"Please tell me......"

After hearing Charles's words, the marquis waved his hand gracefully, and then replied with a smile, "I think we still have a lot of time today, so there is no need to be in a hurry. ”

Then, suddenly, he gently opened his drawer and pulled out a box of cigars.

"Charles, would you like some?"

"I'm not particularly fond of smoking." Charles was stunned for a moment, then gave a rather tactful answer.

"Oh? Why? The Marquis raised his eyebrows, as if surprised that a young nobleman like Charles did not like to smoke, "Charles, this is a gentleman's hobby!" ”

"There's no reason for it, I just don't like it very much." Charles replied with a smile, and then suddenly reached out and took a cigar from the minister's cigarette case, "However, since you are so gracious, then I am embarrassed to refuse......"

Then, the two men picked up the cigar cutter, cut the tip of the cigar, and lit the cigar.

The minister did not speak, but took a deep breath full of intoxication with a cigar in his mouth, and then puffed out a puff of smoke.

He looked up at Charles and said half-jokingly, "Charles, you can't do diplomacy without smoking—the smoking room is a great place to talk about big things, you know, in the diplomatic world full of eyeliner and leaks, it's really hard to find such a place." Don't worry about any health rumors! Young man, don't believe the nonsense of mediocrity, I'm sixty-five years old this year, and I've been smoking cigars for forty years, isn't it still good? ”

After speaking. He took another deep puff of his cigar, then let out another long breath. "Look! What a rare pleasure in life! ”

Looking at the marquis, this is like an addict. Charles just smiled, "I think." Places where you can communicate openly and honestly can always be found, and it doesn't have to be smoking. ”

It's not because I'm worried about being harmful to my body or anything, it's just because I don't like it.

Seeing that the minister wanted to say something more, Charles waved his hand unhurriedly and drew an elegant arc with his cigar smoke.

"If, when I meet someone in the diplomatic circles, I think I'm uncomfortable with what I'm doing, then I have to say that by now they'll have to learn to follow the rhythm of Charles de Treville."

Charles's expression of implicit displeasure. The minister's face suddenly stiffened slightly.

Soon he understood what Charles meant—if you let me smoke, I'll give you face, but don't think you can give me any favor, let alone show me a favor.

However, despite Charles's tough attitude, the minister did not show any rebuke or disgust.

Because this Tréville is the president's most hardcore supporter, and at the same time he is the most trusted; And this Marquis of Turgo was only loyal to the old Bourbon nobility first, and only changed his court a few years ago.

The marquis knew very well in his heart that the gap between the two people - even if it seemed that his official position was higher than that of the other party on the surface, it was just an illusion. Today, when the president has established an absolute dictatorship, everyone's power and status only depend on who has more weight in the president's heart.

"Hahahaha!" After a moment, the Marquis burst out laughing. "Charles, you're really ...... All right. Young people are understandably vigorous after all. ”

After all, he was an old and sophisticated nobleman, and he hid the embarrassment in his heart with a smile. It also made this small conflict suddenly come to naught.

Then, he reached for the ashtray. Then gently flick the soot twice.

"Okay, so let's get down to business." His expression returned to Yan Sù. "According to the message from the ambassador from London, you will be personally received by Mr. Russell the day after your arrival in London."

"What?" Charles was taken aback, then regained his composure, "Looks like this is good news. ”

Mr. Russell refers to the current British Prime Minister Russell.

"Good news indeed." The Minister took another puff on his cigar, "This shows that the British are more interested in improving relations with France than we would like to think." But...... Charles, the more this happens, the more we need to keep our composure and not get carried away by it. The English are cunning and cunning, and we can never trust them, and how to deal with the Prime Minister so decently that he can neither be overly courteous nor feel left out is a big question......

"So you mean?" Charles looked tentatively at the minister. "Please tell me directly, you are the minister, and I obey your assignment."

For fear of offending Charles, the minister deliberately said it very tactfully, but the meaning was obvious - he was afraid that Charles would be a newcomer, because he was young and vigorous, and he did not know how to advance and retreat, and could not cope with the British prime minister.

Although this feeling of being feared was uncomfortable, Charles was also able to understand the minister's motives, and was very empathetic in expressing his willingness to follow orders - of course, if he wanted to set himself up in secret, then he would not talk about it.

"Actually, it's nothing, I just want you to listen to the embassy staff more often, and if necessary, bring one or two trusted embassy personnel to the meeting in the name of interpreters - after all, they have always been in England, and know more about British affairs than you and I do, so that you will not be put on the side of the British." Perhaps satisfied with Charles' sudden and modest attitude, the Marquis smiled and nodded, "Charles, do you know English?" ”

"Yes, I'll have some." Charles nodded.

