(The new book "Back to the Ming Dynasty to Open a Factory" has been released, giving you a different wonderful story, asking for support and recommendation for the new book!) )

The cold rain in early winter, sporadic pouring is also generous, but the winter rain is biting, although it is not big, but the sporadic rain, like a knife, falls on people's bodies, only making people feel the biting cold. The icy rain was falling bits and pieces, and the River Thames rustled.

The rain kept falling, and when this winter came, the rain that lasted for several days seemed to mourn for Britain.

Britain is defeated!

Although the armistice peace treaty has not been signed until now, in the face of the Ming warships on the Thames and the "British Army" close at hand, everyone knows that it is a matter of time before the peace treaty is signed.

"That's really good news." Benjamin. Disraeli shook Bismarck's big hand and squeezed out a smile. Her Majesty will be very pleased to hear this. On this gloomy and bleak day, this news seems to be a ray of victory, making people see hope. ”

The mood of everyone was very dull, no one could laugh out loud, the negotiations that began in July have not yet reached a concrete result, and the reason why the negotiations have been delayed is not for any other reason, but because the two sides still have not reached a consensus on some detailed issues.

However, in fact, there has been a truce between the two sides.

It is precisely because of this that as early as two months ago, merchant ships from various countries sailed into the Thames River again, and because of this, many people saw the Celestial Empire warships up close for the first time.

It was in this icy drizzle that George arrived in London, and he even took a small boat to observe the Ming warships up close.

"Your Highness, you see, the biggest difference between the warships of the Ming Kingdom and the warships of European countries is the steam engine, in the center of the ship, the chimney is the chimney of the steam engine, in the Battle of Beach Point, Herbert was misled by the smoke it spewed......"

In the introduction of others, George, the prince of the Elector of the Holy Roman Empire of the European continent of Hanover, looked at the Ming warships in the river with great interest, the overwhelming victory of the Ming army at Beach Point, shocked the whole of Europe, and the distant relatives of Queen Anne were also shocked, like many people, he was also eager to understand the powers from the East, so he left Hanover, and came to England by boat to London, in order to understand these Ming people.

"It seems that their artillery is also very bad."

"Yes, Your Excellency, their artillery fires shells that generally weigh more than 60 pounds, and they use a very elaborate copper fuse, and when they shelled the suburbs of London a few months ago, we obtained some shells that did not explode, and now the Tower of London has made similar fuses......"

George is no stranger to the fuse in his mouth, in fact, the whole of Europe is no stranger now, the copper fuse is ignited by a propellant, pierced to set a delay time, it seems that the design is indeed extremely exquisite, but the technology is extremely simple.

A few months ago, the "Ming-style time-delay fuse" was a secret for Europe, and now not only the British have this secret, but also the French, and even Hanover has obtained it, after all, the Ming army left a lot of unexploded shells when they shelled the forts, fortresses, London, Holland and other places.

Merchants from various countries gave full play to their patriotic spirit, and they ventured to find a large number of unexploded shells in the ruins and brought them back to their countries, which also made the secret of the "Ming-style time-delay fuse" known to the world.

"It's a miracle that you've been able to make this fuse in such a short period of time."

This is a bit of a compliment, after all, the fuse is not complicated, but only those involved know that for the Navy, it is not just the fuse that really matters, but the bombardment.

"Your Highness, it's not difficult to make a fuse, it's that ...... that is really difficult"

Pointing to the gun window of the Ming warship, the tone of the accompanying officer became a little solemn.

"It's the cannon behind the cannon window, even now, we don't know, what kind of technology they used to forge such a cannon, how to ensure that the shell of the cannonball is not shattered when such a cannon fires explosive shells, these are all problems, but unfortunately, all this is not what the unexploded shells that fall in the city can provide."

There are some technologies that cannot be obtained through physical objects, and even if they are obtained, they will face many problems. George was well aware of this, but he believed that now that he had obtained the cannonballs, it would soon be the same artillery casters in Europe to cast them.

At that time, the reality of Ming Guojian's ship and artillery will be broken.

"I heard that there are at least hundreds of warships like this in the Ming Kingdom, or even more, I really don't know why the Celestial Empire is so rich and wants to come to Europe......

Why did Europeans go to the New World?

George thought silently in his heart, and finally, when he stared at the warship, looking at the Celestial Empire people on the warship who looked completely different from the Europeans, there was only one thought in his heart - at least, the defeat of Britain now made the whole of Europe see a reality - not to provoke the Ming Kingdom.

What is the cost of provoking the Ming Kingdom?

Britain paid the price, and the Netherlands also paid the price, and after establishing the suppression of London, the Ming fleet sailed to the Netherlands several times to shell the Hague and other cities, and it was there that Hanover received the Ming fuse.

Similarly, in the face of fierce artillery fire and vulnerable warships, any country in the future will think twice before facing the Ming State.

That evening, in London, Hanover met with John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough, who was trusted by Queen Anne.

"Now the Ming Kingdom has indeed won this war, but it is still very far from defeating the British."

As the current commander-in-chief of the British army, John Churchill still stubbornly insisted that Britain did not completely fail, and of course this was also to maintain his reputation - at least he did not fail, and it was Herbert's stupidity that buried Britain.

"But, at Beach Point, our fleet was completely buried by Herbert, and King William was fighting James in Ireland, and the Ming fleet in the Channel blocked the way for His Majesty's return, and it was for this political reason that forced us to sit down and negotiate with the Ming people......"

