Flowers, Swords and France

After hearing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's emphasis, Fran finally understood that the reason why the other party patiently explained to her was not to teach her any truth, but to make herself a mouthpiece and convey the words he wanted to convey. To his brother.

At this time, this group of dances had been completed. Fran returned to where she was sitting just now, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander also sat down with her. At this time, the waiters thoughtfully placed some cold drinks on the table. For this group of noble people who are tired from dancing and want to rest.

"You want me to tell my brother that Russia must expand to the Near and Far East. This is an unchangeable obligation, right?" After Fran took a sip of ice-cold juice, she immediately asked Crown Prince Alexander, "I feel like you are Justifying Russian expansion to someone—but not to me.”

"After all, you are not an experienced diplomat!" Crown Prince Alexander smiled and sighed, "Actually, you don't have to say it so bluntly. There are some things that everyone will understand tacitly."

"Thanks to you, I will never be able to be a diplomat in this life." Fran seemed to be scolding her while thinking calmly, "But why don't you tell my brother through formal channels?"

"First, as I said just now, I am not the Tsar, I am just the Crown Prince. I cannot make any decisions without my father's decision, and I do not want to make this matter too much through an official channel. It's remarkable..." Crown Prince Alexander shook his head, "Secondly... although our diplomats speak French very fluently and their etiquette may be impeccable, their minds are empty, horribly empty! I don’t understand the correlation between form and connotation at all, and I don’t understand how to deal with subtle things!”

As if he had thought of something, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince became a little unhappy, and severely criticized the Russian diplomats, "Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is full of such brainless translation machines, but I have no idea." There is no way! So I can't let them handle this matter... It's really an eye-opener for you. With your special status, you can get close to your brother without attracting anyone's attention, and you can also make this matter seem irrelevant. It’s the little things that matter, so that everyone has room to move forward and retreat easily.”

"You...you want to contact my brother privately? Then what exactly do you want to achieve?" Fran couldn't help but ask.

"Of course the only purpose is to have good relations with France, isn't it?" Crown Prince Alexander laughed again, "I think that compared to Britain, Russia is actually more friendly and similar to France - after all, we are both It is a country that has been tricked by fate and has to rise up against it. What reason is there not to make friends? "

But my brother has decided to let the two countries go to war. I'm really sorry. Fran thought.

"I think I know what you mean," she said rather quietly.

"Yes, we all know it, it's just obvious! For many years, the British have been secretly stirring up trouble, making the whole of Europe uneasy and the world in chaos. Then they, gentlemen wearing white gloves, can Acting as a savior generously, using the blood of others to kill each other for their own benefit," Crown Prince Alexander suddenly said bluntly. Said, "And now, they are playing the same old tricks again. They want the French to bleed and sacrifice for Britain... and if this evil idea succeeds, it will be the common fate of our two great nations." It’s a tragedy, isn’t it? France should not listen to the British’s slander and turn against our country. As long as we stand together, I think it will be beneficial to everyone.”

"You... what you said is a bit complicated. I'm sorry that I don't understand it... In short, you just want France to have good relations with Russia and not interfere with Russia in any way, right?" After Fran was silent for a moment, she finally said He raised his head and looked at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, "So, you mean to let us stand and watch your country in the Near and Far East, um, compete for your greatness and wealth, right?"

Although there was some unnatural sarcasm in her tone, Crown Prince Alexander nodded, "Indeed, this is my idea, but I know that we can't just care about ourselves, so I think... France can also participate in our efforts. Come in the midst of great action.”

Under Fran's strange gaze, Crown Prince Alexander said proudly, "As long as we coordinate together, I can be sure that the Asian empires in the Near and Far East will never be our opponents, and even European countries, including the United Kingdom, will definitely not be our opponents. Our opponents... So shouldn’t we stand together and seek the right to move freely in the world?”

Fran was a little stunned when she heard Crown Prince Alexander state his plans for France so straightforwardly.

"Stand together..."

Divide the Near and Far East? It sounds incredible.

