Shadow of great britain

With the intervention of the security officer, the two rioting congressmen were quickly pushed to the ground.

After the two of them were forced out of the council chamber, the boiling hall finally returned to calm to a certain extent.

The Duke of Wellington watched as the two members of Congress who clamored for a duel on another day were escorted out of the parliament hall, and then took his cronies to the front row seats reserved for him.

However, before he could warm up his seat, he saw the Whig camp opposite cheering and raising their hands.

Taking advantage of the time when the Speaker of the House of Commons reiterated discipline, the Duke of Wellington asked Sir Peel beside him: "Robert, what is the situation with the King's Pension Bill?"

Sir Peel held his forehead with a headache and said: "The situation is not very optimistic. The Whigs are obsessed with the financial expenditure and corruption of the stewards. Looking at their posture, this time they may have to remove the King's Pension Act no matter what. The amendment is passed.”

If Sir Peel's words were told to ordinary London citizens, most London citizens would not understand what he meant.

But when the same words fell into the ears of Duke Wellington, they had a different meaning.

The so-called "King's Pension Act" refers to a bill passed by the British Parliament in 1697.

It stipulates that the Parliament will grant the king an annuity every year based on the actual situation. The main purpose of the king's annuity, in addition to paying for the royal family's living expenses, is to pay the salaries of government civil affairs officers.

Cabinet members such as the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary are generally called political officers.

Positions such as permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are called affairs officers.

The main difference between administrative officers and administrative officers is that administrative officers are non-professional government officials elected through elections. They are responsible for leading departments and making decisions in the actual governance process, but are not responsible for specific implementation.

The affairs officer is just the opposite. The affairs officer is appointed rather than elected, and is responsible for execution rather than decision-making in the governance process.

Precisely because the clerk has such a unique nature of work and his salary is paid by the king's annuity, the current appointment of stewards in Britain is also called the king's gift system. The allegiance of all stewards is actually to the king, not to the cabinet.

Therefore, although the king and the ruling party cannot control the election process of administrative officers, one of them has the power to pay the salary of the administrative officers, and the other has the power to appoint and remove personnel. And mastering these two powers is equivalent to mastering all affairs officers.

The reason why the Whig Party wants to propose an amendment to the "King's Pension Act" is to completely separate the royal family's living expenses from the salary expenses of government officials, so that from now on, the salaries that office officials receive will be paid out of the treasury. Not payable from King's annuity.

In this way, the influence of the king who wears the same trousers with the Tories on the affairs officers can be restricted to the greatest extent, preventing the Whigs from being stumbling upon them when they are in power in the future.

Of course, more importantly, in this way, many free-charge sinecures that are secretly used by the Tories to bribe various crossbench MPs will be more clearly exposed.

After all, it is easier to check the Treasury's accounts than the King's bills.

As the speaker's gavel fell, the chamber finally returned to calm.

Only the Speaker shouted: "Lord John Russell!"

As soon as the voice fell, a young and middle-aged man in a tuxedo with parted hair walked up to the speech box with prepared materials.

"Mr. Speaker, what I want to say here is that this corrupt and incompetent chaotic government has left our country in chaos. Everyone knows how serious the problem is now. Last month, there were outbreaks in London, Birmingham, Manchester and other places. With the protest marches, rural famine became more and more serious, and the Swain movement continued to expand in southern England. All citizens from all walks of life in the country, whether businessmen, workers, or farmers, were demanding parliamentary reform.

However, our Prime Minister, the wise and powerful Duke of Wellington, faced an excited public, but he only knew how to huddle in his Apsley House, London No. 1. Apart from replacing my windows with iron, I don't see the government taking any effective measures to deal with this biggest crisis since the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

I do not doubt that His Excellency the Duke has the best general ability in the world, but I doubt whether an army commander who only knows how to apply military discipline can manage the greatest country in the world in the same way. My question is, does the Prime Minister really understand what he is doing? Does he know that by continuing to resist reform he is destroying the democratic tradition that Britain has gradually established since the Glorious Revolution?

Britain is a great democracy, not a horse driven by the whip of the Duke, who is gradually transforming Britain into his personal military despotism. If he doesn't admit this, then he must at least be able to provide a reasonable explanation for his delayed reaction and negative behavior! "

As soon as Lord Russell finished speaking, a large group of Whig backbenchers stood up and cheered for the speaker Lord Russell's question.

