【Friday at 12 noon on the third week of the election】

In Haisong Palace, the emperor was entertaining American guests for lunch.

The reason for lunch rather than a formal meal - dinner is because the two guests met the emperor in the morning, and they were both old friends of the emperor. After talking about the matter, they were stayed to have lunch with the emperor.[]

One of the two guests is Stephen, the former ambassador of the United States, the current president of the "Song of the United States", and the other is a biology professor at Haisong Christ Union University and a Southern Baptist missionary Wolson. They came to the emperor to talk to the emperor about the issues of American donations, educational equipment, textbooks and teacher dispatch from United University that was about to start the first batch of enrollment. As the emperor who asked a foreign church to bear 70% of the university funds and faculty for him, these two were of course honorable guests, so the emperor was naturally "happy". According to Chinese tradition, two must be left to dinner.

Therefore, the lunch is very rich. In order to express respect and thanks, the delicacies of mountains and seas came one by one, with a wide range of delicious wine and delicacies, and there was no difference between them and the main meal.

Because the biology professor was present, the "learned" emperor seemed very talkative, and he talked about the fact that he had discovered a deadly animal, civets, which would probably cause a great plague after eating it, so he strictly ordered the Chinese people not to eat them. Stephen was familiar with the style of this extremely smart and rough emperor, and even if the biologist was present, he laughed without saying a word;

Wolson was also very familiar with the emperor. He was a biology tutor for the second son of the emperor. He was shocked when he heard that there was a new virus, but later he heard that you were eating it? Any wild animal you eat may be in danger, so why do you have to eat it? Isn’t this seeking death? And the animal you said will cause plagues at all. Of course, he must not believe in the biology level of the yellow emperor. Although he is great in English, he doesn’t even understand the special terms for biology, and he is all in Chinese.

In addition to talking about "biology", the emperor was diligently urging his two dear ministers to taste the delicious foods that are unique to the Far East.

After the guests and the host tasted a bear paw that the host strongly recommended, while everyone lowered their heads to taste it, at this time, Wolson, who had something to do, picked up a blank look and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I have something to ask, don't you know?"

The emperor swallowed a small mouthful of meat from his mouth, wiped the gravy on the corner of his mouth with a white napkin, shook the red wine at his hand, and smiled and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm sorry."

Wolson said: "I heard that last year the Catholic preacher discovered a strange black and white bear in Sichuan. He ate bamboo and brought the body back to Hai Song. Last month, I heard that His Majesty spent a lot of money to fund an expedition and found three black and white bear cubs from Sichuan. Two of them were made into specimens, one for Queen Victoria in the UK to celebrate her birthday and the other for us United University. I looked at the specimens, and it was indeed very strange. I used to think it was a fake made of dyed fur, but now it seems not."

The emperor laughed and said, "I named this thing 'Panda', and I also designated it for you in English as 'panda'. It seems to be from the family Panda family," he then frowned and sighed, "It's a pity that it's not in our Song Dynasty, otherwise I could have named it 'Emperor Panda', alas."

Hearing that this guy who is superstitious about spreading the plague of civets had to define his own subject, biologist Wolson curled his lips disdainfully, holding a knife and fork in his hand and interrupted the emperor, asking: "I heard that there are three second sons of the emperor, and now there are only two, so where is the third one? He said he is still alive! He also took a photo with the one in the cage!"

The emperor raised his eyebrows and asked, "This was transported from Sichuan from a long distance, and it was difficult to support it. The three panda cubs robbed by the Qing Dynasty hunters were already dying when they arrived here. My dear asked what this was done?"

Wolson smiled and said, "If it is really a new species, I want to see entities and also want to fight for the third one for America and take it to American professors for research. I don't know where the third one is?"

The emperor's eyes were a little frightened, and after thinking about it, he smiled heartily again, stretched out two fingers to Wolson and said, "Love Wolson, I have two good news for you!"

"What good news?" Wolson was so excited when he heard this.

The emperor pointed at Wolson and shouted, "The first good news! That third panda is here, and you've got it!"

