Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 166 Table Discussion

   (I'm very sorry, because the phone is lost, so this chapter can not be uploaded until now. This is my own pot, please understand.)

  It's another beautiful morning

  Red Fort Dome Restaurant

  The sun shines in through the European-style oval windows, and the light and shadow intertwine, reflecting the exquisite carvings and murals on the walls vividly. On the long dining table are silver candlesticks and flowers, as well as fruits and exquisite food.

  Secretariat Director Fan Zhongzhai, Deputy Secretary-General Tian Shan, and the 8 newly selected first-level secretaries all sat at the table and waited quietly. Today is a working breakfast, and the Lord Earl will also be there.

Among the 8 newly selected first-level secretaries, 7 are all scholars from the south of the Yangtze River. They have experienced European travel and broadened their horizons. They have a solid academic foundation. After returning to Australia, they have worked in the grassroots department for another year. , The ability is outstanding.

  Consult my opinion. Only those who are willing to be loyal to the Queensland Earl can be selected as secretary. This is the basic condition.

  Among the seven people from Jiangnan, the two who have the fame of being a man are the first, one is named Mo Rufeng, and the other is named Nangong Yunfei. They are the best among them.

  "Your Lord Earl is here..."

  The butler in the restaurant Li Ann declared loudly that all the staff from the Secretariat who participated in the working breakfast stood up to greet him, and then heard footsteps.

Li Fushou walked into the restaurant with a brisk pace. He looked energetic. He saw the secretaries in the restaurant and said cordially; I participated in the work breakfast this time, and the elderly in the Secretariat must have explained it. This is a habit of mine.

  Every Monday and Wednesday is a regular working breakfast. Eating is not the purpose. It is mainly to use the meal time to communicate. It is easier and everyone will get used to it in the future.

  Now that everyone is here, Ang Lee informs the kitchen to start a meal, and we eat and talk. "

  "Thank you, my master." The secretaries replied in unison.

   "Well, let's get started."

  Li Fushou nodded and sat down in the upper position. The maids served a rich meal of fruit like a stream of water, and soon a long table was filled for guests to fetch at will.

Li Fushou took a sip of hot milk, and flipped through the "Sydney Prophet" that was delivered from the train station just this morning. This was the "Sydney Prophet" published two days ago. It reaches the Red River Valley City at a speed that is a must-read newspaper every day for the big figures in the upper class, and you can learn about many world events from it.

  Today’s "Sydney Prophet" front page headline is news from South Africa;

  The Transvaal War is over and the dawn of peace is ushered in!

The war between Britain and the Boers lasted more than four months. Thanks to the secret help of Germany and the Netherlands, many foreign volunteers joined them. The Boers fought vigorously in the war, which caused the British Empire Army to suffer a great deal. Frustrated.

at no choice

  Britain opened negotiations with the Boers, according to reports from the front;

The British negotiators agreed to allow the South African Boers to form their own autonomous government under Her Majesty’s rule, but Britain has the diplomatic power of the Transvaal autonomous government, and the British have the right to free business, residency and property rights and other necessary rights and interests will not be impaired. , The two sides reached an agreement on this and ushered in the dawn of peace.

  In other words, the British were defeated. Some of the so-called superficial conditions were just a fig leaf, and things that were not available on the battlefield were also not available at the negotiating table.

  "What do you think?" Li Fushou took another sip of milk and asked softly.

  Important news in the newspaper, the staff of the Secretariat have read and have a case, ready to answer Lord Earl’s questions at any time.

  If there is nothing to say, it will inevitably lose points in the heart of Lord Earl.

  Each working breakfast is no less than a big exam for the participants of the Secretariat. They must be full of energy to deal with it, and they dare not slack in the slightest.

  From another perspective

  This method has tempered the secretary's ability, allowing them to consider issues from an overall perspective. Through the comments of Lord Piaget, they can deepen their understanding and improve, and it is a valuable learning opportunity.

   "Master, I want to make a comment." Mo Rufeng answered first.

   "Oh, tell me." Li Fushou looked at him with encouragement.

"From the point of view of a humble position, the defeat that Great Britain has encountered in South Africa this time is not only a military defeat, but also a geopolitical defeat. From the statements of the European powers, we can see that there is more ridicule than sympathy. "

  Mo Rufeng glanced at Li Fushou secretly, and saw that he was listening carefully, and he had some insights in his heart, so he continued to speak;

"The general sympathy that the Boers have received in Europe reflects from another perspective the mentality of the European powers that are bored by Great Britain's involvement in European affairs. In terms of public opinion in Germany and the Netherlands, the relevant opinions are even more stark and undisguised. , Is undoubtedly the best explanation of this kind of psychology.

  The defeat of the Imperial Army in South Africa was called by The Times;

  The Boers won a war asleep. Her Majesty did not lose an inch of land, but we lost the war.

  The comments made a mockery of Downing Street and the War Department, reflecting the weakness of the army. It is really difficult to maintain colonies on all continents of the world with limited forces. This is good news for Australia. "

  After finishing speaking, Mo Rufeng looked at Lord Earl nervously, waiting for his comment.

