"Sell newspapers, sell newspapers! Britain and China are at war again! ”

"What? Fighting again? ”

"It's only been a few years since the ceasefire, I really can't stand it!"

In the city of London, passers-by stopped one after another, shocked by the news, and quickly paid for the newspaper to catch a glimpse.

"Large-scale naval clashes broke out in the Philippines, the Chinese Navy arrived in Manila to bomb the bomb, and the British Navy's Asian Fleet attacked the Chinese Navy's Overseas Chinese Escort Fleet."

The contents of the newspaper were not Manila's affair, but it turned out that the London intelligence station of S.H.I.E.L.D. was doing its job to secretly provide false information to newspapers and newspapers in London to mislead British public opinion.

In fact, although the news of Manila Bay reached London, the British government did not release it immediately, because Marin's five warships were all destroyed, which made the British Empire lose face on Mars, and it was embarrassed to take it out and inform the people.

At the same time, the British government did not know who made the first move, because the Chinese navy destroyed the Marin fleet with lightning speed and captured all the British insiders, so the British government only got the news of the destruction of the Marin army, and did not know anything else.

Of course, most of the British government thinks that Marin must have done it first, after all, Marin has a huge suspicion of revenge. At the same time, the British did not believe that the Chinese Navy would dare to take the initiative to attack the British Imperial Navy.

It was this miscalculation that caused the British government not to announce the situation of Marin at the first time, but hoped to wait until the Claus fleet wiped out the Chinese escort fleet, and then make public the results of the battle, so as to weaken the defeat of the Marin detachment to the greatest extent and make it unable to affect the glorious and invincible image of the British Imperial Navy.

It is a pity that the S.H.I.E.L.D. bureau took the lead in making a mistake and misleading British public opinion to publish the news that the British Navy was the first to attack the Chinese Navy, thus seizing the opportunity to occupy the commanding heights of public opinion.

At this moment, the British government was immediately caught off guard, and the official spokesman hurriedly came out to refute the rumors. He said that there was absolutely no such thing, but he could not produce evidence.

On the other hand, the British people were as self-righteous as the British government, believing that the Chinese Navy would not dare to take the initiative to attack the British Imperial Navy, so it must have been Marin who was eager to take revenge and deliberately provoked the war.

If Ma Lin, who was in the concentration camp labor camp, heard the news, he would probably immediately vomit blood and hit the wall and die, and even if he died, he would be so angry that he would crawl out of the coffin.

Public opinion made the British government very embarrassed, and the sneak attack on others was destroyed by others without success, and the face of the British Empire was fed to the dogs.

"What does Klaus eat? Is he a pig? ”

"This can't be blamed on Klaus, the Chinese navy suddenly went south to protect overseas Chinese, which greatly exceeded our predictions, who would have thought that China, which has never regarded overseas Chinese as human beings, would react so quickly?"

At the Prime Minister's Office in Downing Street, the British cabinet members held an emergency meeting, and the defeat in the first battle was too demoralizing, especially at a time when the IQ of the British people was generally rising.

Prime Minister Palmston was furious and glared fiercely at Admiral Fraser, the Secretary of the Admiralty.

Fraser smiled: "Prime Minister, don't worry, although Marin is defeated." The loss of five warships will not be a burden on the Asian fleet, and Klaus still has more than twenty capital ships in his hands, which is more than the total number of the four major fleets of the Chinese Navy. Now it is only the two major fleets of the Chinese Navy that are heading south to Manila. We will only have to wait one more day for Klaus's good news to come back, and the people will forget about Marin's defeat. ”

Palmston frowned, "The Marin incident is secondary. The problem is that Manila is now occupied by the Chinese Shence Army, which is not a good thing, and in the future the sea lanes of our British Empire in and out of East Asia will be blocked. ”

Fraser still had a smiling face. said: "Your Excellency the Prime Minister does not have to worry, the Philippines is the heart of the Spaniards, and the Spanish royal family will definitely not give up." ”

Palmston asked rhetorically: "But the Spaniards have long been in decline, what do they use to fight the Chinese?" ”

At this point, Foreign Minister Henry took over the topic and replied: "The Spaniards are naturally not capable of that, but they will turn to us for help." Only the Spaniards bowed to us, and in the future, on the European continent, the French would no longer dare to develop their navy, and could only go all out to develop their army, guard against Spain and Germany, and form a new balance of power in Europe, then the empire would be easy. ”

However, Palmston was clearly not interested in containing France to maintain the balance of power in Europe, saying: "The focus now is on how to deal with the Chinese, who are no longer willing to be trapped in the coastal waters of East Asia, and intend to break out of East Asia to expand their sphere of influence in Southeast Asia, and once they gain a foothold in the Philippines, the interests of the empire in Southeast Asia will be severely challenged in the future." ”

Henry smacked his lips and said, "What then?" Is the empire going to send troops to the Philippines? Fighting the Chinese Shence Army on land seems to be a bit difficult. ”

As he spoke, Henry glanced at Admiral Harris, Secretary of State for War.