The speaker's eyes turned to the right, and he shouted: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister!"

The Duke of Wellington stood up with his cane like a sword, but before he could take a step, he heard Sir Peel sitting beside him requesting in a low voice: "Your Excellency, if you encounter a problem that you really can't deal with, Just turn it over to us.”

Unexpectedly, when the Duke of Wellington heard this, he just raised his hat and said, "Robert, have you forgotten what I told you before? I am indeed not good at debating, but I am not here to debate today. , I’m here to scold people.”

After finishing speaking, I saw the old Duke walking up to the speech box in three steps. According to the parliamentary tradition, he did not reply directly to Lord Russell, but spoke to the Speaker as the intermediary.

"Dear Mr. Speaker, I believe that a true patriot must abandon the concept of religion and identity, and his opposition in Parliament must be directed at bills rather than individuals. Just now, Lord Russell believed that soldiers cannot lead the country well. This is really is a funny point of view.

I would like to ask Lord Russell, who retained for us the democratic power of Parliament when the King dissolved it? It's a soldier, it's Cromwell!

Who resolutely and boldly opposed Charles II's interference in parliament and led the parliamentary movement? It's a soldier, it's William Cavendish!

Or who, after taking over the power, resolutely welcomed back the king and restored Britain's constitutional tradition? Also a soldier, it’s George Munch!

It is because of these soldiers that we have the parliamentary tradition we have today and that we are able to have people like Lord Russell in Parliament. However, people like Lord Russell are already so bad and ignorant, and now he plans to let a group of people who are not as good as him into the parliament.

I think that if we make the decision to pass the Parliamentary Reform Bill and add sand to Parliament, the only people who can benefit are people like Lord Russell. Because when the political decision-making level of the parliament is reduced, I am afraid that even his laughable remarks will be used as a foil in the future. This is truly the worst thing I have ever seen since I was born! "

As soon as the Duke of Wellington finished speaking, there was another burst of applause from the Tory camp.

General Sidney Smith, who was standing on the second floor of Parliament watching the questioning, laughed and sarcastically said: "Your Excellency, I disagree with you. You think the Parliamentary Reform Bill is the worst thing in the world. , that's because you haven't seen Lord Russell's new five-act play Don Carlos. Compared with that play, I think even the Parliamentary Reform Bill becomes acceptable. "

Lord Russell, who was sitting in the audience, had a gloomy look on his face because of Duke Wellington's overt and covert taunts. When he heard General Sidney Smith's taunts, he couldn't help but jump up from his seat. Pointing at him, he yelled: "Smith! What did you say?"

General Codrington, who came with General Sidney Smith, also changed his expression. While tugging on General Smith's trousers, he lowered his voice and begged: "The atmosphere in the parliament is already tense at this time. You can Don't make any more trouble."

General Smith nodded upon hearing this, as if he agreed to General Codrington's plea, but he turned around and said again: "Lord Russell, I don't mean to offend. In fact, apart from that drama, you are a person It's not always so bad. Gentlemen, I have always thought that Lord Russell had many talents. I thought he could operate on patients and remove stones, build St. Paul's, or lead us in place of my friend General Codrington. Great Britain's Channel Fleet..."

Having said this, Lord Russell's ugly expression softened slightly, but soon, General Smith's voice was heard again.

General Smith laughed loudly and said: "But you should be able to tell from his behavior that the patients he treated have died, the church he built has collapsed, and the Channel Fleet under his command has been beaten seven times. It’s all gone.”

General Smith's words immediately triggered roars of laughter in the Tory camp, while the Whig MPs all stood up in anger and shouted accusations.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control again, the Speaker, whose neck was full of veins, had to pick up the gavel again and demand discipline: "Quiet! Quiet! Guard, please get the rest of the people out of the council chamber!"

But General Smith, who was on the second floor, was obviously more sensible than the two congressmen who had just been thrown out. He said, "Mr. Speaker, I have had enough of being in the same room with Lord Russell. I will go out on my own."

After saying this, he waved his cane three times and walked out the door under the gaze of everyone.

