London, Downing Street.
On this busy street, it is rare today to see black mounted policemen dispatched by the Bow Street Police (there is no Scotland Yard police force yet, the headquarters of the London Police Force is in Bow Street) and have set up a security guard near No. 10 Downing Street. Wire.
Old Londoners who often come and go in Downing Street knew that a foreign head of government must be visiting No. 10 Downing Street. And the only person who can enjoy this kind of vigilance treatment of the black mounted police is definitely the head of the government of a big country.
Therefore, after a while, many British gentlemen gathered on both sides of Downing Street to watch the excitement. Just for a look, you won't ask questions about each other...otherwise you wouldn't be a gentleman.
After a while, when the gentlemen were waiting a little impatiently, a jingling of carriage bells came from an entrance to Downing Street, and then three carriages drove in and stopped steadily at Downing Street. Outside door 10.
Harker, the cabinet secretary at No. 10 Downing Street, had already led several civil servants in tuxedos out of the famous little black door. He stood on the sidewalk with a smile on his face, waiting for the carriage to stop, and then walked forward diligently. Went to open the door for passengers.
The one who got off the first carriage was Prime Minister George Canning. Huck bowed slightly and said with a smile: "Mr. Prime Minister, welcome back to No. 10 Downing Street."
After George Canning got out of the carriage, he put on his top hat, and carrying a cane in his hand, he and Huck arrived in front of the second carriage. Huck opened the door, bowed, and said to the people inside in Rakshasa: "His Royal Highness, welcome to No. 10 Downing Street."
The one who came out of the carriage was Rakshasa Grand Duke Mikhail. After getting out of the carriage, he saw this grand duke in military uniform, walked to George Canning who was waiting outside, and kissed him twice—— This is Mao Zi's kissing ceremony, a etiquette introduced from France.
After kissing Grand Duke Michael, Huck led George Canning to the last carriage. This time, after opening the door, Huck greeted him with a gift, speaking with a Wuji Valley accent. Chinese: "Hezhongtang, little Huck wishes you well."
He Shen, on the other hand, was dressed in Qing dynasty, oh, it was the imperial robe with flower feathers on the top of a wealthy minister. When he saw Huck giving him a thousand gifts, he quickly stretched out his hand to help him, and said with a smile: "Secretary Ha, you are too polite. , get up, get up... You are a cabinet civil servant who was born in Oxford University. At the time of the Qing Dynasty, you were considered to have been born in the second rank." As he said, he hugged his fists at George Canning again, " Kan Zhongtang, let’s not kiss anymore.”
"No more kissing, no more kissing." George Canning also followed He Shen's example, clasped his fists and said with a smile, "The kissing ceremony is the French ceremony and the Rakshasa ceremony. We don't do this in England."
Heshen laughed loudly after hearing this, and pointed to Grand Duke Mikhail next to him and said: "When I first went abroad to be an ambassador, I went to their Rakshasa and met his grandmother Ekaterina. The second generation... wants to kiss hands, this is really... it is better to kowtow!"
After listening to Heshen's words, George Canning and Grand Duke Mihayiner both laughed as if they were in the scene. Huck made a sign of silence and called George Canning, Heshen, and Grand Duke Mihayiner. There was also Qi Shan, who quietly got out of the car behind He Shen, and together they entered the small black door of No. 10 Downing Street.
After entering the small black door, several people went straight to the small conference room dedicated to His Excellency the Prime Minister.
After sitting down separately in the conference room, without much exchange of greetings, George Canning said to He Shen in English: "He Zhongtang, our Indian Army Commander-in-Chief Major General Hugh Gough appreciates your naval airborne troops very much and thinks that He is the most powerful naval warrior in the world, even surpassing the naval warriors of our British Empire and Ming Empire."
Heshen understands English very well, but this is a diplomatic meeting. He represents Dajin, and he must speak Manchurian, Wujigu Chinese or Mongolian, so he replied in Chinese: "That's right, it's better than marksmanship and riding skills." , sword skills, parachuting skills from the sky, and the ability to dig trenches, build forts, and fight in formations. Our navy of Daikin is second, but no one’s navy dares to be the first. It’s a pity, our navy of Daikin is second. Without a real sea, this navy is actually useless! Kan Zhongtang, how about you Da Ying reward me with a useless island and give me Da Jin so that I, Da Jin Navy, can also see the sea?"
