First, there seems to be a chapter before where I mistakenly wrote Nicholas I, who committed suicide in defeat, as Alexander I, but I can't find it, can a book friend help me identify which chapter? Appreciate.

For the arrival of Napoleon, Alexander II was clearly not adequately prepared. When he saw the face of the Russian conqueror, his face changed suddenly. Although he silently thought that this was just a deception of the Bonaparte family, the image of the overlord who had forced the tsar to burn Moscow and retreat had long been deeply engraved in the minds of the Russian people and lingered. Even though Alexander proudly proclaimed that he had defeated the European hegemon, the impregnance of the stubbornness of the walls was too impressive for Russia.

Even when Napoleon walked in front of the Tsar, he was still a little unreasonable, and the person next to him reminded him in a whisper, and Alexander II came to his senses and said to Napoleon with a smile, "Welcome to the East Palace, Your Majesty Napoleon, oh no, it's President Napoleon." ”

The change from His Majesty the Emperor to the President of France was something Alexander II did not expect, but he knew that it was nothing to Napoleon, whether it was President or Emperor, it was just a tool to consolidate his dictatorship.

As for whether this madman still has the idea of destroying all feudal empires in Europe, I am afraid that only he himself knows.

"No one would have thought that the sworn enemies who had never died at the time would now sit at the same table and talk about the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, which may have been a scenario that neither Alexander I nor Nicholas I expected, but it also means that the relationship between the two countries has entered a new stage."

Napoleon pretended to be enthusiastic, "Celebrate the friendship between the Russian Empire and the French Empire." ”

The two also came together for their respective national interests, and both sides know how much water this sentence long live friendship. Russia remained neutral during the Prussian Wars and Napoleon III's aggressive expansion, until France's devastation in the Franco-Prussian War and the rise of the Prussian Empire finally saw an opportunity.

As Europe's largest wall-to-head plant, Alexander II wanted to maintain a cooperative attitude with France, and saw them as a strategic ally to the newly emerging Prussia. In this way, Russia balances the balance of power between France and Germany, so that both sides have to pull themselves together.

However, there is also a fatal element in the wall, and this law only holds true when it does not involve the country's own interests. Once France and Germany faced a major war crisis, the Tsar was also forced to take sides.

Ironically, it was the Germans and Slavs who were the first to start the war, and Germany and France were almost always involved in the war in a hurry.

Alexander II knew what Napoleon was trying to say, "Russia and France can have friendly and cooperative relations, but politically they are not allies, let alone military allies. If you don't want to offend any country in Europe. ”

"Of course, I understand the caution of His Majesty the Tsar, and France has no intention of entering into an alliance with any country at this time."

Alexander II breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Napoleon's caution as a decline after the Franco-Prussian War, because France was no longer able to exert its influence as a great power, so it had to rely on good relations with other countries to maintain its decent position.

However, the tsar was wrong about one thing, in Napoleon's eyes, France was only temporarily defeated, they still had a fairly strong economic base, and they did not degenerate into an alliance with Russia to maintain their great power dignity.

And Napoleon came only to give the Tsar a gift.

"Nine years have passed since the reform of serfdom in Russia, but the Tsar's finances are still tight, right?"

Napoleon unceremoniously pointed out the problems that Russia is facing, and that Tsarist Russia did not have enough access to the sea to catch up with the great voyage to develop its economy, and the Industrial Revolution only caught up with the last train. Originally, Tsarist Russia relied on agricultural taxes to develop industry, but now it is abolishing serfdom and developing its economy in a capitalist way, so the problem arises.

Because the industrialization of the construction of railways is not a small amount of money, all the state will inevitably crowd out other expenses, in Western countries it is not all the country, but the issuance of stocks or bonds to raise funds, but the worst thing is that the serf population of Imperial Russia accounts for more than half, this set is not very feasible. Then there is only one way to go in the sophomore year.

Borrowing from other countries.

Hearing the questions raised by the other party, for the sake of face, the tsar hesitated. But Prime Minister Gochakov heard something from Napoleon's tentative tone, and hurriedly agreed, "Yes, since the reform of serfdom, our government does not have the financial resources to change the infrastructure. This is a problem for Russia. Our territory is too vast to require a lot of money to build a railway, but now that Russia can't afford it, we consider borrowing from the British. ”

Prime Minister Gochakov deliberately said that the British, not the French, just wanted to bargain on the issue of borrowing,

At this time, France was the richest country in the whole of Europe, and the colonial plunder brought huge economic benefits to France. And our helpless Russia clung to the last straw.

However, in the most difficult time of Alexander II, it was Napoleon who sent charcoal in the snow, which is really an irony of history.

Western banking and finance industries are also trying to develop abroad after capitalism matures, so the two sides take what they need and hit it off.

"France is willing to borrow from Russia, and it is borrowing without any political purpose."

Napoleon smiled and said, "I hope that through this cooperation, the relations between France and Russia can be further developed." ”

Although Napoleon did not expect Tsarist Russia to perform as badly as Italy in World War I, and announced his withdrawal from the war halfway through the war, Napoleon still hoped to exert and use Russia's influence in the political game in peacetime. After all, everyone was deceived by the vast expanse of Russia and a herd of gray cattle.

Of course, these loans are not interest-free loans, the wool is from the sheep, and the French government has to pay back the principal they had before the outbreak of the First World War.

Winning over Russia, high economic returns, and winning over the favor of Tsarist Russia, how to look at Napoleon's visit to Russia is a very correct choice.

However, all these loans were provided only before the outbreak of the war, after all, after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks relied on all French loans and refused to admit them, and the angry French blew their noses and glared. Eighty years after Lenin played this trick, in the midst of the 1998 financial crisis, Russia once again reverted to history by freezing all Western loans.

Hearing that Napoleon was willing to generously provide a loan, Alexander II's sad face finally eased for many days, and he had no time to pay attention to Bismarck's feelings, and quickly shook Napoleon's hand with a smile, and said sincerely, "Franco-Russian cooperation is pleasant." ”