Mage Joan

Lord North is now facing a menacing challenge from a rising political star.

The young congressman named William Pitt Jr. was born in a Feizhen noble family. His father was the prime minister of the cabinet. With his noble background and outstanding talents, Mr. Pitt inherited his father’s constituency at the age of 23 and became Feizhen’s lower house. The youngest congressman.

Pursuing the political essays of this noble son, in an exaggerated to almost flattering tone, he called the young William Pitt the "heavenly man" and "the star of tomorrow"!

The bullseye of Mr. Pete’s first javelin thrown at North’s cabinet was focused on foreign policy.

The diplomatic policy of the North cabinet largely continues the tradition of the party of Order, which is the so-called "honorable isolation" principle.

Fei is really an island country that hangs alone overseas, facing the Atlas mainland (the old world) across a strait, and it is inevitable to have inextricable entanglements with countries on the mainland.

For example, through the marriage between royal families, Lord Feizhen and the monarchs of various countries on the mainland are actually relatives of close bloodlines and have legal inheritance rights.

Once a certain royal family on the mainland extinct their heirs, and a war of succession to the throne broke out, the Feizhen monarch often intervened in the war because he could not contain his ambition to expand the territory, trying to expand the territory he ruled from a small island to a vast continent.

In the history of the world of Vares for more than a thousand years, there have been countless such large and small succession wars. Even if the Feizhen royal family triumphed for a while, they occupied a large area of ​​the mainland. However, the center of gravity of this country is after all On the island, he will eventually be driven out of the old continent by his opponents and withdraw to the island in embarrassment.

After spending a lot of money and materials, and sacrificing so many soldiers, the Feizhen Kingdom has been unable to gain a foothold on the Atlas continent. Whenever a mainland power rises, it will always cut off the tentacles of Fei Zhenren reaching the mainland. , Kick them back across the strait.

The king’s ambitions will never go out, and the domestic people can’t stand the always futile fuss. Later, a revolution broke out, which cut off the heads of several kings and forced the Feizhen royal family to accept the charter and transform into a constitutional monarchy. In the country, the power of the government is actually in the hands of the parliament.

The Feizhen Parliament advocates a "glorious isolation" foreign policy, which is actually a "stress response" to those painful lessons in history.

Since countless attempts to counterattack the mainland have ended in failure, it is better to simply accept the reality, admit that Fiji is really an island country, and completely abandon the illusion of counterattacking the Atlas mainland from the island and transforming into a mainland country, and at the same time rejecting the mainland Any country on the United States enters into a long-term covenant to maintain freedom of movement and avoid passive involvement in the melee of mainland countries.

Since he chose to be isolated, what kind of attitude should Fei really adopt to face the disputes between the countries of the Old Continent?

Turn a blind eye, turn a blind eye, and close the country?

Such an attitude of completely isolating oneself from the international system is tantamount to "suicide" in the diplomatic sense. It is of course undesirable. In addition to isolation, there is another principle of "glorious isolation", which can be understood as one. This kind of moral stance with a chivalrous demeanor.

Feizhen positions himself as an "international judge".

When disputes occur between mainland countries, the Fichen authorities should actively intervene and coordinate mediation in order to alleviate the conflicts between the two parties in the conflict, so as to maintain the peace. This idealistic diplomatic principle, in a more elegant way, is that "gentlemen are harmonious but different."

Holding high the banner of upholding justice and peace is certainly in line with the noble chivalry spirit, but doing so may not bring tangible benefits to the Feizhen Kingdom.

Conflicts between countries often involve complicated historical origins and disputes of interest. It is difficult to tell who is right and who is wrong. If the central coordinator cannot satisfy the appetites of both sides at the same time, he will be complained by both parties in the dispute and accuse the coordinator. Favor each other.

In fact, when coordinating disputes between countries, one will also face the dilemma of "helping justice" or "helping relatives." Adhering to "honorable isolation" is equivalent to "recognizing justice but not relatives."

If you help country A fight injustices today, country B will hate you; if you help country B get justice tomorrow, country B will not appreciate you, but think that you owe them; at the same time, country A will think you are erratic. If you betray their trust, you will also resent you!

In recent years, Feizhen's traditional foreign policy has become increasingly outdated.

Persisting in isolation means that there are no real reliable allies, and troubles can only be carried by oneself; active coordination, but the result is not thankful, not people inside and outside, not only did not become a good "international judge", but suffered from the old The resentment of various countries on the mainland.

William Pitt Jr. soberly saw that the untimely foreign policy was dragging the country into a quagmire, so he publicly advocated a change in foreign policy, from "glorious isolation" to "offshore balance."

The "offshore balance" advocated by Mr. Pete inherits the "isolation" principle of "honorable isolation", but completely abandons the so-called "honor" and abandons the role of "international judge" that bears too much moral pressure and is thankless. , Simply did the opposite. From the original actively coordinating the conflicts of various countries, balancing the interests of all parties, and seeking peaceful coexistence, they turned themselves into a "shocking stick", specifically inciting troubles and instigating discord among mainland countries, without contradictions To create contradictions, there are no disputes, but also to create disputes. Anyway, the countries of the old continent cannot be allowed to enjoy peace for a long time.

Only when the countries on the mainland continue to get into a melee and cannot produce a powerful country or a unified alliance, Feizhen, an island country with a small territory and barren resources, can guarantee security and not be marginalized.

Mr. Pete’s diplomatic propositions represent a transition from idealism to realism. Although it does not conform to the moral values ​​of conservative aristocrats and gentlemen, Lord North feels that it has certain merits.

What really made him unbearable was that Mr. Pete strongly opposed the cabinet sending troops to suppress the New World rebellion. He published an article in the newspaper and vowed to declare that now is the last time to negotiate with the rebel party. There is a chance to keep the kingdom on the east coast of the New World during the early peace talks. If the colony misses this opportunity and delays until the rebels launch a full-scale counterattack, the colony on the east coast may not be able to hold even an inch!

Negotiating with the rebel party means that the wars of the past three years have been fought in vain, and the blood of the officers and soldiers has been lost. What is the face of the Feizhen government and His Majesty the King?

Of course, Lord North and his colleagues could not accept the suggestion of William Pitt Jr., contemptuously denounced it as alarmist and sensationalist, and instead actively prepared to send reinforcements to fight in the New World.