I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 91

Cartel Busting (2)

The House of Commons and the House of Lords, in principle, hold separate meetings in different rooms on the same day.

While Killian was giving a speech at the House of Lords at the Prime Minister’s request, Welsley and Disraeli were leading the discussion in the House of Commons.

“The first, second, and third virtue of a politician is to serve the people!”

“The Irish are also citizens of the British Empire. They are not colonial subjects. The government must do everything in its power to prevent this foreseen disaster!”

“But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it all about money? If we spend more than necessary on Ireland, there will be complaints from others.”

“Does that mean the lives of the Irish are not lives at all!”

“When did I say that! We need to prioritize and focus.”

Welsley throws out a topic, and when a rebuttal comes in, Daniel O’Connell passionately rebuts it again.

The parliament was as chaotic and noisy as a marketplace.

“According to this report, the expected scale of damage to the Irish when the Great Famine hits without any preparation is over 2 million! 1 million will starve to death, and over 1 million will have to leave their homes to find a way to live! If I hadn’t seen this, I could say I didn’t know this result would come out! But everyone here has seen it now.

If such a disaster really strikes in the future, those who stood by and opposed preparations are responsible for those horrific deaths! Why? Because the evidence that they knew but pretended not to know is too clear!”

“Mr. O’Connell is right!”

“Are the lives of the Irish not lives at all?”

“If you want to openly discriminate against England, just make Ireland a colony! If not, treat us like citizens of the mainland! If there was a prediction that 1 million English people would starve to death, would you be acting like this now!”

People who care about the lives of the Irish themselves.

Typically, Daniel O’Connell and the Repeal Association members who follow him mainly voiced such opinions.

“Who said not to prepare at all? But the economy isn’t doing so well right now, and the indemnity from Qing [referring to the indemnity paid by the Qing Dynasty after the Opium Wars] hasn’t all come in yet, so we need to secure the resources slowly!”

People who oppose support but want to avoid criticism that they ignored millions of lives.

“The Irish famine is a future that will come in a few years, but the merchants who suffered damage before the war have already suffered enormous losses! We need to support those people first!”

Even those who took a lot of kickbacks from opium merchants.

People with different positions mixed together and only talked about their own stories, so opinions were not immediately unified.

But in the end, the majority opinion in the House of Commons was decided.

When Daniel O’Connell strongly pushed to save the Irish people, Welsley subtly added a word from the side.

“If such a tragedy occurs in Ireland, it will inevitably affect not only Ireland but the entire British Empire. Where is the guarantee that the deterioration of security in Ireland will not affect the mainland? And the important thing is, if rumors spread that we knew this fact but turned a blind eye, how can we alleviate the anxiety of the colonies?”

“Hmm······?”

If it’s just for Ireland, of course, there will be opposition from England.

So Killian told the Conservatives in advance to approach from a different perspective than Daniel O’Connell.

“Think about it. Ireland is not a colony but a part of the mainland. If a great famine is expected to occur in such a place, and we do not take effective measures in advance. If this spreads to the colonies, what will the people in the colonies think? They can’t help but think that if the citizens of the mainland are left to starve to death, even greater tragedies await them if similar things happen to them, right?”

“Isn’t that something that won’t happen if it’s not known?”

“There will inevitably be people in the colonies who want independence, and there are plenty of countries that want us to fail to stabilize the colonies. If I were the French, I would definitely use this. If you just slip information to those who want independence, it will spread like wildfire. What could be a more convenient means than this?”

If we didn’t know what O’Connell or Welsley said, we could at least make the excuse that we didn’t know this would happen, but now we can’t even do that.

Not knowing and ignoring it even though you know it are as different as heaven and earth.

In fact, there were quite a few people in the House of Commons who treated Ireland like beggars, but even those people couldn’t easily ignore this tragedy even though they knew about it.

However, they were worried that if they treated Ireland too well, there would be backlash from the mainland, but Welsley happened to give them a good excuse.

This is for the entire British Empire, not just Ireland.

Members of Parliament who received a lot of money from opium merchants wanted to more actively represent their interests, but they decided to take a step back for now.

