Wild North America 1846

Chapter 641 Exchange of Interests

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 641 Exchange of Interests

Cuba problem?

Lord James Cleveland, the Queen's Envoy Plenipotentiary and Secretary of the Colonial Office, looked back at Lord Palmerston in confusion, and saw that he shook his head silently, indicating that he had no understanding of the relevant situation.

But Emperor Richard of the Tang Dynasty would not bring up meaningless topics in such a solemn meeting. There must be deep meaning in it.

On second thought

Lord James Cleveland is also an old politician who has been involved in London politics for a long time, and he understands this in his heart.

Do you believe that His Majesty the Emperor intends to get involved in Cuba?

It was proposed at this time, and the underlying meaning was the exchange of interests. Now that Britain wanted a lot from the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty raised the issue of Cuba.

If we can get a positive response from the British side, then the British demands should be able to get satisfactory results, which is essentially an exchange of interests.

After making some guesses in his mind, Lord James Cleveland responded cautiously;

"Your Majesty, the British side greatly respects the leading role played by your country in the Americas, which is indispensable for maintaining peace and stability in the current world and is part of the puzzle of today's world.

Specific to the Spanish colonial areas in Central America, this is a regional issue left over from history. It is indeed somewhat regrettably imperfect, but this is part of the real world.

The London government is cautious about changing the current situation in the region because it will trigger a series of reactions and lead to regional instability.

The world today is so fragile and war-torn everywhere, it’s just too bad.”

If you take a closer look, he just said nonsense without any substantive meaning.

Emperor Richard, who was sitting at the top, looked down and said;

"Datang deeply regrets the wars taking place in Europe today, expresses strong condemnation of the Tsarist Empire's unilateral changes in the regional situation, and maintains a high degree of consistency with the United Kingdom on European policies. This is because of our common concept of maintaining world peace and stability.

We urge Tsarist Russia to abandon the brutal practice of using force to change the status quo, and hope that they will return to the negotiating table and resolve their differences in civilized ways.

In response to the request made by the special envoy, Datang can provide as much help as possible in terms of materials and contribute to promoting peace in the European region.

As for issues in the field of military and East Asia policy, the British side can maintain close communication with the imperial government, which requires further in-depth study.

my opinion;

When it comes to issues that change the regional situation, we should be cautious and make decisions after careful consideration.

Okay, I'm tired today, so let's stop here.

In the future, you will communicate more with the government about relevant situations, so it will be inconvenient for me to participate."

After saying that, he stood up, walked away, and drove back to the palace.

At this time, the Queen's special envoy Lord James Cleveland was directly put aside.

Lord James Cleveland had no choice but to stand up and greet Prime Minister Dong Jie. He just asked;

"Dear Prime Minister, look at this..."

"Hahahaha... Since Mr. Special Envoy has come all the way to the Tang Dynasty, you should treat him well. Well... Mr. Luo Fengxian, Minister of Foreign Affairs, this important mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is unshirkable, and it falls on you.

"Prime Minister Dong Jie laughed, said a few words and then ran away.

Over there

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luo Fengxian, also laughed aloud, then complained that he was ill, handed the Queen's envoy to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zhu Yaqing, and left after a while.

His diplomatic treatment took a turn for the worse, and he was clearly being neglected.

Lord James Cleveland and Lord Palmerston looked at each other and smiled bitterly, feeling like mirrors in their hearts;

The Tang Dynasty really didn't have any of the benevolence, justice and courtesy of Eastern countries. From the emperor to the ministers, everyone was a profit-seeking person who would just leave without making a fuss.

But the situation also taught them;

There is no room for negotiation on the Cuban issue. How London treats this issue is directly related to the success or failure of this trip.

After leaving the palace, I got into the black "Apache" car of the British mission and looked at the bustling urban street scene that was receding outside the window. The atmosphere was a little quiet for a while.

for a while

Only then did Lord James Cleveland break the silence and asked in a cautious tone: "Dear Lord Palmerston, you are an authority on Eastern issues. You have served in the North American continent for more than ten years, and you must have unique insights into the Cuban issue.

I want to hear your opinion?"

"Oh... His Majesty raised this issue very suddenly today, and I was completely unprepared." Lord Palmerston replied with a frown. He thought about it carefully and continued;

"Based on my understanding of the Tang Empire and His Majesty the Emperor, this is an emerging colonial empire that is constantly expanding, and it is also a growing industrial and agricultural power that is very aggressive.

It has been 31 years since its establishment and has never stopped its pace of foreign colonial expansion.

It was like this yesterday. It will still be like this today and even in the future. As long as this energetic autocratic emperor is still in power, the pace of colonial expansion will not stop.

From the perspective of a monarch, His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has done a great job, and his brilliant achievements have already surpassed Emperor Napoleon, who was held up to the altar, and directly caught up with Her Majesty the Queen.

This is a great good thing for his subjects, but it is out-and-out bad news for all the forces in North, Central, and South America.

