Chapter 301 I, Shao Quanzhong, Want to Be a Traitor

Chapter 301 I, Shao Quanzhong, Want to Be a Traitor

Chapter 301 I, Shao Quanzhong, Want to Be a Traitor

Shao Quanzhong was worrying too much.

Queens in Europe are not all the same. Queen Victoria was very loyal in love. In terms of personal morality, she fully deserves the status of "Grandmother of Europe" and "Ruler of the World".

The Queen’s first love was Alexander II of Russia, because the Tsar, who was about to become Shao Quanzhong’s father-in-law, was a handsome man.

It is said that the daughter of a handsome man is likely to be beautiful, so Shao Quanzhong's worries about the appearance of Princess Lucia, also called Maria, whom he had never met, were unnecessary.

However, for the sake of national interests, the queen finally married Albert from Prussia. But once married, the queen showed great loyalty to her family and husband, gave birth to nine children for him, and never had any scandals.

When the king's husband passed away, the ministers asked the queen for her opinion and had no objection to her finding another one.

The Queen has no interest in this. In recent years, she has been depressed and secluded because she misses her husband. She does not wear a crown when appearing in public, and entrusts all political affairs to the Prime Minister, which makes the British constitutional monarchy more perfect.

Shao Quanzhong's visit was so important that the Queen came to Buckingham Palace from her secluded Windsor Castle and put on her crown to greet him.

The audience ceremony was very short. Shao Quanzhong bowed and received the Queen. Ping'er ordered people to present the national gift of blue and white porcelain. The Queen gave Shao Quanzhong a silver ruler in return and let him go to the guest room to rest.

Ping'er looked at the silver ruler from left to right, but couldn't tell that it was valuable. It was just a ruler.

I couldn't help but complain, "Isn't the British Empire the ruler of the world? How could their queen be so stingy as to only give such a cheap thing?"

Maria understood. "The Queen's gifts all have meanings, not their value. Ruler in English also means 'ruler'. The Queen's gift of the ruler to Shao means that Britain, in the name of the country, supports Shao to become the ruler of the Qing Dynasty."

After listening to the fat nanny next to Maria's translation, Ping'er exclaimed, "Wow!"

I held the ruler tightly and carefully kept it. This is the token of the world ruler's support for Shao Quanzhong's enthronement in the Qing Dynasty. My success as the Queen of the Western Palace depends on it, so I must keep it well.

Then he turned around and started to criticize Britain, "Why is Buckingham Palace so small? It's much smaller than the Forbidden City."

Shao Quanzhong stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the decoration of Buckingham Palace, and secretly comparing it with the West Warm Pavilion. He suddenly sneered, "Chinese architecture embodies thousands of years of civilization. Hehe, Britain's rise was too short. The Forbidden City should be the center of the world. This is my goal in my lifetime."

Shao Quanzhong had almost vented his anger during this "visit" to Japan. It would not be difficult to deal with the Japanese pirates later, and he suddenly lost interest in revenge.

Now his eyes were fixed on his eldest brother.

Maria looked at Shao Quanzhong with his hands behind his back, looking down on the world, her eyes a little confused. Am I going to marry a man who will eventually become the king of the world?

Suddenly, she grabbed Nanny Wang's hand and said, "Let's go and teach me Chinese urgently."

The next day, Shao Quanzhong's confidence in leading the way during his lifetime and overwhelm his elder brother to dominate was severely hit.

To welcome Shao Quanzhong's visit, the Queen held a naval review at the mouth of the Thames.

Shao Quanzhong led the Nanyang Navy on a visit, rushing around recklessly all the way, crushing others everywhere. Today he tasted the feeling of being crushed for the first time.

Mighty warships were lined up for review, stretching as far as the eye could see.

There was no need to mobilize any colonial warships to save face. The home fleet alone had reached 150 ships, including 65 ironclad ships and 85 large sailing steam warships.

