RPAGF Chapter 40 The British Cabinet Dissolved Again
Chapter 40 The British Cabinet Dissolved Again
After disembarking at the Singapore pier, Qin Wenyuan and his group went into the city to find a hotel.
Along the way, we saw several patrolling groups of soldiers, each consisting of a few British men leading a group of Indians.
Singapore is a commercial port with a well-developed hotel industry, and the market is relatively quiet right now, making it easier to find a suitable hotel.
Qin Wenyuan and his group found a hotel run by Chinese people to stay in, and after resting for two days, they began to take care of their own business.
Seek out traders who can travel to India and even Europe to discuss cooperation plans.
Qin Wenyuan felt that this matter would not be difficult to handle on his way here, and in fact, he quickly found the person after making a few inquiries.
European merchants gathered in Singapore were also looking for ways to resume trade with the Han Dynasty.
Qin Wenyuan and others realized that the Han Dynasty's purge of the old British merchants could be seen as an opportunity for them.
Businessmen in Singapore and India share similar ideas, believing that fortune favors the bold.
Qin Wenyuan and his group also encountered some merchants who had fled from the Han Dynasty.
After arriving in Manila, they did not stay there for long. Once they found a ship, they went directly to Singapore, thus escaping capture before the Battle of Manila.
Qin Wenyuan, Luo Baolin, and Cui Cheng were all familiar with these people. After their contact, both sides were filled with emotion, and their business was able to continue.
The parties quickly reached an agreement on a cooperation plan, jointly contributing capital, personnel, and ships to establish a trading company.
Qin Wenyuan and other Han Dynasty merchants were in charge of the shipping route from the Han Dynasty to Singapore, while British merchants in Singapore were in charge of the shipping route from Singapore to India and Europe. The surviving old merchants were responsible for guiding them to smooth things over.
The cooperation agreement even contains some rather peculiar clauses, such as "unless the Han or the British forcibly ban it, the ownership of Singapore will not affect the cooperation among the three parties."
In other words, these British merchants also believed that the Han Dynasty was very likely to send troops to conquer Singapore, but they continued to embark on a cooperation full of risks and opportunities with this condition.
In contrast to the merchants' enthusiasm, the actual administrator of the Straits Settlements, Lieutenant Governor Samuel George Bonham, now spends most of his time looking worried.
Burnham later became Baron Bonham, the fourth Governor of the Straits Settlements, the third Governor of Hong Kong, and was directly involved in contacts and talks with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which of course broke down.
The actual Governor of the Straits Settlements is not here; the Deputy Governor is doing the Governor's job.
If nothing unexpected happens, the governor who is unwilling to come here will eventually step down, and Burnham will most likely be promoted to the position.
However, after the Han Dynasty first drove out the British merchants and then received and sent off the British delegation, it immediately went to conquer the Philippines, causing turmoil in Southeast Asia and leaving Burnham in a state of chaos.
Qin Wenyuan and other merchants thought that the governor should have sent the message back to Europe long ago, but that was not the case.
Because the Han Dynasty dispatched a sufficient number of troops to participate in the battle, the battle in Manila proceeded quite smoothly, and the Han Dynasty basically gained complete control of the local transportation and communication channels during this period.
Information transmission was already very slow at this time, and it wasn't until the Han Dynasty had basically occupied the entire Philippines that news of the Han Dynasty's capture of Manila reached places like Singapore.
Burnham naturally wanted to get the message back to Britain as quickly as possible, but there was no transportation available at that time.
Burnham could only send someone back to India to let the Governor-General of India find a way to get the message back to India. Who knows if the message has even reached the Mediterranean or the Atlantic Ocean yet?
Burnham mobilized all the local troops and conscripted more Indian laborers as servants to strengthen security in his territory, but he didn't know if it would actually work.
This place is too close to the Han homeland, and the Han can mobilize too many troops at this time.
In February 1835, at the westernmost tip of the distant European continent, the British Foreign Secretary Palmerston's mission to China finally returned to London after a year's absence.
Palmer and his group were completely unaware of the Han's capture of Manila, and they still carried Liu Yulong's initial reply and conditions.
As Palmerston, Staunton, and others reorganized their prepared statements and prepared to explain their trip to the Prime Minister, they learned that their cabinet had been dissolved in the middle of last year.
This is not surprising; the collapse of a cabinet in a parliamentary system is a normal phenomenon.
Even if the cabinet and prime minister's terms have not ended, and they have not been impeached or unable to continue in office, internal party conflicts alone could lead to the dissolution and collapse of the cabinet.
The Whig cabinet, which included Palmerston, dissolved due to internal conflicts.
With internal coordination within the Whig Party, King William IV appointed Viscount Melbourne as Prime Minister and reorganized a cabinet.
However, the Melbourne cabinet soon clashed with the King and was forcibly dissolved by the King at the end of last year.
The King then appointed Conservative Party member Robert Peel to reorganize the cabinet. This was the last time in history that a British king disregarded the proportion of representatives from each party in Parliament and forcibly appointed a minority as prime minister.
Palmerston's cabinet was dissolved, his party was no longer in power, and he was no longer the Foreign Minister.
However, the general election is currently underway, and the Whig Party leader remains Viscount Melbourne. If the Whig Party wins this election, Viscount Melbourne will soon become Prime Minister again.
