Chapter 417 The Ambitious Queen

When Chen Jitong saw him, he hurriedly smoothed things over and said, "Your Excellency, calm down. Now that the various factions in the court are chaotic and struggling, Gongdu is also afraid that Your Excellency will suffer losses. Your Excellency is the lintel of our empire. If your Excellency falls, there will be a lot of trouble." Who can really do things for the state."

Only then did Wu Tingfang regain his composure, and said to Huang Zunxian, "Gongdu, I spoke too harshly just now, so don't take it to heart."

"Zunxian dare not." Huang Zunxian bowed and saluted.

Chen Jitong said at this time: "My lord, what should we do next?"

Wu Tingfang looked at Huang Zunxian who had retreated to the side, intending to give him another chance, "Gongdu, what do you think?"

When Huang Zunxian heard this, he thought for a while before replying: "Zunxian believes that if we want the British to agree to the conditions, we need to start from within. Their system is different from that of our country. Their officials are elected by the people. If we take the British People’s remarks today are published in the media, and those British people must try their best to reach a peace agreement. If we use money to make friends with one or two British officials and speak out for this matter, I think Britain will be unable to withstand this pressure.”

Wu Tingfang nodded after hearing this, and said: "That's good, but it's not decent to make friends with money, and we need to think about it."

Chen Jitong frowned for a while before saying: "The Gongdu method is not unreasonable, but in my opinion, the use of these two tactics may not make the British subdue, and let them stand out from Hong Kong, which has been occupied for decades. Take meat out of your mouth."

Wu Tingfang pondered for a long while and said: "We can try the publicity method first, if we really can't reach an agreement, we have no choice but to report to the emperor according to the facts, whether the war is related to the national affairs, it is beyond our control. "

In the next two days, Wu Tingfang and others traveled back and forth in London, visiting some members of the British royal family and senior officials, but on the Hong Kong issue, the British were surprisingly consistent, that is, the original agreement was written there in black and white , no one has permission to make changes.However, after the negotiations broke down, the British Foreign Office submitted a second negotiation plan to the Chinese representative, that is, Hong Kong can be handed over to China, but the UK must obtain a 30% share in the development of Siberia, including at least 50% [-]% of the mineral development projects and at least half of the mineral development rights.

Wu Tingfang immediately rejected the British proposal. He said that in order to enable all countries to enjoy the rights and interests brought about by the great development of Siberia, the empire has always decided the ownership of the development project in the form of bidding, and it must not be a replacement condition for the Hong Kong issue. What's more, the emperor made a big concession on the Hong Kong issue three years ago, increasing the total amount of aid to Britain from the estimated 30 billion to 50 billion, which has fully demonstrated the sincerity of the empire on this issue .

This made the British negotiators very dissatisfied. After all, at that time, China can distribute the project to other countries by doing whatever it wants.Therefore, after asking Beijing for instructions, Wu Tingfang proposed to hand over 3% of the mineral development rights to the UK after mineral exploration and proven reserves in the three specified areas.As for mineral development projects, it must rely entirely on the strength of companies in various countries.After some bargaining, it was finally determined that 10 percent of the proven reserves of mineral development rights should be handed over to the UK (this actually guaranteed that at least 13 percent of the projects would be undertaken by British companies), and that other bidding processes would be absolutely guaranteed. fair.

On the issue of Hong Kong's return, although the United Kingdom has also set up various obstacles, China has always maintained maximum restraint. Guan Xuqing once told Wu Tingfang and others: "One day if Hong Kong does not return, the empire's territory will be incomplete. On this issue, Even paying a price ten times higher than this is worth it, but my patience has a limit, and I hope that the British will not use their ignorance to challenge the patience of me and the people of the empire."

"Dear Your Majesty, the current differences between China and the UK on the Hong Kong issue are very serious. In this unpleasant negotiation meeting, Lord Smegley has even expressed to the Chinese that he will not hesitate to use force to defend the dignity of the empire. , the diplomatic relations between China and Britain have come to the edge of a cliff, and my colleagues and I are at a loss for what to do about it. Any next decision may have two results: one is that the British Empire defeats China on the Hong Kong issue , Since then, I have gained a chance to rise again; the second is that for more than 200 years, the empire has once again been surpassed by that ancient eastern country, and it has been suppressed forever. This is the moment to decide the fate of the empire, and I must come to you to ask for a final wise decision. In Buckingham Palace in London, British Prime Minister Balfour said in a slightly sad tone after kissing Her Majesty's hand.

