While the Prussians were nervously preparing for war.
In the Prime Minister's Palace in London, a meeting specifically targeting the Renaissance Army was being held.
"Gentlemen, I think we must take necessary measures to contain the Renaissance Army in the East. Their expansion momentum in the past two years has been so fierce that they have become a behemoth before we even realize it.
."
He stood in front of a map behind him, picked up a pointing stick and pointed to the northeast corner of the map.
This is a world map used by the British.
The Atlantic Ocean and Western Europe, where the British Isles are located, are in the center of the map.
On the left are the American continent and the eastern half of the Pacific Ocean.
To the right, they are divided into the Near East, the Middle East and the Far East.
On this map, large areas are marked in red, and these areas are under British control.
These red colors are spread across almost all time zones on the map, so the current British Empire is truly an "empire on which the sun never sets."
The right side of the map where the indicator stick points is the Far East.
Most of the Far East is marked in yellow on the map.
"Please see, this yellow area is the area currently controlled by the Renaissance Army, and these green areas are the so-called vassal states they indirectly control."
"This Renaissance Army was originally just a warlord under the Qing Dynasty that we defeated. Their leader was named Dong Shuheng. He was originally a businessman. He rose up during the suppression of the Qing Dynasty's peasant rebellion and became a local force because he controlled the Qing Dynasty's external affairs.
trade, so we have always adopted a wooing attitude toward him."
"However, it now seems that Dong Shuheng has strong diplomatic wisdom and is very familiar with our diplomatic habits. He has used trade activities with us to continuously strengthen himself. He has imported a large number of machinery and equipment from Europe and the United States, and established
own industrial system.”
"The information we just received is that their steel output has surpassed that of the French and is approaching the British Empire. Their stock of spindles has reached two-thirds of ours. They have built four thousand kilometers of railways in two years.
.Even so they are still importing a lot of steel from Europe."
"We, France and Prussia are all exporting large amounts of steel to them. What are they doing?"
"At the beginning of last year, they launched a rebellion and occupied the entire Qing Dynasty. Before that, they had already shown their ambitions towards the Qing Dynasty. But suddenly, they agreed to send troops to Crimea to participate in the coalition battle, which made us think
They are trying to show me their goodwill."
"Oh, okay, I admit that we are all confused by this army. So when they launch a rebellion, we don't know how to respond." Lord Clarendon introduced.
Many British cabinet ministers still only know this Eastern country from the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, Lord Clarendon must first explain this country clearly to these people.
"Why can't we stop them? What about our fleet in the east?" an official interjected and asked.
In everyone’s impression, the British defeated the Qing Dynasty without much effort.
"Well, at that time this army was our ally in Crimea. And their rebellion was their internal matter."
"Of course, this is not the most important thing. After all, we don't need any reason to intervene. The main reason is that our main energy was focused on the Crimea region at that time, and our strength in the east was simply not enough to intervene in the civil war of the Qing Dynasty.
."
"You must know that the Renaissance Army already had a fleet at that time, and they also defeated Tsarist Russia's Pacific fleet, and this fleet was sold to them by us, and it was our navy that taught them how to use warships.
"
"I think you will all find this very ironic. But this is indeed what the British Empire once did. We were all confused by money." These things were all done by the previous government anyway. So Lord Clarendon
There is no psychological burden at all.
"So at that time, we could do nothing but watch a more enlightened force take control of that country. Another point is that their speed was too fast. Maybe they had already begun to prepare to replace the original Qing Dynasty.
The government."
"They quickly took control of the entire empire in less than three months, and then they still had the ability to launch wars."
Lord Clarendon said with a dry mouth and took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.
This is black tea from the Fujian region of China. This is a special tea given to Her Majesty the Queen by the master of the East.
This kind of black tea is very in line with the taste of Europeans. Although this black tea is said to be specially supplied to the royal family, it can also be purchased by ordinary people, and the price is very high.
Lord Clarendon knew a little about the workings of business.
He understands that this is a business marketing method.
By specially supplying it to the royal family, this kind of tea is given a noble quality, and ordinary people will flock to it and be willing to pay a high price to buy this kind of tea.
It’s not that the quality of this tea is very good, it’s just that drinking this tea can show one’s identity.
Lord Clarendon knew this kind of thing, and the British government couldn't boycott it even if it wanted to, because royal families across Europe were using this tea.
