“…… In this case, I ask the emperor to immediately arrange for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to lead a special delegation to visit the DPRK, Japan, and Siam in order to defuse the division and disintegration of China and ASEAN on the part of the Entente countries. ”

On July 15, Prime Minister Ma Feng proposed this to Her Majesty the Empress on behalf of the Cabinet.

A few days ago, just when the situation on the European continent was on the verge of breaking out, the Intelligence Department of the General Staff Department received information that the British and American envoys were in deep contact with the pro-British and American factions in Japan, Korea, and Siam.

After an emergency meeting of the cabinet members to discuss it, it was concluded that at this critical moment, it was not possible to allow the allies to be centrifuged and decide on the requirements of the joint exercise. The benefactor, that is, the crown prince's foreign visit.

"This visit should promise the benefits of the allies after entering the war, such as Japan's claim to Kamchatka and other territories, Korea's desire to be upgraded from a vassal to a full ally, Siam's desire to recover the old land, and so on. and then complete the negotiations on the formation of the Asian Liberation Army...... Of course, none of this is bothered by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and it is enough for the experts in the mission to solve it. ”

Qianhua had a fever that day, half lying on the sofa, with a wet towel on his forehead, and after listening to Ma Feng's words, he blinked his red eyes: "It's okay, just let him do something serious, and by the way, there is a lot of trouble in the palace these days......"

Recently, Ma Feng has also heard about the crown prince's choice of concubines, the queen mother and the crown prince are-for-tat, each does not give in to each other, and the empress is caught in the middle, in a dilemma - this is really not easy to be a sister.

"Your Majesty, when the minister visited Japan two months ago, he heard that the Japanese imperial family intended to marry the imperial family, and in recent years, marriages between the consortium families of the two countries and the middle and lower nobles have been common......

As the proponent of the Asian peace theory, Ma Feng has always encouraged political marriages among ASEAN nobles, but this is the first time that he has mentioned marriages with foreign royals in front of the empress.

Qianhua pressed her temples: "The crown prince has a strong personality, and he can't swallow his breath in a domestic political marriage, let alone go to a foreign country." Besides, the Japanese imperial family has been intermarried for many years, and the genetics are bad, not to mention that the previous Meiji Emperor was weak since childhood, and the current Taisho Emperor is a psychopath, and I don't want the blood of the imperial family to be polluted and spoiled by them. ”

Ma Feng hurriedly bowed his head and said: "Yes, the emperor is wise, and the ministers have overstepped it, but this point can be used, and I hope that His Majesty will allow the intelligence department to spread this rumor in Japan in order to win the centripetal force of the Japanese people." ”

Qianhua nodded tiredly: "You can see for yourself." ”

Ye Jingying, the female official on the side, nodded to Ma Feng: "Prime Minister, the emperor needs to rest......

Ma Feng arched his hand knowingly and said: "Yes, please take care of your body, and the minister will retire." ”

As soon as Ma Feng left, a female official dressed in Tang costume hurriedly came in to report, saying that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked to see him.

"Quick, get him in."

Qianhua struggled to get up, and Ye Jingying quickly pulled a large duck down pillow under her elbow.

As soon as Liu Ping entered the door, he stepped forward and knelt down: "Is the emperor still healthy?" ”

Qianhua leaned on his cheeks and smiled: "Yo, when did you become so honest, get up, I'm looking for you." ”

Liu Ping blinked suspiciously: "The imperial sister has ...... knowledge?"

"What do you know?"

"Brother and sister Zhu Xin, they have returned to China......"

Qianhua grabbed Ye Jingying's hand and said with a smile: "Mirror, you see, this crown prince can't think of anything except his sweetheart......"

Liu Ping blushed slightly, bowed his head and said, "The imperial sister is laughing at me, if there is anything you want me to do, just ask me to do it." ”

Qianhua first took the medicine presented by the mirror, took off the towel on his forehead, and said with some disappointment: "I don't think you have made any progress, forget it, anyway, the emperor has also explained, win your generation, realize the republic of the hypocrite, and then you don't need to worry about a lot of state affairs." Okay, let's talk about you first, your sister Zhu is finally back, what are you going to do? Do you want the imperial sister to propose to you? ”

"This ...... I can go by myself, I just want to ask the imperial sister to ...... in front of the queen mother."

Qianhua sighed lowly: "This matter, I don't count, your queen mother said that she decided with me, but after all, she is the mother-in-law above the crown princess, and the mother-in-law picks the daughter-in-law, and there has been a lot of trouble since ancient times, so ah, your own attitude is the key." ”

"My own attitude ......"

"Yes, happiness has to be fought for by yourself, you are twenty-three, it's time to be independent, face it like a man."

"Got it......"

"In three days, you will lead a delegation to visit Korea, Japan, and Siam to consolidate the alliance, and when you go back to prepare, Prime Minister Chen and Foreign Minister Chen will explain the specific matters to you. Let's go down. ”

"Yes."

Liu Ping gritted his teeth, turned around and wanted to leave, but was stopped by Qianhua again.

"I heard that your sister Zhu's brother had a mentor named Albert Einstein when he was studying in Switzerland?"

Liu Ping nodded puzzled: "It seems that it is, what kind of theoretical physics is it, it looks very famous, but I went to Germany two years ago......"

"Mirror, send someone to pass on these two brothers and sisters, and invite them to come to the palace as guests the afternoon after tomorrow."

"But Your Majesty, your body ......"

Qianhua glanced at Liu Ping in a daze, and twisted his sore neck: "I can't die, there are so many things waiting for me to do." ”

The deteriorating situation in Europe was unaffected by the question of the Chinese crown prince's wife, and three days later, on July 18, Germany issued a final ultimatum to France.

The ultimatum demanded that France seal the border, prohibit the flow of people and goods into Alsace, give certain border areas to the Germans for "temporary occupation" to prevent them from being used by "seditionists", and demand that France hand over the "criminals who shot and killed German soldiers and civilians" who had fled into France.

No one would have thought that France would accept such an ultimatum that would seriously hurt its national pride, "Alsace-Lorraine, France's wound that will never heal, but on which the Germans rub it with grains of salt." ”

Forty-eight hours later, France rejected the ultimatum.

On July 20, Germany announced a general mobilization.

The next day, in the absence of an ultimatum demanding that Germany cease mobilization, France announced a general mobilization.

At first, the situation seemed to be a personal feud between Germany and France, with pro-German newspapers threatening that it would be a repeat of the Franco-Prussian War of the last century, and sympathetic newspapers believing that it would be a great opportunity for the French army to lose its face.

However, on 24 July, the situation took a turn for the worse, and Austria-Hungary made the most consultive ultimatum to Serbia under the pretext of inciting an anti-Austrian movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, an Austrian possessions: ban the anti-Austrian movement in Serbia forever, arrest the leaders of the anti-Austrian movement, and have the Austrian police enter Serbia to investigate the anti-Austrian movement.

Two days later, Serbia agreed to all but the last humiliating conditions, but Austria announced a general mobilization on the pretext that the Serbian side refused to make an ultimatum. On the same day, Russia announced a general mobilization.

"In four to six weeks, three months at most, we will see the establishment of a new order in Europe and in the whole world......"

—The New York Times, July 27, 1914.