When it comes to the Chinese Empire in the East, Russell has a sense of defeat.

Who would have thought that more than ten years ago, an ancient and backward country in the East, which was arbitrarily ravaged by the British Empire, has now become an Eastern power in one fell swoop. In less than ten years, the eastern country that could be defeated by the British Empire with one or two combined fleets at will, plus one or two thousand soldiers stationed in India, and penetrated deep into the hinterland of inland rivers, has changed from a backward agricultural country with almost zero industry to a powerful country with a certain industrial status in the world.

Russell had already received statistics from British intelligence that the Chinese Empire had now built a broad base of industry following the example of Europe, especially Britain and France. Don't look at the fact that the country's level of industrialization is still very low, as low as the country's urban population is less than 5% of the national population statistics, far less than the UK's current urban population rate of nearly 60%, and the overall degree of industrialization is far less than that of the UK. But that country has a large population and a vast territory, and even with a very low base, the absolute amount accumulated is very amazing.

The population of more than 400 million is more than 10 times the population of Great Britain, and even if the urbanization process is only 300 percent and 4 percent, when converted into a specific urban population, or the number of cities with more than 100,000 people, it is close to the level of Britain. The same is true for industry.

However, like those previous prime ministers, he knew that he should immediately send troops to suppress the rapidly rising and increasingly powerful Chinese Empire, and it was best to defeat it completely, split it into several forces or countries, and turn it into a colony of the British Empire, so as to best serve the long-term interests of the British Empire and the dignity of the first power. But it just can't be done!

Either because of the Crimean War, there was a massive rebellion in India, and even Ireland and Great Britain proper. At this time, the opponent has been getting stronger year after year. Finally, the former Prime Minister Sir Palmerston launched an expedition against China and mobilized tens of thousands of naval and land troops to expedition to the East, but he did not expect to encounter the insidious and vicious calculations of the other side, and the whole army was annihilated, and even Sir Palmerston was forced to step down, and Her Majesty was saddened by this.

And now, under internal and external troubles, it is even more difficult to organize enough troops to attack the other party. Thinking of this, Rose felt a nameless anger and was unusually aggrieved. If only the rebellions in India and Ireland had been put down quickly! Draw out your forces and teach the eastern country a hard lesson, letting them know that the world is always dominated by the British Empire.

And the thought of Ireland's situation gave Rose a headache.

Thinking of this, Ross said to Ramsay, the Minister of War, Wallace, the Secretary of State for Security, and the Earl of Derby: "The situation on the Irish side is getting worse and worse!"

Great Britain has transferred more than 35,000 infantry and artillery units to the island of Ireland in two batches, plus more than 20,000 infantry and nearly 10,000 military and police originally stationed in Ireland. The first batch of more than 20,000 reinforcements and the British soldiers who were originally stationed in Dublin City, only about 15,000 people remained, fled to the north, and were attacked by the constantly organized Irish rebel guerrillas along the way, and stumbled to Belfast City in Northern Ireland, where only about 13,000 people remained. Fortunately, a second reinforcement of 10,000 troops from England and Scotland arrived there to defeat the rebels, otherwise even Belfast might have been captured by the rebels.

Are the Irish rebels still growing in strength today? A while ago, I heard that the Irish rebels had something to do with the Chinese in the East, which was secretly supported by the Chinese Empire. ”

Speaking of which, Rose's voice was filled with anger.

Security Secretary Wallace was a little frightened, although Ireland is also half a colony, but because of its proximity to Great Britain itself, the whole of Britain has regarded it as the same mainland as England, Scotland, Wales and other British Isles, so the rebellion on the island of Ireland and the emergence of the Chinese in the East failed to report and stop it in time, which is the responsibility of him, the Minister of Security.

Therefore, he immediately spoke up: "Mr. Prime Minister, the Irish rebel army has expanded from 50,000 to 120,000. However, at present, there are only about 80,000-90,000 muskets and other weapons, and the rest are cold weapons such as bows, arrows, and swords. As for the Irish rebels, we have investigated some clues, and it is certain that the Irish rebels must have the support of the Chinese Empire behind them! The reason why the first batch of 25,000 reinforcements from Wales and Scotland suffered a crushing defeat was that they were too light on the enemy, fell into an ambush by the Irish, rushed into the military camp in Dublin, and were ignited by the other side in a suicide attack, and the gate of the military camp was blocked, causing nearly 20,000 soldiers to be lost; Moreover, this oil reminds me that the original expeditionary fleet against China suffered a catastrophe, and it was because of this oil that this oil was a repetition of the old trick and had nothing to do with the Chinese Empire! ”

Ramsay, the Minister of War of the Army, also hurriedly replied: "Mr. Prime Minister, although the Department of Topographic Surveying and Statistics of the War Department has been established for more than five years and has been asked to conduct intelligence gathering and enemy spying, because of the lack of manpower and funds, it is already very good to be able to survey the basic terrain, and the War Department is powerless to do anything about other intelligence, especially these covert information. Today, intelligence gathering on hostile forces is actually mainly the responsibility of local ministers and consuls stationed abroad. ”

This sentence then turned the conversation back to the Foreign Secretary. But the current Foreign Secretary is the oldest former Prime Minister Sir Deby, and the former Foreign Secretary is Russell himself, so Russell is a little embarrassed: he didn't dare to ask Sir Deby, not to mention that Sir Deby has only taken over as Foreign Secretary not long ago, and he is more responsible as his predecessor.

