"The human world itself is unequal. People are born with different heights, fatness, thinness, beauty and ugliness. Their IQs are also different. More importantly, the environments given to them by God are different..."
"We must admit that people who have not received elite education don't even know what the circle we live in is like, what kind of unspoken rules there are, let alone what the rules are for us to get along with each other..."
"I have seen many people who were born in poverty and only rely on their own efforts to approach high-level talents step by step. But unfortunately, when they reach a certain level, they will be hindered by their own sense of cognition and cannot move forward a little further. step!"
"For example, take the scene that Emperor Tongzhi encountered last night. A true king would not be so free to do whatever he wants. Those little characters who climbed up from the bottom, who dare to attack the maids? This is Buckingham Palace, the heart of the empire where the sun never sets. ah!"
"But Emperor Tongzhi dares to play, and he plays very freely and easily. This kind of kingly demeanor that defies all rules is not something ordinary people can have!"
"He actually has a sense of magnanimity when playing with women. This guy is really not simple. China's thousands of years of imperial education seems to be really powerful. In fact, many of our European royal families are not as good at this..."
Queen Victoria was so angry that she said, "Where does this fallacy come from, so that being lustful is also an advantage? Are you trying to defend yourself?"
Edward rarely has such an opportunity to talk to his mother heart-to-heart. How could he give up "No, no, no, mother, you misunderstood what I said. I'm not trying to defend myself, but the truth is still the same!"
"Emperor Tongzhi has not yet taken charge. He will face a very large and very stubborn ancient dynasty in the future. He will face great challenges if he wants to make any changes..."
"But he is also the successor with the purest blood and the most flawless legal principles in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so he cannot shirk the responsibility of reforming the empire..."
"Faced with the powerful inherent force of inertia, if you want to defeat it, you must have a courage that ordinary people cannot have. Can you succeed by sticking to the old ways? Are you kidding..."
"Emperor Tongzhi's lecherous nature is indeed not a merit worth boasting about, but from this point we can also see clearly that this little emperor is a restless reformer in nature!"
"What the Qing Empire needs now is such a reformist, and if the British Empire wants to develop the huge inland market of the Qing Dynasty, it needs such a reformist to open the way. You know very well that those places cannot be covered by warships and guns. , our empire’s military strength is completely useless!”
Queen Victoria was persuaded by her son's fallacy, "Yes! Now many ports in China have been opened, the trade deficit has been alleviated, and our merchants can easily do business with the Chinese..."
"But this is not enough. It is really not enough. With such a large Qing Empire, how much profit can we make by guarding just a few ports? The key is to open up China's inland market!"
"Yes, my wise mother, if you want to open up the inland market, what will you rely on? Of course it is the railway. The railway is the most efficient means of transportation after river shipping. A railway will drive hundreds of kilometers of resources along the route. and the market…”
"Inland raw materials can be continuously collected along the railway to the seaport, and our goods can be dumped all the way using the railway... How big a deal is this? Is it worth the lives of those British merchants?"
"And our army. As long as we have railways, our army will have a lot of room for activities, and our sphere of influence will naturally expand inward..."
"With coastal ports as the foundation, using the Yangtze River system as the artery, and then developing railways as branches, the three-pronged approach will open up the Chinese market. By then, the profits we will earn will be a hundred times and a thousand times what we are now!"
The prince himself became excited when he said this, "What a huge plan, that's a population of hundreds of millions. If the length of each of those Chinese sleeves increased by one inch, it would be enough for all our textile factories in the UK to work overtime for a year." Got it!"
"And everything requires the cooperation of people within China. Our strength alone is not enough. Strong ships and cannons can defeat the Chinese army on the battlefield, but they cannot defeat the stubborn traditional habits and the big network compiled by those literati. It has firmly locked into the hearts of the Chinese people..."
"If you want to break through such a blockade, you can only rely on the power of the royal family that the Chinese people fear most! There is no other way but this way..."
"God bless the sun, which allows us to meet such a pioneering little emperor. As long as we can influence his thinking, our plan will be given wings!"
"There is a more important point. The performance of Emperor Tongzhi last night proved that he is a very healthy emperor, which means that there will be no problems with his heirs in the future. This can also ensure the continuity of his policies. This is also It’s in the interest of the empire, don’t you think?”
The queen really had nothing to say in the face of such fallacies. "I have to admit that you are really a good diplomat. You really have a good way of explaining fallacies. You can make everything black into white. Since you are so clear about the empire, From now on, you will be responsible for the railway expansion plan..."
Edward's heart was beating wildly at that time. He was very clear about the benefits of this business. This was a large investment of tens of millions of pounds. The royal family would definitely secretly invest in it. Putting so much money in his hands was also the sign of the Queen's gradual move towards him. A sign of transferring imperial power.
The prince suddenly became excited. "Mother, please tell me how far I can take charge of various treaties in Asia?"
Queen Victoria pondered for a moment, "I don't have enough energy anymore. Don't ask me about these things. As long as you can convince the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, then just do it..."
"Yes, mother! I won't let you down..." Edward bowed to his mother respectfully.
At this moment, the queen suddenly raised her head and looked at her son, "You have just said good things about Emperor Tongzhi for a long time. It seems that you have made a decision. Then let me ask you, since Emperor Tongzhi is such a reformist, and he is a reformer at heart. The rebellious emperor, so how do you control him?"
"Don't forget, if he can go to war with the old forces in his own country, then he won't go to war with us? Once his wings are full, how can you guarantee that he can still protect our British interests?"
Prince Edward lowered his head and thought about his mother's problem carefully. For a quarter of an hour, the prince said word by word, "There is still a way..."
