Chapter 1111

When Brooke stepped onto British soil, his heart was filled with a mix of emotions.

Compared to the prosperity of Qingzhou, London, in his eyes, looked like a countryside of the Eastern Empire, a world that had not truly entered civilization.

This was the first time he had a feeling of doubt about the British system. How could an empire that was insignificant in their eyes surpass them in just a few years?

After a moment of thought, Brooke composed himself. Beside him was Hu Chuan, an ambassador sent by the Eastern Empire to Britain. He still had to arrange for this ambassador to meet with the Queen.

“Ambassador Hu, you will stay in a London hotel for one night tonight. Tomorrow, I will take you to meet Her Majesty the Queen to discuss the matter of establishing an embassy.”

Hu Chuan was observing London. When he appeared, many British people in the port gave him strange looks.

These looks contained emotions such as disdain, confusion, curiosity, and fear. After all, to the current Western world, seeing so many Eastern faces in their land was something they were not used to.

“Alright. We look forward to meeting with Her Majesty the Queen, Victoria.” Hu Chuan responded with a polite smile.

Brooke then had his deputy stop a carriage to take Hu Chuan to the most luxurious hotel in London, the Matilda Hotel. He and the other envoys walked in another direction.

Getting into the carriage, Hu Chuan continued to observe the streetscape of London. His deputy, Kang Ming, who was sitting across from him, said, “This place is truly backward. I’m afraid I will miss Qingzhou every day.”

“Who says otherwise? But this is our job. If we don’t do it, someone in the Empire will.” Hu Chuan said.

Kang Ming sighed. “I hope we won’t be in danger of losing our lives here. Everyone here looks like a bandit.”

“Don’t worry. We will be safe here because we are the victors. Unless they want to be beaten again.” Hu Chuan was very confident.

With that, the two chatted for a while.

Meanwhile, Brooke had already arrived at his office on the banks of the Thames River in London.

Taking out the notes he had recorded in Qingzhou from his bag, he went straight to Murphy’s office.

“Hi, Brooke, welcome back.” Murphy walked forward with great joy and gave Brooke a hug.

Since Brooke’s departure, they had been waiting for a year. This was a very long time, and it made them feel anxious about the negotiation.

With a hearty laugh, Brooke patted Murphy’s back heavily. He said, “Thank you. This negotiation went very smoothly. We paid a price, but in exchange, we got peace. This is the signed agreement.”

Taking the agreement, Murphy read it carefully. After flipping through all the terms, he finally sighed. The terms in the treaty were all humiliating for Britain.

But at the same time, he understood that they had no choice but to accept it, because they needed time to improve Britain’s technological level.

They were not afraid of war, but what they feared was the Eastern Empire completely cutting off their maritime trade routes.

For Britain, which had a small territory and scarce resources, this would be a disaster.

“You have done a very good job. I will go to see Her Majesty the Queen now. Come with me.” Murphy carefully rolled up the treaty.

After a pause, he said, “There is also the issue of the embassy. We need to negotiate it in advance.”

Brooke seemed uninterested in the Queen. He said with a dejected expression, “This trip to Qingzhou, I saw too many miracles. I have recorded all of them in my diary. You should read the contents now. If you have finished reading it, I believe you will know what to do when you meet with the Queen.”

Murphy was stunned. “Apart from ironclads and advanced firearms, what else do they have?”

“Prime Minister Murphy, ironclads and firearms are just the surface of the Eastern Empire. What is truly terrifying about them is their industrial capacity. Do you know their annual steel production? The steel production of Qingzhou alone is ten times the total annual steel production of Britain. And this does not include the large factories in other regions. Most importantly, the quality of their steel is much better than ours.”

Murphy was shocked by Brooke’s words. As the prime minister, he naturally understood the great significance of steel production.

In this era of firearms, this meant a country’s war potential.

Stopping in his tracks, Murphy took Brooke’s diary and began to read it. One after another, the unfamiliar terms left him dumbfounded.

“Telegraph, telephone, what on earth are these things? Can they really transmit sounds over a thousand li?” Murphy was shocked beyond measure.

Brooke just nodded slightly. “These things were quickly popularized in this empire in just a few years. But that’s not the point. Steam engines are already considered outdated industrial products in the Eastern Empire. They are already using electric motors that are driven by electricity. What is even more unreachable for us is that they have manufactured a thing called an internal combustion engine. The cars manufactured with this thing as the core can travel at a speed of eighty kilometers per hour. Now they are still developing large transport vehicles. Once they succeed, this Empire’s transportation will become even more convenient.”

Murphy’s gaze swept over the unfamiliar but mysterious-looking names of the items one by one. He now finally understood the gap between Britain and the Eastern Empire.

“I understand what you mean. We can no longer look at this Eastern Empire with our former mindset. We must make the British understand their strength so that we can catch up.” Murphy said sincerely.

Brooke nodded. “This content should be published in the newspapers. Arrogance is the most dangerous thing for a country. It will make us short-sighted and arrogant.”

“I will do that.” Murphy said seriously. He was truly scared by the scenes described in the diary.

He then pulled Brooke to the Tulip Palace and also had Victoria read the diary.

“Tomorrow, we will hold a grand banquet of the highest standard for the envoys from the Eastern Empire to welcome them. At the same time, we will select the best building in the city center for them to be their embassy. If we cannot keep up with this Eastern giant’s pace, Britain will continue to decline, which is something we cannot tolerate.” Victoria’s pale face was now filled with worry.

Although she was unwilling to admit it in her heart, Britain’s era was over. The stage of the world would belong to the Eastern Empire from now on.

After a pause, she said, “Immediately assemble a trade delegation to go to the Chinese Empire to discuss patents. We must obtain their technology no matter the cost, and at the same time, strictly abide by the terms of the agreement.”

Murphy and Brooke exchanged glances. It was clear that the contents of the diary had also made this Queen feel a genuine fear.

The technological gap between them was so similar to the one between the European colonists and the local natives. They were also very glad that the emperor who ruled this country was not a madman, otherwise they might really have to fight the Eastern army on their own soil.