Chapter 777 Napoleon III: Comrade Maximi, come and be the Emperor of Mexico!

In early January 1864, France.

The cold sea breeze blew in the face, and Ma Bao held the railings of the ship, his finger joints were frozen white. He looked at the masts of Le Havre Port there, and hundreds of steam boats were emitting smoke columns under the clear winter sky, looking at it much more lively than the Huangpu River on the beach. Dozens or hundreds of cast iron steam cranes kept making harsh squeaks, as if the giant's arms were transporting tons of cotton bags. The roofs of warehouses were in the sun, like rolling hills, and several dock workers in baseball caps were pushing wheelbarrows, piled up with cotton bags from America.

"At this time last year, there were only twenty steam cranes here, and in just one year, there were hundreds of them." Weng Tongjue stood behind them at some point, and the white air exhaled from his mouth was soon blown away by the sea breeze.

Weng Tonghe's good second brother has been resigned to be an aide since Luo Yaoguo entered Shanghai. Although he has made no big contribution, he cannot stand up to his seniority and is reliable in his work. He has been step by step for more than ten years. Now he has been promoted to the third rank. He was appointed as the ambassador to France three years ago. Recently, he was transferred to the transfer order, asking him to hand over his errands to Hu Wansheng and then go to Prussia to be an ambassador.

Today, he came from Paris to welcome Hu Wansheng and Ma Baocai, the ambassador of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to Britain.

He pointed his finger to the west side of the dock, where the roar of pile drivers came: "Three new berths have been expanded this year, and the Paris-port railway branch line has just been opened to traffic... It's so exciting!"

Hu Wansheng looked in the direction and saw bundles of steel rails piled beside the railway, and a large group of workers wearing dome hats were busy, as if laying the railway duplex.

He suddenly noticed that there was a newly built Gothic church in the direction of the railway station, and the bronze cross on the spire shone with a sacred light under the clouds.

"That was the Sacred Heart Church, and Archbishop Doria personally consecrated. "Weng Tongjue pointed to the church and said, "In recent years, the emperor of France has been busy with three things: one is to build railways, two is to run factories, three is to fight everywhere, and four is to build a church! In fact, the most motivated one is to build a church, worship God!"

As if confirming this, a team of monks in black robe suddenly surged out of the platform, and the copper bells hanging around their waists jingled. Twenty young nuns followed behind with rattan boxes, and the white scarf was blown by the wind. A lame old monk fell to the end, holding a wooden box with gold wire in his arms - I don't know what treasures were inside?

...

The fireplace in the VIP waiting room of the train station was burning vigorously, and oak crackled. Ma Bao was holding a cup of hot cocoa that had just been lit. Suddenly he heard a few words of French in Provence accents floating behind him: "... His Highness Maximilian lived in the Palace of St. Clou for half a month, and is said to be wearing traditional Mexican clothes every day... A few days ago, he also wore a sombrero embroidered with gold-edged hat... "

Hu Wansheng pricked up his ears and caught a glimpse of two old priests talking in a low voice by the window.

"The letter from Mexico said that conservatives were willing to worship two million francs a year..." The gem cross was cut in the hands of the old man, and the old man spots on the knuckles were clearly visible, "but the Catholic Church must be used as the state religion, and the teaching property must be returned...especially those monasteries that have been converted into schools..."

The sharp whistle of the train interrupted their secret conversation. When Hu Wansheng got into the box, he smelled a freshly painted smell. This was obviously a new car that had just been removed from the line.

Weng Tongjue took out a bottle of Bordeaux red wine and a few small wine glasses from the suitcase and poured them on Hu Wansheng, Ma Baocai and Feng Xiuying.

"What happened to the Mexican emperor that the two priests just mentioned?" Hu Wansheng took the wine glass.

Weng Tongjue laughed and said, "This matter has to start six years ago. The Mexican liberals carried out reforms, confiscated church property, and drove all the bishops out of the parliament. As a result, it triggered a civil war!

At first, the so-called reformists had the upper hand, but later the conservatives borrowed the French soldiers to seize the upper hand and seized power, and drove Juares' reformists to the northern mountainous areas. However, they did not dare to be the emperor of Mexico, so they wanted to import a European prince to be the emperor.

Feng Xiuying was stunned: "The emperor also imported it?"

"Yes, sometimes Europeans are foreign emperors who are easy to do things."

Feng Xiuying frowned and asked, "Napoleon III has no one in his family? Why did he give this good thing to the Austrians?"

"I don't know if it's a good thing..." Weng Tongjue took out a copy of Le Figaro from his official document bag, and the front page was printed with a portrait of Grand Duke Maximilian. "The French army now has 20,000 elite troops stationed in Mexico, and the military expenditure is 150,000 francs per day. This expense must be carried by the new Mexican emperor!

I heard that the draft treaty says: Mexico bears all military expenditures, cedes the mining rights of Sonora Province, and also gives France the most-favored-nation treatment... "

"Isn't this a traitor?" Hu Wansheng took a sip of the wine, "How dare this Maximilian take?"