"What?" Wolson was stunned for a moment, looked around, confirmed that there were no cages containing animals around him, bent down and lifted the tablecloth to look under the table.

There is nothing.

"His Majesty lied to me?" Wolson said helplessly.

"I never tell lies!" The emperor pointed to the plate in front of Walson and said with a wicked smile: "Is the bear paw delicious today? That's not an ordinary bear, it's a panda! Part of it is in your belly, it's still hot!"

"God! This guy actually ate the precious new species!" Wolson was stunned for half a minute, his neck was clattering, he lowered his head and stared at the plate in front of him, and the teeth marks on the meat on it were still there.

The emperor pointed to the half piece of meat in the other party's plate and said, "You have to thank the queen if you can eat panda meat. Yesterday, when we had a dinner party, we said that we would keep you for lunch tomorrow. The queen said that since we have a second teacher, and we are all for the establishment of the Hanlin Academy of the Song Dynasty, we are all my friends and beloved ministers. It is better to leave a bear paw for you, haha."

"How could you eat it? This is a major discovery in biology." Wolson asked in a trembling tone.

"Anyway, I'm half dead, I'll definitely not be able to raise it anymore. There are two specimens, and the rest will soon turn into a corpse. It's a pity." The emperor rubbed a toothpick and picked the panda meat in his teeth and said carelessly, with great pride in his stomach: It's great to be an emperor! No matter how rich I was in my previous life, I never dared to think about eating panda meat! This is the bull comparison! This is the privilege!

"So what is the second good news?" Wolson still did not give up hope. He asked, "Do you still want to continue buying Qing pandas?"

The emperor waved his hand and said, "No, my subjects are more precious than this damn black and white beast. Money is to be used on the blade. I will not invest money to support similar adventures."

Then he threw the toothpick and said, "The second good news is that the panda palm and ordinary bear paw both taste the same, there is no difference, so no one will catch pandas for the sake of eating them in the future. Don't worry, this species will continue."

In a word, Wolson was in tears. Stephen next to him thought about the photo of the emperor, the second son of the emperor and the explorer taking a photo with the strange bear in the newspaper, and immediately waved his knife and fork to eat all the bear paws in his plate that he thought was as good as he felt.

"Your Majesty, where is the panda's fur?" Wolson still didn't give up and thought to himself that this guy wouldn't even eat the fur.

The emperor sneered, raised his fingers and waved them a few times, made a gesture to prohibit "re-heartedness from a thief", and said, "That fur, I have ordered it to be made into a panda cloak and given to the queen."

"Panda leather cloak? Your Majesty, Song State is so hot, you don't need a fur coat in winter!" Wolson spread his hands helplessly and shouted.

"Actually, I want to make a carpet. The queen likes it, but I can't do it." The emperor glanced at the excited Wolson with a bitter face, thinking that this kid doesn't understand the woman's heart: the queen's fur coats are already hanging on the wall, and it's still increasing. He hopes that the weather will be cold and it will be enjoyable to wear fur coats in Haijing, but the winter in Guangdong is not very cold, and they can make themselves prickly heat. She is also a firm supporter of the unified theory, blowing on her pillow every day and asking: "Husband, when will you conquer Beijing?" It's not for anything else, for the cold winter in Beijing, she can wear clothes in the room as she pleases.

"Where is the internal organs? You can soak them. The third set of panda internal organ specimens!" Wolson just refused to give up: Just eat the panda's feet. There is no living or fur. Do you still have internal organs?

Hearing this, the emperor's face darkened, he squirted his lips, and said leisurely: "Oh, actually, for the taste of fat intestines and fried liver tips, a panda is not as good as a pig!"

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After leaving the restaurant, the former secretary of the imperial court was already standing in the aisle with a nervous face waiting for the emperor.

"What's the matter?" The emperor pulled the front of his robe with his hand, letting the sweat that came out of eating dry.

"The ministers of the Imperial Election Preparatory Group asked for your Majesty. It is said that the international press has begun to spread rumors about our country, which is an emergency." The secretary replied.

