France is indeed the heart of Europa, and even when the "China fever" is still in its prime, the kingdom is still wary of the "Serisians" from thousands of miles away. As soon as the mission entered Paris, it was confined to the State Guest House and could no longer speak as freely as it did in Lisbon.

Many people were frustrated that they no longer had the opportunity to get close to the little lady of Paris, but after appreciating the overwhelming smell of Paris, the flower and mind were like a sense of smell, and suddenly disappeared. In this way, they understand why the French prefer strong, pungent perfumes over the subtle and quiet sachets of the East.

"The streets were full of feces, the backyard smelled of urine, the bedrooms smelled of oily sheets, damp duvets, and the pungent, sweet smell of night pots, and the smell of sulfur in the fireplace. People smell of sweat and dirty clothes, bad teeth come out of their mouths, and onion juice comes out of their stomachs. If these people are no longer young, they will smell of old cheese, kefir, and oncology. ”

"The river stench, the squares, the churches, the bridges and the palaces were stinking, the peasants stenched like the clergy, the craftsmen stenched like the wives of the masters, the whole aristocratic class, and even the king stenched like beasts of prey, and the queen smelled like an old goat, both in summer and in winter."

The mission had to fill all the rooms with incense, and Lang Shining's recounting of the Sun King's time was almost a reproduction of the novel Perfume written by a German writer from Li Shi's time.

Just over a hundred years after the construction of the world-famous sewers in Paris, Paris was still a city where eating, digestion and excretion were crowded together on the same plane, and the plague raged throughout the eighteenth century. The loss of four children and grandchildren in succession in his later years, Louis XIV, the Sun King, was related to this. Louis XV, who reigns today, was the great-grandson of Louis XIV, and his health was a guarantee of peace throughout Europe.

Ten-year-old Louis XV was protected at the Château de Vincenne on the outskirts of Paris, and Philip II, Duke of Orleans, the nephew of Louis XIV and the regent of France, was frightened by a new round of Chinese fever in the country, perhaps to show his enthusiasm, or to take advantage of the afterglow of the Sun King era to suppress the mission, and the official welcome ceremony was not held at the Palais Royal in Paris, but at the Palace of Versailles.

In the era of the Sun King, the Palace of Versailles was the political stage of Europa, and Louis XIV drove the French nobles to live in the Palace of Versailles, relying on the "palace ball politics" to control France and influence Europa. The king, who bathed only once a year, and is even rumored to have bathed only three times in his life, condensed France into the heart of Europa with his unique "court upbringing". The so-called "palace education", in addition to the day banquet and night singing, also includes the early morning group to watch the king get up, every time the king wears a piece of clothing, a group of nobles must be changed to serve them personally, so that they can share the glory of being close to the king, and so on...... Now that the Sun King is gone, his connection with the Tatar monarch Kangxi has also dissipated, and after the arrival of the "Cyris" Mission, France's impression of "Tartar China" has also been overlaid by the restoration of the ancient heritage of Seris. Both commercial interests and colonial efforts in Annam, Siam and other places are now in the hands of the Seris. The performance of the Seris at Versailles is not very detailed to the average Frenchman. When the regent and the nobles mentioned it, they were all "struck by the splendor of Versailles and the beauty of French culture". However, rumors such as "Seris" were very disdainful of Versailles' style" were widely circulated among the people, and what happened to the chief of ceremonies at the court of Versailles was a joke talked about by the minor nobles and commoners.

The splendid Palace of Versailles was indeed extremely contemptuous to Xiao Xie and others, although they also admitted that the architecture, paintings, sculptures and other art of the court were breathtaking, but these details were obscured by the gold and silver light that blinded the eyes of the guests and the mirrors on the walls. In their opinion, this Versailles Palace is the most appropriate expression of the phrase "buy calves and return pearls", and what is the difference between them and those coal bosses under the rule of Yinghua who wear ten golden wrenches in both hands?