This is because they were convinced that even if they came up with an Irish relief plan here, it would be cut off in the House of Lords.

Then, they could persuade the House of Lords step by step and prioritize the merchants’ relief plan.

After several hours of discussion, Welsley’s argument eventually garnered the support of more than half of the members.

“With this, I will authorize the establishment of a committee to prepare the Irish Famine Prevention Act and create countermeasures.”

The Speaker’s voice echoed loudly, and once again, the Welsley faction succeeded in enforcing their will.

However, William Gladstone, a young Conservative member who was watching all of these processes, was not at ease.

It’s not that he shouldn’t support Ireland, but that he did.

Gladstone also thought that if such a famine occurred in Ireland, measures should be taken.

In terms of methodology, he thought that instead of simply providing relief, they should develop the ability to overcome the crisis on their own, but he could concede even that.

The real problem was that he had an ominous feeling that there might be no place for him in the future of the Conservative Party, no matter how he looked at it.

Of course, not having a place didn’t mean being completely alienated.

Gladstone was not on bad terms with Welsley, who would become the center of the Conservative Party, and he was on good terms with Killian, who had rapidly emerged as the central axis of the Welsley faction.

However, that was only as a sidekick. The center of the Welsley faction was Charles Welsley, Killian Gore, and Disraeli.

Among them, Disraeli often had political opinions that were so incompatible with Gladstone that it could be said that they were completely incompatible.

‘Hoo······. In the end, even if I stay here, I can only be the fourth or fifth in command.’

As long as the Welsley faction is strong, he may not even be able to dream of becoming Prime Minister or even the head of a core department.

Others would be satisfied with being the fourth or fifth in command of the party, but he was different.

He had a desire to become the head of the party and was capable of doing so.

Moreover, although he didn’t know it at first, the more he engaged in political activities, the stronger his suspicion that the ideology of the Conservative Party did not suit him.

‘Will I live with the claws of a lion, or will I become the head of a wolf?’

He must make a decision now before it’s too late.

Gladstone sighed as he looked at Welsley and Disraeli, who were receiving congratulatory applause from the members, with complicated feelings.

* * *

When the debate surrounding Ireland could not find a consensus, the Speaker of the House of Lords suggested taking a break for a while.

According to my calculations, the House of Commons would be coming to a conclusion soon, so taking a break here was the perfect timing.

It was also a great opportunity to shut the mouths of the noisy lords.

As soon as the debate was suspended, I quickly looked around at the people I had been watching earlier.

Just in time, I found a prey alone, so I naturally approached and spoke to him.

“The debate is getting longer. You’re working hard, Marquess of Anglesey.”

“······Ahem. I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but if you’re trying to persuade me, I have no intention of agreeing, so you should go to someone else.”

“It’s not really that. I just have a few interesting stories, and I was wondering if you knew them, so I thought I’d share them with you.”

You have to watch where you stretch your legs when you lie down, and the same goes for winning over the other person.

You need the skill to quickly assess whether the other person is someone you can shake or someone you need to appease appropriately.

And according to William Jardine’s information and my investigation, the Marquess of Anglesey was undoubtedly in the former category.

He gained his current position by playing an active role in the Battle of Waterloo, but he is naturally fond of gambling and enjoys living a luxurious life.

“I heard you have quite a bit of debt. But you’ve paid it all off in the last few years.”

“······What. Did you investigate me? I didn’t think you were this kind of person······.”

“I didn’t think you were this kind of person either, but I’m disappointed. One of the heroes of Waterloo is in debt from gambling and receives kickbacks from various places to pay it off. And you may or may not know, but I don’t ignore drug addicts for no reason. The Prime Minister is doing everything in his power to ensure that this war is recorded as a legitimate exercise of the British Empire’s rights. But if you continue to side with the opium merchants without paying attention here, what will happen?”

“No, but······.”

“The Prime Minister and the Duke of Wellington are very interested in this issue. So is Her Majesty the Queen. We barely erased the two letters of opium from the war, but to bring this up again······. Can you handle the aftermath? It doesn’t seem like you can with this data.”

Those who receive bribes often pass it over without much thought, but businessmen never give away their money without any safety net.