"Think about it, what is left in Asia now? Although those old empires have huge territories and large populations, they are a combination of poverty, cruelty, tyranny, and weakness. These sick men and heathens should not occupy such a huge territory. Yes, this is an insult to us Christians, and we should change this wrong fact." When Crown Prince Alexander said this, he suddenly raised his head and looked ahead in a rather arrogant manner, as if he was looking in the direction. Like some glorious future , "Once I become Tsar, I will take up the scepter given to me by God and beat these sick countries hard and make them give up the land they do not deserve. So what about France? Can't France participate in this?" I think it is natural - we can occupy Byzantium and Sakhalin, why can't France occupy Egypt or Syria? As long as we join hands, as long as we join hands, these infidels can only stand in front of us. Trembling, kneeling on the ground..."

He spoke very passionately, and his eyes were sparkling. He was obviously imagining the glorious scene when he became the czar and opened up territory for the country. However, his impassioned speech did not move Fran.

On the one hand, this is because Fran is not very interested in this kind of politics and territory. On the other hand, she is also familiar with the ways of the world. She knows that the more pleasant others, especially a smart person, tell you, the more you should be wary of.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's proposal to his brother and even France seems to be obvious. He is a person who is very keen on territorial expansion, but he is also worried about the current bad relations between Russia and European countries. I want to expand my territory without breaking with European countries.

Therefore, he made a big promise to France and wanted to separate France and Britain, which currently seem to be relatively close, and then profit from it - in his words, "to strive for greater space for free movement."

However, although making a wish is beautiful, even Fran wants to get it. If the Russians really occupy so much land, will they give it to others? This kind of thing has never been heard of since ancient times. Everyone has only heard that the Russians are greedy and never trustworthy.

Even if she is not very keen on geography, she still knows that both the Near East and the Far East border Russia. The Russians can encroach and invade step by step, but France has to send troops thousands of miles away. In the end, does it not have to face further encroachment by the Russians? And then there would be no one to help France, and the Russians could break their promise at any time.

Even she could imagine that this was a promise without guarantee.

If you want to use this kind of promise to influence France, it may not be enough, Fran thought.

"So you see, this is beneficial to us all... isn't it?" While she was meditating, Crown Prince Alexander also ended his reverie and speech, and then continued to look at Fran, "I'm telling you today Everything will be written in my handwritten letter to your brother, and I ask you to hand it over to him. In addition, I also ask that you keep what I say today confidential."

"Of course I will do this. Don't worry, I'm not such an unreliable person." Fran nodded. "I'll tell him what you said and forget about it right away... That's not what I'm interested in."

"This is great!" Crown Prince Alexander was obviously very happy. "I knew you were an angel sent by God, Miss de Treville. You really did me a big favor and solved a problem."

As the crown prince, he must keep in step with his father in public, but he also wants to make some efforts to improve relations with European countries, so there are too many difficulties. Today, he can find a suitable middleman He was really overjoyed to test his reconciliation with France - of course, his test was by no means just for France. He was secretly still testing the same thing with the British, but his rhetoric was slightly changed. That’s all.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

At this time, the melodious music started playing again, and the nobles resting on the sofas stood up one after another, preparing to dance the next set of dances.

"Can I continue to dance with you?" Crown Prince Alexander asked enthusiastically.

"No... no... Sir, I'm really tired." Fran declined this time.

Because he knew that the other party was not keen on dancing, the Crown Prince no longer forced her. He bowed to Fran very gracefully, and then turned around to find the next dance partner.

No matter how elegant he looks, this is still a greedy bear. Looking at his back, Fran thought to herself.

Then, she turned to look at the dance floor, where a large group of men and women were standing, preparing to dance - and among them, there was a group of young people in military uniforms.

How young and handsome they looked.

The war between the two countries is probably inevitable. I wonder how many of the young people dancing here today will be able to come here again to relive the memories of the past? Fran thought with emotion.

I really hope these terrible things can end soon. (~^~)