It can be seen from the history of this empire's expansion and colonization that it seems to have a soft spot for Spain's traditional colonies.

More than 20 years ago, California, New Mexico, Kansas and Texas, as well as Central American regions such as Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama, were basically old Spanish colonies.

Now it has expanded to Colombia and Ecuador, and now it is trying to get involved in Cuba. This is all the same.

As for when the pace of expansion will stop, please forgive me, I cannot answer this question.

But I know for sure;

The dictatorial emperor of the Tang Dynasty was like a very patient wolf on the grassland, always attacking quickly when his prey was weak.

After a successful attack, he will flee away and find a quiet place to enjoy the feast in silence.

He's safe for the time being until he gets hungry again.

Fortunately, Datang has not set its sights on Canada for the time being. I originally thought that the country worth paying attention to was the United States of America (the North), but now it seems that I was wrong.

Datang’s next target is Peru, Bolivia or Venezuela. The current intelligence cannot support an accurate judgment, and we need to continue to observe.”

"This is really..." Lord James Cleveland hesitated to consider the wording, and then said in a thick London accent; "What a head-scratching trouble!

Every one of our partners has such an appetite, and this is the root of the turmoil in today's world.

London can only work hard to support the world situation and balance the interests of all parties. Regrettably... this difficult situation will continue.

The Germans defeated Austria, defeated France and unified the German nation, and now they want more.

We have to be wary of Germany's ambition to dominate Europe, and we have to admit that they have an outstanding prime minister and many outstanding generals, and this is where the trouble lies.

The French had just regained some of their strength and were preparing to colonize the Indochina Peninsula and Africa. Based on their common interests, Britain had to turn to support France to counter the rising ambition of the German nation for hegemony.

Now that the situation in Europe is tense, and the Tang Dynasty wants Spanish colonies, I just want to say;

It's a crazy world!

Considering the severe situation in Europe, Britain cannot lose the strong support of the Tang Dynasty. The Ottoman Empire, as the eastern barrier of the entire Europe, must not be torn apart in the war.

This is related to the fundamental interests of Britain and Europe. We need a weak Ottoman Empire to stand in front of us so that we do not have to face the huge threat of Tsarist Russia's gray cattle.

from a realistic perspective

London will definitely back down, who cares about those Hispanics in Central America?"

Lord James Cleveland's words had a very obvious tendency, which made Lord Palmerston sigh. He had already foreseen the decision of the London government.

If the special envoy wants to return from his trip to North America with great achievements, he cannot avoid the exchange of interests with Datang.

Not every British politician has a long-term strategic vision, adopts a timely containment attitude, draws a red line against the colonial expansion of the Tang Dynasty, and cooperates with effective measures.

Everyone was focused on the present. Lord James Cleveland had to make a compromise if he didn't want to return empty-handed.

It is conceivable

He will inevitably have tendentious opinions in his report to London, and London is most concerned about and needs support most when considering the current dire situation in the Balkans.

The opinions of the special envoy were the main ones who followed the trend, and they were almost inseparable.

The iron-fisted autocratic monarch of the Tang Dynasty was like a demon who could read people's hearts. He could always propose some exchange conditions that were slightly excessive but that London had to accept at the most opportune time.

As an outgoing Governor General of Canada and about to return to London, Lord Palmerston sighed secretly and said, "This may be the best solution. After all, our core interests are in Europe."

"In your opinion, can the Tang State provide an expeditionary force of more than 200,000 men?" the special envoy asked again.

Lord Palmerston answered quickly this time, saying, "War mobilization is necessary, otherwise it will not exceed 100,000 people."

"This is really a pity. There is a big gap with our expectations. The number of Tang soldiers is only 367,000. Compared with its huge territory, the total number is still too small."

"This country has no rivals in the Americas, benefits from both oceans, and invests much less in military than European countries. This is in line with basic logic."

"Yes, you are right, but if the British Empire wants more reinforcements, it will have to pay a greater exchange price." Lord James Cleveland also felt a headache at this time.

before this trip

London's conservative estimate is that it hopes that the Tang Empire can send 200,000 troops. A little more optimistically, 300,000 or even more are possible.

In this way, as long as the British Army symbolically deploys tens of thousands of troops to the Balkans front line, coupled with the Ottoman Empire's more than 400,000 troops, it will be able to deal with Tsarist Russia.

The calculation was pretty good, but the reality was shocking.

The Tang State never relented and showed its willingness to send troops. Even if it was forced by alliances, the number of troops it could invest in Europe was very limited.

After all, this is a war that has nothing to do with the Tang Dynasty. Whether you win or lose, it is a loss-making deal.

The Tang State would not gain an inch of land in Europe, and would have to bear huge military expenditures. The benefits of trade with three melons and two dates after dinner were limited, so it looked like it was being taken advantage of?

Even if it goes along with Datang's wishes, will it really support it unconditionally?

(End of chapter)