Faced with Prince Albert's sudden question, Victor Umberto swallowed the opening remarks that were about to come out.
Victor Umberto, whose rhythm was forcibly disrupted, could not help but feel panicked.
What's more, this is the first time Victor Umberto has faced a foreign monarch. Before this, he had never met a monarch other than Victor Emmanuel II.
Thinking that his words and deeds were likely to affect the relationship between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of Britain (actually it was just Victor Umberto overthinking), this panic quickly turned into tension.
Victor Umberto couldn't help but shed a few drops of sweat on his forehead. His hands, which were originally hanging casually, now didn't know where to put them.
"Your Majesty... my name is Victor Umberto... I am... honored... to receive the invitation from you and Your Majesty Victoria..." Victor Umberto stammered in response to Prince Albert, with an expression like
A student whose homework was randomly checked by the teacher.
When Victor Umberto finished saying this, he wanted to slap himself in the face for why he stuttered at this most critical time!
It is undoubtedly a disrespectful behavior to speak unclearly in front of the monarch.
Albert, who stood opposite Victor Umberto, had a kind look in his eyes. He was not angry at Victor Umberto's "rude" answer, but instead felt a trace of pity for Victor Umberto.
This poor child was the same age as his Alfred (Albert's second son, born in 1844), but he was able to shoulder the task of replacing his father on a mission to the Kingdom of Britain.
On the other hand, his eldest son, Albert Edward, although he is almost reaching adulthood, his behavior is not at all like an adult.
Not only was Edward unable to share state affairs with Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, but Albert also needed to worry about Edward's studies.
In order to provide Edward with a good learning atmosphere, Prince Albert had to sacrifice his face to "plead" Oxford University to accept Edward.
If Edward had not been a member of the royal family, his grades would not have allowed him to enter Oxford University.
Alas! I hope Edward can be infected by the atmosphere at Oxford University and successfully complete his studies.
After Prince Albert silently compared Victor Umberto with his own sons, he had to admit that Victor Umberto did better than several of his sons at this age.
In order to make Victor Umberto relax, Prince Albert said to Victor Umberto in a friendly tone, "Victor, can I call you this!"
"Of course!" Victor Umberto was silently relieved when he heard that Prince Albert did not blame himself.
Later, at the invitation of Prince Albert, Victor Umberto and Cavour were invited to sit on the sofa.
The Alberts began to chat with Victor Umberto. Albert talked about Victor Umberto's studies and emotions. Victor Umberto answered Prince Albert's questions one by one.
Question, the originally tense heart gradually began to relax.
The whole meeting was not like a friendship between monarchs, but like a heart-to-heart talk between a father and his son.
Cavour, who was sitting aside, couldn't help but smile when he saw such a harmonious scenery. Visiting Windsor Castle in the name of Crown Prince Victor Umberto was indeed the right choice.
In order to make the conversation between Prince Albert and Victor Umberto not limited to family gossip, Cavour also inserted a witty remark at the appropriate time, and at the same time, the topic gradually expanded from family gossip to the political field.
The atmosphere of the entire meeting gradually began to heat up. After the two parties exchanged pleasantries for a while, Cavour decided to take over the topic completely.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty!" Cavour said congratulations to Prince Albert.
"Mr. Cavour, what congratulations do you have?" Prince Albert looked at Cavour in confusion.
"Your Majesty, when I arrived in London, I heard that your country has helped the princes of India to suppress the riots in India and maintain the unity and stability of India, so I would like to congratulate Your Majesty!" Cavour said to Al with a particularly humble attitude.
Prince Bert responded.
On April 17, 1859, the last large-scale rebel army in India was wiped out by the British.
The all-India uprising that lasted for nearly three years came to an end with the joint strangulation of Britain and the Indian princes.
Although there are still scattered guerrilla forces in India today, they are no longer able to pose any threat to British rule.
However, because India itself is too far away from the British mainland.
The news that all the Indian uprisings had been put down took less than half a year to travel across the ocean before reaching the Kingdom of Britain.
