New Shun 1730

"The right to sprinkle your pickles with snow-white salt is the cornerstone of peace between us."

After shaking the salt shaker, the salt shaker made a clattering sound, just like shaking a child's favorite rattle to amuse the child.

Queen Elizabeth frowned and stared at the salt shaker in Liu Yu's hand. As she watched him put the salt shaker down, she could only vent her dissatisfaction.

"I don't want the peace between the two countries to rest on your kindness and morality. The only reason why people can abide by morality is the pressure of violating morality. But there is no morality between countries."

Liu Yu gently pushed down the salt shaker and said sincerely: "Your Majesty the Queen, we have the power to spread salt only once. We will not use this only power to spread salt easily."

"Because once the salt is spread, either we can ensure that the occupation of the Volga River is maintained; or we will just delay your steps."

"Once the method of spreading salt is used, there will be no chance to use it again. I do not rely on morality to maintain peace, I rely on profit."

"If one day we have a way to transport troops or supplies from the capital to the Om River within ten days, then we will spread salt even if you don't want to, but you can't stop it."

"Perhaps, while we were eating other delicacies, you and my enemy formed an alliance... Then I would have to shake the snow-white salt shaker and sprinkle salt on the pickles of the Volga River."

"Precisely because it is useful but can only be used once, we are careful not to abuse it."

"It is precisely because opportunities are so precious that they are the guarantee of peace."

"You are right. I have the initiative. I can spread salt, but you can't. But it is precisely because of this that there is peace between us."

"On the other hand, if you can also spread salt and I can spread salt, then it will be like fighting for caviar in the Black Sea, the first, second, third, fourth time..."

"Moreover, not only can we ensure peace between us, but we can also ensure that you will not ally with my enemies. This is the basis of our peace."

Queen Elizabeth's brows seemed to be furrowed, but she was relaxed inside.

Liu Yu's words confirmed Bestuyev's judgment that day.

What he wants to sign is not the Sino-Russian Non-Aggression Treaty, but the Sino-Russian Non-Aggression Treaty.

The metaphor at the dinner table makes it very clear.

Liu Yu's idea of ​​being able to travel from the capital to the Omu River in ten days sounds like a joke.

For Central Asia, if Dashun does not want to attack, it means peace.

In a short period of time, Russia was unable to continue its encroachment in Central Asia. It was quite difficult to attack Junggar at the beginning. This was because Junggar lacked artillery and its nomadic tactics were incapable of siege.

If Dashun wants to take the initiative to attack, Russia will actually have enemies on all sides.

It is precisely because Dashun does not want to take the initiative to attack that it has to rush to conclude a treaty. Because Dashun has the initiative to attack, Dashun's initiative to conclude a treaty is really a guarantee of peace.

Similarly, Dashun took the initiative to propose that China and Russia should not form alliances with third-party enemies alone, which means that Dashun's next step will definitely be to conflict with European countries.

With its long land border, Dashun has only one European neighbor, and that is Russia.

And the remaining European neighbors with whom they intersect are not land borders. The biggest possibility is the Netherlands.

Only Russia knows about this matter, because Hannibal has lived in Dashun for more than ten years. Liu Yu was thinking about Russia's westward expansion more than ten years ago, and only Russia knows about it.

And this is not a very good bargaining chip.

Because if you use this as a bargaining chip and exchange it for Dashun's equivalent return, you can't get anything back.

Liu Yu said that he has seven virtues, but the seven virtues do not include integrity.

The only reward that Russia can get in exchange for holding the bargaining chip is Liu Yu's promise that he will not continue to exert influence on the Torgut Ministry - but this is of no use. The reality is that Dashun can only think about it, not from the material level. Shangmo eliminates the possible rebellion of the Torgut tribe.

In other words, Dashun always has a chance. And promises are the most unreliable.

The legacy of the Mongol Empire has been eaten up by both sides, and Russia is temporarily unable to completely assimilate the Torgut tribe.

If you really want to assimilate, the key first step is to become Eastern, but this first step is extremely difficult, which greatly damages the interests of the Lamas in the tribe.

The more you want to assimilate and create separation, the more beautiful the olive branch extended by Dashun will be, and the greater the temptation of the snow-white salt shaker will be.

Therefore, after Elizabeth found out that Liu Yu wanted to go to Nanyang, she had already decided that it was impossible to reach any form of alliance with the Netherlands.

It makes no sense and the Netherlands will lose.

Glancing at the table that looked like a puppet show, Elizabeth pointed to the food on the table and said, "I want to eat caviar, sausages and herrings."

Liu Yu nodded and said: "That should belong to you, and I definitely don't want to eat these things. And some of these foods are exactly the reason why I pulled out a seat for you and invited you to eat."

After receiving this assurance, Elizabeth was completely relieved.