Harris felt Henry's gaze, and suddenly snorted coldly, "Does the foreign minister look down on our army so much?" ”

Henry sneered: "I have suffered two fiascos in a row on the battlefield of Songhu, and the Battle of Lower Burma is also a complete defeat, if you want me to look down on it, your army must also fight for its own strength!" ”

"What did you say!" Harriston stood up and glared at Henry, trying to punch him.

"Okay, what a noise! Sit down! Palmston commanded.

Harris turned to Palmston and pleaded, "Please allow the Imperial Army to go to war and take back the glory and dignity of the British Empire!" ”

Palmston and Henry looked at each other, and their hearts were full of joy, this was just a double play between the two, and the exciting Harris was fooled.

"General Harris, don't force it! Besides, the royals won't allow it! ”

"I've decided, I'll persuade the royals to agree!"

Harris has a close relationship with the royal family, and he insists on sending the army, and the royal family has no way to stop it.

This is the biggest obstacle for the liberals in Palmston, and if Harris clears it, then Britain's right-wing pro-war faction will have the upper hand and support Britain to go to war with China.

In fact, Palmston is overly concerned, as long as the truth of Marin's fiasco is exposed, then the British government in charge of Palmston can declare war on China regardless of whether the royal family prevents it or not.

Britain quickly convened parliament, albeit without detailed evidence of Marin's defeat, in order to go to war. Naturally, it is wrong to accuse China of being wrong.

Despite the opposition of the royal family, the parliament passed the decision to start a war against China by one vote, and this vote was cast by Harris and played a decisive role.

The council decided to let Klaus lead the main force of the Asian Fleet to Manila immediately, destroy the Chinese escort fleet to avenge the Marin fleet, and at the same time help the Spanish army regain control of Manila.

In fact, this is a prelude, and the Claus fleet has already started a war with the Chinese overseas Chinese fleet, but the British government is obviously a thief and has changed its excuse.

Now. The news of the battle between the Claus fleet and the Chinese escort fleet has not yet reached Britain, and the British do not know what their expression would be if they knew that the Claus fleet had been severely damaged by a 10,000-ton battleship under the condition of absolute superiority.

After a lapse of five years, the attention of public opinion in Europe and the United States has once again turned to Asia, and in a short period of 25 years, three large-scale wars have broken out in succession between Britain and China. Only the first of them was won by the Qing Dynasty, and the other two were all defeated by the New China.

Now, less than five years have passed since the Third Hippoi War, and war has broken out again between Britain and China.

And this time, who will win and lose, the whole country is highly concerned. Because this is not only a war between Britain and China, but also a direct confrontation between East and West.

Public opinion in the German Empire was jubilant, openly accusing British hegemonism and colonial aggression in the East of being the culprit, and hoping for an eventual victory for China.

Public opinion in Germany greatly annoyed the British. The Italians, however, supported Germany because, like Germany, the Kingdom of Italy was a new power that had just gained national unity.

It is a pity that the colonies of the whole world have been divided, and Germany and Italy want a piece of the pie. It has to be snatched from the traditional old powers, Britain, France, Spain and other countries. But Britain and France were too powerful, Spain was controlled by the Catholic Church, and neither Germany nor Italy dared to act rashly against Spain.

Therefore. When war broke out between Britain and China, Germany and Italy realized that the opportunity had come, and they hoped that China would win, which would weaken Britain's national and military strength.

"The time interval between the recent wars between Britain and China is very short, except for the first Yapian War, the remaining two Opium Wars and now the second war, there are only less than five years in between, this frequency can far exceed the Russian-Turkish War, I believe that even if Britain wins China, it will also decline from the world hegemony, which is an excellent opportunity for the great revival of our German Empire."

At the Reichstag of Germany, Prime Minister Bismarck expressed his views, and he was very happy to see that Britain and China would continue to fight.

"Do you mean we're going to take advantage of the opportunity to start another war?" Wilhelm I asked, he valued Bismarck very much, and it was because of Bismarck's methods that Germany won the Prussian-Danish War, the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War one after another, won large territories, and contributed to the unification of the German Empire.

Bismarck shook his head and said: "Not for the time being, because France did not participate in this war against China, if we want to annex Austria-Hungary, France, Spain, and Britain will not allow it, in this case, it is not good for us." ”

Puzzled, William I asked, "Then what do you mean?" ”

Bismarck explained: "I would like to make a trip to China to meet the legendary emperor of China, Li Weiguo, and I feel that there must be a lot to say between me and him, and this may give us the opportunity to rise to the German Empire!" ”

"You're going to see the Emperor of China? At this time? Britain has just started a war against China? Wilhelm I was even more puzzled.

