Chapter 319 Now I can hug the Queen’s thick waist! (Please vote, please order)
In the evening, when the city of London was shrouded in thick fog mixed with industrial waste gas and heavy gray snow, Li Hongzhang, the secretary of the Qing Emperor, had already followed Humphrey and Wytoma, two senior British civil servants from Oxford and Cambridge, on a train.
Driving a four-wheeled carriage from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it slowly drove into Buckingham Palace in Westminster.
This is another palace filled with nouveau riche style!
But having said that, this ultra-luxurious palace with a total of 775 rooms, covering an area of ​​18,000 square meters, and full of 19th-century tycoon style only cost a total of 500,000 pounds, which is almost 20,000 pounds.
A million taels of silver, maybe.
For the British Empire in the 19th century, this expense was nothing. In history, the Chinese Buddha spent 20 million taels of silver to rebuild the Summer Palace, enough to build eight Buckingham Palaces...\n.\n
.\n.\n
"Mr. Wei, do I really want to dance for the Queen of England later? This, this...\n.\nIsn't it against diplomatic etiquette?"
When the carriage slowly stopped in the nouveau riche-style palace courtyard, Li Hongzhang, who was a little timid and uneasy, finally made a small "protest".
"What? Dance for the Queen?" Witoma was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Master Li, I think you misunderstood Her Majesty the Queen...: She is inviting you to attend today's dance, not
Let you perform a dance."
It turned out to be a misunderstanding!
Li Hongzhang let out a sigh of relief.
But Wetoma still had half a sentence left to say: "But let you dance with her!"
"Dancing with...and the Long Live Empress?" Li Hongzhang was stunned again and again, "What does this mean?"
"Didn't you dance with Mr. Brown every day this week?" Witoma said with a smile, "later you will dance with Her Majesty the Queen and the other ladies as Mr. Witoma taught you."
"What? The Queen and I and other ladies? But I'm a man...::
Humphrey, who was riding in the same car with Li Hongzhang and Weitoma, also looked inexplicably surprised at this time: "Mr. Li, is it true that in Chinese court dances, men dance with men?"
"Men and men? No, no...\n.\nWe don't dance like that."
Li Hongzhang quickly shook his head and denied it. Is it ridiculous for two big men to dance together on the floor?
At this time, the carriage in which Wade, Humphrey, and Li Hongzhang were riding had stopped. An attendant from Buckingham Palace came forward and opened the door. A gust of cool wind blew, and Li Hongzhang shivered, and then he heard the melodious sound.
The sound of music and the respectful Oxford accent of the attendant spoke English: "Mr. Li, get out of the car quickly. Her Majesty the Queen has arrived at the royal ballroom in advance, and with her is Princess Mathilde of the French Empire."
When Li Hongzhang heard this, he didn't run away now. Not only did he have the English Queen, but he also had a "French Princess". If he ran away like this, he would have offended two great powers at once!
That’s all, isn’t it just hugging the queen’s thick waist and dancing?
From now on, I can be regarded as someone who has "embraced the Holy One"!
Among the civil and military officials of the Qing Dynasty and the Manchu Dynasty, I’m afraid I can’t find anyone else, right?
Thinking of this, Li Hongzhang got out of the carriage with a heartbeat, and then Humphrey followed him out. Humphrey was of a higher rank, so he accompanied Li Hongzhang to the palace ball held at Buckingham Palace today.
Today's ball is not specially held for Li Hongzhang, he is not that proud. Today's ball is actually held by Queen Victoria for the visiting French Princess Mathilde, who is the niece of Napoleon I.
, the daughter of Napoleon's younger brother Jérôme Bonaparte, and the cousin and lover of Napoleon III.
Originally, she was a popular candidate for the Queen of the French Empire, but unfortunately Napoleon III finally chose the young and beautiful Eugenie. In fact, Mathilde's appearance is not inferior to Eugenie's, she is just a few years older. She is already thirty-three this year, so it is inevitable that she is a little bit older.
Losing color and getting a little fat...
Although Napoleon III became the "scumbag emperor", Princess Mathilde was still running for the "scumbag emperor". This time she came to London from Paris just to please Queen Victoria, who was one year older than her.
