When Palrston read through the entire article with a bystander’s perspective, a trace of anger and helplessness erged on his face.
The article took as a trigger the intelligence received by the Kingdom of Britain on the United States of Arica’s weak attitude, utilizing the nationalist fervor recently ignited by Palrston, which had not yet fully subsided, to "represent" the British citizens (specifically those who pay taxes) in questioning the British Cabinet.
By questioning why the Kingdom of Britain was compromising with the United States of Arica, it implied the existence of a lobbying group within Britain that had received US Dollars from the United States of Arica, satisfying US interests.
(Although Palrston himself did indeed receive so bribes from the United States of Arica, he dared to swear that he had not hard Britain’s interests.)
At the end of the article, The Tis called for Palrston to thoroughly investigate the "traitors," "traitors to the nation," and "500,000 British Pounds," and to restore a harmonious environnt for the British people.
Although not a single word in the article directly ntioned the British Cabinet and Palrston, every sentence implied that Palrston played the leading role in compromising with the United States of Arica.
This was not a letter addressed to him but clearly intended to put him on the spot.
Palrston understood that from the mont The Tis published this article, he could no longer retreat from the United States of Arica.
If Palrston chose to concede to the United States of Arica, a wave would inevitably be stirred up in the dia field.
Standing in the center of the storm, Palrston was likely to be completely overwheld by the tide of public opinion, leading to the risk of political death.
For Palrston, death was not the most terrifying thing; it was the end of his political life that was hardest to accept.
In order to prevent his political life from ending, Palrston decided to take action.
Just as Palrston was about to summon his private secretary to issue orders face-to-face, his private secretary pushed the door open and walked in.
"You’re just in ti!" Palrston responded to his private secretary.
"Pri Minister, do you have any instructions?" the private secretary hurriedly inquired.
"Go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs imdiately and summon the Earl of Clarion!" Palrston commanded his private secretary: "Tell him that I have important matters to discuss! Have him co over at once!"
"Pri Minister, I was just about to report to you!" the private secretary responded to Palrston without a head or tail.
"Report what?" Palrston looked at his private secretary in confusion.
"The Earl of Clarion is currently waiting outside!" the private secretary explained imdiately, then added, "He said he also has urgent matters he wants to discuss with you!"
"Could it be that he has also seen the article from The Tis?" Palrston murmured instinctively.
Due to the distance of about 5 or 6 ters between Palrston and the private secretary, combined with Palrston’s low voice just now, the private secretary did not clearly hear what Palrston said, so he hurriedly asked, "Pri Minister, what did you say?"
"Nothing!" Palrston shook his head, then waved his hand at his private secretary, "Quickly call in the Earl of Clarion!"
"Yes!" Upon hearing Palrston’s order, the private secretary turned around and left.
After a while, the British Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Clarion, appeared before Palrston, holding a docunt in his hand.
"Pri Minister Palrston!" The Earl of Clarion bowed slightly to Palrston to show respect for the Pri Minister’s position.
"Minister Villiers (the Earl of Clarion’s title), sit, please!" Palrston invited the Earl of Clarion to sit.
Then he ordered the private secretary sitting near the door, "Please bring us two cups of red tea!"
"Yes!" The newly seated private secretary had to stand up to prepare tea for Palrston and Villiers.
"Villiers, what is it you need to discuss with ?" Palrston inquired of the Earl of Clarion as soon as the private secretary left.
"Well, Pri Minister!" The Earl of Clarion handed the docunt to Pri Minister Palrston while explaining its contents: "Last night, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a telegraph from Ambassador Cowley... The telegraph is at the top of the docunt."
"Ambassador Cowley?" Palrston repeated, then asked, "Did sothing happen in the French Empire?"
"Yes!" The Earl of Clarion replied with a wry smile, "Ambassador Cowley reported in the telegraph that just last night, the Emperor of the French Empire held a celebratory ball at the Tuileries Palace, inviting ambassadors from various countries, politicians, and the military.
During the ball, Ambassador Cowley was granted a solo audience with the French Emperor.
The Emperor told him that negotiations between the French Empire and the United States of Arica had broken down."
