Division

In the days that followed, even the steps in front of the home of former Prime Minister Pitt Jr., who was theoretically retired, were almost worn down by lobbyists from all sides. These lobbyists included representatives from the textile industry, some of the banking industry, and some of the machinery manufacturing industry, who hoped to maintain peace. There were also some who hoped to start a war as soon as possible, such as some agricultural companies, some liquor companies, and a large number of representatives from the military industry.

The same was true for other politicians; every member of parliament, whether from the House of Lords or the House of House of Commons, had carriages parked in front of their homes.

Each lobbyist used the pretext of "the interests of the country and the people" to demand that these members of parliament take one action or another, while also intentionally or unintentionally indicating that they would not forget the deep friendship between them and would absolutely live up to their friends' expectations.

Little Pitt discovered that in just over six months, the entire political landscape of Britain had undergone tremendous changes.

In the preceding years, thanks to Peter Pitt.'s efforts, the previously loose Tory Party became increasingly united and able to act as a unified force in Parliament. His old rival, Fox, though eloquent and capable of leaving Tory Party, including Pitt., speechless in Parliament, even resorting to evasive tactics like, "There are things we think we know, and we do know; there are things we do know, and we think we know; there are things... you know, don't you?", continued to defeat Tory Party on major issues through Whig Party, even successfully instigating several internal conflicts and splits within the Whig Party.

When facing Fox, Pitt Jr. could have easily said, "I've never won a parliamentary debate; but I've never lost a parliamentary vote."

The era of swaying members of parliament with a moving speech and changing the outcome of a vote is over. In most cases, the result of a vote is determined before the vote even begins. Even if someone betrays the party during the election, the reason for their defection is never a particularly inspiring speech. Any politician who fails to understand this and clings to the past will only suffer repeated defeats.

But today, Pitt Jr. finds himself to be the one falling behind the times. He notices that in just over six months, deep rifts have appeared within the previously united Tory Party.

Some members of parliament, because they, their families, or their "friends" had invested in textiles or other industries that had benefited greatly from trade with Europe, firmly opposed resuming war with France. They even felt that granting Ireland some "autonomy" as long as it nominally remained within the United Kingdom was not unacceptable. Others simply believed that the United Kingdom's policies toward Ireland over the years had been fundamentally flawed; the United Kingdom had been extremely unfair to Ireland, treating the Ireland, who were also civilized people, with the same methods used against them as barbarians—an intolerable mistake.

Another group of members of parliament, because they, their families, or their friends had invested in industries such as arms, were determined to resume the war with France. They even felt that those members of parliament who opposed the war were traitors to England and should be dragged out and shot at for ten minutes.

Little Pitt knew that if they were to vote on this matter right now, it would almost certainly cause the entire Tory Party to split instantly, making the Whig Party laugh their heads off.

In fact, right now, the Whig Party guys, especially Fox, are openly delighted.

Following this incident, several hardline Tory Party MPs who had previously never visited him have reached out to him through various channels, expressing their goodwill and indicating that if Parliament were to vote on the issue of peace, they hoped Fox's Whig Party would stand on the side of peace. In return, they would support some of the Whig Party 'Whig Party positions, such as on issues concerning Ireland and even religious policy.

Fox had only ever seen Whig Party before, and in droves at that. Often, the night before an election, the vote count would show a slight advantage, only to find the votes were less than half of the other side's the next day. When had the Tory Party ever produced traitors?

"I used to think that only a party like our Whig Party, which is predominantly populist, would produce traitors. I never expected that even those respectable nobles of your Tory Party would become double agents!"

Although Fox harbored deep contempt for these profit-driven nobles, his years of experience fighting in the political arena (where he was thoroughly outmatched by Pitt Jr.) had taught him the importance of having as many of his own people as possible, and as few enemies as possible.

So, despite his contempt for these traitors, Fox was very amiable and warmly received these double agents, and expressed his willingness to cooperate.

So Little Pitt discovered that the England News Alliance was beginning to split. The first to defect was the England Economic Observer, which was the England News Alliance's counterpart to The London Merchant.

On April 1st, the England Economic Observer published a report titled, "Fair treatment of the Ireland is key to Ireland's long-term stability."

In this report, The England Economic Observer first reviewed how Britain lost North America and pointed out that it was Britain's extortion and exploitation of the North America that led to their independence.

It then used detailed figures to compare with North America, concluding that "our government has plundered the Ireland even more than it has plundered the North America colonies."

Building on this, the article then raises a series of questions. "Does the United Kingdom government truly consider Ireland part of the United Kingdom, or simply treat it as a colony? Does the United Kingdom government truly consider the Ireland people as citizens of this country, or does it view the equally white Ireland people as Black Africa?"

This attack completely caught the England News Alliance off guard. The Times Review didn't mount a rebuttal to the England Economic Observer's report until three days later. Then the England Free Press Alliance immediately joined in, and the various newspapers began exchanging insults.

The Times Review accused The England Economic Observer of betraying its country. The England Economic Observer, in turn, denounced The Times Review as a "lackey of tyranny" and a "mouthpiece of warmongers."

Then, Free England, part of the England Free Press Alliance, stated. "While we disagree with The England Economic Observer on many issues, we believe it remains a reputable England Economic Observer outlet with a strong stance, attitude, and conscience. As for The Times Review' shocking accusation of 'betrayal of the motherland,' it reminds us of Samuel John's famous quote: 'Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels.'"

As for "Treat the Ireland fairly, that is the key to Ireland's long-term stability," it is certainly an excellent article, one filled with genuine, even higher, humanitarianism and patriotism. We fully agree with this article; we also have the same contempt for those "patriotic thieves" who try to instigate a civil war and make us and our fellow Ireland fight each other. Their conspiracy will not succeed...

Faced with this situation, both Pitt the Younger and Addington realized that it was not yet time to immediately impose a blockade on Ireland. First, the timing was not entirely right; the Ireland people's large-scale production campaign had yielded good results, and they should have enough potatoes to last for quite some time. Initiating a blockade now would give them and the France more time to react. Moreover, the navy's mine trials had only just been completed, and it would take a considerable amount of time to increase production to a level sufficient to blockade the Irish Sea. Second, such an action could very well cause a direct split within Britain, and more importantly, within the Tory Party.

On the other hand, after all this commotion, the British Navy's so-called "secrets" had become known to everyone in Europe.

Upon receiving this news, Napoleon immediately summoned Joseph and consulted him on countermeasures.

"Naval mines, huh? The Britain are quite something, they actually came up with something like that. Hmm, you asked me how to clear them? Well, technically it's not impossible, it's just very troublesome, like clearing landmines, very dangerous and very troublesome, much more troublesome than burying landmines."

"You know about this too? Even today, Verdun isn't completely cleared out," Napoleon yelled. "Why did you bury so much back then?"

"This is only if we can clear mines slowly and peacefully," Joseph said. "Clearing mines is much more troublesome, and we won't have naval control in that area to allow us to clear mines quietly and leisurely. So don't even think about mine clearance."

"Then what should we do?" Napoleon asked.

"Napoleon, who do you think is more afraid of mines, us or the Britain?" Joseph asked.

"Of course it's the Britain... How come, Joseph, we can make this?" Napoleon asked.

"Given the funding, I can get one out in a month," Joseph replied. "Of course, if it's just to scare the Britain, I can make a model that will terrify them to death tomorrow."