The merchants of the East were completely different from the merchants of Europe, first of all, in terms of social status, and in Europe the merchant power has always been on a par with the secular royal power, and in Italy there were even autonomous cities of the merchants. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

At first, religious theocracy was able to suppress these people, but when secular power began to rise after the Renaissance, the status of merchants began to rise.

The reason is actually very simple, because Europe has not had a unified country since ancient times, merchants are free, capital is stateless, if you treat me badly, I will naturally leave here, and the departure of businessmen will inevitably bring about the weakening of national strength.

Gradually, merchants became the uncrowned kings of Europe, and now even the queen cannot interfere with the printing of the pound, and the economy and politics have become two parallel carriages moving forward together.

According to this situation, the merchant class will eventually evolve into a power of capital, and the power of capital is destined to override the power of the king and politics, which is already the general trend.

Heng Liwen, who grew up in this environment, was undoubtedly proud, he had never suffered such an insult in Europe, let alone in barbarian China, Xiao Letian's rudeness made his self-esteem be strongly challenged.

At this time, he didn't have time to think about who started the war first, and he didn't care about the current situation, let alone reflect on his ruthlessness when dealing with Xiao Letian.

People are infinitely minimizing their own mistakes and responsibilities, and then infinitely magnifying the responsibilities of others, and in the self-suggestion again and again, even a murderer will imply himself as the most aggrieved person.

"Stop arguing!" Heng Liwen finally broke out, he roared and rushed out of the café, pointing at the Zhiyuan that had already been and yelling, "God will punish you! You damn barbarian! I won't let you go, I won't ...... you."

There was a snap, and just as he was scolding, a muddy broken shoe flew from the alley out of nowhere, and the sole of the shoe fell directly on his mouth.

"Who's that, damn bastard, who's the hell! Where's the police! Waste, don't you know how to protect a gentleman with our salary?"

Doodoo ...... Siren-blowing Western policemen led a group of turban-clad Indians into the alley, and God knows what they could get.

Hengli went straight to the telegraph office and began to send telegrams to Peking, where, as an English businessman, he was now entitled to the help of the ambassador.

Although the telegram was delivered instantaneously, it took time to send and translate it back and forth, including to the ambassador, and when the British ambassador at Tung Jiao Min, Sir Ergon, received the telegram, he was packing his personal belongings.

Standing behind him to help was the Counselor of the Legation, Wei Tuma, who was an excellent diplomat who experienced the British and French attack on Beijing in 1860.

"Hey...... Is this Heng Liwen crazy? Who does he think he is? How dare he order us to do things......" Ai Liguo finished reading the unkind telegram and threw it aside.

The telegram is indeed very impolite, as the president of Citibank, you have to know your weight if you respect you, just because you lost money, do you want Britain to use warships to punish Xiao Letian? For the sake of those hundreds of millions of silver, you have to go to war? Are you a child's play when you are war!

Wei Tuma picked up the telegram and said cautiously, "Your Excellency, although Heng Liwen is incompetent and self-serving, he represents the big names of the City of London after all...... His opinion may not be fully adopted, but there must be an explanation!"

"Don't forget, our British Empire has defeated the Qing Kingdom twice, and now when the mood is rising, although the money is not very much, but this matter is related to the face of the financial city, if they can't punish the opponent, this will affect their prestige!"

"A bunch of crazy people! Crazy people who only know how to make money!" Ai Liguo paced back and forth in the room in an atmospheric manner: "Defeating the Qing Dynasty is one thing, defeating Xiao Letian is another, and that is not a country good at all! These bastards who only know how to make money, when they provoked the financial turmoil, why didn't they think more about the consequences?"

"Their mistakes, do you want to let the Imperial army wipe their butts!"

Wittoma understood the anger of the chief, but at the moment things should be done, the power of the City of London is very strong, and it is not much better to offend them than to offend the queen, although the faces of those greedy ghosts are disgusting, but people sometimes have to endure it.

"I understand your anger, Your Majesty, and I agree with you, and I hate these moths as well...... But we have to face reality!"

"London has issued an order to let you return to China, judging from your age, returning to China is a courtesy pension, the queen will definitely entertain you, and the empire will also give you a rich reward, after all, with your efforts, the diplomacy of East Asia is very good......"

"If you leave China this time, I am afraid that it will be difficult for you to come back in the future, so why should you offend those people at this juncture? Offending them will not do you any good in your future life!"

"When you return to China, you will inevitably have to deal with those people, and your pension will also need to increase in value!"

Wittoma smiled bitterly and said, "We scold the bankers for being greedy, and on the other hand, we need money to live, which is a helpless thing!"

"The most critical point is the new Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin, who I have received from many sources, and this Benjamin hates Xiao Lotian very much, and he considers Xiao Lotian to be the greatest threat to the British Empire in East Asia...... The Prime Minister of Derby has gone home to retire, and I heard that he is in very bad health and will probably leave us in a year or two!"

"So will Prime Minister Derby's diplomatic strategy change? Think about it, what if Prime Minister Benjamin is willing to fight this battle, if he is willing to punish Xiao Lotian?"

Awakening the man from his dream, Ai Liguo sat down on his chair with a weak leg: "God, is there another war going to be waged before I leave East Asia?"

Ai Liguo did not want to start a war with Xiao Letian, because he, like the Earl of Derby, believed that Xiao Lotian could not be a threat to the British Empire, but could help Britain contain the power of Tsarist Russia.

But with the abdication of the Prime Minister of Derby, their view gradually detached from the mainstream, and now Benjamin, who hates Xiao Lotian very much, has come to power, so with it, the center of diplomatic strategy of the entire empire has shifted.

"Poor Xiao Letian, his good luck really came to an end......