"What?" Palrston was greatly surprised and hurriedly asked, "How did the negotiations break down?"
"Ambassador Cowley did not discuss this in detail in the telegram! However, the Emperor of France is very firm in his attitude towards the United States of Arica!" Earl of Clarion said to Palrston.
"So the French Empire wants to seek our help?" Palrston asked Earl of Clarion.
"The French Empire hopes that we can stand with them to jointly resist the United States of Arica!" Earl of Clarion replied.
"Jointly resist the United States of Arica?" Palrston repeated, his expression slightly unnatural.
"That’s right!" Earl of Clarion nodded and replied to Palrston.
"This is too much of a coincidence!" Palrston muttered in amazent.
"Your Excellency, Pri Minister, what coincidence? I don’t understand a word!" Earl of Clarion asked Palrston.
"Look at this!" Palrston placed The Tis in front of Clarion and said, "You only need to look at the front-page content!"
Clarion picked up the newspaper and read it intently. After a while, he looked up and responded to Palrston, "This is too coincidental!"
"I was right, wasn’t I?" Palrston spoke with satisfaction, responding to Clarion.
"Your Excellency, Pri Minister, in my view, there seems to be so hidden dealings between The Tis and the French Empire, and it might not end well..." Clarion offered his insight to Palrston.
"That possibility cannot be ruled out!" Palrston nodded in agreent with Clarion’s guess, and then added, "However, it also cannot be ruled out that The Tis obtained this information through certain rcenary individuals within our ranks!"
As the leader in the British newspaper industry, how could The Tis not have so secret channels?
According to Palrston’s understanding of The Tis and the British political scene, there are many civil servants who have good relationships with the editors of The Tis, providing them with quality stories, for which The Tis pays them handsoly.
In such a "win-win" model, the speed at which The Tis obtained news even exceeded that of the Pri Minister himself.
After all, the characteristic of bureaucracy is hierarchical transmission, and by the ti the news reached him, it was unknown how much ti had passed.
[PS: In history, during the Crian War, The Tis was able to get information faster than the governnt by relying on professional war correspondents and a thorough information channel.
This led to the Kingdom of Britain’s state, numbers, and morale on the Cria Peninsula being all exposed by The Tis, allowing Nicholas I, far away in St. Petersburg, to develop the next phase of strategy based on The Tis’ descriptions, resulting in Commander Largren cursing The Tis as "traitorous."]
"However, now is not the ti to discuss where The Tis got this information from! Whether it’s to appease British Citizens or to win over the French Empire! Anyway, we must act now!" Palrston said to Earl of Clarion.
"Your Excellency, Pri Minister, what do you an?" Clarion inquired.
"Reject the United States of Arica’s request! At the sa ti, urge them to strictly adhere to neutrality!" Palrston said to Earl of Clarion.
"What if the United States of Arica is unwilling to accept?" Earl of Clarion asked.
"Trust ! They will accept!" Palrston responded confidently to Earl of Clarion, for he knew those Aricans too well.
"Yes!" Clarion obeyed Palrston’s commands.
...
When Earl of Clarion returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he imdiately summoned the Ambassador to the United States of Arica, the future 15th President of the United States of Arica, Jas Buchanan, and regretfully said: "Unfortunately, we cannot agree to your conditions!"
"Your Excellency, Count, I rember that a few days ago, you told that as long as we strictly adhere to the neutrality agreent, your country would not seize our ships. It’s only been a few days, and you suddenly change your stance!" Jas Buchanan loudly questioned Earl of Clarion.
Even as soone in the pro-British faction, he was angered by Britain’s fickle foreign policy.
Just as he promised Washington he would quickly resolve the issue, the Kingdom of Britain stabbed him in the back.
"Mr. Ambassador, I did not explicitly promise you, and we did not sign any agreent between us. What I said at the ti was a possibility!" Clarion emphasized, then argued, "The international situation is inherently complex and volatile; sotis, we have to consider the interests of other countries!"
"Your Excellency, Count, are the ’other countries’ you ntioned referring to the French Empire?" The Arican ambassador once again inquired of Earl of Clarion.
"I cannot answer that question, please forgive !" Earl of Clarion refused to answer Jas Buchanan.
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