Chapter 793

"'On the Harmfulness of Opium'. What the hell is this? Damn it, how can this content be reported!

Henry, get your ass over here. You need to give me a reasonable explanation … "

George Grande, the famous opium tycoon in Britannia, was furious. He was one of the top ten opium dealers in the world.

As one of the people with vested interests, like all opium traffickers, George Grande firmly believed that opium was an all-purpose medicine and that selling opium was for salvation.

George Grande had always hated the outside world's views on the harmfulness of opium.

With the development of science and technology, more and more people realized the harmfulness of opium and called for the government to ban the circulation of opium.

In order to continue making huge profits from the opium trade, the opium dealers naturally wanted to cover up these different voices. For this reason, they did not hesitate to use a large amount of profits to bribe government officials, newspapers, and parliamentarians.

The opium trade seemed to be dominated by the opium dealers, but in fact, it was a meeting of British bureaucrats, parliamentarians, and the media.

Driven by the interests, the people with vested interests worked together to barely suppress the voices calling for the prohibition of opium in the country.

George Grande was naturally unhappy when he saw the newspaper articles exposing the harmfulness of opium. This meant that he had to pay a higher price to suppress different voices.

Henry, who was in charge of public relations, hurried over to explain, "Sir, this matter is very special. The source of public opinion is not in the country.

It may have something to do with the recent international dispute. The first to slander the universal medicine was the Austrian newspaper, and the domestic newspapers only reprinted it … "

He had to be nervous. The opium dealers were all ruthless people. How could an opium tycoon like George Grande survive in this circle without hundreds of lives at his hands?

If he messed up his business, people would die. If he had not been forced to do so, Henry would not have taken this high-risk job.

As one of the people involved, no one knew better than him how loud the voices calling for the prohibition of opium sales were.

The Government of Austria's promotion was only one of the fuses. The newspapers dared to publish such news mainly because of the growing opposition to the opium trade in the country.

Many people had been harmed by opium, regardless of whether they were rich or poor. Many British dignitaries had also fallen victim to it.

Although the opium dealers were powerful, they could not cover the sky with one hand. Public relations couldn't buy all the newspapers, so it was normal for some people to attack.

In fact, the newspapers that George Grande read were relatively moderate. They only reprinted the content of foreign newspapers and didn't express their own views.

Many of the tabloids on the streets were truly shocking. They dared to publish all kinds of content. Before they could find them, they would change their identities again.

Harry could clearly feel that there was a force behind all of this, which made him very worried.

George Grande interrupted, "Don't talk to me about these useless things. No matter what you do, you have to suppress these voices.

If these people don't accept our goodwill, then there's no need for them to exist. Pick this active person to make an example out of.

We must let the outside world know that our Alchemy Association is not to be trifled with! "

Facing the enraged George Grande, Henry really did not have the courage to reject. He replied anxiously, "Yes, Sir! "It's just that —"

Without waiting for him to finish, George Grande slammed the table and cursed, "Damn those Austrian bastards. I should have crippled them back then. Now that they've become so powerful, they even dare to …"

As early as decades ago, when Austria banned the opium trade, the opium dealers wanted to retaliate, but the rulers of the British government were not stupid.

In any case, Austria was one of the four great powers in the world. Going to war with Austria for the opium trade was a sign of insanity.

They couldn't persuade the government. It was impossible for the opium dealers to go against the Government of Austria. If the law didn't allow it, they could smuggle it secretly.

However, the smuggling trade wasn't easy. The Austrian government had been severely suppressing the opium trade. They would kill every single opium dealer they caught. Everyone was terrified of them.

Although it wasn't completely eradicated, most of the opium dealers were intimidated. The big opium dealers, including George Grande Grande, didn't dare to go to Austria.

They could sell opium legally elsewhere. Why would they go to Austria to die?

Riches and honor came from danger. That was what a poor loser needed. Big shots like them didn't need to take risks at all.

In the past, they could tolerate it because there were more markets to choose from. But not now. If the Government of the United Kingdom followed, it would destroy George Grande's foundation.

Due to the old and new grudges, George Grande no longer cared about the manners of a noble. He began to vent his anger to his heart's content.

It was hard for Harry. He didn't dare to leave. He didn't dare to persuade George Grande. He could only stand there awkwardly and try to listen carefully.

