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Volume 4 Leviathan 154 Imperial Security

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    Hearing Balfour's voice, the Marquis of Salisbury stopped. He looked at the clock on the wall and asked: "Very important? Balfour, it's already two o'clock sharp." "I know.  Uncle!" Balfour stepped forward to help the Marquis of Salisbury put on his coat, and said in a low voice: "But this matter is related to the safety of the empire!" The Marquis of Salisbury looked back.  Belfort glanced at him, as if to confirm whether his nephew was exaggerating.  He shrugged his shoulders, sat down on the chair behind the desk again, and sighed: "Belfort, anything that happens in the world now will be related to the safety of the British Empire. The British Empire is really too big, and it fills the world.  We have to go to every corner of the world to protect her interests. " "No, no, no! This is different! It's not a remote island or a barren beach that is threatened, it's our foundation, our feet.  The continent is India. Without India, the British Empire cannot continue to exist! " "India?" When the Marquis of Salisbury heard the word, his eyes changed immediately, and he moved his fat body in his chair.  He moved his body so that he could sit more comfortably: "In that case, Belfort, please tell me!" "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, please take a look." Belfort took out the document just now from his armpit and handed it to Yusuo.  Marquis of Oldsbury: "This is a document sent back by the Governor of Burma. The document says that the Chinese have begun to build a railway from Mandalay to Kunming, and they also plan to build a railway from Kunming to Guilin.  Railway." As Balfour spoke, he turned the map book to the page just now, and he took a red pencil and drew it on the map.  "You see, if the Chinese complete these two railways, they can go from the capital to Guilin along a waterway composed of natural rivers and artificial canals, and then transfer to the railway to Mandalay. This journey can only take two days at most.  Ten days, and controlling Mandalay means controlling the entire central and upper Myanmar. The Chinese can use this as a base to directly threaten India. This is simply a disaster! " "Why is the report coming now?  ? "The Marquis of Salisbury's expression did not change, he just subconsciously stroked his thick beard, but those who knew him well knew that this was a sign of his rage.  "It happened once. Do you remember that Chen Zaixing? He started planning to build this railway as early as 1886 after signing the "Anglo-Burmese Treaty" with us. However, the imperial officials in India did not take him too seriously at that time.  , because they believe that the Chinese are unlikely to spend a lot of money and manpower to build a railway in such a remote place when there are still many places in the mainland where railways have not been built. After all, Yunnan is a very remote province even for the Chinese.  ! " "Their duty is not to predict whether the Chinese will build it, but to tell London the known information so that we can make a judgment. Now it seems that their prediction is wrong!" The Marquis of Salisbury!  The voice became excited. As the Prime Minister of the British Empire, he certainly knew the importance of India to the empire.  India is not only the most important source of raw materials and product sales market for the empire, but also the most abundant source of human resources. Without the constant flow of cheap human resources from the Indian subcontinent, the British Empire would be unable to rely on the limited human resources in the empire and several autonomous territories.  The Empire was unable to stand up to the constant challenge of numerous enemies on the European continent and elsewhere around the globe.  Balfour did not speak. He knew in his heart that the political future of the colonial official named Gillings was over. The Marquis of Salisbury would never allow his subordinates who made such a big mistake not to pay the price.  Although I once had a crush on him, work is work, and no one in his position would tolerate such a mistake.  "Do you think it is possible to save this situation? For example, let the Chinese stop building this railway?" asked the Marquess of Salisbury.  "You can try, but the possibility of success is low!" Balfour replied: "After all, it is too late, and the Chinese have firmly controlled most of Myanmar. Unless we launch a full-scale war, otherwise  The invasion of Burma will make the Chinese speed up the construction of the railway! " "You are right, Balfour!" The Marquis of Salisbury shook his head: "Only a full-scale war can solve the problem, but we cannot launch this now!  At least we can't start this war alone. There are too many enemies of the empire!" At this point, the voice of the Marquis of Salisbury became deeper. He had been fighting for the British Empire for more than 20 years.  The lion also showed a hint of old age at this time.  "If you can't stop the Chinese from completing the railway, the only way is to stop them from going south!" Balfour whispered: "Chen Zaixing is not the emperor of the Shun Empire, nor is he the prime minister. The resources and financial resources of the Shun Empire are also limited.  ?"¡ª¡ª" "You mean to change the direction of this eastern dragon?"  " "Yes, historically speaking, the most powerful enemies of the Chinese people have always been the Tatars on the grasslands, so the most powerful army of the Chinese Empire has always been on the long Great Wall in the north!  But the emergence of modern firearms changed everything.  Muskets and artillery with bayonets completely ended the military advantage that horse-mounted archers had brought to the Tatars for thousands of years. In a sense, the Shun Empire in the past hundred years was the most powerful weapon in East Asia for thousands of years.  The most powerful empire on the continent, because he no longer needs to spend his main energy on defending against powerful enemies in the north!  " "You are right. If it were not for our arrival, sooner or later the Chinese would have conquered Japan, North Korea, the entire Indochina Peninsula, and the islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.  The emergence of new technologies has made those geographical barriers in the past no longer an insurmountable difficulty, and modern military equipment is inseparable from huge manpower and wealth, and the Chinese are not lacking in both. When I think about them there are 400 million  People who almost belong to the same ethnic group and believe in the same religion, I think it is a nightmare!  "The Marquis of Salisbury showed a frustrated expression on his face. "Indeed, the Chinese will be able to do this sooner or later, if we don't exist!  Balfour smiled and said: "Uncle, I remember you mentioned in a letter to me in the past that the secret of the success of the British Empire is to control the oceans and important islands, peninsulas, straits, and estuaries of important rivers.  The mainland and the colonies are closely connected, and the inland areas are not contested. This can reduce the consumption of manpower and material resources, and it is easier to gain allies in diplomacy.  More importantly, the cost of land transportation is much higher than that of sea transportation. As long as the ocean is controlled, the throat of the inland empire will be strangled.  However, I think that with the advancement of railways, the situation has changed. Only empires that control the heart of the Eurasian continent can control mainland islands, and empires that control mainland islands can control the world.  "The Marquis of Salisbury keenly heard the implication of Balfour's words. He tapped the table twice with his knuckles and asked: "You mean Russia?  " "Yes, dear uncle, the construction of the Russian Far East Railway will not fail to arouse the vigilance of the Chinese. The Tatars' backward technology and lifestyle cannot maintain a standing army that can threaten their northern border defense.  But the Russians can. If the long distance in the past made these two giant beasts feel safe, the emergence of railways has shortened the distance between the two.  The beasts will rush together.  " "Okay, this is a good idea, but the gunpowder magazine still needs a primer.  The Marquis of Salisbury looked at the clock on the wall and stood up unsteadily: "The time is coming. By the way, are you familiar with the Russian Minister?"  " "Are you talking about the gentleman who just went out?  "Belfort smiled: "I just invited him to go to the Royal Opera House to listen to Verdi next Tuesday.  "The Marquis of Salisbury stopped, with a surprised expression on his face. Gradually his expression turned into a smile: "Belfort, you are always so smart. I really don't know how old I am without you.  What should a guy do!  "The Marquis of Salisbury shook his head with emotion and patted Balfour gently on the shoulder. "Don't say that, uncle, at least before I entered the political arena, you had already fought enough with the gentlemen in the House of Commons.  Almost thirty years and you¡¯re still fighting!  " Hearing Balfour's compliment, the Marquis of Salisbury laughed happily. As a politician who has been in the political arena for many years, he did not have a good impression of his colleagues in the House of Commons. In a sense,  He said that they were his eternal enemies, the Marquess of Salisbury, no matter what he did on stage, these opposition MPs with big bellies and three-piece suits would respond with sharp sarcasm and vicious attacks.  , Thinking of this, the Marquis of Salisbury felt resentful. ¡°Well, let us meet the challenge of the gentlemen in the House of Commons. Whether it is the Russians, the Chinese, or the Liberals in the House of Commons, we must defeat them!  "Speaking of this, the Marquis of Salisbury waved his arm fiercely. March 1892, Youzhoufu Railway Station. With a high-pitched whistle, the train slowly drove into the platform. Youzhou in April was still  It was just the early spring season, and when the air flow from the chimney encountered the cold morning breeze, it immediately showed a puff of white smoke. This was the result of the hot steam trying to condense into small water droplets when encountering low temperatures.  When he walked out of the carriage, small drops of water fell down from the collar of his coat, as if a drizzle had fallen, which made him shiver. Thank you Captain Zeon, 150338371, and qpiqpi for the tip!
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