Chapter 979

In the parliament.

The eyes of the members of parliament followed Victoria and focused on the Cao family father and son. These two yellow-skinned people stood out in a parliament composed of white people.

They were very clear about the identities of this father and son and what they had done. It was with their help that Britain was able to get two technical talents from the Great Yu Empire.

Meeting the gaze of the parliamentarians, Cao Kun slowly stood up. He bowed to Victoria and then said, “Your Majesty the Queen, with all due respect, I am afraid that the liberal and democratic ideas of the West will not be able to shake Xiao Ming’s position in the Great Yu Empire, at least not for now. This is because this young emperor single-handedly led the Great Yu Empire from poverty and weakness to its current power and prosperity. The people of the Great Yu Empire hold him in great reverence, and what is currently popular in the Great Yu Empire is New Confucianism, which is a spiritual culture that has been refined from the essence and discarded the dross of Confucianism for thousands of years, with some of this emperor’s own ideas added to it. Its foundation among the people of the Great Yu Empire is not weak.”

Victoria frowned when she heard this. “Then, are you saying that we can only stand by and do nothing?”

“Of course not. What I am saying is that Western ideas cannot contend with the current New Confucianism. In addition, with the Great Yu Empire’s vilification of Europe, it is even more impossible for the common people to rise up. In my opinion, it will take a long-term plan to cause trouble for Xiao Ming.” Cao Kun’s eyes narrowed. Xiao Ming had destroyed everything he had and made him homeless. Now, he only had hatred for Xiao Ming in his heart.

“Then please, Mr. Cao Kun, elaborate for the members of parliament,” a hope arose in Victoria’s heart again.

After arriving in Britain, Cao Kun had been planning this matter. He was not reconciled to the failure of the Merchant Parliament at home. Even now, he still regarded himself as the president of the Great Yu Empire’s Merchant Parliament and claimed that he was the legitimate ruler of the Great Yu Empire.

To achieve this goal, he had put a lot of effort into it. After a moment of thought, he said, “The success of the Merchant Parliament in the south proves that the conflict between capital and imperial power is irreconcilable. Capital represents freedom, while imperial power, in order to strengthen its rule, will inevitably restrict the freedom of capital. The Great Yu Empire is now in the early stages of capital’s rise, and a large number of big and small merchants are constantly emerging. However, so far, there have been no merchants with enough influence.” Looking around at the parliamentarians in the parliament, Cao Kun said bluntly, “You all should know the power of big capitalists better than I do, because you all come from such families, and it was you who overthrew the Queen’s rule and established a democratically elected government, wasn’t it?”

Cao Kun’s words made the atmosphere in the parliament a little awkward. Whether it was the “Bill of Rights” or the revolution in France that overthrew the imperial rule, they were all initiated by capitalists who used the conflict between the people and the imperial power. The result of the revolution was that the imperial power was overthrown, and the parliament, represented by capitalists, ruled the country. The fundamental reason why these profit-seeking capitalists were so enthusiastic about this revolution was that imperial power restricted their economic activities.

The capitalists, on the other hand, had always regarded capital as having no borders, and their ideal was to establish a great commonwealth ruled by capitalists so that they could not have to pay tariffs and maximize their profits.

A smile appeared on the corner of Victoria’s mouth. Even now, the conflict between the parliament and the Queen had not stopped.

She encouraged Cao Kun, “Please continue.”

“Since that’s the case, why don’t we use our advantage to cultivate some big capitalists for the Great Yu Empire? This will require us to open up trade with the Great Yu Empire to cultivate a group of big merchants who have interests related to Britain. At the same time, I suggest raising the status of the people from the Great Yu Empire in Britain, allowing them to enjoy the same status as the British to attract the talents of the Great Yu Empire to come to Britain to develop. Only in this way can Britain contend with the Great Yu Empire in the future.” Cao Kun spoke eloquently. He had thought deeply about these ideas many times.

“As expected, only a talent from the Great Yu Empire understands the people of the Great Yu Empire.” Nick stood up and applauded Cao Kun’s words. “All in all, we can no longer continue to confront the Great Yu Empire. It is very necessary to send a delegation to the Great Yu Empire. Moreover, the lives of Wilson and Dicken are unknown, and we cannot just abandon them.”

Victoria said, “Of course, we will not abandon them.”

Nick nodded at this time, and he said to Victoria, “Your Majesty, we have no intention of challenging your authority this time, but merely offering our suggestions. In this situation, Britain needs a stable and powerful Queen to rule this country. Now, in the distant East, we have an enemy.”

“Nick, thank you for your support. We have encountered many failures on the road to Britain’s rise, but this will not stop us from continuing to become stronger,” Victoria said firmly. The members of parliament all stood up and bowed to Victoria. Every time Britain faced a crisis, there would always be an outstanding Queen who would lead Britain out of its predicament.

Now they believed that Victoria was the next such Queen.

After clarifying Victoria’s rights in Britain, Nick dismissed the parliamentarians, as some decisions were not suitable to be mentioned in front of many people.

After the crowd dispersed, he walked up to Victoria and said, “Your Majesty, Prince Rogert will arrive in London tomorrow. Maybe you should meet with him.”

“Rogert.” A face appeared in Victoria’s mind.

In fact, her mother was the daughter of the King of Prussia, and her father was King John III of England. She had both Prussian and British blood.

Rogert was nominally her cousin, the youngest son of Duke Saxon I of Prussia. The current King of Prussia was her uncle, Rogert’s uncle, and her mother and the King of Prussia were siblings, while Rogert’s father was the King of Prussia’s brother.

The reason why Prussia and Britain formed this marriage alliance was to counter France’s expansion at the time, and she was the product of this political marriage.

Looking at Nick, Victoria already understood what he meant. The news of Prussia’s establishment of diplomatic relations with the Great Yu Empire was no longer a secret in Europe.

If they could use a political marriage to win over Prussia again, they might gain great benefits through Prussia and also be able to contain France.

“I think Prince Oslaf of Tsarist Russia is more suitable for Your Majesty. He is the younger brother of the current Tsarist Russian Queen. A marriage alliance between the two countries will make Tsarist Russia a solid partner for us,” Murphy offered his opinion.

Victoria frowned. “I can’t marry two people at the same time, and this is my private matter. You are meddling too much.”

With that, she walked out angrily.

Murphy and Nick looked at each other, and Nick said, “Who do you think she will choose?”

“It is said that when Oslaf was traveling in Europe last year, he made a love-at-first-sight impression on the Queen, but the Queen’s marriage is not just based on personal preference.”