Regarding the assassination of Zai Chun, it only took one night for the Chinese to unify their opinions and make various response plans. While other forces were still confused, the Chinese had already begun to prepare to take advantage of this assassination. .
The CIA began to sort out Xiang Ying's actions over and over again, carefully checking for all the loopholes that might reveal the truth. Not only that, the CIA also deliberately forged a lot of information and began to consciously put the blame on the French.
The propaganda team led by Leo began to use Europe's developed newspaper industry to launch a counterattack, and one article after another with full firepower made the front page headlines.
"A disgrace to human civilization, the biggest crime in the history of diplomacy! French and Tsarist Russian assassins attempted to brutally kill His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty!"
"Why were French and Tsarist Russian thugs able to assassinate Emperor Tongzhi under strict British police protection? Is it the government's behavior behind this?"
"Assassination is equivalent to a declaration of war, and France has undeclared war on the Chinese more than once! Let us wait and see how the head of state and Emperor Tongzhi will fight back!"
As long as they are willing to spend a lot of money, there is no page that cannot be bought. The British also know that such explosive news cannot be concealed at all, so the British government does not interfere with the Chinese public opinion propaganda.
When the major newspapers saw that the government did not stop it, but instead acquiesced, all the editors became excited. It was a big news that would definitely attract attention. This was a great opportunity to increase sales. In addition, Hua Hua The ethnic propaganda department is a good person, and the page fee is sufficient. Even these editors and interviews can get very generous travel expenses.
Those who eat people have short mouths and short hands that take people. Under the silver bullet offensive, these pens will naturally have a tendency. The writing is like this. Readers will not be able to tell if there is a slight tendency. Gradually, more and more readers will believe it. The mastermind behind this is France.
The impact of this assassination was so great that Benjamin announced his resignation that night. It can be said that he did not use the steps left by the Queen at all.
Gladstone's inaugural speech was also full of flavor. The inaugural speech that started at 9 a.m. was originally planned for 20 minutes, but ended up being unscripted for 50 minutes.
All the reporters' attention was focused on yesterday's assassination. No one asked about economic, diplomatic, colonial and other issues.
The drafts Gladstone had prepared in his pocket were all in vain. All the problems he encountered focused on the assassination and subsequent response policies.
The new Prime Minister strongly condemned the atrocities of the assassination and promised that Britain would do its best to investigate the case and give the Qing Dynasty and the Chinese a satisfactory explanation.
What Gladstone said was not an idle statement. The assassination of Emperor Tongzhi made Britain very passive. Not only was its international image smeared, but more importantly, the agreements reached between Britain and Emperor Tongzhi were undermined. variable.
If Emperor Tongzhi dies, then all previous verbal agreements will be completely invalidated. It will be harder for Britain to find such an opportunity to penetrate into the interior of the Qing Dynasty.
Among the Western countries, the British had the most dealings with the Qing Empire. They were very aware of the stubbornness of the internal forces of this dynasty. The conservative royal family and ministers were full of hostility to all new things.
In their eyes, the railway was a disaster that would harm the country and the people. Once, a British businessman experimentally built a short section of railway on the streets of Shanghai. Just a few hundred meters of railway made the Qing Dynasty feel like it was facing a formidable enemy.
In the end, local officials spent a lot of money to buy it and then completely eradicated it. This kind of conservatism and stubbornness is really difficult for Westerners to understand.
They simply don't understand how railways and cemeteries can conflict. Why should we consider whether the dead are comfortable when building railways?
The huge cultural differences left the British at a loss. They wanted to find a spokesperson but found that no one in the huge empire had such courage.
Meeting such an enlightened little emperor made the entire British business community extremely excited. Countless people even shouted slogans like this is a miracle given by God.
Now some people are actually trying to obliterate the miracle God gave to Britain and block the door for British capital to enter the interior of the Qing Dynasty. This kind of behavior is against the entire UK, and it is an enemy of the entire British industrial, commercial and financial circles.
It is for this reason that when Gladstone first arrived in Downing Street, the first person he met was the Foreign Secretary, Earl Larendon. Under the strong words of the new Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister sent strong diplomatic messages to the French Emperor and the Tsar through official channels. Note.
Although he didn't explicitly say that Napoleon III was the mastermind behind the scenes, that's what he meant. He also strongly requested France to conduct an internal investigation and arrest all the forces behind the assassin.
When Napoleon III received the diplomatic note from Britain, he almost went crazy. He roared like a tiger in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, and everything on his desk was smashed to pieces.
"That's unreasonable! It's simply unreasonable! How dare you put the blame on me? The damn British guy is so arrogant!"
"Can you give up the long-standing alliance between Britain and France just for a Chinese railway? These profit-seeking villains, damn bastards!"
Standing opposite the French Emperor was Montauban, Count of Baliqiao, who fled back to France on the day of the assassination. This guy's mission in the UK was extremely unsatisfactory. Xiao Letian broke his plots again and again, let alone in the end. After humiliating each other, they even brought in an ally, the Prime Minister.
When Benjamin announced his resignation, Montauban had already boarded the ferry back home. He was also afraid that Gladstone would have a seizure and ask him to investigate the situation.
Just in case, it's better to run away quickly. Whoever likes to be a scapegoat, let him be one.
Montauban looked at His Majesty the French Emperor carefully, "Dear Your Majesty, please calm down. Gladstone's attitude is also a last resort to please Emperor Tongzhi..."
"Anyway, the railway artery that runs through the north and south of China is really a huge cake... You know, Benjamin even used his customs management rights to trade with Emperor Tongzhi!"
"Customs? Will Hurd's position be given to Emperor Tongzhi? They are really willing to give it up. Damn it, we must have our shares in this railway. The British must not be allowed to eat alone!"
"What do you think is the best way to handle this matter now?" Napoleon III said angrily.
Montauban said cautiously, "Ordinary ignorant people must not be able to see the doorway here. They all follow the limelight in the newspapers!"
"The newspapers are doubting us, so they will follow suit, so competing for public opinion is what we must focus on!"
"The second point is to communicate with Emperor Tongzhi in a timely manner. We will use the point you just mentioned as a breakthrough!"
Note: The third update is coming!
:. :chapter;
