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Volume 1: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 690: Who is lying?

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    In the reception room of Buckingham Palace, just after the Queen finished speaking, Foreign Minister John Russell coughed slightly awkwardly and said: "Your Majesty, we are currently competing with France for controlling rights to the Suez Canal, and Napoleon III.  Although unity in the Far East can be temporarily maintained regarding the assassination of His Majesty, it may not be easy for His Majesty Napoleon III to agree to launch another joint expedition. ¡üAs for Russia, in recent years we have tried our best to contain the double-headed eagle, and the ink of the Paris Peace Conference has not yet dried.  , it may be very difficult to unite Russia to launch a war in the Far East."

    In fact, Britain and France have been fighting over the control of the Suez Canal Company since 1857, and it is now at an intense stage. At the same time, in 1858, an Italian named Orsini dropped a bomb on Napoleon III. At that time, Bama was discovered.  Palmerston had contact with Italian refugees in London, and discovered that the explosives used in the bomb were made in Britain. Affected by this incident, Palmerston even resigned as prime minister for a year.  Therefore, the French and the British did a lot of dirty things behind the scenes. Although they can still maintain a certain cooperative relationship in the Far East, the relationship between the two countries is far less close than when they launched the expedition.

    Not to mention Russia. After the Crimean War, Britain has always regarded Russia as its number one potential enemy. Whether in the West or the Far East, its policy towards Russia is to contain it. This policy has been continued in later generations.  , Britain even supported Japan as an agent to contain Russia in the Far East, so it was even more difficult to cooperate with Russia.

    Queen Victoria smiled slightly and said slowly: "You are all outstanding politicians who have experienced a lot. You should understand that interests come first in political affairs. Indeed, we have irreconcilable conflicts with the French and Russians on many matters.  But in the Far East we can reach a consensus of interests!"

    Prime Minister Palmerston pondered for a moment.  Very much in favor of the Queen's novel proposal, he added: "Gentlemen, Her Majesty the Queen is right. In the Western world, we do have many conflicts of interest with the French and Russians, but in the Far East, our current situation  The interests have been harmed, and it can be said that the temporary interests of the Far East are the same."

    War Secretary Sydney Herbert also agreed: "Since Mr. Witoma has described in detail the current strength of the Taiping Rebellion, they can mobilize huge forces, then our expeditionary force needs equally powerful Russians and French as  Supplement, so that we can ensure the advantage on land.¡±

    Foreign Minister Russell said with some worry: "But if the Russians join, once their power develops in the Far East, it will be difficult for us to contain it."

    Her Majesty the Queen looked at many ministers and said: "Previously, our idea was to support the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as an agent to contain Russia in the Far East. However, it turns out that the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not an easy to control figure. He has separated from the country he established.  Their declaration of war on our British Empire is the best example. Now, it is not the Russians who are harming the interests of our British Empire in the Far East, but the Taiping Rebellion. We must first solve this problem. And then consider taking over  How to contain the Russians, maybe rebuilding a country is also a good choice."

    Palmerston nodded and said: "I agree with Her Majesty the Queen's opinion. Launching an expeditionary force for revenge requires the strength of Russia and France. The last expedition has mobilized too many troops from India. It is difficult for us to complete the formation of the expeditionary force alone. As for Russia  As for human expansion in the Far East, we will have another choice after we completely surrender the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a country that is too big and has too many people, so it is not a good choice."

    Finally, Her Majesty the Queen said very seriously: "Gentlemen, please remember my words and obtain permission to go to war. The fundamental problem is not public opinion or parliament, but the feasibility of the facts. If you cannot negotiate with the French and Russians,  If everyone reaches a consensus, even I will not agree to launch another expedition!"

    After this brief meeting at Buckingham Palace, Palmerston and others immediately took action. Foreign Minister Russell summoned the French and Russian ministers to the United Kingdom, and at the same time issued instructions to the members of the British mission in France and Russia. The purpose was to hope that  Can start negotiations with France and Russia to jointly launch an expedition to the Far East.

    On the other side, Palmerston and others began to actively prepare for inquiries and parliamentary debates in the two houses. There was nothing they could do about it. For a country under a system like the United Kingdom, democratic debates and decision-making were indispensable, so the lengthy  And the arduous questioning and debate between the two houses began.

    On the third day after Wytoma returned to the UK, he told all the representatives of the two houses of parliament the details of the entire incident. The opposition parties asked in particular detail because the main force of the British and French coalition forces was involved in the last expedition.  The goal was to attack the Manchu Qing government, but why the Taiping Rebellion declared war on Britain and France in the end is indeed something that seems nonsensical to outsiders.

    ?????????????????During the inquiry, Waitomar was quite vague about the cause of the war. He went against his will and followed the narrative prepared by Palmerston for him. Therefore, the reason why the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom launched the war was described as a group of ignorant and barbaric people.  In order to snatch the interests of the British Empire, they launched a sneak attack war. The Battle of Beijing and Tianjin was even described as an undeclared war.

