Chapter 1262 The Eve of the Storm (First Update, Please Subscribe)
Sometimes, the world is always filled with too many surprises. Just when Emperor Zhu was deliberately trying to bleed Britain and weaken the power of the British Empire, a sudden change forced him to consider another possibility.
Silently smoking a cigar, at this moment, Emperor Zhu's mood was extremely complicated.
"If the French knew this news, they would definitely declare war on Britain!"
Eugenie and Judy would certainly declare war, and any other country would have done the same. It seemed as if history had played a joke on them - the First World War would have broken out in a different form.
It's even a bit similar to the fuse of the First World War in another world... In another world, the death of Archduke Ferdinand triggered the First World War, but what about this world?
Almost eleven years earlier, the assassination of Napoleon III would reignite war in Europe.
"Yes, Your Majesty, for the sake of the dignity and glory of the empire, France will declare war on Britain. They have no reason to compromise!"
Qian Degong, the Prime Minister of the Empire, bowed slightly and then spoke.
"Then the Empire will certainly be involved. After all, the traditional friendship between the Empire and France makes it impossible for us to stay out of it."
What is the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and France?
The two royal families were not only allies, but also relatives, and their friendship was forged through war. All of this meant that the Empire would inevitably be involved.
"Yes, it is indeed unlikely that we can stay out of it."
Emperor Zhu asked:
"Now tell me, given the current situation, is it the right time to implement the Red Plan?"
The "Red Plan" is the Ming Dynasty's plan to declare war on Britain. According to the plan, the Ming Dynasty will declare war on Britain together with its allies - France, Russia, and of course, the hesitant Austro-Hungarian Empire.
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, now is not the most appropriate time. After all, Britain is still very powerful, and its allies the United States and Germany are also very powerful. The US's naval power will contain our naval power, and Germany's land power will contain France and Rome. As for Austria-Hungary and Italy, they may declare war or remain neutral. The premise for us to destroy the world empire ruled by Britain is to weaken it as much as possible. Before that, it is extremely unwise to go to war with it!"
"That's true, but..."
Emperor Zhu nodded towards the table.
"If France knew the truth about the Jerusalem Incident, would they be able to endure it? This is a question. I should sit down with Eugenie and Judy to discuss this issue. It's not about how to retaliate against Britain, but how to win the war. But I don't know if they can accept all this..."
Are they willing to wait?
"Your Majesty, I believe that for the common good, we must convince them that only by temporarily enduring can we win the war in the future."
"Indeed..."
Emperor Zhu nodded and said.
“We really need to convince them!”
"Your Majesty, are you planning to visit France?"
"You should go there. This matter needs to be dealt with in person."
"Your Majesty, a mother who has lost her child is irrational. France's revenge in Egypt is still controversial even now."
dispute?
There is nothing controversial about it. It is just an accusation made by some "white leftists" in Europe of this era. For most Europeans, they have never cared about the lives of barbarians outside the "civilized world".
Not to mention that there are only two million Arabic people, even if there are three or four million, no one would really care. Besides... France lost its emperor, and Catholicism lost its pope. In the past few years, people in European countries have been talking about revenge.
In a word, France's revenge on the Arabs is in line with the call of the European people and in line with public opinion. Of course, the biggest unexpected gain is that France will never have the opportunity to become "France".
Almost all the people who are still alive in the Middle East have become "filial sons of God". Filial sons are born under the stick. It doesn't matter if you are not filial, people can be buried in the sand. There are no filial sons in the world originally, but they will become filial sons after being buried.
"Yes, that's why..."
Emperor Zhu frowned and said.
"I am the one who should go there in person? Well, let's think about the response plan first. If we can't convince her, the Empire may have no choice but to join the war! Okay, go and prepare!"
…
Will war break out?
No one knows the answer, but at the beginning of the 19th year of Shengde, the Ming Empire entered a state of war readiness to a certain extent and began to prepare for war, and all this did not attract the attention of the outside world.
War preparations...what do we need to prepare?
The first thing is to formulate an official war preparedness plan.
Qian Degong, the Prime Minister of the Empire, was naturally very clear about this. After he began to formulate the corresponding overall war preparation plan according to His Majesty's request, he immediately visited the military leaders in a private capacity.
Why did he visit in a private capacity? Because according to the imperial system, the civil service system and the military were clearly separated, and the two sides did not interfere with each other. The civil government did not have the power to command the army. Of course, the army could not be tyrannical and ignore the government, and it was even more impossible to use legal means to coerce the government like in the other world. After all, in the Ming Dynasty, the military and the civil service were separated, and they had only one head - the emperor.
The military is independent of the government and cannot interfere with the government, while the government does not control the military and cannot interfere with the military. The clear distinction between the two sides means that when dealing with some issues between them, they can only coordinate privately.
There was not even a communication channel between the civil service and the military - except for the emperor's decree to establish a supreme command.
Since it was a private visit, Qian Degong had to prepare a gift - a bottle of Victory wine worth 0.5 yuan. According to imperial law, imperial officials were not allowed to accept gifts worth more than 2 yuan, otherwise they would be held accountable.
Moreover, this decree is not just for show. The imperial supervisory department has never relaxed its supervision over the imperial power departments. In the past few years, countless seemingly respectable imperial civil servants have been dismissed for accepting small gifts.
There was even a person who was fired for accepting a fish worth two yuan, so that there has always been a saying in the imperial officialdom that "civil servants are not as good as a fish."
For an empire that pursues the policy of "high salaries to maintain integrity", the tolerance for corruption is almost zero. It is for this reason that the officialdom has remained consistently clean over the years.
"Prime Minister Qian, you're welcome."
Sun Hu smiled as he took the victory wine.
"Over the years, this is the only wine that has impressed me the most. Don't look at its cheapness, but in my opinion, it is the best wine in the world... Shengli, this name is auspicious!"
Putting the wine on the coffee table, this imperial army general, although he did not have a specific position, was definitely a real military leader, and his daughter was the Crown Princess.
"Victory... is indeed a good omen,"
Qian Degong nodded and said.
"The general must have known my intentions."
Nodding slightly, Sun Hu said.
"His Majesty has issued an order that the military has entered a level three combat readiness state. I'm sure the Executive Yuan should have also begun making corresponding preparations!"
"Indeed, but you know, General, we have a lot of things to prepare for, but fighting is ultimately the military's job, and the Executive Yuan is just responsible for logistics. Why am I here this time? I want to know what the military is planning, or what they hope the Executive Yuan will do. We have to have a basic understanding first, or be prepared..."
Looking at Sun Hu, Qian Degong smiled.
"After all, we are outsiders to what real war preparedness is, so we still need to consult you to know what the military means..."
(End of this chapter)
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