I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 94

Becoming a Hidden Power in the British Empire 94 (2)

Joint Venture (2)

The unease I felt before returning to England turned out to be justified.

It was good that the Irish Famine relief measures and the Opium Prohibition Act had passed, but the problem was that this process went too smoothly.

Common sense would dictate that they know I should be involved in the Irish issue, even if they disregard opium, but the Conservative Party’s confidence was sky-high.

‘The Whig Party? Isn’t that a plant party that will disappear in the next election? Nothing can stop us.’

As a result of such optimism eating away at their brains, the Conservative Party’s bad habits began to resurface.

“Killian, perhaps… Would you be willing to go to Hong Kong for a while as a special envoy to Asia?”

Prime Minister Robert Peel was spouting nonsense in front of me with a sheepish look on his face, the day after I met Victoria.

“Are you telling me to step down from my position as a minister?”

“No, no. That’s not it. It’s just that there’s been talk of creating a position as a special envoy to Asia in addition to your ministerial post, and sending you to Asia. Other members and ministers are saying that frankly, no one understands Asia as well as you do, right?”

“Ah. But wasn’t I supposed to lead the investigative committee for preventing the Irish Famine?”

“Well, that… We’ll have to entrust it to someone else.”

If it’s not me, the chances of the sun rising in the east tomorrow are the same as Daniel O’Connell getting that position. Do they even think?

No. They’re not saying this now because they don’t know that.

Our Conservative Party’s bigwigs are uncomfortable with a young whippersnapper like me making a name for himself, so they want me to go away for a while.

Wellesley is the son of the Duke of Wellington, so they accept him as one of their own, but even if I’m a minister or Baron Sudley, I’m ultimately from Ireland.

I’m qualified to enter the elegant salons they control, but they don’t want to open the door for me. That’s what I am to them.

“I haven’t heard such talk in the House of Lords. It seems it came from the House of Commons or the Cabinet.”

“Well… that’s true. But you don’t have to go for too long. It won’t be more than two years at most.”

“Are you telling me to come back when the famine investigation committee and the opium eradication are roughly finished? That’s very clear.”

I’ve already given you the guidelines.

Now that things will run smoothly without you, stop hogging the spotlight and stay out of the way.

It’s so transparent that I’m almost grateful.

This way, we can be sure of each other’s intentions, so there’s no room for misunderstanding. Isn’t that great?

I gave the House of Lords a warning threat, but I didn’t say much to the House of Commons, so I thought this might happen.

Even in the House of Commons, there are plenty of members with five or six terms, so I must have been quite annoying to them.

The Wellesley faction is growing at an alarming rate, so they might be trying to get rid of me and put the brakes on it.

“Just bear with it for a little while. After all, we have to win the election first, right? The election will be over in two years, so when you come back then, there won’t be much noise… But if there are still people making a fuss, I’ll be sure to deal with them decisively.”

“Prime Minister, to be blunt, we’ll win the election even if we fight with our feet right now. But isn’t it a clear waste for me to go to Asia just because you don’t want noise within the party?”

“That’s true, but there’s a lot of expectation within the party that we might win more than 500 seats in this election. If we win such a great victory, wouldn’t it be a victory for all of us? Hahaha…”

You can’t possibly not know that I and Ireland are not included in that ‘all of us,’ but you’re going to talk like that?

After all, no matter how many achievements I make, it’s impossible for an outsider like me to dominate the central political scene just by making achievements.

The maximum I can achieve is to become a loyal sycophant to the powerful figures at the center of power, and now they’re asking me to show my loyalty.

They’re not stupid at all, and they’re not reckless fools who can’t tell right from wrong.

Rather, they’re better at judging the situation than anyone else, so they’re trying to tame me by putting appropriate pressure on me before I get any bigger.

If I had quietly kept a low profile, I would have just taken out the guys I needed to take out, but if you go this far, I can proceed without any pangs of conscience.

I actually like it.

“I understand. Then I’ll consider it positively. If the members’ opinions are firm, it will only cause division in the party if I resist.”

