"We must tell His Majesty Emperor Tongzhi that we in France have absolutely no intention to assassinate him, and such an assassination will not do any good!"
"Since His Majesty Emperor Tongzhi wants to promote the industrialization process in the Qing Dynasty and build a long railway, then relying on British funds alone is far from enough, and it is also dangerous for such a super project to be overly dependent on one country!"
"I think he should understand that eggs cannot be put in the same basket! If the railway project is jointly invested and built by Britain, France and the Qing Dynasty, it will be more conducive for the Qing Dynasty to conduct multi-party negotiations and use France to restrict it. It will be good for the Qing Dynasty to visit Britain!"
"Since we in France want to do such a big business with Emperor Tongzhi, how can we assassinate His Majesty the Emperor? I think this is just a layer of window paper..."
"Well, what you said makes sense... But no matter what, the killer is indeed a veteran of our France. How to explain this?" the French Emperor asked.
"It doesn't matter which country the killer is from, because the killer is looking for money. As long as you give enough money, it's not easy to get a killer from any country..."
"In the final analysis, it still depends on Emperor Tongzhi's attitude. Only his attitude can influence public opinion!"
"It is true that we have become very passive in this incident. Even if we start to counterattack in the media now and carry out vigorous publicity, I am afraid it will be difficult to resist the people's preconceptions!"
"At this time, only through the actions of the victim, Emperor Tongzhi, can we wash away our grievances! If we can reach some friendly agreements with Emperor Tongzhi, even if we suffer a little loss, we can give the little emperor some actual benefits or something... …”
"I think as long as this kind of agreement is signed, the public's doubts about us will be overturned! Don't worry about Gladstone, he is an old fox. As long as we can influence the sufferer, Emperor Tongzhi, he is You won’t continue to struggle with us!”
"The only thing I'm worried about now...is actually Xiao Letian!"
At the mention of this name, the fire in Napoleon III's heart jumped up. "Hasn't this bastard left Britain yet? Remember, once he leaves Britain, as long as he leaves the protection of British power, he will be killed immediately." he!"
"Let our navy be on high alert. If we encounter an opportunity, we can fire directly without my consent!"
Montauban smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid it's not that simple! I have experienced his power during these days in London. This is really unlike an Asian. His depth of understanding of Europe amazes me!"
"If my intelligence is correct, Gladstone's rise to power has a lot to do with Xiao Letian. This Asian lunatic has provided him with a lot of support. The two of them should be secret allies!"
"Furthermore, Xiao Letian has also established a very good relationship with the British aristocratic circle through many means. In particular, the Queen's attitude towards Xiao Letian is very 'friendly'. In this context, the UK will probably only increase its protection of him. And it won’t weaken!”
"That's enough. I don't want you to take office because you say no. What I want is a solution!"
"Yes, Your Majesty! Please forgive me... What I mean is that after experiencing the disaster of the assassination of Emperor Tongzhi, Britain has heightened its vigilance. It will be difficult for us to carry out a surprise attack again to achieve our goal!"
"For the present plan, the only solution is to use methods on the battlefield!"
"Battlefield?" Napoleon III said faintly.
"That's right, it's the battlefield! Xiao Letian has brought two thousand troops, what does he want to do? I'm afraid he wants to take advantage of the tense situation between us and Prussia to fish in troubled waters!"
"Don't forget, during the Austro-Prussian War, he obtained countless benefits for himself through this method. Without that war, how could Prussia build ironclad battleships for them? How could they have such a relationship with him? What about closeness?”
"I'm afraid he will repeat his old tricks again this time!"
When Napoleon III heard this, the muscles in the corners of his eyes twitched with anger. "Comparing my powerful France with Austria? He is dreaming!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, he is just dreaming, but isn't this the history of this man's fortune? He always makes sneak attacks, exploits every opportunity, and fights bloody battles with others, but in the end he takes advantage..."
"Taking advantage of the weak moment when the Qing Empire had just ended the civil war between the north and the south, and then a large-scale rebellion broke out in the western border, it took advantage of the chaos to exert pressure. Taking advantage of the fierce battle between Prussia and Austria, I sent troops to fight an insignificant offensive and defensive war..."
"There is also the war in the Far East. It was also a sneak attack and undeclared war when Tsarist Russia was short of troops and supplies!"
"This is a typical villain, a political thief! So I judge that once we have a war with Prussia, he will definitely join the war!"
"If we want revenge, I'm afraid that's our best chance!"
Montauban followed the Emperor's wishes and scolded Xiao Letian severely. The Emperor's face, which turned black with anger, finally softened a lot. He took a sip of wine and let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm afraid he won't be able to wait for this opportunity! You haven't been in Paris during this period, so you don't know the latest situation. Prussia has stopped sending more troops to the border, and even Switzerland and Belgium have started to act as mediators!"
"Haha, facing the powerful France, even Bismarck is a tiger and has to behave like a sick cat!"
When Montauban heard this, his eyes lit up with excitement and he patted him like a wave of flattery, "Long live your Majesty! God bless France! It seems that Bismarck's toughness is just to add some chips to the negotiation table. They are already afraid of the most powerful army in the world!"
"France is victorious! The Empire is victorious!"
Napoleon III was a very conceited man. In his mind, after Britain, France was the second most powerful country in the world.
He despised Prussia from the bottom of his heart. It was just a loose part of the German Federation. What qualifications did he have to compete with France?
Regardless of whether it is compared in terms of total industrial output value, financial scale, overseas colonies, or the total number of armies, Prussia is just a little ant.
If it weren't for the fact that their marriage to Britain improved their status, who among the European powers would care about him?
Moreover, Napoleon III always believed that Prussia's series of victories were just a matter of leveraging Britain's policy of balancing the continent.
The French are not stupid either. They are very clear about Britain's attitude towards European countries. It has always been Britain's national policy to avoid the emergence of a unilateral and powerful hegemon in Europe.
To balance the balance of power among all parties in the European continent, if France is too powerful, it must find ways to contain it. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire is too powerful, it must also be pursued and intercepted. Even Tsarist Russia in the cold zone cannot let it grow bigger.
What is Prussia now? It is just a hunting dog released by Britain to curb the rise of France.
"Bismarck dares to start a war with me and France? Haha, let's just dream, he actually sees things more clearly than me!"
