In London, England in 1861, due to the development of industry and the use of a large amount of coal, the air in London was very polluted, in the words of later generations, that is, PM2.5 exceeded the standard, and this is a typical temperate oceanic climate, and the wind is not strong, so it is often foggy, and it has become a well-known fog capital.

In this foggy city of London, the most powerful place is undoubtedly Buckingham Palace.

In fact, Buckingham Palace was not the highest power center in Britain before, and was once used as an imperial memorial, art gallery, office and treasury. However, since Queen Victoria's accession to the throne, it has been officially the royal palace of the British royal family, and since then, the queen has summoned the prime minister, ministers, received and entertained foreign guests and other important events here.

In 1861, the supreme ruler of Buckingham Palace was undoubtedly Queen Victoria, but what outsiders didn't know was that Queen Victoria was not as keen on power at this time as she was later, and her previous series of decisions were made by her husband, His Royal Highness Prince Albert.

Prince Albert was originally a German prince, and Queen Victoria was his cousin.

Initially, Albert was very restricted, and his status was only the queen's consort, with no other corresponding powers or duties, and all rights were vested in the queen.

However, due to Queen Victoria's favor, and the fact that Prince Albert had shown a series of outstanding political talents, such as the implementation of educational reforms, the abolitionist movement around the world, the management of clan affairs and the Queen's office, etc., these opinions were very much to the Queen's appetite, so the Queen's love for him became deeper and deeper, and her opinions on him were almost obedient.

According to historical records, from 1842 onwards, Queen Victoria began to worship her husband unprincipledly, and obeyed his every word. No matter whether it is good or bad, they all listen to their husbands, and in this way, as time goes by, the power of this Prince Albert has become more and more powerful, and he has simply become the male version of Wu Zetian.

Historically, Queen Victoria, after his death, always said what Albert would have done if he had been in trouble. What decisions he will make and so on.

It can be said that in the Victorian era before Prince Albert's death, almost all the decisions of the British Empire came from this Prince Albert, and Queen Victoria was more of a mouthpiece, using her status to carry out Prince Albert's ideas.

Even after the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria did things according to the personality characteristics of the prince during his lifetime to continue the prince's policy of governance, and because of this, many people said that Prince Albert was the uncrowned king of the United Kingdom.

Perhaps it was because of Queen Victoria's decentralization. Prince Albert assumed the role of king, and from 1857, when he was officially crowned a prince, all the major affairs of the state were sent directly to him. It is no longer necessary to pass through Queen Victoria, who has since devoted more energy to educating her children.

Just like now, Prince Albert is in his room as always. These texts are all important texts related to all aspects of the empire.

Just then, suddenly the waiter came in and told him. Viscount Palmerston asked to see him.

The so-called Viscount of Palmerston is actually the third generation of Viscount Palmerston. Temple, who is currently the prime minister of the United Kingdom, has always been known for his radical diplomacy.

For this person, in fact, Prince Albert didn't like it, but he knew that this viscount's talent was still good, so he didn't lean too much in his political position, and he didn't oppose it because he hated it, but adopted many of his correct opinions, of course, not everything agreed.

For example, although Prince Albert did not like the previous Jianyì, who had helped the Russians to attack China, he had to agree to this matter because the Viscount of Palmerston insisted on doing it, and persuaded most of the people, and it seemed that the interests were indeed very good.

Now calculate the time, the Russian expeditionary fleet should also have a reply, could it be that this prime minister is here today for this?

Sure enough, when Prince Albert summoned Henry. After Temple, he said exactly what he said, but the result surprised him considerably, because the mighty expeditionary fleet was completely destroyed.

"You mean that the Chinese fought a naval battle and completely annihilated the Russian expeditionary fleet?" Prince Albert was surprised, "Even our fleet has been sunk or captured?" ”

"Yes, Your Highness." Henry. Temple nodded, "I'm reluctant to admit it, but it seems to be the truth. ”

With all said and done, Henry. Temple took out a stack of photos and a large envelope and sent it over: "Your Highness, you see, these photos are said to have been taken at the Chinese's Shanghai dock, these photos are very exquisite, and they are very clear, plus these things are sent by our minister, and he also sent his handwritten letter to explain this matter, so it should be no problem." ”

"Oh." Prince Albert first looked at the photographs, which were high-resolution color photographs, and captured almost every aspect of the surrender ceremony on the pier.

