739: A crossroads of life and death

In the restroom.

In front of the urinal.

Looking at Prime Minister Wilson beside him, Wallis spoke in a low voice.

"Prime Minister, OLD MONEY has made a decision!"

Upon hearing this, Wilson turned his head.

"Speak!"

Wallis looked left and right, and lowered his voice again.

"The West Exit Referendum..."

As soon as these words came out, Wilson was so shocked that he lost all urge to urinate.

"What did you say?!"

Wallis repeated, "The West Exit Referendum!"

Wilson looked at Wallis in disbelief.

"Have the ancient nobles gone mad?"

Wallis, the Minister of national defense, was Wilson's most trusted subordinate, and he also came from a noble background.

His father had sacrificed himself for the country during World War II, and his family had fallen into decline.

He had no choice but to enter politics as a nobleman, serving as a liaison between the military, political, and noble circles.

"Yes!"

"It's a joint decision made by the eight great families: Von, Howard, Argyll, Russell, Cavendish, Campbell, Capet, and the Royal Family!"

Wallis continued, "These ancient nobles, relying on the previous industrial revolutions, completed the bloody accumulation of their primitive capital!"

"It can be said that the industrial revolution completely created these ancient nobles!"

"Now, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has begun in Asia!"

"These ancient nobles will do anything to get a share of the industrial revolution's fruits!"

After listening to Wallis, Wilson remained silent for a long time.

As a veteran fence-sitter, he suddenly found himself being forced by the ancient nobles to side with one party, which made him feel a physiological discomfort.

"Wallis!"

"Can you tell me all the specific instructions from the ancient nobles at once?!"

Upon hearing this, Wallis nodded.

"Good!"

"First!"

"Quickly push for the West Exit Referendum and establish a permanent partnership with Hua as an independent nation!"

"Win Hua's trust with the utmost sincerity!"

"Second!"

"Return all cultural relics from the National Museum!"

"Moreover, the nobles' private collections will also be taken out and gifted entirely to the other party!"

"Third!"

"The ancient nobles will invest half of their family capital into the Hua market to establish joint ventures!"

"Hua will have absolute controlling interest in all joint ventures!"

"Fourth!"

"..."

"Eighth!"

"Publicly send Princess Anna to Hua to study and become a disciple of Professor Ai!"

"Most importantly, strive for a political marriage with that genius named Ren Yi to deeply bind the relationship between our nobles and Hua..."

At this point, Wallis looked helpless.

"It's about binding the relationship with the nobles, not with the country."

Wilson nodded in understanding.

These OLD MONEY, though called royal nobles, were all financial capital.

For financial capital, a country is merely a vessel that can be completely abandoned in the face of profit!

"Mr. Wilson, that's about it!"

After listening to Wallis relay the ancient nobles' decision, Wilson's brows furrowed slightly.

As the ruler of Sun Never Sets, he knew that some of these things were too wishful thinking.

For example, the West Exit Referendum must be decided by a vote of all citizens.

Even if the work started tomorrow, it would take at least six months to a year to get a result.

If there were any obstruction from right-wing members, the time would only be longer.

By then, the international situation would have long since changed!

Unless...

Thinking of this, a sharp glint flashed in Wilson's eyes.

Unless, the ancient nobles' second intention was not to leave the West at all, but to achieve other goals through this!

Combined with the gifting of private collections, family capital entering Hua, and sending the princess to study abroad...

Wilson felt a chill down his spine, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead!

He finally understood this time: these ancient nobles had no intention of playing with them, the high-level officials, at all!

Pushing for the West Exit Referendum was just a statement from these families to Hua!

As for its success or failure, what did it have to do with them?

As long as they could seize the fruits of the industrial revolution, these nobles could even change their names on the spot!

Thinking of this, a bitter smile appeared on Wilson's lips.

Capital is borderless, and capitalists are the most inhumane, greedy, and unreliable!

To put it bluntly, even if their Sun Never Sets government were destroyed tomorrow, these wealthy nobles would not be affected in the slightest!

But the most hateful thing was that these ancient nobles, who had risen from the colonial rule period to the present, held the economic lifelines of Sun Never Sets...

"Wallis, you are my most trusted Minister of national defense, and you also have noble status."

Inside the restroom, Wilson zipped up his suit pants and gazed at Wallis.

"The ancient nobles asking you to relay these decisions to me must have been well-intentioned."

"Tell me, what are your thoughts?"

