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Since the beginning of the Roman Empire, the Italian peninsula has become the center of European civilization, even if in the centuries after the fall of the empire, the Italian peninsula suffered countless bloodbaths by foreign barbarians, and the classical civilization of Europe was completely destroyed, but in the end, it still became the cradle of the revival of European civilization again with its profound historical precipitation. Italians also occupy a considerable stage area on this historical stage for thousands of years.

The Medici family in Italy, the family's foreign marriage relations spread throughout the European continent. If it had not been for such a progressive and consistent elite family that supported science and the arts with a strong political and economic background, the history of the Renaissance would have been halfway down the road.

The Italians Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, known as the three masters of the Renaissance, each used their own art, vision and personality charm to untie the long-shackled European thought.

The Italian Christopher Columbus completely pushed the wave of great geographical discoveries that sprouted in the middle of the 15th century to its peak, and in one year, he overshadowed the achievements of the great Portuguese prince Enrique for decades.

The Italian Galileo, the founder of the explosion of modern science in Europe, is still shrouded in every corner of modern civilized society.

In addition to those brilliant scientific and artistic achievements, the Italians also "ruled and dominated" the whole of Europe politically. It has been said that the history of Europe, from classical to modern times, is in fact a history of the Italians.

Richelieu made many far-sighted strategic arrangements in the position of French prime minister, and later generations commented that his most successful move was to hand over the throne of French prime minister to the Italian Mazarin when he was dying. The young Italian papal emissary who had been instructed by the Pope to mediate the dispute between Spain and France during the Thirty Years' War in Europe hit it off at the first meeting with Richelieu, and quickly fell in love with Richelieu's charisma.

In 1642, Richelieu died of illness, and the old man on his deathbed recommended Mazarin, who had just become a French citizen at the time, to be the prime minister of France. Mazarin may not have been a particularly clever man, but he was determined to carry out all of Richelieu's strategic approaches. Even though the "Great Sun King" Louis XIV tried to break free from the shackles of the prime minister, Mazarin finally fulfilled Richelieu's mandate to let the whole of Europe revolve around France's core interests.

Richelieu's greatness lies in the order of the European continent that he outlined, which even the British Empire that rose in the future was not really shaken, and it was not until more than 200 years later that it was broken by the German Chancellor Bismarck, who can be called the controller of the pattern of modern geopolitical relations on the European continent.

Mazarin's merit was he who advanced, continued, consolidated and realized Richelieu's grand vision, which allowed Louis XIV and the whole of France to flourish. Even if people always say in the future, "He lived in the shadow of Richelieu all his life", but without him. Nariclieu's vision was ultimately a flash in the pan.

The corresponding regret is that the French will always attach more importance to the affairs of the European continent, so that they do not have the ruthlessness of Cromwell of England in terms of maritime strategy, and I am afraid that France's future status as the "second oldest in Europe" will also be inseparable from Richelieu and Mazarin.

In Alexandre Dumas's novel Twenty Years Later, Mazarin left a last word to Louis XIV on his deathbed in 1661, asking the king not to appoint another prime minister in the future. And the emotional artistic performances of him and the three musketeers in the novel have also driven generations of French sullen young people into a rippling and romantic life.

……

Wednesday, October 3, 1634.

The Chaoyang-class large sailing merchant ship "Mochizuki" departed from the Azores, carrying the diplomatic mission of the Kingdom of France. Slowly approaching Manchester Bay.

“…… The battleship named after the princess of the East is incredibly beautiful, and its huge snow-white body is covered with colorful flags made of expensive silk, like a royal lady on an autumn day, walking leisurely and proudly in front of her servants...... She would make any French sailor think of it. I can't help but want to touch her skin......"

“…… Manchester City, the capital of the United States, is home to about one-third of the population of Paris, but it has a surprisingly large and spacious district...... The American Concession in Angra Sansto-Azores is already the prettiest town I have ever seen. It is hard to imagine that there are more elaborate and gorgeous cities in the New World. All the European rumors of more than a decade have been added up, and they are no match for a small corner that we see now...... Her extravagance, nobility, and neatness make her people proud, and all outsiders feel inexplicably humbled and inexplicably afraid......"

