The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 463: Mr. Bao, for Britain, is there anything more important than defeating Russia?
In the solemn and dignified second hall of the Wu Wang's headquarters in the inner city of Guangzhou, Luo Yaoguo, the Wu Wang, finally met Lord Bao Ling, who was a little obsessed with wanting to enter Guangzhou. Lord Bao frowned slightly, and it was not known whether he was disappointed with the scenery in Guangzhou. After exchanging a few polite words with Luo Yaoguo, Lord Bao sat down as host and guest. Maria soon brought up several cups of hot and fragrant coffee.

Luo Yaoguo loved coffee, but given his situation back then, he drank instant coffee most of the time. Later, although he found a good job as an angel in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with the help of his godfather, the Emperor, no one around him knew the full set of skills of grinding, brewing, filtering, and fiddling with coffee beans, and no one knew the quality of the coffee beans, until Maria, the "apprentice" of the Virgin Mary, came to Luo Yaoguo. The coffee beans she got were all top-quality. Anyway, Luo Yaoguo had never tasted such good coffee in "heaven" back then. Of course, the best was Maria, a hot foreign girl.
When Lord Bao Lingbao first met Luo Yaoguo, he was amazed at the youth of this legendary "fallen angel". When he saw the noble and beautiful Maria, his amazement turned into jealousy and even hatred. How could such a good woman be so cheap to this evil fallen angel? Not only is she stunningly beautiful, but she is also a Doria, and even has a fairly formal title of Countess! Compared with her noble birth, Bao Ling is completely inferior. Such a woman was actually seduced by Luo Yaoguo, a fallen angel. Why doesn't God do anything?
In Luo Yaoguo's mind, the world situation in the mid-nineteenth century was in turmoil. As a "fallen angel" who came down from "heaven", no one in the world understood this era dominated by imperialism better than him. This was an era where power absolutely overwhelmed justice. In this era, if a country was not "at the table", it was "at the table". Falling behind and being beaten, or even being carved up alive was a hard truth recognized by the world.

For China at this time, there is no option of "falling behind does not necessarily mean being beaten", because China itself needs land under the sun to alleviate the imminent Malthusian trap!
In other words, for China today, if it does not fight back, it will inevitably fall into the Malthusian trap. No, China is already in the Malthusian trap, and it will not be able to climb out unless it fights back.

If they cannot climb out, they will fall into continuous turmoil, and continuous turmoil will prevent the country from developing industry and education. They will naturally become ignorant and backward, and they will become barbarians or even inhumans in the eyes of Bowring and Elgin, and they will be beaten.

However, although the mid-nineteenth century was difficult for China, it was not the most difficult. After all, the Second Industrial Revolution had not yet begun, and the power of industrialization had not yet fully emerged. For an agricultural country like China that missed the First Industrial Revolution, it could still temporarily gain military capabilities comparable to those of the great powers through "buying, buying, buying" and social and military revolutions.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, through "revolution" and "buying, buying, buying", has temporarily gained the strength to compete with the armies of the great powers such as Britain, France and Russia.

Even if the Redwood Army in Britain was large, it would not necessarily gain the upper hand against the Taiping Army, which was equipped with rifles, nitrate grenades and knew how to fight trench warfare.

Of course, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s navy was still not good enough, and the Taiping Army had to rely on “buying, buying, buying” to obtain arms to maintain its strong combat effectiveness. Although a gun factory had been opened in Shanghai and could produce a certain number of M1851 rifled guns on its own, this “self-production” was based on the premise that parts, machinery and equipment, and even engineers and technicians had to be imported.

Therefore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom under the leadership of Luo Yaoguo could only "make some trouble" with the British Empire while Britain and France needed to concentrate on dealing with Russia. It was far from the time when they could break off relations with the other side and compete for hegemony.

The purpose of this “making a fuss” is, of course, to get to the table to eat, even if it’s the children’s table!

Thinking of this, Luo Yaoguo put down the small coffee cup in his hand and said with a smile: "Mr. Bao, the conflict in Xiangshan was obviously a misunderstanding, which was caused by your country's misunderstanding of the strength and goals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. But after experiencing this misunderstanding, I believe that you and your country have a clearer understanding of us. We have a strong army that is enough to destroy the Qing Dynasty, unify China, and defend China's sovereignty. We can also rely on this army to fight for the land under the sun!"

His words were all translated into English by Maria, and Bao Ling responded with a contemptuous smile: "A strong army? Well, your army can indeed be called strong, but most of the area on this planet is covered by sea water. Whoever rules the ocean rules the world!"

