Late June 1856.

Carrying the Governor of Gabon, Jérôme. Paterson and 5,000 Croatian foreign legion convoys sailed out of Gibraltar from the port of Toulon and sailed out of Gibraltar under the escort of the French Mediterranean Fleet for Gabon, Central Africa.

Seeing this, the commander of the British Front in Gibudhara at the time thought that the French army was going to send troops to fight in the ocean.

As a result, the commander in Gibraltar quickly dispatched his steam express ship to London to give a message.

[PS: Gibraltar was not yet equipped with a telegraph during this period, while Malta was equipped with a telegraph under the influence of the Crimean War.]

It has to be said that this is a "great feat" of Britain! 】

By the time the Steam Express arrived in London, it was early July.

At this moment, Palmerston, who relied on the prestige brought by the Crimean War, still holds the position of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Britain, but he is currently crumbling.

There was more and more criticism of Palmerston in Parliament and outside the system, and a third force (referring to public opinion) that Palmerston had high hopes for began to attack Palmerston, and some newspapers openly called Palmerston "Cromwell in the prime minister's position".

To make matters worse, the royal family has also expressed dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Palmerston's arbitrariness in the Cabinet.

At the right time, Palmerston, a war hero, will fall directly.

As prime minister, Palmerston is also aware that he is now in a precarious situation.

If this continues, sooner or later he will be brought down.

Therefore, Palmerston will have to find some way to break the game.

However, Palmerston never thought of a way other than war.

In Palmerston's view, there is only one war that will bring his approval ratings back to those of the Crimean War.

However, who to wage war with is a university question.

If it is too weak to the Kingdom of Britain, the people will only take it for granted that Britain will defeat their opponents.

If Britain is about the same strength, the people may have to directly consider replacing him as prime minister.

You have to find an opponent who is neither too weak nor too strong.

It's just that such an opponent is really hard to find.

Just as Palmerston pondered how to find a suitable opponent for Britain, a knock came from outside.

Palmerston, who had come to his senses, hurriedly flipped through a few pages of the dossier spread out on the table, and then said to the door: "Please come in!" ”

The door to the Prime Minister's office slowly opened, and the Cabinet Secretary appeared at the door.

The cabinet secretary who entered the room tidied up his clothes a little, and then reported to Palmerston in his standard London accent: "Well...... Honourable Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for War would like him to be able to have a brief meeting with you here, and he said that this meeting will not take you too long......"

The cabinet secretary rambled on and on on to tell Palmerston key information in a pile of nonsense.

"Where is the Minister of War now!" Palmerston immediately asked the cabinet secretary.

"The Minister is waiting outside the room right now!" The cabinet secretary replied clearly to Palmerston: "If you need it, I can help you, he called in!" ”

"Of course you do!" Palmerston nodded in response to the Cabinet Secretary.

"Then I'll go over!" The Cabinet Secretary turned and prepared to leave.

Before the Cabinet Secretary could walk out of the door, Palmerston's voice reached his ears again, "Wait! ”

The Cabinet Secretary General paused, smiled professionally again and said to Palmerston: "Your Excellency, what else do you command?" ”

"Well...... Palmerston hesitated for a moment and then asked the cabinet secretary: "The two of us have been together for almost two years, what do you think of me?" ”

The cabinet secretary's expression froze, and after a few seconds, he regained his smile and responded to Palmerston: "Your Excellency, your mother is undoubtedly an excellent prime minister!" ”

"In your mouth, every prime minister is probably a good prime minister!" Palmerston replied to the Cabinet Secretary with a hint of sarcasm.

The Cabinet Secretary-General responded tactfully: "Every prime minister becomes a prime minister through the joint election of the House of Representatives and the royal family, and a member of the House of Representatives is elected by all responsible British gentlemen (landlords and capitalists), so I think every prime minister is a good prime minister!"

My job is to help every Prime Minister do what they want to accomplish! ”

The Cabinet Secretary's watertight answer made Palmerston feel like he had been punched in cotton, and he nodded to the Cabinet Secretary: "I see! Now you can go and get the War Secretary over! ”

"Yes! Prime minister! The Cabinet Secretary bowed to Palmerston again and left the room.

A bitter smile appeared on Palmerston's lips as he watched the Cabinet Secretary leave, and he looked up at the ceiling above him and muttered, "Loyalty is such a luxury for a career bureaucrat, and I want it!" ”

A moment later, the Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of State for War, appeared in front of Palmerston.