32-year-old Mazarin stood on the deck. Looking at the large light cruiser "Princess Relief" leading the voyage for the Mochizuki, as well as the city that is getting closer and closer, he finally has the most intuitive understanding of the most powerful country rumored to occupy the New World of North America.

The ceremony to welcome the French mission took place at the pier in the southern district of Manchu, and the officers and men of a battalion of army officers and soldiers stationed in the capital were paraded by the French diplomatic mission headed by Mazarin, accompanied by Su Zining.

In the noise of military music and drums that made people feel too "grandiose and paranoid" in China and the United States, rows of army officers and soldiers wearing white gloves, straight uniforms, and holding guns with their chests and guns were all five big and three thick, and their expressions were solemn, and the strict queue made Mazarin secretly frightened when he saw it. The avenue leading to Parliament Square was lined with people from Manchester welcoming and waving fleur-de-lis flags of the French royal family, which made Mazarin and his party feel more honored.

The grand diplomatic welcome banquet was held in the Congress Ballroom, and Mazarin, who did not know Chinese Chinese, could only understand the diplomatic etiquette and procedures that were more cumbersome than those of European royal families by the French translation provided by the Chinese and American Foreign Ministries.

After the banquet, the host and guest sides went to the Manchester City Opera House, which was built in the same year as the Long Island Stadium. The concert on the last day of the Chinese holiday is being held, and Alice, a gorgeous child star in a beautiful dress, jumped in front of thousands of spectators and sang a classic song "Treading the Waves" with Jenny, the first star of Huamei.

"A little gust of wind, blowing slowly. Please rest your feet and stop for a moment. ”

"The waves on the sea are blooming, and I have just come to the beach. It turns out that you also love the waves, so you came to the beach. ”

Even if he couldn't understand a word of the lyrics, the cheerful tune and the little girl's "fearless simple dress" made Mazarin, a religious person, feel pleasing to the eye, and couldn't help but beat gently on his lap in rhythm.

The following day. Mazarin visited Manchester South, Long Island West, the National Hospital of the Capital and the National University. The wide and lively downtown streets, the solemn hospital building, and the vast garden-like university teaching area are all the envy of Mazarin and others. The city of Paris at this time is as reminiscent as a sprawling, smelly slum.

Magnificent steam power stations, neighborhood electric lights, titan-like steam tower cranes, cloth spit out like assembly lines, and iron plates cut under loud noise...... Most of the French diplomats were amazed by the visit to the industrial park in the outer islands of Manchester, but Mazarin remained silent from beginning to end at the image symbolizing the power of great industry.

Immediately afterwards, under Su Zining's arrangement, Mazarin and others went north along the Song River, passing through West Point Town and Yinggu Town, and arrived at Porter City, the second largest city in China and the United States. Faced with a town not much worse than the capital, Mazarin once again felt sorry for his European counterparts.

Almost most of the European diplomats. At this time, the urban environment created by Huamei in the American concession of the Azores was just regarded as a face-saving project. What Mazarin sees now is the most ordinary scenery of the country, and the beauty of the country permeates the beautiful towns. Therefore, the possible future threat to the Quebec colony should not be used as a topic of bargaining with the Americans in any way.

A few days later, Mazarin and others boarded the large light cruiser "Princess Wencheng" of the Chinese and American Navy, and together with half of the warships of the Chinese and American domestic fleet, they went to Xianglin Town, Haizhou, the last stop of this visit to North America and the site of diplomatic talks.

The town of Xianglin was founded in 1631 in the place where the passengers of the historic Mayflower finally settled in the famous Plymouth. But now. It is already a small town with a population of nearly 4,000 people, and has the reputation of "the cleanest city" in the United States, and more than half of the luxury carriages exported to Europe were born here.

The itinerary for the French mission was intended for the next diplomatic meeting. Let Mazarin firmly believe that "it is far more beneficial to France to be friends with the Americans than to be enemies", and consolidate diplomatic public opinion support for future military intervention in Ireland.

