diskusbooks Chapter 495: Plan Well 1
Chapter 495: Plan Well 1
Prince Gong said,
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I am about to pay a visit to Her Majesty the Queen. How about you, Prime Minister, convey my message to Her Majesty the Queen?"
John felt disgusted when he saw Prince Gong's cheerful expression, but as a politician, he still had the minimum decency and said,
"I'm willing to do it for you!"
After John left, Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang smiled at each other.
"It seems they don't doubt us too much!"
Li Hongzhang said,
"It's a well-known fact that our navy is weak. Hundreds of people died when encountering pirates. They will believe that we are sending his awesome Royal Navy to the sea to feed the fish!"
John returned to the Prime Minister's residence and called the Secretary of the Navy George and relevant personnel to a meeting.
After much analysis at the meeting, everyone felt that it was impossible for the Daqing Navy to defeat the Royal Navy.
Finally, they had no choice but to report to the Queen in order to shirk responsibility, saying that the sea waves were too strong and the entire fleet might have been sunk in the Indian Ocean.
Prime Minister John went to see Her Majesty the Queen and reported the result to Queen Victoria.
"Your Majesty, until there are new clues, we can only come to this conclusion!"
The Queen had no choice but to accept the result.
"Dear Prime Minister John, this matter has been designated as an unsolved case. As long as there is any clue, the investigation must be reopened!"
John reported Prince Gong's affairs to the Queen again.
"The prince of Daqing is here, let's meet him!"
After receiving the news from John, Prince Gong went to see the king with the letter of credence prepared for him by Yining.
Queen Victoria received Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang at Buckingham Palace.
Prince Gong met with Alexandra Victoria, the British leader.
He was a little nervous at first, but after seeing the Queen's height, he became more and more confident. Is there no one left in Great Britain?
Prime Minister John was not tall, and Queen Victoria was even shorter, at only 1.5 meters tall.
Queen Victoria, who made the British Empire the empire on which the sun never sets, was born in 1819 and is years old this year.
She inherited the throne in 1837 at the age of 18, and her husband was her cousin Prince Albert, whom she had first married and then fallen in love with.
Legend has it that Queen Victoria was strictly disciplined by her mother since childhood and was subject to many restrictions.
After she came to power, she began to let herself go. First, she didn't like to take a bath, and second, she ate a lot, until she became a round ball.
But after a few words, Prince Gong changed his mind about this woman.
No wonder they say concentrated ones are all fine products. Although the Queen is small in stature, she has a strong aura!
When it comes to ability, this woman is definitely remarkable.
In fact, this woman is great for Britain and a disaster for the whole world.
She asked Prince Gong Daqing various questions, such as national income, the Industrial Revolution, etc.
Prince Gong was not prepared at all and could only talk nonsense.
Queen Victoria could tell at a glance that the prince had no understanding of the national economy and people's livelihood, so she lost the desire to continue the conversation.
He was more interested in the more than 100 ships of cargo brought by Prince Gong.
I also heard that Daqing wanted to buy warships, and then I became excited!
After talking for more than an hour, the Queen ended the meeting and held a grand banquet to welcome Prince Gong and his party.
Through this banquet, Prince Gong got to know many influential figures in politics and business.
These people were also very willing to get to know Prince Gong. They wanted to come to Daqing to do business, and having a friendship with Prince Gong would definitely be beneficial.
Even Li Hongzhang, Lu Yaxuan and Qiao Sansheng became popular.
Among them was William Armstrong, the founder of the William Armstrong Shipyard.
He cordially invited Prince Gong to visit his shipyard in Elswick.
Of course Prince Gong agreed readily.
The River Tyne in northeast England runs from west to east across the city of Newcastle.
Going west along the riverside road on the north bank of the River Tyne, you will find Elswick, one of the world's shipbuilding centers.
Armstrong's shipyard is located here.
Today, the entire factory is decorated with lights and flags representing Daqing are planted everywhere to welcome the arrival of Prince Gong of Daqing.
After the welcome speech, Armstrong and some important leaders of the factory led Prince Gong and his party to visit the entire shipyard.
The shipyard is very large, with seven or eight docks. Li Hongzhang discovered a brand new large ironclad ship parked in the water.
There are many people busy on the ship.
This warship is more than 100 meters long and looks majestic and shocking.
Upon inquiry, I found out that this was manufactured for the British Royal Navy and would be delivered soon after outfitting was completed.
This is the most advanced warship in the world today. It is big, fast, has strong firepower, and thick armor. There is only one such ship.
Li Hongzhang was tempted. If he could get the warship back, the emperor would definitely be happy.
He whispered to Prince Gong,
"Your Highness, let's try to find a way to get this newest warship back."
Prince Gong said,
"what's the situation?"
Li Hongzhang recounted what he had learned.
Prince Gong sucked his teeth.
"Now that it has an owner, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with it, right?"
Li Hongzhang said,
"Your Highness, I have done some research. These Westerners appear to be very committed to the spirit of contract. This makes things a bit tricky!"
Prince Gong keenly grasped the word "openly" in Li Hongzhang's words and asked,
"What do you mean by surface, not surface?"
Li Hongzhang said,
"These guys look well-dressed, but they're actually full of thieves and whores. They're capable of anything!"
Prince Gong said,
"So we still have a chance?"
Li Hongzhang said,
"Then we need to plan carefully!"
Prince Gong was also moved.
"Call General Dou, Shopkeeper Lu, and Shopkeeper Qiao over here and have a good discussion. They're all quite cunning!"
Li Hongzhang agreed with this statement very much. How could someone who could make such a big business not be cunning?
After visiting the Armstrong Shipyard, Deputy Director Martin secretly handed Li Hongzhang a gift list containing 500 pounds and some jewelry.
Li Hongzhang knew what he meant and asked deliberately,
"What do you mean, Your Excellency?"
Martin Road,
"Master Li, please speak well of us in front of the prince!"
Li Hongzhang looked at the five hundred pounds, swallowed secretly, and pushed the gift list back.
"A few nice words are fine, but that's not the point!"
Martin Road,
"Please explain clearly, Lord Li!"
Li Hongzhang said,
"Our Emperor Daqing is very anxious. He wants Prince Gong to return with the warships!"
Martin was surprised.
"Lord Li, this is absolutely impossible. A newly built warship will take at least six months to a year to complete, unless you wait here until it's finished!"
Li Hongzhang said,
"Our emperor has prepared tens of millions of silver to purchase dozens of state-of-the-art warships. If we fail to satisfy the emperor at the outset, I'm afraid Prince Gong will look for another company!"