C2377 The End of the British Strategy (1/2)

The conflict had finally come to an end. The big game that Xiao Letian had played at the hands of Ying Lun had finally come to an end, and the situation was extremely clear. All of the previous arrangements had a final outcome.

Benjamin's downfall had already become a foregone conclusion, what the old man wanted now was just a matter of face. Maybe the Queen wanted him to have a decent end, after all, she wanted to take the initiative to go down to the underworld and listen better.

Was Benjamin going to ascend the stage and restore it again? Xiao Letian's judgement was confirmed, because throughout history, this undefeated cockroach had endured for many years. In the end, after Gladstone committed a major diplomatic error, he successfully issued an impeachment and pulled Gladstone off her horse.

Speaking of it, it really made people sigh. Gladstone's biggest mistake was actually what Xiao Letian had judged. This civil servant that valued internal affairs and diplomacy simply did not know how to deal with the war in the colony.

When Sir Gordon was the top military officer in Egypt, a rebellion against the British colonial rule broke out in Sudan. When Gordon led his main forces to break the siege of Khartoum, the reinforcements and besieged troops were heavily surrounded by the Sudan's army.

However, in this critical moment, Gladstone was slow to react and did not send any reinforcements. Only when the reinforcements were out of the encirclement of Khartoum did he realize that Governor Gordon had died in battle.

When the Queen heard the news, she was furious. A high rank governor of a colony had been killed on the battlefield, and this humiliating incident had occurred in North Africa, an area that had already been thoroughly infiltrated by Europe.

The Prime Minister could not be blamed, Gladstone had been completely abandoned by the Queen, and with the addition of some of the resistance in the country, Benjamin was able to take the chance and replace her.

The history was like this, but Xiao Letian's forced insertion had already changed history, so would Benjamin still be able to successfully restore it?

Previously, Xiao Letian did not dare be sure, but today he understood, with Gladstone's specialization in internal affairs, ignoring war, Britain would definitely suffer a huge loss in the future. If Gladstone was not an Egyptian Sudan, she might even be from East Asia.

Xiao Letian had a feeling that in the near future, when the Chinese would have the ability to fight, the situation would quickly evolve to an irreversible situation. At that time, would the Chinese and the British have a war? Would this war cause a dramatic change in the situation in Britain?

It was very possible that in the future, the opportunity to make Gladstone step down would not be the Sudan. It might even be in East Asia or the Chinese.

Right now, Xiao Letian didn't need to think about such a remote issue. He and Gladstone had a secret conversation in the middle of the night, and finally decided on the details of the future cooperation.

Once Gladstone came to power, the first thing to happen was the exchange of letters between the Chinese and the British. This was something that had long been promised, and the British would officially declare to the world that the Chinese were an independent nation.

First, exchange of letters, and after the establishment of the economic, military, and cultural cooperation projects can slowly discuss, the slower the better.

Negotiations between the big powers are very complicated. Sometimes preferential policies with a single tariff point can lead to tens of millions of pounds worth of profits. A single mistake could involve hundreds of millions of dollars in capital flows.

Therefore, the negotiations between countries would never end in a short period of time. Xiao Letian could temporarily put aside Gladstone's unequal treaties and slowly discuss them in detail. It wouldn't be a problem to discuss them for three or four years since the letter of credence had already been exchanged.

Most importantly, Xiao Letian did not want to reach a concrete agreement with Gladstone before the Franco-Prussian War, because he knew that if he wanted to take advantage of the situation at the negotiating table, the most important thing was to show off his muscles.

If the Chinese army were to make a spectacular achievement in the French soil, shocking the world, the final negotiations would have to put an end to the arrogance of the British.

The more the Chinese Army fought beautifully, the more things they could get from the negotiating table. This was the true essence of the negotiations. That was something only children could emphasize. Adults would not believe that.