(I'm very sorry, because my phone is lost, this chapter can only be uploaded now. This is my own fault. Please forgive me.)

Another beautiful morning

In the Red Fort Dome Restaurant

The sun shines in from the European-style oval windows, and the light and shadows intertwined, reflecting the exquisite carvings and murals on the walls to life, and the long dining table is filled with silver candlesticks and flowers, as well as fruits and exquisite food.

Secretary-General Fan Zhongzhai, Deputy Secretary-General Tian Shan, and the newly selected eight first-level secretaries were all sitting at the table and waiting quietly. Today is work breakfast, and the Count will also come.

Among the eight newly selected first-level secretaries, 7 are scholars from Jiangnan. They have broadened their horizons after traveling to Europe and have a deep and solid foundation in knowledge. After returning to Australia, they have trained in grassroots departments for another year and have outstanding abilities.

Only those who are willing to be loyal to the Earl of Queensland may be elected as secretary. This is the basic condition.

Among the seven people from Jiangnan, the leader was two people with the reputation of Juren, one was Mo Rufeng and the other was Nangong Yunfei, who was the leader of everyone.

"The Count is here..."

The restaurant's butler Ang Lee announced loudly that the secretariat who participated in the breakfast work stood up to welcome him, and then he heard footsteps coming.

Li Fushou walked into the restaurant with a brisk pace, looking energetic. When he saw the secretaries in the restaurant, he said kindly, "Everyone sit down, no need to be polite. Today, there were a few newcomers who participated in the work breakfast for the first time. I believe the elderly in the secretariat have explained that this is my habit.

Every Monday and Wednesday is a routine working breakfast. Eating is not the purpose. It is mainly to use the meal time to communicate. It is easier and everyone will get used to it in the future.

Since everyone has arrived, Ang Lee notified the kitchen to start a meal and we would have a chat while eating."

"Thank you for your kindness, Master." The secretary answered in unison.

"Yeah, let's start."

Li Fushou nodded and sat down in the upper seat. The maids served a rich meal fruit like a stream, and soon filled the long dining table for guests to use at will.

Li Fushou picked up the hot milk and took a sip. He casually looked at the Sydney Prophet, which had just been delivered from the train station this morning. This is the Sydney Prophet, published two days ago. It is delivered to the Red River Valley City as fast as possible through the coastal railway. It is a must-read newspaper for high-class people in the upper class every day, from which you can learn about many world events.

Today's front page headline of the Sydney Prophet is news from South Africa;

The Transvaal War ends and the dawn of peace is ushered in!

The war between the British and Boers lasted for more than four months. Due to the secret help from Germany and the Netherlands, many foreign volunteers joined in. The Boers fought happily in the war, which caused great trouble to the British Empire Army and suffered repeated setbacks on the battlefield.

Forced by helplessness

Britain started negotiations with the Boers, according to reports from the front;

The British negotiator agreed to allow the Boers of South Africa to form their own autonomous government under Her Majesty the rule of the Queen, but the UK has the diplomatic rights of the Transvaal Autonomous Government, the British's free business rights, the right to residence and property rights to be harmed. The two sides reached an agreement on this and ushered in the dawn of peace.

In other words, the British were defeated, and some of the so-called superficial conditions were just a fig leaf. Things that could not be obtained on the battlefield were also not obtained at the negotiating table.

"What do you think?" Li Fushou took another sip of milk and asked softly.

The important news in the newspaper, the secretariat and others have read and have a vain case, and are ready to answer the question of Lord Earl at any time.

If there is nothing to say, it will inevitably lose points in the heart of the Count.

For the participants in the Secretariat, each work breakfast is no less than a big test. They are forced to cheer up and not dare to slack off at all.

From another perspective

This method tempers the secretary's ability, allowing them to consider issues from a global perspective. Through the comments of Lord Earl, they can deepen their understanding and improve, and is a valuable learning opportunity.

"Master, I want to express my opinion." Mo Rufeng answered first.

"Oh, let's talk." Li Fushou looked at him with encouraging eyes.

"In a humble opinion, the defeat encountered by the Great Britain in South Africa this time was not just a military defeat, but also a geopolitical defeat. From the statements of the European powers, it can be seen that ridicule is more sympathetic than sympathy."

