At Buckingham Palace in London, Victoria walks on the grass while she is followed by a man who walks side by side with her. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info But this man is not her husband Prince Albert, because in the whole of Britain, there is a person who can dare to walk side by side with Queen Victoria, and even has this qualification. But it was not her husband, Prince Albert, who was the Duke of Wellington.

The Duke of Wellington's status in the UK is almost unparalleled, not lower than the Queen of England, and even if Queen Victoria meets the Duke of Wellington, she must be respected like a father.

"Your Excellency the Duke, did you say that this time our Great Britain was calculated by this Chinese minister Xu Qing and completely entered into their plan?" Queen Victoria asked.

The Duke of Wellington shook his head and said, "Actually, if you want to say that it is a complete plan, then it will not be enough." Because in fact, anyone in England with even the slightest foresight will know that sooner or later the Russians will expand. The Russians are like a vicious wolf and will never have a time to be fed. Even if they stop expanding temporarily, it's just for digestion, and once they've digested it, they'll continue to expand. ”

"So Russia's expansion, in fact, is also expected by us. But what we didn't expect was that the Chinese actually came to stir up the situation. Since our war a few years ago, we have gained some benefits, but we are faced with pulling China into the big picture of the world. In fact, I think that the Chinese have no intention of interfering in our European affairs, let alone expanding on a large scale. But we launched a trade war, and the Chinese began to realize that they were a little behind the times, so they began to quickly keep up with our European footsteps. ”

"So, I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse to defeat China this time. Although we may be interested in that huge market, we are also faced with a huge empire joining this partition of the world, what will we do? What will happen to us in Great Britain is also a little difficult for us to predict. ”

The Duke of Wellington's meaning is obvious, that is, there is another person in this world who shares the cake, so of course, it may not be a good thing for several European countries to compete.

"Your Excellency, what should we do?" Queen Victoria asked.

The Duke of Wellington shook his head and said, "I don't know, we know too little about China." The world thinks that I am a famous general who defeated Napoleon, but in fact, the more I go to the top, the more senior the general, the more famous the general, in fact, the less courageous. I was able to defeat Napoleon back then, in fact, there was an element of luck, because Napoleon's intelligence transmission went wrong, so there was a problem with Napoleon's command. ”

"It gave me the opportunity to defeat Napoleon."

Queen Victoria hurriedly boasted: "Your Excellency, this is also your strength!" If a mediocre person is allowed to command, even if there is a chance, they will not be able to catch it. Isn't war all about luck? It's one thing to have luck, but whether you can catch it depends on the ability of the commander. So, luck doesn't mean you have to belittle your talents and achievements. ”

The Duke of Wellington also agreed: "Yes, but this is enough to show that accurate information is important to a general, or even a leader of a country." Now Your Majesty, you see, this Xu Qing knows too much about our Europe, and our Europe is as transparent as Xu Qing in front of him. ”

"But our understanding of China is almost zero! Even if some news is delivered, I don't know if it is the news that has passed through a few hands, and the credibility is very worrying! Ever since the Chinese Minister Xu Qing came, I have also started to study Chinese things. They have a famous saying called spreading falsehood. We've passed through so many mouths, and there's a bit of credibility, and I can't guarantee that. But Xu Qing knows us in Europe as well as if they were almost transparent. You say, where is the reason not to fail in a situation like ours? ”

Queen Victoria then asked, "Your Excellency, you mean to contain China. If we are in turmoil in Europe, then China can take the opportunity to watch in the Far East and then profit from it. In this way, we in Europe will inevitably gradually decline, but China will rise day by day, which is very bad for us, right? ”

The Duke of Wellington nodded and said, "Yes, that's right!" As Xu Qing said back then, the Qin State took advantage of the geographical location and the danger of Hangu Pass to successfully resist the attack of the Six Kingdoms. Today, China is in the position of a hegemon in the Far East, and no one can compete. But we are competing all over Europe, so the losses must be great. And we in Europe are far from the Far East, too far and too far. If you want to destroy China, it is impossible. Because if you want to destroy China, I don't think it's possible without a million troops. But the problem is that we in Britain can't muster an army of millions. The mobilization of a million-strong army is not a casual talk, and the whole of Europe cannot send a million-strong army to the Far East. The number of people is not a problem, but the logistical pressure is shocking! ”

"So, China has an advantage, we don't. But our disadvantage, China also does not have it, if we let them go on like this, I am afraid that our British will ......"

The Duke of Wellington was clearly expressing concern to Queen Victoria, and anyone with the slightest foresight would understand what would happen if China in the Far East was recuperating and developing while Europe was competing and fighting.

But Queen Victoria said: "However, it is impossible for us to send a large army to China, and the Crimean War with the Russians is about to break out, and we cannot go to China." Besides, a few years ago, our expedition to China was already an adventure, and I don't think that this time we will be as lucky as the last time. ”

The Duke of Wellington also has a headache, and in the case of insufficient development of science and technology, he wants to send a large army to China, which is simply a fantasy. No matter how arrogant the Duke of Wellington was, he didn't think that he could conquer China with tens of thousands of troops. The British are not so ignorant and stupid, because China is a civilized country, not the kind of Native Americans that can be compared. Whether a country has civilization or not, it makes a big difference!

