Flowers, Swords and France

The weather in summer is unpredictable. One moment the sun is shining brightly, and the next moment it is overcast with clouds. There is even a muffled thunder above the square. It is obvious that there will be a heavy rain soon.

However, the weather outside did not affect Charles at all. He bent over his desk and quickly reviewed the official documents.

The silence in the office that seemed to last until the end of the world was broken only by a knock on the door. Clement Lechinsky, Charles's full-time secretary, walked in quickly.

"Sir, he's here." He lowered his head to report.

"Let him in," said Charles without looking up.

"yes."

Soon, his right-hand man at the French news agency, Mr. Konze, walked in. However, he remained expressionless as usual, and did not show much fear towards his superiors.

Although Charles found out that he had come in, he did not express any sign, but continued to write furiously among his official documents, while Kong Ze stood opposite without saying a word.

"Ah, it's gone at last!" After signing his name on the last document, Charles finally threw down his pen and sighed, "I didn't expect to find such a hard job for myself. !”

"I can see that you enjoy it." Kong Ze replied calmly. "From what I have observed over the years, being busy with power always makes people feel as sweet as honey."

"Oh, you can see that." Charles couldn't help but laugh, "But you are right, this busyness is indeed intoxicating sometimes. Oh, please sit down."

Kong Ze sat down slowly. Then he raised his head and looked at Charles, as if asking, "Why did you call me here today?"

"Mr. Kongze, you've been with me for so long, it's time for us to be able to talk to each other about what's on our mind?" Charles said directly without deliberately showing off, "Tell me honestly, do you feel Working in a news agency is a bit boring. Do you think it’s boring to deal with pieces of paper all the time?”

"Do you have a new task you want to give me?" Kongze immediately understood what Charles meant, and then his calm heart suddenly caused some waves - could he still return to the government?

"Sometimes I really think you are too smart." Charles nodded simply, "However, it is different from what you think. I don't mean that I want you to come to the ministry to help me..."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Kong Ze felt a little disappointed in his heart.

"Boom!" Thunder suddenly sounded outside. Then the sound of raindrops came in continuously. Ciel stood up. Go to the window and look at the square after the rain. The special summer rain was pouring down continuously at this moment, as if a vast white mist was rising in the square.

Charles stood at the window and looked at the square quietly, not caring at all that the raindrops drifting in from outside wet his clothes.

He called Kong Ze into his office, of course not to gossip. However, he has been deep in thought now. It was as if he was thinking about whether what he was doing was appropriate or not.

"What are you thinking about?" Looking at Charles who seemed to be in a daze, Kong Ze couldn't help but ask.

This question. It brought him back to the human world from his trance, and also made him make up his final determination.

He turned around and stared at Kong Ze seriously.

"I want to make munitions."

This sudden sentence made Kong Ze stunned for a moment. After a moment, he looked at Charles with some confusion.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a genie in a bottle. I can conjure a lot of weapons for you... If you want to ask how to make weapons, you can go to those engineers."

"No, you misunderstood me." Charles shook his head slightly, "There are thousands of people in the world who know how to make arms; they know how to sell these arms and where to sell them. There are very few good people in the world.”

"What do you mean...?" Kong Ze was even more confused about what Charles meant.

Ciel pulled the curtains down, and the room instantly became darker.

He turned around and sat back in his chair.

"Sir, when a man is in my position, he always sees more than others. I can assure you that France has a lot of battles to fight... and with more than one country." Then, He lowered his voice again, "Don't you need me to tell you about the importance of keeping secrets?"

After hearing what Charles said, Kong Ze was slightly moved. He understood what Charles' words meant.

"Of course I know how to keep it secret," he replied in a low voice.

He had vaguely heard some rumors about President Louis Bonaparte, but after the Bonapartists personally explained it, he realized how close France was to war today!

"Very good." Charles smiled slightly, finally diluting a bit of the solemnity in the room, "Since there are many battles to be fought in the future, it is obvious that in the future, this country's demand for arms will be greater than ever before. Since So, we shouldn’t waste such a good opportunity.”

"I understand." Kong Ze nodded slightly, "You want to set up a company specializing in manufacturing arms in the future, and you need my help."

"It's not just that." Ciel shook his head, "We have another important thing to consider."

He paused, then raised his head and asked, "Have you ever been to the East?"

"Dongfang?" Kong Ze was finally completely confused.

"To be precise, it's the Qing Dynasty and Japan. After the company opens, I want you to be responsible for the development of these markets." Charles said word by word, "Of course, you can also draw your reasonable commission remuneration from it. "

"But the commercial demand there is not big?" Kong Ze immediately questioned, "They don't buy our products, and even the British are having a headache. In the end, they found opium. These British guys are really ruthless... "

This is true, for many reasons. France's commercial interests in the East are not large, and its exports are completely unable to compare with Britain, which has initially completed the Industrial Revolution.

"Yes, France currently has no commercial interests in the East. But... we can find ways to create commercial interests." Charles replied, "From my observation, this calm in the East will soon be broken. .Whether they want it or not, they will have to integrate with the world..."

