Dragging the British into the quagmire of the Boer guerrilla war was Liang Hong's intention. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info But in Britain, there are people who have a similar idea to him, but against the Americans.

In the spacious meeting room of the Foreign Office in London, some of today's most powerful people are deliberating on world-changing decisions.

The 68-year-old Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, has formed a cabinet for the third time to become Prime Minister, and at the same time serves as Foreign Secretary. The Prime Minister refused to stay at the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street, so he chose to live on Arlington Street to work in the Foreign Office. Only this time it was simple enough, and he directly gave up the official residence at 10 Downing Street to his nephew Arthur Balfour, the leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons.

In addition to the nephews, there were colonial ministers Joseph Chamberlain, War Secretary Marquess Lansdowne, Second Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Michael Hicks Beechcraft, and Permanent Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Sir Thomas Sanderson. The second Chancellor of the Exchequer is actually the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, and it is customary for the first Chancellor of the Exchequer to be concurrently held by the Prime Minister.

"On the Philippine side, indigenous leader Aguinaldo announced the formation of a government, and the United States is already secretly negotiating with Spain, hoping that Spain will transfer the Philippines in its entirety and make it a U.S. colony in Asia."

Sanderson introduced the situation in Asia, especially the Asian theater of the Spanish-American War, the focus of the world's attention.

"Well, this will be the beginning of a parting of ways between Americans and Native Asians."

The elderly prime minister tapped lightly on the arm of his chair and turned his head to look at the treasurer, "The Treasury can list a separate secret fund, under any name, and this money will be earmarked for the empire's cause in the Philippines." ”

Beach is the prime minister's direct in the Conservative Party, and he knows the so-called cause in the Philippines, and there is no doubt about it. But Chamberlain and the Marquis de Lansdowne were different. Chamberlain, the leader of the Radical Party and a political ally of the Conservatives, and the Marquess of Lansdowne, who defected from the Liberal camp, knew almost nothing about it.

"Is the prime minister ready to fight the Americans?"

Chamberlain asked, although diplomacy was not the duty of the colonial secretary, as a one-party leader, his relationship with a major power such as the United States was enough to affect the cornerstone of bipartisan cooperation. Chamberlain was originally a member of the Liberal Party, and Liberal Prime Minister Gladstone submitted the Irish Home Rule Bill to Parliament in order to win votes for the Irish people in the general election. Chamberlain resigned as foreign trade secretary in anger, led the Radical party who supported him to form a Liberal coalition faction, and allied with the Conservatives to force Gladstone to step down, which eventually led to the collapse and decay of the historic Liberal Party.

"No, the United States is just our competitor, but it shouldn't be an enemy." The Marquis of Salisbury said firmly, "Britain will remain strictly neutral in the war between the United States and Spain, and we would love to see an America mired in a colonial war." ”

The war waged by the United States with Spain was universally condemned in Europe, and only Britain expressed good faith and neutrality in opposition to its previous confrontation with the United States. Aguinaldo, an indigenous Filipino leader, absconded to Hong Kong when he was hunted down by Spanish colonial forces on his homeland, and only returned to mainland last month on a U.S. warship with the help of the British.

"This fund will be used to arm the indigenous Filipinos. Of course, the weapons were smuggled by unscrupulous traders, and the price had to be very cheap so that the natives could afford them. ”

After coming forward to explain, Balfour smiled maliciously. He is the nephew of the Prime Minister, but he is also a 50-year-old old man, and has been in the Conservative Party as an assistant to the leader. There are some words that cannot come out of the mouth of the prime minister, and when they are transmitted to the outside world, they will represent the British national policy, and he has a tacit understanding with his uncle in this regard.

Balfort once served as the Governor of Ireland and was called "the cruel Balfort" by the Irish, and during his rule in Ireland, he used both hard and soft measures, effectively dividing and strangling the Irish national elements, and then became famous in Britain. In this respect, he and Chamberlain shared a common language. Balfort was not only an iron-fisted governor, but also a man of great eloquence, a timid and skilful polemicist in the House of Commons.