"Then pretend you won't," the minister snuffed out his cigarette butt and placed it in the ashtray, "In my experience, it's good to pretend you don't understand the other person's language during a conversation, because you'll have plenty of time to buffer your thoughts while the attaché next to you interprets – and if you're lucky, you'll be able to hear their whispers, which will be much more valuable than what they say to you...... Of course, to the Queen and the Prince, you don't have to. Communicate with them in German, if you can win the hearts and minds of both of them. That couldn't be better for us. ”

To put it bluntly, I'm still worried that I'm a hairy boy who doesn't know how to advance and retreat. Ran into the British Prime Minister...... Charles smiled bitterly in his heart.

"Okay, thank you." Charles agreed to the minister after a little thought. "I'll pretend I don't understand English."

For the past century or two, the upper echelons of England had spoken French, but now the world is very different, and the arrogant English gentlemen have little enthusiasm for learning French. However, English has not yet reached the status of an international language in the 21st century, so it is not surprising that the Shire do not understand it.

"It's so nice to be so reasonable." The minister also looked relieved. "Then I wish you a pleasant trip to the UK and some good news back to us."

"I hope so, too." Charles bowed slightly, then put the cigar in his hand in the ashtray and extinguished it.

"By the way, one more thing, another piece of good news." The minister suddenly smiled and waved his hand at Charles again, "News came from England at the same time, the Duke of Wellington agreed to receive you. ”

"Oh! That's great! Charles blurted out.

Out of the desire to meet one of the few superstars left over from the Napoleonic era, Charles made a request to the British government to see the Duke of Iron through the French Embassy when he was planning his visit to England. Today he finally received feedback that the Duke himself agreed to receive him, which made him very happy indeed.

"You seem to have a lot of respect for him? Specifically asked to see him? As if surprised by Charles's joyful expression, the Marquis asked in a low voice.

There was something odd about his tone.

As an old French aristocrat, he had mixed views about the Duke of Wellington - this is the duke. The final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo allowed the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty; However, it was this duke who dealt the heaviest blow to France's military glory.

So. It was hard for him to understand why Charles was so excited.

"Oh, I just wanted to talk to him. After all, he was a strong man, and I was hoping to get some teachings from him. A moment later. Charles regained his composure, and could not be seen to have such a high regard for Napoleon's sworn enemy.

"Okay, whatever you want." The minister nodded, clearly not wanting to delve into the issue.

"Your Excellency, when I return from England, you should give me formal powers, right?" Charles suddenly and coldly asked a question.

"Huh?" The minister was shocked.

These days, he has been in the name of Charles's need to learn, and he hasn't assigned too many tasks to the other party, but he didn't expect to come today...... Ay.

"What do you want?"

He reluctantly replied while secretly praying that the other party would not rob him of too much.

"I'm more interested in the affairs of the East, and I would like to ask you to leave it to me." Charles replied in a low voice. "I'm very interested in both the Near East and the Far East."

"Oh?" There was a hint of joy in the minister's tone. "Oriental?"

"Yes, I understand that you still have doubts about my experience, and I myself am not very familiar with the problems of European countries, so I think I should start from the East...... Whether it is Turkey, Iran, or even the Qing Kingdom, you will not be bothered by the diplomatic affairs of these countries in the hands of me, right? These countries are not strong enough, and even if there is any trouble, I think you can easily press it down...... As for the affairs of the European countries, you should continue to dominate, I just need to participate and learn first. ”

In other words, European affairs should also be involved, but not dominant...... God knows if it's credible or not.

The Marquis secretly felt a pain in his heart.

He looked up and saw that the young man was looking at him with confidence, as if he was not at all worried that he would disagree.

Although the requirements are very high and demanding, but even so, it is better than forcing yourself to stand in the air now, right?

The minister pondered for a moment.

"Well, you naturally have the right to deal with affairs, I just watched you get married a short time ago, so I didn't bother you." The Marquis was still smiling, unable to see the joy or anger in his heart, "Then do as you say!" When you get back, you'll do the same. As you said, if you get into trouble in these places, we can still keep them down – and Europe is different. ”

I still need you now, but sooner or later I'll take over even Europe, Charles replied to himself. However, there was nothing unusual on his face. "Of course. Because European issues are so important, we can't afford to miss your experience...... Excellency. I would only like to work with you on the issues of the European countries. And learn your methods and demeanor in handling foreign affairs. ”

"I don't have much more to teach you, sir." The Marquis looked to compliment Charles from the bottom of his heart, "You are a rare young talent in our country, and sooner or later you will have to make more contributions to the country." Although it is only the East now, sooner or later you will take over the baton of our diplomacy, I am convinced. It's a pity that I'm nearly seventy years old now, and I haven't been until I retire for a long time, so I may only be able to see you in the Holy Father's service for my country......"

