"The people of Qi are something we must not offend."

On October 5, 1730, in the Prime Minister's House in Dublin, the capital of the Kingdom of Ireland, Thomas Sean, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, pushed a document to the side of the bookcase with a blank face, and his fingers were still heavily tapped on the document.

"But......" said Jeff Hendrick, the Minister of Justice and Security, looked at the Prime Minister with a sad face, "but there is a lot of public opinion in Cork County, where many residents are denouncing the perpetrators of the abuses on behalf of the victims, and some are even encouraging more people to demonstrate at the Qi army station." If our royal government insists on handing over the murderers to them to deal with according to the demands of the Qi people, it may cause more social discontent. ”

"......" Prime Minister Sean sighed slightly, and his tone couldn't help but slow down a little, "The violence of the soldiers of the Qi State is certainly infuriating, but we must not let this matter worsen the friendly relations between our Kingdom of Ireland and the Qi State. It has been less than two years since the kingdom became independent, and we need the support and help of Qi in terms of economy and security, and we also need the protection of their army. In this case, I will ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on behalf of the Cabinet Government, to pay 100 silver coins to the families of the victims as a token of consolation for the victims. In addition, you personally go to Cork County to suppress the whole matter as much as possible, so as not to further intensify the contradictions between the local people and the Qi garrison. ”

"Prime Minister......

"Alright, let's deal with it like this." Prime Minister Sean waved his hand and interrupted the other party's continued defense, "We need to ask ourselves, how did the kingdom get rid of the colonial rule of the English, achieve the precious independent status it now has, and allow the people of the country to march and demonstrate without fear?" Without the help of the Qi people, we, the 1.4 million Irish people, would still be slaves of the English, and continue to live a life that is inferior to cattle and horses. Our land and wealth have been plundered, our men have been enslaved and slaughtered, our women have been humiliated and ruined, and our faith has been mercilessly stripped away. However, all this has passed, and with the support of the Qi people, our Kingdom of Ireland is independent and free. In fact, in the two years since the Qi army entered the kingdom, except for this Cork County violence, it can be regarded as abiding by the rules and regulations, and there have not been too many evil things in the local area. …… Compared to the English army back then, they are already a civilized army! ”

Jeff Hendrick was stunned for a moment, and then sighed.

Yes, what would we be like in Ireland without the Qi people?

When the English soldiers wantonly killed us Irish, what could we do but forbear?

Do we dare to demonstrate to our dear sisters when the soldiers of England extend their claws to them?

Half a month ago, two drunken soldiers attacked and humiliated a local woman in the Qi army stationed in County Cork, resulting in death, which immediately aroused the anger of the local people, and they all shouted to demand that the county magistrate and sheriff arrest and bring the two Qi soldiers who committed the murder to justice.

Speaking of which, since the garrison of Qi in the Kingdom of Ireland two years ago, those soldiers have always behaved extremely law-abiding, never disturbing the local people, and even opened the barracks from time to time and invited local officials and squire manor owners to visit the military drills of the Qi soldiers, so as to strengthen the friendly relations between the two sides.

The sassy soldiers, the rigorous and serious training process, all kinds of advanced military equipment, and the courteous officers have left a deep impression on the local people in Ireland, and let everyone feel a heartfelt sense of security.

The existence of Qi's military power is definitely a great deterrent to the Kingdom of Ireland's close neighbor, the Kingdom of England.

Although the garrison of Qi only has a mixed regiment of more than 2,400 men and a detachment of four warships, as long as the red yellow dragon flag flutters high on the territory of the Kingdom of Ireland, then the English will not dare to invade again, dare not come to enslave us again, and the suffering of the Irish people will be gone forever.

However, they never expected that this army, which prided itself as a civilized and mighty army, would commit such heinous atrocities in County Cork, when two drunken soldiers on leave violated a young girl in the flower season, and later pushed her into the sea in order to evade responsibility, and finally drowned.

After the defeat, the victim's family went to the Qi garrison camp and asked for an explanation.

On the grounds of extraterritoriality, the Qi people refused to hand over the soldiers responsible for the incident to the local government, but said that they would conduct a serious internal investigation and deal with it.

In this regard, the Irish people, who had been bullied by foreigners (England), felt that the Qi people were shirking and perfunctory, and shielded the perpetrators.

Wasn't that how the English were back then?

"Killing an Irishman is killing a dog!" This is the basic attitude of the English towards us Irish.

Now that we have driven out the tyrannical and murderous people of England, should this continue to happen in the country?

