Wild North America 1846

Chapter 539
There are many Tang people active in Europe. At first, most of them were staff sent by multinational organizations of oil companies and big banks. In the early days, there were fewer people in Europe.

After the visit of His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to Europe, transatlantic exchanges became more intense and frequent, adding scholars, foreign students and businessmen, as well as Chinese who came to Europe to seek development opportunities, and gradually formed Chinatowns scattered in cities of various countries.

If we talk about the largest Chinatown in Europe, we should also count the Chinatown on the banks of the Thames River in the West End of London, covering six or seven surrounding blocks.

A total of more than 8.2 Chinese people live here and have purchased most of the surrounding properties. It is a neighborhood with oriental characteristics.

Downing street

The Prime Minister of the Liberal Party, William Ewart Gladstone, was sitting at his desk, flipping through the secret reports collected by the Intelligence Department on the movements of high-level officials in France and Prussia, his brows were frowning.

A moment later
Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone pushed away the documents in his hand, then took off the crystal glasses on his nose with some fatigue, rubbed his brows with his hands, and said; "It seems that... the Prussians are ready Now, the French are eager to step into the trap like a male dog in heat, and our Eastern allies are stabbing us in the back across the Atlantic, I guess?"

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, maybe this is the situation we want to see." Cabinet Secretary Robert Page replied in a low voice.

"Although the United Kingdom hopes to see the weakening of France's power, and the emergence of forces on the European continent that can check and balance it. But considering the size of France and Prussia, this will be a fierce battle full of gunpowder. I pray that God will forgive us!"

"Your Excellency, you can't stop a raging bull from running around. Especially Napoleon III, a monarch who is dazzled by victory, seems to want to replicate Napoleon's past glory, and no one can stop him from attacking his Prussian neighbors. .”

"Madness brings destruction, and it has been the same since ancient times, especially for a person who is overwhelmed." Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone shook his head with a wry smile. His evaluation of Napoleon III was not good. high.

In addition to the self-proclaimed French, the world powers who watched with cold eyes really have a few cats and ounces about Napoleon III, and their views are more realistic.

Prime Minister William stood up and walked to the window. Looking at the typical Victorian buildings outside the window, he was a little dazed, and asked suddenly; "Robert, maybe a big scuffle in Europe will make the dictator on the other side of the Atlantic happy. Can you keep your mouth shut?"

"what do you mean……"

"I have studied in depth the history of Richard leading the Tang Dynasty. He is a very insightful strategist and the biggest speculator of this century. There is no one." Prime Minister William's voice came faintly, as if recalling, and There seemed to be a sense of uncertainty and continued;

"He seems to always be able to step on the pulse of the world's turmoil, and expand his empire without losing the opportunity, succeeding again and again, always becoming the final winner.

This amazing talent is similar to that of the former Emperor Napoleon, except that one is specialized in international strategy and the other is specialized in war, and there are similarities in it.

The last time was during the North American War. When we joined forces with the French to launch the second Opium War in an attempt to expand our margins of interests in East Asia, Datang stole our way.

Taking advantage of the exhausted fighting between the north and the south of the United States, Li Cha led his army of the Tang Empire into the North American Civil War decisively, and won a generous reward for himself.

As a result, everyone has seen that Datang has truly risen to become the overlord of North America, completely controlling and dominating the transatlantic trade.

Britain's influence in North America has declined sharply, and it has been replaced by Datang in many cases.

When we were anxious about the conflict between Prussia and Austria, Richard took advantage of the opportunity to obtain the Yukon Province through the exchange of interests, and connected the remote and cold Alaska with the mainland of North America. This has to be said to be a major mistake.

Flipping through these interesting memories makes me feel;
There's always a pair of eyes on our backyard, taking something when we're not looking?
Of course, this is just speculation. "

Speaking of here
Prime Minister William stopped talking, and after a pause of two or three minutes, he suddenly turned around and fixed his eyes on Robert Page.

He said in an affirmative tone; "Let's take a closer look at what else this dictator will do? He will definitely not let go of this opportunity of violent turmoil in Europe, and he will definitely take action to take something away? In this way Confirming that my judgment is correct, what do you think of...Robert?"

"Uh... I think you're right, but..." Robert Page was obviously not sure, showing some hesitation.

Prime Minister William followed up with a question, and said, "Just what?"

