July 17, 1869

On the Colorado Plateau, Taoyuan City Mirror Lake Palace

Because of the influence of the plateau climate, the summer climate here is cool and pleasant, the mountains and rivers are beautiful, and His Majesty the Emperor led a group of concubines to arrive at Jinghu Palace a week ago and began a summer vacation of more than two months.

Vacation is a rare parent-child time for Emperor Richard, the younger prince, whether the princess is in his arms, or fourteen or fifteen years old, this time they all followed the emperor to the Jinghu Palace, more than 60 concubines accompanied by the car, plus the entourage of more than 2,600 people and dozens of pet beasts, the royal train opened 16 trips.

The queen sat in Chang'an Palace and was accompanied by some older concubines, but she was also at ease.

It was past eight o'clock in the morning

At this time, the sun is not strong, and a junior football match has begun on the lawn in the garden, which is a 6~10-year-old group game, and the team composed of the prince and their companions are facing each other, and you are playing back and forth quite fiercely.

Off-the-scenes were court concubines and some of the top noble ladies, dressed in elegant dresses watching the battle under the pergola, and the court attendants prepared exquisite refreshments, fruits, and flowers decorated with flowers.

The sound of laughter on the football field came from time to time, full of youthful atmosphere.

Emperor Richard did not appear on the football field, which would make everyone less restrained and more free and happy, and be able to have more fun.

In a secluded lakeside pavilion

Richard simply wore a light linen robe, walked barefoot along the rosewood floor, came to the couch and sat down, looking at the beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains outside, as if intoxicated by the melodious music.

With the arrival of the hot summer, the national general election has also kicked off, and the fierce competition between the two major political parties of the empire has begun.

This general election will not only elect a new prime minister, but also re-elect two-thirds of the members of the lower house of the Reichstag and one-third of the members of the House of Lords of the Reichstas.

The current prime minister, Liu Xianjun, is the leader of the "Justice and Liberal Democratic Party" of the Tang Empire, and has been re-elected as prime minister for two consecutive terms, so the party has put in the political veteran Count Juan Carlos to participate in the race, which is actually a running runner.

The "Democratic Forces Party" is an out-and-out royalist party, with the former leader being the outgoing Prime Minister Duke Gu Yan, and the current leader being Count Dong Jie, who is also the party's favorite candidate to run for prime minister.

At present, Count Dong Jie is taking the train parade in the provinces of the empire to canvass for votes, and everywhere he goes, he will hold large speeches and a series of election campaigns.

After more than 20 years of development, the Tang Empire formed a stable pattern of two parties taking turns to govern under the deliberate promotion of Emperor Richard, and the division of political forces was roughly formed.

In the early days

Emperor Richard intervened more in the political arena, for example, the "Justice and Liberal Democratic Party" was the party he single-handedly supported, and personally designated several heavyweight political bigwigs to join this nascent party to strengthen the party.

Otherwise, in the Tang Empire, where royalist power prevailed, the party would not have the possibility of success in the election at all, and Liu Xianjun would not be able to become the prime minister of the cabinet, and he would serve two terms in one term.

Now, Emperor Richard has gradually let go.

He was merely explicit or implicit in the early days of the campaign; Optimistic about Count Dong Jie and the "National Power Party" he represents, sending a signal that the imperial family is paying attention to whom?

Any politician who is not stupid knows how to choose.

The position of the prime minister is basically not much uncertain, but the position of a member of the lower house of the Diet is still up for grab, and this is a major event related to the discourse power of political parties and the territory of political power.

Therefore, the "Justice and Liberal Democratic Party" (PKD) and the "National Power Party" are very competitive in each province, and each has put forward extremely competitive candidates.

Smaller local parties also put forward their own election representatives, sparking a vigorous campaign in July.

An imperial election is an in-depth and extensive political propaganda campaign, which allows the citizens of the empire to experience the happiness of the masters, and also allows the subjects of the empire to receive a broad education.

In elections

In order to facilitate the referendum of illiterate citizens, the "Democratic Power Party", which claims to represent the basic interests of ethnic Chinese people, uses yellow, whether it is the election flag, hat, trumpet, or the color of the electoral votes, all of them are yellow, referred to as the "Yellow Party".

The "Gongzi Party", which claims to represent the general interests of all ethnic groups of all colors in the Tang Empire, widely uses blue, referred to as the "Blue Party".

On the most important ballot papers, Count Dong Jie, the candidate for prime minister of the "Yellow Party", is printed on the yellow entry, as long as the color is marked "√".

