Downing Street, British Prime Minister's Office.

Representatives from the British Chamber of Commerce gathered to petition the government to reverse the unfavourable trade policy towards China.

Since the defeat of the Second and Third Elegant Films, Britain's trade with China began to run a large trade deficit, since the victory of the First Elegant Films War in 1840, the Elegant Tablets merchants led by the East India Company expanded their production on a large scale, planted millions of hectares of Elegant Tablets, dumped them in China for huge profits, and now China is completely prohibited from smoking, and the Elegant Tablets trade is illegal, resulting in heavy losses for British opium merchants, and countless people go bankrupt and jump off the building.

Originally, at the instigation of the East India Company, Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries blocked the waters of the Qizhou Ocean (South China Sea), blocked China's export trade, robbed passing Chinese merchant ships, and implemented counter-retaliatory measures against China's smoking ban, but it didn't take long for the British royal family and the bigwigs of the House of Lords to force the British Navy to abandon the Qizhou Ocean maritime operation and resume import and export trade with China in order to get China's special life-saving medicine.

The East India Company, a giant businessman, failed to regenerate the poison, so he led hundreds of Ya film merchants to instigate the entire British Chamber of Commerce members to put pressure on the British government, and bribed British public opinion to build momentum together, claiming that the huge deficit in import and export trade between Britain and China, the annual deficit of tens of millions of pounds has flowed into the pockets of the Chinese, and the cowardly British government is giving the hard-earned money of the British to the Chinese.

The British people were in an uproar, the defeat of the two Yapian Wars was not only the British government's facelessness, but the British people were also very ashamed, the dignified British Empire was invincible, and it was defeated by China, and it was defeated twice in a row, which made the British people embarrassed?

Under the influence of this general environment, the British people also began to support the Chamber of Commerce and put pressure on the British government.

Because the British royal family has obtained the import quota of Chinese special drugs (big and small pills), they earn a lot of gold and silver every year just by selling Chinese special drugs, and they have obtained huge benefits. Therefore, the attitude towards China is very friendly, especially during a severe cold of Queen Victoria, I feel almost dead, I recovered quickly after taking Chinese special medicine, and specially sent a telegram to express my gratitude to the Chinese Emperor Li Weiguo, in Sino-British relations, the British royal family and the Chinese royal family maintain good relations.

Now in the face of the accusations of British public opinion, the intervention of the British royal family has not worked, the conservative Prime Minister Earl Derby has been forced to resign, and the liberal Viscount Palmston has come to power. Take over as the new Prime Minister.

The liberals are radicals who advocate a tough foreign policy, and the main culprits behind the Yapian Wars are the British Yapian giants such as the East India Company.

Palmston convened an interim cabinet meeting and demanded that the government take measures to stop the trade deficit between Britain and China, which seriously affected Britain's import and export trade, and led to a large outflow of British wealth.

"If there is a deficit of 10 million pounds a year, in 20 years. The wealth accumulated by the British Empire for hundreds of years will all be given to the Chinese, and then we British will be destitute, not even as good as African blackboys! ”

This is a fact, and a trade deficit will seriously affect a country's overall national strength. Weakens wealth accumulation, which ultimately leads to the poverty of the country.

Historically, China has not been able to turn over for a hundred years, and the main culprit is the huge trade deficit brought about by the Yapian trade and the physical and mental poisoning of the people.

Now this kind of thing is reversed, and it is clear that Britain is not the Qing Dynasty. They won't sit still.

"So what do you want to do? Is there going to be a fourth commercial war? I thought that the royal family asked rhetorically that he did not want another war with China, which would affect his interests. Because he is one of the British distributors of Chinese special drugs.

Palmston replied, "I don't like the way of war to solve it, unless there is no way." I would suggest that China should be allowed to reinstate the legalization of the yapian trade, but apparently the Chinese emperor's anti-smoking attitude was so resolute and cruel that it would be difficult to persuade him by peaceful means. ”

"Legalization of the Ya Slice Trade? What kind of nonsense is this, no country will agree! Another royal lawmaker sneered.

"Didn't the previous Qing Dynasty agree?"

"Because the Qing Dynasty was too weak, we were forced to agree!"

"Then we'll just beat them again!"

"I think you're militants!"

"You don't understand, we are defending the honor and interests of the British Empire!"

"After losing two wars in a row, do you want to lose again?"

"Don't worry, we won't lose again this time!"

Conservatives and liberals immediately argued, and the two sides quarreled endlessly, turning the prime minister's office into a vegetable market in seconds.