When their rights were constantly violated by the English, the national consciousness of the Irish people began to awaken and began to fight against the colonial rule of England.

When, two years earlier, the English had withdrawn all colonial officials and troops from Ireland in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Chang'an (with only the three northern counties for the time being) and recognized the independence of the Kingdom of Ireland, the national sentiment of the Irish people was so high that everyone wept with joy.

With the support of the Qi State, the Irish people elected their own king, established their own cabinet government, and formed a formal army of the Kingdom of Ireland, and from then on, the Irish people will forever puff up their chests and become an Irish man with dignity, personality and courage.

However, in such a situation, how can you Qi soldiers trample on our dignity and lives?

The occurrence of this incident has cast another layer of gloom over the Irish, who have just regained their self-esteem.

The Qi people will not replace the English and trample our Ireland under their feet again and trample on it, right?

——

October 10, Cork.

In the municipal square in the center of the city, thousands of Irish people had gathered, and more than 500 soldiers and policemen of the Kingdom of Ireland with loaded guns and muskets with bayonets were holding out the surging flow of people from outside, so as not to impact the Qi people in the square.

In the center of the square, a wooden platform more than one meter high was temporarily erected, and several Qi gendarmes were lined up on both sides, each detaining a Qi soldier with a decadent expression.

Lu Yunzong, the minister of Qi in Ireland, who was standing in the middle of the high platform, looked at the Irish residents who were watching, sighed imperceptibly, and then turned his head to look at Song Shilin, commander-in-chief of the Qi coalition forces in Ireland and Admiral Guangwei (rear admiral).

"It's almost time, so let's get started." Song Shilin immediately understood, waved his hand, and said with a serious expression.

A gendarmerie lieutenant (lieutenant colonel) saluted Song Shilin, then walked to the front of the high platform, picked up a megaphone, and read aloud the latest disciplinary order issued by the garrison command to the Irish residents around.

"Sergeant Zhang Huibao of the 2nd Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 25th Mixed Regiment of the Imperial Army in Ireland and Private Liu Xigui ...... late at night on 15 August."

The gendarmerie lieutenant would stop as he read a passage and wait for the Irish interpreter next to him to translate his words into Irish and inform all the Irish people present.

“…… In order to uphold justice and uphold the legal system, the General Headquarters of the Imperial Allied Forces in Ireland issued this punishment order, and the perpetrators Zhang Huibao and Liu Xigui were publicly whipped 15 times, deprived of their military posts, exiled to Qianzhou, and punished with 15 years of hardship. ”

......After hearing the verdict, the Irish people present immediately broke out into a burst of enthusiastic cheers.

"Execution!" The gendarmerie lieutenant officer gave the order in a dignified manner.

Immediately, several gendarmes stripped the two offending soldiers of their shirts, exposed Chiguo's back, and pressed them to a bench.

"Smack!" A loud leather whip rang out.

"Ahh

"Oops!"

The two tortured soldiers let out a painful wail, and a terrifying blood mark immediately appeared on everyone's back, and the pinched hands began to struggle and writhe subconsciously.

“1”！

The two Irishmen who were invited to the stage to be sentenced loudly reported the number.

"Smack!"

"Ahh

“2”

“……”

"Alas......" Minister Lu Yunzong sighed, his face full of helplessness.

"Now, the Irish should be satisfied, right?" Song Shilin heard Lu Yunzong's sigh, turned his head, and said with a cold face.

"General Song, if a soldier commits such an evil deed on the mainland, will he be able to escape punishment?" Lu Yunzong heard the other party's tone with a little dissatisfaction, and couldn't help but ask coldly.

"If you dare to have a soldier commit a traitor in the country, you will naturally have to engage in military law."

"That's it." Lu Yunzong said: "Speaking of which, the disposition of these two soldiers has already been lightly handled. If you violate women in your own country, you will have to kill people and kill people, and I am afraid that you will not be able to escape the fate of your life. ”

Although the two soldiers were eventually sentenced to exile and 15 years of hard labor, those who were familiar with the circumstances of exile knew that these exiled prisoners were generally released as free men after a maximum of three or five years of hard labor overseas, without delaying them from farming and even going to the sea.

Not to mention, they also have a military background, and they are welcomed and treated favorably by the local colonial government in overseas territories.

Colonizing and defending the territory, don't you all count on these brave and ruthless people?

