Accompanied by the Chinese Empire's Foreign Minister named Wu Ruxiao, Walewski slowly entered the imperial palace of the Eastern Empire.

Along the way, pavilions, pavilions, rockeries, cloisters, and rare trees and grasses all made Valewski deeply intoxicated. Although Walewski was officially the Foreign Minister of the French Empire, few people know that he was actually a painter. On weekdays, a group of artists from his Académie des Beaux-Arts de France often sketch in the beautiful scenery around Paris.

Originally, he thought that the most beautiful garden scenery in the world was the Palace of Versailles garden in the southwest suburbs of Paris, in which the classicist garden art often intoxicated him. But now, he found out that he was wrong, very wrong. How shallow his previous understanding was, he had some sympathy for the painters of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, who could not come to the magical country of the East in his life, but at the same time, he secretly felt embarrassed, how painful it would be to see such a heavenly garden scenery in the future!

As soon as he stepped into the holy capital of this ancient oriental country, he was greeted by the beautiful scenery of the Orient and the beautiful scenery of the Jiangnan garden without any artificial traces. The stone bridges, flowing water, and houses in the city, the weeping willows on the riverside, the exquisite painting boats running through the river, the eaves shops and bluestone pavements on both sides of the street, all made him so intoxicated that he almost forgot the purpose of his trip. However, this is not fatal. When he entered the palace of the Emperor of the East, and stepped into the courtyard wall of the side entrance, he found himself going crazy. Everything in front of him was so beautiful, even a random attic, a pool of water, a row of weeping willows, and a garden of flowers and plants were all mixed up like a sky, quietly spreading out in front of him a wonderful picture that made people completely forget where they were. In the whole palace, the ancient trees are towering, the river is meandering, the pond is rippling, and the flocks of egrets and mandarin ducks are playing freely, making people feel as if they are in a fairyland on earth. If it weren't for Wu Ruxiao leading the way, if it weren't for the occasional few palace guards and maids standing on the side of the road, he would have thought that he was walking on the heavens in the clouds, how could this be the scenery that the world should have?

"Marquis, in front of you is the Vertical Arch Palace, where we are to meet Your Majesty!"

Walefsky was interrupted from his reverie by Wu Ruxiao's words, and he looked at the garden scenery with some nostalgia, and secretly envied the emperor of the East who was about to be seen, and it was undoubtedly a paradise to live in this beautiful place for the rest of his life.

Strangely, Walevsky accompanied Wu Ruxiao into a palace with golden tiles and red walls, only to find that the palace was not resplendent with gold, but simple and elegant. Strangely, a middle-aged man dressed in traditional oriental plain Hanfu, standing high in the center of the hall, guarded by several people around him, obviously dressed in ordinary clothes but still imposing, Walewski could immediately conclude that this was Feng Yunshan, the emperor of the Chinese Empire that he was going to meet this time.

Sure enough, Wu Ruxiao had already paid a big salute to pay respects.

Walefski even had the idea of kneeling down with Wu Ruxiao, but the etiquette habits of the French idea of equality for many years stopped him, and he only met the Eastern emperor with the etiquette of the French court in the 17th century.

.......

Feng Yunshan had been watching the most outstanding illegitimate son of the famous Napoleon the Great for a long time, and he was a little curious about the visit of the foreign minister of the French Empire. Others don't know, but Feng Yunshan knows that the thin French aristocrat in front of him will soon become the prime minister-like minister of state of the French Empire, and will also be given the title of duke, deeply respected by the French emperor, and is the most important confidant of Napoleon III. This is also the reason why Feng Yunshan decided to summon him, otherwise, with the current status of the Chinese Empire, just with the status of the French Minister Bourblon, Feng Yunshan would not pay attention to him at all, and it would be enough to send Wu Ruxiao to deal with it. It was only with the status of this Valewski that Feng Yunshan decided to meet in person, and he was indeed a little curious about whether the French emperor had something to say to him through his closest confidants, and even Bourblon was not qualified enough, because Feng Yunshan noticed that Valewski did not bring the French minister Boulblon with him.

Feng Yunshan didn't show much prestige, and directly used Western-style etiquette, stepped forward to hold Valewski's hand, and shook it vigorously, but unfortunately there was no spotlight flashing.

