Flowers, Swords and France

Charles did not lie. He returned to his home the next day and met Count Duroviev, the Russian minister who was invited.

"Mr. de Treville, on behalf of myself and His Majesty the Tsar, I would like to express my deepest condolences to you." When they met in Charles's exquisitely decorated study, the tall Russian minister with gray hair said: He expressed to Ciel with a very serious expression. Expressing condolences, "The Duke of Treville was a very talented politician who has been committed to the friendship between our country and your country for decades. His death is a huge loss for France and Europe." I will represent Russia at his funeral."

"I will convey His Majesty the Tsar's condolences to my cousin," Charles nodded solemnly and made a gesture to sit down. "I would like to thank you and Your Majesty on his behalf."

Although he was saying thank you, he knew that in diplomatic exchanges, congratulations and condolences were worthless, but they could be used as a starting point for a topic.

He invited the Russian minister to his home today not just to express his condolences.

"Mr. Ambassador, thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to my place." After he sat down, Charles thanked him again, "I hope I didn't disrupt your schedule."

"We don't dare to refuse the invitation of an important person like you." The master replied quickly, "You represent France, and your interview is of great significance. My schedule should be changed for you."

"Actually, I have always wanted to meet you to enhance the friendly feelings between the two countries." Ciel nodded, seemingly sincerely, "It's just that... our country's political situation has changed a lot recently, so I haven't been able to find you. I’ll see you soon, please forgive me.”

Political changes? The ambassador's heart moved a little.

It was nothing more than trying to test Russia's attitude towards Louis Bonaparte's proclaimed emperor.

Since Louis Bonaparte launched the revolution and became the dictator of the French Republic, he will soon proclaim himself emperor. This is not a secret in the political arena of European countries, and various countries have spent several months of diplomatic coordination. In fact, we have already made a consensus on how to deal with it - that is, do nothing.

"Although the political situation in your country is constantly changing, I think this friendly relationship can be passed down." The ambassador replied calmly, "Europe is a close union, and its peace and prosperity require the efforts of every member." Work together. The efforts of big countries like yours and ours are particularly important.”

As long as France behaved, Russia would regard it as a member of the European family and continue to maintain peace with it - a position he quietly conveyed to Charles.

The two of them then continued to talk a bunch of clichés within the limits of diplomatic etiquette. The atmosphere started to become a little stiff and serious.

Originally, even if both of them were diplomats who were accustomed to talking in clichés, the communication would never be so dull. But now the two people's positions are a little awkward, so they had to pick up some clichés that were neither salty nor bland.

Reminiscing about old times? How to describe it? Saying that his grandfather followed Emperor Napoleon - under the current circumstances, both parties must find ways to avoid this black history and cannot bring it up.

"Sir, I have to admit that although I thought you were very talented, you have to adapt to this industry more than I thought." After all, you have the responsibility. After talking for a while, the earl finally couldn't help but began to test, "I originally thought that you would need some time to adapt to the new position, but I didn't expect that you would be able to perform your job extremely well as soon as you started. I have heard from my colleagues in the UK that your visit has generally aroused goodwill among the British people and Her Majesty is very fond of you.”

"Thank you for your compliment, but I think I still have a lot to learn from seniors like you." Charles smiled humbly, "To be honest, I have just entered this world of rhetoric and medals. I I’m really worried, for fear that if I say the wrong thing, it will cast a shadow on Europe’s bright future.”

"It turns out that you did quite well, better than any young man who is just starting out. At least I have never seen another young man who can master rhetoric as well as you." The minister also laughed, "In addition, I have never seen another young man who can master rhetoric as well as you." "If you like medals, His Majesty the Tsar will not be stingy about giving you a few."

"Of course that's great! Who doesn't like medals!" Charles smiled even more cheerfully, as if he didn't hear that the other party was insinuating that he was using rhetoric to avoid it, but it turned out that his words meant nothing.

"Shouldn't the British give you a few coins?" Because Charles never took the bait. The ambassador, who was at a disadvantage, had no choice but to expose the superficial disguise himself and start to get to the core. "Even if they invite you privately, don't they still put a heavy responsibility on your shoulders?"

"I guess I don't know what you are referring to." Charles still smiled and continued to avoid the ambassador's question.

"Sir, I understand your caution. In your position, everything you say and do is related to the interests and peace of European countries." A slight setback did not stop the ambassador's determination. He continued to test, "But you You are much more cautious than I thought. In fact, since you called me over, why do you need to avoid the question like this?"

"Sir, do you remember the last time we met?" Charles suddenly smiled.

The earl stiffened slightly and frowned.

The last time they met was at Sartori's military parade.

It was at that military parade that the young man's grandfather was named Marshal of France by Louis Bonaparte.

At that time he mocked the marshal and ended up having a minor quarrel with the young man. Unexpectedly, a few months later, he would become one of the important persons in charge of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and he would also come to visit him with old grudges.

Presumably, his performance at that time did not leave a good impression on this young man. As a result, he held a grudge and used an excuse to flatter himself today.

snort! This bastard really has no courage at all!

In the diplomatic work, he actually brought in some small conflicts from the past and used personal feelings to influence national affairs. He was really a young boy. When he thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a little contempt for this young man.

"Mr. Treville, of course I remember." The ambassador looked at Charles with a very apologetic expression, feeling resentful in his heart. "I'm sorry. I made a few jokes at that time, which made you unhappy. I hope you can Don’t worry about it. It will affect the relationship between the two countries.”