George Canning also knows a little Chinese, and the Cabinet Secretary Huck next to him is an Oxford graduate with CET-6 in Chinese. He is now sitting behind George Canning as a translator.
Hearing that Heshen wanted Daying to cede land to Dayin, George Canning couldn't laugh or cry. But he was not angry, he just smiled and said: "There is always a chance for Dajin to build a navy. When the Turkish Empire is eliminated, I will draw a long coastline for you on the west coast of the Persian Gulf... As long as You can just lend some of your naval airborne troops to our British Empire, and we can talk about military pay and everything else!"
Heshen had no interest in the Persian Gulf coastline. He also knew that the place was a wasteland with nothing but sand... However, Heshen was still very interested in the military pay that George Canning said.
Moreover, the confrontation between Daikin and the British-Indian army in Kabul and Peshawar has been going on for several months. Since the British army was stuck in the Kabul Valley and the Khyber Valley, the Jin soldiers in Peshawar were unable to obtain supplies through land routes. They could only rely on airship airlift and eat capital captured in Peshawar city, which made it difficult to maintain.
The situation of the British and Indian troops is not good either, because the mainland from Mardan to the Khyber Pass has to pass through Peshawar. The surrounding areas of Peshawar are now controlled by Jin soldiers. If they go further away, there are guerrillas from the Tianfang Sect who are causing damage. . Therefore, it is also very difficult to supply the British and Indian troops trapped in Afghanistan!
In addition, since there are tens of thousands of British and Indian troops in Afghanistan, they consume a large amount of supplies every day. If they could be transported in from outside earlier, it would be less likely to cause conflicts with the locals. But once there was a problem with logistics, we had to scrape land in the Kabul Valley and the Khyber Valley. Naturally, there was a serious conflict with the local Pashtun tribes, and as a result, "god warriors" were everywhere. In addition, the armies of Daoguang and Dost Muhammad Khan marched towards Kabul bit by bit around the Hindu Kush Mountains. Their morale was low. The British and Indian troops fought several battles with them but failed to win. Hugh Gough We were almost out of options and could only request a retreat.
And if you want to withdraw your troops, you are afraid of being hunted down by the Daikin-Afghan coalition forces... Don't let them invade the Indus River Valley in one fell swoop!
Therefore, George Canning, the new prime minister, had no choice but to adopt the strategy of "ceding land, paying compensation, and making peace" to appease the Kingdom of Jin first.
Oh, that marriage was not with the Kingdom of Jin, but with Princess Victoria and Grand Duke Alexander. Although they are both still children, the marriage has been finalized. Therefore, Grand Duke Mihayiner participated in today's talks. He is a silent peacemaker.
Although they didn't say a word, Heshen and Zhongtang still knew what to do!
He Shen asked with a smile: "Kan Zhongtang, how do you borrow this soldier? How do you calculate the military salary? And...how do you draw the border between Afghanistan and British India?"
Huck, who is Level 6 in Chinese, has already translated He Shen's words into English. George Canning smiled and stretched out a finger and said: "He Zhongtang, we only lend you a thousand soldiers... and give them to you all at once. One million pounds for the big money, and another hundred thousand pounds a year thereafter.”
One million pounds is only four to five million Ming silver dollars, which is much lower than Daoguang's price! However, Daoguang only planned to make a one-time deal, while George Canning planned to pay him every year, including one hundred thousand pounds a year...that is, four to five million silver dollars. After collecting it for decades, we can still collect 20 million silver dollars. So Heshen and Zhongtang were just noncommittal.
"As for demarcation, we withdraw from the entire Afghanistan, including the Gandhara Basin." George Canning continued.
This time He Shen nodded.
George Canning said again: "We have an additional condition!"
"What conditions?" He Shen asked.
"You have to support our Prince William in seizing the throne of the Indian Empire," George Canning said. "We may need you to send troops to cooperate, and we may need to send thousands of troops!"
He Shen nodded: "Okay, but you have to add more money! Another three million pounds!"