The name of Count Juan Carlos, the candidate for prime minister of the "Blue Party", is printed on the blue entry, and the same only need to type "√" according to the color, which is clear at a glance and will not be mistaken.

The corresponding two parties used a similar method in the election of deputies to the Parliament in the provinces, and through the overwhelming propaganda of the press and media, the subjects of the empire were basically aware.

As for some other small parties, they do not have such convenient conditions, and they use a variety of colors to distinguish them, and ordinary voters simply do not know who is who.

The disturbances in these elections do not affect His Majesty the Emperor, who is high above, and he does not care about the specific election process, so it is good to let these political forces cross the sea and compete by their own means.

In the past two years, the development of the empire has been smooth, and the economic and military strength has become more and more prosperous, and there is nothing to worry about.

The Tang Empire, which had annexed a large amount of territory, was in the process of accumulating strength, reining in its colonial footsteps to all parts of the world, and wholeheartedly digesting the existing colonial achievements.

With the exception of the ongoing South American War in the Andean Viceroyalty, the Empire remained largely uninvolved in other hot spots.

For example, the Fuso Islands, Cuba, Egypt, and Franco-Prussian relations, which are now increasingly contradictory in Europe, are all not involved in the open, but are dedicated to economic development.

The Fuso archipelago, a hot spot in Northeast Asia

Since last year

The shogunate army took advantage of the great victory in Kyoto and gathered heavy troops to crusade against the powerful feudal clans in the southwest, and the generals of the Tokugawa shogunate, who held great power, were lost in the face of victory, and even divided their troops into three routes to the south, trying to exterminate the powerful feudal lords entrenched in the southwest region in one fell swoop.

The defeated and retreating southwestern feudal clans did not hesitate to borrow huge amounts of money from Britain to rearm with the mentality of mourning soldiers, and fought bloody battles with the shogunate army to the end by virtue of their geographical advantages, and successively won the victories of the "Battle of Ogijo", "Battle of Hizen" and "Battle of Akinohara", which dealt a heavy blow to the arrogant shogunate army and lost its troops.

More than half of the 110,000 troops suffered casualties, and the defeated shogunate army also lost a large number of weapons and baggage, and returned to the starting point after more than a year of bloody battles.

After all this ups and downs

The Tokugawa shogunate originally sold the 22 million Tang Yuan from the sale of Beihai Province, and the huge amount of money was also consumed, and the war was really a gold-swallowing monster!

As a last resort, he continued to borrow two high-interest war loans from the Tang Empire, totaling 13 million Tang Yuan, with a repayment period of 9 years and a monthly interest of 9.8%.

For the Tokugawa shogunate to play a good hand of cards, the Tang Empire also expressed helplessness.

Central American hotspot, Cuba

The Kingdom of Spain sent another 8,200 expeditionary troops to Cuba in June, bringing the total number of Spanish colonial troops gathered in Cuba to more than 43,000, putting increasing pressure on the nascent Republic of Cuba, and a fierce civil war is ongoing.

The war of words between the Tang Empire and the Kingdom of Spain never stopped, with accusations in the press and the latest incident being a small naval battle off the southeast coast of Cuba.

In this small naval battle

A Spanish sloop was sunk, with 137 casualties, while the steamer that caused the accident flew away without a single injury.

Later, the Spanish Navy surveyed and found that the smuggling steam freighter was equipped with two sharp 18-pound advanced guns, firing the most advanced triggering fuse shells in the world today. And this advanced artillery shell was only equipped with the Tang Empire and Britain, and France was developing it without success.

All signs of spearhead were aimed at the Tang Empire, but they were categorically denied by the country's military.

It's just a few shells, as long as it's not impossible to get out at a high price, which doesn't prove anything at all.

On the contrary, the brutal killings committed by the Spanish military in Cuba and the abuse of women and children in the concentration camps, which resulted in a large number of deaths and injuries, should be of great concern to the international community and should be strongly condemned morally.

When necessary, international forces should intervene forcefully to mediate in order to maintain peace and stability in Central America.

The rebellious Republic of Cuba recently launched a series of offensives in the southeastern provinces, armed with smoothbore muskets, the Brazilian rebels rushed out of the jungle, captured more than 30 villages and towns and some cities in the two provinces, killed and wounded more than 3,700 Spanish soldiers, and dealt a heavy blow to the Spanish colonial army.

And all this, the angry Spaniards blamed the Tang Empire, and the war of words is still ongoing......

