By the time the New Year of 1916 came, the Irish army had crossed the military boundaries that had almost separated the Belfast region. The British authorities and their armed forces were gradually withdrawing in accordance with the terms of the agreement between the two sides. At this point, the obstacles to Irish independence and unity have been completely cleared. Correspondingly, the candidate for the throne with amazing talents and magical strategies can finally ascend to the Irish throne legitimately. However, the outside world looked forward to it, but he was very calm. At least he did not hurriedly hold a coronation ceremony in order to seek signs and not be fully prepared. According to the official news of the Kingdom of Ireland, if the National Cathedral of Limerick could be completed as scheduled, the coronation ceremony would be held on the last Saturday of February.

On the first day of the New Year, Xia Shu was still in Berlin and attended the garden celebrations held by the German royal family. However, he did not stay in such a gathering of princes and nobles, and then set off for the local Irish Expatriate Chamber of Commerce.

When people learned that the quasi-king of the Kingdom of Ireland was about to arrive, they had already carefully decorated the chamber of commerce conferences and notified the Irish Chamber of Commerce in Germany to send representatives to the Irish Chamber of Commerce in Germany in accordance with the requirements of the Irish Foreign Affairs Agency in Germany to send representatives to the Chamber of Commerce, which are nominally independent and in a dispersed state, but they have very close ties with each other.

Since the location of the Chamber of Commerce is located in a location with not very convenient transportation, and the Germans who came to watch with curiosity, Xia Shu's special car finally arrived at the Chamber of Commerce through the crowd.

The president took a group of people to wait in front of the door, and gave a great gift to Xia Shu from afar, and used the honorific title of treating the king in advance tactfully: "I sincerely welcome you, Your Majesty!"

From the eyes of the people around him, Xia Shu felt the flattery and eager anticipation of the foreigners. He waved to everyone calmly and then walked to the president. Before arriving at the Chamber of Commerce, Xia Shu had already obtained detailed information about the Chamber of Commerce from the adjutant. Chamber of Commerce President Xi Daunt runs a high-end restaurant in Berlin; Vice President Joe Berg, a partner of a large glass products factory; Secretary-General Samir Forrest, a wine agent... Both are chambers of commerce, most members are engaged in industrial or trade activities, with several doctors, lawyers, and some working in government departments. This professional composition basically reflects the efforts of Irish expatriates in Berlin and even Germany.

Here, except for the president over 70 years old, Dawnte, who was born in Ireland, other members of the Chamber of Commerce and representatives from other cities are basically second-generation Irish expatriates. Their clothes and words and deeds look no different from ordinary Berliners. Even if they are rich, they still give people a humble and low-key feeling. They are very fluent in German and must be in German on most occasions. They only use Gaelic in Ireland when attending chamber activities, private parties or only when their families are present...

"Hello, dear President, I am very happy to come here. In the past, we were all Berliners, living in the same city every day, but never dealing with them; now we are all Irish people, although we no longer live in the same city, but we are connected because of the magical bond of Ireland." Xia Shu's seemingly ordinary words just aroused the sense of national honor hidden in the hearts of the expatriates. In the past, the Irish were second-class citizens of the United Kingdom. They had no feelings for their nationality, lived overseas, and missed their hometown every night. Now, the Irish people have their own country, the entire Ireland Island and the Irish people who have lived here for generations are included, and the Irish expatriates who live overseas have a national spiritual sustenance.

The intention of Xia Shu to visit the Chamber of Commerce is not just a ritual. As Ireland enters the international stage in the form of an independent country, the dilemma of weak foundation, religious confrontation, and numerous factions are what the country rulers must find ways to solve. To make Ireland as stable, prosperous and strong as possible, and to cultivate the sense of national honor and cohesion of all the people is the most effective way to get. Although the area of ​​Ireland is small, the population base is not high, and the degree of economic development is weak, due to the history of the Great Famine in the 19th century, there are particularly many expatriates who moved abroad. According to official statistics, 1

From 846 to 1856, the number of Irish people left their hometowns to make a living abroad reached more than 1.8 million. In this era, population meant the scale of the domestic market and the driving force of economic development, and on the other hand it was also an absolute factor in the number of troops. Including the Protestants in northern Ireland, the local population of Ireland is only more than 4.3 million, only one-tenth of the UK and one-nineth of France, which is less than small European countries such as Romania, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Bulgaria, and Greece, and only slightly more than Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, and Norway.