As for the chief of court etiquette, with a haughty expression of "I guess you won't be able to learn everything in your life", he showed them the etiquette of the French court. Xiao Xie and others felt that it was a bit cumbersome, but Tang Sun Ho, Song Ji and others scoffed, what are the hundred or so rules? Back then, they were admitted to the Jinshi, and even after the simplification of the palace, there were more than 100 rules and regulations. , Tang Song and others returned more than 300 rules to the head of etiquette, which is a diplomatic etiquette that requires the regent to treat each other equally. Including the orientation of the seats during the meeting, the position of the courtiers corresponding, and the details were so complicated that the head of court etiquette made the head of court etiquette tingle. Among them, from handing over the letter of state written by His Majesty the Emperor to pressing this link by the regent, there are more than 100 rules, which shocked the head of etiquette and fled. These entries are all made by people at once, and they are by no means deliberately difficult.

"I am China, a country of etiquette...... Li Fangying's emotion expressed the voice of the mission, this set of falsehood, our Yinghua is so tired that we don't play anymore, we have to rely on this thing to suppress people, we really found the wrong object.

The battle between light and dark is just a passing scene, and the Anglo-Chinese mission looks at the world, naturally not thinking of itself as an angel of the kingdom, and the French are not arrogant enough to think that their culture can make the Seris people, who have stood in the east for thousands of years, bow their heads. The dispute over etiquette was lightly revealed, the two sides discussed pragmatically, and the formal meeting ceremony was held smoothly.

The reconciliation of cultural disputes is not the same as the reconciliation of Eastern and Western consciousnesses. The French Regent generously continued the Sun King's homage to the East, agreeing to send the "seeds of civilization" to the Seris, including a large number of scientific instruments and books. However, with regard to the rights and interests of missionaries, he firmly stated that French missionaries in Annam, Siam, and other places, regardless of Seris himself, must enjoy free and full missionary rights. At this time, he had received news from the Holy See and was quite dissatisfied with the actions of the British and Chinese in Annam.

Xiao Xie keenly grasped the psychology of the regent, and the regent was confused by the impression of Seris created by the mission, and still thought that Yinghua was still the ancient empire that was introverted and conservative and did not understand Europa, and did not look at the heart and eyes of the universe. The role of Li Shi's letter was also crucial, and the "Emperor Seris" put down his stature and treated France as an equal, and even praised the glory and power of France with enthusiastic admiration, which greatly satisfied the vanity of those who held the authority of the kingdom, such as the regent and the secretary of state.

In order to maintain this image, Xiao Xie did not mention the signing of the treaty with France, or even the establishment of a diplomatic residence in France, which would make the French people alert to Yinghua's intention to blend into the Europa pattern. At the same time, Xiao Xie promised to resolutely protect France's vested interests in Cochin, Siam and other places.

The French later referred to the foreign minister as a "traitor" and the regent as a "fool", according to an informal agreement between Xiao Xie and the regent Duke of Orleans in April 1720.

With the promise of the regent, the Seris mission scavenged for scientific and technical books in France, and according to Li Shi's list, they swept all the way from the works of the French philosopher Dicard to the German master Leibniz. It is precisely because of the openness of France that many famous people in Britain, especially the "alchemist" Boyle to Newton's writings, have not been left behind.

While the craftsmen were busy collecting books, the merchant faction of Liu Dan had the opportunity to examine Europa's commercial and financial system through France, and Lu Hanshan, Zheng Wei, and Bai Zhengli benefited greatly from the opportunity to examine the French navy and army. The shipyards and arsenals were still off-limits, and the Mission's army generals still benefited a lot.

Later, when the mission arrived in Britain, it encountered severe restrictions on access to information, and it was only after the secret that it had been harvested in France.

Regarding the regent's statement on the rights and interests of missionaries, Xiao Xie ignored it at all, anyway, this is not a formal agreement, and it is related to the Holy See.

