Chapter 82: Cabinet Meeting (Request for Subscription!)

Chapter 82 Cabinet Meeting (Request for Subscription!)
An emergency cabinet meeting was being held in the conference room at 10 Downing Street.

The gentlemen gathered and lined up in front of the conference table, each one of them individually is enough to shock the whole of Britannia, and visiting any continental country can get extremely high courtesy.

However, these are usually only appear in the newspaper, but at this time in front of the meeting table, silent and did not say a word.

Each of them has a pile of thick documents in his hand, and the thickest one is the one in front of the Duke of Wellington.

Duke Wellington threw the information on his hands to the table, rubbed his sore eyes and opened his mouth.

“What happened in France, you all should have heard about it, so I won’t dwell on it here. All I want to know now is what they are up to, and whether or not this revolution in France poses an uncertain risk to us as far as the information we have at hand so far. And, of course, I must have to know what attitude Austria and Russia take towards this revolution.”

When Wellington said this, he suddenly twisted his head and looked at the middle-aged gentleman wearing a black tweed coat who was sitting on Sir Pierre’s left hand side.

Wellington spoke, “George, has the Foreign Office gotten any new information?”

Foreign Secretary George Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, revealed a bitter smile when his name was called.

“Prime Minister, I have forwarded all the information that the Foreign Ministry got to your desk. The speed of this French revolution is simply too rapid.

On July 25th Charles X issued a royal decree announcing the censorship of publications, restricting the freedom of the press, dissolving the newly elected parliament, and reducing the size of the elections.

As a result, that afternoon, all the major French newspapers began publishing protests and inciting revolution.

Small-scale riots began to break out in Paris on the 26th, and on the 27th it turned into a large-scale riot in which several thousand workers clashed with the police.

At dawn on the 28th, thousands of barricades were formed, workers, students, and merchants all took to the streets to join the riots, and before nightfall Paris City Hall had fallen.

At that time, some moderates tried to negotiate with Charles X to solve the problem, but Charles X and Prime Minister Polignac refused to negotiate.

As soon as the news spread, the whole of Paris fell on the 29th.

All we know for sure is that Charles X is still alive for the time being, but we can’t be sure that the new government will kill him.

No one can figure out where France will go next right now, perhaps even the French themselves, let alone us outsiders, so I suggest we keep watching for a while and wait for the latest news.”

Duke Wellington frowned and asked, “It only took a few days for this to happen, what is going on here? Is there a revolutionary party inside the French army?”

Viscount Henry Harding, the Minister of War, spoke, “According to the information I have learned, the reason why this French revolution is progressing at a rapid pace is mainly due to the fact that when Charles X issued the royal decree, he intended to be quick and forceful to force the decree through, so all the preparations were done in secrecy.

The result also verified this, his secrecy was really well done.

Therefore, when the royal decree was suddenly issued, not only the French people were surprised and angry, but even the French army and police were caught off guard, and they were not prepared to deal with the riots.

Most importantly, the main force of the French army was still in Algeria, where they had just completed their conquest of the region last month, so they could not be mobilized back to the country to fight against the rebellion in a short period of time.

So the rapid fall of Paris should be understandable from a military point of view.”

The Duke of Wellington held his forehead and said, “This Charles X, is really out of his mind! Does he still think he is quite popular?

Just look at that Prime Minister he appointed! How on earth did he come up with the idea of elevating Polignac to that position?

Didn’t he know that there were rumors that Polignac was having an affair with Marie-Antoinette, the queen of Louis XVI?

This kind of approach is like a provocation to the face of the opposition in the country. How is it that France has always produced such kings of mediocre ability but exceptional confidence in the last hundred years or so?
Is it just because France produced a Napoleon that God felt it was unfair to other countries and simply balanced them out?” The Minister of the Interior, Sir Peel, spoke up, “In any case, France starting a revolution can’t be called a good thing for Britain. The French Revolution caused unrest in our country back then, and maniacs who wanted to follow Robespierre’s example were popping up all over the country.

And now, because of the Catholic Emancipation Act and the issue of corrupt constituencies, the antagonism of the people in the country is already very high, and we must try to moderate such over-excited feelings as much as possible, and handle diplomatic issues involving France with caution.”

“Alas ……”

The Duke of Wellington let out a long sigh, “Robert, this is what I am worried about. Originally, by taking advantage of His Majesty’s death, we were able to talk our way into suppressing public opinion for the time being, only to have another revolution in France.

Now, didn’t His Majesty the King die for nothing? It was hard for his old man to do something good in his life, we can’t let his efforts go to waste.”

At the end of his speech, he also rushed to the Earl of Aberdeen, the foreign minister, and instructed, “George, in a moment, you send someone to London’s financial city to look for Nathan, and tell him to come to Downing Street to see me at once.

Their postal business is the best in all Europe, and no one is better informed than they are.

If I remember correctly, it takes only three days for a message from Paris to London to reach him. It’s times like these that we need them for messenger help.”

“As you wish, Your Excellency.”

Speaking of this, the Duke of Wellington threw his gaze back to Sir Peel, “Robert, how is your contact with Huskisson going? We need his support just as badly now.”

Sir Peel laughed, “William said that he is willing to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Manchester to Liverpool Railway, but he has not made up his mind for the time being on whether or not to state his support for you.

However, he also frankly admitted that he was extremely shocked by the vigor you brought out in pushing for the Catholic Emancipation Bill, which made him change his mind about your conservative image to a certain extent, and therefore he is very willing to discuss other reform matters with you.

He would not mind leading the thirty-odd MPs of the Huskisson faction back into Tory service if you and he could come to an agreement.”

The Duke of Wellington nodded slightly, “I believe that he and I will have a good start.”

“Right.” Sir Peel added, “I have also made arrangements regarding the security on the day of the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The security of the site will be led by Inspector Hastings of Scotland Yard, you should have no objections, right?”

“Of course not, that’s a brilliant lad, there’s certainly no problem leaving it to him.”

The Duke of Wellington pondered for a while and suddenly spoke.

“By the way, the murder and sale of bodies case was completed so outstandingly, the pay raise promised to Scotland Yard last time, it’s time to cash in on them. After all, this is a sensitive time, and it’s time to give some appeasement to our honorable Mr. Police Officers.

Their job is not easy, I heard that recently there are more than ten large-scale public speeches in London every day, and the police are running around, monitoring and maintaining the order of the venue. It’s really a bit hard to justify not giving them a raise.”

Sir Pierre smiled at this and said, “Since you have taken the initiative to mention this, I would also like to report to you a new development in policing. As you should know, the public in Great Britain has been harboring very far-reaching preconceptions about the newly-established Scotland Yard because of the infamous reputation of the French police.

This stigma and antagonism has been particularly intense in the lecture theaters. In the last few days, I have received several consecutive feedbacks of police officers being assaulted in the vicinity of the venue.

Therefore, in order to cope with the increasingly chaotic situation, I intend to temporarily authorize a portion of the police force to be on plainclothes duty at times of necessity. In this way, it will not only ensure the personal safety of the officers on duty, but also collect the necessary intelligence for us, what do you think of this decision?”

Wellington’s eyes lit up when he heard this.

“Robert, you mean, undercover?”

(End of chapter)