While the Japanese were excited about their chance to fall into the lap of the British Empire, the whole of Europe was in mourning. Jochen's maternal grandmother, Queen Victoria, died on the Isle of Wight on 22 January 1901. The death of the maternal grandmother of European royalty has caused great grief to be felt by royalty in most countries throughout Europe.

Queen Victoria was unwell a month ago and insisted on heading to the Isle of Wight House, which she loved with the late Prince Albert, where she spent her final days at the age of 82.

When the queen was critically ill, Jochen accompanied his mother to London overnight. Frederick III, who was originally his son-in-law, was supposed to go to England to accompany his mother-in-law, but he also accidentally contracted a cold in the late winter of 1900, and Frederick III, who was bedridden, could not bear the journey.

After expressing endless regret that Frederick III, who could not accompany his mother-in-law for the last time or even to see her for the last time, he indicated that his wife was all right, so Queen Victoria and her son Jochen rushed to England together.

Queen Victoria was still occasionally able to recognize people around her and call them by name, the doctor Reid supported the queen with his hand, Jochen's uncle Edward knelt beside the bed, holding his mother's cold hand, Jochen stood quietly by the head of the bed, and her grandmother's children and grandchildren surrounded her, and she called their names from time to time.

Surrounded by her own offspring, the grandmother of the European royal family closed her eyes serenely, dressed her into a white gown and her wedding veil in accordance with her last wishes, and placed the Queen's treasured objects in her coffin.

The Queen's funeral took place in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where she was buried in the mausoleum on the side of Prince Albert in Windsor Grand Park after two days of parking.

On February 1, the day of Queen Victoria's funeral, it was cold. There are no crowds of people in the middle of the road. There was no extravagant pomp, not a single pedestrian on either side of the road, only a long funeral procession followed the hearse and walked slowly down the deserted streets of London.

Only one Royal Janissary rode a horse to clear the way, and the hearse was flanked only by 12 Royal Janissary soldiers wearing bearskin hats, a qiē that Queen Victoria had requested during her lifetime, not wanting extravagant pomp and complicated ceremonies to disturb her sleep.

But that doesn't overshadow the glory of the European royal grandmother's lifetime. In the solemn-looking crowd behind the hearse, the new King of England, King Edward VII, the historical King Leopold II, the Greek King George I, and other European kings showed the honor of the queen.

The process of funeral and burial was quiet and heavy, and when the queen slept by her husband's side forever, white snowflakes also floated in the sky, which made this moment full of sorrow.

The pain of the death of a loved one made people cherish this moment of affection, and Yoheng recalled the moment when his grandmother could still recognize him and grabbed her hand with her hand, which she no longer had much strength, and then called her name in a soft voice.

When the first qiē was over, Uncle Edward turned around and thanked all the relatives and friends who had come, and when he walked in front of Jochen, he patted the nephew on the shoulder vigorously, and at this moment it seemed that the conflict between England and Germany disappeared with this hard stroke.

Edward VII was then crowned on the throne. Officially became the king of the British Empire.

Queen Victoria's death also brought European countries together in London, and it was also the best time for diplomatic activities between countries. In this era when telegraph technology does not fully convey the will of the nation, heads of state cannot rely solely on embassies and diplomats to understand each other's true intentions and resolve crises through negotiation within the framework of the international order. In 1870, for example, Bismarck dragged the French into the trap of war by merely changing a sentence in the telegram.

The funeral of Queen Victoria, which brought together heads of state, was also a summit, and some people even said that if Archduke Ferdinand had not married because of nobles, then the Viennese court group after his assassination would not have followed their point of view: "Like Ferdinand and that lowly woman, it is enough to have a third-class funeral." "Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were hastily buried.

Then Ferdinand, as the crown prince of a country, will inevitably appear at the funeral of the emperors, kings, prime ministers and foreign ministers of England, France, Russia and Austria, so that in fact a "crisis summit" of heads of state will be formed. It is very likely that direct communication between each other will avoid misjudging the situation, which will eventually lead Austria-Hungary and Russia to act irrationally, and eventually lead to the outbreak of World War I.

And now Edward VII, who had just become the king of England, directly talked to Jochen about the relationship between England and Germany.

"Jochen, your father is too sick to come to London in person. You go back and see him to greet Frederick on my behalf, and ask him to take care of his health. Edward VII said kindly to his nephew.

