Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 444 The End of an Era
Nantes didn't know what the queen was going to do, so he had to fetch the pen and paper.Victoria wrote a will tremblingly with those hands that had signed many declarations of war. In the will, she wrote the details of her funeral and ordered that she be dressed in a white dress after death.

After writing, she handed over the will to Nantes for safekeeping.

Not long after, British Prime Minister Balfour led Foreign Secretary Smeagley and several senior officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Military Department from London to the Isle of Wight to meet Her Majesty the Queen.

With a very disturbed mood, Belfort said to Victoria in an unusually heavy tone: "Your Majesty, there is an extremely unfortunate news that I have to tell you now."

Victoria was sitting on a large wicker chair by the window, with a blanket covering her legs, looking intently at the sea and blue sky outside the window, and did not respond to Belfort's words.

Belfort said with a sad face: "At first we were worried about Her Majesty's health, so we didn't tell you the news, but now that the whole world knows it, we dare not hide it from you anymore. That pearl, Hong Kong, has been successfully taken back by China.”

After saying this, all the officials present bowed their heads in shame. After a long while, Belfort said again: "Originally we didn't want to convey this bad news to you because of your physical problems, but after all, you are a member of the British Empire." My lord, now the people of the empire on which the sun never sets have fallen into incomparable disappointment because of this matter, so the cabinet has decided to ask you to come out and deliver a public speech to lift up the spirit of the people of the empire. Are you The ruler of the empire is the eternal spiritual leader of the empire, now only you can save the people from their sorrow."

Victoria still sat so quietly, still not making any response.

"Your Majesty, please accept our request." Belfort and the senior officials behind him bowed to the queen.

But after a long time, the queen sat there quietly, leisurely like a quiet girl.

Belfort felt a little surprised, and asked a few more words. After receiving no response, he winked at Nante. Nante gently came to the Queen's side, bent down and called the Queen a few times, and then took a closer look. Looks like a queen.

Suddenly, he turned his head and shouted with tears all over his face: "Her Majesty has passed away!"

After the death of Queen Victoria, the entire empire on which the sun never sets fell into great grief. The British "Times" published a special issue commemorating the queen in a full page, titled "The End of an Era", which recorded Victoria's ruling from the beginning to the end. This glorious life until his death, in the final commentary written by the British cabinet, said: "The name of Queen Victoria symbolizes an era. During the reign of the Queen, the British people were united unprecedentedly, and Britain became a powerful empire and continued to grow. Development. This is the best legacy that the queen left to the British people, and it is also the most powerful evaluation of her life achievements. There are very few women sitting on the throne of God who can fulfill the duties of the queen so well as Victoria, and at the same time Such ordinary happiness as a woman. The period of her reign, especially after 1851, is known in British history as the Victorian era.

The more than [-] years of her reign coincided with the period from the ascendant to the peak of the British Industrial Revolution. Britain was extremely strong, with unprecedented prosperity in economy and culture, great development in science and art, and the full maturity of the constitutional monarchy. Queen Victoria became famous. A symbol of British peace and prosperity.Queen Victoria has a distinctive character and a sincere nature.She is loyal to her duties and has the talent for governing the country; she spends her time not only on work, but also on housework; she is loyal to her husband and has strict requirements on her children, becoming a role model for a generation.Her unremitting efforts not only made British literature, art, science prosperous, and the economy prosperous, but also the British way of life (such as the afternoon tea of ​​British nobles) has also become the object of people all over the world to follow. The 'Victorian era' will be fondly remembered by generations of Britons, with Queen Victoria the world's greatest female monarch. "

Government House of Singapore.

With a shattering sound, the famille rose glazed cup produced in Jingdezhen was smashed to pieces.The blue veins on Yuan Shikai's forehead jumped up, and he sat there panting heavily.All the servants didn't dare to get close, they hid far away, and they didn't even dare to make a sound.

"Get out, get out of the way for me!" Yuan Shikai yelled at the servants.

The servants were frightened and hid outside the house.

Duan Zhigui, Yuan Shikai's godson, just came back from an inspection outside, carrying a few gift boxes in his hand, and came to see his godfather. In fact, Zhigui is only ten years younger than Yuan Shikai in terms of age, but he has always been an expert at climbing dragons and phoenixes, and adapting to the wind.He is a native of Hefei, Anhui Province. He graduated from Tianjin Beiyang Armed Forces Academy and stayed as a teacher at the school. He later served in the Huai Army and joined the newly-built army of the Empire. Promote and teach in the martial arts hall.But he is not a person who can be easily satisfied. In order to climb up, he has his sights on Yuan Shikai, who is appreciated by the emperor.

Yuan Shikai was personally ordered by the emperor to be the Minister of Beiyang, and Yuan immediately transferred Duan Zhigui, who had taken refuge in him and was valued by him, to be the head of the patrol police in the northern section of Tianjin, but Duan was not satisfied with this. Buy famous prostitutes and beauties for Yuan.