He can't control things that are too far away. Prussia, Poland, Türkiye, and Dashun also have no exchanges.

Sweden was the only worried country and was not prepared to mediate based on what Dashun meant.

There are secret reports that the Swedish ambassador went to meet Liu Yu, but it is impossible to know what was discussed. Since Dashun is not going to mention Sweden now, Dashun must have conveyed his intention not to mediate to the Swedish side.

The Queen clapped her hands, motioned everyone to return to their seats, and brought the newly prepared dishes.

Then she gently held the wine glass with her hand, but did not raise it, and said: "The Russian Empire recognizes the two boundary treaties with Dashun and promises to abide by them. The Russian Empire recognizes that tributary countries have no diplomatic rights, and recognizes Japan and Korea. It is a tributary state of Dashun."

Liu Yu also held the wine glass, but also did not raise it. He did not repeat the Queen's words, but used a similar toast.

"Dashun recognizes the two boundary treaties with the Russian Empire and promises to abide by them. The Dashun Empire will not sign any form of alliance contract with Ottoman Turkey and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and promises not to have any conflicts with Turkey and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Any trade relations and absolutely no ambassadors in Constantinople.”

Poland just made up the numbers. Except for the Dzungarian prisoner of war Polshevsky who helped Dashun train the Lancers in the capital, Dashun really had no contact with Poland.

Türkiye is the top priority.

It is unlikely that there will be too many close ties between Dashun and Turkey, but if they send ambassadors to each other, they will definitely hit it off immediately if they contact each other and send troops together.

Russia didn't promise much, and Liu Yu didn't give much feedback.

Russia has the ability to trade with Japan, and Dashun also has the ability to trade with Turkey, but the benefits are not great. If both sides give up unanimously, they can be considered equal.

The Queen was quite satisfied with this feedback and added: "The Russian Empire guarantees that it will not have any alliance with the belligerent countries of the Chinese Empire. Even if it was a previous alliance, it will guarantee that the treaty will be abrogated after the formal declaration of war. And it will not join any alliance against the Chinese Empire. Dashun’s Third Party Covenant.”

She wanted to know how Liu Yu would repay this promise.

In her view, and that of her core diplomatic staff, the “third party” most likely refers to the Netherlands.

As for the Netherlands, there is some trade relations with Russia, but when it comes to a firm alliance, there is indeed no such thing.

On the one hand, the Netherlands has lost its status as a major power and did not go to the meeting to share the spoils. The entire European diplomatic circle believed that this was the end of the Dutch era.

On the other hand, the Netherlands does not have a close relationship with Russia, and it is basically impossible to form an alliance with Russia for European affairs. In other words, the Netherlands cannot help Russia's interests in Europe.

The promise was given, but Liu Yu did not respond with words. Instead, he took out a letter and handed it to Queen Elizabeth by the maid.

After the queen unfolded it and read it, she nodded to Liu Yu, rolled the letter into a ball, handed it to the maid, threw it into the burning fireplace, and then raised the wine glass.

“To peace and cooperation between China and Russia.”

Although the people present did not know what Liu Yu's letter actually said, judging from the queen's expression, it must have been a quite satisfactory result and it was quite beneficial to Russia.

However, they couldn't figure out what Dashun had given in exchange.

But since the Queen is happy, they can tell from the Queen's personnel arrangements in the past few days that this is not a person who can be easily manipulated or manipulated by emotions.

So they all raised their glasses and followed the Queen's congratulations.

The banquet is just to deepen understanding and confirm consensus. It is not a negotiation table, and there is no need to sign a treaty between the two parties at the banquet.

After the banquet, Empress Elizabeth was thinking about the contents of the letter and invited Liu Yu to meet alone, but she was accompanied by her secret husband Razumovsky.

Razumovsky is a man who knows how to advance and retreat. As a Cossack herdsman, he knows very well that he has no foundation. The only thing that can keep him in the aristocratic circle is to "observe male morality" and hold the Queen tightly. A thigh.

The relationship between the two was well known to the entire Petersburg upper class, and it was most appropriate for Razumovsky to accompany him.

The queen's face was red after drinking a few glasses of wine, and she was obviously in high spirits. She didn't know whether it was because of the alcohol or Liu Yu's letter.

In return for Russia's promise not to ally with the hostile country of Dashun, Liu Yuxin certainly gave a lot of rewards, and it seemed to more and more verify Bestuyev's conjecture that day.

Although, in fact they guessed wrong.

In the letter, Liu Yu proposed a "monopoly on Chinese trade goods around the Baltic Sea" plan, which seemed to be aimed at dealing with the Netherlands, but in fact the purpose of this plan was to create conflicts between Britain and Russia.

There was no conflict between Britain and Russia, but when Dashun gave him too much money, conflicts arose.