The 81-year-old Queen Victoria, although her body has already shown her old age, her eyes are still sharp.According to current calculations, she is already the longest-reigning monarch in British history, with a reign of 64 years. She is the first British monarch to be called "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of India" , These 64 years were the most powerful period of the so-called "Empire on which the sun never sets" in Britain.Her series of wise decisions made the name Victoria a symbol of an era in British history.The more than 60 years of her reign coincided with the transition period of British free capitalism from the ascendant to its heyday, and then to monopoly capitalism. The economy and culture were unprecedentedly prosperous, and the constitutional monarchy was fully developed, making Queen Victoria a symbol of peace and prosperity in the UK. .More than half a century of extraordinary years has made her the most powerful woman in the world today.However, after a lifetime of glory and brilliance, she fell into deep helplessness and sorrow for the first time in the face of China, a newly rising powerful opponent.But age has not diminished the queen's original blood and arrogance. After hearing Belfort's words, her originally blurred eyes suddenly brightened, like a cheetah that smells blood, no matter how old it is, it will suddenly change. Get fit.

"China? For the British Empire 30 years ago, that country was the paradise of our adventurers, and it was also synonymous with the most ignorant and backward in the world. Even if it is now strong and full-fledged, I never think China is a close rival of the British Empire. Prime Minister Balfour, I can tell you clearly that Hong Kong was, is and will be the territory of the British Empire. No one can take Hong Kong away from us, not even China. In that case, I understand Lord Smeagle's declaration, and this is what I want to say to the arrogant Chinese, it's time to take our stand. For the dignity of the empire, China's financial assistance We can give up, we can even use force to defend every piece of sacred territory of the British Empire, we want to declare to the world again, who is the real master of this world, and the empire on which the sun never sets is still as strong as ever.”

After several unsuccessful efforts, Wu Tingfang immediately telegraphed the whole process of the failed negotiations to Beijing.After getting the news, Guan Xuqing was a little surprised. He had guessed the outcome of this negotiation, but he did not expect that the British would dare to openly state their position on the use of force to intervene in the Hong Kong issue. Said to Feng Xianghua: "We have given the British enough face. The whole world has seen China's sincerity on the Hong Kong issue. Facing the arrogance of the British, what do you think we should do?"

Feng Xianghua immediately saw the fierce and murderous look in the eyes of the emperor, "Your Majesty, do you mean that you want to take back Hong Kong by force?"

Guan Xuqing did not answer directly, but said: "If I remember correctly, Hong Kong should be an important material supply transfer point for China and an important hub for sea routes, right?"

Feng Xianghua didn't know why the emperor suddenly mentioned it, so he nodded and said: "After the joint research of the General Staff and the Navy, it is found that there is not much maritime shipping in Southeast Asia, except for some ores, mainly rubber, grain and other materials. Moreover, the strength of China's South China Sea Fleet is enough to block the entire South China Sea route, forcing the transport fleet to bypass Kalimantan Island and the Philippine Islands. Now the most important imported resource is crude oil, and the current crude oil is mainly provided by the United Kingdom. Therefore , We believe that the centralized use of two destroying fleets dedicated to attacking tankers will not allow the navy to get enough fuel, which will greatly reduce the carrying capacity of its navy."

Guan Xuqing sneered: "People regard this route as their lifeline. For many years, the empire has not paid too much attention to the development of China. Most of the time it still focuses on Europe. But after the Bird Harbor incident, we have to deal with this despicable Do not forget that this western route is within the scope of our country's territorial waters. People have been asked about the conditions and costs of passing through the territorial waters, but they have always turned a deaf ear. Now we want to take back this route again. Forcibly expel the warship from the territorial waters of the empire."

"The emperor means"

Guan Xuqing frowned, called Feng Xianghua to his side, and whispered, Feng Xianghua's expression immediately changed from calm to astonishment!
The raid was code-named "The Perfect Storm."

At 3 o'clock in the morning, the sky was already bright, but the governor of Hong Kong, Sir Blake, was suddenly awakened from his sleep by an urgent news. According to the report of the British garrison ahead, a Chinese fleet was discovered about 20 nautical miles away from Victoria Harbour. It seems that a shot of cardiotonic suddenly made Bu Li sleepless. Chinese warships appeared in Victoria Harbour?Bu Li knew that this was extremely bad news for British Hong Kong. "These garrisons are a bunch of trash, what's the use of reporting to me, hurry up and send warships to intercept and track them!"

(End of this chapter)

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