Chapter 431 Murder at Sea
Port of London, UK.
Robert Peel let out a sigh of relief as he watched the crowd disperse as if the waves were ebbing.
Although there were some "interruptions", the Queen finally boarded the ship smoothly.
It seems that he is one step closer to his ideal of great harmony between Britain and France.
In fact, France is also extremely nervous, and the situation of workers' strikes is also difficult to control.
In particular, barricades were once again built in the Lyon area to confront the police. The Bonapartist suppression was obviously extremely ineffective.
Of course, it is inevitable that they cannot be suppressed. After all, the weapons of the local military police are not as good as those of the revolting workers. Coupled with the constraints of the other two factions, the Bonapartist faction was even more difficult to move forward.
However, when the Queen of England is about to visit Paris, it is the Royal Party and the Orleans Party that are anxious now, because they do not want France to miss this opportunity.
The Bonapartists, on the other hand, didn't care because they hated Britain.
Although Britain is trying its best to repair its relationship with France, its support for the rebels has never been cut off. Coupled with the assistance from Austria, the rebels at this time are actually strong.
If those high-level officials had not sold the weapons privately, they might have occupied the entire city by now.
Of course, Franz couldn't be too harsh on the leaders of the rebels. After all, they just wanted to have enough to eat and live a good life. If they didn't work hard, no one would want to do such a stupid thing.
As for the so-called responsibility and consciousness, most people did not have such things at that time.
In fact, someone had already published a relevant article in the "Rheinische Zeitung" at this time, but the newspaper had been closed down by the Prussian authorities.
In addition to the uprisings in Lyon, unrest in Paris also troubled Louis Philippe and his French government.
All this stemmed from that unintentional purchase, and British goods had become the object of hatred by the French.
Louis Philippe's self-righteous actions have once again pushed the French royal family to the forefront. Although crisis public relations have been carried out, this does not mean that everything has been calmed down.
If the citizens of Paris rioted during the Queen's visit, the consequences would be devastating.
So Louis Philippe strengthened the defense force in Paris and enacted a lot of temporary laws. In fact, he also felt that the easing of relations between Britain and France would give France a chance to breathe.
At this time, France seemed to have unlimited glory. It had recently acquired Belgium's richest Wallonia region, and even marched into Oceania to capture Tahiti.
But in fact, there is a lack of funds everywhere, resulting in the land being conquered but not even the "grain to be sown".
As mentioned before, the value of many colonies for direct plunder is not great. On the contrary, it requires a large amount of upfront investment to obtain benefits.
At this time, the problem facing the French colonies was that they had no money to invest, and they could not even maintain stability. Algeria and Morocco in North Africa, Guatemala and El Salvador in Central America (actually controlled by Lamosan), and other African and Asian colonies were not stable.
Among them, Algeria and Morocco are the strongest, and the number of rebels can reach hundreds of thousands. Secondly, although Lamosan in Central America only has more than 20,000 troops, its terrain is dominated by mountainous rainforests, which makes it the most difficult to annihilate.
As for resistance in other African and Asian regions, they mostly appeared in the form of tribes or families and actually posed no threat to the French. However, France's power in these areas is also weaker and cannot bring benefits to the country.
At this time, the most worry-free thing for the French was Texas, which was wrested from the hands of the Mexicans. It not only provided a large amount of tax revenue, but also provided some military resources.
But the situation in the colonies was nothing compared to France's domestic difficulties.
Therefore, Louis Philippe also wanted to express goodwill to the British, hoping that the two sides could temporarily abandon the confrontation, especially the confrontation in the Viceroyalty of La Plata.
At first it seemed to be for the dignity and face of France, but now it seems to be extremely stupid. Neither side has benefited, but has to maintain the military expenditure of an expeditionary force for a long time.
As for their function, it is of no use.
In addition, Queen Regent Christiana of Spain also plans to come to Paris. This meeting of the three kings was promoted by the French media as a diplomatic event.
But in fact, Louis Philippe did not want Christiana to participate, mainly because this woman's conduct was too bad.
He was afraid that she would do something to embarrass the French royal family, such as borrow money.
That's right, it's the kind of thing where you borrow something and don't pay it back.
The reason why Spain is in such a chaotic situation today has a lot to do with the dissolute and extravagant waste of Queen Regent Christiana.
It was nothing for this woman to sell her official position publicly, but she actually appointed her male favorite as a local official, which eventually caused public resentment and rebellion.
Finally, Louis Philippe had to send troops to help her put down the rebellion.
Although the so-called Queen Regent had been dismissed at this time, Louis Philippe really had no reasonable reason to refuse her to attend this event in Paris.
In the Port of London, the Royal Cruise Ship "Victoria and Albert" slowly left the harbor with a long whistle.
On the sea, the accompanying officials began to introduce the cruise ship to the Queen.
The "Victoria and Albert" adopts the latest twin paddle wheel design and uses the most advanced condensing steam engine with a thermal efficiency of up to 8%, while the usual steam engine thermal efficiency is only 3%
The accompanying officials were talking nonstop, but Victoria looked at the captain of the ship.
The official seemed a little embarrassed, but introduced him anyway.
"This is Captain Adolf..."
Then Victoria spoke.
"Adolf Fitzclarenz, I know you. You are my uncle's son."
The middle-aged captain politely took off his hat and saluted Victoria.
"Thank you for your misplaced love, my Queen."
"Why are you here?" Victoria asked.
"This is my job. I am a member of the British Empire's navy and your subject," Captain Fitzclarenz replied.
Victoria fell silent, but Captain Fitzclarenz spoke.
"I was offered fifty thousand pounds to blow up the ship."
As soon as these words came out, the people around him immediately became on guard. Prince Albert pulled Victoria behind him, but there was no point in doing so.
If there is really a bomb on this ship, their chance of survival is extremely low, because this is a vast sea, and even if they are not killed by the bomb, they cannot swim back so far from the coast.
And it is not that he has no reason to hate Victoria. You must know that Adolf Fitzclarenz is the illegitimate son of the former British King William IV. Although he was deeply favored by the former king, he was unable to inherit the British throne.
Maybe this person will hold a grudge, and if he really plans to blow up the ship, the consequences will be disastrous.
Then Victoria spoke.
"So what are you going to do next?"