In any case, Joey felt that he was the first person affected by his father's promotion. At the dinner table for the whole family, several upcoming events announced by the crown princess happened to have something to do with Joey.

First of all, there will be two gatherings on two consecutive days this weekend. On Saturday afternoon, there was a salon of science and culture, which was also a long-term scientific and cultural salon gathering organized by the crown princess, and the participants were mainly friends of the crown princess in the cultural and scientific circles.

Sunday night, on the other hand, was a makeshift but even grander ball to celebrate the crown prince's inauguration as economy minister. The guests were important figures from the German economic and financial circles, including well-known economists and entrepreneurs in Germany, as well as the emerging industrial capitalist class represented by them, the German financial capitalist class represented by the banking and securities industries, and even the Junkers landowners in the north and ranchers in the south in Berlin.

The nominal organizer of this party was the Imperial Palace, but in fact it was the Fort Charlotte Palace that funded and prepared it, and the crown prince and his wife accepted the kindness actively expressed by the old emperor. The relationship between the Imperial Palace and the Charlottenburg Palace also began to harmonize.

The crown princess asked every child in her family to do the host's job well and be sure to entertain the guests for these two nights. In particular, Joey was defaulted by his mother to still have a bit of an aura of ideological talent, and the focus was on being the little host of the Saturday salon dinner. William and Joey's two older sisters and second brother-in-law, as well as Joey and her two younger sisters, were required to be dressed up at Sunday's gala and to be a proper gentleman and lady.

Joey carefully recalled the memories left by little Waldemar, as if in the past eight or nine years, the princess had not held any decent ball, and Joey could see that her mother attached special importance to Sunday's ball. The feeling that the husband and wife can return to the center of the stage of imperial power and regain the attention of everyone makes the crown princess excited, and Joey can detect it from a long distance from the table. Joey is genuinely happy to be back in the spotlight for her parents.

The second big thing is the question of where Joey went to middle school.

"Qiaoqiao, I have discussed with your father, since your illness has been cured, you can't delay going to school any longer, and you will go to school next week. Regarding the school, we all feel that it would be more suitable for you to study in a liberal arts and science middle school. But studying in the school there, we would also like to hear your opinion. You have two options: one is to go to a private grammar school, such as your aunt's Salaam Palace School in Baden-Württemberg, or a similar private grammar boarding school; The second is to go to the Berlin Public Grammar School, where you can go home every day. The crown princess smiled and asked Joey to choose one of the two options.

The crown princess looked at the hesitant Joey and quipped, "Those who are far away from home don't need the entrance exam, and those who are close to home have to take the entrance exam, if Qiaoqiao is afraid of the exam, you can choose to be far away, but now it is rumored that our Qiaoqiao is a genius, so what..."

"Brother, studying in Berlin, we want to listen to your story!" Alice and Princess Fiodora shouted.

"The grammar school is much better than my full secondary school, and it is a good job, and you must know that Berlin is much better than the Baden countryside." William winked hard to hint at something to Joey.

"Congratulations, Jojo. I agree with William that the family should always be together and see each other every day. Joey's sister, Princess Victoria, said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, I'll stay in Berlin!" Joey announced with his hands held high! Then the children slapped the table and shouted loudly.

"Alright, alright," the crown princess motioned for the children to be quiet, and announced the last big thing about Jojo, "Jojo, your personal tutor will also come to Germany one after another, and the fastest of them is Mr. Barnaby, it is said that he will be able to go to Hamburg this weekend, and I think you will be able to meet this Mr. Barnaby when you start school next week." In addition, according to the telegram from your grandmother, other private tutors are also in contact with each other and hope that they will be able to come to Germany within this month. ”

"There are several private teachers, Qiaoqiao, you have to receive so many tutors while attending a liberal arts middle school? Oh my God, what do you have in your head, are you really like your mother said, you're a genius? William took Joey in his arms and kept fiddling with his head.

"Hehe, it's just a few extra courses, I can handle it." Joey said with a smile in William's arms.

"How many extra doors?" The crown princess looked at Joey with sympathetic eyes, "Today Prince Alexander has brought news from the palace, let me see what is written in the letter, our dear little Joey will receive four hours of dance etiquette training every week, taught by Her Majesty herself. ”

The crown princess looked at her husband and then continued, "Also four days a month, you have to report to the Berlin Military Academy on Frederickstraße, where you will receive the military education that a Prussian nobleman should have. Joey, the latter point is your father's approval and special request. ”

The crown princess looked at Joey with some concern and asked, "Jojo, do you think you can eat it, do you want a mother..."