"Fitzmaurice, how's Kitchener going?"

The Prime Minister then asked the War Secretary, the Marquess of Lansdowne, that British titles could be hereditary, and his real name was Petty Fitzmaurice. Many British historians consider the Marquess of Lansdownne to be one of Britain's greatest sinners, no less guilty than Joseph Chamberlain's son, the appeased Prime Minister Chamberlain Jr., who started World War II.

"Kitchener defeated Osman Dinga in April and has reached the Atbara River, and the latest news is that the army led by King Abdullah Caliph of the Sultan has been defeated and is preparing to march on the capital city of Omdurman."

Horatio Herbert Kitchener was a British Army general who became Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army in 1892 as a British. To advance into Sudan, a 350-kilometre railway was built through vast expanses of desert to Abu Hamad at the southern end of the Nile. A 200-kilometre railway was then built along the Nile to Berber. Although the counterattack on Sudan was entirely a military operation of the British Empire, it was in the name of the Egyptian government, and all military expenses were borne by the Egyptian government. From 1896 , Kitchener led the LinkedIn army up the Nile and conquered the city of Sudan.

"Kitchener was a good general, and as he said, the war with Mahdia was primarily a matter of transport. Now it's time to reap the fruits, we just need to be patient and wait to appreciate the flowers of victory. ”

The Marquis of Salisbury did not hesitate to praise Kitchener for accomplishing all this, and of course the wreath of victory was not to be worn on his head. But at this time, he was not here to show off.

"Now a lot of people are looking at South Africa, but it's North Africa. The Boers of the Transvaal were nothing more than clowns, and the real trouble was the French. ”

He walked over to the map hanging on the wall, and moved his finger along the Nile River in Sudan, eventually landing on the southern border with the French colonies.

"The matter of South Africa, important but not urgent, is it difficult that the Boers of Lanzvaal still dare to take the initiative to attack the British Empire? The matter in Sudan is important and urgent, and we must remain strong enough to deter the French. They must not be allowed to have room for their romantic nature to imagine freely, and at critical moments, they must show the courage and strength to fight another Napoleonic war. ”

"The French can be pinned down by the Germans, they are feuds, and I think Germany will be willing to ally with the British."

Chamberlain had always advocated an alliance with Germany, and his son was also friendly to Germany, and it was not known whether the women in their family had German ancestry. As an ambitious politician, his eyes have always been on the position of prime minister, and the redesign of foreign policy is the best breakthrough.

"No, Joseph, France can be our partners, but the Germans will certainly become our enemies."

Balfour stood up again, "The French already have a lot of colonies, which are equivalent to wolves that have been fed, and now the French are thinking more about how to lend out the money in the bank of Paris at a higher interest." The Germans, on the other hand, had few colonies, but they were disproportionately powerful, and they were all day long thinking about how to grab colonies from others. They are hungry wolves and even dare to snatch meat from the mouths of lions. Whoever has the most colonies, of course, is our British Empire. ”

"We are fish in the sea, fish that swim freely, we can pounce on them when there are schools of fish, and we can avoid them when there is a storm." The Marquess of Salisbury famously isolated in interpreting his foreign policy. But this foreign policy has been increasingly challenged and questioned both at home and abroad, even by his nephew.

"Our British Empire is strong enough that we don't need to be allied with anyone, but that doesn't mean we let the world go. It's good that Germany and France are rivals, we don't take sides between them, but we can quietly change the balance. ”

With that, his hand began to wander the map again, this time pointing to the far east, an ancient country that occupied a large part of the space.

"The Qing emperor there was preparing to work hard to follow the example of neighboring Japan. A controllable Qing state that is stronger than it is now meets the needs of this balance change. The Qing should not be a fat in the eyes of Russia, but a fence to keep the drooling tsar back to Europe. Let the Russian wolf stand behind Germany, and together with the old lion of France, watch over the restless leopard. ”