Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

"The Ming Empire humiliated the British ambassador, and the incident may escalate into a diplomatic conflict!"

On September 1859, 9, an article published in the Branden Zeitung surprised the whole of Europe. The Ming Empire humiliated the British ambassador very hard. In Germany, it can only be regarded as a bit shocked. In Britain, But it caused an uproar.

The Ming Empire has always been closed to the outside world and has been very particular about doing business with Europeans. Westerners only know that Ming Dynasty is an ancient country in the Far East. This is indeed the case. People are always full of unknown things. He is curious and can tell you a lot of nonsense.

Some Europeans of unknown nationality like to pretend to be Mingchui or Minghei. Those who have never been to Ming Dynasty will say that it has beautiful scenery and rich customs. It is the most powerful country in the world, although you have never seen it fight against others. I haven't seen it fight any great powers in a single battle, but I am invincible in the world, with a vast territory, and I am the real overlord of the Far East.

Ming Hei has never been to the Ming Dynasty. Anyway, he said that there was so much chaos there, with discrimination against ethnic minorities, suppression of free movements, internal chaos, the emperor going crazy in the harem, and so many violent incidents.

In fact, no one has been to the Ming Dynasty. People will believe whatever nonsense the media says. No one cares about whether there is such a thing. Anyway, just open your mouth and brag about it if you like it or criticize it if you hate it. The wrong evaluation has given the entire Europe a wrong view of the strength of the Ming Dynasty. Evaluate.

Everyone thinks that Ming Dynasty is a superpower, especially this incident, humiliating the British ambassador, this is no joke.

The United Kingdom, the Union Jack of Old London, is the most powerful colonial empire in the world. It spans seven continents and eight oceans, and its territory covers every corner of the world. The sun never sets on their territory, so it is called the sun never sets. Fallen empire.

Of course, the whole of Europe knows this. As long as you meet a British person, they will basically brag about how great their motherland is. With such a reputation, some people actually say that the Ming Empire can easily defeat the British Empire. Some even say that the British Empire The lowest among the imperial clan.

Anyway, after this first-generation veteran boasted about Marco Polo, the whole of Europe began to mythologize the Ming Dynasty. After boasting for so long, it deceived its own people. Now the whole of Europe really believes that the Ming Dynasty is the most powerful country in the world. .

It's a pity that Ming Dynasty has met its opponent this time. Victoria is not that easy to talk to. If it were the British Parliament, it might just swallow it up and pass, but this is the Victorian era.

Although the United Kingdom has established a constitutional monarchy, in fact the monarch can also have great influence, because the House of Lords is composed of nobles, and the House of Commons is composed of democratic parties. One sentence is enough to describe it, the House of Lords Botanical Garden, Discuss the zoo.

It's just that it can't be a dictatorship, but it still has rights. Unless all the old aristocrats headed by the Queen are dead, then the monarch's power will be considered a vacuum, but anyway, there is no problem now.

In 1859, the only country that dared to humiliate Britain in this era was the Ming Empire, which was not afraid of tigers. Victoria had already expressed her position on this incident, and it was also recorded in the newspapers. As a superpower in the world, Britain would not allow such a thing. If it happens, if it is tolerated, it will be equivalent to defeat without a fight. I hope the Ming Empire can make a statement and apologize to the British, then the matter will be over. If not, then the British Empire will defend the country at all costs. of honor.

France, as a good friend, of course had to come to help. After all, Britain did play a bit too big this time. Napoleon III also put pressure on the Ming Dynasty. He shouted to the Ming Empire on behalf of the French Empire, saying that if a diplomatic conflict occurred, France would side with Britain.

There are two advantages to doing this. One is to gain enough prestige in the UK. Napoleon III of France is actually willing to help, and the confidence is greatly increased. Well, that is the largest army in Europe. The second is to allow the UK to fight no matter what. If you want to start a war, you see that your neighbors are supporting you. If you don't fight, you will be sorry to the people of the two countries. Napoleon III understood this kind of war.

