Seeing that the other cabinet members were full of surprise and did not seem to believe what they said, Russell nodded at the Secretary of State for War Panmel Ramsay, who understood and said to everyone: "Yes, what Mr. Prime Minister said is indeed the truth!" ”

"As everyone knows, the Combined Fleet for the China Expedition was completely annihilated in an inland river called the Pearl River outside Guangzhou. Many people may only know roughly that the reason for the destruction of the fleet was due to the burning of the fleet. But the real problem was that at that time it was an entire inland river, and several miles of river width of the Thames, which was not much different from the width of the Thames, were all on fire! What is really lethal is a kind of black oil on the surface of the river, which they call oil or crude oil. Today, the largest production is in the Baku region of Tsarist Russia, where there are dozens of oil wells, but the production is not very large. But the crude oil invested by the Chinese Empire actually filled the entire inland river surface, and burned the entire United Fleet, even if it was accumulated for a long time, this huge amount also made people fearful! ”

"And the Irish rebels deliberately surrounded the defenders in Dublin City without attacking, attracting reinforcements from Great Britain to rescue, and when the reinforcements entered Dublin City, the Irish rebels had already ambushed the death squads launched the so-called suicidal god war, igniting the fire oil that had been buried in the defenders' barracks in the city for a long time, and burning the reinforcements who had just entered and the defenders to heavy casualties. It was this conspiracy ambush that completely defeated our British army, and Ireland slowly fell into the hands of the rebels! Ramsey said earnestly: "And the fire oil that led to the fiasco, identified by the British soldiers who escaped, its smell and the appearance of fire are the holy oil that is now sold in Europe!" Except for a small amount of oil produced by a few European countries such as Tsarist Russia and Austria and the United States of America, almost all of the rest was produced by the Chinese Empire. In fact, the name of this holy oil was given by the Chinese Empire! And this holy oil is very expensive in the European market, and it is simply impossible for the poor Irish rebels to buy the holy oil that can burn a third of Dublin City. Moreover, with so much holy oil, even if the Baku oil field, an important town on the west coast of the Caspian Sea, is produced for half a year, it is estimated that it may not be satisfied. Therefore, from this point, it can be seen that these holy oils must have been provided by the Chinese Empire. ”

When the evidence of Ramsay's holy oil was present, the cabinet members present were a little speechless. It is clear that this is already ironclad evidence. Clarston, the Attorney General, who had been skeptical, was silent.

In particular, Justice Secretary Truss, whose family is running tea at the same time, has now begun to take over the holy oil business, but the supply is too small. No one knows better than him that more than 90 percent of this holy oil in the whole of Europe is sold by the Nanyang Company of the Chinese Empire! And his family also desperately wanted Nanyang Company to give more shares of the supply, and even thought of directly contacting an original company in the Chinese Empire called the China Imperial Oil Corporation to seek the source of goods, but it was unsuccessful.

However, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gladstone still fought back: "I know that this holy oil is indeed the goods of the Chinese Empire." But now, as much as tea, and even to the citizens of Great Britain, it is more important than tea in daily use, and every household now discards the expensive candles, whale oil, and gas, and uses this slightly cheaper, brighter, and more durable holy oil for lighting. Many gas companies have closed down, the pipelines supplying gas have not been repaired and damaged and dismantled, and whale oil is becoming more and more scarce and expensive, where can ordinary people afford it, if the trade with the Chinese Empire is interrupted, not only will the nobles and those parliamentarians not be able to drink tea, even ordinary citizens will not be able to illuminate, and at night, Great Britain will return to the darkness of hundreds of years ago.

And you don't know how important trade is to Great Britain. Not only can the export of goods make huge profits, but even the import of goods can greatly increase the kingdom's financial revenue. The 20 per cent holy oil tax alone was £520,000 last year and is expected to reach £700,000 this year.