Li Fushou put down the spoon in his hand, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and said, "Public opinion is only public opinion and cannot represent the position of governments. Britain supported the Germans against the French in the Franco-Prussian War. After the establishment of the German Empire, the relationship between Britain and France quickly became closer. , In turn, came to support the French against the Germans.

  This shows a grim reality

  In today's European continent, no one can refuse the friendship from Great Britain, no one can shake the status of Great Britain. As long as the Royal Navy of the British Empire is not weakened or defeated, the glory of the empire will not be weakened.

  As for the small defeat of the British Army in South Africa, it can be understood as a tiger dozing off and being scratched by a little wolf cub temporarily. This will not change anything.

  The British Empire has the most colonies in the world and occupies a quarter of the world’s land resources. If you take it seriously, you can mobilize millions of troops around the world, which is definitely not something the little Boers can contend.

  So, the problem in South Africa is whether Downing Street wants to continue playing, and does not want to pay more to win, not whether it can win. "

  Speaking of which

Li Fushou took a hot steamed dumpling and put it in his mouth to chew, feeling the delicious meat and dough mixture, which can fully satisfy China’s appetite, nodded in admiration, his mouth was ambiguous Said; "For dinner, today's steamed buns are good, everyone will try them."

  Everyone picked up their rice bowls and started to eat. Many people repeatedly chewed on the words of Lord Earl, looking at the essence through the surface phenomenon, and felt that they had a deeper understanding of international issues.

  Public opinion has misled everyone's opinion. At first glance, it seems that the whole world is watching the jokes of the British Empire. In fact, the real powerhouse doesn't care about these gossips. What can public opinion change?

   "Thank you for your teaching, Rufeng has been taught." Mo Rufeng said respectfully.

   "Dine, Xiao Long Bao is good."

  Li Fushou drank a bowl of porridge, ate a few steamed buns, and ate two grilled golden steaks. Then he took two sips of juice and opened the "Sydney Prophet".

  The important local news in Australia is that the Royal Lancaster Grenadier Battalion stationed in Sydney took the initiative to encircle and suppress the increasingly rampant horse bandits. In a place called Sunset Valley in Victoria, it surrounded more than 100 Scarface Bandits.

  The two sides have been fighting for a long time

The Lancaster Grenadier Battalion and the local militia formed an encirclement and suppression team that paid a heavy price and finally won the victory. The bandit leader Scarface Eck and several other prominent horse bandit leaders were killed, 51 horse bandits were killed and 37 were captured. I all fled.

   Newspaper reviews praised the heroic fighting of the soldiers of the Grenadier Battalion in Southcastle, calling it a glorious victory, comparable to the encirclement and suppression campaign of the Earl of Queensland in Thylacine Rock, and then there was a long period of naive praise.

  Li Fushou glanced a few times and did not continue to look at it. He raised his head to see the concerned gaze of Fan Zhongzhai, head of the secretariat, and asked with a faint smile; "Zhongzhai, what do you think?"

"Master, the banditry in southern Australia has become more and more fierce. The Scarface gang and the Billy Boy gang have been eliminated, as well as dozens of other gangs, large and small. The weeds are endless and the spring breeze blows again, unless there is a huge scale. Otherwise, it will be difficult to reverse the situation. At best, the headache will heal the head and the feet will heal the feet."

"Yes, the news I got is that the Lancaster Grenadier Battalion was maimed this time. A total of more than 600 people were killed and more than 170 people were injured. , Ha ha ha..." Li Fushou smiled unkindly.

  The entire British garrison in Australia is less than 2,000. The Lancaster Grenadier Battalion is one of the two main forces. The horse bandits in the encirclement and suppression area have been maimed. It is strange that the governor of New South Wales can laugh.

Never underestimate the horse bandits running in the wilderness. These vicious gangsters know that they will be hanged if caught, so they are very determined to fight and resist. In addition, they are cunning like a fox and have rich combat experience to encircle and suppress the troops. Brings no small casualties.

The British infantry battalion stationed in Australia has been in peace for a long time, Ma Fang Nanshan, enjoying life on this remote continent of Australia, pretending to show superiority everywhere during the day, molesting women, drinking and making trouble in the bar at night is a good hand, and it turns out. The battlefield is now in its original form, and it is not worthy of sympathy at all.

  Fan Zhongzhai and Tian Shan both laughed, Tian Shan said; “Some newspapers and magazines in New South Wales and Victoria slandered Queensland’s military cleanup as an insidious attempt by white people to make land for immigrants. The words were awful.

This time they hit a hard stubble themselves. I think there will be a strange argument in the media, saying that the large-scale suppression of bandits in Queensland is driving all the most vicious bandits to southern Australia, and it should be aggravating to southern Australia. Public security is responsible.

  Anyway, no matter what we do, it is wrong. The southern states have always treated it with the attitude of picking the bones in the egg. This has caused numerous obstacles to the southern extension of the coastal railway plan and it is difficult to implement it.