Queen Victoria said again: "Your Excellency, I suppose we are not thinking about this, are we?" These things are too far away, and at most we can strategically contain China, and it is impossible for us to really attack. Let's talk about how to contain China's upcoming expansion, what do you think? ”

The Duke of Wellington had no choice but to agree, because the Duke of Wellington was also more than willing to do so. Even if he really wants to start a war with China, such a large space distance allows Britain to take advantage of it, but it is impossible to completely destroy China.

As for No. 49 Portland Street, Xu Qinghu Ling discussed things here.

"Lord Xu!" Hu Ling hurriedly greeted.

Xu Qing promised Hu Ling that he could come back once every half a month to act as a spokesman for this routine press conference, so Hu Ling is now back. Xu Qing knew that this Hu Ling meant something to him, but Xu Qing also used this practice to force her to study hard.

"Hu Ling, this time the British knew that I was influencing Russia this time, and then they broke out the Crimean War in advance." Xu Qing said.

Xu Qing told the Duke of Wellington what he said, as well as the ins and outs, and let Hu Ling judge.

Hu Ling thought for a while and said, "Master Xu, recently I studied law at Kangqiao University and studied international law. And since you have already seen through it, why didn't they deport you, and even our international students were not affected in any way? Since they have long known that sooner or later China will have ideas, why haven't they hurried to turn their faces? “

Xu Qing took the initiative to explain: "Hu Ling, you have to remember that the British Palmerston said, 'There are no eternal friends and enemies between countries, only eternal interests.'" This sentence actually explains the essence of state-to-state diplomacy, but in fact, it is nothing more than interests. For the sake of interests, it can be united, and the same for the sake of interests can be separated. ”

"For now, however, the British are thinking about Europe, not China in the Far East. Because of the distance of space, their technology is not enough to ensure that the army can fight fearlessly in the Far East. In that war a few years ago, the British used a strategy of tens of thousands of troops to directly cut off our Cao Yun, and they conquered Zhenjiang Province and cut off our route from the north and south of China. Forcing our court to take the initiative to negotiate peace with them is their tactic. ”

"But if we do it again, will our court be stupid enough not to protect Caoyun? If the British come again, and we protect the Cao Yun route, then it is not certain who will kill the deer! In the same way, the British also knew how lucky they were in this victory, and as long as they were a smart person, they would not have dreamed of a second chance so good. ”

However, Hu Ling still didn't understand and said, "Lord Xu, since the British have already guessed our thoughts, why don't they want to crack it?" ”

"Hehehehe, Hu Ling! Are you influenced by some of our domestic war novels, such as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms or something, and you think that the scheme can be easily cracked? In fact, these are not real schemes, and those tricks that come and go on the battlefield will never be the mainstream of real war. The ancients said that with the right fit, with the odd victory. But if this dangerous trick fails, it will definitely die in the end. In fact, in the real game between countries, in fact, everything is open. ”

"When Qin annihilated the Six Kingdoms back then, didn't the elites in the Six Kingdoms know the tactics of the Qin State? In fact, the Qin State is just making friends from afar and attacking closely, and then taking advantage of its geographical advantages, but do they have a way? There is no way, because there is actually no elite in the Six Kingdoms, but there is no way to take the method of the Qin State. Even if Qin Guo laid out all the strategies to tell you, you would not be able to crack it. That's the biggest advantage, and that's what we have today. ”

"Even if I told these Europeans what we thought, they wouldn't have the slightest idea. Because unless the whole of Europe is completely merged, it is impossible to compete with China at the top. However, this European country, each with its own ghosts, cannot really come together. So few people who mix internationally are stupid. In international diplomatic strategy, we pay attention to the above board and righteous conspiracy, and it is very difficult to mix up such things as conspiracy in the international community. ”

Hu Ling then asked: "Lord Xu, do you mean that in international diplomacy, because the interests of each side are basically fixed? The interests pursued by each party are basically predictable and will not be easily changed. In such a situation, the other party's every move, in fact, even if you want to hide it, you can't hide it. In the international arena, the political talents of all countries are among the best, and it is impossible to hide them from anyone. So at the end of the day, even if we make our plans public, it's not really that big. ”

Xu Qing nodded and said, "Very good, you are very smart." Actually, they guessed earlier than I expected, but it didn't affect our plans too much. The game between countries is actually complicated, but it is also very simple. The simplicity is that everyone comes and goes, there will be no conspiracy to say, everything is open. But the complication is also that all kinds of things affect the whole body, and there are many things to consider. Politics, economy, culture, strategic pattern, geographical location, etc., must all be taken into account, and a little movement will eventually change the entire pattern. It's not that easy to break the game, so we don't have to worry about anything. ”

"Even if Europe wants to be our enemy of China in the future, it will have to consider a priority. Although I know very well, and the British probably know very well, that China will inevitably have a rivalry with Britain in the future. But the key is this order, we have a mess in China, and they also have a lot of bad things in Europe. It is impossible for the two sides to take the initiative to start fighting until they settle their own bad things. Britain's first opponent was Russia, followed by France and Prussia, and we were only able to finish third or even further. ”

"This order is doomed to make it impossible for them to know our international strategy. Now, I guess they are thinking about how to strategically contain our ways of expanding China. I think I can guess what method they will use. ”