Mo Rufeng stole the eyes of Li Fushou, and when he saw that he was listening carefully, he had some clue in his heart, so he continued to say;

"The universal sympathy received by the Boers in Europe reflects from another perspective a psychological state of the European powers who are bored with Great Britain's involvement in continental affairs. The relevant arguments in the public opinion of Germany and the Netherlands are more naked and uncovered, which is undoubtedly the best annotation of this psychology.

The Imperial Army's defeat in South Africa was called by The Times;

The Boers won a war that fell asleep, Her Majesty lost an inch of land, and we lost the war.

The comments made many ridicule of Downing Street and the Army Department, reflecting the weakness of the Army. It is really difficult to maintain colonies across continents of the world with limited forces. This is not bad news for Australia."

After saying that, Mo Rufeng looked at the Count nervously and waited for his comments.

Li Fushou put down the spoon in his hand, wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, "Public opinion is just public opinion and cannot represent the position of governments. Britain supported the Germans to fight against the French in the French-Prussian War. After the establishment of the German Empire, the relationship between Britain and France quickly became close, and in turn supported the French to fight against the Germans.

This shows a cold reality

In today's European continent, no one can reject friendship from Great Britain, no one can shake the status of Great Britain. As long as the Royal Navy of the British Empire is not weakened or defeated, the glory of the Empire's Unsettling Empire will not be weakened by a single point.

As for the British Army's small defeat in South Africa, it can be understood as a tiger napping and being scratched by a little wolf cub for a while, which will not change anything.

The British Empire has the largest colonies in the world and accounts for 1/4 of the world's land resources. If we take it seriously, we can mobilize millions of troops around the world to invest, which is definitely not something that the small Boers can compete with.

So, the problem with South Africa is just whether Downing Street wants to continue playing, and does not want to pay more to win, rather than whether it can win."

Having said this

Li Fushou took a hot little bun and chewed it in his mouth, feeling the taste of the delicious meat filling and dough, which could fully satisfy the preferences of China's appetite. He nodded in appreciation and said vaguely, "Eat, today's Xiaolong bun is good, everyone can try it."

Everyone picked up their bowls and started eating. Many people repeatedly chewed on the words of Lord Earl, looking at the essence through superficial phenomena, and feeling that their understanding of international issues became more profound.

Public opinion misled everyone's opinions. At first glance, it seemed that the whole world was watching jokes about the British Empire. In fact, the real strong people didn't care about these gossips at all. What can public opinion change?

"Thank you for your teachings, Rufeng has received the teachings." Mo Rufeng expressed his respectful expression.

"Small long bread is good for eating."

Li Fushou drank a bowl of porridge, ate a few small buns of buns, and two pieces of roasted golden steak. Then he picked up the juice and drank two sips, opened the Sydney Prophet and took a look.

The important local news in Australia is that the Royal Lancaster Grenadier Battalion stationed in Sydney takes the initiative to attack and suppress the increasingly rampant horse bandits. In a place called Sunset Valley in Victoria, it surrounded more than a hundred Scarface bandits.

The two sides fought fiercely for a long time

The Lancaster Grenadier Battalion and the encirclement and suppression team formed by local militia paid a significant price to finally win, killing the bandit leader Scarface Ek and several other famous horse bandit leaders, killing 51 horse bandits, capturing 37, and the rest all fled.

The newspaper comments praised the heroic battles of the soldiers of the Nankaister Grenadier Battalion, calling it a brilliant victory that could be comparable to the encirclement and suppression of the Earl of Queensland in the Thyros Rock, and then a long and slanderous praise.

Li Fushou glanced a few times and didn't continue to look. He looked up at the concerning gaze of the Secretariat Director Fan Zhongzhai, and asked with a faint smile, "Zhongzhai, what do you think?"

"Master, the bandits in southern Australia are getting more and more fierce. The Scarface gang, the Billy gang, and dozens of other gangs of all sizes. The weeds cannot be removed, and the spring breeze will blew again. Unless a large-scale cleaning operation takes place, it will be difficult to reverse the situation. At best, treat the headache and the foot pain."

"Yes, the news I got was that Lancaster Grenadier Battalion was destroyed this time. More than 170 people were killed or injured in a total of more than 600 people. The Governor was so angry that he threw his cup and almost pulled out his pistol to kill the commander. Hahaha..." Li Fushou laughed a little maliciously.

The British troops in Australia were less than 2,000. The Lancaster Grenadier Battalion was one of the two main forces. The encirclement and suppression of horse bandits was actually destroyed. It would be strange if the Governor of New South Wales could laugh.