However, the so-called Ming Empire is actually just a powerful foreign country with nothing to do with it. What these public officials say are all farts. They say that the Ming Dynasty is the best in the world in science and technology, and the tribute system is the only one that can rival the British colonial system. This is pure fart.

The Ming Empire was simply strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Its tactics were limited to human sea tactics, and its weapons were limited to firecrackers. Its productivity was low and it could not produce two guns a day. Land annexation was very serious, and people's lives were miserable.

The West did not dare to take any action against the Ming Dynasty because of its reputation, but Victoria was more courageous. Although the British colonial system was not very stable, it was two different concepts compared with France. France was really annexing land and it took a long time. A large amount of money was invested in the colonies and they were raised as natives. Although they later became independent, France still retained great influence. Basically all of Africa spoke French in francs, and it was impossible for the original French colonies in all of Africa to Totally out of touch with France.

France's colonial method is the most troublesome and the most profitable. Colonies can be annexed by the French Empire for a long time. However, Britain seems to be very gentleman, saying that you only need to recognize me as the king, conquer large tracts of territory by force, and then use It is also smart for the locals to rule the locals, but it is difficult to maintain, because the UK has no sense of presence, and because it is an autonomous government that can issue its own currency, the UK cannot even control the local finances, so it cannot be maintained day by day. The Fall of the Empire is really just a matter of placing Union Jack flags all over the world.

But now this system can still operate, because Britain is still very powerful, and the British navy is the largest in the world. They can use force to defend vast territories, as long as a country similar to it does not appear.

What does it mean? It has no strong enemies around it, does not need to maintain a strong army, and can spend all its funds on building a navy. As long as it can pose a threat to the British Navy, or even exceed the British Navy in scale, then the British colonial system will immediately It will fall apart.

France cannot do this because it is surrounded by powerful enemies. France needs a strong army, so the French navy cannot defeat the British navy. And the country that can dismantle the British colonial system is still in its infancy, and it is the United States of America. .

But now the United States has just finished attacking Mexico, and the United States has not yet been completely unified, so it cannot pose a threat to the United Kingdom, so the United Kingdom is still confident.

Although the Ming Dynasty is now closed to the country, it still has international trade. They export a large amount of tea, silk, porcelain and other luxury goods that the Western aristocracy likes. On the other hand, they also have strategic materials such as bristles and caramel, but the Ming Dynasty is not free. Trade only accepts silver. All the silver in the world has gone to the Ming Dynasty, so how can Europe do anything?

Britain wants to sell high-priced industrial products to Ming Dynasty in order to reverse this trade deficit, or to do some tobacco business. In short, it wants to let some silver flow back to Europe, otherwise Europe will not have to play with it and there will be a silver shortage.

The British sent a mission to the Ming Dynasty to negotiate a new trade system with the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, you will have inflation and I will have trade contraction. If you are not good and I am not good, let’s play together. Why don’t you make a little for me and I will make a little for you? Let’s all be nice. Make money.

The result is that the Ming Dynasty did not know what inflation and trade contraction were, could not understand and learn, so I refused to do it, did not allow the envoys to go ashore, and even told the classics handed down from generation to generation.

"Our Ming Empire is a kingdom in the sky. It has a vast territory and abundant resources. There is no need to communicate with the barbarians in the West. The British Kingdom is a small country and does not even have the right to go ashore!"

Anyway, that's what it means. Not only the British can't stand it anymore, but the whole of Europe has settled in Bengbu. The Ming Empire only covers an area of ​​more than nine million square kilometers. But what about the UK? Thirty-four million square kilometers, if this is still small, are there any big countries in the world?

August is looking forward to the development of subsequent events. She also has a good impression of Britain. Who will win in the war between the Ming Empire and the British Empire? The whole world will turn its attention to these two countries.