Unlike envoys from other vassal states, British envoys have to wait for a month or two or more, after all, the weight of the British Empire is there.

Lord Palmerston was admitted to the palace just a few days later at the Penglai Palace in the east hall.

It is a place dedicated to receiving foreign heads of state or envoys, and the palace is magnificent and full of royal grandeur.

Enter the court

Lord Palmerston changed his previous arrogance in Tsing Wan Tai, and when he saw His Majesty, his expression immediately became respectful and humble, and his gestures were very in line with etiquette.

The founding emperor who led the rise of the Tang Empire in North America was a ruthless character, picking 23 nobles at a royal dinner held at Buckingham Palace, killing 19 and seriously injuring 3 on the spot.

The famous Duke of Marlborough VII in England was beaten to his knees and crawled, and he lost all face.

It was really invincible bravery, and the famous reputation of "Demon King Richard" resounded throughout the royal families of Europe, and no one dared to be disrespectful in the slightest.

European royal families generally respect the strong, which is one of the reasons why Britain has repeatedly tolerated it.

After a slight pleasantry

Lord Palmerston presented Queen Victoria's handwritten letter with both hands, which was received by the head of the Royal Secretariat, Cheng Yuen, and presented it to the royal case with respectful hands.

Emperor Richard took it with one hand, turned over the envelope and looked at the British royal badge on the fire paint seal, and after confirming that it belonged to the British royal family, he handed it to Director Zheng Yuan, who was standing on the side, and motioned for him to open it.

Director Zheng Yuan took the letter with both hands, and then confessed "guilt".

He picked up the silver knife with a golden dragon pattern on the edge of the imperial case in one hand, stabilized the envelope with the other, and carefully cut the letter, carefully not destroying the complete fire-lacquered royal badge on the outside of the envelope.

Her Majesty's handwritten letter and the outer shell with the royal fire coat of arms must be preserved with confidence, which is a historical evidence of the exchange between the Imperial Dynasty and the royal families of various countries, and is of great significance.

Emperor Richard did not care about these details, took the envelope in one hand and unfolded it, read it from beginning to end, and fell into deep thought.

At this time

No one in the hall dared to speak, and fell into a somewhat suffocating silence.

In addition to the usual greetings, Her Majesty Queen Victoria first talked about a few princes who had studied in Europe, and expressed their great affection.

revealed that if possible, he would be willing to broker marriages with European royal families, including and not excluding the British royal family.

As the richest royal family in the world, the royal children of the Tang Empire are very popular among European royal families, and the idea of such marriage is endless.

Especially after the Austro-Prussian War, a large number of nobles from the North German states that had lost their fiefdoms, such as archdukes, marquises, and counts, gathered in Vilna to be overcrowded, and most of the German nobles were very poor.

The war came so suddenly, many noble castles were also lost, the territory was also lost, and the precious collections that had been passed down for hundreds of years were also lost.

With this little money, where is enough for the aristocracy to maintain a decent life?

Many people have their eyes on the princes of the Tang Empire who have traveled in Europe, and in the eyes of these nobles, they are all moving mountains of gold!

It's a pity that the heavens don't fulfill people's wishes!

After traveling in European countries for several years, the eldest prince, the second prince, the fourth prince and the seventh prince all returned to the empire one after another, and were ordered to get married.

The Dukes' Residences were located in the Longshouyuan District, close to the Imperial Court, and were guarded by the Imperial Guard, which paid for the maintenance of the Duke's palace on an annual basis, and the Royal Fund paid the duke an unspecified amount of money every month, which was the regular income of the adult prince.

Besides

The princes also serve in the Royal Charities Foundation, the Royal Museum, the Royal Education Fund, the Royal Charity Hospital, the Renai Hospital and some royal shareholding enterprises, such as the Honorary Chairman of the Royal Chang'an University, the Honorary Chairman of the Royal Chevron Petroleum Company, the Honorary Chairman of the Royal Chang'an Museum, the Honorary Chairman of the Los Angeles Museum, etc., and more or less get a good income to make up for daily expenses.

Therefore, the prince of the empire can live a very prosperous life and maintain a luxurious life of top nobility when he becomes an adult.

If the emperor and grandson are born, His Majesty the Emperor in the palace, the queen and all the mothers will be rewarded with a big red envelope, which is definitely a huge amount of money.

After the emperor and grandson reach the age of 5, they can be included in the royal family genealogy, and from that day on, they can receive the monthly payment from the royal fund of the Tang Empire.

Now

The five princes, the sixth prince, the eleventh prince, and the twelfth prince of the empire all joined the army, of which the fifth prince and the eleventh prince went to the Royal Navy, and the other two princes joined the Royal Army and were training in the Andean Governor's Palace in South America.

The second group of those who traveled to Europe were only the Eighth Prince, the Thirteenth Prince, and the Fifteenth Prince, and Queen Victoria had seen these three princes and liked them very much, so she also revealed this meaning in the letter.

The second thing mentioned in the letter is the situation in Northeast Asia.

Her Majesty Queen Victoria did not dwell on the civil war on Fuso Island, but stood at a higher strategic level and saw that the momentum of Tsarist Russia's expansion had a tendency to move eastward in a big way, which made Her Majesty deeply worried.

And this paragraph

Emperor Richard was deeply moved, and he was admired by Queen Victoria's keen international strategic vision, and it was hard to believe that it was the mouth of a woman.

Her Majesty's exact words are like this;

"The East Slavic peoples of Tsarist Russia are imbued with strong Mongol genes in their blood, full of undisguised desire for aggression, either in wars of conquest or in preparation for wars of conquest......"