Jardine had recorded the detailed flow of funds and prepared all the evidence of how he had given money to the nobles.

The Marquess’s eyes lost focus and trembled as he saw part of that undeniable evidence.

“N, no, wait. Where did you get this data······. Could it be?”

“Next time you receive money, you should consider whether you might get backstabbed. Of course, if I reveal this, I don’t know if there will be a next time. It doesn’t seem like it would be possible with this data.”

“Ha, hahaha······Hey, Mr. Minister, you’re not angry because I made a joke, are you? What kind of era is it? What opium are you talking about? Of course, human life is the priority! Hahaha.”

“Then you can cooperate not only with the Irish issue but also with getting rid of drug dealers, right? This is also good for you. That way, you can erase your weaknesses. I don’t like blackmailing people. I always pursue ways to make everyone better off.”

Of course, even if I do that, the evidence I have won’t go anywhere, but as a Marquess, you should reduce the number of people who can stab you in the back, right?

Anyway, he had no choice.

After pretending to think for a while, he smiled brightly and took my hand.

“Of course, I have to help you. Haha, but if I help you, is it possible to destroy that data······.”

“Of course, I have to do that for you.”

“Really? Hahaha, you’re a reasonable person after all. I think I misunderstood you until now.”

Look at him believing it so readily just because I said it. Am I crazy to destroy this?

Still, it’ll be good for his mental health while he believes it, so let’s just leave it alone for now.

Anyway, in order to change the atmosphere now, I don’t have the time to invest in someone like the Marquess for a long time.

I gave the Marquess some lip service and moved towards the next target.

This time, I had to be careful because it wasn’t someone who could be moved by simple threats.

“Duke, it’s an honor to meet you like this. The debate is taking longer than expected. Do you have any problems with other schedules?”

“Who would make other plans on the day of the House of Lords meeting? By the way, you’re wasting your time. Logically, the nobles of this country would never step up for Ireland.”

Francis Russell, Duke of Bedford.

A prominent Whig nobleman and the older brother of John Russell, who will become the central axis of the Whig Party, he is one of the richest people in England.

He owns so much wealth that even spending extravagantly wouldn’t make a dent, so he himself had no major connection with opium merchants.

But unfortunately, it seems you haven’t managed your family properly, Duke.

“I expected it. But I’m a little sad that those who are raising the biggest voices of opposition now don’t seem to be doing it just for that reason.”

“There’s another reason?”

“Yes. The House of Commons hasn’t proposed any specific measures yet, but relief measures will inevitably involve financial expenditures. Many of those who are opposing now don’t want the indemnity that should go to the opium merchants to be used for Irish relief.”

“······I thought that might be the case, but what can I do? I can’t force them. And there are people like me who don’t care much about what happens to the opium merchants, but don’t care much about supporting Ireland either. In my opinion, the indemnity should be used to revitalize the real estate market first. Many nobles have suffered enormous losses due to the recent economic recession, so supporting Ireland is out of the question.”

Is he drawing a line right away in case I ask him to voice his support?

Certainly, as he said, given the nature of the House of Lords, where the majority of members are large landowners, they can’t help but be indifferent to the Irish issue.

“I fully understand the Duke’s concerns. Of course, I will argue that if an extreme bill is proposed that would send all the indemnity to Ireland, I must exercise my veto. However, what I’m worried about is that people with extremely common-sense opinions like the Duke might be misunderstood as being on the same side as the opium merchants.”

“You’re making an interesting joke. That I might be misunderstood as backing the opium merchants? What do I lack that I would receive money from people poorer than me and support them?”

“Of course, the Duke would never do that. But what I’m worried about is the Duke’s family members.”

As I handed Jardine’s data to him, a sharp anger flashed in the Duke of Bedford’s eyes.

“Are you telling me to believe that my family members received this money? Why would they?”

“The Duke is one of the richest people in this country, but that money is not the property of your family members. In fact, I accidentally obtained this data. It’s also the reason why I decided to wipe out all the opium merchants.”

“I don’t know how you having that data and having to wipe out the opium merchants are connected?”