The pragmatic faction was busy with "espionage operations", while the literati faction had another career. In 1720, the impression left on the French people by these "sages" was so deep and confusing that it was difficult to gather into a whole, so that the French intellectuals who came into contact with these "sages" had debated for decades that who understood the Seris was the real Seris. As the "Second Foreign Minister of Seris", Li Fangying was responsible for contacting the upper class of the French aristocracy. From the regent to the ordinary nobles, he gave high praise to this young disciple of Confucius, and also made Li Fangying the most revered wise man of the French aristocracy. He praised the great achievements of Louise XIV, the Sun King, in establishing France's position as the "leader" of Western Europe, and the loyalty and righteousness of the courtiers who followed him in defending his great cause.

Li Fangying closely combines the interpretation of Confucius with the history of Europa, especially the history of Lanci, and denounces the other countries of Europa, especially the new "small countries", for turning their backs on ancient traditions. Just as earlier he denounced Li Shi and the state for betraying Confucian justice, he called on the French people to adhere to tradition and pursue "righteousness". The concepts of "three outlines and five constants", "monarchs and ministers, fathers and sons", "there are no two heavens and no two lords on the earth", "the country cannot be without a king for a day" and so on, which gave the French "royal power" powerful arms from the east. These remarks are not unfamiliar to the Europa, but they are told by a sage from the East, and they are closely related to the history and situation of Europa, and the understanding of these remarks is extremely profound.

For this reason, the ten-year-old Louis XV broke through the regent's obstruction and summoned Li Fangying with great enthusiasm, but Li Fangying did not disappoint him and his governess, Cardinal Fleury. Li Fangying seems to be inadvertently dedicating himself to the great era of Seris: the Han Empire. The explanation of Huo Guang and Wang Mang was particularly detailed, which made Louis XV and Fleury subconsciously think of the regent.

At this time, the Duke of Orleans, the regent of France, was not the person designated by Louis XIV. Louis XIV was supposed to make his illegitimate son, the Duke of Maine, regent, but after his death, the Duke of Orleans made a deal with the French High Court, the group of nobles who held the law, to allow the court to return to national politics, thus usurping the Duke of Maine's regency. In the eyes of the French, this matter is already very inauthentic, and when Li Fangying said this, it is self-evident that the young Louis XV and his governess, the future famous French Prime Minister Le Vriry, will have a new understanding of royal power.

The intimate contact of Eastern and Western ideas is not one overpowering the other at this time, but is still in harmony in France. It's just that after integration, it is impossible to say which party is beneficial and which party is harmful.

Just like the exchange between Tang Sunhao and Montesquieu, Tang Sunhao greedily absorbed Europa's knowledge of "law" from Montesquieu, and the ideas of Mo Zhai and Mencius introduced by him also made Montesquieu fully appreciate the similarities between Eastern and Western studies.

Mohist equality and fraternity, Mencius's humanism, combined with Confucius's teachings, made Montesquieu more concerned about "morality".

Song was impressed by Voltaire's view of universal equality, while Voltaire plunged headlong into the Taoist thought that Song admired, especially Huang Lao's learning. Song Ji's sentence "The Tao is reasonable, rational to all things, and mutual restraint." The so-called "it is difficult to support alone, and it is impossible to do it alone" let Voltaire's five bodies fall to the ground, and the future standard-bearer of enlightenment, his fighting enthusiasm was wrapped in Taoist thought, and he began to embark on the road of tolerance.

Another young Frenchman, Quenet, was not as fortunate as Montesquieu and Voltaire to communicate directly with the "Sage of Seris", and he was on the streets of Paris at the moment, voraciously reading the most popular book in France at this time, "Confucius Said", which was compiled by the French aristocracy and written by Li Fangying.

In France in 1720, the chaotic trend of the Chinese fever in the ideological trend made the French people at that time feel clueless. The philanthropic Mo Zhai, the benevolent Mencius, the righteous Confucius, and the indifferent Lao Tzu, who are more Machiavellian than Machiavelli, are no longer so vague and left to their interpretation, but the "correct" and profound descriptions are given by the Seris themselves.

The French exclaimed, which one is the real China. It was not until the French idea of kingship prevailed and the Enlightenment ideology turned to Britain that Europa came to its senses, and all of them were the real China, so much so that "Seris" in later French had the meaning of "contradictory and one, like a nine-headed dragon".

(To be continued)