The six-day tour of Shannon River, hosted by Xia Shu, set off from Limerick and ended in Dublin. The trip ran across the Ireland Islands. Although there was no way to join the front and back, it was luxurious and delicacies, enjoying pleasant scenery and enjoying relaxed time, it was very comfortable. The past feud between Ireland and Britain seemed to have become much weaker in the friendly relationship between royal members and politicians.

With the full rollout of railway and highway construction and the strong rise of Limerick, the Shannon River is less important than the previous century in the economic and social structure of Ireland today. However, after dredging and expanding the upstream canal section, its military significance has been greatly improved. Even during the dry season, hundreds of tons of light ships can travel between the old and new capitals through this channel.

The officers accompanying the British Crown Prince Edward paid great attention to the changes in the Shannon Canal. After the yacht arrived in Dublin, their shock was beyond words. The prosperous city of the past was originally destroyed by war, but due to the westward migration of the political and economic center, it became a key coastal defense site. Although it adopted a large number of German equipment, its layout system was completely different from any known style. It was known to the world because it was highly praised by German experts, but in addition to participating in the construction.

After the completion of the project, no military and political officials from any country were officially invited to come, and most of the people who got the opportunity had a quick glance. The British crown prince and his group were not only allowed to land, but also inspected some defense facilities with Xia Shu's personal companion and saw a long-rumored giant fortress artillery group, including the 13-point 5-inch main gun removed from the "Tiger" battle cruiser. A group of British people stood silently at them for a moment, sighing and sadness were self-evident.

After staying in Dublin for one night, the next day, British officials once again proposed the proposal of economic cooperation between the two countries. With the British industrial foundation, trade resources and consumer market, if an economic alliance is established with Ireland, Spain, and Austro-Hungary, it will definitely play a positive role in the economic development of these three brothers and will inevitably become the leader of this economic alliance. Putting aside political and diplomatic factors, it is worth trying and taking risks. However, due to the opposition between the allies and the United States and Britain, Ireland cannot carry out comprehensive economic cooperation with the United Kingdom. At best, it can only sign some mutually beneficial trade agreements, such as tariff reductions for industrial products. In that case, the Ford T-mobile produced by Ireland can enter the British market in a large scale and maintain sufficient price advantage. Ireland can also obtain industrial products from the United Kingdom at a relatively low price to meet its economic development and social needs.

With a positive and cautious attitude, the talks between the two sides finally entered a substantive stage, but at this moment, the news of bloody religious conflict broke out in the north like a bolt from the blue, messing up the atmosphere of the talks.

The fuse of the conflict started in Cragavin, a small city about an hour away from Belfast. A local law enforcement official was shot and killed at home. The news immediately triggered a gathering of local Catholics. Then a block where Protestants lived was set on fire, several houses were burned down, and nearly 100 Protestants were displaced, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among Protestants. Immediately afterwards, in another city near Cragavin, the Catholic Church

Being set on fire, hundreds of Catholics and powerful Protestants broke out in bloody conflicts on the streets. Before the army arrived to control the situation, local police killed and wounded several armed thugs, and suffered casualties. Later, Protestants claimed that the Irish army had adopted forceful suppression measures, and more than 100 unarmed victims were killed, and hundreds of innocent civilians were detained. Protestants in northern Ireland launched a large-scale protest action...

Xia Shu was not surprised by this scene, and even regarded it as an inevitable necessity. In order to change the high concentration of land in Ireland, focusing on pastoralism over agriculture, and fundamentally changing the problems of the huge gap between the rich and the poor in Ireland and the large class gap, the Irish Government has promulgated a number of bills such as banning illegal land enclosure and balancing agricultural and pastoral land, and allocating the land in the hands of large landlords and farmers to ordinary people by the government purchasing land. With the gradual implementation of these laws and policies, the Irish people at the bottom of society have gradually gotten rid of the past.

The rootless life like duckweed was solved, and the living conditions were getting better day by day, but obviously not everyone was satisfied with it. Ireland was mostly Catholic. At the beginning of its founding, the Kingdom of Ireland followed the will of the majority and chose Catholicism as the state religion. Protestants had a feeling of abandonment and persecution in their psychological and emotional aspects. The tolerant religious policies of the Irish government did not fundamentally change this situation. The social problems caused by religion were particularly prominent in northern Ireland, where most Protestant people were.

