After a light snowfall,
People bid farewell to 1900.
The New Year's bell rings, and the time comes to New Year's Day,
January 1, 1901.
Cecil had no chance to rest and had to attend a meeting in Whitehall.
The carriage moved forward, slowly passing through the mist,
Cecil opened the curtains of his car and breathed in London's not so clean air to relieve stress.
For Cecil, the whole of late December was very difficult. More and more citizens were criticizing the Anglo-Boer War, causing the cabinet to receive a lot of criticism.
Fortunately, this situation is only concentrated around London.
Other constituencies are currently unaffected.
Next to Cecil sat a middle-aged man,
His name was Arthur James Balfour. He was Cecil's nephew and political heir. He was called by his colleagues a politician who could handle himself even when he lived in Machiavelli's era.
Balfour whispered: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, over there with the Royal Navy..."
Before he finished speaking, Cecil interrupted rudely: "I know! I know! But the problem now is not Erwin, but... alas... mainly the Liberal Party. Bannerman's fox is too difficult. Tangled up."
Belfort was silent.
Both of them knew how critical the situation was.
They were speechless all the way to Whitehall, preparing to meet the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The carriage stopped slowly.
Balfour jumped down from the carriage lightly,
Cecil is a bit old, and his legs and feet are not very agile, so he can only wait for his nephew to help him.
Unexpectedly, after a while, Belfort got back into the carriage again,
"Uncle Robert, look at this."
Cecil frowned;
After entering politics, Balfour has always been very measured. When he calls Cecil outside, he always addresses his position, such as "Your Excellency Prime Minister."
He suddenly changed his name to "Uncle" just now. Something must have caused him to get confused.
Cecil reached out and closed the car door.
"how?"
Belfort handed over the paper in his hand and said in a low voice: "The handwriting of the Royal Publishing House says it is a questionnaire."
Cecil took the questionnaire and read it carefully.
He muttered in surprise: "Women's suffrage?"
Balfour said: "Did the Liberal Party get the Queen... No, it's impossible. I just read the first line of the questionnaire, which said, 'This questionnaire is only for survey and statistical purposes. It does not have any tendency nor does it represent any opinion. '."
Cecil snorted coldly,
"Even if that's the case, would this be good for the Conservative Party?"
Belfort was silent,
It's not that he can't answer this question, but that the answer to this question is too harsh——
The fact that women's suffrage and the right to be elected were brought to the table for discussion is itself a breakthrough in tradition.
Even more crucially, if women were given the vote, it’s self-evident who they would vote for.
"We acted too late," Balfour said.
Cecil didn't answer.
In fact, there is no such thing as "too late" at all, but rather that the Conservatives are in a position that makes it impossible for them to do the things they do to court women.
The vote is such a double-edged sword. If it doesn't hurt others, it will hurt yourself.
The Conservative Party relies on its steady and steady style to gain the trust of voters. To maintain this style, it cannot propose overly radical strategies and make the British ship turn left and make a 180-degree turn.
But after the industrial revolution, everything changed too fast.
The steady helmsman cannot keep up with the stormy waves of the times.
Cecil read the questionnaire carefully again and said: "Fortunately, these questions do not have any tendency. I just don't know the idea of the questionnaire..."
He turned it over and over, studying it carefully.
"Whose handiwork could it be..."
Cecil spoke almost every word, and every word seemed to fall out of his teeth.
…
"So, this is Professor Lu's work?"
Buckingham Palace,
The Queen's Bedroom.
The Queen put the magnifying glass aside, picked up the black tea, and took a sip.
Margarita carefully observed her grandmother's expression, only to find that the queen had a calm face and seemed to have no opinion on the contents of the questionnaire.
Her Royal Highness the Princess said softly: "Yes, it is indeed Professor Lu's idea."
The queen chuckled,
"Smart! Really smart! It's just..."
Margarita asked: "But what?"
The Queen replied: "It is not a good choice to let the Royal Publishing House print and distribute the questionnaire. A newspaper with a sales volume like The Times is the best because it can find a large number of subjects. Of course, choosing the Royal Publishing House may be due to some compromise. There is nothing to blame for the consideration.”
The Queen's tone was full of approval.
Margarita couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and said, "I thought you wouldn't approve of this kind of thing."
The Queen took a sip of tea and said: "The questions in this questionnaire are very neutral and can truthfully reflect the attitude and tendency of the people. It is a very practical tool. Why wouldn't I agree?"
Margarita couldn't help but purse her lips and chuckle,
She was very happy to hear Professor Lu being praised by her grandmother, and her little heart kept swelling, like an inflated balloon.
However, the queen misunderstood her granddaughter's expression and scolded her: "You and your mother are exactly the same. You are always thinking about these things."
Margarita didn't react;
"Huh? What?"
The Queen raised her eyebrows and waved the questionnaire in her hand.
"That's not what you were thinking about? About women's suffrage."
Margarita blushed,
"This... I am indeed... um..."
She really couldn't talk anymore, so in order to cover up, she picked up the cup and drank tea.
Looking at her hesitating look, any normal person would know that there is something wrong.
The queen looked Margarita up and down for a while, then suddenly said: "Rita, are you thinking about Professor Lu?"
These words are like a sudden shot of cold arrows,
"Ahem! Ahem..."
Margarita choked on the tea she had just drank and coughed violently.
She quickly picked up a handkerchief and wiped her mouth, then she took the queen's arm in a playful way and said, "Grandma, isn't it? I was just a little distracted just now~~~~~~"
Her noble princess deliberately prolongs her voice,
After hearing this, most people's bones will feel lighter.
The queen was very helpless,
"you……"
As soon as she said this word, Margarita coquettishly took over the topic: "I am indeed very concerned about women's suffrage. Grandma, do you think the questionnaire will have an impact on that matter?"
The topic was diverted in this way, and the queen had nothing to do.
She nodded,
"Of course it has an impact. Let me ask you a question now. Which of the two clothes I wear the most do you think doesn't make me look older?"
Margarita tilted her head and thought for a while.
"Probably the white one."
Unexpectedly, the queen actually said: "Okay, do you really think I am old?!"
Margarita looked confused;
"ah?"
The Queen couldn't help laughing when she saw her expression.
"That's what the questionnaire is for - presupposition. Just like the question I asked you presupposes that I look older, the questionnaire also presupposes that women's suffrage is an urgent issue that needs to be solved."
Margarita understands,
Anyone who has done the questionnaire will subconsciously accept this point of view.
No matter how neutral the questions on the questionnaire were, no matter how negative their attitudes toward women's suffrage were.
But Margarita is still a little confused,
"A problem is a problem. If you pretend not to see it, it won't exist?"
The Queen nodded her granddaughter's little nose and said affectionately: "Have you forgotten the jokes in "Yes! Prime Minister"? For many people, invisible problems are not problems. The best way to veto a proposal is, It’s not that we take it out and discuss it over and over again and try to refute it, but it’s that it’s shelved and left to dust and rats.”
"this……"
Margarita was speechless.
The Queen took another look at the questionnaire and said, "Professor Lu is really an amazing person."
