New Shun 1730

Philibert was not qualified to put weights on the scale.

Fleury, the prime minister behind him, was qualified, but Liu Yu did not want to talk to this old fox at all.

Louis XV did not want Fleury to participate in this matter at this time, and there was a legitimate reason: Fleury wrote an extremely humble letter to the commander of the Austrian Northern Italian Corps and the Hungarian Corps, asking to spare the French Corps trapped in Prague because of Prussia's betrayal.

As a result, the Austrian Marshal made the letter public at the first time and mocked France.

As for whether this letter is true? Or a counter-espionage plan? This is unclear.

Fleury certainly did not admit it and said that he did not write this letter at all.

It is even possible that Louis XV himself did not believe that Fleury would write such a humble letter, but the facts are not important.

What is important is that this letter can completely clean up Fleury's power and strike against people in his faction.

As for the truth, who cares?

In view of this, the secret agreement with Dashun is related to military operations, and Fleury is naturally excluded from the negotiators.

Liu Yu meant to let Philibert tell Fleury to give an approximate price and pass it on to Louis XV.

If necessary, Liu Yu could sell Louis XV's face, but he would never sell Fleury's face. The face of a dying person is useless.

When dealing with Louis XV, he could even pretend to want the "Sino-French tariff issue" that he didn't want at all, because Louis XV's level could not understand the concept of "initiative" at all. But if the dying old fox was dead, it would be very likely that Liu Yu would see through that Liu Yu didn't want the tariff agreement at all, but pretended to want it out of thin air, forcing France to make concessions in other directions.

If this old man really came out to mess things up halfway, let's see if he can wait until the old fox dies before talking about it.

Philibert also understood that this kind of thing really needs to be exchanged for interests.

Liu Yu was right. The friendship between China and France, and the annual trade of American ginseng and mink fur of about one million taels, are enough to show it. Moreover, the woolen uniforms of the Dashun Navy were all purchased from France, not from the better-quality British or Dutch middlemen.

"Okay, Lord Marquis, I will convey your meaning to Lord Fleury. I sincerely hope that China and France can reach this technology transfer cooperation, and as you said, some goods, even if they are exempt from tariffs, are not suitable for ocean transportation considering the transportation costs, total cargo volume, and other higher-profit goods. I believe that we can reach a series of cooperation."

Liu Yu smiled and said, "Of course. However, in addition to this kind of cooperation between countries, I have a private request. I heard that you are also the president of the French Academy of Fine Arts and the vice president of the Royal Academy of Architecture and Sculpture. I hope to send some children to study here. Can you arrange it? The main thing is that there is no good foundation. Since you are in the art circle, please take the trouble to arrange it, including introducing some good teachers, the kind of one-stop..."

As he said, he drafted a gift list mainly composed of luxury goods and porcelain and silk, and handed it to Philibert quietly.

Philibert glanced at them and smiled.

"Of course. However, the people I know are all from the market class. The nobles criticized my taste and said that I was 'Mr. Ollie has the vulgar taste of the bourgeoisie. Whether it is architecture, sculpture or art paintings, his bourgeois stench covers up the noble aristocratic taste'. Do you mind?"

Liu Yu laughed and shook his head, thinking aristocratic taste? What is that? If I want those children to learn aristocratic taste, can't I find some friends in the capital and serve as servants in their mansions for a few years? Why send them here?

Philibert is not a traditional aristocrat, but a nouveau riche. He made a fortune by providing logistical supplies to the French army and slowly joined the ranks of the nobility.

Liu Yu still praised this quietly.

"In fact, the Celestial Empire doesn't value origin very much. There is a saying that one can work in the fields in the morning and enter the palace at night because of exams or talent. I have no prejudice against your taste. Moreover, because of religious issues, in art, sculpture and architecture, I hope that the students I send here will have more bourgeois smell rather than aristocratic elegance."

It is not very subtle to express the praise for Philibert's origin, which is the difference between the three views of the East and the West. At this time, France looked down on people of humble origin, while Dashun often regarded people of humble origin who eventually became high officials as role models.

With both the gift list and such praise, Philibert was very happy and said that if Liu Yu sent students here, he would use his connections to arrange some teachers.

Later, Liu Yu asked and discussed some issues about the construction of the French highway network, the canal construction, and the employment system of non-craftsmen in the official handicraft industry.

Listening more, asking more, and praising appropriately, these are all what Philibert is proud of after all. Although the political system, corvée and other systems of Dashun and France are very different, many things can be appropriately learned from each other.

After the two met, Liu Yu did not stay in Paris. After assembling the team and letting the official personnel wear the most formal court dress on the ship, the ceremonial guard of the emperor's special envoy was set out, but it was a shortened version, after all, the ship could not carry too many people.

The group escorted the various gifts that the emperor gave to Louis XV privately, and headed towards Versailles in a mighty manner.

…………

Different from Fleury's attempt to reach a series of economic cooperation with Dashun.

Louis XV in the Palace of Versailles really wanted to expand his territory and show his military prowess, just like Fleury thought, at least to let people know that he was also a powerful ruler.

He wanted to be recognized by others.

