Windsor Castle, Audience Hall.
Just when Princess Victoria was eating a nutritious breakfast carefully selected by her mother, the Duchess of Kensington, in her own small dining room, which was conducive to her growth and development. The Duchess of Kensington and the Duchess's most trusted Palace Auditor John Conroy, the Prime Minister Duke of Wellington who was in the audience hall and coming from London, the Home Secretary Viscount Melbourne, and Princess Victoria's new palace tutor and personal The secretary and the Duke of Marlborough were discussing the princess's marriage.
"Prime Minister, can I understand this...if you cannot defeat the Ming Empire, are you ready to sell your future queen in exchange for a humiliating peace?"
The person who was speaking to the Duke of Wellington in a stern tone was the Palace Auditor-General John Conroy, a handsome and somewhat masculine middle-aged man. In his early years, this man was an equerry to Victoria's father, the Duke of Kensington, and had also joined the army. Because he came from a relatively poor background, he was only a captain before retiring (a major was too expensive to afford). But after the death of the Duke of Kensington, he gained the trust of the widowed Duchess and became Auditor General...
Because King William went to India on his own expedition, the United Kingdom now has Victoria as the nominal regent, and the Duchess of Kensington acts as the regent. Therefore, the palace comptroller John Conroy also took advantage of it and became " A person with "little power" - the great power in Britain lies with the Parliament, and the king has at most a little "middle power". As the regent's confidant, a little power is good.
Although this John Conroy was young, he was very courageous. He dared to speak loudly to a big man like the Duke of Wellington, and his words were so harsh.
The Duchess of Kensington's political wisdom is obviously not very high. After her "most trusted" Auditor General criticized the Duke of Wellington, she actually looked at the Duke with questioning eyes, seeming to ask: "Are you? Want to be John Churchill second and want to betray my precious daughter?"
Although the Duke of Wellington hates the John Conroy in front of him extremely, and is a little speechless about the political incompetence of the Duchess of Kensington - if it were not for the fierce war, King William could go to India and become emperor. "Happy, no longer thinking about English"?
"Captain, please watch your words!" Duke Wellington deliberately called John Conroy's military rank. "In addition, I can also tell you clearly that the war between us and the Ming Empire will not be decided by our two countries. Survival is about world domination in the next century or even centuries. No one will land in the British Isles, and no one will land in Guangzhou, Shanghai, or Tianjin. But the losing side will still pay a heavy price. You may even lose your future!
Therefore, based on the interests of the United Kingdom and the rationality of politicians, we cannot categorically reject the other party's request for marriage! "
"Prime Minister..." The Duchess of Kensington spoke with a calm face at this time, "What you mean seems to be the same as what John said, right?"
Isn’t that the same thing?
If you can't beat him, you have to beg for mercy...or ask for help!
"No!" The Duke of Wellington glanced at Mrs. Kensington angrily, "Duchess, the war has not really started yet... The marriage of Princess Victoria and King Minglu is just a matter of concern to the United Kingdom. It’s just an acceptable serious consequence. And for some countries on the European continent, this serious consequence will mean even more unfavorable consequences... and may even lead to the disintegration of the country!"
Mrs. Kensington was confused and just looked at the Duke of Wellington blankly. And John Conroy asked loudly: "Duke, please tell me clearly, who else on the European continent will face the possibility of falling apart because of the marriage between Princess Victoria and King Minglu?"
"Austria and maybe Prussia."
"Austria and Prussia?" John Conroy asked, "Why?"
"Because the marriage of Princess Victoria and King Lu of Ming Dynasty means that Ming Dynasty has achieved world hegemony, and the situation on the European continent will change drastically because of Ming Dynasty's victory. Ming Dynasty's traditional allies in Europe will be strengthened, and the United Kingdom will also He was arranged by the Ming Dynasty to return to the European continent and then become part of the new European balance of power. Captain, you should know who are the traditional allies of the Ming Dynasty in Europe, right?"
John Kang Luoyin thought for a while, nodded and said: "France and the Rakshasa Kingdom."
"To be more precise," said the Duke of Wellington, "it is the Bourbon dynasty of France and the Romanov dynasty of the Rakshasa Kingdom... These two countries will definitely be rewarded by the Ming Dynasty. France will have The right to move freely in Italy, Rhineland and western North Africa and West Africa, while the Rakshasa State will have the right to liberate the Balkans and Constantinople.
And our United Kingdom will surely lose the Indian, Australian and Oregon colonies, but will definitely gain the right to expand in North Germany... The Kingdom of Hanover will be strengthened, making us a member of the European continent! "
"But why did the United Kingdom get the right to expand in North Germany?" John Conroy still didn't understand. "Is it because King Minglu married Princess Victoria?"
"Captain, haven't you seen "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"?"
This time the speaker was a short, fat man with a big head, a face full of fat, and a cigar in his mouth. This fat man just had enough to eat and had nothing to do. George Spencer Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, who was famous for studying Eastern culture, only saw him taking a puff of his cigar and explaining: "In the eyes of the Chinese, the struggle for hegemony between two powers is the most important thing." If it is unstable, it is easy for fierce conflicts to break out. And once a fierce conflict breaks out, it is easy to decide the winner.
There are too many small but powerful countries, and in the eyes of the Chinese, it is easy for them to annex each other, making it difficult to maintain order. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty was relatively large and could accept the situation of three major powers dominating Europe.
Therefore, Ming Dynasty, which has won world hegemony, will definitely arrange three powerful countries in Europe, and they must be three corner powers... Only in this way can they restrain each other and form the so-called tripartite confrontation. Therefore, Rakshasa occupying Eastern Europe, France controlling Western Europe and the United Kingdom occupying the north are the three most ideal European powers!
Austria and Prussia, located in Central Europe, will definitely become victims of the new order of the three major powers in Europe and be brutally dismembered! "
I have to say that all Chinese-style strategies are thoroughly written in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Since the European powers in this timeline are not as powerful as the Ming Dynasty, they have always attached great importance to studying China, and there are some real experts on China issues.
These experts also have a clear idea of how China will arrange Europe after winning world hegemony. Not only did George Spencer Churchill figure it out, there were also experts in France, Rakshasa, Austria, and Prussia who could figure it out.
Seeing that John Conroy finally had no more questions to ask, Duke Wellington concluded: "The current war should be a war in which the entire West unites to fight against the Yellow Peril. But until now, it is only us. The British Empire is fighting hard, and other European powers are waiting and watching. If this continues, the Yellow Peril will definitely sweep across Europe...So now other European powers must stand up and fight with us!"
The Duchess of Kensington frowned and asked: "Duke, the European power you are talking about is not Austria, is it?"
"Of course not," said the Duke of Wellington, shaking his head. "It's France! Napoleon's France!"
"Napoleon's France? But Napoleon is dead..." said the Duchess of Kensington.
"There is a new Napoleon!" Duke Wellington sighed, "Although I am extremely reluctant to see the resurrection of Napoleon's empire, now... this is the only choice!"
"You mean Napoleon II, right?" The Duchess of Kensington shook her head, "But he is in the hands of the Austrian Emperor."
Wellington glanced at Viscount Melbourne, who immediately stood up and said: "Duchess, we can ask Princess Victoria to go to Vienna to bring Napoleon II to London."
"Will this work?"
"Yes!" said the Duke of Wellington, "as long as the Austrians deliberately let the water go."