But seeing Bismarck smiled: "Your Majesty don't worry, this is a political strategy, at this time Weichen visits China, the British are sure to be angry, but they will not go to war with the empire when they are at war with China, the British will only try their best to appease us, so that we can negotiate terms with the British, as long as we get the benefits we need." ”

William I's eyes lit up and he asked, "What good do we have?" ”

Bismarck thought for a moment and said: "In general, there is hope that the British will acquiesce to our annexation of Austria-Hungary, and in the future, Britain will allow the empire to open up some colonies overseas, such as the colonies of the German Empire in Africa, which must be nodded by the British." ”

"And!" Bismarck paused and continued: "I think the Chinese will think the same way as the British." Judging from the strategy of the Chinese emperor to export advanced weapons and equipment such as Gatling machine guns to the empire and France at the same time, the Chinese emperor also wanted to cause chaos in Europe and let the empire contain the energy of Britain and France. Therefore, the minister went to China this time. There may be a big harvest! ”

Wilhelm I was immediately very pleased and immediately approved Bismarck's plan.

However, if Bismarck wanted to visit China, he had to obtain permission from the Chinese government, so he had to send a special envoy to the Chinese Imperial Court for negotiations, and then after the Chinese Imperial Court issued a formal invitation, Bismarck could leave for China for a state visit.

The Germans' style was to carry out the decision immediately, and soon the German minister in China was notified by telegram, and through the minister in China, the request was submitted to the Chinese Imperial Court.

The Old Summer Palace, the Palace of Nourishing the Heart.

Li Weiguo was really worried about the war in Nanyang, so he had no intention of going to court. Stay in the Heart Cultivation Hall all day.

"Your Majesty, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Peilun, the director of the Imperial Court (Minister of Foreign Affairs), ask to see you!" The maid walked in and reported to Li Weiguo.

"Didn't you say that today's government affairs will be handled by the cabinet itself?" Li Weiguo frowned suddenly, but when he heard Zhang Peilun's three words, he still asked patiently, "What's the matter with him?" ”

The lady-in-waiting replied: "Lord Zhang said that the German Minister has just submitted an application, saying that the German Emperor Wilhelm I has greeted His Majesty and intends to send the Prime Minister to visit China, hoping that His Majesty can receive him. ”

"William I sent the Prime Minister to visit China? At this time? Wait a minute. Prime Minister, is it Bismarck? Li Weiguo was taken aback, Bismarck was a big man, a legendary boss of the entire nineteenth century. Iron Prime Minister. Even in Li Weiguo's time, he was a well-known figure.

"Call Zhang Peilun in!" Li Weiguo suddenly became interested, Bismarck's visit to China was an unprecedented event. If you can see this cow man. It's also a great joy in life. If you can talk to Bismarck about life, you will definitely benefit a lot.

"The right attendant of the Xuanli Department, Zhang Peilun, the head of the Li Fan Academy, is here to meet in the Heart Cultivation Palace!"

"The right attendant of the Xuanli Department. Zhang Peilun, the director of the Li Fan Academy, visited the Heart Cultivation Palace! ”

The place where Zhang Peilun was waiting was in the outer palace, and there was still some distance from the inner palace where the Heart Cultivation Hall was located, so the summons needed to be passed on one by one.

In the past, the palace was called by eunuchs, and Li Weiguo wanted to vomit when he heard the voice, so after ascending the throne, he dismissed all the eunuchs, and only the female guards were retained.

Li Weiguo listened to the screams of the female guards outside the hall, like the cry of a yellow bird, which was also pleasing to the eye, and it was a beautiful scenery.

However, Zhang Peilun was honest all the way and did not squint.

"The right attendant of the Ministry of Ministers and Rites, Zhang Peilun, the director of the Imperial Court, greets the emperor, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

I don't know when it started, Li Weiguo also likes others to call him long live.

This is human nature, and no one wants to live forever, even if it's just psychological comfort.

"Excuse me!"

Li Weiguo glanced at Zhang Peilun, thinking that this should have been Li Hongzhang's son-in-law, but now that Li Weiguo is doing this, Zhang Peilun doesn't have to cling to Li Hongzhang, he can be reused directly, and he doesn't know if he will become Li Hongzhang's son-in-law again, let alone whether Bingxin Ernie will be born.

Whenever he thinks of Bingxin Ernie, Li Weiguo also smiles bitterly, not knowing whether it is right or wrong for him to rewrite history.

Zhang Peilun truthfully reported Bismarck's mission to China to Li Weiguo, and Li Weiguo thought about it, and there were pros and cons to this.

You must know that Bismarck is a personal figure, and he must have taken the initiative to visit China for a purpose.

"You said that Bismarck made a sudden visit to China, what was his purpose?"

Zhang Peilun was originally from the Qingliu faction, was born in the imperial examination, was very talented, and was recommended by Li Weiguo to major in international relations and diplomacy at Danfu University.

Li Weiguo's original intention was to find a diplomatic wizard like Tang Shaoyi, but unfortunately Tang Shaoyi was still too young, so he could only let Zhang Peilun take on the role of foreign minister first.

Fortunately, Zhang Peilun still attaches great importance to this role, and he has done a good job.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Bismarck's visit to China at this time is nothing more than talking about Britain, maybe forming an alliance, maybe reaping some benefits."

"Do you want to talk about the British?" Li Weiguo touched his chin and thought. (To be continued.) )