The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

As the prime minister, Robert Peel was very puzzled, how could two mature diplomats do such substandard things.

It's just that when he learned the details, he even hesitated for a second between war and peace, and finally chose to tear up the letter addressed to Queen Victoria.

"People on the continent are all freaks!"

Robert Peel was a little angry. At first he saw the Pope bombarding those Catholic countries and thought he was a good person, at least he could be used.

However, Robert Peel had given up on that idea at this time. If this kind of lunatic really allowed him to succeed, he might launch another crusade.

Robert Peel shook his head and waved away the scene in his mind. Successive natural disasters and more and more international challenges have slowed down the UK's economic growth significantly.

Wars in southern Brazil, along the southeastern coast of Albania, and on the Indian subcontinent were draining British resources.

In fact, the original purpose of these wars was to pass on domestic conflicts and at the same time use wars to stimulate the economy.

However, these maneuvers have failed, especially the sudden Afghan offensive during the Sikh War, coupled with the general uprising on the subcontinent, which is now dragging Britain into an even deeper abyss.

Britain's costly military campaign had nothing to gain except the conquest of the Sikh Empire.

And this conquered empire is obviously decayed, and its people and land can't squeeze any oil and water at all. At the same time, due to the influence of religion and culture, the Sikhs have a particularly strong will to resist.

Sir Henry Harding felt that at least [-] troops were needed to maintain local stability, because the Sikh Empire was close to the Kabul Pass, which was the only way for the Afghans to invade India.

The feasibility of completely conquering Afghanistan was discussed in the UK, but it was opposed by the vast majority.

There are several main reasons:
First, a few years have passed since the first Anglo-Afghanistan war, and the bloody tragedy of the Kabul retreat is still vivid in our minds. We must be prepared to bear the consequences of failure if we launch a war to invade Afghanistan again.

In the expeditionary force of more than 2 people, only one military doctor survived in the end.

Second, it is not difficult to defeat the Afghans, but it is difficult to maintain the occupation, and if the nomads collect protection fees, then this is not a war of aggression, but poverty alleviation.

The British approach has always been to pull one and fight one, using their own maritime advantages to attack quickly and replenish quickly.

But Afghanistan, which is inland, obviously does not have this condition. If the army is too small, it will be difficult to achieve full occupation, and too scattered troops will be divided and wiped out by nomads.

However, the size of the army is too large and it is difficult to maintain supplies. If you want to maintain the supplies of the army, you need to mobilize more manpower and material resources, and the two costs will spiral up as a result.

Building a railway may be a good choice, but there is no railway on the Indian subcontinent, and the efficiency of steel production is too low, and advanced machinery and equipment have to be shipped from the mainland.

At the same time, the length of the entire railway will reach an astonishing 3000 kilometers. During this period, it will pass through a large number of complex terrains, especially mountains and deserts, which are the blind spots of British Railways.

The cost of the entire railway is expected to be over 6000 million pounds, and due to the uncertainty of the economic value, no one will pay for it, and the government needs to unilaterally prepay the construction funds in the early stage.

During the construction period, various natural disasters and possible uprisings and wars must be taken into account, so this railway is a bottomless pit.

But I have to say that there are a lot of talents in Britain in this era. Sir Henry Harding insisted on building the Indian Railway, but Robert Peel actually agreed under the huge domestic pressure.

The reasons for the two are different. The former considers it from a military point of view. Although the railway to Afghanistan cannot be directly built, the railway on the Indian subcontinent can be built first, and the Afghan issue can be resolved when Britain has the strength.

The latter considers economics and politics. Railways are like the blood of the country. Railways are indispensable if you want to firmly control the Indian subcontinent.

But just having an attitude is not enough. Palmerston used his relationship to find some Indian businessmen and princes. These people are willing to contribute to the construction of the Indian Railway for different purposes.

They didn't know at this time that what they built was the gallows to hang themselves.

After receiving the injection of funds, the Indian Railway project was officially established, but Franz was not worried, because he knew that it was already 1858 when the first Indian railway opened to traffic.

As for what the British and Indians had done in the past 12 years, Franz didn't need to think about it.

Perhaps the people at this time are full of passion, but they cannot guarantee that the same will be true for those who come later. When the temptation is strong enough, morality, belief, and even law in the usual sense can hardly restrain people's thinking and behavior.

ireland.

At this time, it was experiencing the greatest famine in history, but Emerald Island was still lush and green, and even exported food to record highs repeatedly.

Boxes of grain on the docks, and herds of cattle and sheep leaving Ireland in exchange for fine silk clothes and wine.

Franz didn't see the desperate Irish taking up arms to take back the grain that was rightfully theirs. He only saw a gray-haired old man standing on the pier, growling hysterically.

"This is our food! This is what we have worked so hard to grow! This is what we rely on to survive!

Why do you take our food?Why do you make us suffer from hunger?Aren't we British? "

But no one stopped, let alone ignored, but no one expelled.

On the floor below Franz, laughter erupted in the corridor of the second class.

"Sir, what are you laughing at?"

Franz asked politely, but no one answered.

The lower floor was still laughing and pointing. Bordeaux held on to the railing with one hand and was about to jump off to argue with the other party, but was stopped by Franz.

"What's so funny about that?"

Franz's words were no longer polite, and even a little sullen, making it uncomfortable to hear.Due to the loud noise, the passengers in the second-class cabin turned their heads one after another, and some of them were still swearing.

It's just that when they saw that the people in the first class were asking questions, these people immediately changed their attitudes, and the cursers closed their mouths and hid quietly. Those guys who were glaring and looking for people before all took off their hats in a pleasant manner. salute.

"Good morning, sir. I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, but it's all the Irishman's fault.

How shameless that guy O'Connell said he was British. "

"Aren't the Irish people English? Don't they live in this land?"

Lakshmi Payi on the side rushed to ask, and the Englishman below immediately changed his face and asked back when he heard the curry-smelling English.

"Are the Indians also Americans? You have cockroaches in your house, and the mice didn't step on them to death. Shouldn't they be grateful to you? Why ask for more?"