Napoleon in 1812
Chapter 82:

13. Golden War – 6

Therewouldbenotax increase, buthedid not intendtogive up thewar. Everyone seemedtobeunable to understand.

So what the hell was he going to do? What didhewant? Only themembers of theTory party remained calm and lookedatPrimeMinisterRobert Jenkinson. They hadhad aclosemeeting theotherday and hadexchanged longdiscourse.

Therewere reasons for notactivelysuppressthe political offensiveofCharles Grey, theleader of the Whig party, andnot giving measures as if they werebeingchased by the situation.

‘Thereisstilla long way to go beforethe generalelections and theend of the prime minister’s term. Making lame excuseswouldbefalling into CharlesGrey’s trap. Rather than having a dirty mud fight with him, itwouldbemore reasonable to admit the mistake neatly andmake an erasable case in the minds of voters.’

PrimeMinisterRobert Jenkinson andotherTory members werewell aware that the people’s memorywas not so good.

Anissueabouta certain event was quickly forgotten in themindsofthe public when other topics emerged. This was their real target, and to reach it theyhad to put down their sincerity andpersuadethe public.

“After defendingagainst Vikinginvasions and preserving the Anglo-Saxon identity, this is what Alfred theGreat[1]said: ‘The ignorant rejects reality, the ordinary faces reality. Buta wise man prepares forthe future.’ The Cabinet is always tryingtoprepare forthe future. Please watch overusasalways.”

A smallboo broke out from the audience at Jenkinson, as he wentdown after speaking, but he was confident.

They would be criticizedfor amoment, butifthey managed to do whatthey hadprepared, the publicwouldhave no choicebut to supportthem andthe Cabinetagain.

===

A similar thing was happeninginthe heart of the City of London, asa tumultuous meetingwas underway in Westminster.

“Are youreally sellingall thisstuff, boss? No matter howhard I think about it, I don’t understand. Are youtrying to sellall the filialbondsthat provide regularreturns at once?”

“SharesinSouthAfrican gold mines are especially valuable becausethey’re notcurrently available on themarket. Nowthat thewar is still going on, there is nothing moreguaranteed than thisfor the future.”

The boss’s decision in thefinancial sector wasabsolute. Whenhegave orders, employees hadtoobey unconditionally. But nowhere, inside L.V.C. Financial, there was an actcontrarytothat.

Despitesensing thesurprise, embarrassmentand anxietyintheirfaces, Colin nodded heavily.

“Those who have worked with me willknow what I amtrying to say… Anyway, timeisrunning out, so I won’tsay it again. We sell all bonds andsecurities exceptfor landand in-kindheld by L.V.C Financial. No objections.”

“Sigh!… I see, boss.”

“I hopethe bossisrightagainthis time.”

Suchdecisionwas contrary to common sense andlogic. The boss of afinancial firm, one of thebest in theCity of London, did somethingfollowing his intuition, and hisemployees trustedand followed him?

However, alot of people were accepting this phenomenonatleasthere in L.V.C. Financial.

Wheneverhewas orderedtodosomething fromhis homecountry, Colinsaid that he madehis decision withhis own sensesinstead of givinglogical explanations.

At first, everyonethought he wasa madman, but hisdecisionturned out to be a hugesuccess, and it happened severaltimes.

Logic andprocess were not important. Financewas the sole result. This waswhy the employeeswere puzzled but didnot argue or reject Colin’s decision.

“There willbebig changesinLondon’sstockmarket in the future. Please understand thatI can’t explain it to you properly because it’sbasedonmyintuition. However, if that timecomes, we willbeable to retrieve everything we lost.”

AtColin’s words, the employees felt disappointed buteventually puttheirsecurities on themarket. TheCity of Londonfinancial traderscouldnot afford to miss out on this opportunity.

Securities andbondswith theL.V.C. markonthe London Stock Exchange began to sell immediately, at a terrifyingpace.

“Hahaha! Whata late Christmas present!”

“Buythem unconditionally! Buy everything you see!”

“Oh, shit! Someone stole it first!”

There was nothing but joyontheirfacesasthey were buying recklessly. It probably felt likegold rolledinto a vine.

Colin lookedatitwith an understanding look. How were the British economistsgoingtodescribethe nextmonth? Colin was reallylooking forward to it.

===

The PalaceofWhitehall, in central London, had beenthe residence of many kings who ruled Britain.

William Shakespeare[2], a great British writer, was honoredtohost hisplay ‘The Tempest’ at the PalaceofWhitehall, andwhen he sawthe it, he describeditasa ‘garden of the Gods, where thesky meets the earth’.

In thepast, the Palace of Whitehallwas so beautiful andsplendidthat such praise wasnot excessive. Ithad over1,500 rooms, 19 multipurpose rooms, 5 banquet halls…

It hadbeen thelargest andmost luxuriouspalace in Europe beforethe construction of thePalace of Versailles, which had leisure facilitiessuch as bowling alley, tenniscourts, stables, outdoor huntinggrounds, and cockfighting square.

A quick-witted personcouldguessthe reason fortalking about the‘past’. A series of fires in 1622 and 1698 burned down mostofthis beautifuland dignified cultural heritage.

The great palace, which usedtobethe pride of Britain, disappeared, leaving onlyone BanquetingHouse, and only traces of itsexistence remained nearby. Many British intellectualswere very sorry about that.

It wastime formany workers living near London to returntotheirhomesand lay down.

A carriage, decorated witha reddish-brown cross-shaped flagpole, secretlyand quietlyentered theBanqueting House insidethe Palace of Whitehall.