“I feel bad for doing this to you after you’ve accomplished so much. But if you go to Asia and sort out your origins, it might be beneficial for you in the long run, right?”

“I suppose you could see it that way. I’ll try to think positively, as you said, Prime Minister.”

“Haha, yes. It’s all good.”

Robert Peel’s face brightened as I unexpectedly yielded.

Whatever else, I agree with the last thing I heard.

Anyway, if you can maintain your position as Prime Minister and keep the majority party, isn’t that a good thing?

Since you said it yourself, I hope you can get through it with that mindset.

* * *

While Britain was selling opium to China, the harms of opium were rarely reported.

Of course, they couldn’t advertise that they were making money by selling something that ruined people.

By the early to mid-19th century, even without scientific evidence of addiction, all the empirical evidence of how much opium ruined people was available.

In this situation, as the opium trade was almost doomed, British politicians washed their hands and began to cut off opium.

Of course, they didn’t show any signs of trying to eradicate it completely, since they had already received the money.

It was just for show.

It was more like a warning crackdown, telling them to get out of here and find a way out if they had one, since they were going to clean up.

The general public, of course, didn’t know the deep details, so they were just accepting it as it was.

Until the royal family moved.

[Opium seized in Kensington Palace. Queen Victoria enraged!]

[The evil drug of the devil reaches the heart of the British Empire!]

Of course, it’s a lie.

No matter how crazy people are about money, would they be crazy enough to distribute drugs to the palace where the Queen and royal family live?

But it was true that a large amount of opium was found in Kensington Palace. I secretly put it there.

Originally, it was against tradition for the Queen to openly request something from a minister or prime minister, but opium was found in large quantities in the Queen’s residence.

Using this as an excuse, Victoria immediately summoned Robert Peel to the palace and asked him to conduct a thorough search, and the citizens watched the situation with dismay.

Voices began to rise, demanding that the ruling party and the Prime Minister prove themselves with actions, not just words.

But the reality was that the Conservative Party, which was only trying to save face and suck up the issue, had no other way to deal with it.

Judging that the temperature of the frying pan was hot enough, I put the best ingredients I had prepared on top.

-William Gladstone’s Whistleblowing, The Ugly Faces of Conservative Elders

-Strict Punishment on the Outside, Full of Holes on the Inside. How Did the Conservative Party Protect Opium Merchants?

-“I tried to speak out, but I was silenced and forced to remain silent. But I can no longer ignore my conscience, so I will resign from the Conservative Party. In my heart, the nation comes before the party!” Gladstone’s Confession of Conscience

The Conservative Party, which initially tried to shout that it was the Whig Party’s agitation as a spinal reflex, had a moment of cognitive dissonance when they realized that the speaker was Gladstone of the same party.

Did that man suddenly eat something wrong? Why is he suddenly making a fuss and self-destructing?

But Gladstone openly announced the list he had received from me and shouted proudly.

“Here are the names of the members of the House of Commons who received money from these merchants and acted for them. If you think I’m lying, sue me. Member of Parliament Graham, Member of Parliament Austin, am I wrong? If I’m wrong, please answer publicly!”

“N-No… Everyone! This is all a lie. Gladstone is slandering me! I have never offered to help bring opium into the country!”

“Then you have never received any compensation from opium merchants, and you have never engaged in legislative activities for them? Can you swear that you have never used the power entrusted to you by the citizens for the benefit of drug dealers? Even though I have evidence!”

“W-Well, that’s…”

Gladstone directly mentioned more than ten people.

Of course, I excluded those who I could just intimidate and use, like the Marquis of Anglesey in the House of Lords, but I had to get rid of all the parasites who only occupied seats this time.

In fact, they may not be completely innocent.

It’s true that they’ve been working hard to support opium merchants, but there were almost no crazy people who told them to bring opium into the country.

But what can I do?

It’s true that I’ve been working hard to support opium merchants while receiving kickbacks, and I’ve even said that we should start a war, but I didn’t say to bring it into the country.

