10 Downing Street, London, UK.

Prime Minister Gladston sat at the long table and read the documents intently. On his right side was his chief private secretary. Although he wore a wig, he still showed a lot of white hair under the wig, and it was not difficult to see his old attitude. This may be the greatest British liberal politician of the 19th century. After experiencing the defeat of the British-British War and the failure of General Gordon in Khartoum in Sudan, his prestige was no longer as good as before. So although he successfully reorganized the cabinet by taking advantage of the internal instability of his opponent's Conservative Party, he was still very anxious in his heart and tried every means to consolidate his cabinet status.

The private secretary looked at the wall clock and bent down and whispered: "Prime Minister, it's already three:30 p.m. Do you want to postpone the afternoon tea with Mr. Banelle at four o'clock?"

"Oh, it's so late!" Gladstone looked up at the stands clock, then looked down at the documents that had already been seen in his hand. After hesitating, he put the documents in the box, locked them with the key and put them in his purse, and said, "Prepare the carriage, we set off immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" The private secretary pulled the doorbell and came in from outside the carriage driver. He carefully lifted the locked red suitcases filled with documents. These suitcases filled with unread documents will be sent to the Prime Minister's residence for the Prime Minister to review at night. Gladstone himself put on his coat with the help of his private secretary and walked towards the carriage outside the door.

Gladstone leaned against the backrest of the carriage. As an old man born in 1809, no matter how he maintained his energy, his energy could not be compared with the "great William" when he was young. However, the meeting later was very important, which was related to whether his cabinet could survive for a long time. As a sober politician, Gladstone had also clearly realized that as time entered the 1870s, British industry no longer had its original absolute advantage in the world. Due to the economic crisis in the eyes of the European continent, the Liberal Party

The original free trade policy could no longer bring about sustained prosperity, which was also the main reason for the first fall of Gladstone's cabinet. Finally, he returned to power in 1776, but because of his capriciousness on the Irish issue, the Irish MP turned to the Conservative Party, leading to the collapse of Gladstone's second government. Charles Stewart Bagner, the MP he was about to meet was the leader of the Irish Autonomous Party in the House of Commons. The turn of the Irish MP he represented was an important reason for Gladstone's resignation.

"Prime Minister, Westminton Palace has arrived!" The private secretary gently pulled the rope beside the door, made a crisp ringtone, then opened the car door, jumped down quickly, reached out to help Prime Minister Gladstone who had come out of the carriage without leaving a trace. Gladstone looked around carefully and walked quickly into the door.

Gladstone had just walked into the revolving door and immediately felt a cigar smell in his nostrils. This smell mixed with the warm air in the house, coupled with the sound of low conversation and the sound of glasses slight collision, creating a very wonderful atmosphere. On the first floor of Westminster Palace, there are offices and restaurants, and during afternoon tea time, councillors often come here to talk and pass the wonderful afternoon.

Gladstone carefully walked to the corner that was agreed in advance. The towering sofa back divided the place into a small box to separate the noise from the outside, and it was not easy for others to hear the conversation. He sat down comfortably and asked the private secretary beside him: "Push?" When the secretary nodded, Gladstone whispered to the messenger behind him: "Two salmon sandwiches and two glasses of Punch!"

Soon, the waiter brought the wine and food ordered by Gladstone. The private secretary picked up the wine glass and took a sip. But when he saw the Prime Minister sitting there, his face was grim, and he unconsciously put down the wine glass.

"Humphrey, do you think I'm right to meet Mr. Banelle this time?"

"Ah?" Humphrey was stunned, then understood what he was asking about Gladstone. He hesitated and replied in a low voice: "Prime Minister, judging right and wrong is God's authority. All we mortals can do is to move forward on our own path!"

"You are right, Humphrey, we are just humble mortals!" A smile appeared on Gladstone's grim face: "Humphrey, I didn't expect you to have the ability of a priest!"

"Maybe this is my great-grandfather, who is a Scottish Catholic lawyer. When I was a child, I often told me this from my father!"

"What about your father, what profession is he in?"

Humphrey showed an embarrassing look on his face, and he immediately whispered: "He is a businessman, whose main business is to sell opium from India to China and Japan, and later transported black slaves to Brazil!"

"Ahem, as you said, judging right and wrong is God's authority!" Gladstone repeated the words of his personal secretary awkwardly. At this moment, a voice broke the embarrassment in the corner.

"Prime Minister, I'm late, please forgive me!"

A middle-aged man in his early forties stood at the door of the box, with a big beard on his hair and a light green eye unique to the Celtics under his broad forehead. His limbs were burly and well-proportioned. With his decent clothes, he looked like a handsome British gentleman.

"No, Mr. Banelle, you are not late. It's the agreed four o'clock now. It's my early arrival!" Gladstone took out a pocket watch from his shirt pocket, opened it and looked at it. He reached out and made a gesture to the seat opposite him to ask for a seat: "Please sit, Mr. Banelle, do you want to eat something?"

"No need, Prime Minister, let's skip the greeting stage!" Charles Stewart Banelle sat down opposite Gladstone and looked at Gladstone curiously with his green eyes: "Prime Minister, I think your relationship with me is not good enough to enjoy afternoon tea together!"

"Mr. Banelle, I don't have such a pessimistic attitude towards the relationship between you and me like you!" Gladstone's shriveled lips twisted for a moment, revealing a smile: "Although the fall of the cabinet in June last year was not unrelated to you and your party, we are engaged in politics after all. In this changing era, sometimes we have to give up some principles!"