Therefore, Ross turned the topic to the Chinese Empire, saying, "If you know that the Chinese Empire is wolf-hearted, why don't you stop their connection with Ireland?" They are to come to Europe, to bring oil to the island of Ireland, to be transported by ship by sea, however disguised, and from now on, you will order a blockade of the whole Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and all merchant ships and people that are to arrive in Great Britain and Ireland will be carefully checked. For those Chinese with oriental faces, they are all forbidden to enter the territory of Great Britain and Ireland! ”

Herbert, the Minister of War of the Navy, hesitated a little and asked, "Mr. Prime Minister, will this cause resistance and indignation from that eastern country or even other Western European countries?" After all, now that Great Britain and the Chinese Empire have signed an armistice, if they are forbidden to enter the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, in fact, not only will they be forbidden to enter Great Britain and Ireland, but they will also be forbidden to enter the whole of Western Europe by sea, and other European countries, especially France and Prussia, with which they are friendly, are likely to strongly oppose it. After all, it is not a belligerent now, and if it is treated in this way, it is very likely to provoke retaliation from the other side, and with the temper of the Chinese Emperor, he will at least fight a trade war with us, and also prohibit us Britons from entering the East, and will not buy British goods and goods, nor sell goods to us in England; At worst, it is likely that there will be another war, and if they send troops to India at this time, it will be troublesome. ”

The Earl of Derby also spoke: "Yes! This should not be arbitrarily decided, but at least it must be submitted to Parliament with the consent of all cabinet members, and it must be approved by more than two-thirds of the members of Parliament. This problem is a big problem, and it is better to be cautious. Moreover, the armistice treaty that I signed in the first place is now being violated, and I am firmly opposed to it. Although I hate the Chinese in the East, and I want to teach them a hard lesson, it is not about such things, but I should gather the army, defeat them with dignity, and completely weaken them, not so. ”

Rose's face turned a little red, he knew that he might be a little reckless in this idea, and he still forced himself for many years: "I will report it to Her Majesty, and then submit it to Parliament." Even if you can't block them all, you must strictly scrutinize the Orientals who come to Great Britain and Ireland to prevent spies! If I really find out that behind the rebellion in Ireland, it is the Chinese Empire that is playing tricks, and I must not stop there! When Great Britain solves the problem of internal rebellion, it must teach the other side a painful lesson! This is put aside in advance. Let's start with Ireland. How exactly can their rebellion be completely resolved? ”

I have to say that Ross is indeed not as steady as Derby, and he does not know much about military affairs, so he directly asked Ramsay, Secretary of State for Military Affairs, and Wallace, Secretary of State for Security.

Ramsey could only cry and complain: "Mr. Prime Minister, our army is seriously insufficient!" You'll have to talk to the council about a significant increase in military spending. Last year, after Her Majesty issued the war mobilization order, although 100,000 troops were called up in three months, the military budget has been insufficient. Since the beginning of this year, another 200,000 troops have been conscripted, but now because of the serious shortage of soldiers' allowances, even weapons and logistical equipment cannot be fully supplied, so only 100,000 soldiers can be put in place, and the remaining 100,000 soldiers have been postponed from being assembled into the army.

And the 200,000 troops in place, because half of them are recruits, are still training in the Scottish barracks. The remaining 100,000 were retired soldiers, who could be put into the battlefield directly after a short period of intensive training, but because the war in India was more urgent, 50,000 were first thrown to India for rescue, leaving 20,000 mobs guarding Great Britain proper, only 30,000 went to Ireland, and the northern part of Ireland has been pacified, but most of central and southern Ireland such as Dublin and Cork still fell into the hands of the rebels. The situation is very unfavorable. If Parliament does not approve the appropriation of funds for the war by the Ministry of Finance, the troops that have already been sent will probably lose the morale to fight and counter the insurgency. ”

Wallace, the Secretary of State for Security and Defense, was even more full of complaints: "Mr. Prime Minister, I can't do this anymore." Countless soldiers and families have asked me for a salary, and they want to survive. You can't let the soldiers fight with their bare hands hungry, right? ”

Rose's face was even more ugly, although he didn't call the Chancellor of the Exchequer today, he also knew that calling would have no effect, because he himself was also the First Chancellor of the Exchequer, and in the end he could not put down the rebellion in Ireland, and in the final analysis, the reason became the lack of military spending, and the responsibility became his own responsibility. Moreover, William Jurte Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, seemed to be somewhat sympathetic to the Irish, and perhaps had been unable to pay for the military for a long time, except that Parliament had not approved this reason, and that he had secretly instigated it.

