On the day of the race, King George V arrived from London, and His Majesty the King's presence brought the Hill Manor to life, and the family, which had been plagued by the elopement of his daughter, ushered in a new turnaround, and the once unpromising marriage quickly became a hot topic, and some even speculated that George V may have come to witness an important moment, such as an engagement. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

However, when the observant princes and nobles noticed that George V was solemn and in a bad mood, this possibility was immediately ruled out. The two visits of the Irish candidates to the throne to Britain in a short period of time were seen by the public as a sign of improved relations between the two countries, and the politically savvy senior figures were able to see the situation more thoroughly, knowing that the Irish were only doing their best for the Belfast dispute, and that the brutal barefoot men were not afraid to fight the well-dressed gentlemen if diplomacy ran out of hope.

The dinner was held outdoors under a picnic tent, and the scent of grass filled the air, and the warm autumn breeze blows the long white tablecloths. The beautiful and virtuous Queen Mary followed George V to this "country place" with their eldest daughter, Princess Mary.

To Natsuki's surprise, the 18-year-old Princess Mary was exceptionally friendly to Charlotte Hill, who was 5 years older than her, and almost regarded her as her big sister, and it was obvious that Charlotte knew her, but was flattered by the enthusiasm she showed tonight, and perhaps with a woman's intuition, she would know why the eldest princess of the British Empire behaved like this. Despite Charlotte's strong and courageous heart, Natsuki is still worried about it - if she is forced to choose between family interests and personal feelings, Charlotte is likely to choose self-sacrifice.

At the table, Natsuki was a little distracted by Princess Mary, but after leaving the table, he quickly put all his energy back to business. The reason why the British king came to Thetford today was not to give Natsuki a little face, but because he had provided the British government with important information through a double agent who worked for Ireland: the ship technology research and development agency led by the candidate for the Irish throne had made a technical assessment based on the information provided by the Allied military monitors on the current situation of the "Queen Elizabeth" and "War Weyware", and the results were very unfavorable to the British.

The two warships were the lead and second ships of the Queen Elizabeth-class super-dreadnought, but due to the impact of the war, the original construction schedule was greatly delayed, and at the time of the initial armistice negotiations, the German representatives insisted that all five Queen Elizabeth-class ships under construction be dismantled. As a result of the total military defeat, the British government made diplomatic efforts with great difficulty, and they fought in many ways to win the understanding and support of Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Ottoman Turkey, and induced Germany to make concessions by completely relinquishing the right to exploit oil in the Middle East, and assured the Germans that the first Queen Elizabeth class would be commissioned as soon as January 1916, and that a maximum of two ships would be commissioned in 1916, two more in 1917, and the last one in 1918. By that time, the Bavarian class of the German Navy had already formed combat effectiveness. It was precisely because the British had sworn that Germany's position on the North Sea and even the North Atlantic would not change with the slow commissioning of the Queen Elizabeth class, and that Britain's efforts were only to preserve the dignity of the old powers, and to deter dissenting Commonwealth countries and the remaining colonial territories by force if necessary, that the Germans relented on this crucial issue, but they did not let up. After the armistice, the Allies placed military monitors in Britain to urge Britain to fulfill the terms of the armistice, and the German Navy kept a close eye on the construction of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships.

In this context, the "Queen Elizabeth" built by the Portsmouth shipyard and the "war-weary" built by the Devonport Naval Shipyard were launched and outfitted one after another, and in the eyes of outsiders, these two huge steel giants have been rusted and mottled before they are put into service, all kinds of debris are piled up randomly on the deck, and the management seems to be very chaotic, which is actually a trick of the British, the two super-dreadnoughts have long been equipped with officers and crews, and tactical exercises have been secretly carried out during several sea trials, although they have not yet reached the complete combat standards, But even if it only exerts six or seven percent of its combat strength, it is still a rather terrifying existence.

Painstaking cover-ups can fool the average naval officer, but the numbers don't lie. Based on the military-strategic cooperation between Germany and Ireland, the Shipbuilding Technology R&D department in Limerick has the best naval engineers in Europe, who have calculated the raw materials and components used by the Portsmouth shipyard and the Devonport naval shipyard, combined with the construction status of the two warships, it is not difficult to come up with realistic speculations. If this report had been to Kaiser Wilhelm II, with his ambition for maritime supremacy, he would have demanded a thorough investigation into the matter, and as long as it was found that Britain was blatantly violating the London Armistice, severe sanctions could be initiated in accordance with the terms of the armistice.