After hearing Gladstone's words, Banelle's eyes were less alert and he smiled: "Prime Minister, although I cannot fully agree with your words just now, there is nothing to tea at once. Give me a punch bar, just like yours!"

"Very good! As your respectable ancestor said, a glass of ale can make your brain and bone marrow warm up!"

Gladston made a rare joke. The private secretary turned around and left the box. When he came back a while later, he had already added a glass of punch in his hand. He carefully placed it in front of Banelle. Banelle took a sip and whispered: "After that, Prime Minister, your purpose of inviting me here today!"

"It's very simple. Please tell me what kind of requirements we need to meet so that you and your party can stand firmly on my side, that is, on the current cabinet!"

"Prime Minister, just like Cromwell deceived my ancestors back then, you started playing with your old tricks again!" A sarcastic smile appeared on Baniel's face: "Patch your shoulder and say some sweet words of love and love, my honest compatriots foolishly believe the words of the cunning English and treat them as their true brothers, until they find that their purse is empty and they realize that they have been deceived again. You need to use my party and my party to defeat the Conservative Party, and you will make many promises, and then when the floor under your feet is solid, you will push the previous promises completely. The cunning Liberals are always so forgetful!" At this point, Baniel drank the glass of punch and slapped the empty cup on the table: "Thank you for your wine!" Then he stood up and walked out.

"Why don't you sit down and listen to the conditions I have come up with? I promise, this is something you absolutely cannot get from the Marquis of Salisbury!"

Banier stopped and turned around and said, "I believe this. The land and freedom of the Irish people will never be able to get alms from the English! Whether it is you or the Marquis of Salisbury, the difference between the Marquis of Salisbury and you is that he will not lie. He will clearly tell you that you will never let the Irish people get land and freedom, instead of making promises like you, and then using various means to invalidate it after success. I have personally learned your methods in prison." (This refers to the fact that Banier was imprisoned by Gladston, who was then ruled in the late 1970s for participating in the "Land Alliance" of Ireland)

"Mr. Banelle, we must look forward!" Gladstone raised his voice: "If I agree to fully promote the passage of the Irish Autonomy Act during my term, the Irish can have all the rights except diplomacy, military and tariffs, what do you think? Will this be supported by you!"

Banerel stopped and turned around: "I don't believe you, Your Excellency Prime Minister, you made a promise you cannot do. Such a proposal cannot be passed within the Liberal Party. Mr. Chamberlain will take this opportunity to tear you apart!"

"Yes, if he knew, he would do this!" Gladstone replied: "Mr. Banelle, I promise you this request not only to keep my cabinet alive, but the greater reason is that if Ireland is to remain in the territory of the British Empire, she must give her a certain right of autonomy, and it is inappropriate to treat a civilized nation by treating the barbarians. There is no doubt that Mr. Joseph Chamberlain loves our country, but he has not seen the pulse of the times clearly, and slave owners cannot exist in a modern country!"

Banel looked at Gladstone with skepticism, shook his head and said, "I swear to God that you must be possessed by the devil, otherwise why would I be almost convinced by you! This is incredible!"

"Then you can make a cross on your chest! Then you don't have to worry about the devil being in trouble!" Gladstone made a rare joke: "It was the downfall not long ago that made me understand that it was impossible to solve the Irish problem with the old methods. Great Britain could not rule the world with millions of enemies in the country! Then you should agree to your request, you are an Irish and a British! I will never ask Ireland to go out of the British Empire!"

"I am a British and an Irish!" Baniel repeated Gladstone's words in reverse order: "Of course I don't want Ireland to go out of the British Empire, but as you said, if this continues, Ireland will one day become a nation of the highest state! I am very glad that you can recognize this, I can trust you for the time being, but I hope you will fulfill your promise as soon as possible, Prime Minister!" At this point, Baniel extended his hand to Gladstone.

"You don't have to worry about this. At most two to three months later, I will propose the Ireland Autonomy Act. I think you should be patient!" Gladstone shook the other party's extended hand: "Of course, before this, I hope you can keep the content of today's conversation confidential, which is also beneficial to the passage of the bill!"

"I understand this!" Banelle nodded: "Mr. Joseph Chamberlain is a real lion!"

"Yes, but lions will always be subdued by animal trainers!" Gladstone smiled. It turned out that Joseph Chamberlain, whom Banelle mentioned, was a famous radical leader of the Liberal Party at that time. He was a successful businessman before participating in politics. So he was different from most other Liberals. He had realized that Britain had gradually lost the advantage of being the world's unique industry. In the face of other late-developed industrial countries that protected trade internally, supported industrial and commercial development, and colonized and expanded externally, the old free trade policy of Britain was tantamount to attracting wolves into the house. Therefore, Joseph Chamberlain vigorously advocated the efforts to expand externally, integrate various territories of the British Empire internally, making it a unified centralized country, and changing the old

Some free trade policies are a rare alien within the Liberal Party. So after Gladstone won the second general election in 1882, although he invited this person to serve as Foreign Trade Minister in his cabinet, within the cabinet, Joseph Chamberlain was marginalized and excluded from the decision-making level. It can be imagined how he would have tried his best to oppose it if he learned that Gladstone and the leader of the Irish Autonomous Party joined forces and decided to pass the Irish Autonomous Act in the House of Commons. Finally, he added that Mr. Joseph Chamberlain had two sons: Austin Chamberlain and Neville Chamberlain, Austin Chamberlain served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Neville Chamberlain was the famous British Prime Minister who implemented appeasement policy against Nazi Germany before World War II.
Chapter completed!