War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

The news that the Austrian Empire recognized the Dominican government did not cause any waves in Europe, because it was of no great significance in itself.

Or in other words, the great powers did not care about the fate of this small country, but they caused an uproar on Hispaniola.

The church's priests naturally took the credit for this, while Juan Pablo Duarte's supporters felt that it was their leader's charisma that moved Austria, a European power.

But no matter what, the entire Dominican Republic is in a sea of ​​joy. The locals feel that with the support of the great powers, defeating those niggas is just around the corner. Many people are looking forward to Austria sending troops as soon as possible.

Of course, it is actually impossible for the Austrian Empire to actually send troops to Hispaniola. Let’s not talk about whether it can win or not. The cost of this expedition alone is unacceptable.

Juan Pablo Duarte was in some trouble because he was afraid that the Austrians would elect him as the king of Dominica. After all, Austria itself was a monarchy and had no reason to support a republic.

But at this time, Dominica was suffering from internal and external troubles, people could not even eat, and there was a risk of being destroyed at any time. Perhaps he should ascend the throne first, and then voluntarily give up his identity as a dictator like Washington.

Juan Pablo Duarte's supporters believe that being a king is better than being a president because it has more power and is more beneficial to their followers.

Of course, some people saw opportunities in this. General Pedro Santana performed well in the battle against the black Haitian warlords with his ruthless style and won the trust of the soldiers.

In fact, no matter what the general's character is, as long as he can win every battle, he will win the respect of the soldiers.

But such people may not necessarily be favored by politicians and capitalists. Duarte was very disdainful of Pedro Santana and turned a blind eye to his bravery in the battle, which also confirmed the latter's idea.

In fact, the opinions between the two sides were at odds, so Pedro Santana's letter had already been sent to Austria before the Austrian envoy arrived.

The experiences of Pedro Santana and Tasan Anna are actually very similar. Both like to stage coups, cockfights, find mistresses twenty years younger than themselves, and betray their country.

It's just that the former is more cunning than the latter, and is capricious and difficult to control. Although this person also served as a guide for the Spaniards, the asking price was too high and he was a hungry wolf that could not be fed.

Franz didn't want to stumble on the colonial issue, so he had to be careful in choosing his "partners". In addition, Austria's unilateral "action" did not cause Britain and France to follow suit.

Because France was deeply involved in the Moroccan War at this time, while Britain had just dealt with external problems, and the internal Chartists and workers' (mining) strikes made Robert Peel very anxious.

Austria is a little different. Its development is in a rising period; although the rate of rise is a bit fast, generally speaking, except for parts of Transletania, the advantages of the reform and industrial era are gradually showing.

Overseas colonies were also relatively stable, with no large-scale riots or separatist governments.

The black indigenous people in West Africa launched several uprisings, but the damage they could cause was limited.

And Franz did not intend to directly intervene in Dominica's internal affairs and its war with Haiti. At least not now.

1844, Hong Kong.

Qi Ying, the Manchu and Guangxi Governor-General and Imperial Envoy, was warmly welcomed by the British Minister Pu Dingcha as soon as he landed ashore, because the relationship between the two was indeed good.

Qiying was very respectful to the British Minister Poting Cha. He changed the previous arrogant attitude of Manchu officials towards foreigners and even accepted the latter's son as his adopted son.

At the same time, in order to show his uniqueness, Qiying also presented a gold bracelet to Pu Dingcha and exchanged photos of his wife with him.

This was a big news in the East, which generally favored boys over girls at that time. Thanks to this relationship with the British minister, he became the Qing official with the most exposure in British newspapers.

The reason why Qiying made this trip was to persuade the British to send troops to exterminate the remnants of the Nanyang rebels.

When it comes to asking Great Britain to send troops, it was Mu Zhang'a, the Minister of Military Aircraft, who reminded Emperor Daoguang of the so-called "killing the thief with a borrowed knife." This Lord Mu Zhang'a was the most powerful official in the Daoguang Dynasty, and it was his handiwork that removed Lin Zexu.

It was just that when sending Qiying to persuade the British to send troops, Mu Zhanga did not give the former a bribe of one tael of silver, but only gave him a letter of credence, but it was not a cession of territory or a trade agreement, and the subject was not even the Qing Dynasty.

It was a letter of credence presented by Lan Fang to the Qing Dynasty. The content was that he would dedicate his land to the Qing Dynasty and would like to be called a "subject" instead of a "vassal".

Then a letter of credence from the Qing Dynasty was attached, to the effect that if Britain was willing to send troops to exterminate the rebels of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty would be willing to donate Lanfang to the British Empire for the good of all generations.

What is the ultimate logic behind this outrageous strategy? For Emperor Daoguang, who once proposed to Britain that he should take Queen Victoria as his concubine, even the most outrageous proposal would not make the Whitehall men think it was outrageous.

But it wasn't that Mu Zhang'a and others didn't want to pay bribes, but that Daoguang was a stingy guy.

As the Minister of Military and Aircraft, Mu Zhang'a naturally knew the emperor's character, but he had to deal with the matter, so he thought of this plan to kill three birds with one stone.

As soon as he heard that there was no need to spend money, Emperor Daoguang immediately praised "This is a wonderful plan!" When other military ministers saw that His Majesty had made up his mind, they naturally ended up saying "My Emperor is wise".

But when it comes to Qiying, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi and the imperial envoy, it's not so easy. This guy is actually as fearful of the ocean as a tiger.

Moreover, he has dealt with "foreign adults" a lot, and he knows very well that the empty-handed white wolf in the officialdom does not work well in front of foreigners.

So after receiving the imperial edict, he immediately summoned wealthy businessmen and large households in the two provinces and asked for donations. As for the name, it was nothing more than military training and river embankment construction.

The wealthy people also know what this adult is thinking, but they are just wondering why there is one more event this year than in previous years.

So Qiying came to Hong Kong Island with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from donations and his own "accumulation" over the years. He knew very well that if he did this well, he would prosper in the rest of his life; if he didn't do it well, he would be dismissed from his post, investigated, and exiled to the army.

But this time he was wrong. When the British Minister Pu Dingcha heard the interpreter explain the contents of the two letters of credence, his eyes shone brightly.

This is a very good gift for Great Britain, because they know very well that the current Nanming is just a country established by some Qing people who could not survive in Nanyang to seek life.

With this letter of credence, it is equivalent to the Qing Dynasty admitting that West Borneo was given to the United Kingdom, which will undoubtedly greatly weaken the local people's will to resist.

What's more important is that the fleet stationed in Hong Kong will soon sail to Kalimantan. In fact, Sir William Hawke had previously suggested it to the East India Company, but it was not until the Nanming army made a sneak attack on Mala Port that he made up his mind.