Upon hearing this, Wallis took a deep breath and laid out all the well-prepared arguments.

"Mr. Wilson!"

"Two months ago, I reported to you after returning from Hua!"

"Facing their strong rise, we can no longer play both sides!"

"And the current situation!"

"I believe you understand it very well!"

At this point, Wallis showed a bitter smile.

"These nobles of our Sun Never Sets have no sense of social responsibility whatsoever, nor even a shred of national mission; all they have is the ruthless nature of capital pursuing profit!"

"But it must be admitted!"

"Their sense of smell is very keen, and their vision is extremely long-term!"

"This can be seen from these nobles' counter-intuitive decisions to pour everything they have into this!"

"They must have detected some clues, which is why they are so decisive!"

Wallis was so engrossed in speaking that he forgot to zip up his pants, and turned to look sincerely at Wilson.

"Mr. Wilson!"

"Now, our Sun Never Sets stands at a crossroads!"

"If we choose correctly, it will be the return of past glory!"

"If we choose wrongly, it will be a plunge into an bottomless abyss!"

"Staying put is absolutely impossible; the wheel of time will mercilessly crush those who stand still!"

"These three options!"

"Only you are qualified to choose!"

"You asked me what my thoughts are; my answer is only one sentence!"

Wallis said word by word, "The Fourth Industrial Revolution has arrived, but its fruits cannot be stolen."

"Since we can't defeat them, why not join them!"

Wallis's last sentence was like a heavy hammer, striking deep into Wilson's soul.

Wilson's pupils dilated, and he stood frozen for several minutes.

When he came to his senses, his eyes were filled with determination and courage.

"Wallis!"

Wilson stepped forward, and while slowly zipping up Wallis's pants, he said solemnly, "I know how to choose!"

"You will convey my will to those nobles!"

"From now on!"

"All foreign affairs of the cabinet will be jointly decided with Her Majesty the Queen!"

Hearing this, Wallis's eyes showed disbelief.

This was... delegating power!

And it was a clear violation of regulations, a borderline delegation of power!

Ignoring Wallis's shock, Wilson continued, "But the pressure from 'Big Brother'!"

"I can't withstand it!"

"The nobles must show sincerity and help me withstand this pressure!"

"They can have no national mission, they can be solely focused on capital gain!"

"But if they want the government's support, they must make sacrifices!"

"This is the price of capital!"

Wallis looked solemn and nodded in response, "Okay, I'll go communicate with them immediately!"

Wilson took a deep breath and tightly clasped Wallis's right hand.

"Wallis, if this is successful!"

"The two of us will become the greatest historical contributors to Sun Never Sets!"

"We will surely be recorded in history and leave a lasting legacy!"

"Please attach great importance to this matter!"

Wallis's face showed determination.

"I will not fail your trust, sir!"

...

The dispute in the Sun Never Sets House of Commons regarding the nation's direction lasted from morning to noon, and then from noon to afternoon, for a full eight hours.

Members from both the left and right factions took turns, each arguing until their faces were red and their throats were dry.

The final result, of course, was that no one could convince anyone else.

If no other decisive external factors appeared, this debate would simply be a futile war of words.

It must be said that this indeed counted as a characteristic of Western democracy.

"We won't stoop to your level, you left-wing scumbags!"

"Right-wing running dogs, go back and lick your eagle daddy!"

After the final, boring exchange of insults, all the members began to pack up, preparing to end today's shouting match.

Just when everyone thought the meeting was about to end inconclusively, the decisive external factor appeared.

"Member Owen!"

"Please come with us!"

"Upon investigation, you are suspected of 108 criminal charges, including accepting bribes, misappropriating public funds, and stealing public funds!"

"..."

"Member Charlie!"

"Member Paul!"

"..."

Watching the more than ten core right-wing members being led away one after another, everyone present was stunned.

After they came to their senses, all the left-wing members were overjoyed!

Meanwhile, all the right-wing members' expressions drastically changed, and they hurriedly left the parliamentary hall.

The political landscape of Sun Never Sets had changed!

The situation was critical, and 'Big Brother' had to be informed immediately!

...

Black Palace.

The Head of State, who had just hung up the phone with the Monkey Prime Minister, soon received the bad news of the political changes in Sun Never Sets.

One good, one bad, made the Head of State recall a philosophical saying:

What I don't want, I desperately pursue; what I want, I abandon like a worn-out shoe, just like that damned love!