It's a pity that the conservatives have stepped down, and the liberals are in power and have the absolute right to speak.

In the end, the liberals prevailed and advocated tough measures against China, not ruling out resorting to force.

However, conservatives also act as a counterweight to liberals to directly bypass parliamentary restrictions and take the initiative to wage war against China.

In the end, the result of the compromise between the two sides was that Britain could not take the initiative to provoke a war against China, but it could erect trade barriers and impose a 200% tariff on Chinese exports to the United Kingdom, in an attempt to reverse the trade deficit.

However, the liberals were not reconciled, and with the covert support of the Yapian giants, they quickly bribed the top brass of the British Royal Navy, instructed the British Royal Navy to carry out freedom of navigation operations in the coastal areas around China, deliberately provoked the Chinese Navy, tried to create a war pretext, directly kidnapped the British government, and dragged it into a state of war.

At the same time, British liberal politicians also lobbied the governments of Spain and the Netherlands, instructing the Netherlands and Spain to create incidents in the Dutch East Indies and the Spanish Philippine Islands respectively, provoking anti-Chinese incidents, and luring China to intervene and create conflicts.

Once the conflict escalates and war is inevitable, the liberals can wage war under the British constitution, even if conservatives oppose it.

The conspiracy of the liberals soon began to be implemented, and there were also a large number of Yapian merchants in Spain and the Netherlands, who actively cooperated with the actions of the British, and soon lobbied the Spanish and Dutch governments successfully, preparing to create anti-Chinese incidents in the Dutch East Indies and the Western Shu Philippines to provoke conflicts.

At the same time, the Suez Canal was opened, and the Royal Navy was finally able to reinforce Asia from Europe without having to detour to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, shortening the sea distance by half. It used to take half a year, but now it only takes three months.

In this way, the British Royal Navy no longer has to worry about the huge logistical supply pressure in the event of a war with China.

Thereupon. The British Royal Navy ordered the commander of the Asian Fleet, Claus, to carry out a "freedom of navigation" operation off the coast of China to carry out a war provocation.

Klaus was captured during the Battle of Songhu during the Third Yapian War, the greatest shame of his life, and he vowed revenge.

Immediately after receiving orders from the British Admiralty, Kraus transferred Marin from the Indian Ocean Fleet as his deputy, and ordered Marin to lead a fleet to the coast of China to carry out provocations.

Marin and Klaus are cellmates, both of whom were captured on the battlefield of the Battle of Songhu in the Third Yapian War, and were imprisoned together in a concentration camp, working hard all day long, forming a deep friendship. Definitely a good friend.

Receiving Klaus's order, Marin immediately led a fleet of five ironclads from Singapore to China.

At the same time, news of the opening of the Suez Canal reached the Forbidden City.

Li Weiguo immediately convened a meeting of the Imperial Palace, and officials from the six imperial ministries and intelligence departments were all present.

"Your Majesty, the Egyptian intelligence station has sent back news that the Suez Canal, built under the auspices of the French, has been opened, and the voyage from Europe to Asia has been cut in half. It used to take at least six months, but now it only takes three months. According to spy reports, the British government has secretly acquired a stake in the Suez Canal, but it has not been made public. Probably because he didn't want to provoke the French emperor and affect Anglo-French relations. Li Jing, director of the China S.H.I.E.L.D. bureau, gave a briefing to everyone on this matter.

Wu Yong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, immediately said: "The opening of the Suez Canal means that Britain, France and other countries will carry out expeditions to Asia again, and the pressure on logistics and supply will be greatly reduced. With the shortening of six months to three months, the risk of another war against China by the European powers will be greatly increased, and the empire should prepare as soon as possible. ”

It's natural. Li Weiguo had long predicted that the opening of the Suez Canal would become a critical point for the outbreak of war, and he had made a prediction in this regard five years ago, and the Imperial Navy's 15th Plan and 99th Fleet Proposal were to prepare for the possible outbreak of war in response to this event.

"Your Majesty's relationship with the British royal family has been good in the past two years, and war should not break out so easily!" Fu Xuexian, the head of the household, was a little nervous, he didn't want the war to break out, because the war was too expensive, and it was better not to solve it without war.