"Can we afford the tuition?" Joey touched his nose and thought about it, then looked at the crown princess and asked.

"Oh, the letter says that the tuition for dance and military education is covered by the Imperial Palace."

"Okay, just add these two." Joey said with a smile.

"Hmph, it's not bad to be able to accept court etiquette and military training, there are free things to learn, if you don't learn in vain, you won't learn, since you are not afraid to cross over, are you afraid that you can't bear the pain of learning?" Joey thought to himself.

Joey turned his head to see William and his sister Victoria looking at him with surprised expressions, and then he thought about it and said loudly, "Mom, can we send an invitation to our best friend for the weekend dance?" ”

William and Victoria's eyes lit up as they looked at their mother, and at this moment the crown princess felt that she was about to be burned by the gaze of these two children, thought about it, nodded and said, "If one or two friends should be able to arrange it." ”

After hearing this, William touched Joey's arm with his elbow and whispered, "Hey brother, well done!" ”

"Hehe, my chocolates will be yours in the future!" Joey winked and laughed.

"No problem!"

"Thank you, Jojo, my sister will bring you chocolates too." Princess Victoria said with a blushing face.

49/51 Portland Street, London, Qing Legation to the United Kingdom, Inside the Minister's Office.

Zeng Jize was writing for Le Figaro, the French Gazette, and the Sunday Newspaper, three of the most famous newspapers in Paris, France, preparing to denounce France's duplicity in Indochina affairs. Although Zeng Jize's articles are slightly inferior in French, they are better in terms of sharp style and to the point, and they are often welcomed by a large number of readers in these three newspapers because they can directly hit the key points of the French government and parliament.

Today, Zeng Jize wrote an article for three newspapers entitled "On the Historical Status of Annam," which focuses on the history, geography, and culture of Annam, and expounds in detail why Annam was an inseparable part of the Qing Dynasty, and once again clearly points out to the French people that France's military colonization cannot conquer Annam, and that Annam, with the support of the Qing Dynasty, will inevitably fight with France to the end.

The death of An Ye in 1873 proved this, and the Treaty of Saigon in 1874 proved the collective incompetence and incompetence of the French government and parliament. If the French government continues to ignore the just demands of Annam and the Qing Dynasty, then nothing but blood and death await the French.

Just as Zeng Jize was heartily denouncing the French, the first secretary of the legation knocked on the door and handed over a telegram from China.

This is a telegram from Li Hongzhang, the minister of Beiyang, the content of the telegram is quite long, the front is some common polite words, the middle part on the one hand proposes that the Qing Dynasty wants to order another pole mine boat from the British, on the other hand, I want to invite Zeng Jize to go to the Armstrong shipyard, let him urge the progress of the four mosquito ships ordered last year, seeing here Zeng Jize was confused, until he saw the last sentence of the telegram:

"Brother Jiegang, can I remember the parting words I said to you in Tianjin before you went to the land of Taixi in the fourth year of Guangxu, my brother did it intentionally today, I don't know if my brother is willing to help me."

Zeng Jize straightened up, grabbed the message and then read the last paragraph of the message, and after reading it carefully, he couldn't help but be overjoyed!

In the fourth year of Guangxu, that is, last year, Zeng Jize succeeded Guo Songtao as minister to Britain and France, and on the eve of departing for Europe by ship from Tianjin Port, Li Hongzhang had a deep talk with his younger brother Zeng Jize. When talking about the coastal defense of the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang particularly emphasized his envy of the strong ships and cannons of the West, and told Zeng Jize that if he could sell the strong ships of the West one day, he hoped that Zeng Jize would be able to use Zeng Jize who was good at negotiating with foreigners.

After Zeng Jize arrived in Europe, he was very good at learning, and did an in-depth understanding and study of the naval development of European countries, especially the development of ships of the British Royal Navy, and was extremely disdainful of the mosquito ships and pole mineboats that the Qing Dynasty had been purchasing, and had repeatedly advocated the domestic procurement of ironclad ships and cruisers.

Seeing the last paragraph of the telegram today, Zeng Jize understood that the era of ironclad ships in the Qing Dynasty was not far away, but were the British willing to sell it?