The marquis, who hid his fame in Geneva, thought that he had succeeded in evading the Queen of France, but it was a pity that he ...... It backfired, the world was so magical, and an incredible thing happened.

The development of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was slow throughout the 19th century, which is one of the reasons why Belgium despised its own suzerainty in the 1830s, the former sea coachman is now outdated, and King William III has great power, under his rule, the constitutional monarchy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was basically abolished, Downing learned about this, gave up brokering Belgium and the Netherlands to form a customs union, in the process of communicating with the Dutch, he did not like the rule of William III, But Wilhelm III had the surprise to him to sell the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which was still part of the Netherlands, to Downing!

Belgium, which was more powerful than the Netherlands, separated the Netherlands from Luxembourg after the Netherlands**, and Luxembourg became an enclave of the Netherlands, and was encroached on by Belgium A lot of territory, in order to fight Belgium, the Netherlands even let thousands of Prussian troops enter the city to defend Luxembourg City. Maybe when Luxembourg will not be his own, the poor and insecure Dutch royal family came up with a brilliant idea after connecting with Downing, and sold the enclave for a price, so that the local tyrant would become a real local tyrant. The marquis is a nobleman of the British Empire and the Kingdom of Bavaria, but he has no fief in vain, and he has no fiefdom, William III, who likes power, guesses that Tangning wants a piece of land, this is the Grand Duchy, buy it, and the Hou Ye can go one step further and become a prominent "Grand Duke" in Europe.

As for whether the new owner can be kept after Luxemburg's move, it is not a question for William III to consider, this lord himself is the master of three and two, and his own policy is still in the twilight. Luxembourg borders Belgium in the north, Prussia in the east, and France in the south, after Downing takes over, Belgium may not move him, but France is at odds with him, Prussia is the leader of the North German Union, and has been in a secret war with the pro-Austrian South Germany for a long time, and Bavaria is the leader of the South German Union, it is conceivable that Prussia will not welcome the "Marquis of Munich" to take charge of Luxembourg, but don't forget that there are thousands of Prussian soldiers stationed in Luxembourg City, Napoleon said that the Prussians are "hatched from shells", At that time, Prussia was not Napoleon's opponent because of its economic backwardness, but it had already impressed Napoleon the Great. It was after the fall of the Emperor in 1815 that Prussia's ruling class worked hard to become a heavy industrial power, with enough military power to be taken seriously by any European power.

Empress Eugenie came to Munich, Hou Ye Yun was nowhere to go, she had to visit the King of Bavaria and was disappointed to leave France, at this time, the Reuters people found her and told her, please wait, our Hou Ye will return to Munich soon, will meet you.

It's really a bright spot.

In order not to put on a green hat for the French people, several French officials were present when the queen and the marquis met, and they were very serious.

Later Telegraphs even used headlines like this: Downing? Feng? Windsor met with French officials to discuss cooperation and development.

This is another good time for hype, reconciliation does not forget to do business, and in this report, a small gift to the Empress of France is announced - the gramophone. The accompanying record is an operatic version of Alexandre Dumas's famous work La Traviata.

The gossip newspapers began to shout: "Outside the number! The Marquis of Munich, who has just been engaged to Princess Sissi, gives a precious gift to his ex-girlfriend, who turns out to be the Empress of France! ”

Well, this big green hat was properly put on by the French people.

Napoleon III almost died of anger for not giving such a report, alas! Tell Eugenie not to go, don't go, you can't stop it. Two days later, Eugénie sent a telegram saying that Downing's settlement with the couple was conditional on France supporting Downing's "buying" of Luxembourg. What an amazing event that this unobtrusive Dutch king was going to sell Luxembourg? This incident also made Napoleon III a little better, and it seems that these two old men are talking about serious things.

In order to quell the cuckold turmoil, Napoleon III, without the consent of the negotiators, announced that France was negotiating this "business" with Downing. He believed that this news, which would attract the attention of the European powers, would cover up the unnecessary gossip.

Decisively, the newspapers quickly followed suit, reported on it in large volumes, and imagined the possibilities of the big industrialists taking over Luxembourg.

It turns out that a person who is rich to a certain point can become a monarch, interesting! What will be the price of this deal? No one could have guessed, some say hundreds of thousands of pounds, others say millions. Of course, no one could have guessed, because Tang Ning himself didn't inquire at all.

According to Downing's idea, as long as he reached an agreement with France and Prussia, William III would probably not be able to sell it at that time. To deal with a king who is out of tune, he has to do it in a way that he cannot refuse.

Downing was not too disgusted by Napoleon III's actions, because it also saved him, and the day after the meeting with Eugenie, a young duchess asked him in a strange way, "Did you have a good yesterday?" This strange atmosphere did not disappear until she saw the reports of Napoleon III leading public opinion. For such a big event, of course, Downing wants to repair relations with France, being a monarch is not the same as doing business.