'Alessandra, you know, I grew up in Italy, and my father took refuge with the Pope after the collapse of my uncle's empire, so I'm fascinated by devils, angels or prophets.
.\n.\n.\n.\n
?
The ball has not started yet. The French princess, wearing a bold low-cut, sleeveless, backless dress, revealing a large area of ​​milky white skin, is sitting at a small round table with the Queen of England, talking quietly.
This French princess is not too tall - she is a member of the Napoleon family, not as tall as Napoleon. But she is also as short as Victoria, and the key "size" is much larger than Victoria, so she can be called
It's spectacular. Although she looks fatter, she has never given birth to a child and has been wearing a corset for a long time, so her waist looks much slimmer than that of the queen who has given birth to eight children.
Now sit next to the Queen and attract Prince Albert's eyes...\n
"Oh? Really?" Victoria glanced at her dear Albert from the corner of her eyes, and then said in a cold tone, "I have no interest in these mystical issues, and the British Empire does not need them...\n.
\n..\n. Mathilde, if you are really fascinated by these things, a secretary of the Chinese emperor will come to the ball later. You can ask him to see if he can arrange a visit for you.
China."
"Visiting China?" Princess Mathilde raised her eyebrows and seemed a little moved.
Victoria looked at the princess who was abandoned by Napoleon III, smiled and said: "Go and meet that person in person...::...If you are really interested in him, why not go and meet him in person?
It’s much better to guess blindly in Europe!”
Mathilde thought for a while and asked: "I heard that the British minister to China once met him in the capital of the Taiping Rebellion?"
"I have indeed seen it!" Victoria nodded, "The report from Minister Wenxian said that the man may be a prophet...\n.\nHe can predict events decades in the future." The Queen shrugged, "But then
So what? Does the British Empire need a prophet to predict the challenges it may encounter in the next few decades?”
"Of course not," Mathilde laughed, "Who else could it be but the Russian Empire?"
Victoria glanced at the French princess and smiled: "Yes, who else can it be?"
"Your Majesty the Queen, the Qing Emperor's secretary has arrived."
At this time, Prince Albert's voice suddenly sounded, interrupting the conversation between the Queen and Mathilde.
The queen turned to her husband and said: "Dear Albert, the ball can begin...\n.\n..\n. You will dance the first dance with Mathilde, and I will dance with you tonight."
Let’s choose the tall Chinese Emperor’s secretary as your first dance partner!”
Prince Albert nodded gracefully, and then smiled at Mathilde: "It's a pleasure to dance with you, distinguished lady."
Mathilde also nodded: "Me too, Your Highness."
In the royal ballroom, as the melodious waltz sounded, Li Hongzhang, who had traveled tens of thousands of miles away, finally hugged Her Majesty the Queen's thick waist - a hug in the true sense! He did not dare to hold her too tightly, and only dared to hold her tightly.
One hand gently placed on the Queen's waist, and the other hand squeezed the Queen's fat little hand, and then twirled around the dance floor to the waltz.
Soon, his first dance with the Queen was over. However, the Queen did not let go of his hand, but pulled him to sit on the sofa nearby, and then said to him with a smile: "Hongzhang, your
You dance pretty well, are you really a new learner?"
Li Hongzhang couldn't quite understand Victoria's English, but he still nodded politely and said "Yes." The Queen then asked: "My Prime Minister told me yesterday that the cabinet has agreed to lease paddle-wheel gunboats to the Qing Dynasty, and
Send a naval officer group headed by Colonel Aspen to help you train and command the naval fleet...
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
Li Hongzhang still couldn't understand it very well, but he could observe people's words and understand some words, so he knew it must be a good thing.
The Queen smiled and added: "The Prime Minister also told me that the cabinet hopes that the Qing Dynasty will send a permanent minister to London...\n...\n. I hope you can stay in London and serve as the first Qing Dynasty minister to the United Kingdom."
"
Li Hongzhang still nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay."
The Queen of England nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, I look forward to you getting along well with my Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary.
Chapter completed!