Not to mention anything else, at least he knows the dejected British generals in the photo, and he will definitely not admit his mistake.

This stack of photos is very thick, and after looking at many photos in a row, he smiled first: "I have to say, these photos are really good, much stronger than our color photos, who took them?" ”

Yes, color photographic technology actually appeared during this period, but it was still quite primitive, and the principle was to use red, green, and blue negatives in the three primary colors to photograph separately, and then superimpose them, which is called additive color.

Color photographs with this method lack clarity and poor color saturation, and are even inferior to oil paintings.

But these photos are different, these photos almost perfectly present the scene at that time, even every detail is presented, so looking at these photos is like looking at the scene.

"It's Chinese, Your Highness."

"Chinese? Did I hear me right? ”

"You heard it right." Henry. Temple nodded sternly, "It's hard to believe, but these photos were indeed taken by Chinese, at least so far, this is the most realistic photo I've ever seen." ”

"Oh." Looking at a few more photos, Prince Albert sighed. Putting down the photo, "So, you're here to sue me for this?" The Russian fleet we helped failed? Annihilated by China's navy? ”

"It's more than that." Henry. Temple shook his head, "Actually, I also brought here a handwritten letter from the newborn Chinese Emperor, which is said to be addressed to His Highness and the Queen, and only the two of you can read it. ”

"Oh? A letter from the Emperor of China? Prince Albert was slightly surprised, "Are you sure my name is in it?" ”

"I'm sure, Your Highness." Henry. Temple nodded, "According to our minister in China. The Chinese Emperor knows a lot about you and the Queen, not only explains in detail the family situation between you and the Queen, but even knows about your recent gastrointestinal problems, and wants me to convey my greetings to you. ”

"That's weird." Prince Albert frowned instead, "How could the Chinese Emperor know so much about my affairs?" ”

"The Chinese emperor also said this." Henry. Templel said, "I heard that there were people who sued him, and these people were an organization, and they were widely stored among Europe. Not only is it widespread among our ministers, but even in your palace, it is the eyeliner of these people. ”

"Well, that's a matter of being strict." Prince Albert nodded solemnly. "Looks like we need to clean up."

"I think so too, Your Highness." Henry. Temple said, "But before that. Please take a look at the letter first, and then we will discuss the contents of the letter. ”

"What, you saw it in advance?" Prince Albert frowned.

"Of course not." Henry. Temple shook his head. "You see, the wax seal on it is intact, and it is the seal of the emperor of China."

"Then how do you seem to know the contents of the letter?"

"Of course, it was the Chinese emperor who sued me." Henry. "In fact, the Chinese emperor wrote me a letter to analyze things and persuade me to agree to his plan, so I guess his letter to you is similar to the letter to me." ”

"Oh." Prince Albert nodded, "Then I'll read the contents of the letter first, you can have some tea here first, and wait a while." ”

"Yes, Your Highness." Henry. Temple nodded, and then sat down with the old god there, and slowly drank the black tea offered by the waiter.

By this time, Prince Albert had opened the envelope and found that it contained some long letters, in addition to many color photographs of the same material as the previous ones.

This time, however, Prince Albert did not look at the photo first, but read the letter first.

The content of these letters was typed out by Li Yongji first, and then asked Zhang Xinda to find someone to translate them into English, which was also printed out by a printer, so the fonts were all standard printed in English, which looked exceptionally clear.

The content of the letter is very simple, that is, to tell him that the American Civil War is an opportunity, and it is better to take this opportunity to intervene in the American Civil War and divide the United States into two countries.

In order to persuade him to agree to the British exhibition, Li Yongji listed many figures in the letter, all of which were the population of the United States in each year from 1840 to 1860, pig iron production, GDP development rate, geographical location and other factors, so as to illustrate the development potential and development speed of the United States.

He then lists the national figures of Britain from 1840 to 1860 to contrast it.

In this comparison, it is clear that although Britain is developing rapidly, the United States is developing faster, and the further it goes, the faster the United States will develop.

In other words, although Britain now surpasses the United States in terms of economic aggregate and steel production, it has fewer people and resources than the other party, and in time, the United States will surely surpass Britain.