It sounds like the number of ironclad ships is only twice that of the Nanyang Fleet, but their total tonnage exceeds 600,000 tons. The first three Minotaur-class battleships, the Minotaur, the Agincourt, and the Northumberland, are all steel behemoths with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons.

This isn't just a big problem; large warships also require designs with higher technological content.

Before being installed on board a ship, their naval guns have to go through hundreds of different shooting tests, some of which are so perverted as to shoot several cubic meters of iron blocks to test the intensity of different types of impact.

How each piece of armor can achieve the maximum protective effect has been scientifically calculated and verified through multiple tests.

Therefore, the combat effectiveness of British warships of the same tonnage is generally one-fourth higher than that of French warships.

This is the power of being the best in the world in technology and crushing all others.

In recent years, Britain's annual naval expenditure has reached 9 million pounds, equivalent to more than 30 million taels of silver.

Shao Quanzhong robbed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of its fourteen years of accumulation and sold all his belongings to buy a huge fleet, which was not enough to cover the other party's funding for two years. This is the powerful economic strength of the British Empire.

The total tonnage of British warships exceeds 600,000 tons, a daunting number. It is twice as much as that of French warships, and even the warships of the second to fifth countries combined are not as many as those of French warships.

Britain's industrial output accounts for half of the world's total, its coal production is six times that of the second-ranked France, and its iron production is ten times that of France. Its manufacturing capacity has an overwhelming advantage over other countries. It is no exaggeration to say that even if all other countries in the world were combined, they would still be beaten by Britain.

This is the Industrial Revolution, the power of being one step ahead.

Prime Minister Disraeli, who was accompanying Shao Quanzhong, said calmly, "Shao, our three Minotaur-class battleships have just been launched. Due to the limitations of large docks, your order will not be built until the year after next. However, please believe in the sincerity of the British Empire to its loyal allies. Once you obtain those two Minotaur-class battleships, you will not be at a disadvantage even if you face the French fleet head-on."

After hearing this, Shao Quanzhong's mood just improved. Prime Minister Disraeli added a few words lightly, "However, on our slipway, the latest all-steam-powered ironclad battleship, the Devastating, is already under construction and will be launched in three years. Once the Devastating-class battleship is launched, it will surely crush all steam-powered battleships with sails. The ocean will enter a new era under the leadership of the British Empire."

So, the Minotaur that I worked so hard to get became obsolete within a year?

Shao Quanzhong's purchase of ships is a one-time investment. Our Qing Dynasty does not have the strength to invest tens of millions of taels of silver in shipbuilding every year. It is unknown how long our naval strength, which ranks third in the world, can be maintained.

Under the leadership of Shao Quanzhong, the Qing Dynasty was already on the fast track, but the gap with Britain was still despairing.

In my lifetime, will I really see the day when China crushes Britain, becomes the world's hegemon, and allows others to come and see me?

The British naval review is held irregularly, once every three and a half years on average, except for the tenth anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne, or to boost morale before the Crimean War. It is basically held to welcome guests when foreign heads of state visit.

The British received Shao Quanzhong with the same courtesy as a head of state. The arrogant world hegemon would not consider the feelings of the current rulers of the Qing Dynasty.

As the de facto world hegemon, Britain does not need to brag. Every naval review casts a deep shadow on the hearts of visitors.

Shao Quanzhong is a man who refuses to admit defeat, but can such a huge gap in national strength be overcome by the power of one person in a short period of time?
After the naval review, Shao Quanzhong returned to his guest room in Buckingham Palace and suddenly fell silent, sitting there for several hours.

Suddenly he grabbed his hat and threw it on the ground, "Ping'er, draft a telegram to Yan Baichuan who is studying at the Berlin Military Academy, and tell him to contact Prime Minister Bismarck on my behalf.

Just say that I, Shao Quanzhong, am a traitor. This time I am visiting Prussia, I am prepared to give up a lot of benefits to the Prussian monarch and form an alliance with Prussia at all costs! "

(End of this chapter)