Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert are smiling at a group of children running on the lawn in Buckingham Palace, the warm winter sun is faintly sprinkled on the lawn of Buckingham Palace, the Queen of England and her husband Prince Albert.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had a total of nine children, and today it is rare for the whole family to be together. Prince Albert has been in poor health lately, and Victoria has been by his side and has asked his children to come back for a while.

But the time of joy was short-lived, and soon several black carriages stopped outside Buckingham Palace, and after passing through the royal guard at the gate, several men wearing black tuxedos and top hats appeared not far from the Queen's family.

Albert recognized these men, Prime Minister Palmerston, Foreign Minister John Brown. Russell, Secretary of the Navy Marmos. White Ray, Chancellor of the Exchequer William. Yurt. Gladstone, Secretary of War Sydney. Herbert and the others, the last of whom was a stranger.

Seeing Palmerston arrive with several heavyweight cabinet members, Albert smiled at Victoria and said, "Go, they must have something very important to come to see you in such a hurry, I can do it with the children." ”

Victoria nodded gratefully, shook Albert's hand with her bare hand, and then leaned over and kissed Albert, then turned around and dragged Su Zi's long skirt towards a few people.

Seeing the queen coming, Palmerston and a few others hurriedly took off their politeness and bowed to the queen, and the queen bowed slightly to them: "Let's talk while walking, I don't want to go to the reception room to talk, it's rare that it's a good weather today." Isn't it? ”

Palmerston and the others followed Victoria along the tree-lined lanes of Buckingham Palace, and Victoria said, "Is it that Mr. Wittoma has returned to London?" Palmerston replied, "Yes." Her Majesty the Queen, this is Wittoma. ”

The stranger Albert didn't know was Wittoma. He stepped forward and bowed to the queen again, and Victoria said softly, "Good work, Mr. Wittoma, can you tell me more about the situation in the Far East?" Why did the heroic 18,000 soldiers of the British Empire suffer a shameful defeat? ”

Wittoma replied, although it was not the first time he had seen the queen, but it was the first time he had spoken to her so closely, and he began to tell the whole story of the whole event, at first he was a little nervous, but as the narration deepened, it became more and more fluid.

When Wittoma finished. When they came to a rest area, there were wooden tables and chairs on the grass, and Victoria did not react at all, but beckoned Palmerston and the others to sit down, and then the maid brought refreshments.

After taking a sip of tea, the queen said, "If the enemy had not resorted to a sneak attack, would our army have been able to defeat them?" ”

This question makes the Secretary of State Sydney. Herbert was a little embarrassed, and he carefully worded it: "Your Majesty, the Red Shirts are not afraid of any enemy, and I think we will be able to win the next encounter." ”

Wittoma shook his head inappropriately and said, "No offense." Her Majesty, I personally think that if the expedition were to be launched again, even if it could be won, Britain would pay a very heavy price. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom controls most of China's territory, with a population of nearly 300 million, and can mobilize more than one million troops......"

Palmerston interrupted him and said, "Mr. Wittoma. Needless to say, I would like to ask you to speak again if I need to. Wittoma blushed. Lowering his head, Palmerston turned his head and said, "Her Majesty." We have defeated Russia, which has many people, and compared to our Britain, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is still a backward and ignorant country, and we will surely be able to achieve victory, and then let them know that the British Empire cannot be insulted! ”

Victoria Jade stroked the edge of the teacup with her hand, and then asked, "What support does Your Excellency Prime Minister want to get today?" ”

Palmerston said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the debate between the two houses has not yet begun, and the public opinion seems to be very unfavorable to the expansion of the war, I hope that Her Majesty will be able to stand up and give a speech again, just like the speech you made in Parliament more than twenty years ago, and use your influence to promote the expeditionary force to go on another expedition." ”

Victoria glanced at everyone, lowered her head and said, "Everyone, I want to think about it alone for a while, you wait in the reception room for a while." Palmerston and the others stood up and bowed to leave, but Queen Victoria said, "Mr. Wittoma stays." Waituma stood aside, and Palmerston glanced at him, nodded meaningfully, and left with the others.

"Mr. Wei Tuma, can you tell us more about the deeds of the legendary leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, King Xi?" Victoria beckoned to Wittoma to sit back down and said, "I'm curious about this man, he dares to declare war with three of the most powerful countries in the world at the same time, he is either a madman or a genius. ”

After a sigh, he said: "Speaking of this His Excellency the King of the West, there are indeed many stories, when I first met him, I felt that he was different from other Qing people, he seemed rude, but he was extremely wise and calm, he was a legendary leader who grew up from actual combat, and the army under his leadership never suffered defeat......"