According to Li Yongji, the United States is a vast country, rich in resources, and strategically located, far away from war-torn Europe, and a dominant power in North America; if the United States is allowed to develop, within 100 years, the United States will grow into a giant and thus oust Britain from the position of global hegemon and become a new empire on which the sun never sets.

At that time, with the long-standing evil feelings of the United States towards Britain, I am afraid that it will counterattack Europe, and at that time. There is no country in Europe that can compete with the rising United States, and can only become a colony of the United States.

Although this is a bit alarmist, many of the numbers in it are real, and it is easy to believe these things at a glance.

Later, Li Yongji said that because of its unique geographical location, the United States will be a huge threat to the world in the future, so for the sake of world peace, it must intervene in the United States in advance and divide the United States into two. In this way, the power of the United States as a whole was weakened, and the southern federation was mainly a plantation economy, which could provide Britain with cheap raw materials and a dumping market for products, and in time it would not be impossible to become another Canada.

In addition, if Britain does not agree to intervene in the United States, China itself will intervene in the American civil war, for which Li Yongji has already prepared in advance. A large number of troops were conscripted, and the army alone numbered 500,000 men.

That's right, in Li Yongji's letter, he said that he would send half a million troops to the United States. All of them were modern armies equipped with foreign guns and artillery, and for this purpose, the British only needed to transport people there.

Not only that, but in order to show sincerity. Li Yongji said that he would also drive the expedition himself, which means that he himself would also participate in this expedition, so the sincerity is full. It depends on the attitude of the British.

If the British agree to cooperate, everyone will get rich together, and if they don't, then China itself will send more navies over, in short, it must make the southern alliance independent, even if it adds another 500,000 troops to this end.

As for those photos, they are the photos of the officers and soldiers of the selected expedition to the United States, the photos were all taken on the Tianchao Gate of the Heavenly King's Mansion, and judging from the photos, there are densely packed soldiers neatly arranged in the square below, and if you look at the heads, 500,000 people are still reliable.

What is surprising is that these 500,000 people are holding uniform Sharps rifles, that's right, the kind of breech-loading rifled Sharps rifles! This is an advanced rifle that has received a lot of praise in the UK!

In addition to people and guns, there are also scenes in the photo that are dedicated to shooting arsenals.

According to the images in those photographs, the dense cannons in the arsenal are terrifying at first glance, at a cursory glance there are at least more than 10,000 cannons, almost all of them Napoleonic cannons.

When he saw this, Prince Albert had already taken a breath, but when he looked back, he was even more surprised.

Because in the back, there is a huge airship, and the airship is suspended in the air for about 50 meters, which forms a sharp contrast with the people and houses below, which can be said to be a very obvious reference, which highlights the huge size of the airship.

And behind the airship photo, there is a photo of a warship, the photo shows a mysterious military port, and the dock inside is lined with densely packed armored ships, at a cursory glance, there are at least more than forty armored ships!

There is also a British ship next to these ironclad ships as a reference, and this British ship he knew at a glance that it was the "Warrior" ironclad, and he personally participated in this ship when it was launched, so he was deeply impressed, and he would definitely not admit it.

But even the largest ironclad ship, the Warrior, in front of these Chinese armored ships, is like a dwarf meeting a Hulk, a pitiful little one.

Looking down further, there was a scene of more than forty armored ships firing together, and the flames of the guns were clearly visible, and after seeing this, Prince Albert's hands couldn't help but clench, and he could hardly speak.

Further down is some of the aftermath of the shelling, where the shelling was a pothole, and similarly, there are references in these craters, which are the people and horses who appear next to these craters.

A comparison of the people and horses shows that the craters are more than 20 meters in diameter!

After seeing this, Prince Albert was really frightened, and he had no doubts about the authenticity of the photo, after all, this is a photo, not an oil painting, it can only be a real picture, but he didn't know that the photo was fake.

That's right, these photos are real and fake, except for the 500,000 soldiers who are real, the airships that are real, the Sharps rifles that are real, and the British armored ship "Warrior" that are real, the others are more or less retouched fakes, especially those vicious-looking Chinese armored ships, which are 100% fake.

The purpose is very simple, that is, to intimidate, to scare people.

"Well, now I finally know why the Russians failed." After looking at these photos, Prince Albert exhaled, "In the face of such an army, unless God favors it, there is no reason not to fail." However, my only question is, where did the Chinese get these weapons? It can't really fall from the sky, right? (To be continued......)