Once, Yuan Shikai went to Shandong to inspect the defense of Weihai. Passing by Tianjin, he envied Yang Cuixi, a fairy-like and talented Kunling in Tianjin, and wanted to take him as a concubine, but Yang refused.When Duan Zhigui, who was an attendant, heard about this, he used his power to threaten and lure Yang's father and brother, and offered 1 yuan as a ransom fee, and the Yang family was forced to agree.Duan immediately sent his followers to send Yang to Yuan Shikai's residence in the middle of the night.Yuan Shikai was overjoyed, and thanked Duan Zhigui for making it happen.Naturally, Duan Zhigui looked at him differently.This incident was heard by Yushi Zhao Qilin, so he participated in the impeachment by a memorial, and major newspapers such as "Shenbao" and "Times" did not hesitate to make follow-up reports.

However, Yuan Shikai sent people to intercept Zhao Qilin's excerpt halfway, and his impeachment also failed. Zhao Qilin was dismissed by Yuan Shikai for slandering the names of relatives and important officials.Yuan Shikai's means can be seen at that time.Two years later, Duan Zhigui performed the same scene again.At that time, under Yuan Shikai's vigorous promotion, he served as the supervisor of the Beiyang Navy in Wuhan.Once, Yuan Shikai came to Wuhan for an inspection, and at night he went to the famous local Yiyuan to watch a play. He saw Wang Keqin, a Kunling who is well-known in the north and south, and drool over her beauty.After Duan Zhigui learned about it, he visited Wang Keqin twice and spent 8000 yuan to buy furniture and daily necessities for Wang Keqin. Under Duan Zhigui's coercion and temptation, Wang Keqin finally agreed.

After this was done, Yuan Shikai was very happy, and Duan Zhigui took this opportunity to recognize Yuan Shikai as his godfather. After Duan's repeated requests, Yuan Shikai had no choice but to agree.Later, Yuan Shikai was appointed as the governor of Singapore by the imperial court, and Duan Zhigui, as a godson, naturally followed suit.This time, he was on behalf of his godfather to inspect the defense situation in the Strait of Malacca. As soon as he came back, he saw Yuan Shikai was furious, so he went into the house with the gift box to see what happened.

Yuan Shikai was still angry, seeing that Duan Zhigui had walked in, he snorted and did not speak.Duan Zhigui smiled all over his face, and after greeting his godfather, he came to Yuan Shikai and said, "Godfather, my son is back, this is the best Korean mountain ginseng that my son honors you, after using it, I guarantee you a long life, haha "

Yuan Shikai's anger eased a little, and he said: "How is the coastal fortification in Malacca?"

"Returning to Godfather, everything was carried out according to your instructions. The inside was filled with straw bags, and the outside was paved with stones. No matter who checks, there will be no clues."

Yuan Shikai let out a sigh, and said indignantly: "The imperial court is obviously trying to blackmail my old Yuan. The strengthening of Malacca's coastal defenses should be a matter of the country. I don't know who came up with the bad idea. It is only allocated to us men. One-third of the project funds, and the remaining two-thirds are for us to raise on the spot. Now that the empire is strong, it’s not that we don’t have money. Why should we let the Singapore government pay for it out of our own pockets. But since this matter is clearly ordered by the emperor, we have to do it. The court will not give enough money, and we can't afford that money, so we have to find a way to do it here. The project has been tampered with, this is called a last resort, don’t you think so?”

Duan Zhigui hurriedly nodded and said: "Yes, yes, godfather, you are utterly loyal to the emperor and the court. This is well known, but we have no intention of serving the country, but it is really embarrassing for the Singapore government to raise so much money by itself." I have to use my brain." As he was speaking, Duan Zhigui leaned over and squeezed Yuan Shikai's shoulders and back, and asked tentatively, "Godfather, I just heard outside the door that you seem to be in a bad mood today. , I don’t know why?”

Yuan Shikai suddenly turned his head and stared at Duan Zhigui, his two goldfish eyes shot out two fierce lights, Duan Zhigui couldn't help but act smartly, and stopped the hand that was holding Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Shikai quickly retracted his eyes, slapped his left hand on the table, got up and walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, muttering to himself: "Too much to deceive, too much to deceive."

Duan Zhigui didn't know why, but he was very angry seeing Yuan Shikai's appearance, and he didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he just stood there stupidly.

After a while, Yuan Shikai sat back on the chair and said in a deep voice, "Xiangyan, have you paid attention to the news in Beijing recently?"

Duan Zhigui thought for a long time and said: "No, my son has been busy in Malacca recently, and didn't get any special news. Did the godfather hear something?"

Yuan Shikai let out a harsh breath: "Wang Zhixin and his son have been executed!"

(End of this chapter)