No. 25 Baker Street, London is a luxury Baroque mansion. However, in recent days, gentlemen and ladies entering and leaving the mansion have been in a hurry, and the mansion seems to have lost its original vitality. Only the birds on the snow-white girl statues in the garden occasionally chirp.

Mr. Sherlock is the owner of this mansion, but now he is worried. In the distant East, his son and a boat full of crows were detained by the Chinese. Even the great merchant who had experienced countless storms was helpless at this time...

Before the fireplace, Mr. Sherlock was discussing countermeasures with his close confidant Smith. The Guangzhou Maritime Court in China has determined that the raven ship violated the South China Sea Maritime Law jointly signed and abide by the Southeast countries. Now it is studying whether to accuse Sherlock of the illegal acts of Xiao.

For Mr. Sherlock, he can take the ship and cargo, because he is afraid that his son will be found guilty by the Chinese court. It will be difficult for him to save him and return home.

Lawyer Smith is a famous barrister in London, but he frowned at this time, looking helpless.

Sherlock looked at the phone that seemed to never ring, and shook his head helplessly. He was not without friends in the cabinet, but abroad and in the East, he felt the weakness of the British Empire for the first time, and the pressure of foreign power for the first time.

"Can't we use the reasons for the high seas to relieve Tom of sin?" Sherlock tried hard to recall the books on maritime power and maritime law I read these days. If she said that a month ago, she had only a little understanding of the concepts of high seas, territorial seas, etc., but now she is familiar with it.

In the era when Portugal dominated the ocean hundreds of years ago, the Portuguese dominated the entire ocean and claimed to be the patron god of the ocean. The Portuguese had the right to interfere in any matter on the ocean. Later, the Spanish rose. Pope Alexander VI issued an imperial edict under the coordination of the Pope. The global ocean was governed by Portugal and Spain, and designated the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands to draw a meridian as the dividing line for the exercise of rights between Portugal. The two countries have control in their respective regions. Ships of other countries are not allowed to sail and trade in these areas without the permission of the controlled countries.

It was the era of real maritime hegemony. Later, with the rise of Britain and France, the ocean was divided for the second time. In order to break the old pattern, the British proposed the concept of high seas and territorial seas, advocating the division of the global oceans into "territorial seas" that belong to the sovereignty of coastal countries, and the "high seas" that do not belong to any national sovereignty and can sail freely by all countries.

After this theory was proposed, it was gradually accepted by European countries, and the range of territorial waters was limited to the range of land weapons at that time, that is, the range of artillery guns, which was 3 nautical miles.

Sherlock's eyes were full of hope at this time and said, "Yes, Tom was on the high seas at that time, and the Chinese had no reason to arrest him."

Lawyer Smith sighed and said, "Mr. These reasons have been raised in court by our lawyer team. However, although Mr. Sherlock was located on the high seas at that time, the merchant ship was flew the national flag of China. The ship was registered in Pontianak. According to the navigation laws of the Southeast countries, the Chinese have jurisdiction over it and the owners."

The hope in Sherlock's eyes was disillusioned, and he grabbed his hair in annoyance. He never thought that one day he would get into a lawsuit from the East, and he would hire a local Chinese lawyer team to sue for his son. He had been to China decades ago. He remembered that hardworking but lifeless nation had not yet been civilized at all. What are the laws and lawyers?

Lawyer Smith sighed: "Sir, don't worry, Tom's case is not something we can solve. The Chinese are not targeting Sherlock and the others want, but not as simple as a croaker boat, nor are they to convict a certain British citizen."

Mr. Sherlock nodded and knew that the fire at the city gate affected the fish in the pond, and the two empires in the East and the West were playing, and his son became a victim. But how things were settled is really unpredictable.

"Why don't Tom do business in the East? Why don't he know about the laws of the East? Isn't he aware of such a big ban on smoking?" Sherlock complained to his son, and then he knew that he couldn't blame Tom. British citizens overseas have always only known their own laws. According to the British law, as long as it is a British merchant ship, no matter where it is traveled, it is considered British territory and is subject to the jurisdiction of the empire. This also makes British seamen enjoy various privileges overseas, and they usually have the illusion of being superior. This arrogant personality is the culprit that caused Tom to fall into a dilemma.

However, the Empire of the Sun never sets, this time it meets an extremely powerful opponent in the East. It seems that it is the most powerful opponent I have encountered in hundreds of years. Although it is extremely far away, it seems to be more dangerous than the Napoleon Empire that was originally across the sea.

The battle between countries is not just about force and financial resources. Through Tom's lawsuit, Mr. Sherlock discovered that the structure of the other party's social structure seemed to be more civilized than the British Empire. When a prosperous civilization encountered a more advanced civilization than him, he instinctively felt awe. Mr. Sherlock had this feeling at this time. He sighed deeply, and Mr. Sherlock picked up the microphone. No matter what, he would bring his only son back to London safely.

