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On June 21, 1847, the Imperial Foreign Minister Lin Zihao urgently summoned Sir Man-Han, the British Minister to China. He could see from the last decision of the Imperial Emperor Long Yufei that the empire's regaining Hong Kong was an imperative thing. [As the Imperial Foreign Minister, he will do his best to complete this plan this time. In addition, he hopes that this matter can be resolved through diplomatic means. If force is to be used, the impact will be too great. After all, if the Imperial Army attacks Hong Kong, it will inevitably make the British resentment and even start revenge immediately. This will bring greater dilemma to the empire that has already created too many enemies.

"His Excellency Foreign Minister, I have already made a statement last time that the British Empire had absolutely no rebellion on the plateau. All this is just a misunderstanding!" Sir Wen Xian thought that Lin Zihao was going to ask about the last question, so he hurriedly said.

"No, Mr., this time it was not that. However, before talking about the main business, I have one thing to notify you. Those British merchants and tourists who claimed to be intelligence personnel attacked the Imperial Army on the way while the Imperial Army was escorting them to Guangzhou, so they were shot and killed on the spot." Lin Zihao said.

"What? I was shot and killed on the spot. How is this possible? The Minister of Foreign Affairs, they are British citizens, and your country has no reason to kill them. This is a provocation to the British Empire." Sir Wenxian almost jumped up.

"Your Majesty, although they are British, they attempted to attack the Imperial Army and then escape. The Imperial Army shot them. It was just for self-defense." Lin Zihao insisted. Anyway, he didn't care what the truth of the incident was. He just followed the military's answer and gave it his own.

"No, Mr. Foreign Minister. We do not accept this answer. The British Empire will pay close attention to this matter and then send someone to investigate the matter, and give the dead British citizens a fair one." Sir Wenxian said gritted his teeth. He knew that those British intelligence personnel must have been shot by the Chinese. Although Britain did not admit to planning the rebellion on the plateau, in fact, those guys were simply intelligence officers of the British intelligence department. In such a situation, it was very possible that they would be executed by the Chinese. Of course, he also knew that without evidence, they could not have the means to deal with China. After all, Britain could not go to war with the Chinese Empire for the death of several intelligence personnel.

"Mystery, let's do whatever you want!" Lin Zihao said indifferently. He believed that the guys in the military must have done very cleanly. Even if these British people want to investigate, they will never come to any conclusions. In the end, it is probably not enough to settle the lives of human beings. In this era of war, it is really worthless. Even British citizens are the same.

"Mr., this time I came to you, mainly to talk to you about the Hong Kong issue!" Lin Zihao continued.

"Hong Kong issue? What's there to talk about?" Sir Wen Xian frowned. Although as the British ambassador to China, he had expected that this day would come soon, he still did not expect that all this would come so quickly. The Chinese Empire had just destroyed the Qing Dynasty and set its sights on Hong Kong. Before, the Chinese demanded to regain Hong Kong, but the British were holding back the pressure. But this time, it might not be so easy. Sir Wen Xian knew that if Britain wanted to save Hong Kong, there seemed to be no other way except to go to war with the Chinese Empire.

"My Lord, the UK has occupied Hong Kong for five years, so now it seems that Hong Kong should be returned to us. This is also what His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire means." Lin Zihao said.

"His Excellency Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hong Kong was ceded to British territory by the Chinese government under the Treaty of Nanjing signed in 1842. This is based on legal basis. How can the Chinese Empire allow us to return it now?" Sir Wen Xian still argued with reason and wanted to protect Britain's interests.

"My Lord, the Treaty of Nanjing is simply an unequal treaty imposed by the British government on the Qing government. The imperial government will not recognize it. In addition, the Qing Dynasty has now perished, and the imperial government will not recognize any unequal treaties signed by the Qing government and foreign countries. Therefore, Hong Kong is still the territory of the empire. The empire hopes that the British government can return Hong Kong to us as soon as possible." Lin Zihao emphasized his tone.

"His Excellency Minister of Foreign Affairs, your country does this completely tore up the original treaty, and doing so is not in line with international practice. The British Empire will never allow interests to be damaged like this." Sir Wenxian said with a tough bullet.

"If this is the last reply from the British government, then I can only express my regret. In order to recover Hong Kong, the empire will take all necessary measures." Lin Zihao's tone was cold.

