Chapter 441 The Prime Minister caught in public opinion
Lord Clarendon, whose thoughts were pierced by Palmerston's words, did not show any look of annoyance. Sitting on the chair, he looked as usual and asked Palmerston: "Mr. Palmerston, if
If I stand on your side, Hua, what can I gain?"
"What do you get?" Palmerston glanced at Lord Clarendon, rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment, and then replied: "I can assure you that after I become Prime Minister, you can
Stay in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary!”
Lord Clarendon was slightly startled when he heard Palmerston's promise. He really didn't expect that Palmerston's conditions would be so generous.
"What? Are you dissatisfied with the position of Foreign Secretary?" Palmerston asked Lord Clarendon.
"No, no, no!" Lord Clarendon waved his hand and responded with a smile: "I am very satisfied with the conditions you proposed! For someone who is about to face defeat, being able to retain this position after reorganizing the cabinet is already very good.
Not bad!”
"As long as you are satisfied, then our deal has been initially concluded!" Palmerston said with a slight smile on his face and nodded to Lord Clarendon.
"Well, Mr. Palmerston! Can I ask you a question, which may offend you a little?" Lord Clarendon asked Palmerston tentatively.
"Then I can refuse to answer this question!" Palmerston said half-jokingly to Lord Clarendon.
"Of course!" Lord Clarendon immediately replied: "If the following questions embarrass you, you don't need to answer them."
"Then ask!" Palmerston responded to Lord Clarendon with an inviting gesture.
"That's it!" Lord Clarendon cleared his throat, reorganized his words, and asked carefully: "I thought that after you reorganized the cabinet, Minister Russell would get my position! Now it seems that you
Mr. Russell was not considered."
After hearing Lord Clarendon's words, Palmerston immediately stopped smiling, and turned to say to Lord Clarendon in a serious tone: "If it were you, would you like to be the same person as me?"
Do guys you disagree with work together?"
"I'll kick him out hard!" Lord Clarendon responded to Palmerston without hesitation.
"Excellent! I think the same as you!" Palmerston immediately responded to Lord Clarendon.
"But, Mr. Palmerston!" Lord Clarendon asked again: "Without the help of Mr. Russell, it will be difficult for you and me to overthrow the Prime Minister of Aberdeen!"
"Who said there are only two of us?" Palmerston asked, then pointed to the dark night sky outside the window and said: "They are not all our people!"
"What do you mean?" Lord Clarendon seemed to understand somewhat of what Palmerston meant, but he always felt as if he was cut off from his thoughts by something invisible.
"Those voters are not our strength!" Palmerston said to Lord Clarendon: "As long as they are willing to support us, the Aberdeen Ministry will inevitably collapse!"
Palmerston's words caused Lord Clarendon, who was originally curious, to immediately fall into a depressed state. He originally thought that Palmerston would come up with some good ideas, so he followed him in Aberdeen for a long time.
Exactly the same as what was said before.
"Mr. Palmerston, I'm afraid we are no match for Prime Minister Aberdeen in this regard! He has much more power than us!" Lord Clarendon whispered in frustration.
"At the traditional government level, Aberdeen is indeed much stronger than us!" Palmerston first agreed with Lord Clarendon's words, and then changed the subject and said to Lord Clarendon: "Fortunately, Aberdeen is much better than us!"
Ding did not notice that another force was quietly rising! This force, as long as it is used properly, is enough to change a government's policy from the outside!"
"What power?" Lord Clarendon asked Palmerston impatiently.
"The power of newspapers in London, and even in Britain as a whole!" Palmerston said to Lord Clarendon: "News reporting in Britain is not a mouthpiece for different factions within the ruling class, but a summary of the wisdom of the entire country, a commentary on the ruling class.
A tool of criticism and control. It is indeed the 'fourth force', not the embodiment of the third force in words and sounds."
"You mean to use newspapers to put pressure on the government?" Lord Clarendon immediately understood Palmerston's intention, and he hurriedly said to Palmerston.
Palmerston shook his head and said to Lord Clarendon: "No, no, no, we are not using the power of newspapers, but we are directing news reports in a direction that is beneficial to us! Let the people think that we can represent their interests.
! Speaking of which, I have a question for you!"
"Please speak!" Lord Clarendon was startled for a moment, and then responded to Palmerston.
"What do you think is the national characteristic of Britain? Or what are the ideals of the British people?" Palmerston asked Lord Clarendon.
"The European continent remains balanced? Britain will always be strong?" Lord Clarendon tentatively responded to Palmerston.
