"Your Excellency Lord Palmerston, there is nothing wrong with my support for the Shogunate rule, which has been passed down for more than 200 years. Our French friends share the same view as us and share the same position on the issue of the Fuso Civil War, that is, they hope to maintain the old rule so as not to cause great social upheaval and affect the international situation in the entire Northeast Asian region. Prime Minister Yoo Hyun-jun patiently explained.

When he saw that Lord Palmerston wanted to speak again, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop him, for fear that this Englishman would be a cloud and a mountain of fog when he said it, and he was completely vain in delaying his work.

The position of the Tang Empire has nothing to hide, and there is nothing to blame.

The British sold weapons and provided loans to the feudal clans of the Shogunate, the Dutch also sold weapons, and the French sold weapons to the Tokugawa shogunate, so why couldn't the Tang Empire sell weapons and equipment?

Some things are better to be directly singled out, and there is no need to hide and hide the weakness of the heart.

Therefore, Prime Minister Yoo Hyun-jun said bluntly;

"We are also aware of London's position that it is normal for the two countries to have differences on the Fuso issue, and this does not affect the extensive cooperation between our country and the United Kingdom on a global scale, there is no doubt about that.

In terms of specific differences, it is reflected in the difference in cultural values between the East and the West.

The Tang Empire originated from the legacy of the former Tang Dynasty thousands of years ago, and it is precisely for this reason that it has always attached importance to maintaining and carrying forward the traditional suzerain-vassal relationship in the East, safeguarding the foundation of royal rule, and reflecting its firm stance of maintaining peace in Northeast Asia.

Hoping that Lord Palmerston will convey our official position to London;

No matter from which point of view, the Tang Empire could not turn to support the local feudal towns that committed rebellion and overthrow the existing Edo shogunate rule system in Fuso State, which is unreasonable.

We suggest;

Tang, Britain, France, the Netherlands, the United States and other countries should not excessively intervene in the Fuso civil war, and maintain a relatively detached posture, because the Fuso civil war still needs internal forces to compete, which may be the best solution.

Your Excellency Lord Palmerston, what do you think? ”

"I have heard that the Oriental people are good at tai chi, and I am deeply impressed by the remarks of the honorable Duke Liu Xianjun, and I will fully convey your country's official position to London." Lord Palmerston is a veteran politician in London, but he is not a fool.

He smiled slightly, and sneered at the back-lip wit; "I am very interested in Oriental culture and hope that your country will maintain a consistent position on the issues of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in South America. Oh...... By the way, I heard that your country is planning a large-scale counterattack deep into the Brazilian Empire, is this news accurate? ”

"You have to consult the Colonial Ministry about the specifics, you know...... The Andean Viceroyalty was so far away that they were granted permission by His Majesty to decide on some of the measures they had to take and report afterwards. Prime Minister Yoo Hyun-jun replied with an unchanged expression.

"I understand very well ...... "Lord Palmerston" has a very good understanding of you, but his expression is not cooperating, showing a perfunctory attitude.

They are all hundred-year-old turtles, who doesn't know whose Taoism?

The Tang Empire had several world-class infrastructures, one was a railway, the second was a long-distance telegraph, the third was transoceanic shipping, the fourth was urban construction and asphalt roads, and the fifth was a tram, which enjoyed an outstanding reputation around the world.

Just take the long-distance telegraph as an example;

Over the years, the Tang Empire has spared no effort to develop long-distance cable telegraph business, and the cable telegraph network has spread all over the world, and it is well known that there are the world's top three major telecommunications operators.

The first is Royal Americas Telecom, which is also the world's largest telecommunications company, with extremely strong strength, employing more than 17,000 people alone, and is the world's first major company to truly carry out transoceanic telecommunications business.

Its predecessor was the California Telecommunications Company, which was founded in 1847 and extended its tentacles to the whole of North America and even the world with the rise of the Tang Empire.

The Royal Americas Telecommunications Company's most brilliant scientific and technological feat was the construction of the world's first transatlantic submarine long-distance telegraph cable, covering more than 6,700 kilometers, in collaboration with telecommunications companies from the United States of America, France and the United Kingdom.

To this end, the "Atlantic Telecommunications Company" was formed to operate transatlantic telecommunications services.

Royal Americas Telecommunications is the largest shareholder with a 35.2 percent share, and if you add the shares of the United States of America and the Union State Telecommunications Company, the actual equity ratio has exceeded 5 percent.

The telecom companies in the above two countries are actually puppet enterprises controlled by several telecom giants in the Tang Empire, and they are controlled by cross-shareholding.

Therefore, it is a well-known fact that the Royal American Telecommunications Company completely controls the "Atlantic Telecommunications Company" and appoints a member to serve as the chairman.

In addition to developing its telecommunications business domestically, Royal Americas Telecommunications also operates extensively in Central America, South America and Europe, and is competing fiercely with its rival "Royal Datang Telecom" for the transpacific submarine cable business.

