Flowers, Swords and France

In order not to attract too much attention from those who care about it, Charles and Carrion's private chat ended quickly, and then the two of them left this small corner from different directions, as if nothing had happened.

After getting Carrion's explanation, Charles finally figured out the reason why Her Majesty the Queen had been distracted recently.

As Carrion said, this kind of thing is actually very common - since ancient times, most French monarchs like to indulge in sensual pleasures and have fun with their mistresses, not to mention His Majesty Napoleon III who has always been very self-indulgent?

In fact, His Majesty was able to relapse into his old ways a year after marriage, which was a great favor to Her Majesty the Queen.

Of course, Charles can think so, but Her Majesty the Queen may not be so open-minded. In her position, what would she see?

Because of the political turmoil in a country, someone suddenly came to her home one day and claimed that he wanted to make her the Queen of France. At that time, she was just a 19-year-old girl, ignorant of the world. No matter how many worries she had before, the word Queen still meant great honor to her, and it also meant the best opportunity to glorify her once troubled royal family.

In the early days of coming to France, she did get these things. His Majesty the Emperor loved her very much and gave her all the honors he could give. Moreover, the whole empire was looking up to her. Flowers and praises almost drowned her, enough to wash away the worries and uneasiness in her heart before.

However, the colorful dream will eventually return to reality. A year later, she discovered that this marriage and the title of Queen did not only mean glory, but also pain and endurance.

Then, he raised his head again and looked at Her Majesty the Queen sitting on the stage. She was still so young and beautiful. Except for a slightly forced smile, nothing could make people believe the pain in her heart at this time.

Humph, people always grow up slowly, kid. Charles thought without malice.

At this moment, His Majesty the Emperor had already awarded the first horse race champion, and then enjoyed the cheers of the whole audience with him. After the enthusiastic atmosphere slowly faded, he and his attendants returned to the high platform, and at this time, Charles and Carrion had already returned here.

There were several more horse races to come, and people's emotions had been re-ignited by the horses and riders gathering at the starting point again, but His Majesty the Emperor was obviously no longer involved in this game. He began to look around and chat with the people around him, and at this time, the Russian ambassador Count Litvinsky returned to him again.

But this time was different from before. Perhaps considering that he was now under the watchful eyes of the public, the ambassador no longer used the sharp words just now to criticize the British or anyone else, but catered to His Majesty the Emperor with flawless diplomatic rhetoric and had a normal chat.

At this time, Her Majesty the Queen had already sat next to His Majesty the Emperor, so she became the person that the Ambassador focused on pleasing. He had always intended to flatter Her Majesty the Queen and establish a good impression of himself in her heart in this way.

This is of course a very common diplomatic skill. Almost every diplomat wants to try the wife route when conditions permit, because this usually achieves twice the result with half the effort.

However, although the ambassador has tried very hard to please the Queen, and indeed talked very interestingly when chatting, Her Majesty the Queen was obviously not in a good mood, and just talked to the ambassador in a casual manner.

Now anyone can see that Her Majesty the Queen is unhappy. As an old hand at observing words and expressions, the ambassador naturally stopped talking to Her Majesty the Queen slowly, and His Majesty the Emperor was obviously a little embarrassed.

He slightly turned sideways and whispered a few words to Her Majesty the Queen's ear. Her Majesty the Queen was stiff at first, but soon returned to normal, and then chatted with the ambassador in a much more friendly manner. Although everyone could see that there were some problems with this change, everyone pretended that nothing had happened and continued to chat happily.

At noon, the lunch finally began.

Because there were many people present today, everyone chose to dine in the garden.

Because of the previous arrangements, some temporary pergolas were built in the garden, dotted between the flowers and trees, which was quite interesting.

His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Queen were naturally the protagonists. They also sat together at the banquet. Although they were all smiling, after the scenes just now, people always felt that they were not so coordinated with each other, but no one intended to delve into this issue.

Compared with the usual court banquets, today's lunch in the Fontainebleau Garden had a lot more game, which was directly hunted from the nearby mountains and fields, and then carefully cooked by the chef and served on the table. These delicious delicacies made the visiting guests very satisfied.