Li Taiguo, who was injured, looked proud as he translated Bao Ling's words into Chinese, and then cast a provocative look at Luo Yaoguo.

The navy is indeed not easy to deal with. To become a naval power, you must first become a shipbuilding power. Today, the world's number one shipbuilding power is undoubtedly the British Empire. And Britain's number one shipbuilding can be maintained for nearly a hundred years - the United States relied on huge military orders and a large number of "Liberty Ships" during World War II to surpass Britain, but after the war, the US shipbuilding industry shrank rapidly. Until the 1950s, Britain's shipbuilding industry was still the world's number one! However, in Luo Yaoguo's view, Britain's overwhelming naval advantage could not prevent the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from fighting for the land under the sun. Because in today's world, probably only the French Navy can compete with the British Navy. Other countries are not worth looking at. When they meet the British Royal Navy, they are all destined to exist in the fleet. But don't they still fight for the land under the sun?

The reason for this is that the navy's ability to control the ocean was not very strong at that time. This was an era where communication depended on shouting and reconnaissance depended on watching. Even the British Empire, which had control of the sea, could hardly blockade the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's long coastline.

In addition, the UK has a population of only 20 million, and it has already reached its limit to maintain such a global empire. It is impossible to suppress other powers, and the UK must give other powers the right to eat at the table, so as to ensure that the UK can get the largest share of benefits.

Otherwise, if everyone turns the table and stops playing, Britain will be in big trouble too!
"Master Bao, I think you misunderstood what I said just now." Luo Yaoguo remained calm and just smiled. "I don't want to compete with Britain for maritime hegemony, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom does not have such strength in the foreseeable future. Moreover, we also recognize Britain's leadership and are willing to contribute our strength to Britain's long-term prosperity. But our national conditions are here. Our country is in the midst of a Malthusian disaster! Do you know Thomas Robert Malthus's population theory? If we cannot export excess population to the outside world, mainly to Southeast Asia, and develop the sparsely populated Southeast Asia to obtain food that can alleviate domestic famine, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will surely fall into civil strife soon, and it will become the second Qing Dynasty!

I think that our large-scale export of population to Southeast Asia is a very beneficial thing for both Britain and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Because it will bring huge benefits to both countries. We exported population, obtained food, and alleviated the Malthusian trap. And you can get a more prosperous and stable Chinese market, and the development of Southeast Asia can only rely on the Chinese. I think any official from the Dutch East Indies, the Spanish Philippines and the British Straits Settlements will tell you this. The weather there is hot and full of tropical infectious diseases, which is not suitable for white people to live in for a long time. And the natives are too lazy. Only our people can make Southeast Asia full of plantations and mines, and make Southeast Asia a place for collecting raw materials and dumping goods for the British Empire.

Therefore, our two countries can cooperate to develop Nanyang. I will provide the people and Britain will provide the capital, so that Nanyang can become a common colony of our two countries! Believe me, the benefits that the development of Nanyang can bring to Britain far exceed the benefits you can get from dumping opium to China. Because the development of Nanyang can be sustained, and if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom cannot get out of the Malthusian trap, you will soon be unable to dump anything! "

Looking at Luo Yaoguo's fake sincere smile, Bao Ling wanted to throw the coffee cup in his hand at his face.

But now he still has to deal with this fallen angel with a pinch of his nose. After all, there are only a few people left in his Hong Kong Army, and the war between Britain and Russia has not yet been decided, so it is impossible to go to war with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In addition, it sounds like it would be profitable to cooperate with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to develop Nanyang! Nanyang is a hot place, who else can be used if not the Chinese to develop it? Moreover, Britain actually did not have many colonies in Nanyang, and the key to controlling Nanyang was sea power, so Britain did not need to worry about losing anything?
Bower thought for a moment with the most standard nonchalant attitude of a British gentleman, and shrugged his shoulders: "Your Highness, King Wu, your request is indeed very attractive. But I am only an ambassador to China, and I have no way to decide on cooperation with Nanyang. I must consult London. London will definitely be angry about its attitude towards the Xiangshan Campaign and your attempt to blockade Hong Kong!"

Luo Yaoguo smiled, and without waiting for Li Taiguo to translate, he directly said to Bao Ling in Chinese: "Mr. Bao, you can report the situation of the Xiangshan Campaign to London truthfully. I think the bigwigs in London will definitely find out the value of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to Britain's world hegemony. Now, their army must have encountered great difficulties in Crimea, right? Isn't a Taiping Heavenly Kingdom expeditionary force that is good at positional warfare what Britain needs most? For Britain, is there anything more important than defeating Russia?"

(End of this chapter)