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Because the German government said that Zaifeng and his entourage made a special trip to apologize, they must go straight to Germany.

So I didn't delay the trip, and came to Hamburg, Germany as fast as possible, and didn't stop in Belgium or the Netherlands.

Take the train from Hamburg and go straight to Berlin.

But at this time, something went wrong.

Lu Haihuan, the Chinese official in Germany and the Netherlands, hurriedly asked to see Zaifeng, and intercepted Zaifeng and his party at the train station.

"The Germans asked the prince to bow three times, the casual counselor to kneel and salute, and the Kaiser to sit and receive the credentials!"

Lu Haihuan looked very angry.

Apparently Wilhelm II gave birth to a moth again because of his ridiculous self-esteem.

In the original history, the Germans also made this request, at that time the Xinqiao Treaty had not yet been signed, but in this time and space, because of the death of Cixi and Guangxu, both the Chinese and the British intentionally or unintentionally accelerated the negotiation into the city, and the treaty was signed long ago, and even the etiquette details of the apology were not discussed, so Zaifeng set off.

Unexpectedly, when he arrived in Germany, the Kaiser still made such an unreasonable demand.

Zaifeng only bowed to the Japanese emperor in Japan, and then the emperor returned the salute, personally received the credentials, and then expressed his understanding. But when he arrived in Germany, he had to bow three times, and the counselor and other casual personnel had to bow down to the Kaiser. The acceptance of the credentials on the third day was also extremely unreasonable, showing the arrogance of Wilhelm II.

Wilhelm II was born with polio and a disabled left hand, but he was not a good boy with a disability, and the disability contributed to his inferiority complex, and finally he became extremely proud, which showed that his self-esteem was extremely strong, and he couldn't stand half of the grievances. The reason why Germany was dragged into the world war in history was not unrelated to the personal spiritual attitude of this emperor.

There is such an inferior and proud emperor, and I don't know if it is the luck of the Germans or their misfortune.

In the end, Zaifeng and his entourage did not go to the hotel arranged by the Germans, but went directly to the legation in Germany to protest.

This is the liturgical controversy in history. In the original history, when the Germans made this request, Li Hongzhang telegraphed to the Empress Dowager Cixi without the right to make the decision, but the bones of Cixi in this time and space were rotten, and Li Hongzhang did not agree to make his own decisions, but informed Lu Haihuan to continue to negotiate.

However, Li Hongzhang is a Chinese-style bureaucrat in the end, and his diplomatic methods are full of Chinese characteristics, and he makes Lu Haihuan "a point that can be grinded is a point", full of the bargaining spirit of an old Chinese lady who buys vegetables.

Although the German emperor was arrogant, but the German officials, there are still many people who know the general situation, they know that the Chinese come to apologize, but it is to give the Germans a step, and the peaceful handling of the Chinese incident is also beneficial to Germany, so far the Tsar Lai refuses to withdraw troops in the northeast, the British have already united in activities to force Russia back, Germany cannot be twisted with the Chinese in this kind of matter, that is not a little good.

Moreover, although the British promised to help Germany expand its interests, in fact, the greatest help of the British was not to interfere, and if they really wanted to expand Germany's interests in China, the Chinese government would not be able to do it if it did not cooperate.

So in order to remedy, German Foreign Minister Bernard von Blo personally stepped on the Chinese legation in the evening to welcome Zaifeng and his party, and Zaifeng also held a dinner to thank him, but still refused the Germans' proposal to bow down and sit on the credentials, as for the three bows to admit it.

"Mr. Minister! Maybe there was something that could make the Kaiser change his mind. ”

At the banquet, clinking glasses again, Yang Chao said casually.

Bernard paused: "Your Excellency?" ”

Yang Chao said with a smile: "I inspected the foreign affairs commissioner in Xiashan Mountain, and I despise Yang Chao." ”

Bernard nodded: "It turned out to be Commissioner Yang, by the way, I heard that you fell into the water in Spain and drifted for hundreds of nautical miles before being rescued off the coast of France?" ”

Bernard has actually heard of Yang Chao's name, and I have to say that a falling into the water incident also made Yang Chao a celebrity.

Yang Chao nodded and said, "Thank you to the enthusiastic French." This makes me have a good feeling for France. ”

Is there anything more irritating to the Germans than to say that they have a good impression of France in front of them? Sure enough, Bernard's face changed, and he nodded and didn't plan to chat with Yang Chao.

"Your Excellency, don't you intend to make the Kaiser change his mind?"

Bernard paused: "I hope that Your Excellency the Commissioner will have constructive comments, otherwise I will think that you are rude to me, and rude to me is rude to Germany." ”

The Germans are rushing like this!