As a foreign minister who came here specially, Count Litvinsky was arranged to be very close to the two Majesties, and his identity was confirmed by the people present. Some foreign diplomats were secretly wondering what it meant that the Russian minister was given such courtesy. Would it indicate that the two powerful countries, Russia and France, would change their ways and move towards friendship, or was it just another trick of the conspiracy-savvy Emperor?

Whatever these people thought, His Majesty had achieved his goal in this way - he had flattered the Russian Minister and convinced him that he was sincerely interested in bringing the two empires back together.

The friendship of the French Empire was not originally the most important thing to the Russian Empire, but at this point in time, the Russian Empire is facing unprecedented isolation on the European continent, so this friendship becomes extremely precious, at least it can What the Russians fear most will not happen.

Although it is a bit condescending to flatter the French emperor now, this is temporary after all. When Russia gets through this difficulty and gets what it wants, it will be the French who have to ask for Russia.

With this rather complacent mood, the ambassador was not displeased by Her Majesty the Queen's neglect of him, but instead spent the royal banquet happily.

After the banquet was over, he found that Minister Treville ran to His Majesty the Emperor, so he sat in his original position, waiting for His Majesty the Emperor to call him - judging from His Majesty the Emperor's attitude towards him just now, he believed that His Majesty the Emperor would not Refuse his request for a private meeting.

Sure enough, soon, an attendant in formal dress came to him and looked at him with a very polite and courteous smile.

"Mr. Ambassador, His Majesty the Emperor would like you to have a talk with him. Do you have time?"

The ambassador held his head high, and then looked at the other party with the same smile, "I am very honored to be received by His Majesty."

"Then please come with me, sir." The attendant bowed slightly, then turned to lead the way for the ambassador.

After walking through the palace in Fontainebleau for a while, they came to the room where the king used to live, and at this time the ambassador found that His Majesty the Emperor was already waiting for him, and even His Excellency Minister Treville was here.

"Mr. Ambassador, what do you think of lunch?" The emperor asked him with a smile as soon as he came in.

This kind of question is also intended to bring the two people closer and make the conversation less formal.

"I feel very good, Your Majesty. The dishes are all delicious." Of course, the ambassador knew what was going on and replied immediately, "So I took this opportunity to have a hearty meal."

"Oh, that's good. I hope this can bring you a pleasant memory." His Majesty the Emperor nodded, "You don't have to be restrained, there are only a few of us here, you can speak freely."

"I am very grateful to you for giving me such courtesy, which also makes me immediately full of confidence in the future between the two countries." The ambassador immediately led the topic to where he hoped, "And this kind of future, for Europe, is crucial."

"If you hold this view, then I have to say that I agree..." His Majesty the Emperor still looked at him with reservations, "But I think it is useless to express this kind of thing in words, friendly, It should be a manifestation of practical action.”

"I also agree with you that true friendship needs to be proven by practical actions... and our Tsar Majesty wants to provide you with such practical proof." The ambassador suddenly smiled slyly. "If you are willing to accept the goodwill that His Majesty the Tsar offers you, then all the demonstrations of action you can hope for will come to you."

Hearing what he said, His Majesty the Emperor and Ciel looked at each other.

"Then what action does the Tsar want to prove?" After a moment, His Majesty the Emperor asked again.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"His Majesty the Tsar fully understands your pursuit of France's status. He is also willing to see France get to where it should be and maintain peace in Europe. Therefore, he is willing to support all your efforts in this regard and is also willing to work with you and a certain When conflicts arise between... or certain countries, maintain good-faith neutrality.”

After a pause, the ambassador saw that the other party's interest had been aroused, so he immediately added, "If you are willing, His Majesty the Tsar believes that the two countries can even conclude a secret treaty, each recognizing the other's freedom of movement and ensuring that each other does not Intervention, if you wish, we can also make certain trade concessions so that French business people can invest in Russia so that the glorious bond between the two countries can become even stronger."

"Oh...!" Under the gaze of His Majesty the Emperor, the ambassador spelled out the goodwill conditions given by the Tsar one by one, which aroused His Majesty's interest just as they hoped.

"Can I think so - if our two countries become friendly, Russia will remain well-intentioned and neutral in any future actions taken by France in Europe and will never participate in actions against France?" Perhaps he was worried, His Majesty the Emperor Again, “Any action?”

