Good news in London and Egypt were frequent, but Prime Minister Gladstone was not happy.

The rebels did not attack the Suez Canal area as they expected, threatening the safety of the canal, and they did not even find the side of the canal.

There is no way, and the top leaders of the rebel army are not all fools. At least the leader Mahdi was very sober and knew that running to the canal would be fatal before driving away the French.

With the French's strict defense, they would even rather watch the fall of cities in Egypt and give priority to ensuring the safety of the Suez Canal.

This has caused great injuries to the British government that wants to intervene in the Suez Canal.

The canal was not threatened, so the British naturally had no excuse to interfere in the canal affairs. No matter how powerful Britain is, France and Austria would not buy their accounts.

Now the French reinforcements arrived in Egypt. At this time, even if the rebels wanted to fight to the canal, they would have no chance.

The ultimate goal was not achieved, and no matter how weakening the French, it would be useless. After all, France was no longer the primary goal of the British government's suppression at this time.

Gladstone: "The Egyptian plan has failed. We have lost the opportunity to intervene in the Suez Canal. If we continue, we will have to face France and Austria directly.

Given the current situation, we must now consider the aftermath issue. Continuing to weaken France is just helping Austria, which is not conducive to the continental balance."

Although he didn't want to admit it, the facts were facts. Lieutenant General Jares's reputation was very loud, and in fact he was able to command the troops, mainly based on Mahdi's trust.

But this kind of trust is not without conditions. At least it allowed the rebels to block the Suez Canal, which was rejected by Mahdi.

No one is a fool. Mahdi is very aware of the consequences of blocking the Suez Canal. It is not one or two countries that offends, but all the canal beneficiaries.

The British didn't dare to do anything in person, and Mahdi didn't dare to do anything. Even if they were making chess pieces, they were still thoughtful chess pieces, and not everything was controlled by the flag bearer.

Foreign Minister George: "The Prime Minister said it was right, French reinforcements arrived and our plan had failed.

If we continue, it is difficult for us to gain greater benefits besides increasing losses.

But letting go is not enough now. If we miss this opportunity, it will be even more difficult for us to interfere in the canal affairs in the future.

Judging from the current situation, with our support from Austria, the rebels may not be able to seize the same party.

Burying a nail in Egypt is still necessary for our future Suez Canal.

Besides, even if we let go now, the Austrians will not give up.

With their strength on the African continent, the essential difference is not big or not with us.

As for the French, they have offended them anyway, and they don’t care if they offended them further.”

This is very consistent with Britain's diplomatic principles and everything is in line with interests. As for offending potential quasi-alliers, it is not a problem. John Bull, who even his allies cheat, doesn't care about these things at all.

Hearing this answer made Prime Minister Gladstone very uncomfortable.

The intention of wanting to give Lieutenant General Jares's comments was already very obvious, but he was ruthlessly rejected by the Foreign Minister. Anyone would feel uncomfortable if he had been replaced.

However, the cabinet is not Gladstone's one-man show, and he must also carefully consider the opinions of the Foreign Minister.

If the rebels were given up and the Austrians took advantage of the situation and finally saved some of the rebels from separating the side, Britain would become a suspicion.

At that time, the opposition parties will definitely take the opportunity to attack. The people's spits will make them step down.

To put it bluntly, Britain and France never had so-called friendship, it only had hatred.

This is a consensus among the people of both countries. Whether the London government is willing to admit it or not, its concept has been deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Gladstone frowned and said in dissatisfaction: "Jar, don't forget that Fa'o's strength has become unbalanced.

Continuing to weaken the French, the rise and fall of the other will only make Austria's advantage more obvious, and the fragile continental balance that will last forever is easily broken."

Foreign Minister George shook his head: "Prime Minister, these are just a possibility, not necessarily.

In essence, Austria's advantages are limited to economics and military affairs, they do not have much advantage over the French.

This can be seen from the Vienna government's German unification plan.

If they had enough strength, they would have taken action long ago and would not have to wait until now.

Although Russia and Austria are allies, they actually have strategic conflicts. If Austria really has the strength to overwhelm the French and dominate the European continent, the Russian-Austrian alliance can also become a France-Russian alliance.

Before unifying the German region, Austria did not have the strength to fight against two. The Vienna government could not be unclear about this, so the continental balance was essentially stable."

This reason left Prime Minister Gladstone speechless. On the surface, Austria did have an advantage in the European continent, but its poor strategic position offset this advantage.

