Ps. New Year's greetings on the second day of the new year, I wish you all a happy new year!

Paris, Élysée Palace, President's Office, Government Cabinet Meeting, Afternoon.

French President Grevy looked at the report handed by French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Frésine with a sad face, which began with an unusually harshly worded diplomatic note from the German government.

The German government finally decided that it could not tolerate the French government's malicious connivance with its own media, and announced that it would recall the German ambassador to France and limit the French ambassador to Germany to leave Germany within three days from the date of the diplomatic note.

At the end of the diplomatic note, the German Government, represented by Chancellor Bismarck, made it clear that if there was no clear and serious goodwill action by the French Government in the short term, the German army would immediately take further action.

Grevy pressed his head hard, and asked Fresiné in a hoarse voice, "Charles, have you understood, what kind of behavior do the Germans want?" ”

"Your Excellency the President, the Germans are demanding stricter censorship in France and have called for the arrest and trial of the editors-in-chief of several prominent political cartoon publishers." Frésine, who replaced Waddington as French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, said with an uncomfortable face.

"In addition, the Government of the Republic is required to issue a statement of apology and to compensate the German Imperial Family for the harm caused."

Grevy's hand pressing his head couldn't help but add a little more strength, and after a while, he continued to ask, "Has Prince Chillingsfister already left for Berlin?" ”

Fresine took out his pocket watch and looked at it, then said, "Your Excellency, according to the German timetable, Prince Chillingsfister has already boarded the train to Berlin. ”

"This old guy is walking so fast, I want to talk to him......" Grevi muttered and grumbled in a low voice.

And Fresiné, after glancing at the other members of the cabinet meeting, sent another bad news, "Your Excellency, according to the secret report from the Paris police department, our people saw that people from the German embassy were burning documents. ”

"What?!" Grevey looked up suddenly, looked at Fresine in disbelief and asked, "Are they burning papers?" The Germans really want to go to war ?! ”

"Your Excellency, there is a good possibility." French Minister of War, Henri François Xavier Graceley, said, "Troops on the Franco-German border have reported that since last night German troops have begun to dismantle barbed wire and barriers on the German side and are systematically closing border crossings. ”

After listening to Minister Graceley's explanation, it immediately became clear that Germany had quietly begun to prepare for war against France.

In an instant, the quiet venue immediately boiled over.

Charles Lebel, the French Minister of the Interior, who had just been in office for three months, was the first to stand up and shout, "Gentlemen, I have long said that the practice of censorship must be reinstated, and the Freedom of the Press Act proposed by the Republicans is a poison, a poison that can poison the Republic to death!" ”

"Shh There was a chorus of boos, and the socialists and republican opportunists representing the center-left in France began to boo Lebel, a guy from the French right-wing who represented the conservatives.

The words of Jean-Raules, the French Minister of Culture and leader of the Left Socialist Party, won the general approval of those present: "The right to guarantee freedom, especially the freedom of the press, is the foundation on which the republic is built, and the Germans are trying to destroy our foundations!" ”

"We used all our strength to turn the royalists into a minority in parliament in the elections of '77, and if we approve of the German interference in the internal affairs of the republic, how are we different from the right-wing royalists who clamp down on public opinion?!"

After glancing at the silent President Grevy, Raules continued, "This year, we are kicking McMahon out of the Élysée Palace in order to find a Republican president for the Republic who will support the progressive left!" ”

Such point-in-depth remarks made President Grevi have no choice but to end his silence and say directly, "Gentlemen, please rest assured, I am a man of principle, and I will never use issues of principle as a bargaining chip with the Germans!" ”

Hearing this, Lebel got up angrily, pointed at a group of leftists and said angrily, "Blackmail! You are taking advantage of the threat of war from the Germans, in the naked kidnapping of the republic, you bastards, you bastards, responsible for the coming Franco-German war! ”

"If the Germans want to impose war on the great French people, and I want to say a word on behalf of the heroic French, then come!" The socialist Jouel Gade, who is also in the left-wing camp, retorted unequivocally.

In the midst of the chaos, Fresiné sensitively discovered a phenomenon, screaming that it was the left-wing cultural people in the French cultural circle who wanted to give the Germans a little color.

The silent, or obviously not very interested, were the military representatives, led by the military bigwigs such as the Minister of War, the Minister of the Navy and the Minister of the Colonies.