“This data was created by opium merchants to win over or threaten people like the Duke. To recruit people who can exert great influence in the House of Lords or the House of Commons when the situation becomes difficult like now.”

“Is that true?”

Of course it’s a lie. How could it be true?

But since there’s no way to confirm the truth and there’s evidence, you have no choice but to believe what I say, right?

“Of course. To explain the course of events, it’s like this. Before I left Qing, the opium merchants insisted that the indemnity should be allocated to them first. And when I didn’t do that, they became desperate and threatened that they had many connections in the central government, so they could mobilize them to blow away my position. William Jardine and James Matheson were representative of these.”

“Dare to threaten the Minister? Crazy bastards.”

“Even a mouse bites a cat when cornered. So I pretended to listen to them and suddenly mobilized soldiers to arrest them for illegal activities. And I thoroughly searched them and secured this data. But if I reveal this data, wouldn’t too many victims be created? There will also be people who are unfairly misunderstood like the Duke. So I decided to just bury it.”

“Then you should have kept it buried. Why are you telling me this now?”

“There’s no guarantee that I’m the only one who has this data. Other opium merchants might use this to ask you to support them. I had no choice but to reveal their plot and ask for help in advance.”

There wasn’t even 1% of the facts that matched, but even when I thought about it, it was a surprisingly perfect lie.

The shadow of doubt cast on the Duke of Bedford’s face was noticeably fading, which was the evidence.

“So where are those guys Jardine and Matheson?”

“Wouldn’t they be in a world where you can never see them again?”

The two are traveling back and forth between the United States and Canada, faithfully carrying out what I told them to prepare, so they will never come to England again.

But the Duke of Bedford, who understood that in a different sense, nodded with a satisfied smile.

“You’ve commanded wars, so your work is very thorough. So what do you want me to do? Just vote in favor of your proposal?”

“Yes. Then I will widely publicize the harm of opium and impose strong regulations to prevent drugs from taking root in this country. I would appreciate it if you could cooperate then too.”

“Good. I have no reason to refuse to step on the guys who dared to try to use me without knowing their place.”

After that, as a result of working hard and doing behind-the-scenes work until the end of the break time, the atmosphere of the resumed meeting changed 180 degrees.

“What support are you talking about for those who sold legally prohibited items? Of course, they are also British citizens, so it’s a pity that they suffered great losses, but it’s ridiculous to allocate the indemnity first! You have to use it all elsewhere and then give them support when there’s a budget left.”

“Uh······. Marquess? Didn’t you say that we should support them first?”

“I thought about it while resting, and my mind changed.”

“It changed too drastically for that, didn’t it?”

“To be honest, I was just opposing for the sake of opposing because I wondered if I should support Ireland. But when I organized my thoughts while resting, God gave me the mind that they are also citizens of the British Empire, so I should definitely help them. So I will actively support the bill that the House of Commons will propose to help Ireland! Save the Ireland!”

Everyone stared at the Marquess, who had been shouting opposition more than anyone else, with bewildered eyes as he suddenly became an Irish human rights activist, but thanks to that, the voices of opposition were greatly reduced.

“There’s no reason to oppose Irish relief. But I can’t find any reason to step up and relieve those who sold opium, not even ordinary items.”

Here, even the Duke of Bedford, one of the most influential figures in the House of Lords, stepped up and expressed his support, and the atmosphere of the parliament tilted towards support as if by magic.

“Huh······If opinions were going to be so easily agreed upon, why did we have such a heated debate earlier?”

The Speaker, who was grumbling that he had wasted his time, looked around the members one last time and asked.

“Then we will enter the vote, so those who agree, shout agree, and those who oppose, shout oppose.”

“Agree!”

“Agree!”

“I agree!”

“Opp······.”

“Agreeeeeeee!”

The timid voices of opposition that came out in the middle were futilely buried in the overwhelming voices of support.

Soon, the Speaker, who judged that there was no need to count the details, officially declared that the House of Lords would gather opinions to prepare Irish relief measures as quickly as possible.

Clap clap clap!

“Thank you! I will definitely repay you with the best results!”

The elders of the House of Lords poured out generous applause for me as I gave my thanks.

Good. I won.