Just as Jero Bonaparte was intensively clearing the British spies remaining in Paris, the British Ambassador in France, Kaoz, likewise sent a telegram to London after various confirmations.
The telegraph operator sitting next to the telegraph machine promptly transcribed the ssage and then handed it over to Earl of Clarion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
After reading the telegram, Earl of Clarion quickly folded it and put it in his pocket, then called his secretary.
"Your Excellency!" the secretary said respectfully to Earl of Clarion.
"I will be heading to 10 Downing Street imdiately. Please postpone all subsequent agendas for a while! If it’s really impossible to delay, then cancel them!" Earl of Clarion promptly ordered the secretary.
"Yes! Your Excellency!" the secretary hurriedly responded to Earl of Clarion.
Afterward, Earl of Clarion got up and left the British Foreign Ministry with great strides.
Since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Pri Minister’s office are not too far apart (both are on Downing Street), Earl of Clarion chose to walk instead of taking a carriage.
After walking for about 10 minutes, Earl of Clarion arrived at the Pri Minister’s residence and t the Cabinet Secretary and the Pri Minister’s secretary guarding the entrance to the Pri Minister’s office.
"Minister, hello!" The Cabinet Secretary quickly stood up and bowed to Earl of Clarion upon seeing him.
The Pri Minister’s secretary also stood up to salute Earl of Clarion.
"Is the Pri Minister inside, does he have ti?" Earl of Clarion directly inquired of the Cabinet Secretary without much small talk.
"Let check!" The Cabinet Secretary opened the itinerary mo on the desk, glanced at it, then said to Earl of Clarion, "Minister, the Pri Minister has about an hour before he must go to Parliant to receive inquiries from the MPs!
If you have sothing urgent to discuss with the Pri Minister, it’s best to be quick!
The Pri Minister is resting inside right now!"
"I will be quick!" Earl of Clarion nodded in response to the Cabinet Secretary.
The Cabinet Secretary opened the door and entered the office.
At this mont, Palrston was resting on his desk, and the entrance of the Cabinet Secretary did not wake the Pri Minister, who had stayed up late several nights in a row.
The Cabinet Secretary walked slowly to Pri Minister Palrston’s side, gently nudging him a few tis, saying, "Pri Minister, Pri Minister! Please wake up!"
Stirred by the Cabinet Secretary, Palrston gradually woke from his dream, opening his tired eyes and lazily saying, "Is it ti?"
"No, Pri Minister!" The Cabinet Secretary hurriedly explained to Palrston, "It’s the Minister of Foreign Affairs!"
"Oh!" Palrston yawned again, rubbed his drowsy eyes, and said to the Cabinet Secretary, "Let him stand at the door and wait for 5 minutes!"
"Yes, Pri Minister!" The Cabinet Secretary left Palrston’s office and closed the door for him.
"The Pri Minister hopes you can wait for 5 minutes!" The Cabinet Secretary relayed Palrston’s words to Earl of Clarion upon leaving the room.
"I understand!" Earl of Clarion nodded in reply to the Cabinet Secretary and then stood quietly at the door waiting.
Five minutes later, the Cabinet Secretary entered the Pri Minister’s office.
After a while, the Cabinet Secretary ca out again, smiling and saying to Earl of Clarion, "Minister, you may go in!"
"Very well!" Earl of Clarion nodded and walked with steady steps into the office.
As soon as he entered the office, Earl of Clarion imdiately focused his gaze on Palrston sitting in the armchair. At this mont, he was no longer the lazy figure he had been before, but more like a sharp blade hidden away.
"Willis, you ca!" Palrston smiled at Earl of Clarion and then extended an invitation, "Please sit down!"
Earl of Clarion sat opposite Palrston, who then inquired, "The issue I asked you to investigate last ti, has your Foreign Ministry clarified it yet?"
"Yes!" Earl of Clarion handed the telegram from his pocket to Palrston.
After glancing at the content of the telegram, Palrston showed a hint of surprise. He then looked up earnestly and said to Earl of Clarion, "Willis, how do you assess the authenticity of Ambassador Kaoz’s telegram? Is France deceiving us?"
Earl of Clarion shook his head and analyzed earnestly to Palrston, "I believe there shouldn’t be any doubts about the authenticity of this telegram. Ambassador Kaoz’s loyalty to the Kingdom of Britain is sothing you should be very familiar with!"
"I certainly understand Mr. Kaoz’s passion for Britain!" Palrston responded to Earl of Clarion, "But this doesn’t rule out Ambassador Kaoz being deceived unilaterally by France!
The fact that France sent warships to escort 5,000 people to Gabon, don’t you think it’s too ostentatious!
And what’s their purpose for doing this?"
"I’m not sure!" Earl of Clarion paused for a mont, tentatively offering his opinion, "Perhaps they want to expand their territory!"
