Conservative Party had become the overwhelming majority party.

The Conservative Party, which became the ruling party, is the winner.

The Liberal Party, which became the ruling party, is the loser.

Since it was an election where winners and losers were divided, it is natural that such a dichotomous interpretation is the main focus.

But is the Conservative Party really the real winner?

Unlike the home country, as a strategy to win the election, both the ruling and opposition parties formed candidates only with loyal subjects who would be absolutely loyal to my words.

Which will be the priority for them, the party line or my will?

Just thinking about this makes it very easy to guess who the real winner of this election is.

Um, um, the victory celebration is always sweet.

* * *

Shortly after the parliament was established.

I stayed in Canada for a while and had a meeting with Robert, who led the majority party.

“You look much better now that you’ve become the leader of the Canadian Conservative Party.”

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to… no, Your Majesty.”

“Thanks to me? I didn’t do anything?”

“No. If Your Majesty hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have had any reason to come all the way here, so I can say that I am in my current position thanks to Your Majesty.”

I knew he was a crazy person just for giving up the position of Minister of State for India without hesitation, but he’s the first person I’ve ever seen with this kind of logic.

At first, I thought he was just a passionate fan, but I don’t know why he’s becoming more and more severe as time goes by.

But he’s definitely a capable person, so I’ll keep him by my side and use him.

“If you take charge here, I can rest assured and draw support for Canada from the home country, so please work hard. You’ll probably have a lot more to worry about than now.”

“Industrial development, infrastructure expansion, population inflow measures, land reclamation, and resource development. Just thinking about it roughly makes my head spin.”

“There’s one more thing. Of course, this is a secret that you shouldn’t tell anyone, but I want you to know. You have to prepare in advance without making it obvious.”

“A secret order from Your Majesty… I understand! I, Robert, will risk my life to keep the secret and carry out Your Majesty’s orders.”

“Don’t risk your life. Anyway, you know about the Panama Canal, right?”

Robert blinked a couple of times as if he didn’t expect the story of the canal to come out here, then nodded.

“Yes. If the canal is opened, we can go directly from Toronto or Montreal, so wouldn’t a major transformation come to Canada? Of course, I’m paying close attention to it. But why is that…?”

“Unfortunately, it’s destined to fail.”

“…Yes?”

“Within a few years, the construction company will suffer near bankruptcy and stop construction, so I’m going to take it over. But I can’t do such a large-scale project alone, can I? I think it would be good for Canada to take a 20 percent stake with one foot in Canada.”

Anyway, it’s enough for me to have more than half of the shares, so it’s more efficient to draw the rest from other places.

From a macro perspective, it would be better for Canada to have a certain stake in terms of canal management than the mainland across the Atlantic.

“Above all, if you successfully carry out such a large-scale project, wouldn’t your value increase a lot? This will be a good opportunity for you, so be prepared.”

“Of course, I will, but… can I know the basis for predicting the failure? I need to know that so I can prepare. I can’t repeat the same mistakes.”

“Ah, I see. You should know, even if no one else does. Panama is different from Suez in terms of environment. That’s the infamous malaria outbreak area. But unfortunately, the people who are doing the construction now have no countermeasures against malaria…”

“It seems that the conclusion has recently been reached that ants are spreading malaria, is that not enough?”

“What ants? If you watch, the truth will be revealed, so keep an eye on it. Oh, now that I think about it, my medical staff is coming to Canada for that, so you can meet someone you’re happy to see after a long time. Have you met Florence recently?”

Robert’s body stiffened like a wooden doll when Nightingale was mentioned.

What man wouldn’t be embarrassed by the story of a woman he used to follow around because he liked her?

Whether it’s a beautiful memory or ended as a dark history, men are originally creatures that can’t help but feel complicated when they think of their first love.

Come to think of it, I don’t think Robert is married yet, is he?

“Miss Florence… I used to have tea with her occasionally when I was in the home country. Of course, I haven’t seen her much in the last few years because I’ve been busy.”

“Hmm, is that so? Then that’s good. I’ll give you a reason. When the medical staff arrives, they’ll start researching malaria right away, so please go and take care of it. Even if you think it’s a bit much for you, the representative of the parliament, to move, you can send an agent.”

“Ah, no! I’ll go myself!”

Robert shouted urgently, then quickly packed his bags, said goodbye, and stepped back.

He still has pure love even after so much time has passed, so maybe he’s a purer person than I thought.

I turned my head slightly and looked in the mirror, and I saw a wicked smile on my face as I discovered something unexpectedly interesting.

After all, there’s nothing more fun than watching other people’s love lives.

I’ll have to have some fun until the call I’m waiting for comes back.

* * *

The Pacific Ocean, which has been gaining importance recently.

The canal construction to open the way to the Pacific Ocean naturally attracted the attention of the world and received the expectations of many.

In particular, since the person who won the construction of this project was French, France was in a state of occupying the area near the canal that was being opened, so the degree of interest was different.

The British Empire would naturally take the largest stake, but France also secured a significant stake with the intention of making a profit here.

The chief manager, Ferdinand de Lesseps, was also burning with the desire to open the canal as quickly as possible and further enhance his and his country’s honor.

“Come on! Don’t be lazy and move quickly!”

“Our goal is to complete the construction within 7 years no matter what!”

Weeee.

Woooo.

For this reason, he came directly to the Panamanian outback to encourage the workers and staff, but as soon as he arrived, there were so many whining mosquitoes that he felt very unpleasant.

“Boss! The workers are complaining of fatigue because there are too many mosquitoes when they sleep.”

“Tell them to bear it. Isn’t it inevitable? You have to bear it to prevent ants from spreading malaria.”

“Boss, but patients suspected of having malaria continue to occur.”

“What?”

Lesseps’ face darkened at the bad news that malaria patients were already appearing, even though he kept hearing the mosquito sounds that caused annoyance.

“Damn it. If malaria spreads, it will seriously interfere with the construction…”

“Boss, what should we do?”

“There’s no choice. Bring even more water! Put two buckets of water in the workers’ beds instead of one! Never let an ant get close!”

It will cost a little more money, but it’s better than the construction being overturned.

We must prevent malaria from becoming more prevalent.

Cold sweat was pouring down Lesseps’ back as if a waterfall had formed on his back, facing a crisis from the start.