CHAPTER 570: CHAPTER 561: SUFFERING THE UNITED STATES

When Palmerston read through the entire article with a bystander’s perspective, a trace of anger and helplessness emerged on his face.

The article took as a trigger the intelligence received by the Kingdom of Britain on the United States of America’s weak attitude, utilizing the nationalist fervor recently ignited by Palmerston, which had not yet fully subsided, to "represent" the British citizens (specifically those who pay taxes) in questioning the British Cabinet.

By questioning why the Kingdom of Britain was compromising with the United States of America, it implied the existence of a lobbying group within Britain that had received US Dollars from the United States of America, satisfying US interests.

(Although Palmerston himself did indeed receive some bribes from the United States of America, he dared to swear that he had not harmed Britain’s interests.)

At the end of the article, The Times called for Palmerston to thoroughly investigate the "traitors," "traitors to the nation," and "500,000 British Pounds," and to restore a harmonious environment for the British people.

Although not a single word in the article directly mentioned the British Cabinet and Palmerston, every sentence implied that Palmerston played the leading role in compromising with the United States of America.

This was not a letter addressed to him but clearly intended to put him on the spot.

Palmerston understood that from the moment The Times published this article, he could no longer retreat from the United States of America.

If Palmerston chose to concede to the United States of America, a wave would inevitably be stirred up in the media field.

Standing in the center of the storm, Palmerston was likely to be completely overwhelmed by the tide of public opinion, leading to the risk of political death.

For Palmerston, death was not the most terrifying thing; it was the end of his political life that was hardest to accept.

In order to prevent his political life from ending, Palmerston decided to take action.

Just as Palmerston was about to summon his private secretary to issue orders face-to-face, his private secretary pushed the door open and walked in.

"You’re just in time!" Palmerston responded to his private secretary.

"Prime Minister, do you have any instructions?" the private secretary hurriedly inquired.

"Go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately and summon the Earl of Clarion!" Palmerston commanded his private secretary: "Tell him that I have important matters to discuss! Have him come over at once!"

"Prime Minister, I was just about to report to you!" the private secretary responded to Palmerston without a head or tail.

"Report what?" Palmerston looked at his private secretary in confusion.

"The Earl of Clarion is currently waiting outside!" the private secretary explained immediately, then added, "He said he also has urgent matters he wants to discuss with you!"

"Could it be that he has also seen the article from The Times?" Palmerston murmured instinctively.

Due to the distance of about 5 or 6 meters between Palmerston and the private secretary, combined with Palmerston’s low voice just now, the private secretary did not clearly hear what Palmerston said, so he hurriedly asked, "Prime Minister, what did you say?"

"Nothing!" Palmerston shook his head, then waved his hand at his private secretary, "Quickly call in the Earl of Clarion!"

"Yes!" Upon hearing Palmerston’s order, the private secretary turned around and left.

After a while, the British Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Earl of Clarion, appeared before Palmerston, holding a document in his hand.

"Prime Minister Palmerston!" The Earl of Clarion bowed slightly to Palmerston to show respect for the Prime Minister’s position.

"Minister Villiers (the Earl of Clarion’s title), sit, please!" Palmerston invited the Earl of Clarion to sit.

Then he ordered the private secretary sitting near the door, "Please bring us two cups of red tea!"

"Yes!" The newly seated private secretary had to stand up to prepare tea for Palmerston and Villiers.

"Villiers, what is it you need to discuss with me?" Palmerston inquired of the Earl of Clarion as soon as the private secretary left.

"Well, Prime Minister!" The Earl of Clarion handed the document to Prime Minister Palmerston while explaining its contents: "Last night, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a telegraph from Ambassador Cowley... The telegraph is at the top of the document."

"Ambassador Cowley?" Palmerston repeated, then asked, "Did something happen in the French Empire?"

"Yes!" The Earl of Clarion replied with a wry smile, "Ambassador Cowley reported in the telegraph that just last night, the Emperor of the French Empire held a celebratory ball at the Tuileries Palace, inviting ambassadors from various countries, politicians, and the military.

During the ball, Ambassador Cowley was granted a solo audience with the French Emperor.