A man in a gloomy outfitgot off thecarriage, opened hiscoat andremoved hisfedora (a felthat). The man’s figure wasrevealed.

He wasRobert Jenkinson, CountofLiverpool, whohad beenhumiliated at last week’s meeting at the Parliament.

“Goodevening, Mr. Prime Minister. HisHighnessiswaiting foryou.”

At the endofthe attendant’s words, Prime Minister Jenkinsongesturedtogoinquickly. Itwas the PalaceofWhitehall, which wasburned down, but it wasalso a place where people could have asecret conversation.

=

Inthe multi-purposeroom of theBanqueting House, Prince Regent GeorgeIV ofEngland wasadmiringa painting. PrimeMinisterJenkinson brieflygreeted himand quietlyapproached him.

“It’s ‘The Marriage Settlement’ by WilliamHogarth (an18th-century Englishpainter).”[3]

“Oh, does the Prime Minister know about thispainting?”

“That’s right. I’m lackinginknowledge compared to you, but could you give me achance to explainthe work?”

AtGeorge IV’spermission, Jenkinson began explainingthe painting.

“Fancy clothes, but no familycrest. The fatherofthe bride is amerchantwith lowstatus but a lot of money. The groom’sfather, on theotherhand, isa shabby-looking, penniless nobleman, buthas afamily crest. As youcan see, the bride and groom arelooking in differentdirections, showing that theyare indifferent to eachothereven thoughthey aregetting married. In fact, theunionofthesetwo families can be seen as acontractbetween adultswho onlycare about theprofits they willget fromthe successionofthe families. It’s ascathingsatire about the society thathas lostits humanity and is only lookingfor its owninterests.”

“Oh, I never imagined it would be a workwith such ameaning. I cansee the picture differently after listening to thePrimeMinister’s words… Coincidentally, itlookssimilar to thesituation in which the kingdom is right now.”

Prime Minister RobertJenkinson smiled bitterly as if he agreed. After sharinga fewmore stories, thetwo soongot to the point.

“There’s areason why I called theastute Prime Minister at night. Because I felt that the order of thecountry I was supposed to rule in place of my father wasseriously threatened.”

“…”

“Thepublic opinionisunusual, and the Prime Minister, the Royal Family andthe Cabinetneed to continue to seriouslyreflect on thecurrent situation.”

George IV was criticizing Prime Minister Jenkinson’s ambiguousattitudeand remarksduring lastweek’s meeting.

Jenkinsondid not hide his true intentionsthis time. He brought up before himthe truthful storiesthat he didnot tellinthe Palace of Westminster.

“Thebiggest reasonwhy the kingdom’seconomy is falteringisthat thefinancial leakhas finallycome to a limit. So far, the Cabinet and ourpartymembers have focusedonthe war expenses, whichare the main financial expenditure of thekingdom. The kingdomspentabout£144 million last yearalone, muchofwhichwas spent on maintenance of naval power and operations.”

“Considering thegeopolitical characteristics andstrategic objectivesofthe kingdom, isn’t thata natural result?”

“Doyou happen to know the exact trend andproportion?”

GeorgeIV shookhis headand Prime Minister Robert Jenkinsoncalmly readthe figures. Britaincurrently owned 114 battleships and780 vessels. £10.6 million was spent annually on maintaining a naval force of 135,000 men.

Inaddition, £1.9 millionwas for theconstruction and repaircoststorecover from the damagecaused by storms, reefs, naval battles, aging and ship accidents. The costofinstalling, maintainingand repairing numerous docks, ports, and coastal fortifications across Europe, the NewWorld, Africa, and Asiawas £4.6 million, and thecost of operatingthe fleet to block the coastsofFrance and other enemy countries(which required foodsupplies, toll, gunpowder, etc.) was about £7.6 million.

In other words, Britain waspouring out£25 million ayear just to keepits currentnavalstrengthand for themaritimeoperation blocking all thecoasts of France, its allies andsatellite countries. Atthe unbelievable cost, GeorgeIV was speechless.

He wasthe representative of KingGeorge III, who was seriouslyill, butitwas relativelyrecent thathetook over as regent andbegantotake over the king’sduties in earnest.

Therefore, he had notgrasped everything in state affairsand had notreceivedseparated reports, particularly in thefinancial sector. Hejust thought things were doing well.

It wasunimaginable thatsomuch of thekingdom’s funds werebeingused only for theoperation of the Navy.

“EvenifI didnot ask foranexplanation, wasn’t it natural to report on such amajorpayment? How can younot say a wordabouthow athirdofthe kingdom’s revenue is being used!”

“I have nothing to say. I’m sorry, Your Highness! Butasyou know, I also becamePrimeMinisterhastily… Pleaseexcuse the stupidityofnot being abletodouble-check whathad beendone in thefirsthalf of last year.”

Jenkinson had becomePrimeMinisterafterthe assassinationofSpencer Perceval.[4]

It was notuntilthe end of last yearthat Jenkinsonnoticed thelax investmentinmilitarypower, as the Navy did notfeel theneed to re-reportwhat hadalready been paidbythe former prime minister.

In the end, Prime Minister Jenkinson andPrince Regent GeorgeIV were being reprimanded fortheirpredecessors’ doings. Feelingsympathyfor eachother, the twosighed quietly.

TL notes

[1]Alfredthe Great

[2]William Shakespeare S~ᴇaʀᴄh the ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

[3]Here’s‘The Marriage Settlement’ painted byWilliam Hogarth:

[4]SpencerPerceval

Sᴇarch the N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.