A Dream of Jinling Chapter 375 The Determined One (Twelve)

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"I really didn't expect John to support slavery!" The Foreign Secretary's daughter, Isabel, was in a bad mood, and she brought a cup of flower tea mixed with alfalfa honey and complained to her best friend.

"Are you mistaken?" Elizabeth's best friend and her are junior high school and high school classmates in the UK, and they have been friends for so long, so the best friend's voice is quite surprised. For the first time in a long time, she had seen Isabel talk about John? Farrell had such a disappointed expression.

Isabel sighed sullenly before John? Farrell's image in her mind was not like that. It was a spring afternoon twelve years ago, and Twelve-year-old Isabel was on a trip to the countryside with her mother. Then she saw a nice garden on the small slope by the side of the road. The garden was full of brilliant flowers, and Isabel could only recognize a few of them, most of which were of a variety she had never seen before. The delicate layout, with its green climbing vine-twisted arches, was admired by Isabelle's mother and the wives and children of high-ranking officials who accompanied her. Then the crowd simply ordered the carriage to stop and go to watch.

When the servants went to look for the owner of the garden, Isabel, who loved flowers and life, took advantage of the adults' lack of attention and ran all the way up the hill to the garden. As she walked to the door, Isabel felt a little uneasy again. The children of these aristocratic families have all encountered fierce porters, vicious dogs, or gardeners. The more beautiful the garden, the more fierce the guardians. In this state of mind, Isabel stopped at the arch and looked into the garden with some concern. Then Isabel saw a bench in the garden, and a young man leaned back on the bench and read quietly. He was so focused that he didn't even notice that someone was next to him.

At the young man's feet lay a half-large golden retriever, and when he saw Isabel under the arch of the climbing vines, the docile and lovely guardian raised his head and looked at Isabel curiously for a moment, then fell back to the ground and closed his eyes slightly and dozed off. The breeze stirred up the scent of flowers in the garden, passing gently by Isabel, and the young man who was reading was completely immersed in the book, without looking up or leaving.

For the first time in her life, Isabel observed a man so carefully, wearing a plain silk shirt with a light blue labor cloth waistcoat, labor cloth trousers of the same color on his legs, and a pair of lightweight, rubber-soled white-trimmed cloth shoes on his feet. Such a young scholar in simple and plain attire has a small ponytail on the back of his head. It looks like the youth in the sketch. This impression is deeply in Isabel's mind, and I can still recall it very clearly more than ten years later.

"John really wasn't against slavery at all!" Isabel is pretty sure about this, because John? Farrell also wanted to take advantage of the chaos in Brazil and collude with the Chinese to suppress the Brazilian republican revolution. Isabelle, the daughter of the Foreign Secretary and having completed her university studies in England, could certainly see that if the crackdown was completed, the Portuguese would collude with the local slave farmers to restore the evil and bloody slavery. John? Farrell would not object to such a future in any way.

"Even if he was for slavery, there was no slavery in Portugal. John wanted to support slavery, but he alone could not afford to get Portugal to re-enact laws that allowed slaves to survive. The best friend was excited to see Isabel's love, so she smiled and relieved Isabel's dissatisfaction.

"He didn't want to restore slavery in Portugal, but to maintain it in Brazil." Seeing that her best friend didn't understand what was going on, Isabel simply put John? Farrell's actions were briefly introduced to his girlfriends.

After listening to Portugal's plan to bring China in and attack Brazil, the girlfriend pondered for a moment before saying, "...... Oh, John, he still seems to be quite capable. ”

"What? Even you say that? Isabel's brows furrowed, she was really angry.

"Ellie, John seems to be thinking about Portugal as well. And there are so many things involved in this matter, do you think he can do it lightly? The girlfriend laughed.

This reasoning is quite in line with the facts, a Portuguese official actually counted China, Brazil, and Britain at the same time across the vast Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. If he can do it, he will probably have surpassed the limits of a small country like Portugal. Theoretically this is impossible. However, Isabel shook her head repeatedly, "You don't know John, he never makes decisions lightly, but once he does, he grits his teeth and does it to the end." If it were someone else, I wouldn't believe it yet. John's words, I will always give him an expectation. I'm not trying to blame John, I just can't stand slavery. ”

The best friend was silent for the time being, she knew very well that Isabel even for John? Some parts of Farrell are disappointed again, John? Farrell remains the object of Isabel's pride. It's bad to talk nonsense when you don't understand that.

After the meeting between the two, Isabel's best friend got into the car. The car arrives at the café on the busy street, and Isabel's girlfriend gets out of the car and goes inside. In a private room, a man was waiting. After listening to the girl's narration, the man didn't speak, but took out a not-so-thin envelope from his arms and put it in front of the sister's paper, and then got up silently and left the café.

On November 19, 1889, at a meeting of the British Cabinet, the intelligence services first briefed the Cabinet members on the latest situation in Portugal, and then waited for inquiries from insiders. To their surprise, the cabinet did not ask, but directly asked the gang to leave. The guys had no choice but to obey orders and leave the Cabinet Office.

