Chapter 350 Li Hongzhang’s first treaty, a potential ally of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (please vote, please order)
The Louvre, the private reception room of the French Emperor,
Mathilde sat behind a small desk, holding a quill pen, and quickly wrote three secret treaties with exactly the same content in English on three rectangular pieces of white paper.
"It's finally written, Louis, Shaoquan, let me read it to you."
Mathilde put down the quill, then picked up one of the papers and read the terms of the secret agreement in English:
"Article 1, His Excellency Li Hongzhang promised to make the French Princess Mathilde de Bonaparte of France the queen or queen once he is crowned emperor or king in the future.
Article 2: Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde promises that if she cannot give birth to the throne or an heir to the throne for His Majesty Li Hongzhang in the future, she will support the son designated by His Majesty Li Hongzhang and born to another person as the heir.
Article 3: His Majesty Napoleon III promised that the French government would provide 10,000 Migne rifles free of charge to His Excellency Li Hongzhang's participating troops.
One million rounds of ammunition, twenty nine-pound or twelve-pound cannons, ten thousand rounds of artillery shells, and fifty instructors. In addition, the French government will also provide 10,000 Migne rifles to His Excellency Li Hongzhang's army at a preferential price.
One million rounds of ammunition, twenty artillery pieces and ten thousand artillery shells.
Article 4: Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde promised to lend Her Excellency Li Hongzhang five million francs to organize the army and purchase weapons. Once Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde is established as Queen and Queen, this loan will automatically become
her dowry.
Article 5: His Excellency Li Hongzhang promised that once the number of participating troops exceeds 10,000, he will send 5,000 of them to fight against Russia.
Article 6: His Excellency Li Hongzhang promised that in the future he would make every effort to promote the alliance between China and France and protect France's interests in China.
Louis, Shaoquan, the above is the entire content of the secret treaty. Do you have any objections? If not, just sign it...I’ll sign it first!”
After saying that, Princess Mathilde picked up her quill and signed her name first on the three secret contracts.
Li Hongzhang shook his head and said with a smile: "I have no objection!"
Then he walked up to Mathilde, picked up the quill, and signed his name in Chinese on it.
This was the first treaty signed by Li Hongzhang. Napoleon III, who seemed quite equal, smiled with satisfaction: "Of course I have no objections!"
After Li Hongzhang finished signing, he also walked to Mathilde, took the quill, and signed "Louis Napoleon" on the three secret contracts. After signing, he said to Li Hongzhang in English: "Young Master
Tsuen, although Marty cannot marry you until you officially become the monarch, I will give her to you now!"
"Your Majesty, don't worry, Hongzhang will definitely live up to Marty."
Li Hongzhang immediately gave his guarantee without saying a word.
"Okay!" Napoleon III stretched out his right hand, smiled slightly, and continued speaking in English, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation!"
"It's a pleasure to work with you!"
Li Hongzhang now also knew what a handshake was, and he quickly smiled and stretched out his hand to shake Napoleon III's hand.
In the gloomy night, two men wearing black suits, black cloaks, and black hats quietly came out of a side door of the Elysee Palace. Under a dim streetlight outside the door, I don’t know when they stood.
There was a priest wearing a black robe and a big beard. When he saw two men wearing black cloaks, he immediately greeted them, then handed them a small Bible and said in French: "God bless you."
you."
A man in a black cloak took the Bible and replied in Russian: "Please God bless you too!"
"Sven!"
When the black-robed priest heard the other party speaking Russian, he suddenly spoke in Chinese. The man in a cloak and top hat who had just spoken Russian took off his hat, and the light from the street lamp shone on his face.
It's Bai Siwen.
The person next to Bai Siwen immediately took off his hat, and it turned out to be Sushun, the head of the Sushun mission. He smiled and said to the bearded priest: "Lama Tu, I didn't expect that we would meet in Paris!"
It turns out that the bearded priest is the Tupolev foreign lama who once served in Beijing!
Tupolev looked around and said in Chinese: "Master Su, gentlemen, this is not the place to talk. Please come with me and I will take you to meet someone!"
After saying that, he turned around and took Sushun and Bai Siwen along the road along the Seine River to the west, and soon disappeared into the city of Paris shrouded in night.
