The exposure of the Calais was really something that couldn't be helped. It was a treasure ship that the Emperor of France gave to Emperor Tongzhi as a thank you gift. Emperor Tongzhi relied on betraying the interests of the Qing Empire and betraying his mentor Xiao Letian to gain the In came Napoleon III's rich rewards.
No one knows the specific conditions of the secret agreement between the French Emperor and Emperor Tongzhi. No one knows how much money Napoleon III secretly supported Emperor Tongzhi. However, the amount of Chinese cultural relics donated in return was enough to cover a shipload, so the total amount can be imagined. Got it!
The Calais has an important mission, and no one of the more than fifty people on board dares to neglect it, but what fate! It is really sad. Just when the Calais was approaching the waters of Cyprus, the bad news came from France!
The French emperor was captured after the disastrous defeat at Sedan, and the National Assembly declared the collapse of the empire and the establishment of a republic, and formed a temporary defense government to continue fighting the Prussians.
This is embarrassing! The Calais received a secret order from the French Emperor. Now that the French Emperor has fallen, what does the Calais mean?
Does this ship and the treasures on it belong to the Second French Empire? Or is it a newly established republic?
It seems difficult to define this property right. Do you think it belongs to the Second Empire? But now the empire is gone and has disappeared from the world, and the emperor has become a prisoner!
You said it's from the New Republic? But the New Republic has no idea of the existence of such a treasure ship!
More importantly, the treasures on this ship, as well as the hull itself, were the private property of the Emperor of the Second Empire. They were robbed by the emperor's private army after they captured the city of Beijing, and were later hidden in the palace's private warehouse!
According to the recognized property inheritance rights in Europe, the first heirs of these properties should also be the Bonaparte family!
The captain and crew are not republicans. On the contrary, they are royalists who are close to the emperor, otherwise they would not be able to get such a mission!
After a simple discussion, these royalist members made a decision together. They must continue to complete the mission of the French Emperor and carry out the order to the end!
The Calais was originally a royal merchant ship carrying out secret missions. They carried many identity documents from different countries on board, including official Dutch identities and official British procedures.
Don't think that these documents are all fake. On the contrary, these documents are all genuine and are legal documents issued by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden... and other countries.
Everyone finally decided to choose the British identity with the strongest background to disguise. They camouflaged the Calais in the waters south of Cyprus, renamed it the British merchant ship Stingray, hoisted the British flag, and used paint to disguise the former Calais. All markers.
This kind of work delayed two days. After everything was ready, the Stingray started heading south and headed straight to Port Said!
Fortunately, the Calais made the right choice. Fortunately, they disguised themselves as British. Only when they arrived in Port Said did they realize that everything had changed here!
The empire collapsed, the Republic was established, and France was still in a state of war. The Provisional National Defense Government had only been established for a dozen days, and all their energy was focused on the domestic war.
The new government only issued a brief statement to French colonies around the world, requiring the garrisons of all colonies to accept the leadership of the new government!
After that, there was nothing more, no personnel arrangements, no troop mobilization, no material supplies... people didn't even know where to get next month's salary!
All French colonies were in chaos, and governors and military governors everywhere could only face this period of chaos without domestic command!
The Suez Canal was originally built solely by the French, but later due to British pressure it became a joint investment between the two countries. France held the first share, the British held the second share, and the Egyptian province of the Ottoman Empire only held a small share. .
Now that there is trouble in France, the French regiments and civil servants stationed in the canal suddenly became panicked. They could not get the latest orders from the country, nor could they get supplementary funds.
But the soldiers always had to eat, drink and be paid, so they had no choice but to dismantle it from the canal company!
But where does the Canal Company have any cash now? Xiao Letian extorted a large sum of money when he passed by. After that, the angry Emperor no longer allowed the Canal Company to keep too much cash!
Moreover, the British took advantage of the timing of the empire's collapse. They violated previous agreements and began to continuously increase troops to both sides of the canal, and even sent troops to control the canal company in the name of security.
You French soldiers want to steal money? Sorry, this money is shared by three parties and no one can steal it!
When the situation was tense, soldiers from both sides were at war with each other. They even pulled the bolts of their guns and loaded live ammunition to confront each other!
In the end, through the mediation of local tribal elders, the two sides reached an agreement. The French Corps did not have any interest in the canal company, but during special times, the British must ensure the supplies of the French Corps!
Eaters have short mouths, but takers have short hands! This is not wrong at all. The British tied up tens of thousands of French troops stationed in the canal through logistic supply lines!
Then the British began to dictate the management of the canal. The shareholder, who clearly had the second largest share, began to take a strong stance in daily administration and installed cronies to intervene in the daily decisions of French management.
The canal company was suddenly in chaos, and the management of ships was even more inefficient!
Taking advantage of the situation, the British management began to bully the French ships without the protection of the motherland. Anyway, your empire has collapsed, the provisional government is trapped in Paris, and no one can save you!
Even the French regiments stationed on the canal have to rely on our British supplies... So do you still want to do that?
Extortion, conspiracy, fabrication out of thin air... French merchant ships were accused of various smuggling charges, arrests were made, fines were imposed, and countless goods were confiscated...
Such unfair treatment caused countless French ships to temporarily change their routes. They would rather take a long detour to the Cape of Good Hope than suffer this anger.
Because of this, the number of French ships in the canal has dropped by two-thirds compared to usual!
When the Calais saw this scene in front of them, all the crew members could only cry secretly. At that moment, they knew what a strong country actually represented!
"Your Majesty! Come back quickly... Only the empire can protect our interests, and only the emperor can protect his people!"
The poor Calais was waiting in line to enter the canal under the British flag, but unexpectedly disaster struck from the sky. Another French cargo ship was driven out of Port Said for unknown reasons.
This extremely angry French merchant ship had nowhere to vent its evil anger, so it actually took the opportunity to cause an accident and directly hit the Calais!
"Damn British bastards... robbers taking advantage of the situation... run you over to death!"
At that moment, countless familiar local accents sounded from the boat opposite!