Charles could of course hear the Marquis's hint, and his words were both a compliment and a plea for mercy—he was pleading. said that he would retire in a few years, and only asked Charles not to completely empty himself as a foreign minister during this time, and to have a good time with the Eastern issue.

Little did he know at this moment that Louis Bonaparte and the young man had secretly decided what to do in the coming years.

"You'll get what you want," Charles hinted at in the same veil.

Then, as if thinking of something, he looked at the Marquis with a little curiosity, as if he were joking, "Yes, Your Excellency. I didn't expect you to agree to my request so easily, I thought you had received a special interest in the Orient from your uncle and grandfather! ”

After hearing Charles's words, the Marquis laughed a little embarrassedly, "You still know this?" Oh...... My uncle and grandfather did have some ridiculous interests. I admire the Qing Kingdom to the extreme, but, of course. I don't have any interest in Qingguo, and besides, we don't have much interest there......"

His tone was lazy and casual. It's like a parent who plans to throw some toys for their children to play with.

However, the uncle and grandfather of this Marquis of Turgo. It's not as light as he says, but a big figure in history.

Anne-Robert Jacques de Tourgo (later Baron Rauné), at a time when physiocratism was in vogue in France, was one of the most famous exponents of the doctrine. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Louis XVI, and in 1776 he wrote a book entitled "On the Examination of the Formation and Distribution of Wealth" based on questions he had written to two Chinese students who were about to return to China, which caused a great deal of repercussions in France at the time.

This book compares many situations in the Qing state with that of France at that time, and then summarizes many of the shortcomings of the French system, and asks the king's government to learn from and improve them - of course, a large part of this 'superiority of the Qing system' comes from the assumptions of him and his colleagues.

At the height of the Enlightenment, in order to gain the intellectual weapon to attack reality, this school of thought uncontrollably glorified China, which was at its height under the Qing Dynasty, and advocated learning from China to build France into a country that was 'like China's agriculture, moral system, and enlightened government'.

There is no doubt that their efforts were fruitless, and that Europe, which had modernized at that time, would no longer be able to embark on the path of the ideal agrarian society, returning to the idyllic era that these scholars had imagined.

With the increasing frequency of exchanges between China and Europe, the essence of the Qing Dynasty's foreign strength, decay and decay was more and more exposed to the French, and the Chinese illusion that had been circulating among scholars was gradually shattered, and no one thought of learning from the Qing Dynasty anymore.

At least, the nephew standing in front of Xia Er definitely didn't have any good feelings about the Qing Kingdom or any Eastern country in his heart.

"It seems that you don't care about Qingguo anymore."

"We don't need to care, it doesn't work for us." The minister's answer was very succinct, "Although the Qing state is large and has a large population, their rulers are ignorant and incompetent, the government is very corrupt, and the military is very weak, so they have no influence on us, and I do not need to pay special attention to them." ”

As if remembering something, he took out a report from the Wen Jiàn folder next to him, "By the way, just a while ago, I received a report that there was a large-scale rebellion in the south of the Qing Kingdom, and it is said that the leader of the rebels is still a Christian. The rebellion soon spread to several provinces, and it seems unlikely that it would be quelled, so we can tell that the Qing will only become less and less important in the world for the foreseeable future. ”

You don't have to look at the report to know what Charles is talking about.

On January 11, 1851, the 38th birthday of Hong Xiuquan, the head of the Worship of God Society, he and his subordinates would hold a grand birthday celebration, gather at Rhino Ridge, swear to revolt, declare war on the Qing Dynasty, and then establish the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

With the clarion call of the Jintian Uprising, the vigorous and lasting more than ten years of turmoil will unfold in all parts of the Qing State at the same time, leaving the Qing Dynasty in a dying situation.

Because of the lack of information flow between China and Europe, the news soon reached France. At the same time, the Marquis de Turgo, lacking knowledge of China and no means of consultation, was unable to make an accurate judgment, and was only concerned that it was a local rebellion, and that his energy was preoccupied with most of the other European affairs, so he was even less interested in paying attention to it, although Hong Xiuquan was theoretically a Christian, but this was not enough to arouse the interest of the foreign minister.

"Well, since it's insignificant, and it won't have any impact on Europe......" Charles bowed slightly to the minister, "then leave it to me, and think of it as a practice." Thank you, Your Excellency. (To be continued......)