Chapter 3026 queen's pleasure (five)

Imagine a house with no ventilation or light, no fireplace, toilet, or running water, damp and cold in winter, sweltering in summer, and occasionally flooded. 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?

Of course, the real estate prices in emerging industrial cities are not as good as those in London. Even because of the influx of people, they have just 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 opening of the Crystal Palace World Expo, but this time Malfoy did not open a hotel while taking advantage of the "blue death" like his ancestors, 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 for the dirty, unsafe urban slums and share a house with dozens of people?

During the reign of Elizabeth I, the idea of ​​mercantilism was implemented, and she encouraged the enclosure movement. Of course, when doing this "business", there must be "injustice" happening, even if it is not as obvious as the Earl of Essex, these "trivial" things It's enough to add up to indignation.

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 dissolved the cabinet and parliament many times.

But Queen Victoria never dissolved Parliament unless it was 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 on his carriage. Napoleon III and Queen Eugenie escaped, but ten people were bombed on the spot killed and 150 wounded.

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

To appease Napoleon III, Prime Minister Palmesmore wrote a bill proposing to make conspiracy, previously a misdemeanor, a felony, a bill supported by Queen Victoria but opposed by Parliament.

Theoretically, no one should question the king's decision in state affairs. In 1629, Charles I was unable to collect taxes after dissolving the parliament, so he tried to "borrow". Five knights refused this request, and one of the knights applied to the King's Seat Court The writ of habeas corpus, approved by the new magistrate, sent the knight to prison after being summoned on the grounds that the knight had violated "the specific order of the king", and the king had the power to imprison anyone without explanation.

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, and Palmasmo offered to resign.

The Queen’s concern was that the Parliament’s sympathy for the assassin’s accomplices, and more importantly, the newspapers on Napoleon III’s side threatened to retaliate against Britain. In handling such foreign affairs, the Foreign Minister must be relied on. Unfortunately, the fourth generation of the Foreign Minister The Earl of Clarendon had no intention of making peace with France.

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 Albert The prince visited France, and later went to Hannover and Berlin to visit some places of interest.

At that time, Paris, like London, was 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 without planning. In the second year, 1859, Napoleon III appointed Haussmann as the governor of the Seine Province. Senior officials push for a Parisian overhaul.

Public health reform broke out in Britain in the 1840s. However, compared with the problem of overcrowded housing, the sanitation movement mainly focused on rectifying sewage and drinking water problems. London stinks.

When the queen left, it happened to be a very smelly summer, and 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 discharge domestic sewage directly into the The Thames River, started in 1859, was actually completed in 1865.

The rectification of slums requires demolition first. No skills are needed to do this. Anyone can do it. But after demolition and reconstruction, construction workers and designers are needed. In addition, there are planning, health and other departments. Waiting for them to repair new houses on the original site is not as good as their own Admit bad luck and find another place to settle down.

Then this land will be taken by a real estate developer like Malfoy to build a house. The ownership of the house is Malfoy's. The new house is a row house, with toilets, fireplaces, kitchens, bedrooms, windows, everything is in compliance with the law According to the 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 the UK was 16 million, but only 1.35 million people met the electoral criteria, and more than 90% of them could not afford 10 pounds.

In contrast, workers spend an average of £3 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-sufficient and lack of self-discipline was a burden on society.

Living on the streets in winter is dangerous because it's cold outside and it's easy to freeze to death in your sleep, but going to a poorhouse isn't an ideal option either.

First, there are many rules and punishments in it. The stewards threaten to drive people out at every turn. Only the old, infirm, 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 the wealthy, and by the time of the Victorian era it was consumed by ordinary people, but the ability of these people to obtain subsistence did not improve.

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 was much more sober than she had been drinking the sweet wine just now. The wine brewed by the elf was amazing, and she didn't have that nauseous feeling 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 shelter for his family from wind and rain.

Fernon bought a lot of new toys for his own son, Dudley had 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.

A lot of kids "hope" for something they've always wanted on their birthday. Severus's birthday is easy. He doesn't need a big cake and loud friends and parties, he just needs "quiet".

He never said it, Lily always gave him presents for his birthday and he would accept them with a smile, something Pomona had learned 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 also "exclusive", and it will not make people more tolerant, but will make people suspicious, as if there is always a thief thinking about giving it to you. steal.

This feeling of day and night defense is too tiring, so don't forget it.

Then she put down her teacup, turned 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 really cannot be drunk together.