Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2660 Please, give me a way out (First update, please subscribe)
Some countries are engulfed in war, while others are embroiled in artillery fire.

The joys and sorrows between nations are all different.

Summer in Paris is wonderful. Every summer, this romantic city attracts visitors from all over the world. After all, it has the Eiffel Tower, and more importantly, it has passionate French women.

Among the tourists from various countries, there are also many from the SEA. After all, in the post-war era, hundreds of thousands of French people immigrated to the SEA. To some extent, France is also an important source of immigrants for the SEA.

With more tourists from China, long queues have naturally formed outside the representative office in France. Among them are inevitably some young couples in love in Paris, but many more are SEA tourists who have lost their passports and wallets here.

There's no way around it; Paris is not only the city of romance, but also the city of thieves, with pickpockets everywhere, many of whom are black-footed thieves from North Africa.

After being robbed, they had no choice but to seek help from the representative office. The representative office would provide them with a temporary passport and some financial assistance. Of course, this assistance was not free and required repayment; it was usually a credit loan provided by a partner bank.

In conclusion, the purpose of representative offices is to serve the people of their country and safeguard their interests overseas.

Across the street, a black car stopped, and the middle-aged man in the back seat glanced at the building and the long line of cars. Then his brows furrowed.

Nguyen Van Tien's gaze fell again on the top of the building, where the two-star flag fluttered, each flutter feeling like a whip lashing at his nerves.

As Ang Laam's ambassador to France, he has clashed with SEA officials countless times in diplomatic settings over the past 100 days, his words sharp and uncompromising. He always seizes every opportunity to publicly condemn Chang'an's incursions, attempting to garner French public support for Ang Laam.

Every time he was condemned, the SEA's response was very simple—Thang Long violated the Paris Peace Treaty and invaded an independent country! Not only that, they also imprisoned millions of Saigon people in concentration camps.

Therefore, in order to maintain regional peace, ASEAN issued an ultimatum to them, demanding that they immediately withdraw their troops.

Yes, we are committed to maintaining world peace.

Faced with such wording, Nguyen Van Tien, despite his various linguistic environments, felt utterly powerless, because Western audiences simply could not understand Thang Long, let alone empathize with him.

Therefore, most of the time, very few people pay any attention to his condemnation.

But in public, he and the SEA were enemies. They were irreconcilable enemies.

Without showing favoritism.

This is the most basic requirement, but today...

He came here today.

He came here not to protest, nor to condemn, but... he came here with an almost absurd request.

This made him feel an unprecedented sense of humiliation, a humiliation that left him unsure how to cope.

Despite feeling extremely humiliated, Nguyen Van Tien still came here.

His mind was filled with images of artillery fire over Hanoi and falling bombs.

Over the past 100 days, SEA bombing raids have covered the northern skies in a dense, relentless barrage of bombs, with buildings collapsing in flames and streets engulfed in ruins and blood.

The city was reduced to ashes, and people hid in air-raid shelters, their eyes filled with fear.

That war-torn land was his homeland, the home he was desperately trying to protect. But now, it was being bombed like never before and could be razed to the ground at any moment.

That is why he harbored such hatred for the double-star flag and the country it represented.

But now... he's going to walk into that building.

"Damn, what a lousy idea."

Nguyen Van Tien cursed under his breath, his teeth grinding together. He had no idea who had come up with the idea of ​​requesting SEA permission for the envoy's plane to take off.

He knew that making this request meant bowing down to the enemy—admitting that Thang Long had no ability to protect its own skies, that they didn't even have the capacity to send a special envoy out to seek help, and could only hope for the enemy's "mercy".

"If you can't even protect yourself, how can you expect international law to protect you? That's utterly absurd."

international law?
In the face of war, how much weight does international law carry?

If they truly cared about international law, how could they have so brazenly invaded his country?

He could even picture the faces of the people at the SEA office; they might be surprised, they might mock, or they might treat it as a huge joke.

After all, it's truly an unprecedented event in diplomatic history for two countries at war to request that one side temporarily cease its attacks so that its special envoy can seek assistance abroad.

This is also a great disgrace.

But he had no choice.

Moscow's aid is their only hope at this moment; weapons, supplies, and diplomatic support—each one is a matter of life and death for the country.

If they cannot send a special envoy and cannot secure more assistance from the Soviet Union, how long can they endure such devastating bombing?

For the past 100 days, Chang'an has refused to engage in dialogue, even claiming that the time for dialogue has passed and that Shenglong has only one choice: either accept or continue bombing.

This is the situation they are facing now.

As an ambassador, he shoulders the mission of his country, and even if this mission requires him to set aside his dignity and endure humiliation, he must complete it.

Taking a deep breath, Nguyen Van Tien suppressed his anger and resentment, straightened his collar, and walked towards the representative office door.

"Please show me your ID."

The guard stopped him, his tone icy, his eyes scrutinizing. Judging from the man's attire, he appeared to be from an Eastern country. "I am the plenipotentiary ambassador of the Thang Long to Paris. I wish to meet with your country's representative immediately."

Nguyen Van Tien presented his diplomatic credentials and then, with neither servility nor arrogance, identified himself. The guard carefully verified them and then turned to report to the guard post.

A moment later, a staff member from the representative office came out. Although surprised, he still politely said:
"Ambassador Ruan, our ambassador is waiting. Please follow me."

Nguyen Van Tien nodded and followed the staff into the representative office. His steps were heavy, each one feeling as if it weighed a ton, and with each step, the sense of humiliation in his heart grew stronger.

The door to the meeting room was pushed open, and Zhao Chengzhou, the SEA representative in France, was already waiting there. Zhao Chengzhou was wearing a sharp suit and tie, and when he saw Ruan Wenjin walk in, a look of doubt appeared on his face.

