"Raise the bet?" The Earl of Liverpool frowned slightly, "George, let's be clear, who are we betting with? What are we betting on?"
George Canning said literally: "Prime Minister, we want to bet with the Ming Dynasty! Bet on world hegemony!"
"Now?" The Earl of Liverpool looked at George Canning, "Do you really think now is a good time? Our economy is in crisis and our finances are also quite difficult!"
George Canning said: "Prime Minister, the problem now is not that we want to bet, but that Ming Dynasty has begun to test the bet. They first proposed the 'Thousand Ship Plan' to challenge our maritime hegemony, and then instigated Ming Dynasty to Entered Afghanistan and attacked Peshawar! The British Empire's hegemony in the West has been challenged. Now the whole world is watching our performance. If we show even a little weakness, Ming Dynasty may win without a fight... .The Ming Empire is not the Napoleonic Empire. The Ming Empire is more powerful than the Napoleonic Empire. Its production, technology and financial resources have always been the best in the world, and it is absolutely qualified to lead the entire world! And with the emergence of 10,000-ton giant ships, telegraphs, and telephones, we The world we live in may already be dominated by a superpower!"
Although the British Empire regarded itself as the world hegemon after the Napoleonic Wars, in fact it only dominated about half of the world. The Ming Empire and her vassal states plus the Western Pacific and North Pacific, as well as the Rakshasa Kingdom and the Dajin Kingdom plus The Upper Arctic Ocean coast had never been under the hegemony of the British Empire.
And because the Ming Empire has always taken the lead on the road to industrialization, its national power has always been stronger than that of Great Britain. In the view of British politicians, the reason why they did not compete with the British Empire for global hegemony in the past was because the centralized system pursued by the Ming Empire could not effectively govern the land across the ocean.
But this "inability to govern effectively" is based on the transportation and communication conditions before the advent of steamships, telephones, and telegraphs. In that era when voyages basically relied on the wind and communications basically relied on roars, rigid centralized power certainly could not compete with chartered trading companies on the other side of the ocean that combined the strengths of the feudal system and the capitalist system.
However, the advantages of chartered trading companies over centralized power have disappeared with the advent of steamships, telephones, and telegraphs... In fact, the British East India Company has now been transformed by the government and parliament of the British Empire. It became a governor's palace that took orders directly from London. And under the command of London, the East India Company gradually strengthened its centralization in India!
Over the years, more and more Indian land has been directly managed by the East India Company, and the power and territory of the princes of the princely states have gradually shrunk. A large number of princes who have lost their land have become "vases of princes" receiving fixed annuities. India's own " Feudalization" is also transforming into "centralization".
Therefore, the British Empire actually showed the Ming Empire how to use a centralized approach to govern a colony with a vast territory and a large population far away from the mainland.
George Canning said: “If we choose to be weak and retreat, the Ming Empire will be able to use its powerful industrial strength to trample our brave Royal Navy under its feet, and at the same time fight a proxy war in India by supporting the Jin Empire. , completely expelling the East India Company from India. When we lose our naval superiority and Indian colonies...our empire will cease to exist, and the Ming Empire will step on the corpse of the British Empire to reach the top of the world. Top!"
The Earl of Liverpool lowered his tone: "Don't worry, George, such a situation will not happen... As long as I live, I will not allow those Easterners to climb to the head of our British Empire!"
George Canning also gritted his teeth and said: "Me too... As long as I still have breath, I will fight the Eastern Empire of Ming to the end!"
After hearing the two people's statements, the ministers present frowned.
These two people are very determined!
But their health is very poor!
The Earl of Liverpool suffered from severe cardiovascular disease, and doctors had long advised him to retire and recuperate. And George Canning was even more of a sick man. Long-term drug abuse made his body very fragile. He also suffered from severe rheumatism and was sick all day long.
George Canning, the Foreign Secretary and the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons, did not feel that his time was running out. He took another sip of Yipian tincture and began to talk about his "gamble plan" energetically. He said: "Jin Bing versus Bai Sha. Wa's sneak attack and Ming's 'Thousand Ships Plan' are just tests before the Ming Empire takes a big gamble... They are just trying their luck. If they feel it doesn't work, they will probably shrink back. Anyway, their life is not If you can't survive, there's no need to risk your life.
The success of the Jin soldiers' sneak attack on Peshawar shows that Ming Dynasty is now very lucky, so it is very likely that he will increase his bets! And with the Ming Empire's usual cautious style in the past, she will increase the stakes bit by bit. If we follow her rhythm and place bets, then a huge bet for world domination will be broken up into many small bets, and Daming has better luck and bets more. If she makes small bets one after another, she will definitely win more and lose more. If you don't, you will have the last laugh.
So we can’t bet at their pace, and it’s not in our interest to take a big gamble either. Because the chances of winning are not very high, the real best option now is to make a big gamble and make Daming timid and retreat! "
This George Canning is obviously a master of gambling!
He analyzed the situation of this "world's gamble" very thoroughly.
Daming was lucky and had a lot of bets, so there was no need for a stud game. He only needed to make small bets one by one. In the end, he was sure to win more and lose less.
However, Daying is lucky and has few bets. If he follows the rhythm of Ming Dynasty and makes small bets, he will lose everything in the end! But you may not win the stud game... Daming is obviously luckier than Daying!
Therefore, Daying's worst strategy is a "small gamble", and the middle strategy is a "big gamble" - one gamble can determine life or death! The real best strategy is to "pretend to gamble heavily" to scare off Ming Dynasty, which is to "not gamble".
After listening to George Canning's analysis, the ministers present felt their eyes brightened.
"George," asked Chancellor Robinson, who expected to spend every last penny in his pocket, "how are we going to scare Ming away?"
George Canning said with a smile: "If we want to repel someone, then we should use the battlefield as the main stage and the negotiation table as the secondary stage. And who we want to scare away, of course we should use negotiation as the main means and military force as the main means. Action becomes a secondary means.
Therefore, we will proceed from two aspects. First, we will adopt tough measures on the battlefields of Peshawar and Afghanistan and assume a posture of fighting to the death..."
As he spoke, he glanced at the Duke of Wellington, who had accepted the post of Governor-General of India but had not yet taken office.
The Duke of Wellington said: "Major General Hugh Gough has personally gone to Mardan and commanded the troops to counterattack Peshawar there... At present, Sir Amherst has mobilized thousands of people for the counterattack, as well as thousands of tin Croatian troops will also arrive in Mardan soon."
George Canning turned his attention to Robert Peel, Lord of the Admiralty.
Robert Peel said: "Earl Nelson has mobilized a fleet including a Sovereign class and will set off for a visit to Japan within a week."
George Canning nodded and said to Prime Minister Jenkinson: "Prime Minister, I suggest that King Louis XVII of France come forward to convene a Versailles Naval Peace Conference... Invite the Ming Dynasty, Rakshasa, Daikin, Austria, Prussia, Spain, the United States, Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and of course us are here to discuss the naval arms race!”
"Are so many countries invited?" the Prime Minister asked.
"Yes," George Canning smiled, "except for Dajin who may support Ming Dynasty, all other countries, including the Rakshasa Kingdom, will stand with us on the issue of naval arms control...because who Nor does it want Ming to dominate the world. This will not only destroy the existing world structure, but also damage the interests of all great powers. If Ming dares to provoke a naval arms race despite the opposition of most countries, then standing opposite her will be the entire world!"
