Flowers, Swords and France

Under Kongze's seemingly respectful gaze, Charles finally finished reading the newspaper in his hand. This newspaper, in which Dr. Karl Marx scolded him, was not the only one next to him. In fact, there were a lot of newspapers on his desk, both from France and from other countries.

However, it seemed that he had lost interest. After reading that one, Charles only read a few copies and stopped reading. Instead, he looked directly at Kongze. "Sir, is this all?".

"Not all of them, but they are enough to represent public opinion." Kong Ze answered calmly, "We just selected some representative newspapers, and those foreign newspapers are all from France's neighboring countries. Other places farther away - such as Russia - cannot be collected for the time being..."

"It doesn't matter, it's enough." Charles shrugged lightly and commented as if it had nothing to do with him, "It seems to have become a hot topic."

"Yes, your previous speech has had a great impact throughout Europe." Kong Ze replied in a low voice, and for emphasis, he repeated it again with a heavier tone, "Yes, the whole of Europe." His expression was still very indifferent, so that Charles couldn't figure out whether his words were praise or ridicule. But, well, it doesn't matter anymore.

"I have roughly read several domestic newspapers, and the results are similar to what I expected, but I don't have the time to read all the foreign ones one by one, so can you give me a slightly more accurate summary?" Charles also became serious again, "Is every newspaper like the "New Rheinische Zeitung" I just read? It scolded me to death?"

"From the situation we have now, it is not the case. You worry too much, sir." Kong Ze replied calmly, "It is true that some foreign newspapers are dissatisfied with your speech, but some are positive."

Then he explained to Charles.

"In the small countries around us, the evaluation of your speech is probably similar to the position of the newspaper, and most of them are criticizing; but in the original Holy Alliance countries, according to the current situation we have obtained. They all hold some positive attitudes, thinking that your words may be inappropriate in some aspects, but the overall spirit is still positive." "This is not surprising." After a moment of silence. Charles gave his own evaluation, then he looked up at Conze, "You just mentioned the Holy Alliance countries, are you referring to Prussia and Austria? Quite a few words"

"That's right. The Austrian newspapers are the ones who support your remarks the most." Conze nodded gently. "Your view that the balance of power should be rebuilt has been widely welcomed there. Some people even say that you should stay in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead of the Ministry of Railways to help France implement this set of policies that are close to reality rather than empty slogans."

After hearing this, Charles smiled slightly. Although he didn't take such words seriously, he was still in a much happier mood. "What about Russia?"

"The attitude of the Russian public opinion is not very clear at present," Kong Ze frowned slightly, "but from the current point of view. Their attitude is not very positive. Just the day before yesterday. It is said that the Russian ambassador said at the reception of the embassy that 'diplomacy is a delicate art and should be handed over to experienced people. Young people who are aggressive and hot-blooded are too easy to mess things up. They'd better not make too many comments on diplomatic issues.'"

Out of a hidden malice, he deliberately quoted this sentence very clearly.

But what disappointed him a little was that his boss did not lose his temper and get angry. The other party just nodded slightly, as if he was mentally prepared for this result. "Is that so? This is not surprising."...

Although he pretended to be calm on the outside, Charles was still a little relieved in his heart. It seems that his speech did not cause too much trouble. The attitude of the Russians was more cautious than expected, and they did not even make public critical remarks. This also allowed Charles to finally step down without facing the crisis.

Yes, Charles's disruptive impromptu speech at the World Peace Conference was quickly passed on by the newspaper reporters present. After the newspapers published the general full text of the speech, this speech unexpectedly caused an uproar both in France and abroad, even overshadowing the conference itself, and caused a small storm in the diplomatic circles of various countries.

However, in this storm, not everyone opposed him like the peace activists present at the time.

In France, although there were some doubts that "this person is not qualified to speak for the country", in the mainstream public opinion field, his remarks actually received support and echoes from various factions to varying degrees at the same time - newspapers supporting the Bonapartists are naturally needless to say, and conservatives certainly support the expansion of France's influence. Even the liberals who always like to sing against the government do not oppose his remarks such as "our country has reason to be in a more superior position in Europe than it is now."

