In 1639, few people realized that the French sun had sunburst out of the European horizon and was about to erupt with infinite light and heat on the continent.

Even though the country had only just thwarted the allied Spanish and Holy Roman Empire's attacks and achieved a small victory at sea, France was still seen by European monarchs as a chaotic and second-rate state subject to their vassals.

In fact, even the king of Spain did not think that the coalition army that had returned from Paris was defeated by the French, and he felt that it was because his military pay was not paid in time, which led to the demoralization of the soldiers, so that the French took advantage of it.

The French nobles trembled at the defeat of the allied attack, the Cardinal, who was looking forward to cheering for the victory of the French enemies, if possible. For them, the cardinal, who was constantly centralizing and weakening the power of the aristocracy, was much more hateful than the two supreme Habsburgs.

Just over twenty years ago, France was the domain of the aristocracy. Even the current Queen Mother and the young King Louis XIII, after being expelled from Paris by the citizens of Paris, there was no aristocracy willing to accept the mother and son to live in their own domains. The dignified Queen Mother of France and the King of France actually ended up in a miserable situation of homelessness.

What a wonderful time it was for the French aristocracy, who had a king at their heads, but who had to rely on their alms to survive, and naturally could not punish them. It was a golden age for the French aristocracy, who did whatever they wanted in their own realm without having to do what they should have done to the king.

Armand Jean Diplessis de Richelieu, although born in Paris, was the son of a minor provincial nobleman. Beginning as bishop of Luzon, he gained the admiration of the Queen Regent at the Estates-General in 1614 and was appointed secretary of state to the king in 1616, thus gaining the trust of Louis XIII.

Since he served as the chief prime minister of France in 1624, he has single-handedly broken the oppression of the aristocratic alliance on the royal power, restored and strengthened the French king's power, destroyed the power of the Huguenots and the rebellious nobles, and made the French nobles tremble when they heard his name.

If the goal of the first half of Richelieu's reign was to exalt the king, all that the cardinal does today is to glorify the kingdom. In order to achieve this goal, Richelieu did not hesitate to betray his faith and joined forces with the Protestant League to wage war against the Catholic League.

Richelieu's ruthlessness towards internal centralization turned France from a fragmented alliance of feudal lords into a centralized ** monarchy. And his realist diplomacy based on national interests is gradually weakening the hegemony of the Habsburgs through the current war that has lasted for more than 20 years.

The more information Song Xiance collected about His Excellency Cardinal in Paris, the more he admired His Excellency Cardinal, who had miraculously risen in French politics. In his opinion, if it weren't for France's poor foundation, this European war would have ended long ago under the leadership of France.

Unfortunately, the cardinal spent too much time trying to unify the political situation in the country, so when France entered the war, most of the small states in Germany had already expressed their attitude and concluded treaties with the Habsburg royal family. This allowed France to prevent the Holy Roman Empire from annexing all of Germany, but France was also unable to gain access to German territory, and a political balance of power was reached.

And Song Xiance, the Chinese envoy's visit to Paris, also fell into the eyes of the cardinal. But the cardinal, preoccupied with the situation in Europe, really did not have time to make friends with a Chinese envoy. Although the cardinal himself also encouraged French merchants to explore overseas colonies and trade in Asia, thus opening up new sources of revenue for France, this was not the time to distract France.

However, after Song Xiance was unknown in Paris for a few months, he suddenly began to frequently participate in salons organized by nobles. Salon is a transliteration of the French word salon, which originally referred to the luxurious parlor in the residence of the French upper class.

With the Marquise de Rambouillet hosting a party at her home in 1610, inviting many celebrities and scholars to chat in her salon, this new form of entertainment and socialization immediately attracted the upper class of France. After all, at this time, French books were not widely available, the propaganda tools were not developed enough, and the only court communication that could be used by the upper classes to socialize was known for being cumbersome and vulgar.

In such a salon party, the hostess can completely control the process of the party, excluding certain undesirable people. The selected guests, most of whom are like-minded, will not be unable to find a topic of conversation at the party. So this semi-public gathering soon spread in Paris.

When Song had just arrived in Paris, he received many invitations to salons because of the aura of a Chinese envoy he carried, but he did not accept any invitations at that time. And when the short and ordinary-looking Song Xiance appeared in the French court, some noblewomen lost their curiosity about the Chinese envoys.