When he entered the chamber of commerce, Xia Shu was calm and talked openly with these elites who worked hard in the business world. Xia Shu described the earth-shaking changes that were taking place in the Kingdom of Ireland to everyone, and painted the blueprint for the construction of the country to them, making them feel that they are no longer rootless duckweed. No matter where they are, there is a positive country behind them carrying their dignity, allowing them to proudly say that they are Irish.

The quasi-king king quickly conquered the hearts of the Irish expatriates with his very friendly image and temperament, and they scrambled to tell their situation and thoughts. During the Irish War of Independence, many of them generously donated money and materials to the Irish independent armed forces through various channels. Ireland is currently in the stage of comprehensively promoting infrastructure construction, and these overseas wanderers are willing to do their best to help their motherland.

Speaking of political stance, the expatriates supported Ireland's implementation of constitutional monarchy without exception. This was certainly due to Xia Shu's personal visit, but the expatriates' explanation also reflects the public's psychology from one aspect, whether it is a monarch or a democratic republic, as long as the country is stable and strong, the people live and work in peace and contentment, even if there is some delay in efficiency and some officials' existence, it is acceptable.

For Ireland's international relations, only a few expatriates believed that permanent neutrality should be declared, and the rest expressed satisfaction with the current German-Iraq alliance. After all, Germany's support played a crucial role in Ireland's independence and stable development after independence. Correspondingly, although Ireland had just reached a reconciliation with Britain and peacefully recovered the sovereignty of the Belfast region from Britain, expatriates still hated Britain surprisingly unanimously. It is obvious that they did not forget the reason for their becoming expatriates. Each of them had relatives from far or near died in the Great Famine that was seventy years ago. The poverty caused by Britain's comprehensive plunder of Ireland was the root cause of the crisis. Since the mid-17th century, Ireland's land has almost been completed.

All were occupied by British landlords, and most of the large landlords lived in England and were only concerned about the export of grains and livestock. Most of Ireland's agricultural income was exported abroad. Due to the serious land annexation in Ireland, most of the Irish farmers became tenant farmers of British land nobles. The land area they obtained was very small, and only planting potatoes could support their families. In addition, after Ireland was incorporated into the UK, the originally prosperous Irish industry and commerce were hit by British industrial products that could be imported freely under better economic conditions. Therefore, the Irish people rely almost entirely on land and had no way out in industry. The cruel colonial plunder caused extreme poverty to farmers, and made more than half of Ireland rely on potatoes to support their lives.

By the mid-19th century, a terrible oomycosis that caused potato rot to swept across Ireland, which triggered a serious food crisis. However, in that era, the tragedy of millions of people starving to death was completely possible and should be avoided. It should be noted that Britain was at its peak at Victoria and had completed the industrial revolution. It was recognized as the world factory. It was leading the world trend in all aspects such as colonies, political systems, and economic development. It was a part of nearly a quarter of the earth's land and nearly a quarter of the population.

A huge colonial empire. However, in the face of the unprecedented famine in Ireland, the British government was indifferent to the life and death of the Irish people and allowed the disaster to spread. The disaster relief measures were not effective and extremely slow. In order to save ridiculous face, the British government blocked other countries' humanitarian assistance. An example that has been widely circulated is that the Ottoman Sultan announced that it would send 10,000 pounds to the affected Irish farmers, but Queen Victoria asked him to donate only 1,000 pounds, because she herself donated 2,000 pounds.

For the needs of its own interests, the UK abolished the Cereals Act during the Great Famine, that is, in 1846, destroying the right of Irish food to freely import Ireland's grain, causing Ireland's wheat to lose its monopoly position in the British market, and in turn undermining the Irish agricultural economy. British landlords in Ireland, since the abolition of the Cereals Act, ignored the famine in Ireland, and mostly changed from planting wheat to operating animal husbandry, which greatly weakened the ability to resist famine, thus aggravating the development of famine to a considerable extent.
Chapter completed!