Bang bang!

In the evening, the Elizabeth Square in St. Petersburg was bustling with people, including high-ranking Russian nobles and celebrities, invited ministers and family members of various countries, to watch the majestic ceremony to the sound of the royal salute.

Puff p

Oh –

Wow –

It's so beautiful—

It's so beautiful –

The aftermath of the royal salute continued, followed by a fireworks display of colorful fireworks that attracted a lot of attention and exclamations.

Oliveira, the Portuguese adventurer who had just met Peter in the morning, did not show up, not because he was not qualified, because the invited guests could bring a few entourage, and Oliveira would have no problem as long as he came with the Portuguese diplomat. In fact, the real reason is that Peter doesn't want to expose his idea of spying on Africa in advance, so Oliveira is in the name of a businessman this time

When they arrived in St. Petersburg, the ship was also loaded with a lot of rare cargo from the Portuguese and Spanish colonies, including those 'gifts' for Peter.

"Yo, so Lord you've been invited to the celebratory dinner too?"

In the crowd of onlookers watching the fireworks, Prime Minister Bestuzhev said to a tall middle-aged man wearing a gray wig.

"Oh, isn't this the protector of Europe, the prime minister of the great Russian Empire!"

The slender middle-aged man responded with very exaggerated rhetoric.

"Come on, you and I haven't known each other for a short time, so this kind of meaningless boasting will be avoided."

Bestuzhev gave the middle-aged man an angry look.

"But ah, I admire the balancing hand that your country plays, hehe"

Obviously, the slender middle-aged man who was ridiculed by Bestuzhev was none other than a minister from England.

"Oh, the Earl's words are very wronged, and I can't help it, who would have thought that the Duke of Newcastle would turn to support Prussia in order to curry favor with the king, hehe"

Because the current King George II is also the Elector of Hanover, it is equivalent to a German who became the king of England (the famous Queen Victoria was the last British king from Hanover), and he is also a war maniac who likes to wear clothes, and at the age of 61, he also participated in the Austrian Succession War and led the army to France. Later, when the rebels led by the French-backed descendants of James II attacked England, George II rejected the advice of his ministers to flee to his hometown in Hanover on the European continent, and held on to London for three years, which won praise from all over Britain for a time. Therefore, the English king naturally preferred the Kingdom of Prussia and Frederick the Great, who were also North Germans and enemies of France.

Moreover, out of the needs of Britain's own interests, Prussia was used to stir up the Holy Roman Empire, a chaotic region that had long been scattered, to weaken the influence of the Habsburgs and sow discord between the major powers on the European continent, so as to buy time for Britain to grab more overseas colonies. At the same time, Prussia, whose military strength had skyrocketed, was limited to the European continent, and it was difficult to have time to develop its navy, which was one of the reasons why Prussia did not have the opportunity to go to sea until the mid-to-late 19th century, when Prussia became the Second German Reich.

"Well, without the acquiescence of the British king, will you sell the warship to Prussia? Will it secretly form an alliance with Prussia? You don't have to say it's all Henry. Pelham's idea, everyone knows that behind the former prime minister stands the Duke of Newcastle, and the Duke of Newcastle was awarded the title of Duke by the King of England for suppressing the Jacobite rebellion."

Henry. Pelham, the late former British prime minister, is the younger brother of the Duke of Newers.

"Oh old friend, my king has always had a holiday with the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Newcastle only represents his own interests, and perhaps the Duke wants to save his political crisis by forming an alliance with Prussia."

Seeing that Bestuzhev was angry, the British minister laughed again and again.

"Oh, my lord's words are wrong! It's been a few years since the Prince of Wales passed away, but as far as I know, there are rumours that Henry. Pelham has long since severed his personal ties with his eldest brother, the Duke of Newcastle, and has only continued to maintain a public brotherhood for the sake of face."

The Prince of Wales is Prince Frederick, the eldest son of King George II, but George II hated this son so much that he restricted his son's power and worship everywhere, and the relationship between the two was well known in Europe. However, the early death of Prince Frederick caused supporters of the prince's faction to have to curry favor with George II again. The reason why Pelham was able to sit in the prime minister's position. Therefore, Bestuzhev did not believe in this in every way.

"Ah, this kind of rumor is not credible, the new leader of the House of Commons, Old Pete, is the backbone of the Prince of Wales's party, doesn't this show that the situation has changed?"

The current leader of the House of Commons and the Secretary of State of the United Kingdom, that is, William Sr. Pitt has not been officially appointed as prime minister by George II, but his authority is actually equivalent to that of prime minister, and in private countries actually acquiesce to him as British prime minister, but in diplomatic situations, this difference in status should still be noted.

"Hehe, but I've also heard that old Pitt is strongly in favor of your country's decisive battle with France in the House of Commons? If that's not what the King meant, then there's no need for us to talk about it."

"Oh, old friend, you can rest assured, old Pete's idea is to go to war with France overseas, not to get involved in things on the European continent, I guess your country won't care about overseas affairs, right? Aren't our two countries still maintaining an aid agreement? ”

"But your country is also aiding Prussia! You don't want to say that the money given to Prussia can only be used to fight France, not Russia? ”

"Hey - that's exactly the case, our country's aid is only to Hanover, mainly to defend against the French invasion of Hanover, this is my king's bottom line, old friends you should understand. As for your country or Austria, because the aid is also limited, unless King Frederick is selfish, it will not be misappropriated, don't worry, old friend."

"Well, you've said all the good things, but if there is another thing like selling a battleship privately without telling me, I won't be able to explain it to the empress anymore, I hope you can understand my situation. At that time, I am afraid that it will be difficult for your country to get out! ”

Given that he had been struck by the British once, Bestuzhev felt that his position in the heart of Empress Elizabeth had been shaken, so it was not without warning.

"Anla, An, after all, we're old friends, haha~"

Even if the British minister was not sincere, because the great victory of the Russian army in East Prussia was too amazing, he naturally had to be three points shorter in front of him.