"All necessary means? Also including war?" Sir Wenxian smiled.

"Yes, Your Excellency Minister. If necessary, we will take war measures to recover Hong Kong!" Lin Zihao said firmly.

"His Excellency Foreign Minister, is this a war threat from your country to the British Empire?" Sir Wenxian still refused to give in.

"The Empire does not want to go to war with Britain. However, we must regain Hong Kong. If Britain wants to use this to go to war with the Empire, then the Empire will fight at all!" Lin Zihao's attitude was very firm.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the office was a little frozen. Whether it was Lin Zihao or Sir Wen Xian, his face was not very good-looking. However, for the sake of the interests of their respective countries, neither of them would retreat.

"His Excellency Minister of Foreign Affairs, I will report to the country. However, I don't think the cabinet will retreat," said Sir Wenxian.

"Mr. Minister, I hope your country can give us an answer as soon as possible. What do you think in three days?" Lin Zihao asked.

Sir Wenxian nodded, then said goodbye and left.

After leaving the Empire's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sir Wen Xian did not return to the embassy, ​​but rushed to Hong Kong. Thanks to the empire's large-scale transportation construction, there were wide cement roads all the way from Guangzhou to Kowloon, and even if you were traveling by carriage, it would only take a few hours.

In the evening of that day, Sir Man-Han had already appeared at the Governor General of Hong Kong and met Sir Davis, the Governor General of Hong Kong.

"Mr., you are so anxious to come to Hong Kong. What happened?" Sir Davis asked quickly.

"His Excellency the Governor, the Foreign Minister of the Chinese Empire, has formally proposed today that they demand that we return Hong Kong to them and that we need to give a reply within three days. Otherwise, they will use force to recover Hong Kong." Sir Man-Han said.

"What? How is this possible? The British Empire's army and navy in Hong Kong had only more than 5,000 people. There were only a few old-fashioned warships and two infantry regiments. If a war started, we would be killed by the Chinese army soon." Sir Davis was shocked. Hong Kong was under the nose of the Chinese Empire and was completely surrounded by the Chinese Empire's military. If a war broke out, the troops deployed in Hong Kong would not be able to withstand the Chinese army at all. Moreover, even if Britain wanted to rescue, the nearest troops would be India. It would take at least half a month to get from India to Hong Kong. During this period, it would be necessary to break through the interception of the Chinese navy. It can be said that once the war broke out, Britain would undoubtedly be defeated.

"Governor General, I have asked someone to report this situation to the country. I am here to inform you now, hoping that you can prepare immediately. Once the cabinet rejects the Chinese conditions, I think the war will break out soon." Sir Wen Xian was a little negative. Sir Davis's point of view is also his point of view. If the Chinese really wanted to regain Hong Kong by force, they would not be able to defend it at all.

"Mr. I will order the British army in Hong Kong to enter a state of combat readiness. However, you do not have to give any hope for this. Once the war begins, we are no match for the Chinese. The Chinese Navy has deployed several powerful warships around Hong Kong for many years, and our old sailing warships are no match for them at all. In addition, the Chinese have also deployed a heavy artillery position in Kowloon, and the entire Hong Kong is almost within the range of the opponent. Once the Chinese land in Hong Kong, we have no way to stop it." Sir Davis was a little desperate.

Sir Wenxian nodded. Now, he can only leave his destiny to do his best.

If the British cabinet could communicate well with the Chinese Empire government, it might be possible to resolve this crisis. However, this time the Chinese Empire is firm in its attitude, and there are only two ways before the British government, either returning Hong Kong to the Chinese Empire or starting a war. However, no matter which path is chosen, the fall of Hong Kong has become a foregone conclusion.

When Sir Wen Xian sent his telegram back to London, it was still 3 a.m. London time. After receiving the telegram, the British Foreign Office was shocked. The Chinese Empire actually wanted to recover Hong Kong at this time and issued a threat of force. If this matter cannot be properly resolved, then the war is very likely to break out. Although the British never wanted to defeat the Chinese Empire and avenge their previous shame. However, they did not dare to act rashly without the certainty of winning.

The British Foreign Office's duty official sent the telegram to the British Foreign Secretary Earl Granville as soon as possible. He was woken up and was too lazy to see the content of the telegram. After reading the contents of the telegram, he also had a headache. (To be continued, please search for astronomy, the novel is better, updated and faster!
Chapter completed!