You know, the total tax revenue of the Kingdom of Great Britain last year was 54.6 million pounds, 3.2 million pounds less than the 57.8 million pounds in the previous year, and 5.6 million pounds less than the 60.2 million pounds in the year before last year. The total tax revenue of the Kingdom is expected to be less than £50 million this year! Last year, public spending, mainly military spending, exceeded £65 million, and last year's deficit was £10.4 million. This year's initial budget is £73 million, and if the war mobilization order were to be launched again to recruit 500,000 soldiers, it is estimated that more than £20 million would be spent even if the cost was reduced. By then, the Kingdom of Great Britain will have a staggering deficit of over £43 million.

So don't underestimate the small £520,000 holy oil tax. This is one of the few taxes that is still growing. The pressure of the fiscal deficit is driving me crazy. If this continues, our Kingdom of Great Britain will fall into bankruptcy, and even have one foot in the quagmire of bankruptcy. ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gladstone's statement surprised everyone! They just knew that the war cost was huge, which led to a significant increase in military spending, but they thought that with the monopoly of the British Empire's international trade, they would grit their teeth and get through it, but they really didn't expect that the kingdom's financial situation would deteriorate to such a point.

Prime Minister Russell was somewhat aware of the fiscal situation, but he did not expect it to be so serious. He has always been careless, and although this is his second time as prime minister, he has not yet been as steady and reliable as other cabinet members. He always thought that he would soon be able to get out of this situation, and because he did not have military and financial resources, he boldly announced that he would declare war and impose sanctions on China. It was only at this time that Gladstone laid out this series of financial figures, and he realized that he was reckless.

Even if you don't understand economics, you can understand the risks and consequences. Tsarist Russia, the powerful hegemon of the European continent and the former indispensable gendarme of Europe, only made a wrong decision to launch a war to invade Turkey, which led to the Crimean War.

Therefore, the right decision was not to expand the army for the time being, let alone start a war, but to try to quell the rebellion and wait quietly for the economy to recover.

Russell actually understood these in his heart. It's just that the evil anger in his chest and the reluctance to admit his mistake made him still forcibly quibble: "Gladstone, what do you mean by this?" Is it because of these temporary deficits that the British Empire will endure humiliation and be bullied by the evil countries in the East and not fight back? Or is it because the tax revenues from those trade have blinded you, or is it because of the bounty of the Eastern trading companies that you have forgotten where you are? ”

Gladstone was furious and scolded, "Old bastard, you slander! I am at the service of Great Britain and Her Majesty, and I will not allow you to slander! Stretched out his fist and was about to rush over and beat Prime Minister Russell, but was pulled away by the others, and he scolded indignantly.

As a result, the cabinet meeting naturally could not be held. However, most of the cabinet members understood that Russell's declaration of war on the Chinese Empire was somewhat reckless and inappropriate.

Sure enough, the next morning, Queen Victoria's aides issued a public statement in the Times and Buckingham Palace, expressing support for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet's proposal to raise an additional 500,000 troops, and quickly sent troops to Ireland to declare war on the Chinese Empire.

And in the afternoon, in the hall of the House of Commons. A group of MPs discussed the proposal of Prime Minister Russell.

After Russell finished his proposal, he faced a group of parliamentarians and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, we enjoy the glory, wealth and power of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and we are responsible for the safety and future of the kingdom!" Now is the time when the kingdom is most dangerous! We must win this war, both militarily and financially! Otherwise, Great Britain, the British Empire, on which the sun never sets, will become a thing of the past and be replaced by a newly rising empire!

I have reported to Her Majesty the Queen, who, although grieving the death of the Prince, is firmly supportive of my proposal! Offered £100,000 for recruitment and military spending. She is too weak to be present at the Parliament today, but I have been entrusted with expressing her gratitude to you for your contribution to the Kingdom of Great Britain! Her Majesty is like that, and all of us should follow suit. I hereby declare that I will give 80% of my personal fortune, or nearly £40,000, to the Kingdom Treasury to tide over this crisis!

I implore all of you to adopt this bill for the sake of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ”

Russell's impassioned remarks made many parliamentarians excited, and some fanatical English elements even began to talk about recovering Ireland and killing all the Irishmen.