C929 Neither of them is a good bird

At a critical moment, Prince Karl had to support these Chinese people. This was not only because of his personal relationship with Xiao Letian and the kindness of reminding him of his illness, but also because of his great strategy of governing for the future.

Karl would definitely ascend the throne sooner or later. Although the war for the European throne was not as cruel as the ones in the East, it was still not easy to become a good king.

In this era when the monarchy was being weakened, any European king needed to find ways to improve his strength and form allies.

China was a huge market that Prussia liked very much, but the way to open up this market was very meticulous. This was because this ancient country's size was too big, to the point that even the combined efforts of the English and French was unable to conquer it. What did the scholars say? Semi-colonial, yes, yes, semi-colonial.

The Chinese government was still enforceable, their armies were still at war, their people remained loyal to that backward court, and the Europeans could only get some special commercial and political preferential treatment in China.

You want to rule China as you rule Africa or India? That was a joke. In any case, the European politicians of the late 19th century were not as ambitious as they were now. They were all thinking the same thing to everyone in China. Earning money!

Prussia didn't have a strong navy, so their victorious army was no use. It was impossible to colonize China. Not only was it impossible for China, but there were actually no valuable areas left in the world for the Germany to colonize.

Then, when Karl ascended the throne and Prussia unified the Germany, how was the empire supposed to develop its overseas interests? This was an important strategic issue that Karl had to prepare for.

In Karl's mind, Xiao Letian was not only his good friend, but also an ally of the Germany who had entered Asia. The gigantic East Asia had huge business interests, once they got rid of the semi-colonial pattern created by the English and French and created a new type of moneymaking mode, then the entire Prussian economy would be alive.

Although this strategy was still not mature enough, it was already a question that Karl was seriously considering. At this critical moment, he had to support these Chinese students, supporting Xiao Letian.

Karl, who had made up his mind, laughed and said, "Respected Prime Minister, I know that the Qatari incident has caused a lot of trouble for Prussia, but we should be able to see the light in it … It is precisely because of this battle that we can obtain all the combat data of this new type of Iron-armored Ship without exposing ship number two! "

"Think about it, under English and French's all-out attack, our ship no. 2 won't be able to carry out live ammunition exercises, and there won't be a chance for real combat. Aren't you always worried that this ship is a failed investment?"

"Now that the facts have been revealed, Xiao Letian's suggestion to design is completely correct. This is a bold yet very effective new weapon, every single one of yours is definitely valuable …"

Karl's tall hat made Bismark's expression improve a lot. "Of course, I know that this warship is excellent, but the conflict caused this time is too great, and it gave us too much trouble in Prussia …"

"Who has evidence?" Karl asked in reply, "Three hours ago, our intelligence ship in the Atlantic Ocean returned to the territory of the Portugal, to the Cape Verde Islands.

"These Chinese people did it very beautifully. A night raid was as perfect as a textbook, and at the same time, it exposed the strength of France. The entire battle was strictly regulated by the Zhiyuan Warship, and no one had seen this battleship's true appearance …"

"In addition, the soldiers who had landed had their faces painted with oil paint, and had all the corpses taken away as well. They had also rescued the prisoners. France, so to speak, has absolutely no evidence against us, so what is there to be afraid of? "Then the diplomatic negotiations …"

"Prussia is no longer the weak kingdom under Napoleon I. If you want to blame us for it, you'd better not think about it!"

Karl still poured himself a cup of wine. Seeing that Bismark had no intention to stop him, he added a few pieces of ice crystals and took a big gulp, "Overall, although this conflict shocked the entire continent, but the clouds are dense and unable to reveal the truth, so the fury of France can only be anger. Wanting to pass is still very simple …"

"Oh!" "You seem to have noticed it already?" Bismarck looked into Karl's eyes and asked.

"Actually, it's very simple. They continue to cut the cracks between the French Emperor and the Cabinet. Napoleon III's restoration was already very forceful, and those Frenchmen who do not know how to obey have always complained about it … Since both of them have grudges, then we should be able to make use of them! "

Hehehe … Karl laughed like a little fox. "What is there to be afraid of? Wasn't he afraid that the republicans would try to restore the Republic? "Then let's add some information to him …"

"What are the cabinet and the capital elite afraid of? Isn't it just that I'm afraid that the centralized power of Napoleon III will become more and more serious, and eventually form the absolute empire? "

"We can play both sides of the game and make the whole of Paris even more confused with rumors. "On the one hand, they spread rumors among the people that the emperor was going to issue billions of Gold franc's worth of national debt and even increase the special tax, because the imperial army was going to undergo an overall upgrade …"

"At the same time, let some politicians in the wilderness, and even some exiled enemies attack the corruption of the France's army in the newspapers. Let the people think that the failure of the Dakar is purely the result of the army's incompetence … "Propose an impeachment, and ask the Emperor to first carry out a great reform of the army, then we can discuss the issue of national debt and tax increases..."

"Hahaha …" With French bureaucrats' ability to shirk responsibility, the argument will be prolonged, the emperor will think that the cabinet is trying to pressure him through military reform, and the bureaucracy will think that the emperor is trying to centralize power and amass money! "

Bismark laughed, "That's right, at this time, we should display even more weakness, and maybe even beg Britain to be our peacemaker, so that we can peacefully resolve this crisis. We need to become very, very wronged … Ha ha-ha, we must give the whole French a sense of security! "

The two of them clinked their glasses and simultaneously said, "Yes!" Break their feelings, but also give them a false sense of security. "We must not let the powers of France converge together. We must not let them overthrow the country to prepare for the battle!"

"Let them have two more Christmases in their false sense of security!"