Russell directly fought back and retorted: "Shouldn't as a British soldier sacrifice his life for the country?" If you think like you, can Great Britain become the world's number one power and become an empire on which the sun never sets? I'm afraid that it will be defeated a long time ago. ”

Gladstone jumped out again, still the same old rhetoric, but very effective: "Mr. Prime Minister, the problem is that the empire on which the sun never sets has now lost the entire East Indies and the Far East, and it is no longer a complete empire on which the sun never sets!" And, we have to face the brutal fact that, as hard as I am, I would say that the Empire is in danger like a ship that has lost its power: if the rebellion in India is not resolved, the ship of the Empire will lose its power for a day! It is not only the kingdom's army and guns that maintain the world hegemony of the Kingdom of Great Britain, but also rely on the Kingdom's developed industrial base, active financial economy and monopoly of world trade!

I believe in one thing, guns are bought in gold. Without funds, everything is empty talk! Prime Minister Russell, I would like to ask, if there is no foreign trade, will the British treasury still have pounds to pay the soldiers' salaries? If you want to start a large-scale war, you must first make up the pensions of the soldiers who died in the past. ”

Russell wanted to argue a little more, but Hugh Pilkington stopped him and said directly: "In view of the opinion of the majority of the parliamentarians, I do not think that the kingdom is at present in a position to declare an all-out war on the Chinese Empire. And with the current financial situation of the kingdom, it could not interrupt the trade in the East, and therefore, it could not impose a trade blockade on the Chinese Empire.

However, in view of the interference and hostile actions of the Chinese Empire in our Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Great Britain formally lodged a solemn protest and warning to the Chinese Empire, and will expel all diplomatic and consular personnel in its territory, confiscate the goods of illegal trading companies and merchants, and rush into the treasury. and to impose a 10 per cent port duty on all incoming goods of the Chinese Empire and a maritime escort fee equivalent to 10 per cent of the value of the cargo, and any cargo ship that does not pay the fee will not be protected and is likely to be plundered by pirates. At the same time, Her Majesty issued an order prohibiting the export to the East of any warships, weapons and finished industrial machinery, as well as drawings, steel, cables and other materials that could be used to make warship weapons. ”

Hugh Pilkington's resolution was immediately supported by a majority of parliamentarians. Although Prime Minister Russell strongly opposed and insisted on declaring war on China, he did not have the support of a majority of parliamentarians, even if he was the prime minister, even with the support of Queen Victoria, it still did not help.

However, Russell was eventually persuaded to shout something like forbearance for India, but hoping for the sooner the better. As for the specific secret, it is unknown.

The news of the passage of three major resolutions by the House of Commons immediately spread throughout London.

The streets of London, where the workers' riots had just been quelled, were like a festival, and many people began to celebrate. Yes, for these ordinary people, living well is the most important thing, and they don't care about other countries, nationalities, and the like that are too far away from them. But the paralysis of life in the London city caused by the workers' riots made them realize the beauty of a peaceful life.

Therefore, the decision of Parliament and the government's readiness to reconcile with Ireland gave people a sigh of relief, not to mention that they had been captured and killed in battle, and that once war broke out, they would inevitably have to pay more taxes, and their lives would be even more difficult.

And the original rumors of declaring war with the distant Chinese Empire, and even banning all goods of the Chinese Empire, were finally confirmed to be rumors, as for the imposition of tariffs and the prohibition of some goods, these ordinary people will not care. They just knew that the Kingdom of Great Britain had not interrupted trade with the East.

Unlike the people who celebrated in the streets, the major newspapers in London, although not silent about the news, simply reported the news.

The Times praised Parliament's consideration for the people, claiming that the MPs had rejected the Prime Minister's proposal to avoid drawing the Kingdom of Great Britain into the abyss, while criticizing Prime Minister Russell's recklessness, directly accusing him of being unfit to be Prime Minister, otherwise Britain would sooner or later be dragged into the abyss of fighting on all sides.

However, the author of the Times article expressed concern about negotiations with the Irish rebels.

The day after the resolution was passed, Derby and Gladstone sent emissaries to Dublin, the capital of Ireland, to meet with the rebels and prepare for a peaceful settlement of the Irish rebellion.

Two days later, news came back that the leader of the Irish rebels had agreed to negotiate with the emissaries of the Kingdom of Great Britain, asking Derby and Gladstone to arrive in Dublin for talks.

So, five days later, in front of Dublin's original town hall.

In addition to being the political center of Great Britain's rule on the island of Ireland, this Viking complex also served as the "London Exchange" of Great Britain, becoming the financial center of Dublin, the second largest city in Great Britain, and deeply marked by Great Britain.

Earl Derby and Gladstone looked at the town hall in front of them and looked at each other, their eyes full of solemnity. Both remembered that there was a huge Victorian brass statue in front of the town hall, but it had been demolished by this time.