George V and his staff, of course, knew what was going on, and after dinner, he and the candidates for the Irish throne tacitly avoided everyone. After some probing, they chose to negotiate in a frank manner.

"It may be in Ireland's interest to rekindle disputes at this time shortly after the end of the war, but has Your Highness ever thought about how cruel and irresponsible it is to those who have lost their loved ones and families, to those who have suffered from the war themselves, to those who pray for peace every day during the war, and to Europe that has so finally calmed down?" George V's tone was deep and sad, and if he told this in front of the common people, it might have the effect of smelling sad and tearing up the listener.

"From a fair standpoint, the British Navy's behavior is only on the verge of offside, and the starting point is understandable, but Your Majesty should know that because of the large amount of manpower and material resources invested in repairing damaged ships, the new capital ships of the German Navy have not yet been completed, and as the victors of the war, they cannot accept this backward situation."

In contrast to Natsuki's calm and indifference, George V was much more proactive, describing the British Navy as "a group of horsemen who had lost their horses" and the two new warships as "two first-class mounts", the combination of the two was far from enough to restore the British Navy to its former glory.

"With His Highness's excellent vision, it should be easy to understand this."

Natsuki hinted: "The soldier's vision is biased towards the appearance of affairs, and the politician often sees the extension behind things. Of course, derivation is influenced by subjective thinking. The greatness of human beings stems from the infinite divergence of thought. ”

George V was silent for a moment: "If Your Highness thinks that this is a weight that can make Britain make comprehensive concessions on the Belfast issue, then the British will let Your Highness see the spirit of this country." It has been able to go from a small European island nation to the largest and most powerful country in history over the past 300 years or so thanks to more than just luck. ”

The other party's tone already smelled of gunpowder, so Natsuki didn't go down against his words, but asked in a frank way: "Since Your Majesty understands it as a weight, what makes me curious is, what price Your Majesty is willing to exchange for it?" ”

George V glanced at Natsuki with a little surprise, and said coldly: "In addition to the sacred dignity of the country, everything else can be considered." ”

The sacred dignity of the state sounds like an illusory concept, but in fact it can be extended to various fields, such as territorial sovereignty, national defense and security, and people's interests. So, that's a clever and sophisticated answer.

Natsuki said clearly and slowly: "If Ireland gives a kind understanding of the condition of these two warships, will Your Majesty regard this as the sincerity of Ireland's desire to avoid conflict and coexist peacefully with Great Britain, and thus make an official state visit to Ireland before Christmas?" ”

George V was stunned for a few seconds, and then replied: "Even if I don't consider the implications of this matter, out of the most basic courtesy, I will pay a visit to Ireland, after all, we have long recognized the legitimate status of the Kingdom of Ireland, and this is also the greatest sincerity we have shown." ”

Natsuki smiled, "So, Your Majesty will visit Ireland before Christmas?" ”

The British king's thick eyebrows suddenly raised: "Must be before Christmas?" ”

"Yes." Natsuki replied, "I had promised the Irish people that Belfast would be annexed to the Kingdom of Ireland by this Christmas, so that the Kingdom of Ireland would spend its first Christmas in a state of complete independence. ”

George V deliberately interrupted: "I think it is necessary to correct that the first Christmas in the Kingdom of Ireland should date back to 1541, and the de jure independent Kingdom of Ireland lasted from then until the beginning of the last century, after 260 years, and thus spent 260 Christmas." ”

"In the minds of the vast majority of Irish people, it is truly the first." Natsuki's witty words left George V speechless, and he thought for a while with his hands behind his back: "The promised gift cannot be fulfilled, so His Highness thinks of me, but will my visit have such a festive effect?" Or are Your Highness and the Irish people prepared to see my visit as a compromise between Britain and Ireland? ”

"Your Majesty thinks too much." "The UK is the closest country to Ireland, so we hope that the King of the UK will be the first foreign head of state to make an official visit to Ireland, which will be a milestone commemoration," Natsuki said with a smile. ”

"That's all?" George V's full of doubts was written in his eyes.

With a smile on the corner of his mouth, Natsuki deliberately provoked: "If Your Majesty thinks it's inappropriate, of course you can consider rejecting this deal, let's see what interesting things will happen next." ”

This put George V in a dilemma, and between the words, the previous anger had dissipated, and it was not so reasonable to try to demonstrate with anger.

After hesitating for a moment, George V said angrily: "Well, I will reply to His Highness's proposal within two days." ”

Natsuki smiled, "Okay, Your Majesty, I think I have enough patience to wait for another two days." ”

(End of chapter)