"Will France go to war with the Qing Dynasty?" Kong Ze asked.

"We can't say for sure," Charles replied with a smile, "However, what we can conclude is that the Qing court is already on the verge of collapse. Yes, at a time when the financial situation is becoming increasingly difficult. The Qing rule will inevitably decline; moreover, , the imperial army was defeated by the British, and had lost their authority to intimidate the people. In this case, it is difficult to imagine that large-scale popular uprisings will not occur - this is a common occurrence in Eastern history." Ciel continued. "And we, we certainly have commercial benefits from the collapse of dynasties, whether it's French or Chinese."

Kong Ze looked at Ciel steadily. After thinking for a moment, he finally understood what Ciel meant.

"You mean, it won't be long before a civil war breaks out in the Qing Dynasty?"

"Maybe it's called civil war, maybe it's called uprising. Maybe it's called revolution, it's all the same." Charles nodded. "In short, their demand for arms will be extremely strong by then. Both sides will want the most sophisticated and excellent weapons, and we must develop this market before others. Although the profit is not as good as opium, but It will also be very substantial, enough to make me, you, and many, many others very rich.”

"Are you really that sure?" Although Kong Ze seemed calm, his tone was obviously excited. His heart also pounded.

"I'm sure." Charles replied firmly, "Although it won't be today or tomorrow, the civil war in the Qing Dynasty will break out soon."

Sure enough. Kong Ze bit his lip gently and forced himself to calm down.

Yes, if it is true as Mr. de Treville said, what a huge benefit all this will be! At least enough to make him stand out. As long as...as long as it was true...he only felt that his blood was burning.

Judging from Kong Ze's observations of this young man over the past year, what this man said will generally come true, and he has a vision that he admires. Since he judged this way, then... it should be very possible. .

When he thought of this, he no longer had any hesitation.

"Then what are you going to tell me to do?"

………………

Kong Ze's psychological activities did not escape Charles's eyes. From the moment he asked this question, Charles knew that most of his goals had been accomplished. This man is so easy to understand. As long as there is a trace of success, I will never let go of the opportunity.

That's right, Charles wanted to take advantage of the Taiping Rebellion that was about to break out soon, and the Qing court allowed various places to organize their own armed forces, and did their best to import arms to China on a large scale.

A few days ago, Baron de Beauvain's grand plan and handiwork gave him a strong stimulation. It made him more eager than ever before to establish a great cause. After a lot of hard work, I finally got everything I have now. Next, I can't do worse than a native? He asked himself.

Under this stimulation, he finally made this decision.

What he didn't explain to Kong Ze was that he not only wanted to make a fortune by selling large amounts of arms, but if necessary, he was also prepared to provide loans to certain people to build up their power - although he had not determined yet. To whom, he doesn't like Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing and other gangsters and internal strife maniacs.

There is no doubt that the large-scale import of weapons will further shake the already fragile system of the Qing Dynasty. If there is no reliable replacement, it may even plunge China into a warlord melee. Several warlord groups They will fight each other endlessly for interests (this is what foreign fire dealers most want to see).

He knows what this means. Those ten years that were already very tragic would probably become more intense and bloody due to his own disturbance, but he was still determined. Because, for China at this time, it is better to remove the tumor earlier than to wait until the 20th century to make up for it.

Falling into this kind of pain eighty years in advance may allow this country and this civilization to recover earlier than before. At least, a strong man who could win out of the warlords' melee and reunite the country. Those who will understand the significance of modern military and technology will never be worse than the rulers of the Qing Dynasty, and there will never be Guangxu and Cixi in the Sino-Japanese War.

He made a fortune from the civil war in the Qing Dynasty. The Han warlords relied on his arms and loans to expel the Manchu royal family and rebuild the country. It's at least a win-win, right?

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

When he thought of this, Charles felt slightly melancholy and also a little excited.

My plan is bigger and more powerful than De Beauvain's! As long as everything comes true. It’s enough to make the subsequent world history completely different!

However, even if the blood is boiling, people still need to calm down.

He pushed the excitement to the back of his mind. He raised his head again and looked at Kong Ze.

"How much money do you have in total now?"

"It's not a lot of money..." Kong Ze's face paused slightly.

"It doesn't matter, even if you don't have much money, you can become my partner." Charles immediately saw through his concerns. So he comforted me by saying, "As long as you work hard enough, it will be fine."

"I understand." Kong Ze felt completely relieved, and then he straightened his back, "When are you going to arrange for me to go to the East..."

"Pfft hahahaha..." Ciel suddenly laughed.

"What's wrong with you?" Kong Ze was a little surprised.

"Nothing, nothing..." Charles replied while smiling, "Your reaction was exactly as I expected."

There was a rare embarrassment on Kong Ze's face.

"It doesn't matter, what we want is your energy!" Charles continued, "But you don't have to worry yet. There is no trace of our arms company yet! We first need to find someone to bring this Stand up. Once everything is on track, I will pay for your trip to the East."

