The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 794 Britain needs a proxy war!

On the morning of October 1864, 10, the Prime Minister's office at 20 Downing Street in London was filled with thick cigar smoke. Colonial Secretary Sir George Grey wiped the sweat from his forehead for the third time, and the stack of telegrams in his hand was already wrinkled. The drizzling autumn rain outside the window hit the glass, as if mocking the British Empire's layout in the Far East as a complete joke.

"Sarawak fell, Siam defected, Annan surrendered, and the Spanish governor of Luzon hoisted the white flag." Viscount Palmerston knocked heavily on the oak floor with his ivory-handled cane every time he read a place name. "How come these Spaniards kneel down faster than the Indian untouchables?"

The old British Prime Minister was so angry that he was shaking all over! The British Empire was an old troublemaker. Although it had long since tacitly accepted that Southeast Asia other than Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra Island were the sphere of influence of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it did not lack any obstacles! Needless to say, Sarawak was the British themselves! They also sent advisers to Siam and sold arms to Annan. In Luzon, they secretly sent the Tianli-style rifled guns produced by the Korean Heavenly Kingdom to the Spanish Governor's Office, and even provided support to the remnants of the Qing Dynasty in Guangnan Province.

I thought that these obstacles could play a role to some extent, and perhaps we could have a fierce battle with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Even if we couldn't win, dragging it out for three to five years would be enough to give the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom a hard time.

But no one expected that as soon as the Heavenly Kingdom's "Special Anti-colonial Operation" began, these useless guys all fell to their knees! All the support from the British Empire over the years was in vain!

Finance Minister Gladstone smiled bitterly and reminded the aged Prime Minister: "Mr. Prime Minister, before our Westerners' powerful ships and cannons blasted open the tightly closed door of the Eastern world, China has always been the Celestial Empire of the East, equivalent to our Rome!"

"Rome?" Palmerston suddenly turned around, his gray-blue eyes fixed on the second-in-command of the cabinet. "Our Rome no longer exists!"

"But their Rome is still there," Gladstone frowned. "It always has been."

The meeting room suddenly fell into silence, with only the crackling of charcoal in the fireplace. Colonial Secretary Grey finally couldn't help but say, "Maybe we should consider Burma."

"Burma?" Palmerston interrupted coldly. "The Kingdom of Burma is our enemy. We fought two wars with them in 1824-1826 and 1852-1853, and took away half of their territory. Why do you think Burma will stand with us?"

The Konbaung Dynasty of Myanmar has always been the little bully in Southeast Asia and was accustomed to bullying. When facing the approach of the British Empire, it was also unwilling to submit, so it was defeated twice in a row. It was not the British Empire itself that took action, but the East India Company that sent Indian mercenaries to defeat Myanmar, destroying half of Myanmar's territory.

Foreign Minister Earl Clarendon said: "Prime Minister, for some reason, the relationship between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Myanmar has always been very cold. It is said that Myanmar sent several waves of envoys to Tianjing, hoping to get weapons and equipment support from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but they were all rejected by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After pacifying Yunnan and Guizhou, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom accepted the surrender of some chieftains in northern Myanmar and provided them with rifled guns to help them fight against the Konbaung King. Although the conflict between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Myanmar did not escalate as a result, it has always been so cold that they did not even set up embassies with each other."

"Did the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom not ask Burma to submit to it this time?" the British Prime Minister asked. He actually knew that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Burma had a bad relationship, but he had always thought that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom left Burma aside in order to maintain its relationship with Britain, but now the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Britain were about to break up.
"It seems not." Lord Clarendon shook his head.

"Prime Minister," said Colonial Secretary Grey, "Myanmar's Konbaung Dynasty showed strong fighting power in the two wars against the East India Company. After losing Lower Burma, they still did not give up and have been actively preparing their military forces over the years. They are much stronger than Siam, Sarawak, Luzon, Brunei, and Annan!"

The British Prime Minister nodded slightly and said to himself: "The Konbaung Dynasty of Burma is indeed a man of character. However, the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma alone is not enough to fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. There is another country that must also prove its value!"

As the golden clock at Buckingham Palace struck three o'clock in the afternoon, Queen Victoria was using a silver knife to open a secret letter from the Far East.

"Your Majesty, Chile and Nicaragua have signed." Admiral Somerset unfolded the nautical chart and pointed to the mark on the west coast of South America. "Chilean President Perez has allowed us to build a naval base in Coquimbo Harbor."

Prince Albert raised his pale finger and pointed to Peru: "Lima."

"It's too late to save them." Somerset's voice sounded like he was reading an obituary. "The Taiping Army's ironclad ships blocked all shipping lanes, and the flag of the Inca Kingdom was planted on the roof of the presidential palace. Fortunately, no massacre occurred. The True Covenant sent Peruvian Archbishop Zeng Shuiyuan to pardon the 100,000 white people in Lima and allow them to evacuate to Chile."