The king will then have no choice but to accept it.
After learning the general situation, Palmerston went to visit Viscount Melbourne alone.
Instead of directly presenting Liu Yulong's reply, Palmerzun recounted his trip, focusing on the bad news he had received.
After hearing only a few words, the Viscount of Melbourne felt his vision go black:
"What did you say! Because of those opium dealers? The Emperor banished all the Britons?"
"We're in trouble now. Did you go to see the emperor? Did you try to persuade him to rescind the order?"
Only then did Palmerston take out the reply that Staunton had translated:
"I tried everything, but the young emperor was extremely stubborn and refused to engage in any protracted negotiations with us."
Instead, it directly listed a series of conditions, which were exactly the same as those in the reply to the king.
"If Britain can accept it, then private trade can be restored."
"If you don't accept it, then it won't be restored."
The Viscount of Melbourne, looking troubled, took the letter, glanced at it, and said:
"This management method is really too strict. The seigniorage tax of 30% plus the original 20% customs duty makes it 50% tax."
"However, the key is that we are required to cooperate and allow the Han army to destroy the plantations in India."
"They might not just destroy the plantations; they could threaten India."
"Is there really no room for discussion?"
Palmerston continued, very seriously, to explain what he knew:
"The new emperor is only nineteen years old this year, a time when he should be proud and confident. He didn't give me any room for discussion at all."
"In addition, the merchants who participated in the trade with the Han Dynasty fled to Manila first after the expulsion order was issued."
"They have come together to write a joint letter, hoping that Parliament and the Cabinet will resolve the trade dispute."
"They sent a merchant named Mattison with their joint letter back to London with me, hoping that he could go to Parliament with me to give a speech and petition."
The Viscount of Melbourne still finds it impossible:
"Even if the merchants who participate in the trade with the Han Dynasty support it, this matter will be difficult to succeed."
"Most lawmakers are concerned with local interests. Only when local interests are not affected will lawmakers discuss whether to support them relatively objectively, and only then can they be persuaded."
"However, allowing foreign troops to fight in India, especially Han troops who are already almost adjacent to India, will inevitably be met with instinctive opposition from the vast majority of members of parliament who have no vested interest."
Besides its homeland, Britain's core interests lie with India, which is its most important source of fiscal revenue.
It was only then that Palmerston revealed Liu Yulong's final invitation as a condition:
"The Emperor may allow British engineers to set up factories in the Han Dynasty and sell their products directly to the Han court and its inhabitants."
"The emperor declared that he would build thousands of miles of railway, so a huge amount of steam locomotives and steel were needed."
"Furthermore, the emperor's draft entry permits, which required taking photos of entrants at any time, would also spawn a huge new industry."
"The new trade method proposed by the Emperor can resolve the trade deficit between Britain and China in a legal and mutually acceptable manner."
"Britain does not necessarily have to export goods to Han to make a profit; it can also directly and continuously generate profits by investing in Han territory."
"Of course, the condition for permission is that Britain cooperates in banning opium and destroying opium plantations in India."
Investing in and building factories in overseas markets is a very normal practice in modern times.
However, before the 1850s, most people did not have this concept.
The international environment is not yet mature, and the risks caused by differences in foreign policies are significant. The key issue is that domestic investment is not yet saturated.
The Viscount of Melbourne frowned and pondered for a long time, then looked at the translated document several times:
"From an economic perspective, this does seem feasible..."
"Investing in and building a factory in the Han Kingdom only requires an initial investment, and profits can be generated continuously."
"Then use the profits to purchase raw silk, tea and other products, and sell them back to the local area."
"Britain no longer needs to send precious metals to Han, and Han is no longer a silver abyss with no way out."
"But the question is, compared to the homeland that is so close at hand, what advantages does the Han Kingdom, which is so far away, have? Why choose the latter?"
"Because of the huge market of the Han Kingdom? Then India can be compared with it."
"The key question is whether investing in railways, steam engines, and the steel industry in Han China would threaten British interests in the East?"
Palmerston actually supported this approach, so he shared his pre-conceived plan:
"India is India, a collective term for a group of princely states, large and small, and Britain has no way to completely eliminate these princely states."
"The Han Kingdom was a Francois that was ten times larger, a unified country ruled by an emperor with a single government."
"There are also significant differences in trade practices and customs between the different princely states of India."
Even though the various princely states submitted to Britain, British merchants were not able to travel freely between the free states.
"But once the Emperor of Han gives permission, anyone can move freely throughout the entire Han Dynasty."
"That was a single market that was almost the same as the whole of Europe."
"If merchants invest heavily in Han and directly affect Han's military strength, then Han and Britain will have common interests, rather than conflicting interests."
The Whig Party was inherently reformist, more willing to try new things, and had the most direct demands on the market.
The First Opium War was launched during the time of Viscount Melbourne, a Whig prime minister.
The Second Opium War was launched during the tenure of Viscount Palmerston, a Whig, as Prime Minister.
The two people who met on site were the direct decision-makers of the two Opium Wars.
After much deliberation, the Viscount of Melbourne said:
"We, as politicians, cannot make such important decisions directly for businessmen and engineers."
"It should be published in the newspaper at the right time and in the right way."
"Let's see how the public reacts, and then go to parliament to vote."
Palmerston nodded in agreement.