"No, no, no! These are just the thoughts of politicians!" Palmerston shook his head, then spread his hands and said to Lord Clarendon: "Based on what I know about them, the ideal image of the British should be:
He believes in Protestantism, loves freedom, is full of energy, is adventurous, confident and bold, and does not hesitate to fight to protect the weak. He is proud of being British and despises foreigners, especially Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
They believe that the task of the government is to bring the British way of life to those unfortunate foreigners. This is a unique idea of the Anglo-Saxons. As long as we target this idea, the war on Sinop will happen and become a hateful Orthodox Church.
If we invade the unfortunate Turks, those British voters who are rich in justice will definitely support us!"
"But, the newspapers will publish the news we have spread?" Lord Clarendon asked Palmerston again.
"Why not?" Palmerston asked back, then smiled happily and said: "I know them too well. Those guys who are afraid of chaos in the world will not let go of every hot news! They
They will never heed the warnings of the British government, even if the government closes down their newspapers!"
Then, Palmerston glanced at Lord Clarendon and said: "However, Minister Villiers, you must fire the first shot!"
"I know!" Lord Clarendon nodded to Palmerston. He knew that Palmerston wanted him to hand over a "letter of surrender."
After all, how could Clarendon win Palmerston's trust if he didn't own some shares?
Later, Lord Clarendon and Palmerston exchanged views on some diplomatic issues and got to know each other better.
The time gradually came to one o'clock in the morning during their conversation. When Palmerston's wife appeared in the study, Palmerston, who was still not satisfied, had to end the conversation, "Okay! Minister Willis, it's not too early.
It’s time for you and me to rest!”
"Sorry to trouble you!" Lord Clarendon bowed to Palmerston again.
Then, accompanied by Palmerston, Lord Clarendon walked out of the mansion.
After seeing Lord Clarendon, the carriage parked in the street opposite Palmerston Mansion quickly drove in front of Lord Clarendon.
Lord Clarendon slowly entered the carriage. Lord Clarendon, who was sitting in the carriage, waved goodbye to Palmerston.
Under Palmerston's gaze, Lord Clarendon drifted away until he disappeared at the end of the street.
"There's going to be a good show!" Palmerston said to himself with a joking expression on his face.
After saying this, Palmerston turned around and entered the mansion.
…
Early the next morning, drizzle began to fall in the dark sky, covering the whole of London in a curtain of rain.
In such bad weather, Aberdeen, as Prime Minister, will receive news in his office that will shake up his cabinet.
"Dong dong dong!"
With a rapid knock on the door from outside the Prime Minister's Office, the Prime Minister of Aberdeen slowly raised his head and said to the door: "Please come in!"
The door opened, and standing outside was his Chief Permanent Secretary (referred to as Chief Secretary), who was also the leader of the entire British civil service system.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, please allow me to report bad news to you in such a bad weather!" The chief secretary closed the door of the Prime Minister's office with a serious face, and then quickly came to Aberdeen and said solemnly
.
"Sit down and talk!" Aberdeen said to the chief secretary in front of him.
The chief secretary sat across from Aberdeen, and then under Aberdeen's gaze, he pushed the Times, which was placed on his chest to prevent it from getting wet from the rain, in front of Aberdeen.
"Please take a look at this!" the Chief Secretary said to Aberdeen, gently tapping the Times with his hand.
Aberdeen was startled for a moment, then took the still-warm Times in his hand.
"First news on page two!" the chief secretary reminded Aberdeen.
Aberdeen turned the pages of The Times and read the second page of The Times.
When the Prime Minister of Aberdeen read all the contents of the second page, his face immediately turned livid and his lips were trembling with anger.
"Who!" the Prime Minister of Aberdeen looked at the Chief Secretary with an angry tone and said: "Who told the Times this news!"
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, it's not just The Times! Almost all newspapers reported the same content!" the Chief Secretary continued to the Prime Minister of Aberdeen.
"Go! Call Minister Willis over. I want to ask him face to face how the Foreign Secretary did it, allowing such important information about Chiang Kai-shek to be handed over to those villains who can only use a pen!" The face of Prime Minister Aberdeen
His dislike for newspaper reporters was written all over him, and perhaps because of his hatred for Ujiwu, he also gave orders in a yelling manner to the chief secretary who reported the matter to him.
"Yes, Prime Minister!" The Chief Secretary-General frowned slightly after receiving the order, bowed to the Prime Minister of Aberdeen and left the office.
After the chief secretary left, Aberdeen was left alone in the Prime Minister's Office. He looked at the Times in front of him with extreme disgust, then completely crumpled the Times into a ball and threw it into the trash can as if he were treating his father's enemy.
middle.
Through the crumpled "The Times", you can vaguely see a headline, the title is "Save Ottoman!"