[Actually, there is a faster way, which is to pass the news from India to the Ottoman Empire, and then from the Ottoman Empire to Britain
However, because this is the military intelligence of the British Kingdom.
For the sake of confidentiality, Britain did not choose this method. Instead, it chose warships to set off from the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope, and then arrive in Britain from the Cape of Good Hope.
It took me half a year to go back and forth.】
Prince Albert naturally understood that Cavour's purpose was not to really congratulate the Kingdom of Britain. He must have taken this matter further, but Albert did not know in what direction Cavour would take the topic.
.
"This all depends on the cooperation of the princes and the British generals!" Prince Albert said to Cavour in a brisk tone.
"However, I heard that the Indian uprising was put down on April 26th. Is this true?" Cavour asked Albert with a curious expression.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Of course!" Prince Albert replied.
"I didn't expect that it would take such a long time to get from India to the Kingdom of Britain!" Cavour responded to Albert with a face full of emotion.
"To reach Britain from India, you have to cross the Indian Ocean and go around the entire Africa. The journey is of course quite long!" Prince Albert explained to Cavour.
“I heard that the Suez Canal, led by the French Empire, is already halfway started!
If the Suez Canal can be fully navigable, then the British fleet will not need to go all the way around Africa!" Cavour looked happy, and at this moment he seemed really happy for Britain's future.
Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, who were sitting at one end of the sofa, said nothing. They already understood Cavour's subtext.
The navigation of the Suez Canal will indeed bring convenience to the British Kingdom, and the British Kingdom does have a part of the Suez Canal stock (the French Empire transferred it to the British Kingdom).
However, the dominance of the Suez Canal has been firmly held by the French Empire from beginning to end, and the shares owned by Britain were nothing more than bait for the French Empire to appease the British Kingdom.
According to the intelligence obtained by Prince Albert, the entire land on both sides of the Suez Canal has been completely controlled by the French Company.
In order to protect their land from damage, these companies that control the land on both sides of the Suez Canal, the French Company, uniformly invited the security company affiliated to Norinco.
The security company dispatched more than 4,000 security forces (nearly two regiments) to maintain public security on both sides of the Suez Canal. Most of these security forces are retired soldiers who have retired from the French army. The commanders responsible for commanding the security forces have all retired from the army.
"Commander.
And the weapons they hold are all France's most advanced "Mine guns."
Anyone with a discerning eye knows that this so-called security force is a group of regular French troops dressed in security garb, and behind the Northern Group is naturally the French Emperor who is not too big a deal to watch the excitement.
Although the British diplomatic ambassador repeatedly protested against the security forces to the Egyptian Governor Said and suggested that Said expel the security forces from Egypt, Said always shied away with various reasons.
After all, the Suez Canal, which is protected by two regiments of troops, has not seen a single protest strike since its construction began.
Whenever Egyptian workers want to go on strike, the security forces will always expel the strikers immediately.
With these French security personnel, Said has a lot of peace of mind. At the same time, the difficulty for Britain to target the Suez Canal has also skyrocketed.
In view of the various behaviors of the French Empire, Prince Albert concluded that the French Empire would never hand over dominance of the Suez Canal unless it was absolutely necessary.
Britain has not felt for a long time that its lifeline is in the hands of another country.
Therefore, the Suez Canal was like a thorn stuck deep in the throat of the British Kingdom.
Of course, it is not that no one has thought of using war to seize the rights to the Suez Canal.
However, there is no politician in the whole of Britain who can make up his mind to fight for a country like the French Empire.
As the victor of the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Britain is still repaying the interest on bonds issued during the Napoleonic Wars. What's more, the situation in Europe today is completely different from that of the Napoleonic Wars. No country is determined to fight the French Empire to the death.
This meant that the British Kingdom could not find an ally of sufficient weight to share the risk with him.
A trade blockade can damage a country's economy, but it cannot completely destroy it.
In conclusion, the current British Kingdom has a love-hate relationship with the Suez Canal.
“The Suez Canal is indeed a thing to rejoice in!”
Albert spoke calmly, knowing that he could not be led by Cavour, otherwise he would easily fall into Cavour's rhythm.