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Part One Chapter 1498 British Revolution A Gunshot

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    Late at night on August 9, 1877.  [23[w]x Most of the powerful figures in Robert Churchill's cabinet, who had just finished a day of desperate work, began to rest.  The Foreign Secretary, the Marquess of Salisbury, returned to his residence in London to prepare for his trip to Rome to attend the Peace Conference the next day.  The Peace Conference in Rome is still going on endlessly, and the Marquis of Salisbury is now running from Rome to London, doing his best to bargain with Li Hongzhang, the right prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, trying to use diplomacy to save the empire he loves.  But all his efforts were actually meaningless, because the British Empire could not afford the consequences of defeat. Its economy had completely collapsed due to the losses of the American Revolution and the war and the Battle of Defense of Sterling, and it was simply unable to afford even the lowest war compensation.  .

    ?? Earl John Russell, Secretary of War, is a completely confused old man. The old Earl, who was born in 1792, is 86 years old this year, and his physical and mental strength has reached the point where he is about to run out of energy.  I was in a daze all day, and it was rare for me to wake up.  During a meeting at the War Department, it was even proposed to let Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington) lead troops to fight in Europe - who did he think he was fighting?  Napoleon I?  However, Robert Churchill had nothing to do with appointing such an old fool as a minister, because he really couldn't find a big shot willing to take over the mess of the War Department

    The Chancellor of the Exchequer is William Gladstone of the Liberal Party. As an active supporter and executor of the battle to defend the pound, this evening he continued to discuss the plan to save the pound with the Governor of the Bank of England, Edward Charles Baring - although both of them were  He knew that the pound was completely ruined and could not be saved, but he was not careless in his efforts to save face.

    The London Martial Law Command is located in the War Office Building on Whitehall Street.  It is still operating as usual.  Although there have been several reports of socialist party organizations infiltrating martial law troops.  However, Lieutenant General Frederick Roberts, who presided over this command, could only treat it as a few single incidents.  How else could it be done?  A purge in the military?  This will only make the already severely shaken military morale even more shaken - there is now a mood of pessimism and dissatisfaction in the Army.  Most of the army officers and soldiers also lost everything due to the economic collapse and the depreciation of the pound. Relying on the military salary that has become useless paper, who can expect them to be loyal to the king?

    Oh, there are reliable troops. At least the three cavalry regiments of the Royal Guard (a total of 1,500 people) and an infantry division (eight infantry battalions of about 5,000 people) are still reliable.  The Royal Guard has long been considered the royal family's "private force."

    At this critical moment, the royal family used its own property to distribute gold francs as military pay to the officers and soldiers of the Royal Guard, and required all officers and soldiers to swear allegiance to the king.  These 6,500 reliable Royal Guard officers and soldiers.  It now guards Buckingham Palace and controls a military dock on the River Thames.  Some officers and soldiers even boarded the battleship Hood, the armored cruiser Shannon, the armored cruiser Collingwood, the royal cruise ship Britannia, and four other 10,000-ton steam sailing ships - these ships formed the code-named  Z's fleet is under the direct control of First Sea Lord Sir Alfred Ryder.  The First Sea Lord himself has boarded the battleship HMS Hood to take command, and will sleep on the battleship tonight.

    As for Prime Minister Robert Churchill, he stayed with Randolph Churchill all night, using a high-power radio station set up upstairs in Randolph Churchill¡¯s office to communicate with Fort William in Calcutta, thousands of miles away.  Asked in detail about the Chinese's requirements for India and the Indian Ocean.  After Su Yanfa reached a preliminary agreement with Will Heming, the Ming Dynasty sent Zheng Yongyi, the governor of the Donghui Kingdom with a higher status, to Calcutta as a plenipotentiary representative to conduct further negotiations with Will Heming.  All that comes to mind are the most critical issues.

    For example, whether the Indian Empire should bear the reparations obligation of the defeated British Empire - of course it is necessary, after some bargaining between the two parties.  An amount of 500 million yuan was reached, which was to be paid back in thirty years.  War reparations agreement with an annual interest rate of 5%.  For the British, who were good at running and managing the colonies, paying these reparations was not too difficult.

    Another example is whether the market of the Indian Empire should be opened to the Great Chinese Empire - there is no doubt that India's huge market is what the Great Chinese Empire values, and it is also the main reason why the Great Chinese Empire does not ask for excessive compensation.  Because India is a chicken that lays golden eggs, it would be foolish to kill it for soup!