The conflict between Catholics and Protestants in northern Ireland originated from the Ulster Plantation Colonial Plan in 1609, which confiscated the land owned by locals and immigrated to Ulster with Protestant “growers” ​​in England and Scottish Protestants. The confrontation between local Catholics and colonists led to two bloody ethnic and religious conflicts between the two from 1641-1653 and 1689-1691. The political dominance of British Protestants in Ireland was guaranteed in these wars and Irish criminal law, which stipulated the deprivation of religious, legal and political rights for all people who violated the Anglican Church of the Anglican Church.

In the late 18th century, the collapse of the Irish criminal law system triggered a new round of conflict. After lifting restrictions on Irish Catholics engaged in land purchase and business activities, the competition between Catholics and Protestants intensified, and the two sides attacked each other, and the methods gradually went to extremes. Many Presbyterians, Catholics and liberal Protestants participated in a nationalist movement organization inspired by the French Revolution of the United Irish Association, with the goal of ending the sectarian division in Ireland and establishing an Irish Republic independent of Britain, which was not divided into sectarian and independent of the UK. However, the uprising they launched in 1789 failed miserably, and the tougher Protestants were actively armed by the British government to fight against radicals, and Catholics and Protestants were thus divided into two camps of lasting hostility.

In 1801, the Irish parliament was dissolved and Ireland was incorporated into the United Kingdom. Catholics began to seek more enlightened ways of reform. They were committed to restoring Irish parliament and local autonomy. However, Protestants were afraid of becoming a Catholic minority in Ireland, and tended to support continued rule by Britain. Religious conflicts were manifested between those who supported the Union Act and those who opposed the Union Act. After the 20th century, because they were afraid of living in a Catholic country dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, Protestants formed the Ulster Alliance and vowed to resist Ireland's autonomy by force if necessary. During the War of Independence, the Ulster Volunteers formed the Protestant Volunteers actively cooperated.

To help the British team fight against independent armed forces and German volunteers, they used northern Ireland as their base and their scope of activities expanded to southwestern Ireland. With the independence of the Kingdom of Ireland, the British army retreated to the Belfast region. Most Ulster Volunteer Army members were incorporated by the British side and renamed it Belfast Division. The unit did not get the opportunity to formally participate in the war, but it stained the blood of many compatriots in the friction and conflict between the two sides. After the end of the Belfast crisis in 1916, the British army withdrew from Ireland, and the Belfast Division collapsed. Many people fled to the Americas, and many went to Britain. With the condolence and even secret support of the British government, they continued to engage in anti-Irish government activities.

Due to the British rule, Protestants in northern Ireland occupied the upper class of power, and Catholics often lived in difficult situations. The land and economic policies of the Kingdom of Ireland were committed to narrowing the class gap and maintaining social balance, which naturally benefited Catholics more. Many Protestants' vital interests were damaged. Most of these people only emotionally resisted the Irish government controlled by Catholics. However, under the instigation of the Ulster League, extreme violence was common. Before the murder of the law enforcement officer Craigavin,

More than 200 cases involving personal injury and even murder were caused by Protestants, as well as a considerable number of economic cases and resistance to the implementation of the bill. Although the police and judicial system in Ireland was required to handle matters related to Protestants with the principle of impartial law enforcement and prudence, local governments cannot guarantee absolute justice in their implementation, and various contradictions, misunderstandings and frictions are inevitable. The law enforcement official who was shot was said to have been retaliated for offending some powerful Protestants in the local work.

Politics is not as good as military. The winner is the king, and the loser is the enemy. Power suppression is simple and direct. In this era of civilized public opinion, especially in Europe, where communication technology is the most developed, the wild and bloody political measures will put the politicians under pressure from all sides. At that time, the British crown prince, the royal family members and government officials visited Ireland, and Britain was the number one Protestant country. Whether the bloody religious conflict can be properly handled and resolved the crisis in northern Ireland is another severe test for Xia Shu and the Irish government.

The Irish authorities quickly stopped bilateral economic and trade negotiations started due to the British Crown Prince's visit to Ireland. Xia Shu said goodbye to Crown Edward and his party in Dublin. He took a special plane to return to Limerick, while the British returned to the country on a temporary ship sent by the navy. Faced with overwhelming accusations from the outside world, the Irish government quickly responded. On the one hand, they called on both Catholics and Protestants who were in conflict to remain calm and restrained, and not to commit the wrong things of fraternity due to external instigation. On the other hand,
Chapter completed!