Wei Tuma began to talk about the character of the King of the West, Victoria interrupted from time to time, and finally even the deeds of the wife of the King of the West, Hong Xuanjiao, also came out, and finally Victoria asked curiously: "How old is this King of the West?" ”

Wei Tuoma was slightly stunned, and said with some embarrassment: "I heard that he is forty years old, but I don't know whether it is true or not, but his long military career makes him look like he is in his forties." Victoria smiled and said to herself, "If you were forty, you would still be a year younger than me." ”

While he was still a little stunned, Victoria asked, "Mr. Wittoma, do you support sending an expeditionary force to the Far East again?" ”

Although Wei Tuma remembered Palmerston's eyes just now, he still gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, emotionally speaking, I am very reluctant to see the defeat of the Empire's army, and I also very much want to take revenge on the people of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but intellectually speaking, expanding the war is not beneficial to the long-term interests of the Empire. It would take a great deal to send an expeditionary force again, and His Excellency the King of the Far East had already adopted the emergency system of war, and he had mobilized a large number of reservists to expand his army at any time, and it was conservatively estimated that his army could reach millions in a short time, and even if we sent 100,000 troops to the Far East, it would be difficult for us to achieve victory in a short time. ”

Victoria snorted and said, "His Majesty the Napoleonic Emperor of France said that China is a sleeping lion, and it seems that this lion has woken up now." By the way, compatriots in the Far East, what is their attitude? ”

"Your Excellency Ergin hopes that more troops will come to the Far East to wash away the humiliation, but the merchants do not want to expand the war, they want to be able to trade peacefully with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom......" At this moment, Wittoma said all the attitudes of the British in the Far East, and Victoria fell into deep thought.

Later, Victoria raised her head and asked, "How is the war between the Russians and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Far East going?" "In fact, since the end of the Far East conflict in the Crimean War, the Taiping army has not stopped the war with Russia in Northeast China, they occupy Sakhalin Island, Temple Street and other strongholds, often launch clearance operations along the Heilongjiang River, mainly to attack the settlements built by the Russians there, the Russian Far East Governor Muravyov did not have a very good way, the Russians suffered defeats in the Far East one after another, and now their Far East fleet no longer exists, and the strength and power have shrunk to the Nebuchu area, Unless Tsar Alexander II of Russia was willing to redeploy troops from within the country to the Far East, it would be difficult to turn the tide. ”

Victoria bowed slightly, and after silently reciting the name of Alexander II Nikolayevich a few times, a faint flush appeared on her face, although Queen Victoria was forty-one years old at this time, she was usually well maintained, and the years did not leave many traces on her face, she looked like a mature young woman in her thirties, and the flushed face added to her grace.

Seeing the appearance of Her Majesty the Queen, Wittoma's heart suddenly burst into mind, remembering that there were rumors among the people that Tsar Alexander II of Russia was the first love of Her Majesty the Queen, which seemed to be very reliable.

While Wittoma was thinking, Victoria got up and said, "Thank you, Mr. Wittoma, for your wonderful remarks, and let's go back to the reception room." Wittoma was slightly embarrassed, but he hurriedly bowed his head to cover his past, and followed the queen to the reception room.

When he arrived outside the reception room, he heard Palmerston and the others arguing fiercely inside, and Wittoma thought to himself that it seemed that the cabinet members were not monolithic, and there were many people who disagreed.

After the attendant pushed open the door, the room fell silent, everyone stood up and bowed, and the queen walked to the middle of the reception room and said aloud: "Ladies and gentlemen, the dignity of the British Empire must be defended with blood, and I support the opinion of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet that a strong retaliatory action must be taken against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!" ”

Hearing this, Palmerston and other cabinet members who supported the expansion of the war all had a smile on their faces, and then said to Her Majesty the Queen: "However, we must see the current situation clearly, the power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is very strong, we must deal with it carefully, in view of the fact that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, France and Russia are all in a state of war, I must remind the Cabinet and the Foreign Minister that you must seriously consider the possibility of uniting these two countries to act together, this is necessary and necessary, if the Foreign Minister and the Cabinet cannot reach a temporary understanding with Russia." , together with the Far East, then I will not be happy to go to the Congress to give any speech. If it were not for the unanimous consent of these two countries to send troops, I would not have approved of Britain sending troops alone! (To be continued......)