In the small palace conference room, behind the oval conference table, several ministers sat quietly, staring at the thick stack of reports in front of them. Everyone was pursing their lips tightly, their eyes were covered with red silk, and the two were siping coffee. This was the outcome of the plan for the countermeasures that they had not slept all night in the opposite Foreign Ministry building last night.

The next head of their few, the one opposite the head of the first seat seemed more energetic, but a little nervous, because he was just an intelligence officer appointed by the Mission Department for election, and his position was selected to prepare for the preparatory position than the above-mentioned powerful officials who were very popular and trusted by the emperor. In fact, he was a powerful minister familiar with the election, and his status was far behind. His responsibilities were only to use the advantages of the Telegraph Bureau as local control, intercepting the report codes of major newspapers around the world that entered from the Haijing Telegraph Bureau and then led to Shanghai, Europa and the United States. Their codes were often much easier to crack than those of embassies of various countries, and many were not even encrypted. The first control of news from various countries was itself a diplomatic and intelligence advantage.

Of course, this emphasis and skill in diplomatic intelligence also reflects the ambition of Zhao Kuo, the monarch of the small country that was looked down upon by the great powers.

The emperor walked in with a smile on his face. Everyone immediately stood up and stood up solemnly, bowing their heads and shouting: "Long live my emperor!"

"No gifts, sit down!" The emperor himself sat down with a swagger. The secretary quickly pulled the rope beside the wall. The big ceiling fan on his head slowly turned up. A cool breeze blew down, and all the sweaty ministers all looked excited.

However, the rope is not a switch, but a bell. When the bell rings, the servants activate the hydraulic fan in the palace. After all, during the meeting, you cannot start the fan before the emperor arrives, which is not enough to be a Confucian high and low.

Song Deling stood up first and was about to report, but the emperor pressed his hands and said, "Don't worry, wait until the two princes come."

When the prince was about to be there to listen, several ministers subconsciously raised their heads: The emperor was training the crown prince and the second son to participate in politics, so that they would be allowed to attend important meetings. Their arrival meant that this meeting was very important, which would help the future emperor's growth. In this case, the ministers should of course work harder and leave a good impression on the entire royal family at the same time.

After a while, the two princes pushed the door and came in. The prince was wearing a white naval major military dress, and his younger brother was wearing a blue army captain military dress with black army. As soon as he entered the door, the two stood side by side, taking off their hats and putting them in his hands. He looked like a person and bowed his waist like a broken steel in the emperor who was drinking tea at the top of the seat, shouting: "See Father!"

"Sit." The emperor pointed to the chair beside him against the wall.

The two princes bowed their waists again, then stood at the sight and turned forty-five degrees together. This time they bowed slightly and nodded slightly, expressing their respect. They said to the members of the meeting who had already stood up in awe: "Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

When they finished speaking, their heads raised their chests and restored their royal dignity, the ministers immediately saluted again, put their hands on the seams of their pants, bent their waists ninety degrees, and their heads almost touched the conference table. Then they shouted: "See the Crown Prince, the Second Prince of the Emperor! God bless our country!"

Although the intelligence officer of the Mission and Education Department was in a suit and tie, he saluted. The heels of the leather shoes were knocked together with a snap, and his right hand passed by, which was very standard.

The two princes nodded slightly, walked to the chair, sat down against the wall, and made their bodies straight, making them look like soldiers.

Looking at the heroic figure of the two sons, the emperor looked at them with relief and smiled. The two princes also smiled silently. Under the cover of the strict Western etiquette, the warmth and leisure within the royal family flowed out at this time.

The meeting begins immediately.

The ministers reported the top-secret emergency telegram from Longchuan. The telegram sent back to the headquarters by the Times and Reuters' front-line observers and special correspondents have been stolen. He has "released a lot" in the Longchuan election, which is highly praised and pleased by His Majesty.

Because they are the most influential media in the world, no doubt, their attitude can easily affect mainstream opinions in the entire UK or the world.

In addition, the Election Intelligence Team of the Mission Department also stole and intercepted all related reports from the Haijing Telegraph Bureau and the Post Office from all over the world and the most influential newspapers overseas. No good words were all "rumor and slander".