    But just one day after Wade concluded the inquiry in both houses, the British newspaper media revealed surprising news. The Times published a long commentary titled "Who is Lying" on its front page the next day.  In this news review, The Times revealed the real reason why the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom declared war with Britain and France. That was that when Sir Elgin from the Far East came to Beijing, he cooperated with a Qing rebel army without authorization and even established a new Manchu Qing government.  The banner led the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to regard it as a signal for British and French force to intervene in their civil war with the Manchus, so they laid the groundwork for the outbreak of war.

    At the same time, The Times also revealed in detail several points in time when the war broke out, from when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom completed the siege of Beijing, to the negotiations with Britain and France in Tongzhou, making the last effort for peace, to the time when war was declared and who first broke out.  The first shot was fired by the British reconnaissance team, and the detailed process was explained clearly.  Finally, The Times directly pointed out that someone manipulated the envoys returning from the Far East to lie in their statements to the two houses of Congress, directly deceiving the citizens of the entire British Empire!

    The news from The Times is nothing short of a bombshell.  It further ignited the dissatisfaction of the families of soldiers who participated in the war, and it continues to this day.  They still couldn't get any specific information about their relatives, and the answer given by Weituma was that almost the entire army was annihilated.  Some died in the battle and some were captured, but Wittoma has no answer as to which ones died in the battle and which ones were captured.  So these family members and many British people launched a larger anti-war demonstration. One of their representatives delivered an impassioned speech during the demonstration: "Until now, the British are still trying to calm down the Crimean War.  At the expense of tens of thousands of soldiers, many girls in the convent chose to become nuns because they did not have suitable husbands. But now, the Palmerston cabinet once again acted as executioners. They allowed 18,000 British young men to stay in the Far East,  Life and death are unknown, and how many families are torn apart because of this? What we need is not another revenge and war, we need the children to go home!"

    At the same time, the marchers also loudly scolded Elgin and Vetomar, saying that one of them was a thoughtless person and the other was a despicable liar. Some even shouted excitedly that they should be put on trial.  Extreme language.

    Amid accusations and abuse, Waitoma¡¯s body was found in his apartment a few days later.  He committed suicide by swallowing a large amount of opium. Before he died, he left a suicide note in which he explained that he could not bear the condemnation of his conscience and admitted that he had lied to both houses of parliament.  He also specified in his suicide note that when he returned, he brought many letters from compatriots from all walks of life in the Far East. Some of the letters that were unfavorable to the current cabinet were directly withheld by the cabinet without being published.

    Wade's suicide note was the second bomb.  The Palmerston cabinet government was directly reviled by the people as a shameless thief who betrayed the United Kingdom. A large number of people gathered in Downing Street and other places for demonstrations every day.  Demand that Palmerston and his cabinet step down immediately.

    The evolution of the matter caught Palmerston and others a little unprepared, after the Times broke the news.  They also investigated this incident, but they found that The Times and many newspapers and media had received similar information, and it seemed that there was an invisible hand manipulating the matter behind the scenes.  Next, Witoma's suicide became even more suspicious, because the police could not find the source of the opium used by Witoma to commit suicide, and the handwriting of the suicide note was also quite suspicious. It seemed that all of this was deliberately done by someone behind the scenes.

    While Palmerston was still ordering his men to continue investigating the two incidents, the House of Representatives first began to question the Palmerston cabinet.  During the debate in the House of Lords, the opposition party sharply scolded Palmerston: "This old liar has finally achieved the big goal that his shameless ambition has been pursuing for a long time. He was so happy that he privately ordered Elgin to do the stupid thing of intervening in the civil war in the Far East. As a result,  It led to an irreversible situation!¡±

    At the same time, the Tory leader, the Earl of Derby (this guy was originally a Whig, later became a Tory, and became the leader of the Tory party and served three times in 1852, 1858-1859, and 1866-1868).  (who became British Prime Minister) proposed a motion in the House of Lords, condemning government officials in China for using force and intervening in the civil war without authorization. Known for his eloquence, he targeted Elgin. He said: "Sir Elgin seems to have  Forgetting his original intention and duty, he fancied that he could support another Manchu government to control northern China, which directly led to the outbreak of the war. His stupidity and ignorance caused a fatal blow to British trade in China.  ¡­¡±

    Gray of the Tory Party said: "Gentlemen, you are taking a risk. You must know that the supply of tea cannot be cut off. This thing is our daily necessities and the main source of national income. WeIt was proposed that Sir Elgin should be recalled immediately.  John Russell of the Tory Party even mentioned justice, humanity and conscience, and believed that Elgin's direct use of force to intervene in other countries' civil wars was not very legal. He said: "I am ashamed of my country."  I think our current government has gone too far and tied themselves to the clutches of hubris when dealing with a country that fully recognizes international law.  "

    While the House of Lords denounced Palmerston's cabinet and Elgin, the House of Commons was doing the same thing.  Elgin's old friend Cobden submitted his case of denunciation and announced his break with this "friend of twenty years."  He believed that the Beijing-Tianjin incident was too bad, and Elgin made serious mistakes in handling this matter. In other words, from the beginning, the domestic order Elgin received was to directly intervene in the civil war in the Far East with force!

    The domestic chaos in the UK is unfolding one after another in a dizzying manner. The advantage of democracy is that it can fully express everyone's opinions, but the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, it takes a long time to decide on a matter. Therefore, time  Just spend it slowly in the lengthy debate and questioning (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!
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