As soon as the messenger left, Shen Wanqing said to Lin Yuan: "You are also tired all morning, and now it is only more than an hour before one o'clock in the afternoon, and you still have to have lunch, so postpone the meeting time a little."

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "It's okay, this little thing doesn't tire me at all!" ”

Shen Wanqing asked, "Is there anything I need to do?" ”

Lin Yuan said: "I really want to know what the Russians will say to the Germans, can you find a way to help me get it?" ”

Shen Wanqing hesitated for a moment and said, "The Russians and Germans are holding talks in the embassy, and I have no choice." ”

Lin Yuan said: "Since this is the case, it doesn't matter, we will find a way in the future." After Lin Yuan and Shen Wanqing finished speaking, the two had lunch together again, and soon the French minister came.

The French minister also knew that Lin Yuan wanted to say something to him, but when he saw Lin Yuan, he still had to pretend to be stupid, he asked, "May I ask what Mr. Lin Yuan is looking for me?" ”

Lin Yuan said: "You have also seen today's negotiations, I don't know what do you think of our two sides?" ”

The French minister said with a smile: "I am here to participate in this meeting on behalf of the French people, the purpose of my participation in the talks is very simple, that is, I want to promote reconciliation between your country and the Russian Empire, everything I do is for the happiness of the people and the peace of the world, as long as it is beneficial to the peace of the people and the world, our French Republic will support it." ”

Lin Yuan thought helplessly: "What I'm most afraid of is saying these useless scenes, it seems that if I don't take it seriously, he won't talk to me properly." So Lin Yuan said: "Actually, my purpose is very simple, I hope your country can support my country!" ”

The French minister frowned and said, "This is not good, since we are a mediator, we should uphold a neutral position......

Lin Yuan smiled slightly and said, "If your country can support our country, our country will definitely give you the benefits of the French Republic." ”

The French minister laughed: "Oh? Then I'm going to listen carefully, what benefits will you give our country? ”

Lin Yuan said: "When I was in France, I signed a secret treaty with President Fort of your country about the oil trade, and if you can support us in the negotiations, I will definitely reduce the price of oil by a large margin." ”

Lin Yuan's condition did impress the French minister, but the French minister did not know the bottom of his heart, because the oil trade in this era had not yet been carried out on a large scale, and most of the oil used by various countries was produced in their own countries, so the French minister did not know how appropriate the price of Ludao oil should be.

Lin Yuan saw the confusion of the French minister, so he said, "What is the price of your oil now?" ”

The French minister shook his head again and again, and said, "I don't know about this. ”

Lin Yuan said: "Okay, please send an assistant back to investigate, and then I will give you a suitable price, which is definitely lower than the price of the oil you buy in China." ”

The French minister asked incredulously: "Will the price of oil transported from China be lower than that of our own French?" ”

There is a reason why Lin Yuan dares to make such a guarantee, on the one hand, the oil production process in this era is underdeveloped, so the production cost is relatively high, and on the other hand, it is also because the sea transportation volume of oil is huge, and the sea transportation, if it is a container, is only about 200,000 tons, and the maximum volume of oil transportation can reach 10 million tons!

This is because oil tankers can use pipelines to transport oil to land near the coast, so that they do not have to dock at the port wharf, and the ship does not have to be limited by the water depth of the wharf, and can do a lot more, so the cost of oil transportation per unit mass is much smaller.

Lin Yuan did not talk about these things in detail with the French minister, but said confidently: "Mr. minister, please believe us, we will definitely have a way." ”

The French minister nodded and said, "Well, I need to go back and ask the top of our country for instructions." With that, the French minister stood up and took his leave.

Lin Yuan got up to see him off and said to him, "Okay, please give me an answer at night." ”

The French minister promised and walked out, Lin Yuan sent him away, and came to listen to Shen Wanqing report to him on the situation of the Russian embassy, the Russian embassy was still making appointments with the ministers of various countries, but there was no movement in the telegram back to China, Lin Yuan guessed that Gilles must be very confident in his ability, so he did not report the situation to China.

At the same time that Gilles was meeting with the ministers of various countries, Lin Yuan was not idle, he also wanted to meet with the ministers of various countries, the first thing he contacted was the British Prime Minister, Britain is also the first power in the world in this era, and their meaning is also very critical, so Lin Yuan called Cecil, hoping that he could arrange an appointment.

Lin Yuan called Prime Minister Cecil's office, and it was an ordinary official who answered the phone, and the official said politely: "Mr. Lin Yuan, I'm really sorry, our prime minister has already made arrangements this afternoon. ”

Lin Yuan hurriedly asked, "What about tomorrow?" ”

The official said: "Not tomorrow, Mr. Prime Minister has also made arrangements." ”

Lin Yuan reluctantly put down the phone, and at this moment, Shen Wanqing said: "The Russian embassy has called the British Prime Minister's office. ”

Lin Yuan said, "Hurry up and tell me." Shen Wanqing handed the earphones to Lin Yuan, Lin Yuan took them and put them on his ears, only to hear the official who had just answered the phone talking on the phone, Lin Yuan listened to the familiar voice and said: "Okay, no problem, Prime Minister Cecil is free at three o'clock this afternoon, let Mr. Giles come at this time." ”

Lin Yuan sighed indignantly and said, "Didn't Cecil say that he was not available? How can you see Gilles free? ”

At this moment, the people who had been sent to call the ministers of various countries also returned, and they all said: "The ministers of all countries say that they are not available today and tomorrow!" ”

Lin Yuan nodded helplessly and asked Shen Wanqing: "Did the Russians call the ministers of these countries?" ”

Shen Wanqing looked through the call records and said, "Not yet!" ”

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "I bet with you, when the Russians call them in a while, they will definitely say that they are free, and they will arrange the meeting." ”

Shen Wanqing smiled: "I don't believe it, the Russians have such a great charm, they can make everyone see them but not you?" Before the voice fell, the signal light on the monitor flashed, Shen Wanqing picked up the phone earphone, listened for a while, and then said to Lin Yuan: "It's the phone of the Italian minister." ”

Shen Wanqing listened to the conversation inside, quickly put down the headphones, and then said: "You guessed right, the Italian minister said that he was free, and the two sides had arranged to meet at six o'clock in the evening." ”

After a while, the phones of the United States, Austria-Hungary and other countries rang one by one, and as Lin Yuan expected, the ministers of these countries agreed to meet and negotiate with the Russians.

Shen Wanqing asked, "What the hell is going on?" Why do they all avoid you and go to see the Russians? ”