There was a wry smile on Benjamin's face. He heard a hint of regret in the Queen's words, and the Queen had never expressed this tone to the Earl of Derby.
Did everything he did disappoint the Queen? Benjamin's mind was spinning and he began to recall various information and data.
He smiled and said, "Dear Majesty the Queen, through the analysis of our intelligence system, France's victory rate in this war is still quite high. At present, Prussia's advantage is nothing more than its active military strength. One million available troops are really impressive." Shocking"
"But France is not a sheep. It currently has a standing army of 600,000 soldiers. It seems that the number of soldiers is not advantageous. But France has a large population and the mobilization of reserve forces is amazing. Once they share the same enemy, even two million soldiers can be mobilized."
"There are also colonies, national economy, and war funds."
Benjamin explained to the queen the gap in national power between France and Prussia in great detail. If he had been an ordinary politician, he would have been impressed by his eloquence.
It's a pity that the prime minister is facing the famous European grandmother Queen Victoria, who led Britain to defeat the Qing Dynasty. She is not so easy to fool.
Benjamin did not see the look of regret in the Queen's eyes at all, and continued to explain his own judgment on the war. In his analysis, Prussia would definitely fail, so the same Prussian ally, the Chinese, would become without a backer. Britain can easily strangle the emerging political power.
The Queen's elegant temperament perfectly explained what patience is. Time passed little by little. It was not until Benjamin finished his analysis that the Queen nodded and smiled.
"The constitution gives the prime minister the power to govern, including the power to propose war. If you think it is feasible, then go to the House of Representatives to get a yes vote."
Benjamin was stunned at that time and thought to himself, isn’t this the purpose of my visit today? Am I not here just to ask the Queen to help me exert influence on the Parliament? Why does Your Majesty mean that you don't want to take care of it?
The UK is an absolute constitutional monarchy, and it is a virtual monarchy. What the royal family has is prestige and influence on the people, and the royal family has no power to interfere in governance.
For example, when it comes to the power of war, this is an important matter that determines the life and death of the country. The Queen has no decision-making power. In fact, she does not. To initiate a war, she must obtain the support of a majority vote of Congress.
When Britain declared war on the Qing Dynasty, most members of Congress opposed it, because at that time few people believed that Britain could defeat the huge Qing Empire. They believed that the war was an adventure.
In the end, the Queen used her reputation to exert influence and personally persuaded many key figures. However, in the end, the number of votes that agreed to declare war on the Qing Dynasty was only 9 more than those who opposed.
History is full of drama. The result of the final war shocked the whole of Britain. They thought the war would be very cruel, with a tragic victory or a draw, but instead it turned out to be a wild victory.
Since then, there have been more votes in favor of war proposals in the British Parliament.
In Benjamin's plan, there should not be too many parliamentarians who would object to the war against the Chinese. He even planned to kill first and then tell the story, asking the local governors in India and East Asia to assemble a fleet first to teach Xiao Letian a harsh lesson.
As long as the outcome is victory, even if Congress protests or even impeaches, it will have no effect.
But the development of things gradually became weird. Benjamin received private opposition from many heavyweights. Before his war proposal was put forward, some people expressed concerns and even made it clear that they did not want Benjamin to start a war against the Chinese. .
The weird atmosphere made Benjamin very depressed. The situation was out of his control, which felt very bad. In the end, he thought of the Queen. He hoped that he could convince the Queen and use the Queen's reputation to influence the opponents. This is what happened tonight. this talk.
But I never expected that the queen's attitude would be so indifferent. She didn't want to express any opinions. This was a very terrible signal. It showed that the queen was disappointed with Benjamin, and she was very disappointed.
Sweat broke out from his forehead, and Benjamin continued to sit up straight. "Dear Your Majesty, if there is any deviation in my analysis, I hope Your Majesty can give me some advice."
Queen Victoria knew that Benjamin still had talent. The queen's original intention was to cultivate him well and then serve the empire. She put away her polite smile and suddenly became serious.
"Benjamin, the fact that you can become the Prime Minister of the Empire shows that your talent is recognized by everyone, but why are you so disappointing in today's matter?"
"Could it be that young Xiao Letian suddenly rose to prominence, and that aura of success stung your heart? You know, jealousy can sometimes drive people crazy!"
To hit the nail on the head, the queen is really very accurate in judging people. Benjamin's extremely disgusted psychology towards Xiao Letian is actually a kind of jealousy. How dare an Easterner to claim to be a master of Western learning? He could become the real power of a country at such a young age, and he could even control the power of war!
Benjamin is not a generous person, and his jealousy is much greater than that of his predecessor. His hatred of Xiao Letian is actually due to jealousy.
The Queen ignored the blushing face and continued, "Everyone knows that Britain's core interests lie on the sea, but there is another core interest that many people don't know, and that is that we will always trample the second place to death!"
"How could you forget this national policy? Who in the world poses the greatest threat to Britain? It's not an actual country, but the second-place one, because they are too close to us."
"As for Napoleon III, we have chosen to cooperate since the Crimean War. With our deliberate concessions, France's overseas colonies have expanded rapidly, and now it has become the second largest power after us."
"What do you want to do? Let the second place continue to be strong, so that he finally has the strength to challenge us? Make Napoleon III's rule more and more stable? Let his empire be passed down forever to three generations?"
"This is the core threat that challenges the British Empire. You must keep it in mind! So no matter how disparate the strength of the two sides in the Franco-Prussian War is, all we can support is Prussia. There is no second option!"
"Do you know why so many congressmen are secretly reminding you? That was my order. I hope you will not let your personal emotions affect your judgment and return to the world of rationality and reality!"
Benjamin was not an idiot. When he heard this, he had completely understood. He stood up and bowed ninety degrees to the Queen. "Thank you for your teaching, Your Majesty. I am indeed confused."