"I've said it many times in the Parliament, but I've been slow to approve an increase in the war budget! I'll go to Her Majesty and ask her to come to Parliament and persuade those fools who won't pull out a dime. If they don't approve the war budget again, they will wait for the independence of the Irish and for India to break away from the British Empire! This time, the budget will be allocated no matter what, and if it doesn't work, I will resign from the post of prime minister, and I will also forcibly send the soldiers' salaries from the treasury! Ross said fiercely: "What I want to ask is, Ramsay, with military spending, the 100,000 soldiers of your War Department don't have to hide in the Scottish ravines for any training, right?" Plus another 100,000 soldiers can also be put to use. Don't worry about so much, don't worry about India first, send them all to the island of Ireland first, and wipe out those damn rebellious Irish bastards. If you want to train, let me train on the battlefields of Ireland too! ”

Ramsay and Wallace looked happy and smiled at each other. The transfer of those 100,000 soldiers to Scotland for training is naturally fake, and the purpose is, of course, to force the cabinet and parliament to approve the budget for military spending. After all, how to fight a war without funds? If it weren't for the good traditions of the British Empire's army, a mutiny would have been possible.

Therefore, Ramsey said with a happy face: "Mr. Prime Minister, if the military budget can be allocated as soon as possible, not to mention the 200,000 army, I promise to pull 150,000 soldiers to the battlefield in Ireland!" It is believed that with the military combat qualities of the British soldiers, it will not be long before Ireland can put down the rebellion! ”

Postmaster Roland Hill said with some concern: "Gentlemen, I don't think I'm too optimistic. Now the rebellion in Ireland has reached a very serious level. I have some news that the rebels in Ireland will not be defeated so easily, and they may not be just 120,000 troops as Mr. Wallace said, and there are not only 8 to 90,000 men with muskets and other weapons. I've seen several letters from Dublin to North America last month, which mention that there are nearly 50,000 Irish soldiers in Dublin alone, not only with rifles, but also with a large number of artillery.

And Cork, a city in southern Ireland, even sent thousands of Irish soldiers to North America in batches, and I don't know what the intention is. According to the estimates of the rebel officers in Dublin City, the number of Irish rebel soldiers increased every month, and thousands or even twenty or thirty thousand people joined the ranks of the rebels almost every month. It's just that they don't have enough weapons to limit the number of their soldiers, otherwise, with the size of the population of Ireland and the composition of young people, they can't survive without worrying about the problem of soldiers. After all, for us, the island of Ireland is just a huge farm, and for them, it is the foundation on which they have lived and survived for generations.

I've heard that the Irish rebels have smashed all the statues of the King and Queen of Great Britain in Dublin, and even the bronze statue of Queen Victoria, which was recently cast in front of Dublin City Hall, has been melted down into bronze artillery. It can be seen that their hatred of us must have been to blame us for the wars waged by the Normans, Henry VIII, William I, Cromwell, and Elizabeth I from England, and for the famine of the previous years, which had caused millions of Irish to starve to death and hundreds of people to flee to America. ”

Roland Hill's words sent chills down the backs of all the cabinet members present, and the Irish and the English of Great Britain were indeed inextricable feuds. If you think about it, if you were an Irishman, you would definitely sacrifice your life and do your best to rebel against Great Britain.

Roland Hill continued: "As for weapons, I heard that the arsenal in Dublin had been in production for a few months, and they had melted down all their farm tools and even iron pots to make guns and artillery. Moreover, the British soldiers lost nearly 30,000 guns in the Dublin area after the defeat in the last battle, and there were many weapons in the cities occupied by the rebels, which alone were enough to equip nearly 100,000 troops. Therefore, it could not be delayed any longer because of military expenses or insufficient troops, and it was necessary to organize sufficient troops as soon as possible to put down the rebellion in Ireland once and for all. Otherwise, we, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, will lose Ireland entirely. ”

The words of the cabinet made all the cabinet members speechless. Russell and Derby did not refute Roland Hill this time, they knew that although Roland Hill did not have a high status, because he was from the bottom, he knew a lot of people from all walks of life, and he had been in the postal service for a long time, so he naturally had his secret information channels.

Derby was even more vigilant, and decided to abandon his prejudices against Russell, and put the overall interests of the Kingdom of Great Britain first, and made a proposal to Her Majesty, asking Parliament to immediately increase military spending and immediately send troops to attack the rebels in Ireland.

Russell's face turned a little blue, and he realized that the Irish problem was far from being as simple as he thought that solving the problem of military spending could solve the problem of the Irish rebels. Moreover, the Irish have a deep hatred this time, and they actually linked the great famine more than ten years ago, and there is also the involvement of the careerist in the East, so I can't say that I must be ruthless, send a large number of troops, and kill a large number of Irish rioters.

It's just that in this case, it will be more difficult for North America to send troops to threaten, and then in mediating the civil war between the north and the south of the United States, I am afraid that France may not have the weight of the voice.