Viscount Palmerston took over the topic and said: "But we found a turning point in Burma."

The Queen suddenly stood up and looked back at the elderly Prime Minister: "Burma? That barbaric country that still uses muskets?"

"But they have tens of thousands of elite soldiers," Colonial Secretary Grey hastily explained. "And King Mindon has always been resentful of the Taiping Army for accepting the allegiance of a dozen chieftains in the north. Moreover, King Mindon of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma is ambitious. If we can support him, return Pegu, give him a batch of rifles, and promise Tanassarin, he will definitely be of use to us. The mountainous terrain in northern Burma is complex. Once the Taiping Army enters, it is very likely to be caught in a protracted war."

Prince Albert suddenly laughed: "Like luring wild dogs with meat bones?" He turned to his wife, "Dear, remember the Korean delegation we received at Windsor Castle last year? Their 'Gapsin Rifle' was a copy of our Enfield 1853." Palmerston quickly followed the prince's words and said, "Your Majesty, we have invested a lot of resources in the Kingdom of Korea. This time it is up to the Kingdom of Korea to do something to prove itself!"

Queen Victoria nodded gently: "Tell the ambassador to the Korean Heavenly Kingdom, Aliguo, to immediately discuss with King Yang Dong the possibility of sending troops to help the Kingdom of Burma fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom." She stroked the necklace made of Korean Dongzhu, "Tell King Yang Dong that he can turn Burma into his Burmese Heavenly Kingdom. I can also give him the general contracting of the labor services for the Nicaragua Canal project."

The Yangon Palace in 1864 was filled with a strange smell of sandalwood and opium. King Mindon was reclining on a golden throne inlaid with ivory, with twelve maids kneeling at his feet, wrapped only in gauze.

"Your Majesty." Phillips took off his sweat-soaked bowler hat and said, "The Governor-General's Office of the East India Company unanimously agrees that it is time to correct the misunderstanding of twenty years ago." He deliberately said the place name "Pegu" in Burmese and saw that the Burmese king's eyelids twitched.

King Mindon suddenly dismissed all his attendants, and his ruby-studded sword slammed on the marble floor. "Will you, the British, be kind enough to return the land you have taken?" He walked down the throne barefoot, his golden anklets jingling, "Unless your Queen Victoria drank too much Ganges water!"

Phillips took out a map from his briefcase calmly. "As long as your army goes north to attack those chieftains who have surrendered to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the territory of Pegu will be delivered to you." He paused deliberately. "If the war between you and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can last for more than a year, it is not impossible for Tanashirin to negotiate."

King Mindon stared at the British in front of him and said, "Don't you British know how powerful the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is?"

"Of course we know!" Phillips looked at King Mindon, "But Yang Xiuqing, the King of East Korea, will stand with you!"

"What?" King Mindon's eyes lit up, "Yang Xiuqing? Could it be him..." He didn't say anything else, but nodded heavily, "Okay, as long as Yang Xiuqing can send troops to Burma to help, I'm willing to give it a try!"

In the meeting hall of the Dongwang Palace of the Kingdom of Korea, Nanmu Inako was combing Yang Xiuqing's long hair. The chief priest of the Shinyo Shinto Shrine in Japan was only wearing a thin red kimono and knelt behind Yang Dongwang with gentle movements.

"The British Minister has arrived!" the guard's announcement came in.

Sir Aliguo walked into the palace with a silver cane, and his eyes stayed on Nanmu Daozi for a moment. This Englishman could speak fluent Chinese: "Your Highness, the King of the East, Her Majesty the Queen asked me to bring you a good news."

As he spoke, Aliguo handed over a telegram he had just translated.

"Three thousand mercenaries in exchange for a labor contract for the canal project?" Yang Xiuqing frowned, "What does Wei Wumei mean?" He suddenly said something to Kusunoki Inako in Hakka, causing the British envoy to frown.

Aliguo hastily added: "Of course, there is also the right of your True Covenant sect to preach in Burma." He paused, and then said, "Your Highness, Britain has given the Kingdom of Korea a lot of help over the years! Now, you need to prove that the Kingdom of Korea is worthy of Britain's continued investment!"

Yang Xiuqing's face darkened, and he seemed about to explode, but in the end he waved his hand and said, "Go back and wait for news!"

After the British envoy left, Nanmu Inako suddenly knelt down and said, "Long live the Japanese! Please let the Japanese men die for you in Burma!"

"Rebellion!" Yang Xiuqing said angrily, "How dare you sow discord between me and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? You deserve to be beaten!"

"Your Highness." Nanmu Daozi kowtowed heavily, "Your Highness, I am willing to accept the punishment, but please listen to me finish my words!"

"Speak!" Yang Xiuqing glared at the rice.

Daozi put his forehead to the ground and said word by word: "Your Highness, you are the Eastern King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the greatest king under the Heavenly King. You should rule the entire Heavenly Kingdom instead of being confined to the tiny countries of Korea and Japan!"

(End of this chapter)