The Thames flows slowly through downtown London, paying attention to the busy cities on both sides of the river day after day, year after year, witnessing the decline and prosperity of the British Isles.
Today's Britain is in the Victorian era, which is highly praised by historians. This is the most glorious era of Britain, and the light of the empire on which the sun never sets is so dazzling.
Britain was the birthplace of the first industrial revolution and the financial center of Europe at that time. Its colonies around the world delivered countless wealth, and its national pride reached its historical peak.
"The plains of North America and Russia are our cornfields; Chicago and Odessa are our granaries; Canada and the Baltic Sea are our forest farms; Australia and Western Asia have our sheep lands; Argentina and the western grasslands of North America have our cattle ; Peru brings its silver; the gold of South Africa and Australia flows to London; the Indians and Chinese grow our tea; and our coffee, sugar-cane, and spice plantations spread throughout the Indies; Spain and France are our vineyards "The Mediterranean is our orchard; our cotton fields, long grown in the southern United States, are now spreading to all the warmer regions of the earth..."
This is really a picture of top-level wealth with flowers blooming and fire cooking oil. The British people living in this period were undoubtedly happy. John Bull's pride and energy were clearly revealed during this period.
If you don't believe in the pride of the British, you can take a stroll on both sides of the Thames River and see the elegant style of the British gentlemen. Their unfailing energy is really a bit like what the Chinese call 'Taishan collapses' It means 'the color remains unchanged'.
But today, when the shouts of newsboys on both sides of the Thames rang out, the whole of London was boiling. John Bulls, who were pretending to be calm, stared in surprise and hurriedly paid for newspapers. Some even strode towards the running newsboys.
"Outside number, number... The latest report from The Times is that a mysterious group of middle-ranking officials has entered Hamburg, and a low-key East Asian prime minister smuggled into France... A bloody night of fighting in Besançon, France was defeated miserably!"
With a bang, the crowd was completely shocked. Everyone looked at each other and couldn't believe their ears.
"Stop, what did you say? China and France are at war? France has been invaded... Quick, quick, quick, give me a newspaper..."
Before he could take out the money, he saw countless hands stretching out from around him, snatching and snatching away all the newspapers carried by the newsboy. The newsboy's pockets were filled with shiny coins, which made the children laugh. The eyes are missing.
"Oh, God, why did the British gentlemen forget to queue up!" Those who had not bought the newspaper were angry and aggrieved.
"Don't worry, sir, the Times will print three times more copies today, and a new newsboy will be here to sell it soon..." At this point, the child wearing a peaked cap said mysteriously to the gentleman who had not bought the newspaper.
"Don't worry sir, if you give me a few shillings, I will tell you a secret!"
Before the newsboy finished speaking, a handful of coins were stuffed into his hand. The delighted newsboy quickly whispered, "Sir, this newspaper is just the first of a series of reports. There will be more explosive ones at noon and evening today." News is released, The Times will publish three issues today..."
God, the Times publishes three issues a day? What kind of big news happened? Forget it, I won’t go home. Today I drank in a coffee shop on the street.
It was obvious that the newsboy's shouting today was not exaggerated. When countless gentlemen unfolded the newspapers, several large photos came into view, and everyone took a breath after seeing them.
In the center of the photo is a blazing building, half of which has collapsed. Between the camera and the flames, a group of tall figures are frozen on it. Although it is just a profile, everyone can tell that they are Asians. face.
"Oh God, oh God... They are really Asians. Why are their clothes so familiar? God, aren't these the blue military uniforms of the northern U.S. government? Why are they worn on these Asians?"
The Chinese man in the photo has a determined gaze and does not have a pigtail-like braid. The whole person exudes an extremely tough temperament.
At the bottom of the photo, a line of big words appeared in front of people's eyes: "The city council of Besançon, France, was attacked by foreigners late at night three days ago and was reduced to ruins. The French Army Battalion of Besançon was defeated. The battalion commander Shot dead...' It was so shocking. The whole of London was silent at this moment. No one could believe their eyes. Besançon, the capital of Franche-Comté in France, was actually conquered by a group of people? Even the parliament was blown down?
Are you kidding? How could the Chinese cross the ocean and attack France? Even if the attack arrives, it should be to cause trouble in coastal cities, why not go inland now? Went directly to the French-Swiss border.
After a brief moment of astonishment, the British gentlemen began to read down carefully, not daring to scroll down each letter for fear of omitting some important information.
It's a pity that this newspaper seems to be just here to whet people's appetite. It doesn't say anything in the middle of the sentence. It only uses the maximum space to include a few pictures of Besancon burning and photos of the Chinese marching. Then he briefly introduced the situation, without explaining the cause and effect at all.
