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Volume One: Fierce Battle in Changsha Chapter 692: Voting Results

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    The Tsar's trying attitude surprised many domestic ministers. Many ministers even privately believed that the Tsar was doing this because of his first love, Queen Victoria.  ¡ñ¡Ð

    But in the end, Prince Gorchakov¡¯s words dispelled everyone¡¯s doubts. Prince Gorchakov believed that cooperation with Britain and France at this time has several advantages. One of them is that it can ease the conflict with Britain and France, and by agreeing to jointly send troops, to  Russia in exchange for some economic and trade benefits; the second is to be able to teach the Taiping Army, which has always been at odds with Russia. Muraviev returned to the country to report on his duties a year ago but failed to get a single soldier to go to the Far East. This time  The Tsar generously sent the only reserve force he could use to the Far East. This shows that the Tsar saw an opportunity. He hoped to use the great advantage of the British and French forces to get back what he had lost in the Far East; thirdly, if the Far East War could be victorious  , then Russia will begin to expand eastward, and at the same time the victorious countries will get a lot of benefits. The east is rich, and by then even war reparations will be able to fill the empty Russian treasury again.

    The benefits of sending troops were magnified and exaggerated by Prince Gorchakov. Russian ministers began to prepare for negotiations with Britain and France. Their bargaining chip was the 30,000 Cossack cavalry they could dispatch. Although the number of troops was not large, the bravery and fierceness of the Cossack cavalry would defeat them.  The Taiping Army in the Far East was a great shock, especially in the vast and sparsely populated Northeastern region.

    The Russians¡¯ enthusiasm for participating in the war was obviously beyond the expectations of the British minister. The minister in Russia immediately reported the news to the country, and then continued to discuss with the Russians the conditions for sending troops and the distribution of post-war benefits.

    Dealing with the Russians was beyond Palmerston's expectation. He originally thought that the Russians would be harder to talk to than the French, but now he has put down this worry.  Sadly, then came disheartening news from France.  The French are not very interested in organizing another expeditionary force. Their current focus is on the war with Austria that just started at the end of last year.

    After entering the 1950s.  The Italian national liberation movement surged again, and the big bourgeoisie and liberal aristocrats attempted to use France to regain the territories occupied by Austria.  to achieve national reunification.  French Emperor Napoleon III used the pretext of "liberating" Italy in an attempt to realize his territorial ambitions.  In June 1858, Sardinian Prime Minister C.B. Cavour and Napoleon III concluded an anti-Austrian military alliance in Prombi¨¨res. France agreed to send troops to assist Sardinia and expel the Austrian forces from Lombardy and Venice, on the condition that Sardinia would conquer Sardinia.  Voy and Nice were ceded to France.  On April 26, 1859, Austria declared war on Sardinia.  On the 29th, about 170,000 Austrian troops (with F. Giullet as commander-in-chief) crossed the Ticino River and entered Piedmont.  Then France declared war on Austria and war broke out.

    Of course, the French Emperor was very dissatisfied with the complete annihilation of the French army in the Far East. When he met with the British Ambassador to France, he cursed, saying that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Far East was a pseudo-clerical country and a country abandoned by God. They took advantage of God's power.  Kindness brings evil into this world, and France will definitely teach them a heavy lesson when the time comes!

    The attitude of the French is very clear. They are indeed not opposed to retaliatory operations and organize an expeditionary force again.  But now is not the time. The war between the French and Austria is still going on. It needs to wait until France ends the war here before it can free up its hands.

    At that time, in addition to the enemy Austria, France also had the rising Prussia to be wary of.  This also gave the French Emperor a headache.  At the same time, France was also very unstable internally. During the Second Empire, French industry developed rapidly.  Fifties to sixties.  Completed the industrial revolution.  Total industrial output has nearly tripled compared to the 1940s, with iron, steel, rails, etc. increasing by 2 to 9 times.  However.  This is not the credit of Napoleon III, but the result of capitalists focusing on personal enrichment.  It is the result of "the bourgeoisie using economic victory to compensate for its political defeat."  In particular, usurious capital grew rapidly, making France later become a usurious country.  By 1866, 14 countries had received loans from French banks.

    The industrial revolution and the reactionary policies of imperialism deepened the domestic class divisions, and the class struggle in France continued to intensify. After achieving considerable economic development, the bourgeoisie were no longer satisfied with the status quo. They hoped to be the masters of the country and dominate France.  regime.  As a result, secret revolutionary organizations emerged one after another, and attempts to assassinate the emperor occurred year after year. Last year, Italians threw bombs at the French Emperor and Queen. This year, an assassination attempt was also uncovered. The Second Empire was in danger of overthrowing at any time.  In order to consolidate the monarchy and keep the crown, Napoleon III repeatedly brought out his uncle's idols, such as encouraging the performance of plays about Napoleon, ordering the selection and publication of 32 volumes of "Napoleon's Letters", and vigorously promoting the worship of Napoleon.  At the same time, he actively launched foreign wars, hoping to divert the attention of domestic opponents, so France and Austria fought for Italy.