Not far from the original location of the bronze statue, there seem to be some other statues. But at this moment Gladstone noticed that the Earl of Derby's face had changed greatly, and as if he had seen something terrible, he hurriedly pulled down his gentleman's hat to cover half of his face, and hurried Gladstone into the heavily guarded town hall.

Gladstone was a little strange, and he looked back a few times after being pulled, and soon found the clue.

Although the newly cast Victorian bronze statue in the square in front of the town hall has been demolished and disappeared, not far from it, there are several more huge Victorian figures on the side of the town hall who do not know whether it is yellow mud or cement.

The reason why it is called the Victorian body group is because there are five groups of Victorian sculptures, and all of them are naked, which is extremely artistic and three-dimensional. The most important thing is that Victoria in these five groups of statues is all intertwined with the same man, and it is five different men, among which Victoria is kneeling, or half-kneeling or sitting or kneeling or kneeling in the air with a twist of 180 degrees, all with charming expressions, as if she is suffering from something indescribable, her lips are slightly open, her tongue is lightly curled, and she is moaning gently.

The man in the third group of statues is very similar to the Earl of Derby, and Gladstone looks at it again, it is the Earl of Derby, only younger than now, the Earl of Derby more than ten years ago. And the man in the last group of statues is obviously John Brown, a servant who often serves the queen.

Gladstone suddenly understood! It's funny and angry in my heart!

It is clear that this is an extremely vicious slander and humiliation by the Irish against Queen Victoria and even the Kingdom of Great Britain! The point is that it didn't take long for the Irish to go from the success of the rebellion to the present. If you don't do so many other things, you have the intention to make these statues, this sinister intention, the hatred of Queen Victoria and Great Britain, you can see it!

Gladstone had also heard some scandals about Queen Victoria. Except for the vigorous but uneventful first love between her and the current Tsar Alexander when she was not married to Prince Albert, even if she had a deep relationship with the Prince after marriage, it is said that the body has been betrayed repeatedly, and even some of them were proposed by Prince Albert himself, after all, his frailty and illness could not give the most fulfilling satisfaction to the overwhelmed queen.

And among the rumors in this street and alley, there are four people who have served as prime ministers, such as the Earl of Derby and Sir Russell, plus the Queen's servant John Brown, who happens to be five lovers, which correspond to the five sets of statues.

But it is the most humiliating act to put the appearance of Queen Victoria naked on the terrace in a grand way for the public to watch and play. Even if Gladstone didn't respect the queen so much, he still felt red-faced, and a kind of anger arose. However, what he thought was that Sir Derby could hold back for some reason and pretend not to see it, worthy of being the prime minister.

This little episode did not bother the two men too much, as politicians like Derby and Gladstone, who have been in politics for a long time, are not so easily distracted by the outside world, and in the eyes of both of them, this negotiation is the most important.

Entering the town hall, the leader of the Irish rebels was greeted by Derby and Gladstone, escorted by dozens of so-called Irish Independence Army soldiers dressed in uniform in uniform of the Irish national costume in uniform red skirts.

"Sir Derby, oh, and this Mr. Gladstone, allow me to introduce me!" The younger of the two Irishmen standing in front of him took the initiative to stretch out his hands, shook Derby's hand, and shook it: "This is Stephens, the president of our 'Fenian Society', and the great leader of our Ireland. Oh, by the way, my name is Charles, and I'm the executive vice president of the 'Fenian Society', and I follow the leader's side. ”

Derby and Gladstone hurriedly saluted with English etiquette.

A little two-sentence greeting, the two conveniences no longer have any politeness, and go straight to the point.

"Sir Derby, I heard from the messenger you sent last time that the Kingdom of Great Britain is ready to negotiate peace with us and settle the question of Ireland peacefully, is that so?" Charles asked directly, "What price are you going to ask us to pay?" ”

Derby's heart sank, this Irishman named Charles did not know what it was, unlike Stephens, who Derby had heard of before the Irish rebellion, and this Irishman named Charles seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Moreover, seeing this person's posture, he is not at all worried about the rules and playing cards, where is like Stephens's deputy, there is simply no part of Stephens to speak, it is completely his way of calling the shots, and Stephens is more like a puppet. Derby couldn't help but wonder if this person could be the one sent by the Chinese Empire.

But for now, let's deal with this person's problem first. Derby froze, and exchanged a look with Gladstone next to him.

Although it is said that the two of them are in charge of Ireland this time, in fact, both of them know that it must be headed by Derby, after all, Derby's qualifications are there, and he is himself the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Secretary of State for Ireland, and is familiar with foreign affairs. Moreover, he had been prime minister, had a steady personality, and could control the overall situation, and he sent a signal to Ireland that the Kingdom of Great Britain was willing to negotiate with it as a country.