In the face of the people's poverty, Kizo has long been accustomed to it, and in his heart, only the bottom line of friendship between Britain and France is immutable.

It's like the speech he gave early in office.

"We don't want to talk about conquest, war and revenge. Let France prosper, let it be free, rich, smart and carefree – we will not regret that it does not have an impact on world affairs. ”

The current path of colonial expansion was not actually designed by Guizot, but in exchange for a stable external environment, he hoped to develop France's own market potential.

However, the world was one, and the Austrian Empire's accession to the German Customs Union greatly strengthened its competitiveness, which made France feel the crisis.

After the Spanish Civil War, Queen Regent Christiana made another offer that the French could not refuse.

During the Battle of Texas, Kizo saw an opportunity and won Texas, which was repeatedly contested by the United States and Mexico, at a very good price.

It also relied on the remaining money during the Mexican Civil War, saving France a lot of money.

The Texas colony brought a lot of resources to France, as well as quite good tax revenues, and the potential of this colony was so great that it was well expected to become a second France.

Later, although he lost his monopoly in Egypt in the Turkish-Egyptian war for hegemony in the Near East, with the end of the Spanish Civil War, he was able to free up more forces to start establishing colonies around the world.

Invaded Algeria, invaded Morocco, fought with the Austrian Empire for West Africa, fought with Britain for East Africa, carved up the Central American Federation, and developed Asian colonies with Spain

Before you know it, France has gone further and further down the path of colonialism, but this has indeed injected a strong vitality into France at this time, allowing it to recover quickly from the economic crisis.

However, it was the Franco-Belgian Customs Union that was most on the minds of François Guizot, when Belgium had just gained independence from the Netherlands for more than a decade, but it was the second fastest growing country in Europe, growing by more than 20% per year.

(The first is Luxembourg, but it's too small to be of much reference value.) ）

Guizot hoped that by making concessions, Britain would accept the Franco-Belgian Customs Union as a counter to the growing German Customs Union.

If Britain is likely to back down on the Argentine question, the Low Countries are completely out of reach.

(The Low Countries refer to the Netherlands, i.e. the Netherlands and Belgium.) ）

Britain will resolutely fight back against any action that might threaten the British mainland or undermine its glorious independent status, and this time is no exception.

As soon as the British Cabinet received the news, it reached an internal agreement that the Franco-Belgian Customs Union must not be allowed to be formed. Because if it is allowed to mess around, it will not only revive Napoleon's ghost, but also directly threaten the core interests of Britain.

Palmerston is still clamoring for war as usual, and although the British have been going back and forth lately, there is no doubt that they are the most powerful country in the world at this time.

The Battle of Kabul, the Battle of Pangong Lake, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and successive defeats forced Britain to transfer troops from home to fill the gap in the South Seas.

At this time, the North Sea Fleet and the British mainland defense forces were relatively weak, and even more fatal was the domestic labor movement, the famous Chartist Movement.

Britain was the first to industrialize, the largest number of workers, and the strongest strength, although Queen Victoria, who had just ascended the throne, used her personality charm to resolve the crisis, but due to objective factors, the queen's promise could not be fulfilled at all.

So the workers were once again organized to seek their rights, and this time Victoria simply left the ropes alone, and as she grew older, she grew tired of the stupid and duplicitous politicians.

At the same time, the queen also met the love of her life, Prince Albert, and the two preferred to enjoy quality time together rather than deal with tedious state affairs.

In fact, both of these people have certain political skills, but the British system and the politicians in power at that time were really strong, so they could only choose to retreat to the second.

The complicated situation and the huge pressure at home and abroad almost overwhelmed the cabinet members, and the prime minister, Viscount Melbourne, had to convene a parliament to bring Guizot's proposal to Parliament for a vote.

But fortunately, all the parties in Britain were surprisingly unanimous on the matter of the Franco-Belgian Customs Union, and unanimously opposed the establishment of a French fiat currency customs union.

However, there was a serious disagreement over the question of the Viceroyalty of La Plata, and the majority of the parliamentarians opposed the threat of force in the matter, because there were too many enemies of Great Britain, Russia, France, Austria, the old empires of the East, and the savage indigenous tribes of Oceania and Africa.

Most of them objected on the grounds that Russia was the greatest threat to British world hegemony, but Palmerston did not see it that way.

"Gentlemen, please be quiet! Russia is a potentially great threat to the British, they will threaten the Near East, they will threaten Central Asia, and they may even occupy Afghanistan, cross the Hindu Kush Mountains, and invade our India!

But! Gentlemen! Believe me, there is no one in the world who understands Russia better than I do! They don't have access to the sea at this time, which means they can't pose a real threat to us! ”

Palmerston's words are to the point, and he deserves to be the man who knows Russia best. But parliamentarians will not agree to the threat of force against France just because the threat from Russia is small, he said quickly.

"But the French have already gone to sea! They're going to compete with us for North America! Scramble for Africa! Scramble for India! Scramble for Central America! Now they're going to fight us for South America! In the face of such an opponent who wants to compete with us for the world, should the British Empire choose to retreat?! ”

"My answer is no!"

（Never! Never! Never!, the English context is actually quite feeling. ）

Palmerston's words ignited the passion of the lawmakers, and there was only one voice in Congress at this time.

"The British Empire will not back down!"

Of course, with the communication conditions at the time, a series of events would occur within a few months, and Britain sent the main force of the West African Fleet to support South America, and brought 6,000 British soldiers with it.

However, it was not to attack the French army, but to protect the legitimate property of the expatriates and the British, after all, most of the heads of both sides at this time had experienced the Napoleonic wars and understood the brutality of war and its terrible destructive power.

And they are all old yin ratios, waiting for the other party to come to them to negotiate conditions.

At this time, the Spanish sky was once again covered by the clouds of civil war, and the regent Christiana, although she had been deprived of most of her rights by the French, was still not a peaceful person.

Queen Regent Christiana is a woman of extreme luxury, and although she has given up her power, she will not give up the opportunity for material comfort.

While looking for young and beautiful men and buying gold, silver and jewelry for her own enjoyment, Christiana borrowed heavily in the name of her daughter and the royal family, but she could not afford to repay and did not want to repay.

(End of chapter)