    Palmerston was a little surprised by the attitude of the French, but the French needed to wait for the end of the war with Austria. At this point, Palmerston was still? Expressed understanding, but he hoped that the French Emperor could make it clear that he would participate in the Far East operation in the future, so that the British cabinet would have the upper hand in the war debate.

    After several consultations with France, the French Emperor also saw that Austria would find it difficult to persist in the war, and that negotiations may be held soon. France's victory is in sight, and he also needs to find the next target for war as soon as possible.  Originally, if there was no such thing as the Taiping Army, Napoleon III would have prepared Mexico as his next target after the war in Austria was over, but now he had a better choice.

    Therefore, in March 1860, half a year had passed since the Taiping Army declared war with Britain and France. Britain, France and Russia held a seven-day meeting in Paris. Finally, the three countries issued a declaration of joint operations and decided to jointly organize an expeditionary force and launch another  aggressive actions in the Far East.

    Both France and Russia are still countries where the emperor has the final say, and there is no problem in preparing for war. However, France needs to wait for the war in Austria to end, while Russia's Cossack cavalry is already preparing to head to the Far East first. The headache is for Britain. Despite diplomatic efforts,  The Three Kingdoms Expedition was facilitated, but Britain still needed parliamentary approval.

    So, the issue turned back to the UK, and the lengthy parliamentary debate continued, but fortunately the French did not rush it, and the British still had time to complete the procedures they had to complete.

    Before the vote on Prime Minister Palmerston's war proposal, the British people were not idle. Many people spoke at mass meetings against the proposal: Elgin's actions in China were illegal, and they rashly intervened in China's civil war.  Stopped Sino-British trade and killed many innocent people. The new taxes imposed for this purpose were not only imposed on us, but also on the Indian people. Can Cobden and his friends agree to this war?  ?  The crowd shouted: No!  Then someone loudly called out: Elgin¡¯s history of war in the Far East failed. The Prime Minister had forcibly dissolved Parliament before so that the last expedition could be carried out. But now they do not review their mistakes, which caused heavy losses to the UK.  Still going to continue waging war!  This is disrespectful to all British people!  All these things are not good for Palmerston.  Because according to the British rules of the game, only the House of Commons is elected by voters, and the House of Commons must be responsible to the voters; the government must be responsible to the House of Commons.

    If Palmerston loses in the House of Commons, according to the British constitution, the cabinet will lose the support of the House of Commons and will either resign or the Prime Minister will ask the King to dissolve Parliament and hold a new election to ultimately decide whether to retain the cabinet.  The last time Palmerston had already tried to dissolve Parliament, but this time it was different. Even if he forcibly dissolved Parliament, in the next general election, the Whig Party would be unable to obtain a majority and form a government due to a sharp decline in public support.  .  The same method is no longer suitable for use again, so Palmerston's last hope is the Queen of England. He hopes that the Queen can fulfill her promise. Now that France and Russia have made it clear that they will participate in the war, he needs the Queen's support!

    Before the final vote in the House of Commons, the Queen of England appeared in the House of Commons. This broke past practice. Under the astonished eyes of the members of the House of Commons, Queen Victoria delivered a speech to all members: "The interests of the British Empire need to be maintained.  Maintaining such interests cannot be obtained through groveling negotiations. We must accept the enemy's peace prayers as a victor. This is in line with the spirit of our British Empire! (Cheers). Now it is the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who takes the initiative to  We declare war, even if there are various reasons, but it cannot change any outcome. When faced with a declaration of war, as a British. A brave British person should bravely stand up to meet the challenge and have the responsibility to do his best to deal with it.  These acts of violence are retaliation by force in exchange for the promise of peace (another burst of cheers). If we do not agree with measures that we believe are right, we betray the trust of the people in us. If we ourselves are in the same situation,  We will also believe that we have the responsibility to take these measures, which are related to the interests and the dignity of the British Empire. Please do not let the blood of the 18,000 heroic British soldiers flow freely! Don't let future generations because of our current  Shame on the decision! (Cheers from the audience).¡±

    "Thousands of words are said, but the Queen of England only means one thing, and that is: the government has the responsibility to protect its citizens and maintain the dignity of the empire, even if he is in a distant place, otherwise, what will this government do?  In this regard, Marx commented on the third Far East expedition launched by Britain: "No matter how the British people and people around the world are confused by these rhetoric, most people will never believe that his words are true. However,  Faced with the test of national interests and dignity, no one is willing to show a little cowardice in front of the noble Queen!"

    The unprecedented speech delivered by the Queen of England in the House of Commons quickly became a household name. The British people loved the Queen, and her words and deeds were enough to influence their decisions. What else could the people say when faced with such a government and the Queen?  There are only tears, except for voting, they have nothing more to do.

    A few days later, on May 23, the British House of Commons voted to pass the Prime Minister's war proposal. The British war machine began to operate, and they were waiting for the French to prepare for war (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature,  The novel is better and updated faster!
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