As soon as they left, the cabinet began to discuss what they were concerned about. "What's next for Portugal?"

Cecil? Rhodes immediately said: "Of course, to send warships to Lisbon and ask the Portuguese government to publicly recognize the preservation of Brazil's sovereignty and independence, and to recognize the Brazilian republican government." ”

This was only discussed in a few short sentences, and the discussion was still about "how many battleships do we have in Europe now?" "Is the captain who knows Lisbon still there?" "What is the level of defense in Lisbon?" That's why the Cabinet members agreed to take such a tough approach.

On November 22nd, John? Farrell is meeting with the foreign secretary with the Chinese ambassador to Portugal, and the two sides are of course going to talk about Mozambique, even though both sides know that Portugal is simply not capable of changing the status quo. However, even if it is for the sake of face, everyone has to talk about it like this. After some unnutritious, both sides stopped to save some spit. John? Farrell took the opportunity to say: "Your Excellency, is the Chinese fleet capable of going to Lisbon and helping us to transport troops to Brazil?" And, of course, help us land in Rio de Janeiro. ”

Having been ambassador to Portugal, the Chinese ambassador is well aware of Portugal's relationship with Brazil, as well as about what has happened in Brazil recently. So even though he was surprised, the Chinese ambassador was still able to maintain a minimum of composure. Of course, it is inevitable to be stimulated by a certain amount of dù, and no one could have imagined that the Portuguese would change so quickly from enemies to collaborators.

The Chinese ambassador said: "The ...... of our fleet will have to be decided by our military commission. But can you be clearer about what you mean? ”

John? Farrell already had his own plan, and he immediately told it out. With China's current strength, Portugal has no strength or intention to confront China. But Portugal hopes that the Chinese navy will send capital ships to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, and then carry Portuguese soldiers across the Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and help the Portuguese army successfully land. Portugal can guarantee that only after they retake Brazil will they ensure good relations between Portugal and Brazil with China, and China's future fleets will be able to dock and replenish in Portuguese and Brazilian ports, and even enjoy such treatment during the war.

The Chinese ambassador did not speak, not only because diplomats are trained in this area and it would be rude to interrupt them, but also because the Chinese ambassador himself felt a sense of surprise. In the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean, China has entered the three major oceans on the planet, and has gradually gained its own dominance in these three oceans. However, the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic have so far been difficult areas for China to intervene.

It is difficult to intervene in the North and South Atlantic, not only because of the strong adversary of Britain, but more importantly, because there are no ports that China can use. As long as the British gave the order, the ports of the North and South Atlantic would not be open to China, and the British fleet could sail all the way from London to Cape Town.

If Portugal and Brazil were able to open their ports to China, Chinese warships would be able to roam the border between the South and North Atlantic. That meant that British hegemony had been completely shaken. More importantly, if this can be done, the Chinese Navy's Grand Fleet can begin to wreak havoc on the east coast of the United States, and even have the opportunity to cooperate with the army in landing operations. The benefits are too numerous to count.

Because of this, the Chinese ambassador has no choice but to keep his mouth shut. This is one of the rules in the training of diplomats, "If you really see a great opportunity, any rash performance will make this opportunity a negative possibility." Since China's diplomacy does not pursue interests other than capabilities, people who want us will come to us again and again......"

Didn't wait for John? When Farrell finished speaking, someone from outside walked in quickly. It was the Foreign Secretary's chamberlain, whose face turned pale, and whispered to the Foreign Secretary for a moment, and the Foreign Secretary immediately got up to take his leave. John? Farrell had to follow the Foreign Secretary out of the Chinese Embassy, walk outside the door, get into the car, and the Foreign Secretary immediately shouted: "Go to the British Embassy!" ”

Wait for the car to start, John? Farrell asked, "Your Excellency, what happened?" ”

"The British fleet is now outside Lisbon, blockading the port. I don't know what the British have specific requirements, but it can be seen that the British want to play really! The Foreign Secretary replied with a grunt.

"Your Excellency, did the British hear something?" John? Farrell frowned as he spoke, and he couldn't think of anything other than a leak of information that could have brought the British fleet to his door.

"I ...... Hopefully not like that. The Foreign Secretary replied unhappily. As Foreign Secretary, it was not easy for him to accept John? Farrell's construction, I didn't expect that the British would come to the door without even talking about the official implementation. The Foreign Secretary was originally interested in John? Farrell's approval had now all turned into a negation, and if it weren't for such a policy, Portugal would not have been forced to such an equal position by the British.