"Expanding territory? In Western Africa?" Palrston seed unwilling to believe that Jero Bonaparte had set his sights on West Africa because, in his view, the land in West Africa didn’t hold much value for occupation.
If the land in West Africa were good, the Kingdom of Britain would not have left it unchecked.
So far, the only place in West Africa with ties to Britain, apart from a single Nigerian protectorate, has been elsewhere.
"Pri Minister, aside from that, we truly have no other suitable reasons!" Earl of Clarion responded to Palrston.
"By the way, how did Ambassador Kaotz obtain this information?" Palrston further inquired.
Earl of Clarion shook his head and said to Palrston, "Ambassador Kaotz did not tell the specifics! However, I think he probably utilized the hidden lines we have in Paris!"
"You an those guys?" Palrston recalled a docunt submitted to him by the Ministry of War.
The docunt stated that in order to prevent the French Empire from launching an attack on the Kingdom of Britain soday in the future, the Ministry of War hoped to establish a departnt to monitor Paris. This departnt would recruit mbers to secretly watch every move in Paris... All mbers would be directly commanded by the Ministry of War.
After reading the docunt, Palrston felt the idea was excellent and conducive to diplomatic work.
Thus, Palrston imdiately approved the Ministry of War’s plan.
However, when establishing this departnt, Palrston specifically emphasized that ambassadors abroad also have the right to "guide" the departnt’s mbers.
"Exactly! Those guys from the Ministry of War!" Earl of Clarion affird Palrston’s response.
Palrston pondered silently for a mont and then said to Earl of Clarion, "Willis, this ti your departnt did very well!"
"Thank you for your praise!" Earl of Clarion humbly replied.
Subsequently, Palrston and Clarion exchanged views again on the Kaijia Dynasty’s intent to seize Herat. Both believed that the Kaijia Dynasty’s actions were destroying the hard-won peace in Central Asia and that if successful, their ambition would only grow.
One Herat would not satisfy the Kaijia Dynasty’s desires; they would turn their attention to Afghanistan, striving to reclaim it.
At that point, India would be endangered by the Kaijia Dynasty’s threats.
To ensure the safety around India, the Kingdom of Britain must engage in battle against the Kaijia Dynasty.
"I am about to go to Parliant to persuade the parliantarians to agree to launch an attack on the Kaijia Dynasty!
Only by doing so can we utterly crush the Kaijia Dynasty’s ambition to annex Herat!" Palrston, like a gladiator about to enter the arena, responded to Earl of Clarion with determination.
"Pri Minister, I wish you success in advance!" Earl of Clarion insincerely congratulated Pri Minister Palrston.
He knew that Palrston would certainly gain the recognition of the noble mbers of the Upper House since most of the Upper House’s mbers had invested their money in India.
India’s prosperity directly related to the dividends they could earn; therefore, they dared not allow the Kaijia Dynasty to jeopardize India’s safety.
Palrston’s trip to the Upper House was rely a formality.
"Let’s hope so!" Palrston smiled, then left the Pri Minister’s office with Earl of Clarion.
...
In the Upper House, when questioned by the noble mbers of the Upper House if he intended to provoke a war between the Kingdom of Britain and the Kaijia Dynasty to maintain his position as Pri Minister, Palrston declared to the Upper House that he had never thought of using war to stabilize his position. His proposal for war with the Kaijia Dynasty was entirely to protect the Kingdom of Britain’s interests in India.
"If the Kaijia Dynasty refuses to stop after annexing Herat, then their next target will certainly be Afghanistan, followed by all of India!
They will invade India like their ancestors did, destroying the system we painstakingly established there!
If the Kingdom of Britain loses India as a market, our factories may go bankrupt in batches, and our bonds will beco worthless!" Palrston exerted all his efforts to emphasize the threat of the Kaijia Dynasty to India and the importance of India to the Kingdom of Britain.
The Parliant, already fearful of the Kaijia Dynasty’s attack on Herat, was more inclined towards Palrston after hearing his words.
After Palrston’s speech, the mbers of the Upper House applauded him.
Then, the Speaker of the Upper House announced the official start of the vote on "whether to take counterasures against the Kaijia Dynasty’s impending military actions."
The mbers of the Upper House raised their approving votes, with only a few leftist-leaning noble mbers opposing.
After the vote concluded, those in favor of counterasures won with an overwhelming majority. Only a formality in the Lower House remained before the Kingdom of Britain could announce war against the Kaijia Dynasty at any mont.
Days later, the Lower House also began an intense vote.
This ti the vote was evidently more heated than in the Upper House; those for and against the counterasures were nearly evenly matched.
Ultimately, those in favor of the counterasures had a slight edge over the opposition by a few votes.
The narrow victory in the Lower House officially granted Palrston the power to declare war on the Kaijia Dynasty. Palrston then passed this power to the Duke of Cambridge, who was soon to head to Central Asia, advising him to use this power judiciously.
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