Neil, the Acting Minister of England, has been very troubled recently. He can't find a safe way to deal with the aftermath of the Xiaguan Artillery Incident.

So, he told the matter to the visiting Governor Hakodate, who knew that John Bryan laughed as soon as he heard it. The way to deal with the matter was very simple:

"What's so difficult about this? Don't forget, there's someone above you!"

After hearing this, Neil shook his head and smiled bitterly:

"The Minister of Ali State can help me. Do you believe it or not? Besides, he hasn't come back yet."

Brian understood this. If he was really a pure acting minister, why would Neil come to Fuso?

The governor of Yokohama, Howard Vais, was local. Vais was familiar with Fuso affairs, so it would be easy to let him act as agent for a while.

Therefore, when Neil came here, he wanted to replace the country of Ali.

But after all, Aliguo came to Fusang from China just like Neil. Aliguo was originally the governor of Songjiang, and Neil was the secretary of the embassy before. Why did it happen like this? Brian was unwilling to mess with Neil before. This is also

one of the reasons.

But now, since Brian has already bet on Neil, there is no need to hesitate. He just needs to increase his bets so that everyone can get what they need:

It was easy to help Naoxiu and let Neil take off the hat of "agent". When he takes the position of minister, he has to thank himself.

It turned out that what Brian had planned for himself was the position of governor of Yokohama, England.

This is also the fundamental reason why Naoxiu was able to convince Brian. "The icing on the cake is not the icing on the cake, but the timely help." You help me, and I'll help you. Isn't that great?

Of course, Neil also has convenient conditions - as a former secretary, he also has a foothold.

Therefore, Brian explained to him:

"As for the Minister of Ali, please don't count on him for the time being.

But you still have an old chief, why can’t you start from here?”

In this regard, Neil said:

"I thought of it.

But in his reply, Sir Bruce, the minister to China, only advised me to 'be cautious and ensure that the majesty of the Empire, on which the sun never sets, is preserved'.

No matter how you look at it, this is also a suggestion to deal with the Shimonoseki incident toughly."

This is a fan of the authorities. Does Brian really want to get his shares back now? Bruce has actually made it very clear. You who are so hesitant do not seem to be the material for big things.

In fact, after switching from a military position to a foreign affairs officer, Neil really has no future. At least his performance in Fuso was not good:

If Naohide hadn't interfered and Neil was acting as minister in Fuso, he would have done a terrible job.

After the Ikumai incident occurred (August of the second year of Bunkyu), the aftermath was delayed. It was not until May of the third year of Bunkyu (1863) that Neil completed negotiations with the shogunate and received a compensation of 100,000 pounds.

At that time, the British themselves, including Yokohama Governor Vais, were dissatisfied with the delay and believed that more aggressive retaliation should be taken, and they even immediately took military action in Yokohama.

But Neil suppressed all these opinions - even though he yelled at the shogunate, he was actually a moderate inside.

Next, he took the warship to Kagoshima, but the negotiations with the Shimadzu family did not go well.

When the battle finally started, it turned out to be a bad deal. Even the captain of the flagship was injured. In the end, the British retreated without victory.

Afterwards, the Mi people reported gloating about the misfortune:

"Through this war, Westerners should learn that they should not underestimate Fuso.

They are brave and adept at Western weapons and tactics, making them difficult to surrender.

Even though Yingji was coming fiercely, it could not defeat Fusang's bravery."

More importantly, the British public opinion is not on Neil's side:

"Since we have received huge compensation, why bother.

What's more important is that we haven't won yet.

What the hell kind of operation is this?"

In fact, Neil was also wronged. At that time, he entrusted the navy admiral with overall responsibility for the military situation. He was also coerced into starting the war!

Of course, the famous translator Fukuzawa Yukichi also contributed a lot:

It is said that Fukuzawa translated the British request from handing over the "murderer (the person who committed the crime)" to handing over the "primary offender."

But who could be the first offender?

Such a big hat could only belong to the person with the highest status in the Satsuma clan at that time, namely Shimazu Hisamitsu.

And Hisamitsu is the feudal lord's biological father, and he also controls the power within the feudal clan. How can he hand him over?!

