From Christmas to New Year's Day, this is a traditional relaxing holiday for British people. Banquets in the East Palace were held one after another, and Xiao Letian's invitations flew all over Britain.
The waltz of the ball and the roar of people's voices spread to the street. Countless citizens looked longingly at the luxury in the yard, but in the heavy snow, a pair of resentful eyes under a cloak were staring at somewhere.
"Master... we can't stay here, the special envoy is waiting for us... we only have more than twenty minutes, you can't waste it!"
Under the cloak was Tongzhi Emperor Zaichun in disguise. After many days of thinking, he finally made a decision to secretly meet with the French envoy while the whole of Britain was celebrating and when everyone was least vigilant.
This trip to Europe taught Emperor Tongzhi a lot and made him mature quickly. After so many things, he no longer believed in the friendship between people.
Politics is a business. Politicians and politicians, forces and forces are nothing more than transactions. Whatever the UK wants, it has to pay something in exchange for itself.
Even if France wants to get something from itself, it still has to pay real money. So what about master Xiao Letian? Training himself as a disciple is just for future benefits.
I had promised my master a long time ago that he would hand over the special economic zones in the south of the Yangtze River as soon as he came into power. Before, I foolishly thought that my master really wanted to help me establish industrial zones. But now it seems that these special zones will never be established. Back to the embrace of the Qing Dynasty.
People always have to go through some things, otherwise they will not mature at all. Zai Chun should actually be grateful to the former British Prime Minister Benjamin. If he had not been trying his best to conspire and negotiate with him, Emperor Tongzhi would not have matured so quickly.
The final assassination was a catalyst that allowed Emperor Tongzhi, who was already full of confusion, rebellion, and wavering, to fully understand the meaning of being an independent man.
"There are no fathers and sons in the political arena. We are all just a bunch of singletons! Including you, master..."
Zai Chun turned around and walked away, holding the cloak on his head with his hands as he walked. The London citizens walking around him in a hurry could not guess that this person was actually the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
After passing through several alleys, Zai Chun finally came to a secret location of the French intelligence agents. This was a very ordinary department store that sold some daily necessities for the people. In the past two days, Chinese businessmen had sold more than ten items. Oriental fireworks on board.
These novel gadgets, which are beautiful and inexpensive, have quickly become the new favorites of children at Christmas. The entrances of small department stores are crowded with adults and children rushing to buy them.
Bypassing these happy children, Zai Chun and his party walked to the department store warehouse. The French envoy who had been waiting early saw the Qing Emperor coming and was so frightened that he jumped up and knelt on one knee.
"See Your Majesty, please allow me to bring the Emperor's blessing to Your Majesty. May God bless you!"
Zai Chun was now very proficient in European court etiquette. He nodded and kissed his white-gloved left hand deeply. The French envoy held it in both hands and kissed it gently.
"It is said that French court etiquette is the most exquisite in Europe. Now I see that it is true, and I feel that your respectful attitude is at least stronger than that of the British!"
"Thank you for your compliment, Your Majesty. Many French etiquettes were learned from China. The monarch that the Sun King admired most at that time was Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty! We even want to copy the imperial examination system of the Qing Dynasty!"
"Haha... It's a pity that a war broke out in the end, wasn't it?" Zai Chun smiled coldly.
The special envoy seemed to have been mentally prepared. He smiled and replied, "Why did your Majesty say this? War and peace are two major events that humans cannot avoid. Which country has never had a war?"
"The Qing Empire also relied on war to build a country, and so did we in France! The war broke out because there were conflicts between the two countries that were difficult to reconcile and could not be resolved at the negotiation table. In the end, they could only be resolved by force!"
"After the war, a new order will naturally emerge, and peace will be achieved...Europe has been constantly fighting for thousands of years, and there is no permanent peace between any country, including France and Britain, which even broke out for more than a hundred years. Continuous War!"
"But what will happen in the end? We still have to put aside our hatred and look forward! What do you think, my lord?"
"Looking forward? Haha... It's easier said than done. It depends on whether you are sincere or not!"
"Oh, my Majesty, of course we have sincerity! Please look at this photo..." The special envoy stood up and handed Zai Chun a photo. The black and white image actually showed a dragon chair and two pagoda-like pagodas. thing.
Emperor Tongzhi had never seen this thing before, but the style was too familiar to him. At first glance, it was an imperial item in the Forbidden City. After looking through it for a long time, Zaichun didn't recognize it, so he had to turn around and hand it to the serving eunuch Manshun.
As soon as Manshun took the photo, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He was completely dumbfounded. His knees softened and he knelt on the ground with a pop.
"This, this, this... what does this mean? Do you, France, want to return this treasure to me, the Qing Dynasty?"
The special envoy nodded, "As long as His Majesty can accept the friendship of the Emperor of France, then this treasure will be our gift to Your Majesty. When you return to China, the treasure will naturally return to China with your ship!"
"Damn slave, what on earth is this? Talk..." Emperor Tongzhi was so angry that he wanted to kick this dead eunuch.
With tears in his eyes, Manshun knelt on the ground and held up the photo with both hands. "Master, you... please salute this photo quickly! Hurry up..."
"What on earth is that? You're just a dog slave talking!"
"Your Majesty! This is the seven-story red sandalwood pagoda that Emperor Qianlong used to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday! The hair of Emperor Qianlong's biological mother, Empress Dowager Chongqing, is enshrined here! This is the hair pagoda! It has always been enshrined in the Old Summer Palace..."
Needless to say, Zaichun understood everything. He had also heard about this pair of pagodas, which were entirely decorated with rosewood and gold jewelry. Each pagoda had 48 niches and Buddha statues.
When the Old Summer Palace was burned down, he was still very young and had no chance to see it, so he was very unfamiliar, but strange eyes did not mean that his ears were unfamiliar. Emperor Tongzhi had long heard of the tragedy of the red sandalwood tower being robbed.
At that moment, his eyes were spitting fire and he stared at the French envoy. However, the big-nosed man did not show any shame and just lowered his head and said lightly, "As long as your Majesty is willing, these two pagodas will be able to return home soon..."
"Come here! Prepare the incense table. I want to kowtow to the hair tower of my ancestors! The unfilial descendants... kowtow to their ancestors!" At that moment, Tongzhi burst into tears.