  Master, do you think we can launch an expedition to take advantage of the situation to break our power into the south, otherwise it will be difficult to see obvious results after only a little bit of erosion by immigration. "

"It's not in a hurry." Li Fushou shook his head, took a sip of the soup with a spoon, and put it down. He thought about it and said; Good persuasiveness can easily arouse hostility and vigilance in London.

  What's more, the Shangri-La issue is imminent. We need strong support from London. We will eat this deserted island first.

  Don’t look at it now, it’s because our news is blocked.

  Actually, the British Colonial Department, Germans, French and even Americans all took a fancy to this island, but I took advantage of it.

  Once things are uncovered, ha ha ha...

  Just watch, all forces will come on stage to perform, and it will be very lively. "

  Fan Zhongzhai and Tian Shan thoughtfully digested this paragraph of information, the other secretaries also stopped the chopsticks in their hands and thought secretly, and the restaurant went silent for a while.

"Master, after the end of the Napoleonic war with the French emperor, the British once voluntarily withdrew from the resource-rich island of Java. Now how can they look at Shangri-La Island, where there is nothing but a large site, as well as the United States and Germany. Shangri-La's kick in? The humble post is puzzled, and I ask the master for advice." Nangong Yunfei asked.

  His words are also what everyone wants to ask, and all the attention of Li Fushou gathered on Li Fushou’s face.

  Li Fushou calmly finished the fried buns in his hand, feeling almost full, took the hot towel provided by the maid, wiped his mouth and hands, and said;

   "Now and then again!

  The British took the lead to form 7 anti-French alliances and finally won the Battle of Waterloo. They defeated Napoleon, the French emperor who crossed the European continent, and died on a deserted island in exile.

  This is the biggest historical event at the beginning of the 19th century. It affected the whole of Europe in the 19th century, and its significance was extremely far-reaching.

  As the core and priority of British diplomacy, the European balance strategy is at all times higher than other colonies. There is no doubt about this.

  From the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century, the British were digesting the huge Indian colony, which had everything they wanted, abundant resources, cheap labor and a vast market.

Compared with India, Java Island is just an inconspicuous piece of meat on the dinner table. If the British are overwhelmed, they don’t mind throwing it to the Netherlands, because the Netherlands is small but sturdy and aggressive, and it’s not annoying. character of.

  Now the situation is different

  The British have consolidated their colonial rule in India, and in the Far East..."

Li Fushou pointed his finger to the north, and continued with a sorrowful expression on his face; "The Chinese mainland, whom we beloved deeply, has been figured out by the British after two Opium Wars. They knew they could not eat this huge ancient empire. Therefore, the current demand is to obtain trading rights in Tianjin Wei, Shanghai and Guangdong Provinces to further understand the details.

  In Southeast Asia, the British launched a war against Burma, further expanding the scope of the colony.

  On Fusang Island, the British threatened with force, obtained the same extraterritorial rights and other priority rights as the Americans, and imposed unequal treaties on the Fusang people. This impoverished overseas island country has in fact become a half colony.

  So the British looked around and soon discovered that Shangri-La Island has no owner.

  Of course, that's what happened before. "

  Speaking of this, Li Fushou couldn't help but laughed happily, and everyone laughed. The restaurant was full of joy.

   "As for the Germans and Americans, that is another matter." Li Fushou's voice sounded, and the laughter in the restaurant quickly fell silent, and everyone was engrossed in listening to him.

  "After Kaiser Wilhelm I won the Franco-Prussian War, he looked around the world and was surprised to find that because Germany was reunified too late and too late, the whole world had been occupied by old colonists such as Britain, France and Holland, leaving no leftovers for the Germans.

  Unless a war is launched against the powers of Europe, don’t think about overseas markets.

  Perhaps with the last hope, we will send people to cast nets all over the world to find places where we can start. Africa is a key point, South America is a key point, and the South Ocean region, including the Far East, is also a key point.

  The situation in the United States is similar. In the first quarter of 1881, the United States had already surpassed the United Kingdom in steel production, ranking first in the world.

  This is a signal, representing the rise of North American power.

  American scholars declared;

  The East Indies has never been an official country, but a primitive archipelago covering a vast area. The Dutch do not have it now, and it will not be possible to completely control this vast archipelago in the future.

  From these words, you can hear that the Americans are drooling over this archipelago, and we have also found traces of Americans on Shangri-La Island, which explains this problem from another side.

  So gentlemen, although we swallowed the Shangri-La Island in one bite, we haven't really digested it yet. Maybe a punch can make us spit it out.

  This heavy punch may be played by a Dutch, or it may be a German or an American. It must not be taken lightly.

  Related immigration work cannot be relaxed, remember, remember! "

  "The humble ranks should keep in mind, and never dare to slack off a little." Fan Zhongzhai, the secretary general, looked solemn.

"That's good, I've finished eating, you can eat slowly." Li Fushou stood up and left in stride. The secretaries got up and gave them away, and then looked reluctantly at the rich and exquisite food on the table, resolutely Decided to turn around and leave.

  The Lord Earl got up and left, which meant that the breakfast was over. The secretaries were actually not full on this occasion, but the Lord Earl would immediately go to the Lingxiao Pavilion. They could only go to work immediately to welcome the busy work of the new day.

  (End of this chapter)