"Oh... Prime Minister, I think Datang's current territory is vast enough, and it has almost acquired most of the territory it wants to acquire. It may not be realistic to continue annexing the North and South of the United States or Canada. Could it be that the target is Brazil or Argentina? Or maybe Cuba or Chile? It’s really hard to judge.” Cabinet Secretary Robert Page is also a politician with a very strategic vision. said;

"Let me think about it……

Who will they target next?

The Fusang Islands in the Western Pacific or the Korean Peninsula?

Could it be the Dutch East Indies?

No no no... no sign of that at all.

The Dutch have been operating in the East Indies for 300 years, and the orientals can't eat such a large territory, and they don't have such a good appetite.

If Datang intends to meddle in the Western Pacific region, it deserves great attention. It should be curbed if necessary and told not to step on the red line.

London's policy is to prevent Tsarist Russia from going south in East Asia, and also to prevent Easterners on both sides of the Atlantic from joining forces to maintain the balance of power in East Asia.The Fusang Islands and the Korean Peninsula can be seen as a policy vane.

From the current point of view

Datang did not get deeply involved in the Fusang Civil War, and is cooperating with us to mediate this protracted war, which is in the common interests of the two countries.

If Datang intends to continue to expand its territory in South America and invade Brazil, Argentina, Chile, or Bolivia by force, it may prove that it has a dangerous tendency to colonize the entire America, and it should be taken seriously.

Mr. Prime Minister, considering that Datang has become a powerful force in South America, there is not much we can do there. "

"Excellent analysis, Robert, but what's the core of what I'm missing?"

"Forgive me, Mr. Prime Minister, I mean there are indeed many doubts, but there is no clear evidence to prove it, so doubts are always doubts."

William Ewart Gladstone choked on the assistant's words, waved his hand a little depressed and said; "I'm glad to hear your wonderful analysis, Robert, now go about your own business. Let the current civil war in the Fuso Islands The minutes of the negotiations were brought to me, these damned islanders are more stubborn than I imagined, do they want to sink the archipelago before giving up?"

"As you wish, Your Excellency the Prime Minister." The secretary Robert Page bowed gracefully and performed a gentleman's courtesy, turned and left the Prime Minister's office, closing the door intimately.

Sitting alone in the room, Prime Minister William frowned and considered for a while, and finally sighed softly and said fiercely; "Don't let me catch... Li Cha, no hound can resist the temptation of hunting. It's a fun game."

Britain is the most strategic country in Europe and even in the whole world, not one of them.

Those countries that once threatened Britain's world hegemony, whether it was France or Tsarist Russia, all fell to the ground in front of the traditional world hegemony, even the French emperor Napoleon, who was invincible all over Europe, was no exception.

Before the Crimean War in 1853, when Tsarist Russia showed the momentum of expansion to the warm Mediterranean, Britain decisively united with France, the Ottoman Empire, the Tang Dynasty and the Kingdom of Sardinia to attack Tsarist Russia head-on, and firmly restricted it to the coast of the Black Sea .

different from the above two

Due to its location on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the rapid rise of the Tang Empire has been ignored by the UK to a certain extent, and the assessment of the strategic threat level is also low.

but in recent years

The rapid economic development and rapidly expanding territory of the Tang Empire made London feel deeply afraid from the bottom of its heart, and regarded it as one of its potential opponents.

The reason why the Tang Empire was not attacked is mainly because the situation in Europe has changed since the middle of the 19th century. Tsarist Russia, France, Prussia, Italy, and Austria have no one to worry about.

The performance of these European powerhouses, you and me, has involved a lot of energy in the UK, and I can't spare it for the time being.

2nd aspect

Across the vast Atlantic Ocean, it is difficult for Britain to project its military power, and it is even more difficult to organize a European multinational expeditionary force.

The British Army Staff Headquarters has done many sand table deduction, and the final result of the transoceanic expedition is [-]-[-], which means that there is a half probability of losing the war.

As an emerging world-class power, it will cost millions of troops to defeat the Tang Empire, and the price to pay is too huge, which is particularly difficult, which makes it impossible for Britain to unify its opinions internally.

Prime Minister William thought about it for a while, and felt that Datang was a hedgehog who had nowhere to attack, so he could only put it aside.