"What the hell is going on? Duke! Palmerston, who was sitting across from the Duke of Newcastle, asked curiously.

"Your Excellency, I have two pieces of news here, one is from France and the other is from the Qajar dynasty (Yin Lang's dynasty in the 19th century)! Which one do you want to listen to! The Duke of Newcastle said to Palmerston with a solemn expression.

"Let's talk about France first!" Palmerston chose France, as he was wary of his neighbours across the Channel.

After all, the hatred between France and Britain lasted for almost a thousand years.

The most recent war between the two countries was just a few decades ago.

Palmerston did not believe that a Crimean war could turn the relationship between the two countries around.

Not to mention the various alliances (monetary unions, customs unions) that the French Empire has formed on the European continent in the last two years.

It's just that Britain will not do anything to the French Empire until it chooses to completely smash the European equilibrium system.

The Kingdom of Britain was also unwilling to bear the cost of the Second Napoleonic Wars.

Although the French Empire controls the right to speak in Europe, other countries still have the right to speak.

Although the Austrian Empire was united with France, this did not mean that Austria was in dialogue with France.

The Kingdom of Britain did not need to worry too much about Europe.

"Our troops stationed in Gibraltar have come to report that in late June, a large French fleet will leave the Mediterranean!" The Duke of Newcastle said word for word to Palmerston.

"How big is the fleet? How many people are there? Palmerston asked the Duke of Newcastle.

Gibraltar said that the French fleet was led by the ironclad ship Friendship...... Based on the number of troop carriers, it is estimated that there should be at least 3,000 people. The Duke of Newcastle replied to Palmerston.

"More than 3,000 people?" Palmerston frowned and muttered, "What is France going to do?" ”

"I don't know!" The Duke of Newcastle shook his head in response to Palmerston.

"It stands to reason that this army should not be a fleet destined for the Americas, and three thousand men cannot decide the victory of a battle......," Palmerston ruled out the possibility one by one in his mind.

After thinking for a moment, Palmerston decided to put the French question aside for a moment, and asked the Duke of Newcastle again: "What happened to the Qajar dynasty again?" ”

"According to the information passed on by government officials within the Qajar dynasty who are inclined to us, the king of the Qajar dynasty, Nassr al-Din. Sha has already decided to send an offensive to Herat in October! At present, the Qajar dynasty should be in a state of preparing for war! The Duke of Newcastle replied to Palmerston.

"Is the Qajar dynasty crazy?" Palmerston couldn't help but exclaim, he really couldn't imagine Nassr al-Din. How much fake wine did Sha drink to dare to provoke the great kingdom of Britain so much.

The Russian Empire, which originally supported them, is now in a situation of two governments, how dare they directly send troops to Herat.

[PS: Located in the northwest region of Afghanistan, Herat is the strategic center of the entire region between the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea and the Yaksar River to the west and the Indus River to the east.

In the previous competition between Britain and Russia in Central Asia, it revolved around Herat. 】

"I don't know! What the hell was the Qajar dynasty thinking! The Duke of Newcastle also shook his head in response to Palmerston.

At this moment, Palmerston suddenly thought of a possibility, and he hurriedly told the Duke of Newcastle his thoughts: "Do you say that this operation of France is related to the Qajar dynasty!" ”

"Impossible!" The Duke of Newcastle swallowed and shook his head in response to Palmerston, "If France really want to go, then what will happen to their supplies along the way!" ”

"How do you explain that France is sending troops out at this time, where are they going? Why did the Qajars insist on attacking Herat? Palmerston said to the Duke of Newcastle.

"What is the purpose of France?" The Duke of Newcastle continued along Palmerston's train of thought, "Even if he sends his army to help and takes Herat well!" It doesn't seem to do him any good, he can't try to prop up the Qajar dynasty! ”

"It's not out of the question! Perhaps the French Empire wanted to fill the vacancy of the Russian Empire in Central Asia! Jérôme. Bonaparte, this guy is in some ways the same as his uncle! Palmerston continued along the wrong lines, having in his heart that France had a connection with the Cajar dynasty. (In fact, the Qajar dynasty listened to the deception of the Southern Russian Empire, so they ran to Herat to die.) ）

"I think it's better not to be so arbitrary!" The Duke of Newcastle said cautiously.