"Your Excellency Prime Minister, what do you think of the remarks of the Eastern Head of State? Is the Chinese expansion in Southeast Asia really peaceful?"
"What is the attitude of the UK towards these undeveloped lands in the world? Is sovereignty higher than development rights? Or are development rights and sovereignty in parallel..."
"May I ask, Prime Minister, the head of state from the East said that you are a senior colonialist, so you see everyone as a colonialist. What do you think of this sentence..."
The small conference room of the Prime Minister's official residence in Downing Street was crowded with reporters who came to interview. Benjamin was not as good-tempered as Xiao Letian. Not only were these reporters not given tea, wine and cigars, the Prime Minister was not even given a cup of coffee and a chair. , all reporters stood waiting.
Benjamin, who had just entered the room, was irritated by a bunch of questions, especially Xiao Letian's taunting words to him that made him lose his mind.
It doesn't bother me that I'm a colonialist, but how dare you insinuate that I'm a fanatical invader? What kind of bullshit deep colonialists are you? Just tell me that I am a militant.
A small Chinese leader, a warlord as weak as an East Asian bug, really thinks he has the strength to challenge the British Empire? You just relied on the influence of the Qing Emperor to become a guest of the British Empire. What do you think you are?
The flesh on Benjamin's face jumped up, "Arrogant! What qualifications does a shameless warlord from East Asia have to talk about British colonial policy?"
"Let me clarify my point of view again. I am deeply worried about the expansion of the Chinese in East Asia. Whether it is the war in the Far East or the reclamation areas in Southeast Asia, this is a conspiracy for Chinese expansion, no matter how many layers it includes outside. Shayi can’t stop his conspiracy!”
"I can make it clear to you that Britain will never recognize the national status of the Chinese. Its war in the Far East is entirely a provocation by careerists and warlords against civilized countries. Its expansion in Southeast Asia is Chiguoguo's colonization. This They are competing for interests with us Europeans!”
"Even the so-called Ryukyu land donation he made is illegal! Ryukyu is a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. Without the permission of the Qing Empire, why should he donate the land? Remember that Ryukyu is the land of the Qing Dynasty!"
"I would like to advise Xiao Letian again, don't regard Britain's courtesy to Emperor Tongzhi as your own glory! The only identity you can respect me is that you are the emperor's master!"
Benjamin gritted his molars and said this passage. Every letter and every word seemed to be cast from molten iron, hitting the ground with a bang and sparks.
The eyes of these reporters lit up. They could hear the strong smell of gunpowder, and they were all extremely excited.
As a reporter, you should watch the excitement and not be afraid of big things. The greater the smell of gunpowder, the greater the value of the news. Benjamin's fierce counterattack, at least, can boost the sales of tomorrow's newspaper by ten percentage points.
Sure enough, when Benjamin's speech appeared on the newspaper headlines, the entire public opinion circle was in an uproar.
Now even the British elite can't stand it anymore. As the prime minister of a country, you can delay time and close the door to negotiations, but you can't lose your due grace.
People all over the world are watching this state visit. You see how polite Xiao Letian is. Even if he refutes your remarks, he is still playing the tragedy card. Once the tearful photos were published in newspapers, they directly competed for the attention of countless people. pity.
At this moment, public opinion is raging, and countless citizens believe that the empire's strategy for East Asia is a bit too harsh. In order to solve the famine problem, the farmland they reclaimed is still undeveloped wasteland. What's wrong with this?
How could he be so rude as the Prime Minister of a country? Don’t forget that this is the first East-West summit-level diplomatic event in human history for thousands of years. Can’t you consider the issue of face in the history books?
For a while, there was a lot of discussion in the British Parliament, and even members of the most favorable parties expressed a certain degree of dissatisfaction. Some even said directly, "You can ignore Xiao Letian, but please maintain the demeanor of a gentleman, even if you don't." Now that you’re graceful, you have to think about your votes, right?”
There are already doubting voices within the Tory Party, let alone the Liberal Party. Political opponents are naturally looking for trouble.
There were also those nobles who had business dealings with Xiao Letian who felt that Benjamin was going too far, but they didn't know that just after Xiao Letian's remarks came out, Gladstone had already begun to put pressure on Benjamin.
Benjamin will never forget that humiliating moment. It was clearly his cabinet minister who questioned his diplomatic strategy in front of him and blatantly spoke for the Chinese.
And his words were extremely sharp, directly asking Benjamin and Xiao Letian to start negotiations.
"Dear Prime Minister, this is not how you conduct diplomatic activities. Even if Xiao Letian is a warlord, we have no precedent of negotiating with warlords..."
"If you are afraid of him, then I can help you start the negotiation, but if you leave it like this, I am afraid that the consequences will seriously affect the empire's reputation..."
"I hope the Prime Minister will consider it carefully. If this matter ends up causing a serious diplomatic dispute, then I will issue an impeachment proposal to the Parliament. At that time, I'm afraid you will have to go to the Parliament in person to explain clearly!"
Gladstone didn't save any face for the Prime Minister, so he turned around and left.
Benjamin's eloquence was not as good as Gladstone's, and there were indeed many imprecisions in his behavior this time, which made the Chancellor of the Exchequer blush all of a sudden.
After Gladstone left Downing Street, he sat behind the carriage window, looking towards the East Palace and muttering to himself.
"Xiao Letian, you don't let me help you, but you let me think of ways to anger Benjamin? What exactly do you want to do? Is there really a foolproof method?"
"I'm really curious. If you can successfully break through Benjamin's strict defense this time, then I will truly admire your ability!"
"At that time, I will truly treat you as an equal partner who can cooperate. Don't let me down!"
Gladstone left Downing Street with doubts. His provocation was indeed effective. Everyone knew that Benjamin was stubborn and very aggressive. How could he accept the provocation of the Chinese and the threat of the Liberal Party?
"This group of liberals have absolutely no sense of the overall situation. In order to overthrow me, they actually made a fuss about these Chinese people? Don't they consider the interests of the empire at all? Don't think that I will give in so easily. The more fiercely you resist, Xiao Letian, the more I will The more I feel threatened by you!"
"Come here, Ruler Gordon asked him to speed up negotiations with Emperor Tongzhi. I want a positive response within three days! As long as Emperor Tongzhi is stabilized, even if Xiao Letian dies here, the world will not be in trouble!"