Regarding the current situation in Europe

London has always been in a favorable position with ease, and there are too many chess pieces in its hands, so there is too much room for manipulation.

Regardless of the final outcome of the Franco-Prussian War, Britain is the biggest winner.

Regardless of Prime Minister William's hypocritical expression of guilt, in essence, the British have participated in all the major wars that can be ranked first in the European continent for hundreds of years, and they are the leaders of the war.

It is not wrong to say that Britain is the source of troubles in Europe.

If France is defeated, then Europe will form a situation where two heroes stand side by side. In the distant East Slavia and the Tsarist Russian Empire are eyeing, coupled with the weighty Austria, Italy, Ottoman, Spain and some small and medium European kingdoms, will form a new world. continental balance.

If Prussia is defeated, the strength of France will also be greatly weakened.

Next step.

The United Kingdom has the opportunity to firmly tie the Kingdom of Prussia to its chariot. After a lapse of sixty years, it once again formed a coalition army participated by Britain, Prussia, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway and other countries, and once again defeated the This Gallic rooster, who has been in love with the British Isles for hundreds of years, has trampled on the pride of the French.

In order to achieve the purpose
The British envoys had already rushed to Vienna in advance, using their strength and interests to drive the national reconciliation between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, laying the foundation for possible joint operations in the future.

As for Italy, the unification of the Apennine Peninsula is the highest goal of the Italians, and the biggest obstacle now is the area occupied by France.

As long as the British hook their little fingers a little, the Italians will happily jump up and kneel and lick them.

After these major countries are settled, Britain can immediately organize a very large-scale anti-French alliance, and with the addition of small countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway, it can form a huge momentum.

No matter how Napoleon III of France jumps up, the fate of failure is doomed.

Prime Minister William saw clearly;
Once France is defeated, the Second French Empire established by Napoleon III will collapse, and the country will fall into a period of civil war and division, thus eliminating the biggest source of threats to Britain's "Continental Balance Policy".

The foundation of Napoleon III's rule was extremely unstable. He spent the first half of his life wandering between Britain and France, and was arrested and imprisoned several times for trying to restore.

Napoleon III won the presidency by a narrow margin after overthrowing the Bourbon dynasty by evoking the memory of the French people's glorious empire in the Napoleonic era in the early 19th century.

Then through a coup d'état, what is now the French Second Empire was established.

This political speculator who entered France alone to create glory relies on the dream of victory he wove to anesthetize the French. As long as the dream is broken, everything will return to the starting point.

go to the window
Prime Minister William lit a Havana cigar, took a puff, and enjoyed the mellow and strong tobacco flavor comfortably, with an expression on his face that he was in control.

But when he thought of the Great Tang Empire, his expression turned dark.

The cunning and brutal dictator of the Tang Empire, Li Cha, weaved a huge network of relationships that was almost impenetrable in more than twenty years.Involving the upper class of the British aristocracy, many heavyweights from the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, it is by no means a behemoth that can be easily shaken.

The Liberal Party is a civilian party that pays attention to the interests of workers. The party has different attitudes towards Datang, and most of them are positive. It is extremely difficult to build a consensus.

This is because the economies of Datang and the British Empire are highly complementary and there is no strong competition, such as oil, silver, copper, agricultural machinery and automobiles, chemical products, grain and meat, etc., are all blanks in the British economic field Or a place that is in short supply.

The beneficiaries of the British-Tang trade are quite extensive, including British grocery store owners, farmers and upper-class nobles, as well as a large part of the middle class who like imported products, all of which are beneficiaries of the trade between the two countries.

Some British heavyweights, nobles and influential politicians, democrats, many of them own more or less shares in Chinese-funded enterprises, or receive an extra salary, and are often published in influential British newspapers Pro-Tang articles, advocating close alliances.

It is because of various operations
It made Prime Minister William feel that dealing with Datang was a tricky thing. He couldn't fight, he couldn't be restricted, and these little tricks of sowing discord were basically useless.

This empire is a new world power established by the devil Richard with one hand and one foot. It has a solid foundation and a strong cohesion of the people. It is an extremely difficult opponent.

If it weren't for seeing Datang getting stronger and threatening the hegemony of the British Empire, we must take it seriously. Prime Minister William really doesn't want to poke this hornet's nest!
(End of this chapter)