Lord Russell pointed at his back with his eyes widened and cursed: "Smith, when the question is over, I will definitely ask you for an explanation! The reason why we want to push for parliamentary reform is to eradicate such unscrupulous people like you from Britain." of moths.”

Seeing that today's topic was about to go astray, the Speaker hurriedly asked: "Next! The Duke of Bedford!"

The Duke of Bedford first pushed the emotional brother next to him back to his seat, and then quickly walked up to the speech box and asked: "No matter how the Prime Minister quibbles, we still hope that everyone can see the dictator standing in front of us. His Highness is despising public opinion and trying to concentrate all the power of the country in his own hands. Although I have always been opposed to anarchism, if I have to choose between anarchism and authoritarianism, then I would rather choose anarchy ism!"

Upon hearing this, the Duke of Wellington retorted without even thinking: "If anyone wants to see anarchism, there is no need to leave Britain. You only need to go to the territory of the Duke of Bedford to see anarchy." What is the situation of governmentism? As far as I know, the Swain movement of farmers has always been very successful in the Duke's territory. The Luddite movement that destroyed textile factory machinery in the past was also important in Bedford. disaster area."

As soon as the Duke of Wellington said these words, the two brothers, the Duke of Bedford and Lord Russell, were immediately shocked and blushed.

The Tory supporters were also greatly surprised by the Prime Minister's performance today. No one expected that the Duke of Wellington, who had always been unwilling to debate, would actually be full of fire today, even in the face of Russell, a well-known debater of the Whig Party. Brothers are not left behind either.

Amid the applause of the Tories, the Whig leader Earl Gray finally couldn't sit still.

"Earl Charles Grey!"

As the speaker called the roll, Earl Gray was like a cannonball that was ejected onto the speech box. He held up the thick stack of materials in his hand and announced loudly.

"I came here today not to make fun of the Prime Minister! We hope to show everyone this material in my hand. Many people simply don't understand the urgency of Britain passing the King's Pension Act and carrying out parliamentary reforms!

According to a survey by the 'Friends of the People' association, today's Parliament is not representative of British public opinion at all. Of our 203 constituencies in England, only 20 have constituencies with more than 1,000 voters, and the English region has the vote The number of voters is less than 4% of the total population.

In Scotland, the situation is even worse. There are less than 3,000 valid voters in Scotland’s 33 counties, and on average, less than 100 people elect one member of Parliament.

If this perspective is extended to the whole country, among the 24 million people in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, only 400,000 people have the right to vote, which accounts for less than 3% of the adult population.

In addition, nepotism is complicated in various small electoral towns, and parliamentary seats are almost tied to the land, becoming part of the inheritance passed down from generation to generation by some local nobles. Members of Parliament for Lancashire have been named Denby since the 17th century, and MPs for Cumberland have always been named Ranstead.

If there are two wealthy families in the local area, then they will agree to send two candidates. This kind of two-choice election is meaningless for parliamentary politics!

Moreover, various forms of fraud and corruption are common in canvassing activities! Under such circumstances, the behaviors of picking up and dropping off voters in horse-drawn carriages, banqueting voters, and giving money and gifts are considered relatively civilized behaviors!

What is even more shameful is that some large landowners will threaten their tenants. If they do not vote for someone, they will increase the rent next year, or even directly deprive them of their tenant rights.

There are even families that bring their servants and servants to fight with their competitors for seats in the parliament, leaving people injured and maimed! However, our government turns a deaf ear to similar situations and plays deaf and dumb! Is this what a responsible cabinet can do? "

When Duke Wellington heard this, even though he was as calm as he was, he couldn't help but frown suddenly.

But fortunately, he knew early on that the Whigs would definitely take the opportunity to attack, so he had a plan in advance on how to deal with this situation.

The Duke of Wellington opened the materials in front of him and responded while looking at the information provided by the permanent undersecretary.

"It is of course shameful to use violence and bribery in the election process, but I don't know where the information in Lord Gray's hand came from. As far as I know, the current situation of violent campaigning and bribery in Britain Compared with more than ten years ago, it has improved greatly, and the process of parliamentary democratization has steadily improved.

Compared with their rude ancestors, today's candidates prefer to lobby voters in person and visit door-to-door a few months before the election. Those with sufficient wealth like to hire lawyers and writers to promote their policies and campaign ideas in newspapers. publicity, and many of the candidates’ wives have also taken to the streets to support their husbands’ careers at campaign rallies.