    Another example is whether the Indian empire can be integrated into a unified country - don't even think about it!  The division of India is the core of the South Asian policy of the Greater China Empire!  However, the territories directly under the Indian Empire can have a unified government and army, and the area of ??the territories directly under the Indian Empire should be controlled at about 30% of the total area of ??the Indian Empire.  The rest of the land should form about 50 semi-independent states, dependent on the Indian Empire.

    ?Furthermore, whether the Indian Empire wants to cede land to the Greater Chinese Empire - this is for sure.  However, the Great Chinese Empire did not have many territorial claims on India, only the original Assam region, East Bengal region, Ceylon Island and several small islands in the Indian Ocean.

    ??And except for the Kingdom of Donghui established on the land of Assam, East Bengal, Ceylon Island and several islands in the Indian Ocean will not become members of the Greater Chinese Empire.  East Bengal will be ruled by Queen Bayi and her heirs who have the closest relationship with the Ming Empire, while Ceylon will be ruled by Nana Sahib, another princely leader.  As for other small islands in the Indian Ocean, they are "entrusted and ruled" by the Greater China Empire.

    In addition, East Bengal and Ceylon are both vassal states of the Ming Empire, and their kings will surrender to the Ming Dynasty rather than to the Indian Empire.

    Finally, the issue of how many armies and navy the Indian Empire can have is also the focus of negotiations between the two parties - the Indian Empire is an independent country, and of course there is no limit on the number of armies it has.  However, the size of the Indian Empire's navy will be limited by the Indian Ocean Naval Treaty. The total tonnage of the Indian Navy shall not exceed 20% of the total tonnage of the Ming Dynasty Navy. The tonnage, armor, and main gun caliber of its capital ships must be approved by the Ming Empire.

    By August 9, we had basically reached an agreement on these key issues.  In fact, China's interest in India has not been very high. In the eyes of the British, this hen that lays golden eggs is a trouble for Zhu Jishi. It has 300 million people now and is likely to have 1.5 billion people in the future.  big trouble!  It is not difficult to establish rule in India, but it is a headache to prevent the 1.5 billion people who will crowd the South Asian subcontinent from flocking to the resource-rich and prosperous Greater China Empire in the future.  Therefore, a South Asian subcontinent with relatively good management and relatively prosperous economy is actually in the long-term interests of Greater China.  To be honest, the management capabilities of the British far exceed those of the Indians themselves.  To quote a more reactionary saying from later generations, the longer India was colonized, the more progress it made

    After reading the text of "The Ming Dynasty-India Peace Agreement" that Randolph Churchill personally translated with a codebook, Robert Churchill finally breathed a sigh of relief.  Although it had to pay a large amount of compensation and cede some land, India retained it anyway.  After the chaos in the British mainland is over, the Indian Empire will be able to return to the embrace of the British Empire again Even if this day does not happen, India is still a good foundation.  Robert Churchill, who had served in India for more than ten years, knew more about this ancient oriental country than he knew about the British mainland.

    "Randolph, this is something worth opening champagne to celebrate!" Robert Churchill leaned on the sofa and sighed, smiling, "3.8 million square kilometers, nearly 300 million peoplewe have this rich country!  "

    "Yes, it is a rich country, but why did the Chinese give up there? They are so greedy for land. They took away more than 10 million square kilometers of the British Empire, but they spared India, the richest country.  "Randolph Churchill shook his head.

    Robert Churchill smiled and shrugged, "What's so surprising about this? For us, India's greatest wealth is its population! 300 million hard-working slaves, under the management of us British, they can create unimaginable things  Wealth. But for the Greater China Empire, which already has 750 million people, the livelihood of 300 million Indians is a big problem!

    ¡°Moreover, the Chinese still have the idea of ????joining the British to establish laws They do not want the Roman Empire to become the only master of the Western world!  What my old friend wants is not a great empire to rule the East, but a great empire to rule the world!  This ambition is really"

    As soon as Robert Churchill said this, a crisp gunshot suddenly came from the night sky outside the window, and then two more, and then the gunshots started loudly!

    Robert Churchill snorted and stood up suddenly, "It's finally started! I'm going to Buckingham Palace to be with His Majesty the King! Randolph, you go home immediately and take your family to the dock to get on the boat!" His nephew also  He stood up and said, "Uncle, are we leaving England now? Maybe the incident tonight was just a false alarm"

    Robert Churchill shook his head, "This is not a false alarm, but a general outbreak of various contradictions in the British Empire. We no longer have the power to suppress it. Choosing to leave is the best for this country! Okay, hurry up and act quickly.  , the fleet will go to sea tomorrow morning!" (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!
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