In just a few days when Ye Zhao's merchant ship sailed from Dayachi to Pontianak, the Guangzhou Maritime Court of the Imperial Kingdom had already conducted a case of Sherlock and the "Bavaria"

The trial was extremely efficient, and this move also made the British very angry. The consul in Beijing protested to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs again and again. In terms of the personal civil criminal responsibility of Sherlock, the British even more pressured them and tried their best.

Prevent the Chinese maritime department from probable charges against Sherlock Jr.

But no one knew that at this time, Li Hongzhang, the Prime Minister of the Empire, had already arrived in Pontianak to welcome Ye Zhao back to Beijing. When Ye Zhao saw Li Hongzhang, he laughed and said, "The Prime Minister and the King sneaked and ran overseas together, which is considered a strange story."

Seeing Ye Zhao's smile, Li Hongzhang felt relieved. He knew that there was no major mistake in the nearly one year of governance, and he was still approved by the emperor.

In the flower hall of the Governor's Office of Pontianak, Li Hongzhang had a rare opportunity to meet the emperor alone. Before Ye Zhao left the capital, Li Hongzhang had not seen Ye Zhao for a long time. Speaking of which, the monarch and ministers had not talked together for a year.

Li Hongzhang, who was extremely cautious, reported on the political affairs of Beijing City this year, the passage and implementation of some bills, and some sensitive personnel changes. Although he knew that Ye Zhao must have known these news, he could tell them from him that the emperor would not be partial to listen and believe.

For example, in the current parliament, there were huge cracks in the People's Livelihood Party led by him and the "Zhengyi and Protecting National Studies Society" led by Zhang Youcun. This was a possibility of parting ways for the political alliance at any time, so Li Hongzhang naturally had to live in Ye

Zhao said something in front of him because he knew that the big men of the Zhongyi Gua National Academy were mostly veterans, including veteran generals from the Pingyuan Army era. In terms of personal feelings, I was afraid that the emperor would favor them more.

Most of the members of the "Loyal and Righteous National Academy of Protection" are strong members of the "Loyal and Righteous National Academy of Protection" who are expanding externally, and require strengthening ideological control over the people internally. This often conflicts with the political program of developing industry and commerce pursued by Li Hongzhang, but sometimes they can unite and cooperate. For example, the "abolition of slavery" passed two months ago. Without the support of the members of the National Academy of Protection, the People's Livelihood Party will find it difficult to promote it to obtain a majority in the parliament.

The "abolition of slavery" made the imperial kingdom include slaves as citizens for the first time, allowing them to enjoy the rights and interests of citizens and will not be sold around. All slaves of wealthy families must sign employed contracts with the master and be protected by the Labor Act, otherwise the master will be punished by the law.

This regulation can be said to have completely broken the tradition of the old society. Because the high-ranking families and big families all have the habit of slaughtering, the resistance encountered by the introduction of the bill can be imagined. Taking Hong Kong as an example, it was colonized by the British for many years and the British mainland has thirty-year-old locals.

It was abolition of slavery in the age of time, and its colonies should have followed local laws and regulations. However, due to the restraint of the Chinese Society of Hong Kong, the bill was delayed in the gazetted in Hong Kong and was not officially implemented until the 1930s. This shows the resistance.

However, Ye Zhao used force to conquer the world, and reforms were much easier than reforms. Especially when he first captured the world, the new law was the easiest to implement. When the social structure was completely stable, some reforms that fundamentally changed the social class structure would be difficult to implement.

Listening to Li Hongzhang reporting on one political matter, Ye Zhao suddenly raised his hand, and Li Hongzhang's words came to an abrupt end.

"How was Shaoquan preparing for the war?" Ye Zhao asked calmly.

Li Hongzhang was stunned and murmured: "Prepare for war?"

Ye Zhao said: "Yes, prepare for war and fight against Britain.

Li Hongzhang's mind buzzed. He never thought that a war would break out with Britain. Now is the era of great voyage and trade. Merchant ships are flying around the ocean. If the two great empires with the world's most powerful naval power go to war, it will be a very heavy blow to the trade of the whole world. Li Hongzhang wants to avoid this blow, but the British think so too.

He didn't say this, but Ye Zhao knew it and sighed, "Shaoquan, even if the country is big, war will perish; if the world is safe, forgetting to fight will perish! This sentence is a good saying of gold and stone. No matter whether there will be any war with the British, you and I must also be prepared for war."

At the beginning of several global wars, those economic powers thought that global trade had avoided the possibility of war, but in the end the war inevitably came, let alone the fragile trade ties between countries now.

"Please pay attention to this aspect more often." Ye Zhao's tone was extremely calm.

Li Hongzhang thought to himself that it was a big boss from the National Protection Society who gave a fuss in front of the emperor and criticized himself for not being very enthusiastic about military expenditure. Thinking of this in his heart, he kept saying yes.

But thinking about the war with the Sun-Don't Setting Empire that dominated the world, Li Hongzhang's heart beat rapidly and irresistibly. He asked himself, if there was a shocking collision with the British Empire, what would China have?
Chapter completed!