"Actually, the Irish have acquiesced to the original advice on how to deal with this matter." Out of the corner of his eye, Song Shilin glanced at Jeff Hendrick, the Irish Secretary of State for Justice and Security, who was watching the execution, and said in a rather unkind tone: "But we just want to make a scene of such a public execution. This is a loss of face for the headquarters of our imperial garrison! ”

"General Song's words are fallacious!" Lu Yunzong smiled, stretched out his hand and pointed at the excited Irish people, "Believe it or not, after this incident, the Irish will be closer to our Qi people." Compared with the cruelty and greed of the English people in the past, the image of our Qi people will become incomparably kind and tall. Your Majesty and the Cabinet want to make Ireland a model place in Europe for our country, and in addition to constantly supporting it politically and economically, so that it can show extraordinary prosperity and wealth, it is also necessary to completely subdue its heart, and firmly bind Ireland to our country, and become a strategic place to balance England and navigate Europe. ”

"Your civilian government just likes to engage in these tricks of giving favors to others, vainly trying to win their hearts and ignore their countries through small favors, which is inevitably a bit wishful thinking. Oh, as long as England is on our side, the Irish will cling to our thighs, and dare not think of anything else. For hundreds of years, the psychological shadow left by the English to the Irish is estimated to never be erased! ”

Not to mention how the English enslaved and oppressed the Irish hundreds of years ago, only in the most recent decades had the bloodiest massacre of Ireland. At that time, a civil war broke out in England, and the Irish wanted to try to get rid of the colonial rule of the English and establish an independent state, so they launched an armed uprising. Unexpectedly, as soon as the civil war in the Kingdom of England ended, Cromwell, as a devout puritan, would take fierce revenge on the Catholic Irish.

Under the iron heel of the British army, in just three years, the island of Ireland, with a population of only 1.5 million, lost more than 400,000 people due to massacres, famine, disease, and immigration, accounting for almost a quarter of the population of Ireland, and the entire island of Ireland was bloody.

In 1648, Irish Catholics owned 60% of all Irish land, and by the time of Irish independence, they had only 6% of all Irish land, all in the barren and remote north-west and south-west.

Irish are not yet allowed to employ more than two apprentices, study abroad, apply for degrees and scholarships at universities, hold public office, jurors, solicitors and teachers, attend Parliament, have no right to vote, are not allowed to buy land, and are even restricted from owning horses worth more than £5.

Ireland, as a colony, was forbidden to export any goods abroad, and the industrial base – yes, Ireland once had a developed woollen industry – was completely destroyed and completely reduced to a complete agrarian state. To make matters worse, this agrarian status was even attached to the Kingdom of England.

In order to ensure the supply of food for industrial development, England completely controlled Ireland's grain exports, most of the barley, wheat, and oats had to be supplied to England itself, and Irish farmers could only rely on high-yield and cheap potatoes to feed their stomachs, because potatoes were the staple food, so as to ensure that the wages were kept as low as possible, and the laborers could survive.

As for the "saved" food, it was used to meet the growing daily needs of England, and to maximize the profits of the colonization of Ireland.

In order to integrate the Kingdom of Great Britain, England treated the Scots on the same island with a slight favor, and treated them only as second-class citizens. But the English never seemed to regard the Irish as "people", and they did their best to oppress and humiliate, wantonly plundering the land and wealth of the Irish, and even ruthlessly harvesting their lives.

Too far from God, too close to England, for hundreds of years, the Irish misery seemed to never be able to escape, and they had always been prostrate under the coercion of the English.

It wasn't until five years ago, with the outbreak of the Qi-Ying War, that the Irish suddenly ushered in a turn of fate.

Yes, the Qi people were more reliable than the Spaniards and the French, who had aided (used) them, and they really went to great lengths to help Ireland expel the English from colonial rule and help them finally achieve the independence of the kingdom.

The gratitude and dependence of the Irish on the Qi people is from the bottom of their hearts - well, the premise is naturally that the fear of the English is also imprinted in the bone marrow, although the two countries have different religious beliefs and very different civilizations, but this does not prevent the independent Kingdom of Ireland from "wholeheartedly" falling to the Qi country, asking for the support of the Qi country, oh no, it is protection.

Political, economic, military, scientific and technological ...... In many ways, the State of Qi has given great assistance to this newly born independent kingdom.

In less than two years, three low-interest government loans totaling as much as 2.2 million yuan flowed into the Kingdom of Ireland, which not only stabilized the Kingdom's finances on the verge of bankruptcy, but also helped them establish a series of industrial and mining enterprises according to the specific actual situation of Ireland, so that the newborn Kingdom was full of vitality.

That's right, Qi wants to build the independent Kingdom of Ireland into a European model, so as to announce to all countries in Europe: If you follow Qi, you can live a good life.

(End of chapter)