Chapter 835 is irresistible

This is the advantage of having internal response, and Madame Rambouillet is going to cut off her beard. The invitation sent by the governor's wife must have passed through the hands of Carnon, the hostess. If you do a little tricking, no one can see the clues. Even Zhang Guangde, a shrewd guy, didn't notice the cattiness in this.

This pretty widow is a partner in the Daming luxury market, and Zhang Guangde nodded and agreed without thinking too much. After taking a photo, Zhang Guangde found an excuse to leave, and when he returned to the study, the housekeeper Zhang Laishun reported that the Portuguese Governor's Palace of Angra Sangra sent an invitation to invite him to the dance party in the evening.

Touching his chin and groaning, Zhang Guangde explained: "In the evening, I am going to attend the ball held by the Marquise de Rambouillet, and you refuse the kindness of the Governor's wife for me." Just tell the truth. ”

Although he felt very uncomfortable, Zhang Guangde still tried his best to calm himself down, and after drinking a cup of coffee, he made a decision in his heart.

On the wall opposite the desk is a huge map of Europe, and every time I see this map, I will remind Zhang Guangde of Chen Xie's earnest teachings when he left the Ming Dynasty. Although Zhang Guangde's understanding of Europe's history, culture, and ideology is superficial, this does not affect his implementation of Chen Xie's policy toward Europe. In general, it is a sentence that keeps the contradictions between the European powers. Among them, Chen Xie highlighted two countries, England and France. On the other hand, the Netherlands, the temporary maritime hegemon, did not enter the list of Chen Xie's resolute checks and balances.

Now in Zhang Guangde's opinion, the grandfather is even in the Ming Dynasty thousands of miles away. He also has a clear understanding of the European landscape. As the saying goes, insight is thousands of miles, and the general trend of the world is under control. How to balance Britain and France, Zhang Guangde has never had a clear answer to this question. After talking with Ni Zhigao, he had a long-term plan for how to deal with France. As for the United Kingdom, a country that now looks like a mess due to war and plague, it is not difficult to find that there is something very special about this country. First of all, the geographical location determined that Britain would not be attacked by land. It has a strong navy, and it has also experienced a revolution, and industry and commerce are in power. The monarchy is on the sidelines. This is the closest to the current system of the Ming Dynasty. But the difference is that the Ming Dynasty is a multi-party alliance in the political arena, which empties the monarchy. The capitalists only occupy a place in the parliament of the Ming Dynasty, and in terms of difference, it is really impossible to see whether it is good or bad. At least Zhang Guangde can't see good or bad.

After staring at the map and thinking about it for more than an hour. Zhang Guangde got up and came out. Call the housekeeper Zhang Laishun: "Order, if there is a Dutch envoy to visit, give priority to reception." The Spanish and English envoys came to visit, and they found excuses to delay it for a few days, but they all had to settle down and receive them. ”

At noon on the same day, the battleship "Dongting" set sail to escort the two armed merchant ships back to Daming, and there was a report from Zhang Guangde in the captain's safe. These two merchant ships brought luxury goods produced by the Ming Dynasty. He returned with gold and silver. Why there is a battleship escort, just look at the eagle mark inlaid on the bow.

The Marquise de Rambouillet was full of surprise at the box that appeared in front of her. This is the best of tomorrow's luxury goods that have been out of stock in Europe. These luxuries are not seen in the French world at all, and this is not something that money can buy.

"There are a total of 500 sets, and the entire European market this year is in my warehouse." Zhang Guangde looked at the woman in front of him quietly, and at the same time, he was also very shocked in his heart, this kind of quality of daily luxury, the only source of Daming Market is now in the hands of the two aunts in Dengzhou Zhangjiazhuang, and it is sold in limited quantities every year. Because the material cannot be produced by itself, there is no way to produce this exquisite daily necessities on a large scale in Daming.

A toothbrush made of unknown materials, a white porcelain jar of toothpaste, a white soap with a faint fragrance, a bottle of skin cream, a bottle of sunscreen, a bottle of perfume, and a mirror. The trademark clearly reads "Daming Royal Special Daily Necessities", and it is all in Chinese. This is not the small daily bag brought by the Ming fleet when the last time it visited, and the things in it, except for toothbrushes, are all produced by the Ming Dynasty. And the packaging of each item looks noble and elegant.

The Marquise, who tried to hold her breath and firmly believed that there was no such thing as a free lunch, slowly raised her hand, closed the lid with difficulty, and sat still staring at the noble official of the Ming Dynasty opposite, putting away her so-called aristocratic style.

"So, your Excellency, what should I give?" Despite the calm of her words, the Marquise did not hide the frenzy in her eyes, and for her, she could not refuse the offer. Even if she was sent to hell, she would close her eyes and break through.