"Never trust a villain to change, that's more difficult than filling up the Black Sea."

"The most worrying problem is that the Qing Dynasty, the largest country in the East, has been corrupting for too long, and the surrounding Korean Kingdom and Fusang Kingdom do not have any strong people. When the stuffy bear of Tsarist Russia is hungry again, who in Northeast Asia can compete? ”

Sure enough, it is worthy of the British Empire, and indeed it is worthy of Queen Victoria, the strategic vision is so far-reaching, and it is not for nothing that the British Empire has been sitting in the position of world hegemon for more than 100 years.

The third thing mentioned in the letter is that he is concerned about the situation in South America.

Queen Victoria did not show any propensity for the Brazilian Empire, nor did she prevent the Tang Empire from continuing to expand, but subtly highlighted the phrase "enough is enough."

I sighed inwardly

Emperor Richard raised his head, and when he saw the solemn atmosphere in the hall, which was almost suffocating, he smiled slightly, and said to Lord Palmerston cordially;

"I have read Her Majesty's letter and have been deeply moved by Her Majesty's wisdom and kindness, which is a testament to the traditional friendship between our two countries, which has stood the test of time.

Lord Palmerston came to Chang'an, the imperial capital, for the first time, let them be the host, take you around, see the characters of the Tang Dynasty, and taste the social customs.

If there is a good or negative impression, I would love to hear what my friends really think, not flattery.

After a few days

I will write a reply letter by hand, and give it to Lord Palmerston to take back, and what I have to say is in the letter, and Her Majesty Queen Victoria will know it at a glance. ”

"It is an honour for the Palmerston family to serve His Majesty, and I am personally honoured." Lord Palmerston stood up respectfully, stooped down, and bowed deeply.

The ceremonial audience was very short, only about 20 minutes before and after, and there was no in-depth conversation.

His Majesty the Emperor spent about 10 minutes reading the letter and pondering, and finally it was over after a few simple words.

This is because the status gap between the two sides is huge, and Emperor Richard has no need to discuss any international affairs with a British envoy, which is too ridiculous.

Lord Palmerston is nothing more than a top British aristocrat, neither Speaker of Parliament nor Prime Minister, let alone making any decisions on behalf of the British royal family, just a megaphone.

Back to the inner court

Richard changed out of the nine-clawed dragon robe on his body, changed into a light and warm moon-white embroidered dragon robe, walked to the couch and sat down, while tasting the fragrant tea with a faint aftertaste, while thinking about the problems that Queen Victoria talked about in the letter.

If history has not changed

From now on, the British Empire has laid out its Northeast Asia policy, and supporting Fuso to learn from and become strong in the West in an all-round way is the key direction of Britain's Northeast Asia policy.

In the strategic planning of the United Kingdom, it should be seen that the Qing Empire was really unable to support Adou, so it was forced to take the second place and support the Fusang State instead.

Everyone knows that Fuso, which was strongly supported by the British, achieved comprehensive Westernization, and the policy of "leaving Asia and joining Europe" was the most distinctive representative, and the economic and military fields took off and gradually became stronger, and began to seek an expansionist colonial policy.

From the 60s of the 19th century to the end of this century, the domestic political struggle in Fuso was quite fierce, and the competition between the imperial faction and the democratic faction became increasingly fierce, and even several prime ministers were assassinated by radicals, and finally never looked back on the road of militarism.

But there's no denying it

Fuso did what Britain wanted it to do, that is, through the unprecedented tragedy of the Russo-Japanese War, it effectively curbed the eastward expansion and colonial policy of Tsarist Russia, broke the inherent impression of Tsarist Russia's woolly bear that "Orientals are easy to bully", and formed the East Asian pattern in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Now the Tang Empire's policy of supporting the Tokugawa shogunate has undoubtedly frustrated the strategic pattern planned by the British.

So Queen Victoria asked in her letter who would curb the ambitious ambitions of Tsarist Russia to invade the East?

Richard was touched by Her Majesty's questioning, and he knew in his heart;

If the Tokugawa shogunate continued to rule, it would inevitably be poor and weak for a long time, and it would not be possible to bear the heavy responsibility of containing the eastward advance of Tsarist Russia.

So who's going to curb it?

It is certainly impossible to expect Britain to send troops all the way to East Asia, and it is unrealistic to expect the Tang Empire.

For indescribable reasons

It is impossible for the Tang Empire to fight a tragic war with hundreds of thousands of people thousands of miles away from its homeland, doesn't it cost money to fight?

In the original history

In order to win the Russo-Japanese War, Fuso won huge loans of up to 1.7 billion yen from Britain and the United States, mobilized more than 1 million soldiers, and paid a heavy price of more than 300,000 military casualties, but in the end it did not even receive a single rupee in war compensation.

In order to repay this huge war loan, the Fuso people repaid the debt for more than 80 years, and it was not until 1986 that it was completely repaid, which shows that the war is a real gold-eating beast.

The Fuso people paid not only huge loans for the Russo-Japanese War, but also the economic achievements of the Meiji Restoration for more than 30 years, the Japanese side issued public bonds and implemented a tobacco monopoly system, and by 1903, Fuso's annual tax revenue was 146 million yen, and the amount of public debt was as high as 538 million yen.

To put it mildly, in order to win the Russo-Japanese War, Fuso spent no less than 2.3 billion yen, which is equivalent to 1.15 billion won.

With such a huge expenditure, it is not easy to put it on the Tang Empire!

(End of chapter)