? In the British governor's office in Hong Kong, a group of British officials in the Far East were holding a meeting.
Although the most important British position in the Western Pacific was the Malay Governor in Singapore, the Malay Governor also sent someone to Hong Kong to attend the meeting. Although the most important British position in the Western Pacific was the Malay Governor in Singapore, the Malay Governor also sent someone to Hong Kong to attend the meeting.
A group of British officials in charge of Far East affairs were discussing the Governor Vézé who occupied Guangdong, as well as the Liberation Army led by Vézé.
"Did Vézé study in the United States?" This was a question raised by the participants. The British accent was pronounced with the front half of the mouth, which was very different from the American English pronunciation of the back half of the mouth.
"Perhaps he knows the American missionaries?" Someone raised another point of view.
"Vézé has made it clear that he is an atheist, and he wants to build an atheist country. Therefore, he does not accept any missionaries to preach freely in China. "A British naval officer said in a rather sarcastic tone.
This answer caused a burst of laughter. No British extended the discussion on this issue. In the eyes of these British, Vézé, a rebel from a backward country, actually pretended to reject foreign missionaries with his atheism in front of the British Empire, which had conquered the world. This in itself was a complete lack of self-awareness.
For more than half a century, wherever the British flag went, any enemy could only be defeated. Napoleon of France failed, and the American rebels also failed in their attack on Canada. The British lobster soldiers not only killed their way into Washington, set fire to the American office, but also pursued the American army all the way to Utah.
The southern states of the United States were now firmly tied to the British economic chariot. Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon I of France, who had once been at odds with the British, was now fully in the arms of the British in diplomacy. At this time, he was fighting with the British in the Crimea against Russia. Now the news from Europe said that Russia could not hold on any longer, and the victory of the British and French forces was basically confirmed.
The victory of this war meant that Osman Turkey, which had been a great enemy of Europe for centuries, had completely bowed down to the British. In the Indian Ocean, the East India Company had also received reliable news that the East India Company was preparing to depose the Mughal Emperor Bahadur. The title of the Sand Emperor. The title of Emperor of India was, of course, taken over by Queen Victoria of England. Soon, the Queen of England would be Her Majesty.
Britain's global expansion was at its peak. In a place far to the east, Vézé, the leader of the rebel army, was shamelessly opposing the British taking over the Guangdong Customs on the grounds that China's sovereignty was inviolable. The English civil and military officials thought this action ridiculous.
"If our goal is to attack Guangzhou and defeat the Liberation Army, how many troops will we need?" The British governor of Hong Kong raised a very realistic goal.
The British did not deny that the Liberation Army had considerable fighting power. As a country that could dominate the world, the British civil and military officials might be arrogant, but they were not stupid at all. When the Crimean War was in full swing, the British relied on more than 3,000 troops to fight against the Liberation Army in Vézé's hands. The British did not think they could completely defeat the Liberation Army.
Even if the war was not lost, as long as the British army suffered heavy losses, the civil and military officials who started the war would not have an easy time. So the best way was to stall Vézé first. And Vézé, at least in business, was not too annoying to the British.
"Since the Crimean War is about to end, then with 20,000 British and French troops, we should be able to destroy the Liberation Army. At the very least, we can get that Vézé to sign any agreement we want him to sign. "The commander of the Far East Fleet put forward his opinion.
The governor of Hong Kong agreed with the number of 20,000 British and French troops, and he appreciated the suggestion of using the troops. Napoleon III of France was different from his uncle, Napoleon I. The guy who became the president of France by relying on the Peasants' Party and was crowned Emperor of France in 1852 was completely at Britain's feet in diplomacy and tried to be in line with Britain. In a sense, the Crimean War was a show of allegiance to Britain. If the French emperor had a chance to intervene in Asian affairs, he would definitely be very happy. At the same time, Britain could also let France send troops, and fewer British soldiers would die. So the governor said, "General, if we seal off the coast of Guangdong at this stage, it should be possible, right?"
"Not a problem!" The commander of the Far East Fleet replied confidently.
"Then let's send a message back home," the governor of Hong Kong said.
The group of people at the meeting also nodded in agreement. The reason why they agreed to the proposal of the governor of Hong Kong was not because the governor of Hong Kong had any special influence in the British Empire. But now that Britain controlled Europe, suppressed the Americas, and controlled India, the only place that Britain could still conquer was naturally China. If they could become the initiators of this war, they would naturally get their own benefits.
"Then the next thing we need to talk to that Governor Vézé is to get him to completely open up the tobacco trade," the governor of Hong Kong said with a strong sense of malice. This proposal caused the British officials and generals in the Far East to laugh.
It had been more than ten years since the end of the First World War. Britain used to think that its own industrial products could completely open up the China market. Reality had taught them a lesson. China was completely different from what the British had thought. The ordinary people in China had no interest in British industrial products. The only thing that could be popular in China and make a lot of money was tobacco.
Of course, the British were well aware of the toxicity of tobacco to the ordinary people. They also knew that the reason why the government of China banned tobacco was not because they wanted to make things difficult for the British. Even the British officials admitted that tobacco was not only poisoning the bodies of the Chinese, but also the souls of the Chinese. This was even a moral issue.
But this understanding would not stop the trade. The huge profits made the British policy makers, from the domestic policy makers to the policy executors in the Far East, only had one attitude. This concerned the export profits of Britain, and that was to expand the tobacco trade with China. As for the life and death of the Chinese, what did it have to do with the British?
When the Manchu Qing rule in Guangdong was overthrown by Vézé, the British once thought that the tobacco trade, which was strongly opposed by the Manchu Qing government, would finally be loosened. But they did not expect that Vézé's Restored Governor's Office was far more powerful than the Manchu Qing government in terms of administrative ability and social control. Vézé did not touch the British, but carried out a bloody crackdown on the people who carried out the tobacco trade in Guangdong. The smugglers were caught and executed. The Chinese businessmen who opened tobacco shops were arrested and the shops were closed. The people who smoked tobacco were sent to concentration camps for forced labor.
At the same time, Vézé's Restored Governor's Office vigorously promoted the harm of smoking tobacco in the areas under their control in Guangdong. They also locked a group of heavy smokers in cages and organized the local people to see their emaciated appearance and ugly appearance when they were addicted to smoking. There were also various cases of how tobacco addicts destroyed their lives and destroyed their families.
Under such a severe crackdown, although the British businessmen could stock up on tobacco in Guangdong, their sales plummeted. The tobacco merchants had long been clamoring for the British government to "reverse" the lawless and violent rule of the Restored Governor's Office. The British civil and military officials in the Far East wanted to solve the problem of tobacco.
Of course, the commander of the Far East Fleet still had some doubts. "I see that Vézé's attitude is very firm, and he agreed to buy a certain amount of tobacco for medicinal purposes. With this attitude, this matter will not be easy to handle. "
The governor of Hong Kong laughed. "Then let us first ask Vézé to withdraw the discriminatory propaganda against tobacco!"
As soon as these exquisite words came out, the British civil and military officials in the Far East Fleet roared with laughter.
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