After quietly glancing at the expressionless President Grevy, Frésiné immediately understood one thing, the French military was not optimistic that it could win the Germans in this crisis between France and Germany.

The lack of confidence in the French soldiers' own combat effectiveness made Fresine's heart cold for most of the time, and the next words of the finance minister, Jean-Bartitus Leon-Sai, completely made Fresiné die.

"Gentlemen, I support your tough stance against Germany, and I support you in countering the German threat of invasion, but I have to remind you that the government does not have a single person to use in this possible war."

After glancing at President Grevy out of the corner of his eye, Leon-Sai continued, "As we all know, the loan to Russia that the previous Prime Minister Waddington strongly facilitated has emptied the treasury. Under the orders of former Prime Minister Waddington, the Ministry of Finance embezzled all public funds that could be embezzled from the project, and because the Russians were so eager to ask for money, we even temporarily suspended the payment of three months' salaries to all French civil servants from May. ”

"So, unless you can agree," Leon-Sai threw a bomb in the face of the already quiet conference room, "to once again drastically reduce the budgets of their respective departments, to suspend the implementation of all projects, especially to stop the creation of new departments, and to stop spending on public health and public education, and if necessary, to delay the payment of civil servants' salaries again..."

Before Leon Sai could finish speaking, a louder noise erupted than before.

"Mr. Minister, what do you mean by stopping the creation of new departments? Don't you know what the upcoming Ministry of Labour means for all French workers? You actually want to cancel it, what kind of heart do you have, do you want to stand in opposition to all the laborers! Jules Gade, who had been tacitly chosen as the future French Minister of Labor, stood up angrily and roared loudly.

"What are you kidding, not slapping me and the camp I represent in the face to add a department of socialists in the government and now stopping it? In our eyes, power can only be fought for, never relinquished. Jules Gade waved his hands with red eyes as he thought to himself.

"What a stupid idea to cut the departmental budget, the spirit of France is carried by French culture, and for every life invested in French culture, the French spirit will be hurt a little more, and those who hurt the French spirit are the public enemies of France!" Jean-Raules shouted with the same dissatisfaction.

During this period, a certain minister even threatened that not only the departmental budget should not be reduced, but also that the salaries of civil servants in his own department should be paid as usual, and not a single cent could be owed, otherwise he and his department would go on strike!

As soon as this head was opened, the voices of all the ministers immediately became three points louder, and the military leaders couldn't help but echo the demand for an increase in the treatment of soldiers.

Lebel could no longer bear this situation, and was about to shoot the case when a sharp pain suddenly came from his foot. Enduring the pain, Lebel turned his head sharply to see Grevy's expressionless face and a hint of sternness flashing in his eyes. Lebel swallowed hard and swallowed the words into his stomach.

It was another typical French meeting with no results, and all stakeholders did their best to defend their interests and refused to give up the slightest.

Grevy looked at all this indifferently, except for the initial surprise brought by the Germans, everything that the French behaved was within his expectations.

Proud and arrogant, selfish and aggressive, just a bunch of stupid Gallic roosters.

After stopping Lebel's blind movement, Grevy continued to look through the folder handed by Frésine in the midst of the argument.

The diplomatic note from the Germans was followed by several major French newspapers, which included representative newspapers controlled by the French left and right.

On the first or second pages, the newspapers published an article with the same content, a signed article from the French Department of the German Foreign Office.

At the beginning of the article, the details of the three social security laws of the "People's Chancellor" Bismarck are introduced in detail, and the benefits that all German workers will receive from them, whether they are unemployed or injured at work, they will enjoy state assistance, and most importantly, German companies will compensate workers for at least one month's income regardless of the reason for terminating workers.

In the future, Germany will implement 12 years of free education for all, universal medical security system, national health campaign, child security welfare plan, old-age security, low-income family assistance.... A long list of Joey's past lives, the welfare policies of the Nordic high-welfare states leapt onto paper.

Under the guidance of the German Imperial Family, the German government is building a welfare society for the German people that has never been seen before in the world.

At the end of the article, the French people asked rhetorically, the so-called French who overthrew the imperial system and established a democratic, free and republic, have you enjoyed the benefits of us Germans with an emperor?

Apparently not! You France, before worrying about things that have nothing to do with you, should first fight for your own interests, don't fail to achieve the welfare of the Germans, but break your heart for the Germans!

Seeing this, Grevey couldn't sit still any longer, anger already filling his chest.