Most Western buildings in the 19th century had one suite inside another. Outside was a larger lounge where people could dine and chat, and inside there was a small suite for sleeping and taking a nap. There were even suites in the study rooms of sophisticated people. There were ensuites in the bedrooms, and God knows what they wanted so many of them for.
When the door of the suite was opened, the first face that faced him was actually the Tory veteran and the current foreign minister of the empire, Earl Larendon. This was Benjamin's close confidant. He was actually hiding in Gladstone's room. In the lounge.
"Foreign Minister... what are you..." Gordon stood there extremely embarrassed, but there was an ominous premonition in his heart.
The people who surprised him even more were still behind him, Garnet Joseph Wolseley, the field marshal of the Empire, two personal secretaries of the navy marshal, and three giants in the banking and business circles. At the end of the crowd was actually Prince Edward.
What Gladstone said is not wrong at all. Gordon is still an embarrassing figure who has no access to top-level information. For a middle-level person like him to conduct analysis with a little incomplete confidence, the results can be imagined. .
The Foreign Secretary, Earl Larendon, nodded apologetically to Gordon, "There is no need to ask any more questions. Everything you see in front of you has proven your suspicion... Yes, the entire upper echelon of the empire has made a decision..."
"Let Benjamin rest. The empire will give him the most generous retirement benefits, and no one will pursue all the mistakes he made during his tenure. Let's make the transfer of power in the empire more dignified!"
What else could Gordon say? These are not individual people in front of him, but huge forces.
The elders of the Liberal Party, the Whig Party, and even the Tory Party have abandoned Benjamin. The Army and Navy have also abandoned him. Even the big guys in the financial and business circles have also chosen to abandon him.
Even the royal family stood behind Gladstone, so how could they make a comeback?
Gordon's legs went limp and he sat down on the chair. He shook his head in pain, "How can we fight this? If we had known this was the case, why would we have to engage in this impeachment drama? Just to make your position more formal? Why is it necessary... …”
Gladstone handed Gordon a glass of wine. "No, you are wrong. The reason why we are like this is because we respect the constitution of the empire...The constitution is above all else. This is the spirit of Britain!"
"In calling you here today, I actually hope that you can abandon your partisanship and continue working without getting discouraged! The negotiations between the empire and Emperor Tongzhi need you, and the new government still needs you!"
"Need me?" The wine in Gordon's mouth was bitter.
Foreign Minister Larendon nodded, "Of course I need you. After all, you still hold the position of Admiral of the Qing Dynasty. Although we all know that it is honorary, this is also your uniqueness..."
"And I know that Emperor Tongzhi has a good personal relationship with you. We hope that you will continue to work for the new prime minister so that we can finally get control of the railway!"
The prince also said, "Let go of your sectarian opinions. In fact, there are no colonial factions, internal affairs factions, etc. in the world... On the issue of dealing with the core interests of the empire, everyone still has the same view!"
"Gladstone is opposed to continued colonial expansion. He is only opposed to those expansions that lose money. He is also in favor of the external expansion that can really make a lot of money!"
"At this moment, the empire's navy has been able to control the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This is the most economically prosperous area in the Qing Empire, but it is far from enough..."
"Our warships are too large to effectively control the canal, so we urgently need to control a north-south railway to expand our sphere of influence..."
"In the future, our pattern of ruling the Qing Empire will be cross-shaped! With the Yangtze River as the east-west transportation belt and the railway as the north-south transportation belt, we will control the local economic lifeline vertically and horizontally, and put our military power into it..."
"Our intelligence agency has made accurate calculations. Once the future pattern is formed, we will be able to control a quarter of the Qing Empire's population..."
"Once the railway is opened to traffic, it will have a strong stimulating effect on the economy along the line, which will in turn attract an influx of more people... In the future, these two economic belts, vertical and horizontal, will control one-third of the Qing Empire There is no problem with the population!”
"How much is one-third of the population? We don't have accurate population figures for the Qing Dynasty, but data from many sources show that there are still 600 million people in the Qing Empire at this moment... God! If we can get 200 million people to live in our economic circle , think about it for yourself, what a huge economic equivalent that is?”
Gordon was moved by the prince's analysis. Of course he knew how huge China was. An important excuse used by these colonialists to persuade the British Parliament to mobilize troops against the Qing Empire was, 'If every citizen of the Qing Empire had one inch of sleeve growth, then That’s enough to keep all the textile machines in the UK running for an entire year! '
Gladstone guessed Gordon's thoughts, and he smiled and said, "You used to say that the Chinese people's sleeves should grow an inch longer, but unfortunately, the people of that ancient empire have a very strange sense of pride and pride. They would rather wear rags than buy our British textiles..."
"Most people in the Qing Dynasty still wear homespun cloth woven with the most primitive textile machines! How do you change this situation? Do you have to rely on war? Use war to force every Chinese to choose British textiles?"
"This is obviously unrealistic. In other words, defeating the Qing Empire on the battlefield can only be regarded as a success. The other half requires our products to fully penetrate into the interior of the Qing Empire!"
"Let the Chinese people at the bottom see and touch our industrial products with their own eyes, let them feel the warmth of our products, and let them compare the quality and price in person..."
"With comparison, you will have choices! And what this requires is not war, but the power of business! This is what I strive for!"
"You like to use battleships and artillery to colonize China, but I don't! What I like is to use our British commodity areas to colonize China!"
"Let our commercial power completely smash the decadent and backward industrial chain of the Qing Empire and reshape a business environment suitable for our British Empire!"
"This is my colonialism! And all of this requires that railway! And you are an important part of being able to convince Emperor Tongzhi. Do you understand now?"
"Do you understand how much we need you?"
Gordon took a deep breath and felt his heart beating violently in his chest. It was really insightful to talk to these top elites in the empire!
It was as if the door to a new world had opened. Even if there was only a small crack in the door, it was enough to shock him.
Gordon stood up and bowed respectfully to the big shots present. "Please forgive my shallowness. If that's the case, then please give me your orders! The interests of the empire are higher than the interests of the party, and I am willing to obey the orders of the new prime minister!"