"Don't be in a hurry to talk about this first, I still have a list of products here, and I'll talk about it after you finish reading it." Zhang Guangde tortured the woman's nerves unhurriedly and handed over a piece of paper. The Marquise took it and looked at it carefully, and the list was not too much, but it was not too little. There are more than 10 kinds of goods such as porcelain, tea, silk, cotton cloth and tweed, sugar, handmade handbags, etc., and the quantity of each commodity is limited. Seeing this, the Marquise's face changed, you must know that before this, the whole of France this kind of luxury goods were purchased by merchants introduced here by Carnon and shipped to France for sale.

There is no doubt that the quality of life of the Marquise will be greatly reduced if she loses the commission on the sale of these goods, and although she is already the top aristocrat in France, the consumption of maintaining a luxurious life is an astronomical amount of money every year.

In Europe in this era, because of Chen, European businessmen's ballast stone flush toilets and tiles could be sold at a good price. If the benefits of the sale of these goods were cut off, the Marquise would surely die with the guy in front of her.

"Your Excellency, is there anything I am not doing well?" The Marquise's bereaved red lips trembled, her eyes rippled with flattery, and for the first time she felt the horror of the man in front of her. I used to think that this was a lustful and powerful aristocrat, and I didn't feel too much pressure. Today is completely different, and it is not difficult to imagine what it would be like if the top aristocrats in France could no longer get luxury goods at preferential prices from the hands of the marquise, or even ran out of stock from now on.

"Europe is not very attractive to the Ming Dynasty, except for precious metals." After saying this, Zhang Guangde stood up, held a cigarette in his hand, walked to the window, looked at the lawn outside the window, and said without looking back: "If my people are not mistaken, His Excellency Pierre, the secret envoy of the Emperor of France, once rode with his wife. Suddenly turning around, the sharp-eyed Zhang Guangde asked: "Shouldn't Madame give me an explanation?" ”

Hearing this, the Marquise's tense strings were completely relaxed, a charming smile appeared on her nervous face, she stood up and swayed lightly, bowed slightly, and said, "Your Excellency the Honorable Foreign Secretary, I would like to allow you to give you an explanation that is a little late." When she felt the undisguised eyes of the other side staring at her chest, the Marquise straightened her waist slightly, coquettishly, stood on tiptoe and whispered in her ear: "To facilitate this transaction, I want a profit." As he spoke, the curtain was gently closed by the Marquise.

Feeling the change in light, Zhang Guangde's expression did not change much, and he still said calmly: "I admit that Madame's charm is irresistible, but I want to remind Madame that it is impossible to make a profit of one percent." If I do this, I will be caught by my superiors and thrown to dig coal in that backcountry of North America. Let me remind you again, noble lady, that bargaining will not do you any good. ”

The Marquise, who left the ambassador's residence, was pale, but her eyes were very attentive. The moment the door was closed, the marquise exhaled a breath of turbidity, rinsed her mouth with the tea handed by the maid, and her expression softened, and ordered: "After you go back, immediately send someone to send an invitation to invite all the noble ladies on the island." By the way, I would like to remind them that Your Excellency the Honourable Foreign Secretary has been invited to tonight's ball. ”

When the Marquise returned to the mansion, she saw at a glance the carriage parked in the courtyard and Pierre standing on the side. At this moment, the Marquise very much hoped that the ladies of Paris would see this scene. For today's world, every move of the Ming Dynasty is very important, and between the Ming Dynasty and European countries, how to play a good role as a lubricant? It's better to put this question aside for a while, or let the Oriental man see his sincerity first, and then think about it.

"Your Excellency, I am glad that I have not been dishonored." The Marquise whispered proudly as she accepted the kiss. Pierre's expression was immediately delighted, and he made a gesture of please: "Can you be more careful?" ”

"The Ming Empire's ambassador plenipotentiary to Europe, Zhang Guangde, believes that the French Empire has not shown enough sincerity."

"Oh, how can it be considered enough sincerity? Honorable Marquise, I think you will be able to give me a proper suggestion. Pierre looked distressed and sat down on the comfortable sofa. But I was thinking in my heart, has this pretty widow of Parisian high society become the mistress and wife of the arrogant Oriental? I'm a little jealous, but I can't do it. That Oriental in today's Europe means a lot of wealth. Wealth alone is not enough to make Europeans fearful, the key is that the Oriental has a powerful empire behind him, or a great power with warships and seas.

"I have two suggestions, the first of which is that at this evening's ball, Your Excellency formally invites Mr. Zhang to visit Paris. The second suggestion was that while Lord Zhang was in Paris, His Majesty the Emperor proposed to send a delegation to visit the Ming Empire. Before you consider these suggestions, I must remind you that the territory of the French Empire is about ten to one compared to the territory of the Ming Empire. The population of the Ming Empire, according to unofficial statistics, is about 20,000. (To be continued......)