Li Weiguo was not too worried, but said with a smile: "Regardless of whether war will break out or not, the Imperial Navy's First Five-Year Plan is to master the sea supremacy in East Asia and the Western Pacific, and if Britain does not let go, then this war will be inevitable." ”

Li Weiguo said very clearly, whether it is the Sino-British economic and trade friction or the hatred of the three Sino-British wars, the strength of the Chinese navy is destined to control the sea supremacy in the waters around China, and the control of the sea supremacy in the western Pacific is only the basic demand for China's rising national strength, and if Britain does not agree, then it can only be solved by war.

Chen Jingnan, the secretary of the Criminal Department, agreed: "That's right, what Your Majesty said is very true. In fact, no matter how the relationship between the empire and Britain improved, it was all superficial, and there were no friends between countries, only interests. The rise of the empire is destined to challenge Britain's world hegemony, and Britain will not sit idly by and watch the rise of China, just as Britain will not sit idly by and watch the rise of the United States and destroy the United States in any way. War between China and Britain is inevitable, this is a fundamental implementation, do not have any luck mentality, otherwise you will suffer a big loss. ”

It's better not to spend too much money, it's not easy to be a household secretary, you need money everywhere!

Fu Xuexian suddenly smiled bitterly, and the last glimmer of hope in his heart was shattered.

Wu Yong said: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the Imperial Divine Strategy Army is fully prepared, as long as the British dare to provoke, they will know that we are powerful!" ”

Li Weiguo was still very confident in the Shence Army, but said: "The first two Yapian wars were only local wars at best, and as long as they won a major battle, it was enough to force the British and French powers to give up, because they had logistical supply difficulties and could not afford a full-scale war." But this time it was different, the Suez Canal was opened, and logistical supplies during the expedition were no longer a problem, so once a war broke out, it was likely to be a full-scale war, and all departments had to prepare for a full-scale war. ”

Wu Yong asked, "What does Your Majesty mean that a land war is also possible?" ”

Li Weiguo nodded and said: "I don't rule out the possibility of this, Tsarist Russia has lost the Far East, and will never give up, if our war with Britain is deadlocked, Tsarist Russia is estimated to take advantage of the fire to rob." In addition, after the unification of the empire, Tibet, Ili, Yunnan, Burma, Nanzhang and other regions all bordered the British colonies, and the possibility of British troops by land was not ruled out. ”

Zhang Xiaoliu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he almost jumped up happily, but fortunately, Wu Yong stopped him in time, otherwise he would have been reprimanded by Li Weiguo.

At this time, Chen Jingnan suddenly said: "There is still Japan to guard against, in recent years, Japan, with the support of Britain, has developed rapidly and greatly increased its national strength, and it is not ruled out that Japan will take the opportunity to send troops to Korea, Ryukyu, Taiwan and other places to contain the imperial energy." ”

Lin Jiyun added: "There is also the direction of the Qizhou Ocean (South China Sea), there is still a Lanfang country between the empire and the Netherlands that has not been resolved, and the Netherlands and Spain have helped Britain to make trouble in the Qizhou Ocean before, and if the war breaks out, it cannot be ruled out that the Netherlands and Spain will also be involved." ”

Li Hongzao, Li Hongzhang, Wang Kaitai, Zhou Fu and other officials looked at each other, their eyes full of surprise, they never thought that the surrounding environment of the empire was very complicated, and if they didn't do it, they would be beaten by a group.

Li Weiguo said with a smile: "If a newcomer to a company wants to mix, it will inevitably be excluded and difficult by the elderly, and the rise of a country will inevitably be suppressed by the old country, there is never an easy thing in this world, we just need to do our job well and deal with it calmly!" ”

"Your Majesty is wise!" The ministers responded in unison.

With psychological preparation, the Imperial Council went smoothly, mainly focusing on the military department and the household department. The Ministry of War is responsible for preparing for war, while the Ministry of Household mobilizes money and food reserves to support the military in the war at any time.

A week later, anti-Chinese riots broke out in the Spanish Philippines and the Dutch East Indies in Nanyang, and a large number of Chinese shops and homes were smashed and looted, and the Spanish and Dutch authorities turned a blind eye to them, and even secretly supported them, which soon escalated the situation and turned into a burning, killing and looting of the Chinese by the local aborigines, and a large number of Chinese were killed and injured.

Li Jing, director of the China S.H.I.E.L.D. bureau, rushed into the palace to meet Li Weiguo and inform him of what had happened in Nanyang.

"How can this be true? Is there no one in China who deceives me! ”

With a bang, Li Weiguo smashed the tea bowl in his hand, furious.

"Spread my will, the Shangshu of the Xuanbing Department and the right attendant of the Military Department will come to see me quickly!" (To be continued.) )