Egypt, a hot spot in the Middle East

On the Suez Canal, which has just been opened, representatives of Britain, France, and Tang held three rounds of meetings in succession, and held closed-door talks on the issue of the distribution of shares in the independent Suez Canal Company, the issue of the redemption consideration, and the issue of the exchange of interests, and finally reached the latest results.

At the brink of a breakdown in the third round of secret meetings, the British representative made intimidating remarks;

"Without a satisfactory gesture by France on the Suez Canal, London will not be able to guarantee a neutral and impartial position on the Franco-Prussian issue in Europe, after all, Princess Elizabeth is now the Crown Princess of Prussia, and there is a need to further deepen bilateral relations between the two countries."

This sentence scared France to pee.

What are the hot issues in Europe today?

It was the struggle between the French Empire and the rising Kingdom of Prussia for continental hegemony, and the friction between the two countries was like grinding wheels sharpening iron rods...... That's a real spark splash. It is a nerve that touches the hearts of European countries at all times and is at the heart of today's world problems.

There is no way, the size of the dispute between France and Prussia is there, and every move is world-class influence.

As a result, it is clear that France has made a clear concession on the Suez Canal, willing to sell half of the 52% stake held by the French Empire in the Suez Canal at a price of 20 million pounds, which is equivalent to a slight premium of more than 6%, which is only a little more face-saving.

To build the Suez Canal, the French-led canal company spent £18.6 million alone and took 11 years.

The cost of 120,000 Egyptian labourers and other laborers who died in the desert is not counted here, and the effort of the French is not counted, and the cost of £20 million is not a premium in any way.

France and Tang are not weak in themselves, and it is pure pipe dreams to take advantage of them.

Only the British Empire has the strength to force France and Tang to make concessions, and if it is replaced by any other country, even if the price quadruples, it will not want to get a share.

That's it

London bought a 26% stake in the Suez Canal from the French for £5.2 million, and the Tang Empire transferred a 22% stake on the same terms, i.e. £4.4 million to sell half of the shares.

In this way, the stake in the Suez Canal becomes 48% owned by the United Kingdom, 26% by France, 22% by the Tang Empire, and the remaining 4% by public shareholders.

The Tang Empire did not suffer a loss in this deal, selling 22% of the shares at a price of 4.4 million pounds, recovering the 4 million pounds that were originally paid to obtain 44% of the shares in Egypt, making a small profit of 10%, and retaining 22% of the canal shares, and letting the British accept a favor.

Of course, this favor will have to be repaid by the British in the future.

Let's be honest

In the face of the powerful British Empire, neither the French Empire nor the Tang Empire can hold on, and can only make substantial concessions on relevant international issues.

Finally, it is time to talk about the current hot spot in Europe, the Franco-Prussian competition.

In fact, the grudge between France and Prussia has been going on for a long time.

As early as the Thirty Years' War in Europe, the German region was divided for a long time by deliberate French intervention, and in the following two centuries, the French monarch used various means to prevent German unity.

It can be said that the French Empire is an out-and-out obstacle to German reunification, and it is also the greatest sufferer of the German nation.

Under the leadership of Frederick II, Prussia rose rapidly through the Seven Years' War. During the reign of Wilhelm I, he successively established the position of the leading big brother of the German nation through the "Prussian-Danish War" and the "Austro-Prussian War", leaving the Austrian Empire aside.

In particular, the victory of the "Austro-Prussian War" made the prestige of the Kingdom of Prussia in the whole German region unprecedentedly high, and its strength greatly increased, and it established its leading position in the German Confederation.

And the defeated Austrian Empire no longer had any right to speak, so it could only hide with its head hanging and lick its wounds.

This situation posed a serious threat to France's hegemony on the European continent and further affected the struggle for overseas colonies. The rift between the two countries is intensifying, and the sparks of friction bring lightning.

France was clearly aware of the Prussian threat, and Napoleon III demanded the consent of the Kingdom of Prussia;

The annexation of Bavaria and parts of Hesse-Darmstadt on the west bank of the Rhine to France was recompensated for France's conservative neutrality in the Austro-Prussian War.

Otherwise, France would not mind sending troops to fetch the ...... in person

At this moment, the nerves of all European countries were tensed, and they were terrified to see whether these two European giants would change from friction to hot war next, which would be a real catastrophe.

In those days, the temper of the European powers was not good, and it was common for one to start a war if he was not satisfied.

Flip your fingers and see how long France has stopped from the Crimean War in 1853 to the present?

Almost one war after another, there is no more than a year in between, the whole world has come back from a circle, and now it has found an opponent in Europe, and there is really no one!

(End of chapter)