It is easy to judge that soon, these reports will spread to countries with telegraph lines and railways around the world, that is, countries of the great powers. The so-called winner-takes all, and the global opinions at this point in time are equal to those of European and American powers.

From their "despicable and shameless slandering of the Song Dynasty elections, randomly amplifying and extending" to the shameless reports of the Song Dynasty to East Asia to the beginning of racial discrimination by the yellow race, it may have a greater impact on the country's reputation.

"Your Majesty, if our international reputation declines, it may have an adverse impact on foreign affairs." Song Deling looked at the consultation notice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in his hand and explained the main meaning in it concisely.

China has always had the illusion of the world. For thousands of years, there has been the only ruler of the kingdom, so it doesn’t care much about what foreign countries think of themselves. Anyway, foreign countries are all small vassal countries, just to get some money and something. Who dares to be disrespectful to the Celestial Kingdom?

However, China's arrogant well has been defeated by the European powers and is at a disadvantage in all kinds of strengths. Foreign evaluations, which are called international reputation, have great influence.

If you are despised and looked down upon: their lower class (in fact, they are middle-class people who can read newspapers and vote) will choose to have simple and rough foreign policy towards you. After all, parliamentarians should please them. For example: If you say that in the United States, a British businessman is investigated, parliamentarians may think it doesn't matter, and it's enough to have a good talk; but if the British were beaten up by a group of orangutans in a jungle, regardless of whether the British made a mistake first, the whole country would be in a state of uproar and think that the army should be sent to the field;

And because Hai Song is not only far away from Europe and the United States, but also has weak strength. If the international reputation declines, it will also make the aristocratic class of other countries and the class that controls national policies look down. For example: because of the distance, information cannot be communicated quickly, and the dispatched diplomats have a certain degree of autonomy. He can choose to speak well to you to some extent, but he will not swear you; when signing a contract, he is also easily bullied; Song State also likes to hold diplomats who respect their own country and are willing to cooperate and benefit, but diplomats are also human beings, and his behavior is also influenced by his knowledge and views. If a diplomat wants to go to a country that he has never been involved in as a diplomat, his attitude towards the country will be seriously reported by people around him and newspapers.

If you are despised by all his compatriots, do you expect him to respect you?

A group of pigs can’t see anyone being an imperialist; when they see a group of hams that can run, they will become imperialists, or the limit of imperialist prostaglandins rise.

Haisong started out as a backward and weak small country. In this jungle world of the 19th century, compared with the great powers, his military was not strong, his technology was not smart, his people were not civilized, and his literacy rate was very low; his education was not popular, and even the administrative system was facing a dangerous gap between the transformation because of westernization. He was always worried that the great powers would interfere in his internal affairs or the great powers would interfere in the internal affairs of East Asia. Therefore, the emperor had long valued diplomacy with the great powers. He relied on the steel wire to dance on the wire by joining the greedy powers, gaining greater advantages among various forces, making up for his lack of strength, and turning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs into the head of various ministries. The indicator of international reputation was proposed by him personally and valued extremely.

And there is also the more outrageous word "international packaging", which wants to build oneself into an image of a devout Christian kingdom that longs for Jesus' redemption because of its distantness, and gain greater sympathy and favor from the most powerful Christian world in the world. In a nutshell: show off and cuteness.

However, today, when it comes to international reputation, the emperor responded differently.

After listening to Song Deling's briefing and the general opinions of all the ministers, the emperor sneered and waved his hand and said with disgust: "What is international reputation? Our country has been working hard to improve its international reputation, but when it comes to the first general election, if you are willing to reduce international reputation, you can lower it a little. Anyway, no matter how low we are, it is the number one in East Asia. Because at present, I am the only country in East Asia, and I have developed to a diplomatic level that cares about international reputation!!! Go and talk to the two girls Ci'an and Cixi of the Qing Dynasty. They know nothing! We are the East Asian country with the least international reputation! That's enough!"
Chapter completed!