Therefore, although the public opinion has various doubts about him, it has not formed the momentum of verbal criticism. Instead, this young man has gradually gained some fame in various controversies and has shown some signs of emerging in the political arena.

Similarly, his remarks also caused some controversy abroad. Some weak states such as Belgium, Switzerland or Spain were worried about the hegemonic tendencies hidden in his statement, fearing that this was the resurrection of France's long-dormant desire for conquest; and among the "great powers" mentioned by Charles, although they would not agree on the surface, Charles's argument still won their favor. After all, which great power or self-proclaimed great power would not like the saying "where the great powers go, the small countries should stay away"?

However, the attitudes of the great powers are still different.

In his speech, Charles mentioned that the current balance of power in Europe has been broken, Austria has been weakened too much and should be restored to become an important power in Europe, and Russia should not be rampant in Eastern Europe - although many of his words are obvious, diplomats who have been dealing with diplomatic rhetoric for many years can certainly see it, so it is not surprising that his proposition has appeared in the two countries. However, despite being unhappy, Russia maintained surprising restraint, only criticizing in private, and refusing (or daring) to deny the principle of European balance of power in public.

In this way, Charles de Treville's first appearance in the European political and diplomatic circles gave people an impression of being pro-Austrian and anti-Russian.

At the same time, in other European countries, people were still speculating whether his remarks, which were full of pacifism on the surface and full of power-oriented arguments at the core, were just the young man's passionate feelings? Or was it the collective consensus and established strategy of a political group headed by Louis Bonaparte? Was it an accidental slip of the tongue? Or was it intentionally sending a signal to European countries?

Even Charles himself did not expect that his impromptu speech without any preparation would cause such a big response on the European road when he gave his speech - from this, we can also see the important position of France in the European situation at this time.

Seeing that the situation was more optimistic than expected, Charles couldn't help but relax a lot, and his expression was more relaxed than before.

Kong Ze saw his boss's appearance, hesitated for a moment, and decided to give him some advice.

"Sir, I think I have to give you a piece of advice."

"What advice?"

"I think that although you don't seem to have caused too much trouble this time, don't do similar things again in the future. Although you can get through this time, it may not be the same next time." Kong Ze's tone became colder and stiffer than before, "You won't be lucky every time, and besides, your position is not particularly stable. It is dangerous for you to make such controversial remarks for the sake of momentary emotion. What if you really cause such trouble again and endanger your position? In my opinion, this is not impossible. Your future is so promising that you shouldn't take risks casually."

The smile on Charles' face disappeared, and he stared at Kong Ze without saying a word.

Kong Ze stood fearlessly, his eyes fixed on his desk.

The original text is available on the Six # 9 @Books/Bar!

If one cannot even accept this level of admonition, then this person actually has no future at all, and only looks impressive. If he really wants to get angry, he should find another way to advance himself.

What relieved him was that Charles was not angry, but sighed softly. "You are right, I really shouldn't have made such imprudent remarks on impulse. Even if I really thought so, it was a mistake to say it at an inappropriate time and place. I already know my mistake."

"And Mr. President is also unhappy about this." Kong Ze added calmly, as if he was afraid that Charles would be too happy.

"At least he didn't punish me for it." Charles could only use this to defend himself and comfort himself at the same time.

That's right, after learning that he had made such a speech, Louis-Bonaparte quickly sent someone to express his displeasure to Charles - not that he had any disagreement with Charles's ideas, in fact, every word of these words was what he thought in his heart - he believed that at this point in time when the seizure of power had not yet been completely successful, it was really not appropriate to create complications in foreign relations and arouse the dissatisfaction of foreign governments.

Fortunately, the president's favor for Charles was still solid at this time, and his words did not cause constant opposition, so Louis-Bonaparte was only displeased and did not get angry, but he certainly did not want this to happen again.

After another moment of silence, Charles finally diverted this unpleasant topic.

"Okay, let's not talk about this. Tell me, how did the things arranged for you go? Did you find Captain Mignet?"

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