Within our Tory Party, we also encourage all candidates who are interested in running for parliament to contact their local parish priests and combine the pastor’s preaching activities with parliamentary campaign activities, so that voters can listen to the gospel while also getting more involved in the country. future decisions.

Just now, Earl Gray mentioned that his information came from the 'Friends of the People' association. According to the cabinet's understanding, this association should be sponsored by Earl Gray himself. As for whether their data sources are reliable, I don't think I can jump to conclusions here.

Perhaps what they say still exists, but we Tory MPs have always abided by the law and conducted elections in the spirit that circulated after the Glorious Revolution. I beg Earl Gray, therefore, not to apply what happened in the Whig constituencies to every district throughout the country. "

The Duke of Wellington's tone sounded calm, but in fact every word he said was filled with guns and sticks, in an attempt to anger Earl Gray.

But Earl Gray, a veteran who has been beaten by generations of Tory leaders, is obviously not as easily angered as Lord Russell.

Earl Gray said: "Really? Your Excellency thinks that the Tories do not have the above-mentioned conditions I listed?"

The Duke of Wellington replied: "The situation has improved greatly."

When Earl Gray heard this, he just opened the materials and stated: "Then let's slowly analyze it from far to near. As far as I know, in the 1784 general election, your party's Lord Falmouth spent a lot of money on three seats. 9,000 pounds, Lord Mount spent 13,000 pounds for 6 seats, while Lord Montagu was more shrewd. He only used 4,000 pounds to win 2 seats. The above information was not independently investigated by the 'Friends of the People'. Does the Prime Minister admit that such a situation exists?"

The Duke of Wellington said to the Speaker: "Mr. Speaker, I think you must remind the Earl that this is 1830. If he really wants to say that, he can go back to the period of William the Conqueror. And I just said Yes, all kinds of corruption indeed still exist.

But in addition to corrupt districts, we have many model districts. The most typical of these are the two constituencies of the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. All students studying in Oxford and Cambridge will automatically obtain the right to vote in the university constituencies. I wonder if there is a more relaxed parliamentary voting system in the world than this? "

When Earl Gray heard the Duke of Wellington mention the two university constituencies, he immediately seemed to have grasped the magic weapon. He immediately said: "Okay! Since the Prime Minister is willing to take the initiative to mention the university constituencies, then I have two more here. I need you to clarify the question to me. It is true that Oxford and Cambridge are the electoral model for the whole of Britain, but I don't know whether the Prime Minister knows that this exists.

That is, students at Oxford and Cambridge can not only vote at the university, but they can also vote back home at the same time. The same is true elsewhere. As long as someone owns enough real estate in several places, he automatically acquires voting rights in multiple places. Does the Prime Minister think there are loopholes in this electoral system, which is not distributed based on head count but based solely on property? "

When Duke Wellington heard this, he couldn't help but sweat on his hands. Although he knew that Earl Gray was difficult to deal with, he didn't expect that it would be so difficult today.

He flipped through the materials at hand impatiently: "I hope your Excellency, the Earl, can first understand the British election complaint and reporting system before asking questions. Regarding these unfair phenomena, such as multiple votes, inaccurate vote counting, bribing voters, For acts such as violence and intimidation, unsuccessful candidates and their supporters can submit whistle-blowing reports to Parliament at any time and at any time.

As long as the Election Committee of the House of Commons finds out that the situation is true, it will naturally punish the members who have committed fraud. Disqualifications of members have also occurred frequently in the past, and this is all well-documented. "

When Earl Gray heard this, he couldn't help but smile. He had been preparing for today's battle for too long. How could he let Duke Wellington fight here?

He faced the Speaker and said: "Then, Mr. Speaker, could you please ask the Prime Minister for me, what is the success rate of the Election Committee in handling whistle-blowing cases? If the Prime Minister doesn't know, I can give the answer directly here. According to the records of the House of Commons, The success rate of such reports is less than one percent.

However, according to the 1787 election report, among the 513 MPs investigated, at least 370 were suspected of using unfair means.

In 1827, John Croke, a political commentator of your party, conducted a survey of the social relations of all 658 members of the House of Commons and found that 270 members were suspected of being controlled by large landowner patrons.

