Chapter 353 Conflicts Escalate

The 21 battleships (Grand Texas Fleet) that the French were building could not satisfy France's ambitions. Both Louis Philippe and the Bonaparte soldiers felt that France deserved better.

The expansion plan of the Grand Orient Fleet, the expansion plan of the Grand Western Fleet, the new paddle steamer plan, and the transformation plan of the Grand Texas Fleet. A series of jaw-dropping plans were put on the agenda.

People are greedy. From the people to the top, all the French people hope to build a strong navy to wash away the shame brought to them by the British.

In the face of this overwhelming hatred, Guizot could not do anything. He could only approve the large-scale shipbuilding plan. But now France needs money everywhere. It is true that the country is thriving, but various expenses are also rising.

At the same time, the corruption problem of Guizot's government began to surface. There was nothing wrong with the rampant corruption in French politics before. It was just facing small players such as Spain, Mexico, the United States, and the Central American Federation.

But at this time, he was facing the powerful Britain. Such a huge shipbuilding plan was already very expensive. If there was corruption like before, the cost would be a black hole formed by astronomical figures.

But it was difficult to punish corruption. Not to mention that he was the biggest behind-the-scenes manipulator, domestic workers' strikes and uprisings (Lyon workers' strike), agricultural crisis, Republicans who wanted to violently overthrow Louis Philippe and increasingly restless Bonapartists.

"If all these "corrupt officials" were dealt with, who would defend France?" François Guizot comforted himself in his heart.

South America, La Plata Governorate.

Governor Rosas was still planning his great cause. If Argentina wanted to unify South America, it had to eliminate Brazil. The first step to eliminate Brazil was naturally to control Uruguay. If it wanted to take Uruguay, it had to conquer Montevideo first, so as to cut off its support.

(Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay and the most important port at the time. It is also an important competitor of Buenos Aires.)

However, Rosas's subordinates did not know the ambitions of the governor. They felt that Rosas was too close to the Brazilians and had betrayed Buenos Aires. Therefore, the radicals led by Juan Manuel contacted the French, hoping to drive out Rosas, a puppet of the British.

Of course, no one would say this directly. The reason they gave was that Rosas was cruel and tyrannical, killed innocent people indiscriminately, violated the principle of free trade, and was autocratic and reactionary.

In fact, they were not talking nonsense. Although Rosas was a republican, his degree of reaction was far beyond that of ordinary emperors.

In order to win over the church and restore church privileges, Rosas closed a large number of schools. At the beginning of his tenure, there were 114 schools in Argentina, but by the end of his rule, there were only 35 schools in the country.

Rosas also restored the Jesuit organization and used the power of the church to carry out deceptive propaganda, deceiving many gauchos, blacks and Indians to work for him.

(It's almost like believing in Rosas will lead you to heaven. This outrageous statement was made when people's education level was very low. The scams that seem ridiculous now can often deceive many people.)

Rosas implemented a policy of terror in the name of maintaining order. During his reign, more than 20,000 people in Argentina were killed and their property was confiscated. It should be noted that the total population of Argentina was only a few hundred thousand at that time.

His rule caused a large number of elites to go into exile abroad, and organizations opposing Rosas were established in other countries. Historically, it was these organizations that laid the groundwork for his demise.

But Rosas can't wait until that time in this life. An expeditionary force consisting of 15 warships and 5,000 French soldiers is ready to go to Buenos Aires to uphold justice.

Originally, the change of regime in Argentina had nothing to do with the British, because no matter who was in power, the money owed to Britain had to be repaid.

London received a secret report that the French not only wanted to overthrow Rosas, but also to establish their own puppet regime and then transform it into a French colony.

The British side absolutely could not allow such a thing, so they sent people to negotiate with the French side, but this arrogant British gentleman deeply hurt the fragile heart of the French.

Because of the previous Spanish Civil War, the Turkish-Egyptian War, the Central American Federation Civil War, and the agency issue of Mombasa (East African port), the British had to hit the French head every time.

This expedition to the Viceroyalty of La Plata, the British followed like a hound smelling blood at the beginning.

This made the French almost unbearable, because the Viceroyalty of La Plata (Argentina) was originally a Spanish colony, and now what they did was nothing more than returning the property to its original owner.

So a French diplomat of low rank answered sternly when facing the aggressive questioning of British diplomats.

"The French expedition to La Plata was just. It was not an invasion, but a rescue operation to drive away thieves, robbers, and tyrants. I advise you and the British government, if you are not willing to help save your white compatriots, please at least don't confuse black and white and make things difficult for us!"

The irony contained in the words of the French diplomat is self-evident. When did the British "gentlemen" at that time suffer such a big loss? They immediately asked.

"Why do you say that? Can you judge whether it is an invasion based on just one sentence from you? And what right do you have to presumptuously criticize the behavior of our government?"

The French official straightened his collar and cleared his throat.

"I'll give you the same words. Can you judge whether our country is an invader just by your words? And what basis do you have to criticize the behavior of our government?"

The two officials went back and forth and refused to give in. Seeing that the atmosphere was getting worse and worse, the other accompanying personnel of both sides separated the two.

Since the two people in dispute were of low level, the chief officers of the two delegations did not pay much attention to it. After all, politics is not a child's play of quarreling with each other.

In the eyes of those professional diplomats, there is nothing that cannot be discussed. Spain is the former suzerain of Argentina, and Britain is the creditor of the Viceroyalty of La Plata. Both sides can take what they need, and even dividing the country into two is not a big deal.

Britain and France can make the Viceroyalty of La Plata independent from Spain, and naturally they can return it to Spain, or both sides can take half. In short, it is just a business that can be discussed.

As for Governor Rosas, it is a completely insignificant thing compared with the interests of Britain and France.

However, the content of this quarrel soon appeared on the front page of the London Times. The editor-in-chief also wrote a very inflammatory article for this, accompanied by a photo of a French official with his teeth bared. For a time, the bars and cafes on the streets were full of rhetoric about going to war with France.

Similarly, the people of Paris took to the streets to protest against the British interference in the internal affairs of France and Spain. The angry crowd even threw torches and stones at the British Embassy. The hotel where the British delegation stayed was also besieged. Finally, the Paris police had to step in to suppress it before things calmed down.

But the call for war did not disappear.

Although both sides were a little bit in a dilemma, Franz did not think that Britain and France could go to war just because of this, so he needed to add fuel to the fire.