Discarding the topic of demolition, Xiao Letian whispered to Zai Chun, "Portsmouth Military Port is the largest and most important military port in the UK and even a very important military port in the world..."
"The port is located in the center of southern Britain, with the Strait of Dover in the east and the English Channel outlet in the west. Behind it is London, the political and economic center of the United Kingdom. It is known as the "South Gate of the Capital", so it is said that the British royal family has conducted The naval review was not held off the coast of London, but here..."
"Today the UK is actually preparing for a ship review for us off the coast of Portsmouth. This shows that our plan has been a great success and the UK has treated us with unprecedented courtesy..."
"And didn't you hear it just now? The message from the Victory only said that a small-scale ship review would be held...of course it would be a small one. The grandest ship review will not start without the Queen's presence!"
"Keep your eyes open, today's scene is destined to be spectacular!"
After a while, the barge sent the Duke of Newcastle to the Reach. As soon as he got on the ship, the Duke's eyes suddenly lit up. This battleship full of science fiction atmosphere immediately attracted him.
In this world, when it comes to understanding the navy, if the British want to be second, no one dares to say that they are first. As a high-ranking noble of the empire, it is even more important to understand the navy.
The Duke of Newcastle didn't even need to ask about the specific parameters of this battleship. He could feel the power of this battleship just from the first impression.
When I reach out and slap the thick steel guard plate, the feedback feedback is almost zero, which shows that the thickness of the steel plate is amazing.
Take another look at the painted surface of all the steel. There are almost no dead spots and everything is painted extremely evenly.
The 210 main gun with its gun jacket removed and its head raised into the air completely overturned the Duke's impression of ordinary battleship artillery. The spiral-cut rifling at the muzzle exudes artistic beauty. You can imagine how terrifying the shells will be in such a barrel. acceleration.
What surprised him even more was how orderly the entire battleship was. All the items on the deck were extremely neat. The ropes were tied neatly like works of art. This is a craft that only old sailors can possess.
There is no hygienic blind spot, no disorder, including the soldiers who are all energetic and all the work is in order.
"Is this really the Eastern Navy built by Xiao Letian? How is it possible? Where did he find so many high-quality soldiers? Aren't the Chinese all landlubbers?"
While he was mumbling, Xiao Letian and Zai Chun had already stepped forward. Four or five steps away, Xiao Letian stretched out his hand and showed a standard smile, with eight white teeth shining.
"Welcome, Your Excellency the Duke! I hope my battleship did not make you laugh..."
"Ah...oh, hahaha...Your Majesty the Head of State, you are so good at joking. Even I, the British Empire, don't have such a warship, so how can you laugh about it?"
"Your English is very standard, but you have a bit of an accent from New York in North America... Did you grow up in the United States? I really want to see what kind of parents and teachers it is that can educate a great person like you!"
Hold! Xiao Letian cursed in his heart at that time, "You old and cunning British man, did you give me eye drops when you first came here?" Now no one in Asia dares to hold on to my past identity, and as a result, you are writhing again.
But there is no other way. The British are so emboldened. They are not afraid of you Chinese at all. You Xiao Letian can bully those backward ethnic groups in East Asia, but you have to keep your tail between your legs when you go to Europe.
"Thank you Duke for your compliments. I really don't deserve it! My parents are just small businessmen traveling around the world, not worth mentioning, and the second elder has passed away! As for the accent problem, I'm afraid it's because of my own English proficiency. It’s caused by not being tall enough. It seems I need to find a real grammar teacher in London to correct it, hahaha..."
When the Duke of Newcastle saw that he had not deceived anything, he did not continue to stimulate him further. Instead, he turned his head and faced Emperor Tongzhi respectfully, bending at ninety degrees and bowing.
"Welcome, Your Majesty, I wish you long live, long live, long live!" The last three long live sounds were actually said in Chinese, and Zai Chun became excited at that time.
This is the powerful Duke of the United Kingdom, the right-hand man of the Queen, and an important member of the royal family. He is bowing to me respectfully and praising me, long live me!
At this time, Zai Chun had long since lost the stinky habits of the old Dong Heng people in China. The rule of kneeling three times and knocking nine times had long been thrown into the Atlantic by Emperor Tongzhi.
After he truly felt Britain's strength, he realized that bowing to you was enough to give you face, and it was already a supreme honor.
"Pingshen! Come to Pingshen... I have come all the way to England, and I am going to bother you all this time!" As he said this, Zai Chun actually reached out his hand.
The Duke of Newcastle was stunned, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to hold it with Zai Chun. There was no less than a hurricane in his heart. He never expected that the Manchu Qing Group, known for its stubbornness and conservativeness, would actually have such an enlightened person. Little emperor.
This was a hundred times better than his father, Emperor Xianfeng. Back then, Xianfeng refused to see ministers from various European countries until his death, and even destroyed an Eastern summer palace for a kneeling ceremony.
This is really not a joke, because what Britain wanted at that time was to teach the Manchus a lesson and get a contract. In fact, war reparations were secondary. The main thing was that you had to open customs and accept the inflow of European goods.
In fact, this kind of conflict can be resolved through negotiation. The British and French allied forces bombarded Dagukou. When the Manchu and Qing Dynasties saw that they could not defeat it, they did not rush to peace talks. They agreed to the conditions of Britain and France, so there would be no tragedy in the subsequent attack on the Forty-Nine Cities.
At that time, Britain and France did not want many conditions, including opening up missionary rights, opening a number of ports, and finally allowing both sides to establish embassies in each other.
In fact, from the perspective of people in the 21st century, these conditions are actually quite equal.
But Emperor Xianfeng refused, not only refusing peace talks but also refusing to contact the British and French envoys. In the end, Senggelinqin detained the British and French envoys, tortured them and threw all the foreigners into the dungeon.
After the British and French forces rescued their envoys, they found that all of them were physically injured and their wounds were infested with maggots. Some of them have become cold corpses.
This kind of barbaric behavior completely angered the coalition forces, and this was the final punishment action of burning the Old Summer Palace.
In fact, judging from Seng Gelinqin's barbaric treatment of the British and French envoys, it can be seen that the Manchu Qing Dynasty, a barbarian military group that emerged from the white body and black water, has been culturally nourished by the Confucian civilization of the Central Plains for two hundred years.
But the cruelty and barbarism in their hearts has never changed!
It is worth mentioning that the Old Summer Palace was where Senggelinqin imprisoned the British and French envoys!