However, when Song Xiance began to appear in some of the more famous political salons, his witty and humorous conversation, his insight into the political situation in France and Europe, and a little mystery of the art of physiognomy, soon made these idle French ladies forget his appearance and figure, and began to spare no effort to praise this strange man from the East in their own circles.

Song Xiance's unusual behavior naturally attracted the attention of the cardinal, especially the other party's public criticism of France's domestic and foreign affairs at the salon, which made him unable to ignore it, so in late May, he sent someone to bring Song Xiance to his bishop's palace.

The Palais Bishop, which is next to the Louvre, is actually a rather small and elaborate building, and the Palais Bishop's Palace was built in 1624, the year Richelieu became Prime Minister of France. Accompanied by four black-cloaked guards, Song and Peternatz disembarked through the square courtyard in front of the Bishop's Palace and arrived in a large hall in a Romanesque building.

The guards who had gone to greet them politely asked them to wait here, and then left the two of them here. Song Xiance looked at the empty hall and didn't even have a chair, and couldn't help but pouted and said: "This bishop's hospitality is really a little bit angry, and there is not even a place to sit here, and he is blind to such a big living room." ”

Unlike Song Xiance, who had a relaxed expression, from the moment he saw the guards sent by the cardinal, Peternats was already pale and a little in a trance. After hearing Song Xiance's words, he hurriedly reminded: "It's Your Excellency, even if Mr. represents the Ming Dynasty, it's better to follow the customs here." His Majesty the Emperor can't shine here, so let's be cautious. Don't make those remarks in front of Your Excellency, or I'm worried about whether we'll be able to get out of here..."

Just as Peter Natz kept reminding Song Xiance of what kind of etiquette to observe in front of the cardinal, the door of the staircase landing leading to the second floor was suddenly opened, and a handsome black-robed monk walked out of the door. He grabbed the escalator in one hand and looked down at the two people in the middle of the hall for a long time before nodding at the two and saying, "Please come up, Mr. Chinese envoy, the Dharma seat is just free to see you now." If you are able to communicate in French, it is best to leave your translator below. ”

Peter Natz hurriedly stammered: "My lord, I am not this gentleman's interpreter, I am a member of the Dutch provincial council who accompanied this gentleman on his visit to Paris..."

Song Xiance interrupted him in French, "Of course you can, this gentleman." When Peternatz looked at him with some dumbfoundedness, not understanding why the other party had left him, Song Xiance changed back to Chinese and said: "I think that the conversation with Mr. Bishop for a while may not be very pleasant. It might be better for you to wait here, at least if something happens to me, you can still pass on information to my colleagues. ”

Peternatz immediately retreated, he took a step back, and said with a resolute expression: "If you insist, I am naturally willing to obey your orders. ”

Song Xiance nodded at him, and walked up the curved oak staircase to the second floor. After the black-robed monk guided him to the second floor, the door to the second floor closed again. After passing through several rooms and up a narrow staircase, the black-robed monk who led the way stopped in front of a door.

The black-robed monk, who was still a little arrogant just now, looked extremely humble in front of this door, even if the owner of the room couldn't see the situation outside the room at all, this monk still did enough to follow the rules, and only then knocked lightly on the door and informed the owner of the room of Song Xiance's arrival.

This was the second time Song had seen the French magnate, and the last time he had just glanced at him in the court, the cardinal had retired. This time, he had time to observe the appearance of this cardinal, in fact, it has always been difficult for Song Xiance to distinguish the appearance of these foreigners, after all, their appearance is quite different from that of Asians, and it is difficult to distinguish the differences between parts.

However, the cardinal's appearance was still imprinted in his mind at first sight, not because of the red robe made of rich silk on the other party's body, nor the conspicuous hooked nose on the other party's face, nor the other party's finely trimmed goatee. Rather, it was the bright eyes on the cardinal's face that seemed to penetrate people's hearts.

The cardinal was about half a head taller than the average person, but his body was extremely thin. When foreigners first see the cardinal, it is hard to believe how such a seemingly emaciated body can burst out with infinite energy to play with France and Europe.

However, in Song Xiance's eyes, the cardinal's momentum at this moment was more aggressive than the princes and nobles he had seen in his life. If the comparison is forced, I am afraid that only Huang Taiji can be compared with it. As for His Majesty the Emperor, they are far inferior to the two.

Characters like Huang Taiji and Richelieu, no matter what occasion they appear, will always be the first to be the center of attention, and they don't need any additional title bonuses at all.

Being able to see such a first-class figure outside of Asia, even the well-informed Song Xiance couldn't help but salute the other party first.