However, judging from the timeline, we must hurry up now. Because it is already 1849, and the Taiping Rebellion will break out in 1851. If all goes well, not long after the Kingdom of Heaven Uprising breaks out, Kong Ze will have just arrived in China, and then he will be able to discover the huge business opportunities.

When that time comes, he will desperately find someone to sell his weapons to, no matter where it is, without Ciel urging him.

"I will try my best to catch up." Kong Ze repeatedly assured Charles.

Then, he thought of another question.

"Then when the time comes, when I take people to inspect, under what name will I go? If a foreigner like me runs around on the land of the Qing Dynasty, will I cause any trouble?"

He didn't expect that his question would make Ciel's face suddenly turn completely gloomy.

"Sir, I...did I say something wrong?" His expression frightened Kong Ze, for fear of offending this big shot.

After a moment of excruciating silence, the big man finally spoke.

"No, this has nothing to do with you, it's just that I thought of something."

After a pause, he added an additional order, "You and your men will go as missionaries when the time comes. As long as you have this identity, you will be able to travel unhindered in the Qing Dynasty. If you encounter anything A few years ago, the July Dynasty government had reached an agreement with the Qing Dynasty, and they had confirmed that the French consul was responsible for the legal jurisdiction of the Qing Dynasty. "

"This is a good idea!" After hearing what Charles said, Kong Ze exclaimed. He was completely relieved and gearing up to do something big in the future.

In 1843, after the Qing Dynasty was defeated by the British and the Treaty of Nanjing was signed, King Louis-Philippe of France appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Arie-de-lagrene, to China to discuss the signing of the treaty. A huge fleet of counselors, translators, doctors and even chamber of commerce representatives traveled to China.

In August 1844, de Rachany came to Macau and immediately met with Qi Ying, the Qing governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. In October, he signed the "Sino-French Whampoa Treaty" on behalf of the two countries.

[In the text, due to the strong request from France, Louis-Philippe did not use the title of king, which seemed to be lower than the emperor. Instead, he used the title of "Great Emperor of France", tied with "Great Emperor of the Qing Dynasty" . 】

During the negotiations, Qing officials were afraid that the French ambassador would go to Beijing to meet Emperor Daoguang (as if the Qing Congress would suffer heavy losses as a result), so they rejected the proposal to exchange envoys; at the same time, because they were afraid that the people under their rule would be contaminated by foreign barbarians, they He also rejected the suggestion that "China send young people to study in France to learn shipbuilding and cannon casting."

At the same time, what is terrible is that they agreed with a nonchalant attitude to grant France unilateral most-favored-nation status and consular jurisdiction according to the British example, and even allowed French missionaries to preach freely in China (later, other Western countries also cited it For example, China has completely opened its doors to Christian missionaries. Because of these terms, no matter how misbehaving foreign missionaries were in China, the Qing government could not directly control them and could only discuss solutions with the country's consul).

In order to prevent foreign envoys from entering Beijing (this is an extremely normal international exchange, but in the eyes of Qing officials, it is completely treacherous and unimaginable), Qing officials almost tried their best and agreed to transfer many of the country's real rights and interests. The terms are causing endless harm.

How much truly meaningful national sovereignty will they lose in order to prevent foreign ministers from entering Beijing? How many lesson plans will happen in China in the future because of these provisions? And because of the conflict with foreign religions, how much trouble did it cause in the next sixty years?

They didn't expect it at all, and they didn't care at all at this point.

In the end, de La Euni, who had already obtained satisfactory conditions, announced to the Qing officials that he would not come to Beijing for an audience for the time being, and Qiying's capable staff and assistant Huang Tongen even wrote in his diary with a smug look that "La Euni's skills have run out."

This is nothing more than buying a box and returning the pearl.

The consequences of allowing foreign countries to preach freely were clearly revealed in just a few years.

After the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty had already declined and was at the end of its rope. Even the fig leaf of the Celestial Empire on the surface was ruthlessly torn apart by the British expeditionary force of 20,000.

However, the first to instigate the rebellion in the world was Hong Xiuquan, who claimed to be the second son of God. This down-and-out scholar from Guangxi, influenced by the missionary pamphlets, established the God Worshipping Society and used the Christian doctrines that had been tampered with beyond recognition as the spiritual weapon to build an uprising organization, which was more or less ridiculous.

Of course, there is no doubt that the Taiping Rebellion was mainly caused by the profound economic factors in the late Qing Dynasty, and the religious factors were just a trigger.

Wouldn't it be better to destroy such a dynasty earlier?

However, at least for now, the foolish and short-sighted decision of the Qing government is extremely helpful to Charles' plan - his agents can travel around China under the cover of missionaries.

"So, do you have any other instructions?" After a moment of silence, Kong Ze asked again.

"One more thing." Charles suddenly took out a piece of paper and wrote a name on it. "Find a way to find this person and arrange for me to meet him."

"Understood." Kong Ze bowed deeply and left. (To be continued...)