"Raise the ante?" The Earl of Liverpool frowned slightly, "George, let's be clear, who are we going to bet on?" What to bet on? ”

George. Canning said word by word: "Prime Minister, we have to bet with Daming!" Bet on the hegemony of the world! ”

"Now?" The Earl of Liverpool looked at George. Canning, "You really think it's a good time?" Our economy is in crisis, and our finances are in a difficult situation! ”

George. Canning said: "Prime Minister, the problem now is not that we want to bet, but that Da Ming has begun to tentatively bet." They first came up with the '1,000-ship plan' to challenge our maritime supremacy, and then they instigated Daikin to enter Afghanistan and attack Peshawar! The hegemony of the British Empire in the West has been challenged, and now the whole world is watching us, and if we show even a little weakness, the Ming may be able to win without a fight...... The Ming Empire is not the Napoleonic Empire, the Ming Empire is more powerful than the Napoleonic Empire, her production, technology and financial resources have always been the first in the world, and she is definitely qualified to lead the whole world! And with the advent of 10,000-ton giant ships, telegraphs, and telephones, the world we live in is already possible to be dominated by a super power! ”

Although the British Empire claimed to be the world hegemon after the Napoleonic Wars, in fact she only dominated about half of the world, and the Ming Empire and her vassal states plus the Western Pacific and the North Pacific, as well as the Rakshasa and the Golden Kingdom plus the Arctic Ocean coast, were never under the hegemony of the British Empire.

And because the Ming Empire has always been ahead on the road to industrialization, her national strength has always been stronger than that of the British. In the past, the reason why it did not compete with the British Empire for hegemony in the world was, in the eyes of British politicians, because the centralized system pursued by the Ming Empire could not effectively govern the land on the other side of the ocean.

But this "inability to govern effectively" was based on the conditions of transportation and communication before the advent of steamships and telephones and telegraphs. In that era when long-distance voyages were basically dependent on the wind and communication was basically based on roaring, the rigid centralization of power was certainly unable to compete on the other side of the ocean with the concession trading companies that combined the strengths of the feudal and capitalist systems.

But the advantages of the chartered trading company over the centralization were lost with the advent of steamships and the telephone and telegraph...... In fact, the British East India Company has now been transformed by the government and parliament of the British Empire into a governor's house directly under the orders of London. And under the command of London, the East India Company also gradually strengthened its centralization in India!

In recent years, more and more Indian lands were directly governed by the East India Company, and the power and territory of the princely princes gradually shrank, and a large number of princes who lost their land became "vase princes" who received fixed annuities, and the "feudalization" of India itself was also changing to "centralized power".

So, the British Empire had actually shown the Ming Empire how to govern a colony far from its homeland, with a vast territory and a large population, in a centralized manner.

George. "If we had chosen to be weak and retreat, the Ming Empire would have been able to use its industrial prowess to crush our fearless Royal Navy under its feet, and at the same time expel the East India Company from India by propping up the Great Golden Empire to fight a proxy war in India," Canning said. When we lost the superiority of the Navy and the Indian colonies...... Our empire will cease to exist, and the Ming Empire will step on the corpse of the British Empire to reach the top of the world! ”

The Earl of Liverpool lowered his tone: "George, don't worry, this will not happen...... As long as I live, I will not allow those Orientals to climb on the head of our British Empire! ”

George. Canning also gritted his teeth and said, "Me too...... As long as I still have a breath of air, I will fight to the end with the Eastern Empire of the Ming Dynasty! ”

Hearing the statements of the two, the ministers present all frowned.

These two are determined by a lot!

But they are in poor health!

The Earl of Liverpool suffered from a serious cardiovascular disease, and his doctors had long advised him to retire. And George. Canning is a sick man, his body is very fragile due to long-term drug abuse, and he also suffers from severe rheumatism, which is crooked all day long.

The Foreign Secretary and Majority Leader of the House of Commons, George Brown, who does not feel that his time is numbered. Canning took another sip of tincture and began to talk energetically about his "gambling plan", he said: "The Jin soldiers' sneak attack on Peshawar and the Ming Dynasty's 'Thousand Ships Plan' are just temptations before the Ming Empire takes a big gamble...... I'm just trying my luck, and if I feel that it doesn't work, I'm likely to retract it. Anyway, their lives are not unbearable, and there is no need to gamble their lives.

The success of the Jin soldier's sneak attack on Peshawar shows that Da Ming is now in good luck, so it is very likely to increase the bet! And with the cautious style that the Ming Empire has always had in the past, she will raise the stakes little by little. If we bet at her pace, then a big bet for world domination will be split into many small bets, and Da Ming has better luck and more bets, if a small bet, she will win more and lose less, and she will have the last laugh.

So we can't bet at their pace and gamble big...... Nor is it in our interest. Because the winning chance is not very big, the real best strategy now is to put on a posture of high gambling and let Daming retreat timidly! ”

This George. Canning is clearly a master gambler!

The situation of this "world gamble" has been analyzed very thoroughly.

Daming is lucky and has a lot of bets, so there is no need for a stud, as long as you make a small bet, it is certain to win more and lose less in the end.

And the British luck back bet is small, you have to follow the rhythm of the Ming Dynasty to bet, and you must lose it all in the end! But the stud doesn't necessarily win...... Da Ming's luck is obviously better than Da Ying!

Therefore, the next policy of Great Britain is a "small bet", and the middle strategy is a "big gamble" - a life and death! And the real best strategy is to "pretend to gamble" to scare off the Ming Dynasty, that is, "not to gamble".

Listened to George. Canning's analysis, the ministers present felt that their eyes lit up.

"George," asked Robinson, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who thought he was going to spend the last penny in his pocket, "how should we scare off the Ming?" ”

George. Canning smiled and said, "If we want to fight back, then we should use the battlefield as the main stage and the negotiating table as the secondary stage." And who we want to scare back, of course, we should use negotiation as the primary means and military action as the secondary means.

Therefore, we will start from two aspects: one is to take tough measures on the battlefields of Peshawar and Afghanistan, and put on a posture of fighting to the death......"

As he spoke, he glanced at the Duke of Wellington, who had accepted the post of Viceroy of India, but had not yet taken office.

The Duke of Wellington said, "Hugh. Major General Gough had already gone to Mardan in person, where he was directing the troops to counterattack Peshawar...... At present, Lord Amestad has mobilized thousands of men for the counteroffensive, and thousands more Sikh troops will soon arrive in Mardan. ”

George. Canning turned his attention to Secretary of the Admiralty, Robert Murphy. Pierre.

Robert. "Earl Nelson has assembled a formation, including a monarch-class, and will depart for Japan within a week. ”

George. Canning nodded and said to Prime Minister Jenkinson: "Prime Minister, I propose that King Louis XVII of France come forward to convene a Versailles Naval Peace Conference...... Invite the Ming Dynasty, Rakshasa, Daikin, Austria, Prussia, Spain, the United States, Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and, of course, us to discuss the naval arms race! ”

"Invite so many countries?" The Prime Minister asked.

"Yes," said George. Canning smiled, "Except for Daikin who is likely to support Daming, all other countries, including the Rakshasa Country, will stand with us on the issue of naval arms control...... Because no one wants the Ming Dynasty to dominate the world, this will not only destroy the existing world pattern, but also harm the interests of all the great powers. If Da Ming dares to provoke a naval arms race despite the opposition of most countries, then it will be the whole world that stands opposite her! ”