"Nonsense! What kind of news is this? It's so irresponsible. It didn't say anything at all!" Countless angry readers almost overturned the table, and everyone felt like they had countless kittens scratching their hearts. .
But anger can't solve the problem. The current communication in Europe is like this. The telegraph network has not fully covered every city, and the speed of news delivery is only so fast. There is no point in being anxious.
The London citizens who put down their newspapers began to gather together and discuss. They knew that The Times was a rigorous publication and would never engage in any April Fool's Day farce. It seemed that the Besançon tragedy was 100% real.
"These damn Chinese people have forgotten all the lessons they learned six years ago? How dare they attack civilized countries in Europe? These thugs should all be hanged from street lamps..."
"Napoleon III will definitely be mad this time. The family of war madmen will never swallow this breath. War seems inevitable..."
"Yes, we should teach these savages in the East a lesson again. Our British navy cannot fall behind. We should take the initiative like we did six years ago, shelling Dagukou again and attacking the capital of China..."
The streets and alleys were full of talking British citizens. They seemed to have reaped the benefits of fighting the Qing Dynasty. If they found a fault and fought again, they would naturally tear off a piece of fat again.
Just when the crowd was excited, when the hands were approaching noon, suddenly the newsboy's cry sounded again on the street.
"The latest news, the latest news... The cause of the war is already clear. The French secretly imprisoned Ryukyu Prime Minister Xiao Letian... At present, the Han Prime Minister is seriously injured and his life and death are unknown..."
One sentence was like a ladle of cold water dropped from a hot oil pan, and the street suddenly became a commotion. Countless well-dressed gentlemen rushed out of countless bars, restaurants, and cafes, grabbing newspapers without grace.
This time it was really surprising. On the front page, the picture of Xiao Letian with a bayonet stuck in his chest was frozen in front of people's eyes, and a bloody photo of a French-made bayonet with a number on it was also posted. Even though they are black and white photos, the blood-soaked effect is captured very well.
"Xiao Letian, a Chinese-American and Christian, returned to the Qing Empire in 1864...In the Qing Empire, Xiao Letian spared no effort to promote natural science and technology and wrote the book "The Journey to the West" and claimed to be the first person to promote Western learning..." "In Ryukyu, Xiao Letian encountered the massacre of Chinese by 100,000 Japanese mobs. He went to the front line of the battlefield to organize the people to fight, and finally rescued the entire city of Chinese... Later, he was canonized as the first prime minister of the kingdom by the King of Ryukyu..."
This time, the Times reported something interesting. He was a master of Western learning in the Qing Dynasty, a Chinese-American who was a Catholic, the first prime minister of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and even personally presided over a large-scale industrial zone plan.
Even if these auras are placed on a European, he can already be respected as a great politician. Now these honors are concentrated on a Chinese. This shocking news immediately left London citizens speechless. Said.
"God, are the French crazy? How can they imprison a politician? And also try to kill him? Even if he sneaks into French territory without permission, he is still the prime minister with diplomatic immunity?"
"From this point of view, the battle in Besançon was the result of a forced rescue by the Prime Minister's Guards... This makes sense, and everything can be explained clearly..."
It has to be said that the British people during this period were still reasonable. Although they were a little helpful when it came to the multiple choice question between the French and the Chinese, when the Chinese people came up with more and more reasonable reasons, John Bull They will not stand up for the French.
The newspaper practitioners of this era have begun to take the form of later generations of media people. They no longer simply collect news and publish it stupidly. They have begun to have the awareness to mobilize readers' emotions.
No matter how impactful the news is, it cannot be thrown out dryly. It must whet the appetite of readers, publish it bit by bit, and even deliberately create a few big emotional reversals.
First, induce readers to think in one direction. When their emotions are already very dry, then make a magical twist to overthrow all their previous guesses. In this way, the entire news event will be strengthened, strengthened, and strengthened, and people will not be able to find it anymore. forgotten.
It’s not just the British who are stunned. Now the whole of Europe has completely exploded. From south to north, from east to west, every country with newspapers has published an article written by Leo. The conflict between the East Asian Prime Minister and France The conflict suddenly became a hot topic.
This public opinion war was of course indispensable for Xiao Letian's suggestions. When he explained his plan for the public opinion war to Leo and the Prussian intelligence agency, everyone was dumbfounded.
Especially Leo, he even whispered to Xiao Letian, "I didn't believe you were a Chinese-American at first, but today I finally understand. If you haven't experienced the most advanced education, you will never understand the battle of public opinion." The essence. I can believe that under your attack, France's national image will absolutely collapse like an avalanche..."
[This book was first published from, be the first to see the genuine content! ]
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