Yang Chao laughed at himself, and continued: "Okay, I have one thing, I believe the Kaiser will want it very much." ”

Bernard said, "What's that?" ”

Yang Chao said: "Diamonds! ”

Diamonds are the gemstones that Westerners like, unlike Chinese who prefer restrained jade, Westerners like this kind of sparkling things, in fact, it is very tasteless.

But Bernard was a little unconcerned: "Diamonds? ”

It was not that the Germans did not like diamonds, but they did not believe that any diamonds could impress the Kaiser. You must know that the best diamonds are obtained by the British, and if they cannot surpass the African star in the hands of the Queen of England, the Kaiser has no interest.

Yang Chao said: "A big diamond? ”

Bernard was a little annoyed: "If you're joking, then I can't accompany you." ”

Yang Chao shook his head and said, "It seems that you really don't believe it." ”

After speaking, he casually took out a diamond the size of a goose egg from his pocket, which was full of blood and blood, full of a bloody magic, making people feel as if their souls could be sucked in.

"Your Excellency, Minister!"

Yang Chao couldn't help but scream.

Bernard knew that he was rude, and couldn't help but smile awkwardly, but then asked, "Is this really a diamond?" It can't be glass, right? ”

Yang Chao gave it to him casually, and Bernard caught it in a panic.

"Your Excellency can find someone to identify it, and I believe the Germans can still identify it."

Bernard still couldn't believe that Yang Chao threw this big diamond to himself like this.

Bernard said: "Well, if it is true, then he can indeed impress the Kaiser." I just don't know if she's as big as the British. ”

Before the discovery of diamond cards in South Africa, India was the world's largest diamond producer, and both South Africa and India were colonies of the British, so almost all of the world's largest and best diamonds were in the hands of the British.

In fact, diamonds can become the most precious treasures in the world, and the British dominate the world has a great relationship, it is the British who pushed this diamond culture to the world, the expansion of the world hegemon, is it always accompanied by the expansion of culture.

In 1905, the Star of Africa was found on African soil, and it was valued at $7.5 billion at the time, of course, no one could afford it, because $7.5 billion was equivalent to more than 8,000 tons of gold, apparently no one would buy it, and finally the British government bought it for 150,000 pounds, equivalent to $750,000, and gave it to the king as a birthday gift.

The world's largest diamond before the discovery of the Star of Africa, the "Exasius" large diamond, also found in South Africa, the rough weight of 995.2 carats, colorless and transparent, bright and with a slight blue luster, excellent texture, so it was given the title of "noble".

The British diamond that Bernard said is actually referring to this Axasius, which can be called a noble diamond by the British, which shows how proud the British are of owning this diamond.

"A thousand carats at least!"

Yang Chao said very casually, if you want to do it, you have to do it to the end, then get a piece bigger than the British to meet the ambition of the Kaiser.

Bernard suddenly felt a sinking in his hand, the weight of four kilograms really scared him, he didn't really know much about diamonds, the Germans didn't like flashy as much as the French, and they didn't like pompousness as much as the British.

A thousand carat diamonds! How much is it worth? Invaluable! Because no one can afford it.

After the Star of Africa is cut into a diamond, the total weight is only 1,000 carats, and the estimated value is 1.5 billion pounds, 7.5 billion US dollars, and the diamond is naturally the bigger the better, after the Star of Africa is cut, it has become hundreds of large and small, and the largest is only more than 500 carats.

"If that's the case, I think Your Majesty will reconsider the matter of etiquette."

Bernard said, swallowing.

Ordinary diamonds really can't impress the ambitious German emperor, but a big diamond that exceeds the weight of all the diamonds in the British is enough to make the German emperor hold his head high in front of the British, and it can overpower the British, which is the favorite thing for Queen Victoria's grandson to do.

And without mentioning the question of the British, the meaning of this gem alone is difficult for the German emperor to refuse.

After the discovery of the African Star, the reason why it was bought by the British government as a birthday gift for the royal family is not only a problem that no one can afford to buy, but a problem that no one dares to own.

When it comes to this level of treasures, it's not a matter of money, it's not something that ordinary people should have, even those oligarchs in the United States don't want to hold this kind of thing in their hands and cause disaster, and the only ones in the world who can collect this kind of thing are actually those royal families.

Therefore, the diamond of this level of the Star of Africa symbolizes more than the meaning of wealth, and symbolizes a kind of power.

And the British showed their world hegemony by giving the largest diamond to the British king, and the Germans were equally interested in this, at least the German Emperor Wilhelm II was very enthusiastic.

At this time, many people looked at it and were attracted by this diamond, both Chinese and Germans.

Bernard immediately put the diamond away.

And after apologizing rudely to the people present, he left in a hurry, and he had to determine the authenticity of the diamond as soon as possible.