Chapter 497: Dangers Lurking Everywhere

Russia, St. Petersburg

Nicholas I was obsessed with everything about the army, so ten of his thirteen most important ministers were military men.

An outstanding young man looked more energetic in a neat military uniform, which made His Majesty the Tsar very happy.

But the surname Uvarov still brought out a bad memory of this iron-fisted monarch. The old Duke Uvarov was a favorite of the late Emperor Alexander I.

But during the Decembrist rebellion, this man chose to support Constantine (Nicholas I's brother). Although he did not directly participate in the riot, such a person could not be trusted by the Tsar again.

So this family with a glorious resume was driven out of St. Petersburg. In fact, being forced to abdicate has always been a grudge for Nicholas I, but fortunately he is in a good mood now.

And this Tsar is particularly open-minded in some aspects, that is, he rarely vents his anger on other people's families.

"Andrei, you said it very well. Are you willing to serve the Russian Empire? I need a smart and brave person to visit the Ottoman Empire to show my goodwill."

It is a great honor for a young nobleman to be entrusted with an important task by the Tsar. Although Andrei Uvarov's character is relatively arrogant and cold, he can't hide his joy at this moment.

"I am willing to serve your Majesty. It is my honor to serve the Russian Empire."

In the eyes of Nicholas I (205cm), the young man in front of him is of medium height (186cm), with a handsome and cold appearance, firm but not dull. The dark green military uniform of the Russian officer fits him very well, but the rank of major is a little lower.

In fact, if Andrei Uvarov was not the eldest son of the Duke's family, he would be at most a lieutenant at this time.

"Okay, that's what young people should be like. I will promote you to major general now, and you will go to the Ottoman Empire with Mainkov.

Remember, don't forget what you said. I'm waiting for your good news."

"Yes! His Majesty the Tsar, Hurrah!" Andrei Uvarov usually disdains to shout such slogans, but at this time, he found that he could shout it so smoothly.

London, 10 Downing Street

Robert Peel slammed the intelligence in his hand on the table. He couldn't believe that the aid to the miners came from Prussia, and these people were "dangerous elements".

At this time, the Prime Minister even suspected that the Prussians were planning some famous conspiracy. After all, their Finance Minister Friedrich List had just visited not long ago, hoping to smuggle British goods.

It's called smuggling, but it's actually a monopoly; after all, the German Customs Union is full of Austrian products, and Prussia's industrial base is too backward. It seems to be a foolish dream to catch up and surpass it.

But Mr. List is a ruthless man who does not follow the ordinary path. He understands that the primitive accumulation of capital is bloody - either let others bleed or let himself bleed.

So how should we act now that we know this truth? It's simple. Austrian goods can sweep across Central Europe, but can they deal with Great Britain, the world's number one?

He has visited Britain and Austria in person, and naturally knows that the citizens of the former are obviously more hardworking, while the people of the latter spend more energy on infighting and consumption.

Of course, it is precisely because Austrians like to spend money that the German Customs Union has not been hollowed out by them. So Friedrich List's roundabout strategy to save the country moved Frederick William IV.

After thinking about it, Robert Peel even wanted to take action, but the role played by the Prussians in the previous miners' strike was indeed a bit confusing for him.

Now the United Kingdom has stretched too far across the world, and all aspects at home and abroad are involving the energy of the prime minister, and the white hair is ironclad evidence.

He deeply felt that the "3,000 civil servants" system that made the British proud could no longer meet the growing needs of the empire.

A large number of temporary workers and outsourced personnel greatly reduced administrative efficiency, and also brought a lot of waste and corruption.

However, changing this system involves the interests of the top leaders, and he only dared to have fun in his mind.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace

Franz was also overwhelmed by domestic corruption. Because Friedrich led the fleet to Asia and Africa and was busy suppressing the riots in Africa, the number of escort ships required for normal trade was insufficient.

A gold transport ship from Mexico to Austria mysteriously disappeared, which made Franz feel a little sorry at first. After all, encountering various disasters or even pirates at sea could lead to this result.

But soon there was intelligence that someone found an Austrian gold transport ship in Boston Harbor in the United States. Tens of millions of florins disappeared, and more importantly, detailed intelligence on the Austrian side was revealed to the United States.

This made the Empire's future activities in the Atlantic extremely unsafe. At the same time, because Tasan Anna kept talking about the Emancipation Proclamation all day long and really did what Americans did hundreds of years later, black slaves in the southern United States and the French colony of Texas often escaped en masse.

And Tasan Anna's black guards also grew from more than 2,000 people at the beginning to more than 8,000 people, and this was also counted in the number of people lost in the civil war. Otherwise, the total number would have exceeded 10,000 long ago.

The Black Legion played an important role in the Mexican Civil War, and its leader Diego became the first black general in Mexican history.

However, giving blacks and whites the same rights caused dissatisfaction among the public and the opposition, and even angered the slave owners in the southern United States and Texas.

The relationship between Mexico and the French colony of Texas was originally very bad, and now Washington has received news about large gold mines, and I am afraid that a war is inevitable.

In fact, since Guizot arrived in Texas, he has raised local taxes to the maximum, causing complaints from farmers and factory owners.

However, the gap between American cowboys and French regular troops is not generally large. The latter only needs one-third of the former's troops to win the battle. If the two have equal troops, it will be a complete massacre.

So these Americans can only pay taxes to Guizot honestly, but these guys also put forward a request, that is, the problem of slave loss must be solved.

Therefore, this former French minister, the newly appointed Governor of Texas, continued to buy slaves from Dutch and Portuguese merchants on the one hand, and on the other hand, he asked his subordinates to pay more attention to the increasing number of slave escapes.

In fact, he also understood that there would never be true peace between Texas, Mexico and the United States, so he naturally believed that the Emancipation Proclamation was a Mexican conspiracy against France.

For this reason, Guizot sought out many French literary masters and legal experts to refute the declaration, but all failed. After all, France itself admitted that the slave trade was neither humane nor legal.

Washington, White House

John Tyler repeatedly weighed the pros and cons of going to war with Mexico, and finally he wrote a personal letter to King Louis Philippe of France.