The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 499 This is the angel's gift to the new Tsar Alexander II (ask for subscription and ticket)
The night rain in Vienna hit the spire of St. Stephen's Cathedral, and a faint light shone through the stained glass windows of the chapel on the third floor of the Vatican's Embassy in Austria. Wu Chongyao took off his black tweed hat, revealing a bald head. His left hand was unconsciously playing with three semi-circular bullets of a somewhat peculiar shape.

"It's really incredible. Russian Tsar Nicholas really died at midnight on March 3. Is the Prime Minister really an angel?" Bishop Michele Viale-Prera, the Vatican's ambassador to Vienna, stood in the shadows holding a gold-plated Bible, the amethyst cross on his chest rising and falling with his breathing. "I can't imagine how terrified the Russian court must be right now."

Before he finished speaking, the oak door was pushed open and a gust of wind came in. Alexander Gorchakov, the Russian Empire's ambassador to Austria, was wrapped in a black cloak, wearing a top hat pulled down low, and holding a cigar in his mouth. He walked quickly into the chapel, "Your Excellency, I'm here. Where is the Chinese guest you mentioned? Is he here?" He flicked the ash on the silver plate in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary, and his Russian-accented German sounded like the ice floes on the Volga River. "I don't have much time. His Majesty the new Tsar Alexander II has summoned me back to St. Petersburg. I hope to get an answer before leaving Vienna."

Gorchakov, who looked gentle and not much like a Russian, took off his top hat, revealing his neatly combed blond hair. At the same time, he also saw Wu Chongyao's bald head.

"Pop."

The bullet in Wu Chongyao's left hand made a crisp sound on the scripture platform. He noticed that there was no entourage behind the Russian ambassador, and he had indeed come alone. "Your Excellency, can you understand English?" He placed three "hundred-step bullets" side by side on the scripture platform, and then took out a box wrapped in yellow silk from his sleeve, "This is a gift from our Prime Minister to the new Tsar Alexander II, and a handwritten letter from him to the new Tsar."

The candlelight flickered suddenly. Gorchakov walked quickly to Wu Chongyao, staring at him through his gold-rimmed glasses, and asked in English, "How did Tsar Nicholas die?" He suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "Did your Prime Minister use black magic?"

The midnight bell rang outside the window, and Wu Chongyao's pupils shrank slightly. He remembered Luo Yaoguo's secret advice before leaving Macau - "If they say you are a devil, then you'd better really be one."

"Russia needs a wise and intelligent new tsar. This is what Ji Du said." Wu Chongyao pointed to the three bullets on the podium. "Let's take a look at the gift our prime minister gave to the new tsar. Although it is just the most inconspicuous bullet, it can change the unfavorable situation faced by the Russian army on the Crimean battlefield."

Gorchakov finally moved his gaze away from Wu Chongyao's face and turned to the three small lead bullets. He picked up one of them and found that it had a skirt and a short tapered cylindrical appearance, and a conical hole at the bottom. "Is there anything special about this bullet?" He looked at it carefully for a while and found that the casting process was not complicated at all and it could be mass-produced in Russian factories.

"It has a conical hole at the bottom." Wu Chongyao began to introduce the advantages of this bullet. "When firing, the gas generated by the ignition of gunpowder pushes the soft skirt of the bullet, causing it to deform and form a better sealing effect, thereby achieving a good speed, a longer range and higher accuracy. And for Russia, the most useful thing is that this bullet is used for smoothbore rifles!"

"Really?" Gorchakov asked. "How effective is this bullet in a musket?"

Wu Chongyao said: "Shooting at a 2m x 1m target at a distance of 60 meters has a hit rate of 1855%. With it, plus a key prophecy, Russia has a high probability of defending the Sevastopol Fortress. By the way, the Sevastopol Fortress was originally undefendable! It would be captured by the British and French forces on September 9, 8, which means that Russia lost the war! But the Prime Minister said that the future is not unchangeable, the only question is how much it will cost!"

The chapel was silent again. The sound of rain outside was getting heavier. Wu Chongyao touched a book of "The Book of Prophets (Special Volume)" hidden in the inner pocket of his robe. This was handed to him by Luo Yaoguo before he left. It recorded many priceless prophecies. If they were sold to the right person at the right time, it would bring huge benefits to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. And Gorchakov in front of him was undoubtedly that right person!

"What is the price?" Gorchakov finally asked the question Wu Chongyao wanted to ask most.

"Ten million gold rubles!" Wu Chongyao said, "I want to get this money before May 5 of the Gregorian calendar. If it's later than that, it will be too late!"

