Harry Potter’s Morning Light

  Chapter 3026 queen’s pleasure (five)

  Imagine such a house without ventilation or light, without a fireplace, toilet, or running water. It is humid and cold in winter, hot in summer, and flooded from time to time. In contrast, a stable with hay and impermeable ground is cleaner than this place. Would you save money to buy such a house without eating or drinking for 10 years?

  The real estate prices in emerging industrial cities are certainly not as good as London. Even because of the large influx of people, it has only changed from a "town" to a big city, while London has become a metropolis of 2 million people, even surpassing Paris. But back then London was full of slums, hotbeds of disease and crime.

  In fact, cholera broke out in London shortly after the Crystal Palace World Expo, but this time Malfoy did not open a hotel while taking advantage of the "blue death" like his ancestors did, and they were trying to recover their losses.

  The main territory of the Malfoy family is in Wiltshire, which is a piece of golden land, but it is in the countryside, far away from industrial cities. Families like theirs had suffered greatly from the repeal of the Corn Laws. In addition to recouping some losses with livestock farming, they also exchanged part of the land for land development rights in the city, while those who acquired the Wiltshire land built estates in the idyllic countryside.

  If it weren’t for the peasants who went bankrupt and became landless workers, who would leave the quiet countryside described by Jane Austen to the dirty, unsafe urban slums and share a house with dozens of people?

   During the reign of Elizabeth I, she practiced mercantilism, and she encouraged the land enclosure movement. Of course, when doing this "business", there will definitely be "injustices".

  With her sister "Bloody Mary" as a comparison, Elizabeth I was furious at every turn, and ordered the parliament "you'd better dissolve it on the spot", which is no longer scary.

  In history, it is not uncommon for the king to announce the dissolution of parliament. Even Cromwell has done it, and William IV has repeatedly dissolved the cabinet and parliament.

   But Queen Victoria never dissolved Parliament, unless initiated by the Prime Minister.

  In 1841, she even had to accept the Tory Party to form a cabinet. She had to accept the reality that she must remain neutral and not decide the candidates for the prime minister and cabinet members based on personal likes and dislikes, but must respect the results of parliamentary elections.

   But at this time, the queen had not thought of using her power to dissolve the parliament. The matter would not be until 1858, when the prime minister was the famous "Cupid" Palmerston. The prime minister was very rude to the queen. Even if he didn't mention the matter between him and the queen's maid, from the letter he wrote to the queen, it could be seen that there was inappropriate innuendo between the lines.

  On January 15, 1858, Napoleon III and Queen Eugenie were assassinated on their way to the Opera House. An Italian threw a bomb at his carriage. Napoleon III and Queen Eugenie escaped, but ten people were killed and 150 were injured on the spot.

  At first, this incident did not affect the relationship between the United Kingdom and the French Second Empire, but soon it was reported that the person who planned the bombing plot was actually in the United Kingdom, and the bombs used were also made in the United Kingdom. Therefore, the Foreign Secretary of the Second French Empire sent a harsh letter to Prime Minister Palmerston, asking the Prime Minister to take measures to limit the right of asylum of foreign political rebels.

  In order to appease Napoleon III, Prime Minister Palmesmo wrote a bill proposing to change the former misdemeanor murder conspiracy into a felony. This bill was supported by Queen Victoria, but opposed by Parliament.

  In theory, no one should question the king’s decision on state affairs. In 1629, after Charles I dissolved the parliament, he was unable to collect taxes and tried to “borrow”. Five knights refused this request. One of the knights applied for habeas corpus to the Queen’s Seat Court. The new justice approved it, but after the knight was summoned, he was imprisoned.

  But after the enactment of the Bill of Rights, if you want to imprison a person, you must go through legal procedures, not to mention that without the consent of Parliament, it is illegal to abolish and promulgate laws under the guise of royal power, and even treason requires a jury trial.

  The public believed that this was Palmesmo's flattery to Napoleon III, but the bill was forced to be submitted to the House of Commons for a second instance, and was subsequently rejected. Palmasmo offered to resign.

  Parliament’s sympathy for the assassin’s accomplices worried the Queen. More importantly, Napoleon III’s newspapers threatened to retaliate against Britain. In handling such foreign affairs, they had to rely on the Foreign Minister. Unfortunately, the foreign minister at the time, the fourth Earl of Clarendon, did not want to settle peacefully with France at all.

  The prime minister resigned, and the queen could only re-form the cabinet, but she could not follow her own wishes and preferences. Unless she dissolved the parliament, she still didn't like the new cabinet elected by the parliament.

