The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1812 A Miserable England (Part 2)
British investor confidence suffered another blow, and overseas investment and trade became less secure. The destruction of the Mediterranean fleet led British insurance companies to raise premiums, banks to become more cautious in lending to shipping companies, and interest rates were increased.

This increased costs across the entire British shipping industry, and increased shipping costs inevitably lead to a loss of price advantage or a reduction in profits.

Regardless of the outcome, it will impact the British shipping industry itself, diminishing its competitiveness. Shipping is a core competitive advantage for the UK, and a decline in its competitiveness would be a significant issue.

However, reputation is not something that can be restored overnight, but losing it does not require much trouble.

The textile and food industries were also significantly affected. At this time, the British textile industry was going through its most painful period, the Russian and American markets were closed, and the Indian subcontinent was in the midst of a revolution.

Unfortunately, cotton prices were at their lowest in recent years at this time, as other countries had not yet had time to adjust to the loss of Britain as a major buyer.

At this time, Britain could only use the still unstable United States as a dumping ground for its goods, which made the factory owners in the northern United States feel that they had been tricked, and they began to protest one after another.

However, the protests were ineffective, and the guns were still in the hands of the British. How could they allow these Americans to act so recklessly?

The food problem was even more serious in Britain at this time, as Russia and the United States had always been the two major sources of British food imports.

However, during this period, Britain was at war with both countries, which forced Britain to import more expensive food from other countries.

The bread made from these expensive grains naturally commands a higher price, and more expensive bread means that the meager wages of those workers continue to depreciate.

Coupled with the high unemployment rate and exorbitant taxes at the time, the lives of ordinary people were plunged into hell.

The lack of purchasing power among the impoverished population has prolonged the economic crisis.
The Irish famine became a Schrödinger's cat situation, seemingly over, yet not quite over.

Even more serious than the famine was the small-scale banditry. Although the large-scale uprisings had been suppressed, the Red Shirts had no good way to deal with the small-scale, random bandit looting and killing.

The British colonies were also in dire straits, lacking manpower and supplies, and the public's confidence in the British government was declining.

The impact of the shattering of the myth of Britain's invincibility was greater than they imagined, and many British people in the colonies subconsciously became more restrained.

However, this restraint was seen as cowardice by the people of the colony, and naturally, they had to take the initiative to attack a cowardly enemy.

As a result, the rebellions in the colonies escalated and spread like a contagious disease throughout Britain's large and small colonies.

The reason why this is so serious is also related to the British model of governance. The advantages of the British proxy model are that it is cheap and the risks are outsourced, etc.

However, one of the drawbacks of the proxy model is that the locals still possess considerable power and could rebel against British rule at any time, even if a spark were to fly by.
Franz could not possibly know the weaknesses of every British colony, but there was one thing that was universal in the British colonies: money.

As the saying goes, money makes the world go round; with money, one can naturally bribe those who know the secrets of the colonies to incite rebellion.

Calls for reform within the military grew stronger, with various factions shifting blame and pointing fingers at each other. The army felt that the navy was a pile of garbage, receiving so much military funding yet suffering a complete defeat and ultimately surrendering to the Russians, which was a disgrace to the British Empire.

The Navy claimed that the Army was a bunch of cowards who only knew how to run away and surrender, and that it was unheard of for them to surrender after only three days of fighting.

Conflicts also raged between nobles and commoners, as well as among the newly rich. Besides shirking responsibility, they all hoped to gain further influence, as only control of the military truly gave them power.

In addition, there was the problem of excessive debt. Although Britain did not incur as much debt as Russia during the war, its total debt, including war reparations and fleet replenishment costs, exceeded that of Russia.

Historically, Britain only spent £60 million (540 million rubles) in the Near East War, yet its losses in the war now exceed £200 million (18 billion rubles). Who should foot the bill?
It certainly couldn't be those capitalists and bankers, who were the backbone of the British Empire and the rising stars of the future.

This money will naturally be distributed among the so-called middle class and the so-called majority, leading to the middle class falling back into poverty, workers losing their jobs, and farmers having their land reclaimed by banks.
The various contradictions were like a tangled mess, and the fourteenth Earl of Derby was already exhausted after listening to them. He couldn't help but think of Shakespeare's famous quote.

"To be or not to be? That is the question."

The fourteenth Earl of Derby sighed.

"Your Excellency, the Austrians may be funding the Americans."

"And then what? Continue the war with the Austrians? Instead of making those pointless excuses, we should focus on figuring out how to defeat the enemy at hand."

Britain doesn't have any more money for you to squander right now!

The 14th Earl of Derby spoke in an unfriendly tone, and a somber atmosphere pervaded the whole of Britain. They hadn't lost yet, but they were already making excuses.

If he could, he would love to replace all the cabinet members at the moment; however, as one of the weakest prime ministers in British history, the 14th Earl of Derby was clearly incapable of doing such a thing.

Army Secretary Henry Pelham, standing nearby, also looked helpless in the face of the Prime Minister's reprimand.

"There are too many Americans. They have too many troops, almost three times the size of us. And those damn Irish are helping the Americans too, plus the Austrians and French are selling them weapons."

The fourteenth Earl of Derby slammed his fist on the table in anger.

"I'm not asking how many excuses you have! I'm asking when you're going to take care of those Americans! How long has it been since the front line from New York to Pittsburgh to Chicago was moved?"

"The number of enemy troops"

Henry Pelham was about to explain when he was interrupted by the fourteenth Earl of Derby.

"I don't want to hear that the Near East war is over, and we will persuade Parliament to send another 100,000 troops."

If you still can't produce results by then, I hope you can at least do it with some dignity.

Do you understand what I mean?

War Secretary Henry Pelham was somewhat taken aback, but he nodded nonetheless.

"I will definitely try my best."

The fourteenth Earl of Derby scratched his messy curly hair.

"Listen, I don't care what method you use, you must win, you must give the Americans a taste of their power, you must make the Americans fear war."

We need to end this war as soon as possible, do you understand?

The Austrians can sell arms today, but who knows if they'll offer mercenary services tomorrow? We British can't afford to waste time!"