The British royal family would definitely be laughed at if they didn't use it.
Thinking of this, even Lord Clarendon had to admire that these Chinese people are really good at doing business.
Not only tea, they also embroidered exquisite patterns on silk to make various things that Europeans needed, making these silks a popular luxury product in European cities and sought after by noble ladies.
They also cooperated with the Prussians to promote the medicines they produced in Europe.
These cheap and easy-to-use Chinese medicines have become the savior of many Europeans, not only earning them a lot of profits, but also gaining the favor of Europeans for them.
Because most Europeans now simply look down on doctors. There are too few doctors in Europe.
They also used a lot of propaganda methods.
Even the battlefield in Crimea became a place for them to promote traditional Chinese medicine.
These Chinese people are simply better at doing business than those Jews.
This completely breaks Europeans' understanding of Easterners.
Of course, in the past two years, Europeans' views on the Chinese have changed a lot compared to before.
Even Clarendon often saw reports about China in newspapers.
Regardless of the diplomatic ability of the Chinese minister in Europe, Mr. Wang must be an excellent orator.
He gave speeches everywhere and published eye-catching articles in newspapers, which indeed changed many people's views and understanding of the East.
In the past year, Chinese culture has become popular, centered in Vienna, and many people have fallen in love with Chinese musical instruments, costumes, and performances.
What is this? These stupid European nobles are helping China increase its influence in Europe.
Well, Clarendon was a European nobleman himself.
Lord Clarendon pointed the stick back to the upper right corner of the map.
"Beginning in 1853, these Chinese people fought three territorial wars with the Tsarist Russians."
"The first one took place in the late summer of 1853. At that time, the Renaissance Army had just spent money to buy a cruise fleet from our British Empire."
"This large order even earned the cabinet at the time a commendation from the Queen. You must know that the Eastern country has always been very conservative and has never had such a large order."
"It was also from that time that we began to contact Dong Shuheng and hoped that he could become our spokesperson for eastern trade. The area controlled by this person happened to be the origin of China's main export commodities."
"When this fleet was delivered to the Chinese, we also dispatched a group of instructors to the ship. During the first long-distance training northward, the fleet encountered the Tsarist Russians. According to the warships we sent
The officers on board reported that this was a sudden war."
"At that time, Tsarist Russia happened to be invading China's Far East. These Chinese people could not tolerate the atrocities of the Tsarist Russians, so the war broke out."
"The naval battle was basically won with the help of instructors from the British Empire. Of course, the Russians were not very strong in the Far East at that time."
"In this war, this army occupied a stronghold of Tsarist Russia in the Far East. This was originally the most remote land in the Qing Dynasty, and no one cared about this place."
"According to the character of the Tsarist Russians, they must take revenge, so starting in the second year, that is, in May 1854, this revival army launched a second war with the Tsarist Russians in the Far East. This war lasted
It took several months. It also ended in the defeat of the Russians."
"Through this war, this revival army occupied Eastern Siberia and the area east of Lake Baikal in Tsarist Russia."
"Everyone, we have always thought that the failure was because the supplies of the Tsarist Russians were not as convenient as the other side. In fact, it was because the other side's weapons were far more advanced than the Tsarist Russians. The Tsarist Russians were still using smoothbore flintlocks, but these people have begun
Breech-loading rifled guns are used. Yes, they are the kind of breech-loading guns that have always been disliked by our army. Of course, these Chinese people have modified these guns to make them more practical."
"Everyone is wondering how such a backward Eastern country can have such a weapon? According to our investigation, the technology of this breech-loading gun originally came from Prussia's Dreiser. They even spent money to introduce a production line from Prussia.
But we all know about Dreiser’s problems. How those Chinese people overcame these problems, we don’t know.”
"The war between China and Tsarist Russia is very regular. It ends in winter. Everyone knows the climate conditions there. They also realize this. Whenever winter is about to come, these Chinese people will stop attacking and consolidate what they have already done.
occupied areas.”
"In the summer of 1855. At this time, the Renaissance Army had controlled the entire land of the Qing Dynasty. And they had already sent troops to participate in the Crimean War. The third war broke out."
"In this third territorial war, the Tsarist Russians summed up the lessons of the previous two failures. They sent more troops and equipped the army with rifled guns. But they still lost."