If one does become a dominant player, then Austria will not only face the French-Austrian alliance, but may also become the British, French and Russian alliance, and may even include North Germany.

Seeing the scene in embarrassment, Chancellor Akiji Childes reminded: "Two, this issue can be put aside for the time being and will be discussed later.

At present, we must seriously consider the food self-sufficiency plan. In recent times, the domestic call for food self-sufficiency has become increasingly high.

If we continue, the chances of parliament passing proposals are as high as 95%. At that time, it will be difficult for us to object."

There is no doubt that the Ministry of Finance, the most opposed to the "food self-sufficiency plan" in the London government. Britain is indeed a big family, but high income is also accompanied by high expenditures.

The Royal Navy is the largest gold-swalking beast, and the funds consumed every year are no less than the sum of the military expenditures of the Austrian Army and Navy.

Now that we have to carry out the food self-sufficiency plan, it is another huge loss project. And it is not a year or two, but a long-term loss.

For a transaction that is destined to lose money and cannot see returns, the Minister of Finance will naturally not be willing to waste money.

Colonial Minister Primros retorted: "Sir, you are too pessimistic. Things are both sides. Although the plan for self-sufficiency cannot make a profit in the short term, its accompanying value is not low.

This plan is not just agriculture, but also involves a lot of infrastructure construction, including water conservancy projects and road traffic.

Once the construction of supporting facilities is completed, the colonies' attractiveness to immigrants will be greatly increased.

The influx of a large number of labor forces will further promote the development of the colonial economy, and the finances of the colonial government will be greatly improved.

Many colonies that were losing money would turn losses into profits. Overall, our investments are not losing money."

It sounds good, but in fact it is limited to theory. The prosperity of the colonial economy will also attract messy ideas while increasing government fiscal revenue.

There is no doubt that national independence will definitely spread in the shortest time.

Although everyone agreed not to spread revolutionary ideas, it would be great to listen to them. Perhaps in order to avoid causing trouble, people will restrain themselves in the European continent, but the colonies will never be considered.

Once nationalism spreads, the rule of the colonial government will inevitably increase greatly.

High income is accompanied by higher expenditures. It is difficult to explain whether it is a loss or a profit.

However, it takes time to spread the idea of ​​national independence, and it is still beneficial in the short term. This means that the troubles are all from latecomers, but the political achievements are now.

Chancellor Akiji Childes reminded: "The Russians have already made their position that once we implement the food self-sufficiency plan, they will withdraw from the free trade system.

We have to consider the possible chain reaction of the Russians' withdrawal. If all food exporters withdraw from the free trade system, the consequences will be serious."

It is not necessary for all food exporters to withdraw. As long as Russia and Austria withdraw from the free trade system together, this system will be no longer available.

In this era of the strong prey on the weak, the free trade system relies more on force in addition to political and diplomatic means.

Many small countries join this system in order not to be excluded by everyone and to avoid being suppressed by the great powers.

This is also the reason why everyone is powerless to do with the French withdrawal. France is a big country with strong strength and will inevitably pay a big price to suppress it.

The returns are not proportional to the efforts, so naturally no one is the first to be a leader.

If Russia and Austria withdraw again, the land force responsibility of the free trade system will be completely abolished directly. No matter how powerful the Royal Navy is, it will not be able to reach the shore, and its deterrence will not be enough.

Foreign Minister George: "There is never perfect in this world. There is always gain and loss.

If the Russians threaten to withdraw from the free trade system, we will make a compromise and where will we put Britain's face?

What should I do if something similar happens in the future? Should I continue to compromise or refuse completely?”

Britain also needs face, and compromise and concessions cannot hurt their face. Unfortunately, the Russians did not realize this.

It was supposed to be in secret to negotiate, but it was taken to the table to discuss, which made the British government compromise and had to think twice before doing it.

If it stimulates the fragile nerves of the domestic people and is held back by the opposition party, the matter will be very big.

In a sense, the strong statement of the Tsarist government has to a certain extent strengthened the decisions of the British government.

Prime Minister Gladston sighed secretly and said helplessly: "Our trade with the Russians is limited, and we can keep this market the best.

If it really doesn't work, there is no need to be polite to the Russians. Anyway, Austria is also a vested interest in the free trade system, and it is impossible for the Vienna government to withdraw."
Chapter completed!