No matter how big the difference in power between the United States and Colombia is, there is no doubt that Colombians should be the masters on Colombian soil.

The fact that the Panamanian company had leased Kenting Castle as a residence for the members of the Canal Company side of the Joint Working Group was not clear to the Colombian officials in the Joint Working Group, and even if they did, they would not be able to let go of it.

Kenting Castle has a huge dining room, the European-style long table can accommodate more than ten people at the same time, the table is covered with a white tablecloth, and there are flowers and silver vines in the center of the table as a decoration, because the light in the restaurant is a little dim, now the candles are lit, it looks more atmospheric.

Hamilton Fish casually greeted Martinez Silva and the others and stopped talking nonsense, already sitting on the right side of the table and talking and laughing with Robert Cronin on the right hand, perhaps in a foreign country, Hamilton Fish chatted with Robert Cronin and them very warmly, showing the enthusiasm and unrestrainedness that he had never shown in his tenure as secretary of state.

But for the likes of Martinez Silva, the arrangement is not so easy.

European traditional customs are different from Chinese customs, which are based on the right, so this kind of long dining table, in the customary sense, the right side is the main seat, and the central position on the right side is the host's seat, which is different from the host sitting at the dining table in film and television dramas.

Such a long dining table, if the host and the guest of honor sit at opposite ends of the table, then I am afraid that they will have to communicate something, and they really need to take a horn -

Diplomacy is no trivial matter, a simple arrangement of seats, if it is an ordinary person, maybe it will pass with a haha, but at the level of negotiations, Martinez Silva They dare not be confused, fortunately, Martinez Silva also has a punching bag, so Martinez Silva immediately gave Eddie Hausman an inquiring look.

Embarrassingly, Eddie Hausman didn't look at Martinez Silva at all, but went to the far left of the table and sat down quietly, exchanging a mysterious smile with Ford Benjamin opposite.

"Eddie?" Martinez Silva can hold his breath, but Ignaz Russell can't take it anymore.

"What's wrong?" Eddie Hausman looked back in confusion, his hand arranging the napkin as if it were still.

"Don't you need to explain?" Ignatz Russell's voice was filled with anger, as if it would flare up in the next moment.

"Explain what?" Eddie Hausman is still playing dumb.

"Explain what this seating arrangement is all about? Explain why these damn Americans are on the throne, and explain that Panama is not Colombian territory after all? Ignatz Russell was so loud that Martinez Silva didn't have time to stop it, and for a while only Ignatz Russell's voice echoed in the restaurant, and everyone was dumbfounded.

As soon as Ignaz Russell spoke, Martinez Silva knew that it was going bad, that he was a hot-tempered and hostile person to the United States, and that it was a mistake for the Colombian government to put him in the joint working group, and that Ignaz Russell had shown sufficient hostility towards the representatives of the Canal Company when the representatives of Bogotá and the Canal Company had first come into contact, and that Martínez Silva had tried to exclude Ignaz Russell from the joint working group, but had not been able to do so.

To this day, there are still different voices in the Colombian government about the right to dig the Panama Canal, which is understandable, when the French established the Interoceanic Canal Company, they must have also obtained some kind of promise, otherwise the French would not rush into this troubled water, but later the reaction of the US government was too fierce, so the right to dig the Panama Canal was given back to the Americans, this result did not satisfy everyone, and it is obvious that Ignatz Russell was one of those who were not satisfied.

If Ignatz Russell didn't use "damned" to express his strong emotions when he expressed it, then maybe everything would have turned around, but Ignatz Russell's open-mouthed words ruined it all, and as soon as this damn "damned" was spoken, Martinez Silva had a sense of disaster.

Sure enough, as soon as Ignatz Russell's words fell, Martinez Silva noticed that the faces of the Americans, led by Hamilton Fish, had changed dramatically.

"Shut up!" Martinez Silva's lash did not ease the tension.

"Damn it! What Mr. Director mean, Americans deserve to die, right? Or do all the Americans killed in the events of the conflict deserve to die? Hamilton Fish left no room and slowly put the napkin in his hand back into the plate in front of him, otherwise Hamilton Fish was afraid that he could not bear it and would smash the napkin in the face of Ignatz Russell.

Accompanied by Hamilton Fish's voice, all the American members present stood up in unison, especially Ford Benjamin, who had put his hand on the holster on his waist, and the buckle on the holster had been opened, and it seemed that if he didn't say a word, Ford Benjamin would kill all the Colombian officials on the spot.

"Believe me, Mr. Fish, Ignatz didn't mean that—" Martínez Silva had to explain, even though he knew that such an explanation was pale.

"Needless to explain, we don't get any respect here, I've had enough of these arrogant Americans, do you think this is Washington? We want them to know that this is Panama, it's Colombia, and it's not a place where they Americans can do whatever they want—" Ignatz Russell was furious, venting his frustration despite Martinez Silva's continuous reprimands, and expressing his emotions with intense body movements.

Of course, these body movements are limited to pointing and pointing, and it is absolutely impossible to use hands, Ignatz Russell is less than 1.6 meters tall and weighs more than 200, if he starts to do it, it is estimated that if he doesn't kill Hamilton Fish, he can exhaust Ignatz Russell to death.

"Shut up! Shut up! You goddamn stupid X, can't you just shut up-" Martinez Silva felt like he was going crazy, and with such a pig teammate, Martinez Silva felt that his decision some time ago was getting more and more correct.

