At this moment, the Prime Minister of Geely, the Marquess of Salisbury, walked into the conference room from outside the door. Seeing the arrival of the Prime Minister, the cabinet ministers present immediately stopped whispering and spoke seriously, waiting for the Prime Minister to express his position.
The Marquis of Salisbury came to the center of the conference room as usual, then pulled out a chair, sat on it casually, put the documents in his hands in front of him, and finally said: "This time, everyone is summoned.
I came here because I have a matter related to the future of Geely Country, and I want to discuss it with everyone."
When the Prime Minister said this, he looked down and saw that the cabinet ministers below were all very surprised.
The Prime Minister saw their expressions and understood. In their hearts, everyone believed that the Geely Kingdom was now at the peak of its strength, and it was up to them to decide what matters related to the future.
The Marquis of Salisbury sighed, and then said: "I have two pieces of news to inform you before the discussion."
"First, our expedition fleet of the Kyrgyzstan was defeated by the Nanyang Navy of the Qing Dynasty in the Indian Ocean. Now the navy has lost more than half of its fleet, and it no longer has the ability to unite Liu Hai to compete in the Indian Ocean and East Asia."
After the Prime Minister said these words, the cabinet ministers present below were in an uproar. They did not expect that such a powerful fleet would be defeated.
At this time, the Minister of the Interior stood up and asked: "What happened? We lost more than half of such a powerful fleet. Is it because the intelligence was inaccurate? The enemy did not have four behemoths, but a large number of them.
many?"
When the Prime Minister heard this, he looked at the Navy Minister next to him, which meant that you should answer this question.
Lord Hamilton, the Lord Admiralty, could only stand up helplessly and said: "Let me explain this matter to everyone."
Lord Hamilton took a sip of tea and then said: "In this naval battle, the opponent adopted unexpected tactics. It seemed like a cannon that could attack us from a long distance, with a range of more than 50 miles. Therefore, our fleet
Before I even met the other party, I suffered a devastating blow."
The reason why the Geely people say it is an ultra-long-range cannon is because they still have not understood what Liu Hai fired, and why it can accurately hit their own fleet dozens of kilometers away?
Therefore, they relied on their imagination and thought it was a cannon with an extremely long range.
After hearing these words, the other ministers present had completely incredulous expressions.
Especially Army Secretary Chris Tomlin, who immediately slammed the table and stood up when he heard this, "Are you kidding me here? Unless the other party discovers new laws of physics, it will be impossible with current technology.
Launch the cannonball 50 miles away."
Lord Hamilton felt a little embarrassed when he heard this. After all, if Marshal Richard Meade hadn't repeatedly emphasized this in the telegram, even he wouldn't have believed it.
So Lord Hamilton could only say: "We have not yet conducted a specific investigation on this matter, but this news was emphasized repeatedly in telegrams sent by Marshal Richard Meade. I think it is impossible to talk nonsense with the prestige of the Marshal."
language."
After arriving here, Chris Tomlin, the Secretary of Army, stopped talking. Although the Army had some complaints about the Navy occupying so much military spending, he also knew the marshal's prestige in the Geely Kingdom. He would never talk nonsense.
.
Lord Hamill saw that the Secretary of War had stopped talking, so he continued what he just said: "Due to the heavy losses of the expedition fleet, it can no longer maintain its presence in the Indian Ocean. In turn, the marshal has pulled the fleet to Darwin Port in Australia."
After Hamilton finished speaking, he shrugged, sat in his seat, and said no more.
At this time, the Marquis of Salisbury continued: "The second news is closely related to the previous one. Since we have lost sea control in the Indian Ocean, the Asan Kingdom has now been blocked by the Nanyang Navy."
When the Prime Minister finished these words, the ministers below could no longer sit still. If they could still accept the defeat of the Geely Kingdom fleet, the blockade of the Asan Kingdom was a bolt from the blue for these people.
Because the interests of the Asan Kingdom are so great, it affects the entire aristocratic level of the British government.
The Marquis of Salisbury watched the people below making a fuss. He coughed hurriedly and then said: "Everyone, be quiet. Now is not the time to shirk responsibility. Now we should think about how to get through this difficulty.
"
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, of course we know we have to overcome the difficulties, but the impact of this incident is really too great, and we will definitely be attacked by both the government and the opposition." The person who said this was the Privy Council Minister.
At this time, Foreign Secretary Ralph Seseron said: "Since the war can no longer go on, we can only strive for greater interests for the Geely Kingdom at the negotiation table."