For a senior diplomat, apologies and thanks are commonplace. He can give as much as others ask for, so he is not stingy about giving some to Charles. Anyway, as long as you can make him happy.

"Oh, no, of course I wouldn't mind!" Charles smiled and shook his head, "If I had minded, I wouldn't have called you over. Please believe that it is for the sake of the overall situation of France-Russia relations that I I will invite you here to talk about things we can only talk about in private.”

Sure enough, it’s here! The ambassador's heart skipped a beat and he quickly put on his most serious look.

"What's going on? I'm all ears."

"Since you have your own diplomatic information channel, you must know that the British took the opportunity to discuss many issues with me." Charles said in a low voice, "However, you must not know what specific issues we discussed, right? "

"Although I'm not sure...but I think you should have talked about some issues related to our country, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have called me over." Although I had received a lot of money from the UK and China beforehand, news. But the ambassador pretended to be ignorant and asked.

Humph, I really got it. Seeing him like this, Ciel sneered in his heart.

He calculated the time before setting the invitation for today.

When he was in England before, he had ordered people to leak some information to the Russian Embassy in England. After this time, the information had almost been passed from London to Petersburg, and then turned into instructions, from Petersburg to Paris.

In other words, now, the count has understood. In this current isolated and dangerous environment, it is he who seeks help from de Treville, rather than de Treville seeking help from him.

"Yes, they talked to me about some issues related to your country." Ciel nodded. His expression became very serious, "Although generally speaking, we should not leak conversations between gentlemen, but sometimes... because things are too important, I can only make a painful choice..."

The ambassador did not answer, but looked at him eagerly.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Although the British spoke very cryptically, I can feel that they are very dissatisfied with your country." After a moment of silence, Charles told the truth, "They have been speaking ill of your country in front of me. They want to Provoke my hostility towards your country."

As he expected, even if he had some mental preparation beforehand, even the sophisticated earl stiffened slightly when he heard the news.

"That's what the British are like. They like to see the mainland arguing so that they can reap the benefits." After a moment, the ambassador smiled reluctantly. "As long as we fight against each other, they can sit back and relax on their gold coins. However, I believe that smart people like you will not fall for such cheap means. Our country is as peace-loving as France."

"If it's just verbal provocation, then forget it..." Charles shook his head, "The British have gone further than you think. As far as I can see, what they are striving to do is to establish some kind of attack on your country in the near future. Mr. Palmerston has been telling me that your country's momentum must be contained, and if necessary... it needs to be dealt with in a tough way."

As Ciel explained, the minister's face became more and more ugly, but he still maintained his superficial composure.

In today's world, if the British take the lead and form an alliance against a certain country, no one would dare to look at it indifferently - the weight of this country on the earth is really astonishingly high.

"I am very grateful for your kindness in informing us of all this." After quickly regaining all his grace and calmness, the ambassador nodded to Charles, "I will report the news you conveyed to the people at home, and they will The most appropriate way to deal with it.”

After a deliberate pause, he seemed to want to show off his strength in front of Charles and scare him, "In addition, I especially ask you not to take the provocation of the British seriously - the British are the most cunning, and they always only think about themselves. , if your country listens to their instigation and goes against us, I am afraid that it will face the risk of being betrayed by them at any time. Besides, our country is very powerful. Even if the British do what you say, they will not be able to suppress it. Down on us.”

Ciel was noncommittal and just smiled.

"So...what do you think?" The count felt something was not right, so he tried again. "Why did you tell me all this about him?"

"Because I am as dissatisfied with the attitude of the British as you are." Charles replied very simply. "Britain regards itself as the shepherdess of the European continent, but we don't want to just be a sheep. France can also be her." Sisters? They cannot dictate to us arbitrarily. We don’t need them to tell us what is good for us. France has its own judgment on its own interests.”

"Yes! You are right! Every country has the right to do its own thing, and Britain is not the only one on earth with people." Although the count was still very calm on the surface, a little bit of resentment was still leaked out.

Then, he looked at Charles tentatively again, "So, can you tell me, what is Louis Bonaparte's attitude towards this British proposal?"

"There's no need for me to tell you this," Ciel shrugged, "You're not qualified to know."

"Huh?" Charles' sudden blow stunned the earl.

"Since you are the Russian Minister, you will naturally understand that there are some things that you cannot handle." Charles replied with a hint of sarcasm, "To be honest, when there is a strong leader, every minister, to put it bluntly, It's just a puppet. I won't give the minister much autonomy, and obviously, people like me won't either, so what's the point of telling you more? I need Petersburg to tell me what I should do. How to do it.”

These words, which were clearly humiliating in person, made the Earl blush immediately.

His huge body suddenly shook, almost making Ciel suspect that he might take action directly regardless of etiquette.

"As long as you are willing to send me a message and convey to the Tsar what I want to say, then I will be very satisfied. This is my greatest request." Although he was obviously very angry, Charles did not take it as such. He said the same thing, still looking at him with a smile, "I guess you can't do more, can you? When Petersburg gives instructions, you can come to me for advice. At that time, I hope you can show your respect for us A more respectful attitude.”

The earl's brows were already frowning, and then he stood up.

Of course, he didn't want to fight with Ciel, he just walked away without saying a word.

"Please walk slowly, sir." Looking at his leaving back, Charles shrugged. (~^~)