The Emperor told him that negotiations between the French Empire and the United States of America had broken down."

"What?" Palmerston was greatly surprised and hurriedly asked, "How did the negotiations break down?"

"Ambassador Cowley did not discuss this in detail in the telegram! However, the Emperor of France is very firm in his attitude towards the United States of America!" Earl of Clarion said to Palmerston.

"So the French Empire wants to seek our help?" Palmerston asked Earl of Clarion.

"The French Empire hopes that we can stand with them to jointly resist the United States of America!" Earl of Clarion replied.

"Jointly resist the United States of America?" Palmerston repeated, his expression slightly unnatural.

"That’s right!" Earl of Clarion nodded and replied to Palmerston.

"This is too much of a coincidence!" Palmerston muttered in amazement.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, what coincidence? I don’t understand a word!" Earl of Clarion asked Palmerston.

"Look at this!" Palmerston placed The Times in front of Clarion and said, "You only need to look at the front-page content!"

Clarion picked up the newspaper and read it intently. After a while, he looked up and responded to Palmerston, "This is too coincidental!"

"I was right, wasn’t I?" Palmerston spoke with satisfaction, responding to Clarion.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, in my view, there seems to be some hidden dealings between The Times and the French Empire, and it might not end well..." Clarion offered his insight to Palmerston.

"That possibility cannot be ruled out!" Palmerston nodded in agreement with Clarion’s guess, and then added, "However, it also cannot be ruled out that The Times obtained this information through certain mercenary individuals within our ranks!"

As the leader in the British newspaper industry, how could The Times not have some secret channels?

According to Palmerston’s understanding of The Times and the British political scene, there are many civil servants who have good relationships with the editors of The Times, providing them with quality stories, for which The Times pays them handsomely.

In such a "win-win" model, the speed at which The Times obtained news even exceeded that of the Prime Minister himself.

After all, the characteristic of bureaucracy is hierarchical transmission, and by the time the news reached him, it was unknown how much time had passed.

[PS: In history, during the Crimean War, The Times was able to get information faster than the government by relying on professional war correspondents and a thorough information channel.

This led to the Kingdom of Britain’s state, numbers, and morale on the Crimea Peninsula being all exposed by The Times, allowing Nicholas I, far away in St. Petersburg, to develop the next phase of strategy based on The Times’ descriptions, resulting in Commander Largren cursing The Times as "traitorous."]

"However, now is not the time to discuss where The Times got this information from! Whether it’s to appease British Citizens or to win over the French Empire! Anyway, we must act now!" Palmerston said to Earl of Clarion.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, what do you mean?" Clarion inquired.

"Reject the United States of America’s request! At the same time, urge them to strictly adhere to neutrality!" Palmerston said to Earl of Clarion.

"What if the United States of America is unwilling to accept?" Earl of Clarion asked.

"Trust me! They will accept!" Palmerston responded confidently to Earl of Clarion, for he knew those Americans too well.

"Yes!" Clarion obeyed Palmerston’s commands.

...

When Earl of Clarion returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he immediately summoned the Ambassador to the United States of America, the future 15th President of the United States of America, James Buchanan, and regretfully said: "Unfortunately, we cannot agree to your conditions!"

"Your Excellency, Count, I remember that a few days ago, you told me that as long as we strictly adhere to the neutrality agreement, your country would not seize our ships. It’s only been a few days, and you suddenly change your stance!" James Buchanan loudly questioned Earl of Clarion.

Even as someone in the pro-British faction, he was angered by Britain’s fickle foreign policy.

Just as he promised Washington he would quickly resolve the issue, the Kingdom of Britain stabbed him in the back.

"Mr. Ambassador, I did not explicitly promise you, and we did not sign any agreement between us. What I said at the time was a possibility!" Clarion emphasized, then argued, "The international situation is inherently complex and volatile; sometimes, we have to consider the interests of other countries!"

"Your Excellency, Count, are the ’other countries’ you mentioned referring to the French Empire?" The American ambassador once again inquired of Earl of Clarion.

"I cannot answer that question, please forgive me!" Earl of Clarion refused to answer James Buchanan.