The two arrived at the British embassy and were soon ushered into the embassy. The British ambassador had already received a telegram from home, so he said straight to the point: "Your Excellency, my Government has informed me that I am asking your Government to make a public statement. First, to publicly recognize the preservation of Brazil's sovereignty and independence, and second, to recognize the existence of the Brazilian Republican Government, and to establish diplomatic relations with the Brazilian Republican Government to the fullest. ”

The British found out that something was wrong. The Portuguese Foreign Secretary was unhappy for a while, but the British Ambassador did not pay attention to the mood of the Portuguese Foreign Secretary, he continued: "What follows is my personal opinion, I hope that the Royal Government of Portugal will publicly state its attitude, the Royal Government of Portugal firmly supports the United States in resisting China's aggression, and the Portuguese Government will not cooperate with China until the United States obtains a war against aggression and recovers all the territory, including the West Coast!" ”

"What?" The Portuguese Foreign Minister couldn't help but ask out loud. And John? Farrell's eyes narrowed subconsciously, Britain was trying to force Portugal to cut off the possibility of cooperation with China. At a time when Britain itself has no "biased" stance on China's war with the United States, it is really too much to force Portugal to tie to the position of the United States.

John? Farrell sadly discovers that there is nothing he can do about such a development. The British battleships may be inferior to the Chinese ones, but the British battleships have a level that European countries are simply not capable of confronting. The British may not have shelled Lisbon, and the unprovoked massacre of European civilians is really a bit appalling for European countries now, and it will only provoke strong opposition from European countries against Britain.

But Britain was able to completely blockade Portuguese ports, capture merchant ships, and sink warships, which seemed to be a very normal operation in Europe. However, for a small country like Portugal, their economy simply cannot afford such a blow, and after being blocked by the British for a month or two, Portugal's economy is afraid that it will encounter serious difficulties.

The British ambassador was not prepared for a protracted war of diplomatic negotiations, and after talking about Britain's attitude and his own attitude, the British ambassador let the Portuguese foreign secretary and the minister of commerce and commerce leave. Outside the British Embassy, just as the Foreign Secretary was grunting and ready to say something, John? Farrell spoke first, "Your Excellency, you go back to the cabinet first and report to His Majesty the King. I'll go to the Chinese embassy again. ”

"What are you going to do at the Chinese embassy now? Do you want the Chinese to send a fleet to Lisbon to defend us? The Foreign Secretary taunted John in a snarky tone? Farrell.

John? Farrell was not moved in the slightest, and replied with a straight face: "Your Excellency, you are right, I want to make such a request to China. ”

Under the look of the Foreign Secretary with a bewildered expression, John? Farrell got into his car and headed straight for the Chinese embassy. When the car was gone, the Foreign Secretary got into the car and went to report to the Cabinet and the Diet what he had received. The Foreign Minister's mind, however, was not on his colleagues, who were presumably panicked, nor on the dying old king, who now wore the crown of the Kingdom of Portugal.

Now the king is sick in bed, and even if he knows such news, his majesty is not capable of rising up to preside over the affairs of the government. And whether the king has the ability to understand what is going on is a question. Now it is John, who occupies the main idea of the foreign secretary? Farrell, is it John? Is Farrell really capable of getting the Chinese to send troops? Does he really have the ability to get China to send a force comparable to the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet to Lisbon?

Thinking of this question, the Foreign Secretary couldn't help but shudder. Even if some miracle happens, the Chinese are really willing to send troops, what will be the situation in Portugal at that time? The Catholic Church was very powerful in Portugal, and the Catholic Church regarded China as its mortal enemy. At that time, as long as the Catholic clergy stirred up the Portuguese people, it was difficult for the Portuguese people to dare to ask the government to install guns and destroy the Chinese fleet with the British.

The thought of such a complex and terrifying future made the Foreign Secretary feel troubled. He even began to regret how he had been treated by John? Farrell, this guy fooled him? Why did you believe John? What about the mirage-like future that Farrell sketched out casually? What to retake Brazil! What Portugal began to immigrate to Brazil in large numbers, and began to engage in land nationalization within Portugal! What is with the slave owners in Brazil for the time being, and wait for Portugal to take control of the Brazilian regime and army, and then launch a blow against those slave owners. And then to reform Brazil's political system!

Portugal is just a small country! A small country should have the duty of a small country! We must not have too much ambition, ambition is the business of big countries, and small countries really can't afford to play! The Foreign Secretary shouted in his heart. Even if Britain is no match for China now, it is more than enough for Britain to clean up Portugal. The Great Fleet of Great Britain could draw Portugal whenever they wanted.

The Foreign Secretary's car was halfway through when he suddenly heard a violent explosion near the port. At this time, the people of Lisbon were already panicked, and when they heard the first explosion, people still showed surprised expressions. Then explosions were heard, and it wasn't long before panicked people began to run through the streets. The running crowd blocked the pick-up, and the Foreign Secretary's car was blocked on the road and could not move.

The Foreign Secretary wanted to get out of the car and walk to the cabinet, but seeing these crowds of people in such a panic, he suddenly became sad, and tears almost poured out of his nose, "The Minister of Portugal is not reliable, and the Portuguese people of this era are not good!" ”