Among them, members of the Tory Party account for 203, and Britain's eight nobles control 57 of them. How does the Prime Minister plan to respond to this? "

Duke Wellington was silent when he heard this, but Earl Gray had no intention of letting him go, but pursued the victory.

“The Prime Minister has just regarded the Electoral Commission as the most impartial and powerful election supervision organization in Britain. Has he forgotten the two serious cases of electoral fraud that were revealed when he first came to power in 1827?

At that time, our party spokesman Lord John Russell called for the permanent disqualification of those two corrupt constituencies, while many people in your party demanded that these two seats be handed over to areas controlled by the ruling party. Unfortunately, he passed away not long ago. Mr Huskisson advocated transferring at least one of the seats to Birmingham, a city with a growing population.

And ultimately your decision was to divide the two seats directly between the two parties without elections. However, out of public interest, I believe that this method of direct division without elections is contrary to the tradition of parliament, so I took this opportunity to revisit the Parliamentary Reform Bill that was under consideration decades ago.

But your reply at the time was: As long as I am still serving in the government, I will always resist such a bill.

Therefore, my question today is, even if several years have passed, even if the current situation has changed, and even if the clergy, businessmen, workers, and farmers across the country are demanding reform, what is your attitude now? Are you still so firmly opposed to parliamentary reform?

Prime Minister, please answer my question directly! This is not Waterloo, and you don’t need to play tricks on the entire British public that are only used on the battlefield! "

As soon as Earl Gray finished speaking, the noisy parliament hall fell into a dead silence.

Whether they were Tories or Whigs, everyone held their breath and their eyes were focused on the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington.

The Duke of Wellington, who had been turning over the materials just now, suddenly stopped. His body suddenly trembled, and the old Duke's laughter rang out in the silent hall.

There was only a snap sound, and the Duke of Wellington slapped the case in front of the case, making everyone present tremble in shock.

The Duke of Wellington turned his head to Earl Gray, and instead of sending a message through the Speaker, he raised his right arm and pointed at Earl Gray.

"I never play any tricks, I only defeat the enemy on the frontal battlefield.

Gray, I have long said that I am a very simple person. I hate being the Prime Minister because this job is not suitable for me. I am just an upright man, so I am not good at and do not bother to hide my intentions. "

When Sir Peel heard this, he quickly stood up and persuaded: "Your Excellency, Duke."

But before he could speak, he saw the Duke of Wellington reaching out and interrupting him: "Robert, mind your own business! This has nothing to do with you or the party members you lead. This is a private matter between Gray and I. .”

After speaking, the Duke of Wellington pointed to Earl Gray's nose and said: "You are right, Gray, my attitude has always been the same. I will unswervingly oppose parliamentary reform in the past, present and future!

British politics is not nonsense. If you want to let in the idlers, I respect your idea, but you don't want me to be on your end!

Did you hear me clearly? As long as Arthur Wellesley is alive, as long as my legs can move, as long as I can stand in the Chamber of the Palace of Westminster, you will not pass the Parliamentary Reform Bill! "

When Earl Gray heard this, he was so angry that he trembled all over.

Behind him, the Whigs, whose faces were red with anger, threw the materials in front of them into the sky.

Papers were flying in the parliament hall, and Lord Russell and others burst into flames.

"This is simply unreasonable!"

"Wellington, we demand that you resign immediately!"

When the cronies who followed Duke Wellington heard this, their eyes were splitting. They subconsciously wanted to draw their swords, but when their palms touched their waists, they found that they had nothing with them. .

But this does not affect the generals who have been away from the battlefield for many years to roll up their sleeves and help the old commander.

But before they could rush forward, several generals were held down by Sir Pierre and others.

While holding down one leg of the Marquis of Anglesey, Sir Peel gritted his teeth and comforted him: "Don't be impulsive. This is all arranged by His Excellency the Duke. If you go up and punch him, it will be like all his efforts today are in vain." ."

Viscount Palmerston, who was sitting directly opposite Sir Peel, saw this and just smiled.

Afterwards, he quickly calmed down, stood up, raised his arms to the Speaker and shouted: "Henry Temple Palmerston, I would like to remind the Speaker that the Whig Party will formally launch a campaign against the threat when the Parliament convenes next week. A motion of no confidence in the Clinton cabinet!”