If I explain it like this, will the angry public now say, ‘Oh, I see,’ and move on?

Originally, the most difficult thing to refute is agitation that mixes 99% truth with 1% lie.

In particular, those who have been exposed by Gladstone this time were veteran lawmakers who had served more than five terms.

The fact that these elders of the party had shown such a disgraceful appearance until now caused a disgusted reaction not only from the citizens but also from within the same party.

“Everyone! This was just the unilateral action of those money-crazed people, and this is not the opinion of our entire Conservative Party!”

“What do you mean it’s not! Do you think you can get away with saying that you didn’t know anything, Prime Minister?”

“N-No… I really didn’t know, so I said I didn’t know. If I had known, I would have stopped this madness no matter what!”

“If you knew, it’s illegal, and if you didn’t know, it’s incompetence!”

“Resign!”

The Whig Party, which had been suppressed by the Conservative Party and had never been able to speak up, rushed in at this opportunity, and the Conservative Party’s approval rating began to plummet in an instant.

[Graham and 13 other Conservative Party members, a pile of evidence of receiving money from opium merchants seized]

[Gladstone changes party affiliation to the Whig Party. ‘I will not stop challenging until the British Empire’s political world is morally perfect’]

[Conservative Party in Crisis. How is Prime Minister Robert Peel’s Leadership Being Tested?]

The Conservative Party’s leadership was branded as the worst kind of scoundrels who tried to release drugs into the country for money.

What, win 500 seats in the general election?

If the general election is held as it is, it would be fortunate if they could secure a majority. Go ahead and try.

Rice must bow its head as it ripens, but from the moment they tried to oppress the general who had returned after making achievements, this was already a predetermined event.

You guys were too arrogant.

* * *

“……”

“Is the situation that bad?”

“……Hoo. Yes. That bastard Gladstone completely messed things up. We’ve been letting him rise through the ranks of the party until now, and he stabs us in the back like this?”

“He’s always been a morally fastidious person.”

In fact, Gladstone had been making so many righteous remarks from before that no one in the Conservative Party suspected that there was a mastermind behind this incident.

They just cursed, saying that the crazy moralist had finally caused an accident.

“Prime Minister, what should I do then? When should I go to Asia?”

“Asia? Why are you going to Asia?”

“Just a few days ago, you told me to think about going as a special envoy to Asia. I was preparing hard.”

“Hahaha… Of course, that was just a possibility. Hasn’t the situation changed now? You should be at the forefront of famine relief as the head of the Irish Investigation Committee! Where are you going? If anyone says you should be sent to Asia, I’ll send them to Asia first, so don’t worry!”

Wow, our Prime Minister’s speed of changing his attitude is enough to slap Udyr in the face [Reference to a character known for swift transformations].

It’s exactly as I expected.

With approval ratings falling and criticism of him as an incompetent prime minister who can’t even manage the party internally, he has no choice but to make up for it by building achievements elsewhere.

And the person who first advocated for the eradication of the Irish famine and the eradication of opium was none other than me.

If they send me to Asia in this situation, they were really thinking of making me step down from the prime ministership, but fortunately, their ability to judge the situation is still intact.

“Prime Minister, can I assume that sending me to Asia is completely off the table?”

“Of course!”

“I see. That’s a relief then. I thought I might be a little confused if things changed again.”

“That won’t happen, so please rest assured and please make some great achievements in Ireland. If there’s anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to tell me.”

Robert Peel, with a 180-degree change from a few days ago, smiled awkwardly and watched me carefully.

It’s a lifeline that I deliberately lowered, but for the Conservative Party, another major event that can change public opinion is approaching.

[Queen Victoria to Visit Ireland]

If they prove the Conservative Party’s competence here, they can still maintain the label of being capable.

As the saying goes, row when the water comes in [Seize opportunities]. At this time, when the entire British Empire, not just Ireland, is watching the young Queen’s progressive and patriotic actions with interest.

I will show the whole country who will be the savior of Ireland.