Therefore, the two sides finally broke down and had to fight.

As for whether Fukuzawa Yukichi did it on purpose or not, this is an eternal mystery.

Because of these nonsense, when Ali returned to Fuso, Neil had no choice but to leave.

Nowadays, with Naohsiu's little hands, Neil's ending is naturally very different:

The wheat incident never happened, so Neil had no chance to delay, and thus did not arouse general dissatisfaction among his subordinates;

Although the Shimonoseki incident happened, Brian was instigated by Naohide, so Brian rushed to help.

Brian gives Neil some advice:

"The minister to China, Sir Sir Bruce, wrote in his reply, 'Be careful not to let the sun never set on the majesty of the empire.' This is a good thing.

This tough tone is not asking you to use strong methods, but it is a clear expression of support for you!"

Neil nodded and said what I thought.

He was full of complaints, but thinking about the throne of Yokohama Governor, Brian held back.

He then gave Neil an analysis:

What kind of year is this? This must be dealt with resolutely and decisively. No matter what, it cannot be delayed any longer!

It turned out that in 1763, at the end of the Seven Years' War, England seized two important lands from France - Quebec in northern America and Tianzhu, the future pearl of the British empire.

From then on, England began to call itself the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets."

And this year is 1863, which is the centenary anniversary, so the Shimonoseki bombardment incident must be completed as soon as possible - this is a tribute, do you understand?

Of course, if we count the days, no matter how fast this information is, it will not reach the British mainland this year.

But it's better to be late than never.

Neil said that the baby didn’t say anything but he was very aggrieved:

"I know all this.

But isn’t the mainland currently pursuing the ‘Little England Strategy’? If we adopt a tough stance and push the shogunate into a panic, wouldn’t they be in trouble if they want a big fight?”

"Edo wants to take action?"

Neil shook his head. Oguri Tadashi and others wanted to "reduce big things into small things, and make small things into small things." This attitude is clear.

Brian almost fainted with anger. Mr. Acting Minister, what do you mean?

"You want the negotiations to break down and fight to the end?"

"No, even though the French are clamoring for it, some of our own people are also hoping to take a big bite to get promoted and rich."

At this point, Brian finally figured it out. It turned out that Neil had caught the bear by the tail and was unable to get off the tiger, while he himself was leaning towards a peaceful solution.

Wouldn't this be easy to handle?

Regarding the Buddhists, Brian told Neil a story. After the Battle of Yarrow, the outside world commented on the four countries of Britain, Buddhism, Mi and Lu:

Four people went to rob the orchard. Two of them were stupid and struggled to climb up the fruit trees to pick. The remaining two stood on the ground, letting the wind blow while waiting for the fruits to fall.

When the orchard owner rushed over, the two people on the ground grabbed him and asked him to calm down.

In the end, the orchard owner finally had a fight with the two climbers, but was at a disadvantage. In the end, he had to watch the three robbers walk away after getting the fruit.

"Where's another robber on the loose?" Neil asked.

Because he was greedy, he took the fruit and wanted to rob someone else's house. As a result, he was beaten up by the orchard owner and his original accomplices, and he received very little.

Neil understood immediately when he heard it. Didn't this refer to the Four Kingdoms in the Battle of Yarrow:

Ying and Buddha went to war with China, while Mi and Lu, who remained neutral, were the ones who took advantage of the situation.

Later, the Lu people became greedy and plotted for Chinese land. As a result, they were defeated miserably in the Battle of Aihui in the Far East, which also aroused the vigilance of the British. In the end, under the intervention of the British, apart from commercial interests, the Lu people only received negligible gains.

compensation.

The story is a good one, but what does this have to do with the Xiaguan shelling incident?

Got it, Neil thought about it again, and he understood what Brian meant:

The three countries' bombardment of Xiaguan actually involved four countries: Britain, Buddhism, Mi, and Lan - but Lan was weak and had no warships.

As for this incident, it turned out that the Buddha was picking fruits from the rice tree, while England and the country of Lan were sitting back and enjoying the fruits.

But because of Buddha, Mi did not take advantage, and the British finally took action to settle the matter.

The problem is that the shogunate gave the largest portion of the fruit to England early.
To be continued...