Clearly, he hadn't expected the Thang Long ambassador to visit at this time, when the two countries were locked in a fierce war, and that the other side was a hardliner.

"Ambassador Ruan, hello."

Zhao Chengzhou reached out his hand. Ruan Wenjin reached out and shook his hand lightly, the touch brief, before they separated.

"Sorry to bother you, Representative."

He tried to keep his voice steady, striving to appear neither humble nor arrogant, and said:
"I am here today to make a request to your country."

Zhao Chengzhou gestured for him to sit down.

"Please speak, Ambassador Nguyen. I am curious, at this time, what need does the Thang Long have for our assistance?"

His tone carried a hint of barely perceptible teasing, his gaze fixed on Nguyen Van Tien, as if trying to discern something from his face.

The other person's gaze stirred a surge of emotion within Nguyen Van Tien, but he quickly regained his composure:
“Sir, you must be aware that the SEA forces are currently conducting a large-scale bombing campaign against our capital, Hanoi. Your country’s fighter jets have firmly controlled the airspace over Hanoi, and our aircraft are unable to take off normally. Even if they do take off, they will be shot down at any time.”

He paused, each word feeling like a reopening of a wound, and the request he made next brought him an unprecedented sense of humiliation:
"Our country plans to send a special envoy abroad to seek necessary assistance and humanitarian aid, given that many civilians have died in the bombings."

Therefore, on behalf of my government, I request that your country allow my special envoy's aircraft to take off temporarily. According to relevant provisions of international law, special aircraft used for diplomatic purposes enjoy immunity and should not be attacked.

After saying these words, Ruan Wenjin felt all his strength drained away.

After all, just saying those words made him feel incredibly humiliated.

He lowered his eyes, not daring to look at Zhao Chengzhou's expression, and could only hear the heavy beating of his own heart, which was particularly clear in the quiet reception room.

He could imagine Zhao Chengzhou's surprise, and perhaps even mockery, at this moment, after all, this request was far too unusual and too humble.

Sure enough, Zhao Chengzhou froze on the spot, his eyes filled with disbelief. He stared at Ruan Wenjin for a good ten seconds, as if trying to confirm whether he was telling the truth.

After a long while, he finally came to his senses and coughed softly, breaking the silence in the room.

"Ambassador Ruan, are you telling the truth?"

Zhao Chengzhou's tone carried a hint of uncertainty:

"You want us to allow your special envoy's plane to take off and request assistance from Moscow?"

Without asking, it's obvious where they're going to seek help. To Moscow, to seek Moscow's aid in resisting us?
And then they let them pass... My God, what kind of thinking is that?
“Yes.” Ruan Wenjin raised his head, meeting Zhao Chengzhou’s gaze, his eyes filled with a resolute determination, and said:

"This concerns whether many wounded people can receive treatment, so we must do this."

He didn't offer much explanation, nor did he need to. No amount of words could change his current humble situation.

Zhao Chengzhou remained silent for a moment. He never expected the other party to make such a request.

The atmosphere in the meeting room became tense again. Nguyen Van Tien's heart was in his throat. He knew that his decision would directly affect whether he could complete the mission.

"Alright," Zhao Chengzhou finally spoke, saying:

“Ambassador Ruan, I will report your request to Chang’an truthfully.”

He paused and continued:
"However, I must remind you that our two countries are currently at war, and I cannot guarantee whether Chang'an will approve this request. It all depends on luck."

Upon hearing this, Nguyen Van Tien frowned. The phrase "depending on luck" meant that their fate was to be decided by the enemy.

But he also knew that this was the best result he could get at the moment.

“I understand, Mr. Representative.”

Nguyen Van Tien stood up, nodded slightly, and said:

"Thank you for escalating our request. I will await your country's notification, whatever the outcome."

I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Zhao Chengzhou also stood up, without saying anything more, but simply signaled his secretary to escort Ruan Wenjin out.

Stepping out of the reception room and back down the corridor, Ruan Wenjin felt his steps were heavier than before. He didn't know what kind of reply Chang'an would give, whether the special envoy could successfully reach Moscow, or whether his homeland could survive this calamity.

All he knew was that he had done everything he could, and all that was left was to wait.

Just like Representative Zhao said, it all depends on luck.

Of course, what he didn't know was that a few hours later, after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chang'an received the report from Paris, the people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were dumbfounded.

Who would have thought that a country that declared it was "willing to fight for 20 years" would do such a thing during a state of war?
Because it involved a military blockade, the report was eventually sent to the official residence, and Li Yi'an, who was listening to the report, was completely bewildered.

"Has it been confirmed that this is their official request?"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"Don't they know we're at war?"

No one answered.

Because this sounds so absurd, but it is reality, and perhaps, sometimes reality is just that absurd.

"A gentleman can be deceived by his principles... This is truly taking advantage of the fact that we are gentlemen!"

Li Yi'an shook his head helplessly, and then said:
"Alright, just give them a safe passage; it won't affect the overall situation anyway—"

This isn't arrogance, but self-confidence. If I didn't even have this self-confidence, I probably wouldn't be as at ease as I am now.

"Even if they were to ask for help, where else could they go but Moscow? What can Moscow do for them? Just provide some more weapons, which won't affect the overall situation. Besides, this matter..."

Li Yi'an raised the report and smiled:
"If it gets out, it will be a blow to their morale and public support!"

Yes, our hundred-day bombing campaign was not just about destroying their industry and their war potential, but most importantly, about destroying their will!
Once their will is destroyed, they won't be able to fight for even a year, let alone twenty years!

And this is a weapon to break their will; now that they've delivered it, how can we not make good use of it?

(End of this chapter)