The second telecommunications giant is Royal Datang Telecom, which is also the world's second-largest telegraph operator.

It has been deeply involved in the North American telecommunications market for many years, with the largest number of telegraph offices in the empire itself and in the United States of America, the United States of America and Canada, and has extensive telegraph services in Central and South America.

The long-distance telegraph line set up by the Royal Datang Telecommunications Company extended to the countries of South America through Central America, and even in Storm City, the southernmost part of the Andean Governor's Palace, the urgent long-distance telegrams sent by the Raid City could reach the political center of the empire in two days at most.

Lord Palmerston was well aware of these circumstances, so the excuse that Prime Minister Yoo Hyun-jun said was "too far away" did not hold up at all.

It is said that the fierce competition between the American Telecom Company and Datang Telecom for the right to lay the transpacific telegraph cable will be decided through competitive bidding, and the world's most powerful telegraph bureaus are welcome to participate, but this is only a superficial statement.

The reason is simple;

The so-called transpacific telegraph cable has a total length of more than 16,700 kilometers, of which 14,000 kilometers are within the territory or territorial waters of the Tang Empire.

The planned transpacific telegraph cable starts in Panama City in Central America, passes through Costa Rica Province all the way, reaches the important city of Los Angeles on the West Coast in Central Plains Province, and then continues north to connect with the imperial capital Chang'an, and continues north along the Pacific coastline through Durham, Seattle, Vancouver, into Yukon, and finally reaches Alaska Province through thousands of kilometers of snowy uninhabited land along the way.

The unprecedentedly large transpacific telegraph cable was launched from Alaska across the Bering Strait to the province of Butterworth, from which two telegraph cables branched off and went south to the Fuso Islands, Amami Oshima and the Kingdom of the Ryukyus.

It crossed the East China Sea all the way west to Weihaiwei in Lu Province, and connected with the telegraph line of the Shenzhou mainland, thus completing the feat of crossing the Pacific Ocean.

In the Shenzhou Continent

The Chinese capital from the Tang Empire was also the main force in investing in the coastal telegraph office, and after years of construction, a long-distance telegraph line from Beiping in the north to Hong Kong in the south had been basically completed.

If a foreign telegraph bureau participates in such a grand telegraph project, it is necessary to establish a series of local telegraph offices in the Tang Empire from scratch, and the investment will be huge.

Otherwise, even if the transoceanic telegram is transmitted, it will still be transmitted through the local telegraph office, which means that a large part of the profit will be eroded, and it will not be a wedding dress for others?

In addition to the above two, there is also the North American Union Telegraph Office, the third largest telecommunications company in the Tang Empire, which is a multinational telegraph office with great strength in both the United States of America and the United States of America, headquartered in Chicago.

After the North American War, the North American Union Telegraph Bureau expanded significantly, annexing many small and medium-sized telegraph offices of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, forming a powerful telegraph giant on the East Coast.

From the course of its large-scale expansion, it can be seen that the shareholders behind the telegraph office of the North American Union are very powerful, and there are many high-level nobles in the empire and high-level government officials in the north and south of the United States, otherwise, it would not have been possible to rise so smoothly.

Back to the point

The conversation between Prime Minister Yoo Hyun-kun and Lord Palmerston did not produce any tangible results, but more of what you said was yours and what I said was mine, and each side expounded its position and East Asia policy, and neither side softened.

This is not surprising.

With the rapid growth of the strength of the Tang Empire, it was unwilling to dance with the baton of the British on many international issues, but had its own interests.

A vassal state can't protect it, so who will play with you?

However, this communication is not completely ineffective, at least the East Asian policy of the other side, which is understood by both sides, has a tacit understanding, and will not further strengthen support for all parties in the Fuso civil war.

From this point of view, the Tang Empire has obtained what it wants.

The British were notoriously difficult to deal with in arrogance and paranoia, especially in the height of the Victorian era, when foreign policy was always aggressive.

Even Napoleon III or the Tsar had to make concessions on many issues.

For example, in the sixties of the 19th century, when the British invaded Egypt, France, which had been operating in Egypt for 10 years, had to back down to avoid a dispute between the two sides.

"Your Excellency Duke Liu, I have brought a letter from Queen Victoria to Her Majesty, and I hope to have this honor to enter the palace to meet Your Majesty, and to hand over this letter." Speaking of the end, Lord Palmerston confessed that there was still a messenger to do.

This is the top-level exchange between the royal families of the two countries, and Prime Minister Yoo Hyun-jun will definitely not be able to refuse, so he replied with a smile; "Please let the envoy stay in the state guesthouse for a few days, and I will arrange this matter as soon as possible, and meet with His Majesty to forward the request of the envoy."

"Thank you very much!" Lord Palmerston gracefully performed a chest stroking salute, showing the demeanor of an English gentleman.

(End of chapter)