At the dinner table, Churchill continued to brief George about the current situation.

"However, the Ming Kingdom is so powerful, so strong that no country can fight fiercely, and it seems that peace talks between Britain and them are the only option to preserve their strength."

The smile on Churchill's face disappeared,

"The Celestial Empire is indeed very powerful, it can even be said that no European country can defeat them, and if we want to win in the future, every European country must join the war!"

"Every European country is going to war? War against the Celestial Empire? ”

George asked in an inquiring tone. His eyes were equally surprised to look at Churchill.

"Yes, there is no other choice for Europe!"

In the past few months, Churchill has thought a lot, although he does not think that Britain has been completely defeated, but he also knows that the disparity in strength between Britain and the Celestial Empire has led to the fact that Britain must not be an opponent of the Celestial Empire.

"We all know that the Celestial Empire has a huge fleet and technology far ahead of Europe, and they also have a population of more than 100 million, this vast and rich country, if they set their sights on Europe, then what kind of fate will Europe face?"

Taking a sip of whiskey, Churchill said in a serious tone.

"If the nations of Europe cannot be united, if England, the Holy Roman Empire, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and the whole of Christendom, cannot be united, then there is no future for Europe, and now Britain has paid the price, but in the future, one thing is certain, there will be more European countries to pay, and we will have to face an invasion from the Celestial Empire, and their threat may not be as direct as that of the Turks, and perhaps they do not care about religion, but God can testify, Britain is just the beginning, but what about the future? When Turkey attacked Byzantium, would it have been thought that they would attack all of Europe? Although they stopped in Vienna, at least they had the ambition to raze the whole of Christendom to the ground! ”

George, a Protestant, listened to Churchill's account and did not show any emotion, he just asked in a calm and light tone.

"How are you going to unite France?"

Now the most powerful country on the European continent is France, and without the accession of France, everything is empty talk.

"A treaty can be signed, after this war, France is bound to see the threat of its own Celestial Empire, all European countries, can see the threat from the Celestial Empire, of course, there is our own backwardness, we can sign a treaty, if any European countries are threatened by the Celestial Empire, then other countries will provide them with support, limited to the threat of the Celestial Empire."

Churchill spoke his vision, and when he realized that one country alone could not stop the threat from the Celestial Empire, he thought of uniting the other nations, and France was the one who had to be fought for.

"Oh, that's a good idea. But if it is only limited to the threat of the Celestial Empire, what about the outbreak of conflict between European countries? For example, if a war breaks out between the Netherlands and France, which side will Britain stand on? Will war be declared on France if aligned with the Dutch? Will you provide assistance to France in the future when it faces the threat of the Celestial Empire? If not, then what's the point of such a treaty? ”

George's rhetorical question made Churchill's whole person fall silent, and finally, he said in a helpless tone.

"It seems that we can't avoid the reality of the contradictions between the European countries, because we can't unite and let the Turks occupy Constantinople, and for the same reason, we can only watch the Celestial Empire threaten the whole of Europe step by step."

"Perhaps, this is something that cannot be changed."

George glanced at Churchill and said,

"In fact, now, with Britain ceding the Isle of Wight to the Ming Kingdom, the Ming Kingdom can firmly grasp the situation in Europe with this, even in the face of the threat from Europe, but the whole world is very clear that no country can challenge the Celestial Empire alone, it is impossible now, and it will ...... in the future It seems that there is no such possibility, and even if we achieve a scientific catch-up with them, there is not much possibility, unless one day, Europe is united. ”

"A united Europe!"

Churchill was stunned and looked at George with a strange look.

"Is it possible to unify Europe?"

"I don't know."

Shaking his head, George continued.

"But one thing is for sure, if Europe is not united, at least Britain, France, and the Holy Roman Empire, then we will never be able to fight the threat from the Celestial Empire, never will."

"But it's almost impossible?"

"It's really impossible,"

Nodding, George took a sip of the whiskey.

"Not only because the conflict of interests between Britain and France is too different, but more importantly, the Celestial Empire will also not tolerate the unification of Europe, and will also do everything possible to prevent the unification of Europe.

"Two possibilities?"

Churchill looked at George in bewilderment and asked rhetorically.

"What are the two possibilities?"

"One is to survive cautiously and cautiously as an independent state under the threat of the Celestial Empire, and the other possibility is to maintain a certain amount of power and survive under the protection of the Celestial Empire as a vassal state or vassal state of the Celestial Empire." George said two possibilities, which made Churchill stunned, and asked rhetorically for a while.

"How is this possible? Could it be that all countries have invited a prince of the Celestial Empire as a king? ”

Churchill was a little confused.

"Of course not, in the system of the East, in addition to their Zhuxia, there is also the existence of a vassal state, what can that kind of vassal state say? The feudal states recognized the supreme power of the Celestial Empire as their suzerainty, and when a new king ascended the throne, he had to be canonized by the Celestial Empire in order to have a legal status. ”

"Isn't that the same as the Pope?"

But it's not the pope, and without the coronation of the pope, the king is not a legitimate king.

"Not the same, at least, for the king, the coronation of the pope. But just go through a formality. The Pope is only religiously bound on him. But if you don't get the canonization of the Celestial Empire, maybe, that king will not be able to secure the throne, after all, the Celestial Empire has enough strength to replace a new king, I think maybe, in the future, there will be many such countries in Europe, because, no one can resist the Celestial Empire, just like now Britain has only one choice is to sign a peace treaty. ”

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