"I will. Uncle, my father will be glad to hear that you care about his health. Jochen replied politely.

"Jochen, although Frederick is not here, I want to ask you the same." As he spoke, Edward VII pulled out an 1888 Upman cigar and gestured to Jochen, who smiled and said he didn't mind. For Edward VII, who loved luxury, smoking fine cigars was one of his great passions.

"Jochen. What exactly does Germany want to do? You've been too close to the Russians during this time. Edward VII questioned that since the British had made up their minds to let the Japanese block the expansion of the Russians in the Far East, they naturally did not want Germany to get involved, especially on the side of the Russians.

"Germany just wants a peaceful and good environment for development, uncle. My father's character, you know, was not a man of iron and blood, he just wanted an environment in which all Germans could be stable. Is there any problem with Russia, which is a neighbor of our country, and the relations between the Romanovs and the Hohenzollerns are very close, and they maintain friendly relations with each other? Jochen pretended to be confused, and said half-truths.

"Of course, uncle, I understand what you mean, the contradictions between Britain and Russia are far-reaching, but Germany has always been biased towards Britain, right? From the Berlin Conference in the Bismarck era to the Manchu Qing issue, Germany has helped Britain block a lot of trouble. But now we have to think about whether it's worth it. ”

"Why?" Edward VII was a little surprised, hearing this means that the Germans wanted to completely fall to Russia? This was definitely not what the British Empire wanted.

"Because nothing we do is guaranteed. After the Berlin Conference, German-Russian relations fell to a freezing point, and were subjected to unprecedented economic and diplomatic shocks.

Germany was the most restrained country in many European countries protesting since Britain started the war in Africa, but the result was that our citizens were detained at sea by the Royal Navy.

Now we have stopped the Russian military occupation of the three northeastern provinces in the Far East, and once again helped Britain to avoid the infringement of its rights and interests in the Far East, but we have not received the slightest reward from the British. The difficulties made for us on the 3B rail issue, and the hostility towards our country on the issue of trade competition, raised concerns about the cost of continuing to align with the United Kingdom. Jochen said.

This is very straightforward, that is, let us do things for you, you Britain must always give us a guarantee, don't we lose all our money when the time comes, and then let you get the benefits.

Edward VII naturally heard it, but he was also hesitating, it was clear that Germany wanted more than just a 3B railway, a trade competition, Germany wanted a promise from the British.

"What does Frederick mean is that he wants the relationship between the two countries to go further?" Edward VII tempted.

"My grandmother used to say: 'I am sure that Germany will be the safest ally in every respect.'" Since my grandmother said so, why can't we make this step happen? Jochen said.

Of course, Jochen wanted to push the British into a corner, and many later generations believed that it was Wilhelm II who rejected the olive branch extended by the British, thus leading to the complete bankruptcy of the Anglo-German alliance. The reality was that the British demand for an alliance was completely insincere, and Germany still had to help Britain resist the double pressure of Russia and France, as before, while at the same time gaining nothing from Britain.

Such an alliance could not have been approved by the German ruling class, and the attitude of the British made the Germans very suspicious of their sincerity. Neville Chamberlain once said to Wilhelm II: "The era of hard encouragement in England has passed, and we look forward to an alliance with Germany and the Triple Alliance." However, if this is not possible, we will also consider renewing friendship with Russia and France. ”

What is this, threat? Either I have to accept your terms, or you're going to join someone else's group? As a result, although Germany was interested in forming an alliance with the British, it was always suspicious of the true purpose of the British, and eventually the Anglo-German alliance went bankrupt, and the sinner became Wilhelm II.

Of course, there is a mistake in the judgment of the German top brass that they do not care about the possibility of reconciliation between Britain and France, but the unfairness of the British alliance itself is also the reason why Germany cannot accept this.

And now Jochen said directly, Germany wants to form an alliance with Britain, but Britain doesn't want to fool us casually. Britain will either have real benefits, or the possibility of undermining the alliance between the two countries is not Germany.

For Jochen, Germany was really not afraid of anything in the war when he could form an alliance with Britain, and his father, the Prime Minister of the Reich, himself was biased towards Britain, and they were happy to see the alliance between Britain and Germany.

But if the talks collapse, then let everyone understand that Britain is unreliable, and everyone should be ready for Anglo-German confrontation. (To be continued......)