……

Saturday, October 14th.

News of the French visit became the main focus of the domestic media after the National Day. The Manchester City Weekly and the North American Times, which was officially published after the National Day, have all reported on this important diplomatic content in the more than 10 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"Show strength and sincerity" is the theme song of this Sino-US diplomatic event, and as for the bloody gimmick of "establishing a new type of strategic partnership between the two major powers of China and the United States and France". Except for a few French Protestants who had fled France a few years ago, they were a little panicked, and they fooled everyone, including their own people.

No matter how much they can understand, the attention of the citizens of the capital has been pulled aside by the state for a certain period of time, and the economic situation this year is not bad, so most people are still curious and optimistic about this kind of state diplomacy that can be made public to ordinary people.

Some of the faux pale actions of the French on the streets of Manchester City have become a popular topic of conversation in bars. At the docks in the outer islands, early in the morning, several officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense were waiting, as if to welcome another special group of guests.

A short-shirted merchant ship of the state-owned Import and Export Company docked, its planks lowered, and a slightly shabbyly dressed men, women, and children, all of whom had been drawn from Killarney Territory in Ireland nearly two months earlier, walked down with each other's servant families. After a period of simple adaptation in the Azores, the Irish were relocated to North America.

The crowd slowly walked towards the outside of the port under the greeting of the police, while Yan Xiaosong and Liu Yun quietly continued to look at the direction of the ship, until the last two figures appeared, and then they greeted one after another.

Dai Qingqing, who had changed into an army uniform, silently walked in front of his old boss Liu Yun and gave a military salute gently, but the latter just nodded wordlessly. Yan Xiaosong, on the other hand, patted Dai Botong, who had just recovered from a serious illness, on the shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile.

"Major Dai Qingqing, the minister was unable to come to greet him because he was presiding over an important work meeting today." A European-American assistant to the Ministry of Defense walked over and took out a document from his pocket, with an unnatural expression on his face, "From today onwards, Lieutenant Colonel Li Mingjie will take over your job." ”

After speaking, Li Mingjie, the former head of the military police headquarters on the side, came over and helped Dai Qingqing carry his luggage with a smile: "Qingqing, it is the first time to take over the Military Intelligence Bureau, and I will need more help from you in the future." ”

"It's nothing, anyway, in the past, I, the director of the military intelligence bureau, was a vase, isn't it all Brother Zheng who is hosting it remotely......" Dai Qingqing's face didn't have any expression, just nodded, and grabbed Dai Botong's arm, and the two walked away as if no one was around.

"The Ministry of Defense has lost face this time...... Hey, pity the Qingqing classmates I have worked so hard to cultivate, they are not affectionate to me anymore......" Standing beside Yan Xiaosong, Liu Yun smiled angrily, but there was a look of regret in his eyes.

"Do you also think Qingqing stabbed the big basket?" Yan Xiaosong turned his head and looked at his companion quietly, smiling rather than smiling, "When the Ministry of Defense issued the Irish independence support plan, why did it arrange Qingqing in Ireland?" I'm afraid you, Liu Yun, have also added fuel to the fire......"

"After Zhou Kemin left, Qingqing and the people in the Ministry of Defense hated the English to the core, and the Irish also hated the English to the core, but two groups of people with the same grudge got together, and it was impossible to say who was controlling whom. Qingqing made his own decision this time and acted in advance, so why didn't he use the Irish as a victim to achieve revenge on the English...... It's your Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is watching the show......"

Liu Yun shrugged his shoulders with a meaningful expression.

"Don't talk nonsense, isn't it me and Su Zining wiping our butts in the end." Yan Xiaosong exhaled softly, and finally shook hands with Liu Yun, "Okay, I'm going to the Azores tomorrow." Starting next year, there will be European diplomats stationed at Manchester City, and then your job will not be as easy as it is now. ”

"I can't ask for it." Liu Yunman didn't care. (To be continued)