"I heard that he is a progressive emperor!" Weng Tongjue smiled, "When he was a governor in Italy, he promoted many liberal policies, read the Anti-Classics, and liked to discuss revolution with people..."

"Discussing revolution?" Ma Baocai was stunned, "Didn't he be the emperor? Why did he still revolution? Whose life will be revolutionized?"

Weng Tongjue smiled and said, "I don't know... Maybe it's my own life to be rebelled? Anyway, in recent years, the emperors in Europe, except the Queen of England, have all pretended to be progressing... Even the Russian emperor Alexander II, is pretending to be progressing, saying nonsense about caring about farmers all day long! I think this Europe... I'll make a big fuss sooner or later!"

Hu Wansheng and Ma Baocai looked at each other, laughing but not speaking...

...

Dusk at the Durairi Palace.

The golden candlestick illuminated the amber map of Mexico. Napoleon III looked... helplessly, looking at the map and said, "His highness's land reform plan..." He coughed twice and organized the words, "Is it necessary to distribute one-third of the country's land to the Indians?"

The progressive prince of Habsburg today wore a Mexican-style embroidered jacket and pretended to be a progressive Mexican master - but in Napoleon III's view, this person had just got the wrong script.

"My Majesty, Mexico needs a new social contract." He unfolded a document he carefully prepared. "The owner of the large estate in Mexico retained one-third of the land, one-third were nationalized for railway construction, and the rest were allocated to mixed-race and indigenous people who were willing to become self-cultivated farmers." His slender fingers streaked through the silver mine belt, and his nails were round and smooth. "Build a national bank with mineral income, and the first steel mill in Latin America will be built in Monterrey within ten years. I have commissioned the Krupp company to design the drawings."

Maria's biological father Archbishop Doria looked surprised. He never expected that a prince from Habsburg could make progress like this!

He frowned and said, "But the church must take back the property occupied by the liberals. The Juarez government's blasphemy of God must be corrected!" He took out a list from his arms, "The Archdiocese of Mexico City needs to rebuild thirty churches and fifty church schools. The buildings of the Inquisition must be returned as it is."

Napoleon III added: "Twenty thousand French troops will be stationed until at least 1867." His trembling fingertips hit the eighth paragraph of the treaty, and there were ink stains hidden in the cracks of his nails. "Military expenses are deducted from customs income." The cane suddenly poked at Texas on the map, "In addition, Mexico must also become our transit station for the assistance of the southern United States!"

...

Notre Dame Cathedral.

When Princess Charlotte stopped Doria in the prayer room, Notre Dame Cathedral outside the window was ringing the evening prayer bell. The future Mexican queen was dressed in plain casual clothes and seemed to be the daughter of a small shop owner.

"Article, can your daughter really communicate with the angel?" Princess Charlotte asked, taking out a check and stuffing it. "I want to know if my husband can really become the emperor of Mexico? His mind is full of progressive ideas..."

This princess dreamed of becoming a queen! Unfortunately, Maximilian's brother was in good health and did not look like he was dying for a while... So she tinkered with her "progressive husband" to seize the opportunity to become the emperor of Mexico.

However... His Highness, His Highness, has been improving recently, and is a little different from the emperor.

So she felt very uneasy, so she wanted to find a master to ask.

Archbishop Doria smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness." He deliberately let the shadow of the chandelier cover half of his face, and the other face was red by the candlelight - he practiced this action for a long time, so that people could not see the change in his face when he lies.

"His Excellency Luo Yaoguo personally revealed that the feathered snake god will eventually return, but it needs the blood of the European monarch to pour out. Maria said. Your husband will be crowned with the Aztec eagle crown."

As he said that the Catholic cardinal, the future pope's popular, actually secretly took out a piece of talisman paper with Chinese words and handed it to Princess Charlotte.

When the princess took the talisman paper, she found that the words "Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother, Heavenly King Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" were printed on the back - of course, she didn't know these Chinese, but she had heard of "True Contracting Indulgences"... This should be right?

At the same time, the Palace of Duraili.

The French Empire's foreign minister, Duke Valevsky, the Polish son of Emperor Napoleon, walked through the mirror gallery, holding a telegram he had just received.

"St. Petersburg declared the abolition of Polish serfdom!" His voice trembled, "The rebels obtained the land certificate and freedom certificate issued by the Tsar! The spies in Warsaw reported that the farmers were burning the land deeds..."

Napoleon III was staring at a map of Mexico in a daze. When he heard Valevsky's words, he was stunned: "What did you say?"

"The Tsar not only liberated the Polish serfs, but also distributed the land of the Polish nobles to the Polish peasants... and had to practice plundering in Poland with his land!"

"What?" Napoleon III was stunned and stunned, "Why is he like this... Duke, what's wrong with this world? How come the emperor is more progressive than the revolutionary one?"
Chapter completed!