"I can't help it! You damn - Colombian stupid pig! Martin Werner, a Canal Company representative from Connecticut, picked up the glass in front of him and poured a full glass of water on Ignatz Russell's face.

A negotiation team, there must be a white face and a red face, one is asking for a price, and the other is appropriately releasing water, which is more conducive to reaching an agreement, in the joint working group, Martin Warner plays the role of a sky-high asking price, and Hamilton Fish is often with mud, and now this situation is when Martin Warner plays in his true colors.

When the map gunners generally fire, they often hit indiscriminately, just like Ignatz Russell who was open-mouthed, Martin Werner also piggybacks all the Colombians when he scolds, otherwise he is an unqualified map gunner.

"You're the damn Yankee-" Ignatz Russell had a few tea leaves stuck to his face, looking particularly funny, because it was a little far from the table, Ignatz Russell simply spat at Martin Werner, also because of the distance, although such an attack had no practical effect, but the objective effect was the same.

"Damn Colombian stupid pig-"

"Damn Yankee—"

"Die—"

“——”

The restaurant immediately became a battlefield, and for a time the tea set and napkins took off, saliva and dinner forks danced together, the slang of the two sides came out together, and they did not give in to each other, and the scene was very fierce, no less than the battle between the two armies.

"Enough!" Hamilton Fish slammed his fist on the table, stood up in a rage, and unceremoniously gave the eviction order: "If you maintain this attitude, then I think there is nothing to talk about between us, and now we all need to calm down and walk slowly." ”

Having been secretary of state for several years, Hamilton Fish has naturally seen many big scenes, but he has never seen such scenes.

The key is that the attacks on both sides are at the surface level, and there is no substantive contact, in fact, everyone is still very sensible, the weapons used are limited to teacups and plates, and everyone has a tacit understanding not to touch the dinner knife, otherwise I am afraid that there will be another bloodshed.

Originally, the Joint Working Group was formed to solve the bloodshed, and if the previous bloodshed has not been resolved, and the Joint Working Group has caused new bloodshed, it will be ridiculous and generous, Colombians may not care, but Hamilton Fish cannot afford to lose this man.

In fact, as long as there is a conflict, no matter who is justified on both sides of the conflict, others seem to ignore both sides, otherwise the fight will not start.

"Yes, we all need to calm down." Martinez Silva agrees with Hamilton Fish that although it is a bit disgraceful to leave like this, it will not lead to anything if he stays any longer, so let's calm down.

The Panamanian government's accommodation for the joint working group was a hotel next to the city hall, and while the facilities were not as luxurious as Kenting Castle, they were second to none in Panama.

On the carriage back to the station, Martínez Silva was still hating iron and steel: "When you go back, you have to reflect on what you have done today. I hope you'll fully realize—"

Considering Ignatz Russell's face, Martinez Silva is quite measured, and he thinks that his choice of words and sentences is not too much.

But the same sentence, listening to different people's ears, the feeling is definitely not the same, Ignatz Russell does not think that he is wrong, so Ignatz Russell immediately sneered: "You better reflect on yourself first, if it weren't for the compromise you have always made to the Americans, the Americans would not be so unscrupulous, and we would not have suffered such embarrassment today, it seems that some people have become accustomed to being servants in the United States, and when they return to their own turf, their waists still can't stand up——"

It is undeniable that during Martinez Silva's tenure as ambassador to the United States, in order to safeguard the interests of the Colombian government, he did show caution many times, lest he anger the Americans who are getting stronger and more ambitious, but this does not mean that Martinez Silva himself is a cowardly person, and this is the case. Russell was also a grandson in Washington.

However, judging by Ignaz Russell's performance, as long as the Colombian government does not suffer from collective madness, it probably will not let Ignaz Russell serve as Colombia's ambassador to the United States.

"Shut up! You haven't realized your mistake yet, and well, I'm going to refer what happened tonight to Bogotá for resolution, and you don't have to go to the Joint Working Group until the conclusion comes. "Martinez Silva has finally decided to exclude Ignatz Russell from the joint working group, which Martinez Silva has wanted to do for a long time, and what happened today only strengthened Martinez Silva's resolve.

"You don't have that right, it's a right given to me by Bogotá to join the joint working group, and I was part of the joint working group until Bogotá terminated my rights." Now that he has torn his face, Ignatz Russell is no longer polite, and he simply no longer accepts Martinez Silva's leadership.

"Then wait and see, you guy who has more than enough to do and more than lose, I really don't know how you got into the Foreign Office-" Martinez Silva was so disgusted that he almost didn't just scold.

Until returning to the hotel, the quarrel between Martinez Silva and Ignatz Russell did not stop, and after getting out of the car, Martinez Silva was still angry, refused Eddie Haussmann's rearranged dinner, and went straight to his room.

"Sir, Mr. Hamilton Fish's secretary has come to visit you." Shortly after returning to the room, Martínez Silva's servant hurriedly arrived.

"Secretary? What does he want to do? Let's just say I'm asleep. "Martinez Silva doesn't want to make a fuss, Hamilton Fish's secretary is coming to visit now, it's obvious that the weasel is not happy to give the chickens a New Year's greeting, Martinez Silva doesn't want to give someone a handle at this critical time, so let's not see each other.

After the servant went out, he came in again after a while: "Sir, Mr. Robert Cronin, General Manager of the Panama Railways, has come to visit. ”

Robert Cronin, Martinez Silva just had a relationship with him, and it is estimated that it is not good to meet at this time, Martinez Silva was about to refuse, but saw that Robert Cronin had appeared at the door of the room.

Uninvited?

It's too much!