The Marquis of Salisbury nodded when he heard this. This was exactly what he was thinking. In East Asia now, although the Gili Kingdom still has large colonies, they are almost within the attack range of the Nanyang Navy. It seems that
It can't be saved.
However, compared to these barren colonies, the Asan Kingdom is the key to the Geely Kingdom. As long as the security of the Asan Kingdom is guaranteed, it will not be a big deal for the Geely Kingdom.
"Okay, Ralph, you have experience in this area. How do you think our Geely Kingdom should end this war with dignity?"
Ralph Sethron sat there and thought for a while, and finally said helplessly: "Due to the military failure, we will also be passive in diplomacy, so if we negotiate with the other party, we may have to give up some benefits.
I wonder where the Prime Minister’s bottom line is for this negotiation?”
The Marquis of Salisbury sighed, and then said: "The Asan Kingdom must be preserved no matter what. As for Malaysia occupied by the Nanyang Navy, it can be ceded to Liu Hai, while other colonies in East Asia must be preserved as much as possible.
"
After hearing this, Ralph Sethron thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "If that's the case, I think the negotiation should be able to continue. Because Liu Hai now has a lot of business dealings with us, and he also
I don’t want to continue to make things difficult.”
When the Marquis of Salisbury heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, "What business does bangs have in our country? Why didn't I hear about it?"
The colonial secretary on the side hurriedly explained: "The panacea now on the market is the product of bangs."
After hearing this, the Marquis of Salisbury said directly: "From now on, no panacea will be allowed to appear on the market within the control of the Gili Kingdom."
Little did he know that the Prime Minister had just finished speaking and often encountered objections from other cabinet ministers.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, this is completely unfeasible. Do you know how many patients there are in Geely right now, waiting for a panacea to save their lives?"
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, many nobles in the Geely Kingdom are also involved in the sale of panacea. I don't know how many people will be offended by this ban."
The Marquess of Salisbury was a little surprised when he heard the overwhelming opposition from other cabinet members. He did not expect that just banning a drug from circulating on the market would produce such a big reaction.
Because he knows that behind each of these cabinet members are large financial groups and forces. If they themselves oppose this matter, he may not be qualified to fight against them.
Although the Prime Minister is ready to compromise, he still needs to know more clearly what happened.
"Is this panacea really so effective?" the Marquess of Salisbury asked doubtfully.
Although the Marquess of Salisbury had heard of the reputation of the Panacea, he no longer believed in this medicine after he learned that the Panacea was produced by people from the Qing Dynasty.
Upon hearing the Prime Minister's inquiry, the Minister of Culture hurriedly said: "We don't know what the preparation method of the panacea is yet, but our long-term experiments have proven that it can treat almost all current diseases."
As soon as the Minister of Culture finished speaking, the Privy Council Minister added to him, "Now many aristocratic old guys in the country are waiting for this medicine to save their lives. If we dare to ban the circulation of this medicine, those old guys will dare to fight with us.
Fight hard.”
When the Prime Minister heard this, he finally understood why the cabinet ministers below him were desperately opposing it.
If the nobles of the Geely Kingdom can temporarily tolerate the loss of some money, but when it comes to life, those nobles will not compromise at all.
Even if you issue an order to ban the circulation of panacea on the first day, you may die at home on the second day, and then on the third day they will re-elect a prime minister who does not prohibit the circulation of panacea.
So the Prime Minister had no choice but to compromise, "Okay, then just pretend I didn't say anything about it."
The other ministers were relieved to hear that the Prime Minister had compromised. They did not want to cause chaos within the government at this juncture.
The Marquis of Salisbury had just been embarrassed, and now he did not want to continue talking on this topic, so he immediately changed the topic, "Since we are ready to resolve this dispute through diplomacy, who do you think is suitable to send?"
Foreign Secretary Ralph Sesserone naturally spoke out without hesitation in this area of expertise.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I think the most important thing for us now is to solve the problem of the blockade of the Asan Kingdom. However, it would take too long to send diplomats from the mainland. And I think the current minister to the Qing Dynasty, Sir Dou Nale, is a
These very capable people, together with our Chief Tax Secretary Hurd who is stationed in the Qing Dynasty, are enough to handle this diplomatic crisis."
The Marquess of Salisbury looked at the Foreign Secretary and immediately understood what he meant.
The foreign minister wants this matter to end as soon as possible, so that the three countries can resume normal trade. As for the interests in East Asia, I am afraid they are not in the hearts of these people.