Ten million gold rubles converted into pounds was about one million and five hundred thousand pounds! One million pounds in 1855 was definitely a huge sum of money.

But compared to the victory in the Crimea, this million pounds was nothing.

"May 5st of the Gregorian calendar?" Gorchakov's pupils shrank. "Does this mean that a crucial decisive battle will take place on the Crimean battlefield in May of the Gregorian calendar?"

"Hmm," Wu Chongyao nodded, "but where did it happen? This information is worth 5 million gold rubles. No bargaining accepted! If Alexander II wants to know, transfer the gold rubles to my account in the Vienna Bank before May 1st!"

This decisive battle took place on the Kerch Peninsula. On May 5, 24 British, French and Turkish troops landed on the Kerch Peninsula when the Russians were completely unprepared, and then occupied the Yenikal Fortress guarding the strait, thus completely cutting off the supply line of the Sevastopol Fortress.

That’s why the British and French forces were able to capture Sevastopol on September 1855, 9, thus securing the final victory in the Crimean War. If they had suffered a disastrous defeat in the landing battle on May 8, then the attack and defense of the Sevastopol fortress in 5 would have been delayed to 24 or even 1855. By 1856, the Indian National Uprising would have begun! Shouldn’t the Russians have persisted?

And the longer the Russians persist, the more time the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will last, and the greater its value will be!
"Okay, I'll contact the new Tsar Alexander II right away." Gorchakov picked up the bullet and the box wrapped in yellow silk from the pulpit and stuffed them into his coat pocket, then turned around and quickly left the small chapel.

Looking at the door of the chapel that was closed again, Wu Chongyao turned around and smiled at the Vatican's ambassador to Vienna, saying, "Please arrange for me to go to Paris. I will be back in a month. By then, Gorchakov should have prepared the gold rubles I want!"

Bishop Michele Viale-Prera ​​smiled and replied, “No problem, but please don’t forget to give 5% to the Pope, 3% to Archbishop Paul, and 2% to me.”

"Of course," Wu Chongyao said with a smile, "I know the rules of doing business."

"That's good," the nuncio smiled, "you can leave Vienna for Paris tomorrow afternoon."

When Alexander stepped into the Malachite Hall with worry, he saw that the double-headed eagle emblems on the chests of the guards on both sides of the corridor were all covered with black veils - this was to mourn the Tsar Nicholas who had just been buried.

The burden of Russia now rests entirely on the shoulders of this thirty-something Tsar. The European gendarmes, which were so glorious just two years ago that Austria and Prussia were inferior, and seemed to be able to suppress France forever and share the world with the British Empire, have now become the laughing stock of all of Europe. Even Austria dared to betray Russia - without Russia's help, the Austrian Empire would have collapsed in 1848! No, not in 1848, but it had long been crushed by the iron hoof of Emperor Napoleon.

All of Europe, except France, once relied on Russia's favor, but now they have all betrayed it. Even Prussia. Although the old fox Bismarck is not as stupid as the young Austrian emperor, Prussia has not given Russia any substantial help so far.

They just stood by and watched their former savior slowly fall. I really don't know what Bismarck was thinking? Did he think that the Prussia he had worked so hard to build could defeat the resurgent France in the future? It seems that the Germans' diplomatic and strategic pattern is just like that.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty"

The respectful voice of Karl Robert Nesselrode, the Russian Empire's Foreign Minister and an old nobleman from Germany, rang in Alexander's ears. After he called out several times, Alexander, who was not used to being called "Your Majesty", realized that he was already the Majesty of Russia.

"Karl, come with me." He looked back at the old and incompetent Foreign Minister and called him into his office.

"Your Majesty, this is an express letter from Gorchakov, our ambassador to Austria." The Foreign Minister placed a lead-sealed document bag in front of the Tsar.

"An express letter?" The Tsar was stunned. "He didn't send a telegram? Is he afraid of leaking the secret?"

"It's not just about fear of leaks," the Russian Foreign Minister said, "but there are some things that need to be brought along, and it is said that they are enough to change the situation of the war!"

"Something that will change the situation of the war?" Alexander II's pupils shrank. "Have you seen it? What is it?"

"They are three bullets with peculiar shapes. They are said to greatly improve the shooting accuracy of smoothbore rifles!" The Russian Foreign Minister opened the lead-sealed document bag and took out three bullets and a box wrapped in yellow silk.

"What is this?" the Tsar asked, pointing at the box.

"Your Majesty, this is a handwritten letter from the Prime Minister of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

(End of this chapter)