Ignoring Valevsky's surprise, he said directly: "Mr. Walevsky, I have admired your great father for a long time. ”

After listening to Wu Ruxiao's translation, Walewski hurriedly bent down and bowed, performed a classical French knight's etiquette, and said, "Your Majesty has won the award." Your Majesty has gathered his warriors from a commoner to overthrow the rule of the Tatars and establish the present Eastern Empire, which is a great achievement, and in the eyes of the foreign ministers and our French Emperor, even my great father, is inferior. ”

After the two chatted for a few words, Feng Yunshan asked directly, "I don't know why Mr. came to see me this time?" ”

Walewski said: "When the news of the annihilation of the British expeditionary force in your country reached Paris, the emperor of our country was very surprised and rejoiced at the great victory of your country. I have been specially ordered to come and congratulate Your Majesty in person! ”

"Thank you for your friendship with Your Majesty and your husband!" Feng Yunshan said with a smile: "Thanks to those warships sold by your country, the naval strength of the Chinese Empire has been greatly strengthened, and I have won a great victory in this battle!" ”

After saying these high-sounding polite words, Walewski finally couldn't help it, and directly proposed the task assigned to him by Napoleon III on this trip, but he still started with the relationship between the two countries: "Your Majesty, in addition, the French Emperor has entrusted me to propose to you the possibility of further strengthening the strategic alliance between the two countries. Your Majesty, what do you see? ”

Feng Yunshan laughed and said, "Of course it's no problem!" China and France have never had a conflict of fundamental interests, and as two mega countries in the East and the West, I have always believed that China and France should each shoulder the burden of the two leading countries in the East and the West, and guide the development of the East and the West. What do you say, Mr. Walevsky? ”

Walevsky nodded again and again, and took the opportunity to ask: "Your Majesty is so right! In this case, the French Empire wants to form an all-round alliance with your country, and your country needs France's advanced technology and weaponry, and France also needs the strong purchasing power, trade market, and abundant resources of the Chinese Empire. ”

Feng Yunshan saw that Valevsky said nakedly, so he also replied directly: "What Valefsky said is very straightforward, very in line with my heart!" Yes, my navy is not strong enough, and we need more and better warships to form a stronger fleet. In particular, I am very interested in the recently launched armored battleship 'Glorious' in your country, and I don't know if I can sell or transfer the design drawings, but I will take note of your friendship and give a great return! ”

Walevsky shook his head repeatedly: "Your Majesty, this, this is too embarrassing for me. The armored battleship 'Glorious' has only just been launched, and it is impossible to verify what it is doing, and even if we hand over the drawings to your country, there will not be enough skilled craftsmen to make and install these protective armors. ”

Feng Yunshan frowned, and directly forced the other party: "It seems that the emperor of your country and Valevsky are still not sincere, and the so-called all-round alliance with me is just talking!" ”

"No, no. Your Majesty, the Emperor of our country is serious. Walevsky was a little anxious, he remembered the fundamental task this time, so he had to back down and said: "The design drawings that Your Majesty wants are not impossible. Even the craftsmen and technicians involved in the construction of the 'Glory' ironclad ship can be sent to your country to support and guide, but Your Majesty, you know, it depends on what kind of conditions your country can pay. ”

"Make an offer, huh?" Wu Ruxiao, who was on the side, opened his mouth, bargaining for this money, he couldn't let the emperor personally participate.

"Lord Wu, it's not about money! Although I love wealth in the French Empire, I am not in dire need of money. Walewski said directly: "Let me be straight, our emperor heard that your country was able to wipe out the invading British expeditionary fleet in one fell swoop thanks to the credit of crude oil extracted from the ground. Moreover, to be able to burn hundreds of warships and troop carriers on the expeditionary fleet on the waters, which is several kilometers long, would require a lot of crude oil. I guess you have a lot of this crude oil in your country, right? The French Empire also wanted to have this thing, a lot of crude oil. ”

"This?" Wu Ruxiao turned his head to look at Feng Yunshan and asked for instructions with his eyes.

Feng Yunshan smiled dumbly, it turned out that the French were eyeing oil. It's no wonder that they have exposed the power of this oil, but I'm afraid they can't imagine that the real use is far more than that.

"That's no problem! Your country needs it, and as long as we have a surplus of crude oil, we can provide it. Moreover, the price will be very fair, just like the warships provided by your country. Feng Yunshan said, but there was a burst of joy in his mind, he wanted to accumulate to a certain extent and then export smelted kerosene to Europe, but he didn't expect the other party to directly ask for crude oil, which is better and saves processing. Europe and the United States have long had sporadic production of crude oil, but there has not yet been large-scale industrial exploitation of formal oil wells. Although he is one step ahead of large-scale industrial mining, such a thing cannot be hidden, and it will not be long before it will spread and become popular. Moreover, in later history, as early as August last year, the man named Drake would use a machine to drill the first oil well in the United States in Titusville, although it did not appear now, it was completely because he sent someone to quietly dispose of the person named Drake, thus delaying the appearance of the first oil drilling in the United States. But this is not to say that there will be no other oil wells in the United States, sooner or later. Therefore, agreeing to France to provide the other party's crude oil, Feng Yunshan had no pressure at all, and just took this opportunity to earn some wealth first.

Feng Yunshan's heart moved, he remembered the Middle East region that he had been thinking about for a long time, the most oil-rich place on the earth, just right, why not take advantage of the opportunity of cooperation with France to occupy this place, and perhaps, in the process of competing for interests in the Suez Canal between Britain and France, the fisherman can also benefit.