Napoleon III's negotiating demands were mainly twofold: first, the cessation of financing the republicans. Second, France is given most-favored-nation treatment, England does not count, and what other countries have, France must also have. Don't be hypocritical, isn't the Kingdom of Bavaria also a royal state? Why are you so nice to Bavaria, but hostile to France? Besides, if you buy Luxembourg, you are the monarch, what else do you have? Revolutionize yourself?

After receiving the conditions, Downing summoned the core of the republicans to Munich to discuss important matters. Downing first asked them, what do they think of Britain's constitutional monarchy? Although the Republicans probably guessed Downing's intentions, they also had to say, "It's okay." ”

Downing added: "Most people in the world only know about the separation of powers, but they don't really know that Britain has a separation of powers. In addition to the legislative, judicial, and governing powers, there is also public opinion supervision and a virtual head of state. There is almost consensus on the power of a free press, and a virtual head of state is actually a good check and balance.

First of all, the king loves his country, that's for sure, and is expected to be more patriotic than most of the big rich capitalists, and in times of crisis in the country, the king will be more inclined to restore the country to normal, and also have a certain strength and prestige. Countries with kings are more resilient to wars and disasters.

Second, democratic elections can also lead to great dictators, especially in presidential countries, as exemplified by the rise of Napoleon III. The king, the titular head of state, would effectively suppress the emergence of a great dictator.

So, I think, in addition to a republic, a constitutional monarchy is also an option. You might as well consider the possibility of bringing freedom and equality to France at a relatively small cost, as the British Glorious Revolution did. Sometimes, political struggle is more of a compromise. Just like males in the animal world compete for mates, there are contacts and contacts, and there is no survival advantage if they always want to kill their opponents. You have your territory, I have mine, seize the opportunity to expand the results, and if there is no opportunity, take the defensive. Napoleon III is okay in the hearts of the French people now, and the small setbacks in the Crimean War are not enough to give him a complete break, so I think I can compromise a little. And once Napoleon III accepted the constraints of constitutionalism, the opening of freedom of the press could be a fatal blow to him in due course, and of course, if he slowly relinquished real power, you could also let him go.

You've probably heard of my latest phonograph, right? I can reveal that I will also have a very important invention, which is to send sound signals in the form of radio waves to devices such as phonographs, which will have a huge change in journalism and will become a sharp weapon in the war of public opinion. Of course, there is a premise for this, my products have to be able to enter the French market, and I am lacking a step now. Napoleon III wanted me to stop supporting the republicans, and this was a step, and I was ready to step on it and switch to the constitutionalists. Don't panic, in my opinion, the republic and the constitution are both different in name, both are running for freedom and democracy, and when there is a chance to have a referendum, maybe the French people will still choose the republic. At that time, Luxembourg, which I was in charge of, might become the rear of the republican army, and the ideals of the people had the support of public opinion and strength. ”

It was obviously difficult to get Hugo and his gang to switch from shouting at the monarch to supporting a constitutional monarchy, and Downing said: "Think about it first, I am not determined to win Luxembourg, so I will go to Prussia first to find out the news." ”

Downing did not deal with Prussian politicians, but he was not a Prussian unknown to him, because Eurosteel was a supplier to Krupp. Krupp began to engage in metal-related industries from the 1810s, accumulating a lot of capital, and in the 40s, began to build cannons for Russia, Turkey and Prussia.

Until 1841, almost all of the money Krupp earned was spent on paying workers, and it was only when a family member invented a way to produce cutlery that allowed the company to expand in earnest. This success also made the Krupp family aware of the importance of innovation and spared no effort in research and development in the future. The cast steel train wheels they produced were very popular, and when the Americans began to build railroads on a large scale from 51, Krupp's profitability became better and better. At the same time, they also entered the military industry, from 47 began to make cast steel cannons, in the 51 years of the World Industry Exposition, also exhibited their 6-pounder guns, can enter the crystal palace cannon is not ordinary, indicating that at that time Krupp already had considerable strength, and their steel casting technology is quite advanced, at that time also exhibited a thallium weighing two tons of flawless steel ingots, more than twice as much as any previous steel ingot. Of course, these technologies were later far surpassed by Downing's steel company. The power of the steel conversion furnace is a one-stop competitor.

The current head of Krupp, Alfred, was also a visionary engineering material, in the era of the popularity of breech copper guns, he keenly noticed that the breech rifled gun represented the future direction, but unfortunately his vision was not recognized by the military, and in desperation, he gave the created sample to King William IV of Prussia as an ornament. Using cannons as decorations, he is worthy of a strong king who suppressed the democratic revolution for 48 years.

In short, Downing had some friendship with Alfred, and he had a good relationship with the King of Prussia.

The Prussian GIs were guarding Luxembourg, and in this respect it was more important to convince Prussia than to convince France, which meant that Downing had to get a higher bargaining chip.