About an hour later, Tupolev took Sushun and Bai Siwen into a luxurious residence surrounded by greenery on the banks of the Seine River.
The owner of this mansion is the Württemberg royal family, a member of the German Confederation. During this time, Natalia Mihai, the niece of the King of Württemberg and the niece of Tsar Nicholas I, lived here.
Grand Duchess Lovna—she was traveling throughout Western Europe during this time, accompanied by an Orthodox priest and several older lords and ladies from Russia and Württemberg.
After swimming around, I arrived in Paris, which has gradually become the center of the ever-changing situation in Europe, and lived in this mansion that had been vacant all year round.:
"What? Father, what are you talking about? Napoleon III is instigating the Qing Dynasty to fight against Russia? The Qing Dynasty is not really deceived by him, is it?"
On the banks of the Seine, in the living room of the mansion belonging to the Württemberg royal family, a beautiful girl with a delicate face like a porcelain doll but a very slender body could not help but look extremely surprised after listening to the solemn words translated by Tupolev.
expression.
A bookish-looking man in his fifties with a square face and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses shook his head repeatedly: "This is impossible! Absolutely impossible...:...\n. The civil war in the Qing Dynasty is still going on.
It's so far away, how can it be possible to follow Britain and France to fight against us, Russia?"
Father Tupolev turned to Sushun and said: "Master Su, Duke Gorchakov does not think that the Qing Dynasty still has the strength to fight the Russian Empire."
It turned out that this man in his fifties was Duke Gorchakov, the ambassador of the Russian Empire in Vienna, and he was also a supporter of the Russian Crown Prince Alexander. During this time, he was still traveling around Western Europe, working for Russia, Britain, and France.
A last-ditch effort for peace.
But his efforts seem to have no effect, and things are developing towards the worst, which is also the direction predicted by the "Great Prophecy":
The purpose of his trip to Paris this time, in the name of accompanying Grand Duchess Natalia on a blind date, was not only to have a secret meeting with Napoleon's illegitimate son Walewski, but also to contact the Qing envoys - he hoped to
Let Russia open a consulate in Shanghai.
Shanghai is very close to the territory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and that "demon"!
But he never expected that in Paris he would get the news that Britain and France were inciting the Qing Dynasty to go to war with Russia!
Sushun frowned, not knowing how to explain to the Russians.
He knew that it was impossible for Mr. Xianfeng to really go to war with Russia, and he did not have the energy to do so.
But now the Qing Dynasty is undergoing the "late Yuan transformation".
The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty was unwilling to send troops, but it is hard to say what people like Luo Xueyan, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zuo Zongtang were thinking...\n.\n.
When Duke Gorchakov saw Sushun being silent, he thought that the Qing Dynasty was really having such an "unrealistic" bad idea, so he darkened his face and said in a threatening tone: "If the Qing Dynasty really dares to follow the British and French
If we start a war with Russia, the Russian Empire will form an alliance with the Taiping Rebellion!"
Bai Siwen, who was sitting with Sushun, quickly told Sushun what the Russian duke diplomat said: "Master Su, this Mr. Ge said that if we form an alliance with Britain and France, they and Russia will form an alliance with the Taiping Rebellion!"
"Alliance with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" Sushun hurriedly said to Tupolev, "Tupolev, have you told Mr. Ge that Hong Xiuquan, the king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, claims to be the second son of God's family?
Tupolev waved his hand: "Master Su, don't expect to use this rhetoric to stop Russia from forming an alliance with the Taiping Rebellion.
If you don't want us to form an alliance with the Taiping Rebellion, then your Qing Dynasty must maintain pro-Russian neutrality between Britain, France and Russia!
If you are willing to remain neutral while being pro-Russian, when we defeat Britain and France, we will help you fight against the revolutionary force of the Taiping Rebellion!"
Defeat Britain and France?
Can you do it?
Sushun has no longer opened his eyes to see the world. He has been in England and France for several months. How can he not know how powerful England and France are?
However, he did not want to offend Russia, so he nodded and said: "Lama Tu, please tell Master Ge, and I will definitely convey his wishes to the emperor.
Chapter completed!