Get rid of the oppression of his great-grandfather's huge figure, and get rid of the influence of the regent and the prime minister on him.

After the grand welcome party and cumbersome court etiquette, Liu Yu paid homage to Louis XV and presented the gifts given by the emperor.

In addition to those normal gifts that conform to the rules of etiquette, Li Gan, who was far away in the capital, also prepared two very different gifts.

To be precise, they were two sets of ivory sculptures.

They were extremely delicate, and of course they were carved by the best craftsmen.

One set was named [Taiye Yellow Swan].

One set was named [Xiaoxuan Limiao].

Needless to say, they were lifelike, but the key was the meaning of the two sets of ivory sculptures.

China pays attention to being implicit, and some things are not easy to say directly. In addition to the common royal gifts such as porcelain bottles and silk sachets, the gifts given by Jiaqing to Napoleon are often meaningful.

For example, the ivory carvings that Jiaqing gave to Napoleon in history were allusions to the Manchuang Hu of Guo Ziyi's family. One is that you, Napoleon, do have great military achievements, but you are just a king. You fought east and west to save France. Wouldn't it be wonderful to enjoy your old age? I hope you, Napoleon, will be like the King of Fenyang, protect the Tang Dynasty from usurping the throne, and rule your republic well.

In addition, I wish you and Josephine many children and grandchildren, and your descendants will be like Guo Ziyi, who doesn't know which child his great-grandchild is when he sees it.

However, judging from the results later, this gift was quite ironic.

As for the two sets of ivory carvings that the emperor of Dashun gave to Louis XV, if you delve into their inner meaning, these French people certainly don't understand, and Voltaire and others can't understand them either, but it has to be said that these two sets of ivory carvings convey some "meanings" of the emperor of Dashun.

The most basic level of sending these two gifts is that from a diplomatic perspective, Dashun recognized that France and Dashun were equal.

The meaning beyond the basic level is quite interesting.

The Taiye Yellow Swan, it seems, is just a wish for France "auspicious arrival, good weather and good harvest". Looking at the surface meaning, Emperor Wu of Han died, Emperor Zhao of Han succeeded to the throne, and a swan flew to Taiye Lake, and all the important officials thought it was a sign of auspiciousness.

That's the surface.

But the inner meaning is that as an emperor, as an elder, he advised Louis XV.

"The yellow swan flew down to Jianzhang, its feathers were solemn and it walked unsteadily, with gold as clothes and chrysanthemum as skirts; it chattered on lotus and water chestnuts, and went in and out of reeds; I was humble and ashamed of your good fortune."

You, when you ascended the throne, your predecessor, Louis XIV, had a great reputation.

Now that you have become the King of France, you have the huge shadow of your predecessor. You must be in a state of "looking down on yourself and feeling ashamed of Jiaxiang". Looking back at the reputation of your predecessor, you must feel that your ability is not worthy of your position. If you have such a thought, do your best. You can be humble, but don't belittle yourself.

The story of the yellow crane in Taiye connects Han Wu and Han Zhao.

Li Gan's meaning is to praise Louis XIV, thinking that he is a man of power, salt and iron, and opening up the frontier.

As the emperor of Dashun, I have also heard of his name. But I want to achieve the great achievements of Tang Zong and Han Wu, so to some extent I can chat and laugh with Louis XIV. But you, Louis XV, are still a little bit behind, far behind.

Therefore, I think that after you succeed to the throne, you will definitely belittle yourself and don't know if you can shoulder the heavy responsibility on your shoulders. I encourage you, kid, to do a good job.

Of course, French people who are not particularly familiar with Chinese culture cannot think of these meanings. At most, I just looked up the article and thought that the allusion of the Taiye Yellow Swan was just a blessing.

The other thing [Xiao Xuan established a temple] has a different meaning.

It seems that it just shows that "Emperor Xuan established a temple for Emperor Wu", which shows that Louis XV is the orthodoxy of France.

Emperor Xuan of Han was the great-grandson of Emperor Wu; Louis XV was also the great-grandson of Louis XIV.

But in fact, there are more hidden meanings.

In the dispute over Emperor Wu's temple music, some ministers in the court raised objections, saying that "Although Emperor Wu had the merit of expelling the four barbarians and expanding the territory, he killed many soldiers and exhausted the people's wealth. He was extravagant and unruly. The world was wasted, the people were displaced, and half of the things died. Locusts rose up everywhere, thousands of miles of barren land, or people ate each other, and livestock was not restored. He lost his virtue and benefited the people, so it is not appropriate to establish a temple music."

The relationship between Emperor Xuan of Han and Emperor Wu of Han was actually very bad from a personal point of view.

In the witchcraft disaster, his family was basically killed by Emperor Wu.

The Emperor of Dashun did not use the story of private affairs to secretly satirize anything, but simply stood from the perspective of a political machine to remind Louis XV: Louis XIV's expansion strategy must have also made France wasteful, the people displaced, and half of the people dead...

Maybe some people will oppose Louis XIV's expansion policy.

However, as his political successor, his achievements and policies must be recognized. And as his political successor, child, you must also continue his expansion policy.