"Do you know why? On the one hand, most of the main forces of Tsarist Russia were attracted to us on the Crimean battlefield. They simply could not gather enough main forces in the east. Therefore, these people of the Renaissance Army are
They took advantage of us. On the other hand, the equipment of the Renaissance Army was upgraded again this time."
"According to the information our intelligence personnel received from Tsarist Russia, this time the Renaissance Army used a gun that can fire continuously. But we have never been able to get a picture of this gun. Just some time ago, our people
I saw this kind of gun with six barrels in Siam, which can continuously fire bullets as the barrel rotates. This design is very clever, and our arsenal is trying to restore this kind of gun."
"Faced with such an attack, Tsarist Russia suffered another disastrous defeat. This time they lost the entire Central Siberia and many core areas in Western Siberia. At the same time, the armies of the Renaissance Army destroyed the Kokand Khanate and officially penetrated their power into
Central Asia.”
"They have claimed suzerainty over the Khiva Khanate, Bukhara Khanate and Afghanistan in Central Asia. This has always been our sphere of influence before. Now these three countries have completely fallen to the Ba'ath Army, and they are not lying to us at all.
Words of speech."
"Recently, some tribes in southeastern Afghanistan have even carried out harassment and provocations against our colonies in northwest India. We suspect that this is related to the support of the Baath Army."
"So, everyone, the Ba'ath Army has now formed a de facto confrontation with us in Central Asia. Not only that, they have also established good relations with the Kingdom of Persia, the Kingdom of Oman and even Turkey. This will seriously affect our operations in the Indian Ocean.
regional dominance."
"This revival army also penetrated into the East Indian Peninsula. They annexed most of the original Indochina, and Siam and Burma were its vassal states. They also supported the Chinese in the East Indies. In the past two years,
More than a dozen small Chinese countries have been established in the East Indies. The Dutch have been unable to suppress the Chinese forces in their colonies. And the Chinese forces in our colonies on the Malay Peninsula are also increasing. They even have their own armed forces."
At this time, another cabinet minister interrupted: "Your Excellency, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I really want to know why these Chinese can develop and grow in the Malay Peninsula under our noses?"
"Sir, I want to explain to you here that there have always been a large number of Chinese living in what the Chinese call Nanyang. Everyone knows that the natives are very lazy and do not engage in production, but the Chinese are very hard-working and have
Only places with Chinese people can prosper. If we want to develop local colonies, we cannot do without these Chinese people."
"Originally, we used local natives to balance the Chinese. If the safety of the Chinese was not guaranteed, they could only rely on our colonial government."
"But the Renaissance Army has cultivated a lot of armed forces for them through the convenience of doing business with the Chinese, and exported a large number of weapons."
"When we learned about this situation, the colonial authorities directed the local natives to launch several attacks, but without exception they were defeated by these Chinese. Everyone should understand that we cannot attack these Chinese directly, otherwise the result will be the same as
It’s the same as Luzon now. After all, we are too far away from there and we have too few personnel there.”
"The Chinese have the whole of China as their rear area. According to our information, China's current population has reached 400 million, which is more than the population of the entire Europe. Such a huge country is now fully developing, so it will explode
The power that comes out must be so huge.”
"We estimate that the Renaissance Army should now have one million troops. And they already have the technology to manufacture new ironclad ships. Although they can only produce small warships early, their warships are relatively advanced in terms of power systems and weapon systems. As for the specific parameters
We don’t have accurate intelligence, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to defeat the Spanish fleet.”
"Before the peace talks in Paris, the people of the Baath Army reached a deal with the Tsarist Russia. Tsarist Russia handed over their territory in northwest North America to the Baath Army. In fact, it had been occupied by the Baath Army more than a year ago.
Occupation. Now the Renaissance Army has announced its occupation of western Canada and Alaska. Our forces in North America have also intersected with them."
"Another thing is the rebels in northeastern India. We are almost certain that they are supported by the Baath Army. Of course, it is still a limited support."
"Okay, I will introduce this to our opponent in the east first."
…
At today's meeting, Lord Clarendon's report on the East shocked the cabinet members.
No one thought that the defeated general more than ten years ago, the old empire in decline in everyone's eyes, would now grow into a rival to the British Empire for world hegemony.
How would Prime Minister Temple, who claimed to know the East very well and planned the first Opium War, deal with this sudden opponent?
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