Through Alfred's threading of the needle, a high-ranking Prussian official was brought in, and his name was ...... Bismarck.

Bismarck is not yet the prime minister, Wilhelm IV is not a too bright monarch, and he can't even see the future of the breech-loading rifled gun, so it is difficult to call him a bright monarch. However, Bismarck's official son was not small, he was the Prussian ambassador to Frankfurt, and Frankfurt was the place where the German Confederation Conference was held, that is, the central city that coordinated the German Confederation, so Bismarck can be said to be one of the most important diplomats in Prussia.

At this time, Austria was the chairman of the Confederation and Prussia was the vice-chairman, but Prussia's influence was no less than that of Austria, because it was the founder of the German Customs Union, and trade between the Union countries was tariff-free, covering almost all the German Confederations, even Bavaria and Luxembourg, but Prussia specifically excluded Austria. Prussia's move was to isolate Austria from the control of the German territories by the Habsburgs, who had traditionally been very prestigious in Europe, and Prussia certainly had many excuses, such as Austria, although it was a German-speaking country, its territory was too vast, its ethnic composition was too large, and the German-speaking population was only 15%.

Who Bismarck is doesn't need to be introduced, right? This steady, accurate and ruthless character, at a glance, took a fancy to one of Downing's most powerful strengths: steelmaking technology. He said that the Prussians were easy to talk and had no conditions, only one to get this steelmaking technology and teach it to Prussian enterprises. The Prussian army in Luxembourg immediately changed its guard, to whomever it was, you say.

Bismarck was not easy to fool, and Downing decided to take a step and cooperate with Krupp, but Krupp was not allowed to leak the technology to any third party for five years. Since Tang Ning created the steel conversion **, countless industrialists want to steal the teacher, it is estimated that the secret of "phosphorus removal" will be broken within a few years, and the time of these five years should be enough.

Of course, Downing did not give it in vain, and asked Krupp to pass on the technology of rear-loading rifled guns, and he wanted to produce this kind of cannon in the Belgian arsenal, and his vision was not comparable to that of Wilhelm IV.

Bismarck also asked to visit the smart factory, but was refused, this good thing cannot be shown lightly. Bismarck retreated, I'll look at the smart car can always be. The legendary car that can run 600 kilometers is not a joke, and it has to achieve a lot of logistical supply capabilities.

Bismarck muttered as he looked at it: "Pull a tow car behind here, and you can pull the goods......"

Tang Ning laughed when he heard this, smart pulling goods, this idea is really joyful.

With the approval of the Prussians, this Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Downing is bound to win, and he has informed the Grand Duchy of Hesse that there will be another 2,000 mercenaries!

The republicans in France were divided into constitutionalists by Downing, but the most important figure Hugo was not convinced, and he "expressed regret" that Downing no longer funded the Repubblica, and the two friends who had been dating for three years had a cold scene, this is Hugo, an idealistic, passionate, and persevering writer.

Dumas, who did not have a firm position, decisively called himself a "constitutionalist", but his exile was mostly to escape his creditors, and after the easing of relations with Napoleon III, he ran back to Paris, where he missed day and night, to reunite with his son Alexandre Dumas and his lover. （http：／／.）。

Downing's various products began to make their way into France quickly, including wireless telegraphs, Leica, Lego, bicycles, telegraphs, Windsor Hospital, British daily chemicals (toothpaste, toothbrushes, sweeteners, etc.), wind turbines, polar bears (remember?). ), penguin refrigerator...... Even the latest Gramophone and Smart have set up a French sales headquarters in Paris, and the French people feel that this is a sudden from a barbarian in the wilderness into a modern metropolis, and the more shocked these products are, the more they show the prestige of the great industrialists.

By the way, a large number of Downing's products are sold on a rental basis, like this latest gramophone, which costs £5 a year and gives away 5 new records every year, and if you need anything else, you have to pay for it yourself. Penguin refrigerators rent 10 pounds a year, the most expensive is smart, the annual rent is as high as 500 pounds, almost even the middle class will feel difficult, only the big tyrants can afford to drive, each smart has a certain amount of free hydrogen fuel supply, if you just run twenty or thirty kilometers to and from work every day, it is equivalent to free fuel. Houses in windy open areas can rent wind turbines to electrolyze their own hydrogen, and up to £500 a year will of course give away these necessary accessories. Of course, the generator is also the same as the lease, in order to popularize wind power, this is not expensive, the annual rent is the same as the refrigerator, 10 pounds. A small wind turbine is enough for a family to use all kinds of electrical equipment, which is a must-have for a fashionable family before the power grid is turned on.

France has "modernized", and now, the Parisians should not say anything about their queen, who is the hero. Wherever she went, Eugénie was treated with respect by the French people, and the grievances of these days seemed to be worth it.