   Fortunately, the new Minister of War Affairs "peacefully" and "smoothly" restored the relationship with the French Second Empire, but the result of this treatment made Queen Victoria and Napoleon III very dissatisfied. In August 1858, the Queen and Prince Albert visited France, and later went to Hanover and Berlin to visit some places of interest.

  At that time, Paris was the same as London, full of crowded houses and narrow and winding roads. As long as there was a little open space, it would be used to build houses. There was a lack of planning. In the second year, that is, 1859, Napoleon III appointed Haussmann as a senior official in the Seine Province to carry out the major renovation of Paris.

  In the 1840s, public health reform broke out in Britain. However, compared with the problem of overcrowded housing, the sanitation movement mainly rectified the sewage and drinking water problems.

  When the queen left, it happened to be a very smelly summer. The members of the parliament next to the Thames were so smoked that they couldn't breathe. Then they quickly agreed to allocate funds to build a new sewage treatment system, and no longer directly discharge domestic sewage into the Thames. Construction started in 1859 and was completed in 1865.

  The rectification of slums is demolition first. No skills are needed to do this. Anyone can do it. But after the demolition is completed, construction workers and designers are needed for reconstruction. In addition, there are planning, health and other departments. Waiting for them to build new houses on the original site is better than admitting that they are unlucky and finding another place to live.

   Then this land will be taken by a real estate developer like Malfoy to build a house. The ownership of the house belongs to Malfoy. The new house is a row house, with toilets, fireplaces, kitchens, bedrooms, and windows. Everything complies with laws and regulations. The price of this house is more than 10 pounds.

  If you can’t afford it, you can rent it. If the rent is 10 pounds a year, it will be 100 pounds in 10 years. This is an expense that few families can afford.

  In 1831, the estimated population of Britain was 16 million, but only 1.35 million people met the electoral standard, and more than 90% of them could not afford 10 pounds.

   In contrast, workers spend an average of £3 per person on alcohol. If they don't drink, save this money, and work hard, will they be easily lifted out of poverty?

  For most of the 19th century, Britain never regarded poverty as a social problem. Laziness was an original sin, and this kind of self-defeating and lack of self-discipline was a burden on society.

  Wandering on the streets in winter is very dangerous, because it is very cold outside, it is easy to freeze to death in sleep, but going to the poorhouse is not an ideal choice.

  First, there are many rules and punishments in it. The stewards threaten to expel people at every turn. Only the old, weak, injured and orphans will enter the workhouse, and the young and strong will "find a way".

  Second, the relief and accommodation are not free, and the price will be clearly marked according to the comfort of the "bed" to sleep in. This is done to prevent people from staying in it. Only when they have to go out to work can they have money to pay for the accommodation.

   Tea used to be a luxury enjoyed by rich people. In the Victorian era, it was already consumed by ordinary people. However, the ability of these people to obtain means of living has not improved.

  Pomona looked at the teacup in her hand. There was a little tea stain on the bottom of the tea, but she was not in the mood to use it for divination.

  After drinking this cup of tea, she is much more sober than she was drinking the sweet wine just now. The wine brewed by the elves is amazing, and she doesn't feel nauseous after drinking it.

  Human life is developing. In the past, the main expenditure of the family was grain, and the father was already responsible for feeding the family.

   Later it became a house, and he wanted to provide a place for the family to shelter from wind and rain.

  Fernon bought his own son a lot of new toys, Dudley got whatever he wanted, and Harry even wore his cousin's old clothes.

   But at least there was no loud noise in that house, and the sound of things breaking.

  Many kids wish for something they always wanted on their birthday. Severus's birthday is very simple. He doesn't need a big cake, noisy friends and parties, he just needs to be "quiet".

  He never said it, Lily would always give him presents for his birthday and he would accept them with a smile. Pomona learned about it when he was training him in Occlumency.

  He is such a strange kid who doesn't like "happiness". No wonder he is so old-fashioned at such a young age.

  Pomona put down her teacup and looked at herself in the mirror.

  If love is a luxury like some people say, then it is "exclusive" and does not make people more tolerant, but instead makes people suspicious, as if there is always a thief thinking about stealing it.

  This feeling of day and night defense is too tiring, so forget it.

   Then she put down her teacup, turned around and threw herself on the bed.

  She is very tired now, but she can't sleep because of the tea.

  After lying down for a while, she decided to go out for a walk. It seems that wine and tea cannot be drunk together.

  (end of this chapter)