We must not underestimate the horse bandits wandering in the wilderness. These vicious gangsters know that they will be hanged once they are caught, so they are very determined in fighting and resistance. In addition, they are as cunning as foxes and have rich combat experience, which has caused considerable casualties to the encirclement and suppression troops.

The British infantry battalion stationed in Australia has been pacified for a long time, and Ma Fang Nanshan enjoys life on this remote continent of Australia. During the day, he pretends to be a big shot everywhere to show his superiority, tease women, and drink and make trouble in the bar at night. As a result, he finds his true colors when he goes to the battlefield, and it is not worthy of sympathy at all.

Fan Zhongzhai and Tian Shan both laughed, and Tian Shan said, "Some newspapers and media in New South Wales and Victoria slandered Queensland's military cleanup operation as a sinister plot by whites to make amnesty for immigrants.

This time they had a tough time, and I guess some media would promote a strange argument that Queensland's large-scale bandit suppression was driving all the vicious bandits to southern Australia and should be responsible for the deteriorating public security in southern Australia.

Anyway, no matter what we do, it is wrong. The southern states always treat it with a picky attitude, which has led to the plan for the southern extension of the coastal railway to face many obstacles and is difficult to implement.

Master, can you start an expedition and take advantage of the situation to invade our forces into the south? Otherwise, it will be difficult to see obvious results in 10 years after just by immigrants."

"No hurry to do this." Li Fushou shook his head, drank the soup with a spoon, put it down, and said after thinking about it. "With our current appetite, we can't swallow the southern states, and just using the excuse of despising the nobles, it is not very convincing, and it is easy to arouse hostility and vigilance in London.

What's more, the Shangri-La problem is imminent. We need strong support from London to eat up this deserted island first.

Don’t look at the calm now, it’s because we have blocked the news.

In fact, the British Colonial Department, the Germans, French and even Americans all liked this island, but I just took the lead.

Once things are uncovered, hehe...

Just see, all forces will come on stage to perform, and it will definitely be very lively at that time."

If Fan Zhongzhai and Tian Shan thoughtfully digested this piece of information, the other secretaries stopped the chopsticks in their hands and thought secretly, and the restaurant became silent for a moment.

"Master, after the end of the War with the French Emperor Napoleon, the British voluntarily withdrew from the resource-rich Java Island. How could they now like Shangri-La Island? There is nothing but a large territory, there is also the United States and Germany. How could they want to intervene in Shangri-La? Hu Zhi is confused, so please give me advice." Nangong Yunfei asked.

His words were also what everyone wanted to ask, and all the attention of his eyes gathered on Li Fushou's face.

Li Fushou calmly finished the fried buns in his hand. He felt that he was almost full. He picked up the hot towel provided by the maid and wiped his mouth and hands, and then said;

“This is one time and another!

The British took the lead in forming seven anti-French alliances, and finally won the victory of the Battle of Waterloo, defeating the French emperor Napoleon, who was scattered across Europe, and eventually died on an exiled deserted island overseas.

This is the largest historical event in the early 19th century. It influenced the entire 19th century Europe and was of great significance.

The European balance strategy, as the core and priority of Britain's diplomaticism, is undoubtedly higher than other colonies at any time.

From the 18th to the mid-19th century, the British were digesting the vast Indian colonies, with everything they wanted, rich resources, cheap labor and vast markets.

Compared with India, Java Island is just an inconspicuous piece of meat on the dining table. When the British are overeating, they don’t mind throwing it to the Netherlands, because although the Netherlands is small, it is fierce and aggressive, and is not an easy-to-dispute character.

The situation is different now

The British had consolidated their colonial rule in India, and in the Far East…”

Li Fushou pointed to the north and continued with a sigh, "We all love the mainland of China. After two Opium Wars, the British have figured out the general truth and reality. They know that they can't eat this huge ancient empire, so their current demand is to obtain trade rights in Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangdong provinces to further understand the details.

In Nanyang, the British launched a war against Myanmar, further expanding the scope of the colony.

On Fuso Island, the British threatened with force and obtained the same extraterritorial rights and other priority as the Americans, imposed unequal treaties on the Fuso Island people. This poor overseas island country has actually become a half colony.

So the British looked around and soon found that Shangri-La Island had no owner yet.
To be continued...