"Any action." The ambassador straightened his back, and then promised again.

After Louis Bonaparte came to power, everyone knew that he wanted to follow in his uncle's footsteps and do great things in Europe, and the ambassador's proposal was tantamount to saying that Russia would not stop him from doing this - which was meaningless. It was like removing a huge obstacle on his way, so that he no longer had to fear the end of his uncle.

I think His Majesty the Emperor will be very satisfied with this.

Sure enough, after he made such a promise, His Majesty the Emperor fell into deep thought for a long time.

"Generally speaking, if someone gives me something good, it usually means that he wants the same good thing from me..." Finally, he finally broke the silence, "Well, I want to know, what does His Majesty the Tsar want? What do you want from me?"

"We need nothing but the goodwill of France." The ambassador smiled and repeated, "We don't need a single soldier from France, we just need them to stay in the barracks."

"In other words, as long as Russia is friendly and neutral, it will allow us to do our own thing?" Of course His Majesty the Emperor understood what the other party meant. "Then what do you Russians want to do?"

"Please rest assured that we absolutely do not have any malicious intent." The ambassador lowered his voice, and then said in a rather passionate manner, "We just want to fight against the most evil, vicious, and cruel Christians in centuries. , fighting the enemy who should disappear most, I We are to glorify God and fulfill His mission for the Russians. Yes, the Ottomans must be knocked to the ground forever so that it can atone for all the evil it has done to Europe over the centuries...and the Russians. It will make them miserable.”

As the ambassador expected, the monarch and ministers on the opposite side fell into silence again, because his words were tantamount to showing that Russia's war against the Turks was inevitable, and this time it was very determined. We will never withdraw our troops unless we achieve a complete victory in some sense.

"With such a great cause, I think we will win the cheers of every Christian, except for that gloomy island country," the ambassador spoke again after a moment, "that island country does all kinds of evil for its own selfish interests and wishes we could live forever. Amid poverty and massacre, he They do not want us to fight for the great cause of the Christians, just because they hate us, and you... Your Majesty, I implore you not to be deceived by them, accept the friendship of us Russians, so that Europe can be freed from these British evils influence and embark on the path of peace and prosperity.”

His Majesty the Emperor still did not answer, but the ambassador was not surprised. What he just said was indeed very sensational. It is strange that the other party did not hesitate or consider it.

Now Russia is on the verge of an attack, but they are very afraid that the Europeans will unite against them, so they must find ways to divide the Western European powers. As long as the French stand aside, then even if the British are furious, they may not be able to stop Russia.

"If France acquiesces to the Russians to do their own thing, can France also get guarantees from the Russians?" Perhaps finally having a change of heart, His Majesty the Emperor asked again.

"You can do anything and make due demands to any of your neighboring countries. Russia will never interfere with you." The ambassador assured His Majesty the Emperor without hesitation, "I came with such a mission. If If you wish, I have full authority to sign such a gentleman's agreement with you."

"Will Russian officials oppose the Tsar's decision?" The emperor was still a little worried. "As far as I know, there are still many people who have prejudices against us."

"The will of the Tsar is absolute and no one in Russia can defy it! Be a careful monarch like the British royal family, patiently please the lunatics and liars in every House of Commons, follow the breath of the Parliament and the Cabinet, and pretend to be a group of fashionable gentlemen , it’s a shame that they can be so shameless! These gentlemen have no morals at all, only hypocrisy and nonsense. They kill people and set fires all over the world, but they like to pretend to be sanctimonious in front of us. It is really unreasonable!" While mocking, a sarcastic smile appeared on the earl's face. It seems that he is quite disdainful of the behavior of the British royal family. “And our Majesty the Tsar, who is a sovereign appointed by God, possesses divine power and is not subject to any one, can use himself as a guarantee to ensure that the friendship between our two countries will continue for a long time... And you, Your Majesty, So do you, God's chosen monarch for France, with absolute power."

Then, he raised his head and looked at the emperor very earnestly, "Now you can use your power to serve God, to bring glory to the honor of Christians, and to the benefit of your people... The Russians absolutely support you , Your Majesty.”(~^~)