After venting the anger in his heart, George Grande gradually calmed down. When it came to international political disputes, it was not something that he had the ability to meddle in.

The era of capital hadn't arrived yet. There was a price to pay for playing too much.

Even though he had a noble title, George Grande knew very well that compared to a real noble, the title that he bought was not as good as a real noble.

After a pause, he slowly said, "You don't have to worry about politics. I will communicate with my peers and work together to overcome the crisis. "

George Grande was not an ordinary person, as he stood out among the many competitors. He was well aware of the people's deep hatred for the opium trade.

The "Drug Pharmacy Act", introduced in 1868, was enacted under the strong dissatisfaction of the people.

It was just that it involved their own interests, and they were reluctant to let it go.

In 1888 alone, the sales of opium-related products in Britannia were worth tens of millions of pounds, and the surrounding industrial chain involved was as high as hundreds of millions of pounds.

Not to mention overseas, the benefits that could be obtained were definitely much more than in the mainland.

Once the government introduced the anti-crow act, not only would the interests in the mainland be gone, but the profits overseas would also be sharply reduced.

…

Downing Street. Prime Minister Gladstone was now having a headache. The public's attention had indeed shifted from the "envoy case," but Britannia was still at the center of the vortex of public opinion.

"The atrocities of the British Army in the Regions of Afghanistan," "Britannia's dark colonial history," "the biggest behind-the-scenes manipulator in the European War," "the biggest slave trader in human history," "the drug empire …"

The focus of this series of public opinion was pointed at them. In the face of the facts, all of their defenses seemed pale and powerless.

If Prime Minister Gladstone had known from the beginning that the situation would be out of control, he would have rather resisted the pressure of the "envoy case". At worst, he would have fought a war with the Russians.

Now with this, not only was a war between the United Kingdom and Russia inevitable, but it had also ruined his reputation.

The European countries were very disgusted with their methods of dragging people down. The major colonial empires had a pile of dark history, and some were even continuing. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't wash it away.

In this context, everyone could only push an even more outrageous scapegoat to attract the public's attention.

Austria took the lead, and everyone gave it a push. Britannia occupied the top spot with its strength.

It was the kind of dark history that far exceeded the sum of the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth places, and became the focus of international public opinion.

Prime Minister Gladstone: "The international public opinion is becoming more and more unfavorable to us. Now, whatever we do will be magnified.

It has been proven that our plan to divert the public's attention has failed. The European countries are very dissatisfied with our exposure of their dark history, and this is only the beginning of their retaliation.

If we can't properly deal with these problems, there will be more trouble in the future. Does anyone have a good way to deal with it? "

Not many countries dared to go against Britannia directly, but there was no pressure to deal with it secretly.

Anyway, it was Austria who opened the lid, and Russia who rushed to the front line. Everyone was just playing the side drums.

If the Government of the United Kingdom wanted to retaliate, they had to get rid of the two leaders first. Otherwise, it would only be counterproductive.

The Colonial Secretary, Primrose, replied, "The Prime Minister is right. These problems do need to be solved.

However, there is not much we can do at the moment. Any drastic measures will cause an uproar. Continuing to dwell on this issue will only be more disadvantageous for us.

Based on past experience, to suppress a focus of public opinion, we can only create a bigger focus of public opinion.

We failed to divert the public's attention this time, mainly because we made too many enemies. We should learn from this lesson now.

In essence, this incident was just an accident, and there was no substantial benefit. There was no need to persist.

The Russians have already begun to prepare for war, and the defense of Afghanistan is imperative. I think we can appease the dissatisfaction of various countries, then provoke the conflict between the United Kingdom and Russia, and divert the attention of the domestic people.

This time, public opinion has affected the interests of some capitalists, and I believe they will help us guide public opinion. As for the international public opinion, let them be! "

Although the opium trade was not an important source of revenue for the government, the opium dealers were definitely big financiers for newspapers, bureaucrats, and parliamentarians.

These days, Britannia businessmen controlled most of the world's drug trade, and nearly half of the benefits flowed into the pockets of bureaucrats and parliamentarians through various channels, forming a huge interest group.

Although many people were not interested in this interest group, they had to admit that this group was powerful.

After hesitating for a moment, Prime Minister Gladstone nodded. As the British Prime Minister, he naturally could tolerate sand in his eyes.

…