Chapter 1274: Issue a ticket to the British Empire (Please subscribe)

Early in the morning, after reading the news in the newspaper, James Bond put down the newspaper and stood up from the sofa chair. After tidying up, he said goodbye to his wife and went out to the street.

Although August in London is midsummer, it is also the most beautiful time of the year. Under the bright sunshine, there are ladies strolling in parks such as Hyde Park. Of course, there are also some idle rich young men who enjoy chasing married or unmarried women in the parks.

However, for most men, they always need to work.

James Bond was walking on the street, thinking deeply. He even missed a tram. After reading the article in the newspaper, he couldn't concentrate. There was only one question in his mind.

What to do next?

If nothing unexpected happens, the Prime Minister and his colleagues will hold a special meeting today to discuss how to deal with the "Transvaal Crisis".

Will they choose war, or will they choose...

Therefore, James Bond, who was worried, was a little surprised when he found himself in the city center. Across the street was a department store, where people were constantly coming in and out. Now, for the people in London, they were not aware of the war at all... The crisis in southern Africa was evolving towards war.

James Bond was standing on the roadside, watching the people coming in and out of the department store. Then a newspaper seller came by. The seller was probably only fifteen or sixteen years old. He was wearing a hat and holding a newspaper in his hand. He was shouting at the top of his lungs every time.

"Look at Mr. Chamberlain's historic speech - shame! The Transvaal is declaring war on the British Empire."

"The British Empire will not pay a penny in compensation..."

"Read the newspapers, read the newspapers, how Transvaal humiliates the British Empire..."

The newspaper seller's roar made James Bond's whole body tremble every time.

Before the newspapers reported it, he already knew how the press would react - three days ago, Johnson and others from the Cape Colony launched an expedition to Transvaal. Johnson's armed Pretoria was surrounded by Transvaal troops. Except for 731 people who were killed, the rest, including Johnson, were all captured by the Transvaal side.

This is not the most deadly thing, what is the most deadly thing?

At the same time as Johnson's expedition, the "Alien Reform Committee" in Johannesburg was preparing to launch an internal and external uprising - in fact, some employees and immigrants of South African mining companies, also hurriedly launched an uprising according to the plan, but was easily suppressed by Transvaal, and dozens of heads of the "Reform Committee" were also captured by Transvaal.

The British, who failed to steal the chicken but ended up losing the rice, were now in great disgrace - not only were their people arrested, but even their gold mines were confiscated!

The reason why they were confiscated is simple, because they were involved in rebellion. Confiscating the property of rebels is a matter of course in any country in the world. Of course, it also depends on the object involved.

Just like now it involves the British. The British will definitely not agree to such confiscation.

God can testify that this is absolutely unacceptable, because the shareholders of South African mining companies are not only wealthy people in Cape Town, but also many powerful people in London. How could they sit idly by and watch their property being confiscated?

You can lose face, but you can’t lose money!

Just as London was outraged at the barbaric "invasion of private property in the Transvaal", just as the powerful in London were saying that this was an unacceptable atrocity, what was even more infuriating?

The Transvaal Government yesterday sent Britain a bill for £2,677,938, er, 3 shillings and 3 pence, which, according to the Transvaal Government, was a fine for the "moral and moral damage" caused to Britain.

However, the British government did not even look at this "ticket". They would not pay even a fraction of 3 shillings and 3 pence.

But whether the money will be paid or not cannot change the fact that the British Empire was severely slapped in the face by a small country in southern Africa.

The disastrous "Jansen Attack" may have become a political scandal that shocked Europe, but for Britain, it was a humiliation!

An unprecedented shame!

And now, almost all newspapers in London and even in the whole of Britain are reporting this news, reporting the Transvaal government's humiliation of the British Empire!

"Read the newspaper, read the newspaper - a fine to the British Empire..."

You see, how could people tolerate such words? You know, the British are all imperialists now. How could they tolerate the humiliation of the British Empire by other countries, not to mention that it is just a tiny country?

Just as James Bond was standing on the roadside thoughtfully, the Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street was filled with cigar smoke.

"I don't care what kind of political scandal Johnson's expedition was, nor what kind of harm it caused to those Boers. The only thing I care about is the British Empire."

To Robert Gascoigne-Cecil, the Prime Minister of the British Empire, he spoke directly.

"If we allow the Boers to bully the British Empire, oppress our expatriates at will, and confiscate our property, and the British Empire does not respond, then in a few years, everyone will stand against the British Empire and they will all become our enemies. God can testify that by that time, the British Empire will lose all its glory and dignity."

The empire cannot be challenged, and the dignity of the empire needs to be maintained and defended. This is because challengers are constantly emerging. Once the empire is slow to respond to the challenge, it will face a group of hungry wolves.

"Mr. Prime Minister, if this is the case, then the only option left to us is war."

The Foreign Secretary's words made Cecil silent for a while, and then he spoke.

"War? If war is the only option, then we must let the Boers know that the British Empire will never tolerate infringement of their interests. Similarly, we must use decisive actions to tell the world the consequences of infringing on the interests of the British Empire."

After a brief silence, Cecil spoke again.

"We can see that in the past twenty years, with the rise of the Ming Empire, one country after another has always tried to challenge us and try to take away our interests from the British Empire. It is precisely because we did not respond in time that they tried to encircle and suppress us worldwide like a group of hungry wolves. Now, even the Boers, a small country with a population of only 300,000, are challenging our patience. God can testify that if we cannot give the most direct response, then our generation will most likely face the collapse of the empire!"

Looking at the ministers of the British Empire present, Cecil spoke directly.

"Now, we must stop this and let the world see the price of challenging the British Empire..."

"But, Prime Minister, we must consider the positions of other countries, especially Ming. What will they do?"

(End of this chapter)