The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 350: Li Hongzhang's First Treaty, a Potential Ally of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Seeking votes, requesting subscription)
The Louvre, the French Emperor's private reception room.

Mathilde sat behind a small desk, holding a feather pen, and quickly wrote three secret treaties with exactly the same content in English on three rectangular pieces of white paper.

"I have finally finished writing it. Louis, Shaoquan, let me read it to you."

Mathilde put down her quill, picked up one of the papers, and read the terms of the secret agreement in English:

"The first is that His Excellency Li Hongzhang promises that once he is crowned as emperor or king, he will make Princess Mathilde de Bonaparte of France his empress.

Article 2: Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde promised that if she could not give birth to an heir to the throne for His Majesty Li Hongzhang in the future, she would support the son born to other people designated by His Majesty Li Hongzhang as the heir.

Article 3: His Majesty Napoleon III promised that the French government would provide Li Hongzhang's army with 10,000 Minié rifles, 1 million rounds of ammunition, 20 nine-pound or twelve-pound cannons, 10,000 rounds of artillery shells, and 50 instructors free of charge. In addition, the French government would also provide Li Hongzhang's army with 10,000 Minié rifles, 1 million rounds of ammunition, 20 cannons, and 10,000 rounds of artillery shells at a preferential price.

Article 4: Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde promised to lend Li Hongzhang 5 million francs to organize the army and purchase weapons. Once Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde was established as the Queen, this loan would automatically become her dowry.

Article 5: His Excellency Li Hongzhang promised that once the participating army exceeds 10,000 men, 5,000 of them will be sent to participate in the war against Russia.

Article 6: His Excellency Li Hongzhang promised that 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 full content of the secret treaty. Do you have any objections? If not, sign it. I will sign first! "

After saying that, Princess Mathilde picked up the feather pen and signed her name first on the three secret agreements.

Li Hongzhang shook his head and said with a smile: "I have no objection either!"

Then he walked over to Mathilde, picked up the feather pen, and signed his name in Chinese.

This was the first treaty signed by Li Hongzhang...it seemed quite equal.

Napoleon III smiled with satisfaction: "Of course I have no objection!"

After Li Hongzhang finished signing, he also walked to Mathilde, took the feather pen, and signed "Louis Napoleon" on the three secret agreements. After signing, he said to Li Hongzhang in English: "Shaoquan, although Mathilde cannot marry you before you officially become the monarch, I will give her to you now!"

"Your Majesty, rest assured. Hongzhang will never let Marty down."

Li Hongzhang gave the guarantee immediately without saying a word.

"Good!" Napoleon III stretched out his right hand, smiled slightly, and continued to speak in English, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation!"

"Happy cooperation!"

Li Hongzhang now knew what a handshake was, and he smiled and extended his hand to shake hands with Napoleon III.

In the dark night, two men in black suits, black capes, and black hats quietly came out of a side door of the Elysee Palace. Under a dim street light outside the door, a priest in a black robe and a big beard stood there. When he saw the two men in black capes, he immediately went up to them, handed them a small Bible, and said in French: "God bless you."

A man in a black cloak took the Bible and replied in Russian: "May God bless you too!"

"Sven!"

When the black-robed priest heard the other party speaking Russian, he suddenly started speaking Chinese. The man in a cloak and a top hat who had just spoken Russian took off his hat, and the light from the street lamp shone on his face. It was Bai Siwen.

The man next to Bai Siwen also took off his hat immediately. It turned out to be Sushun, the head of the Sushun delegation. He smiled and said to the bearded priest: "Tu Lama, I didn't expect that we would meet in Paris!"

It turned out that the bearded priest was the Tupolev foreign lama who had served in Beijing! Tupolev looked around and said in Chinese: "Master Su, Siwen, this is not the place to talk. Please follow me. I will take you to see someone!"

After saying that, he turned around and took Sushun and Bai Siwen and walked westward along the road beside the Seine River. They soon disappeared in the Paris city shrouded in darkness.

About an hour later, Tupolev took Sushun and Bai Siwen into a luxurious residence surrounded by green trees on the banks of the Seine.

The owner of this mansion is the Württemberg royal family, one of the members of the German Confederation. The person living here at this time is Grand Duchess Natalia Mihaylovna, the niece of the King of Württemberg and also the niece of Tsar Nicholas I. She is traveling around Western Europe accompanied by an Orthodox priest and several elderly lords and ladies from Russia and Württemberg.

As they swam, they arrived in Paris, which was gradually becoming the center of the ever-changing situation in Europe, and lived in this mansion that had been vacant for many years.
"What? Father, what are you talking about? Napoleon III is inciting the Qing Dynasty to fight against Russia? The Qing Dynasty will not really be bewitched by him, right?"

On the banks of the Seine, in the living room of a mansion belonging to the royal family of Württemberg, a beautiful girl with a delicate face like a porcelain doll and a very graceful body could not help but reveal an expression of extreme surprise after hearing Sushun's words translated by Tupolev.

A man in his fifties, with a square face, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and looking quite bookish, also shook his head repeatedly: "This is impossible! Absolutely impossible. The civil war in the Qing Dynasty is still a long way off. How could it possibly follow Britain and France to fight against us, Russia?"

Father Tupolev turned to Sushun and said, "Sir Su, Duke Gorchakov does not believe that the Qing Dynasty has the energy to fight a war with the Russian Empire."

It turned out that this man in his fifties was Duke Gorchakov, the Russian Empire's ambassador to Vienna. He was also a supporter of Russian Crown Prince Alexander. During this period, he was traveling around Western Europe, making a final effort for peace between Russia, Britain and France.

But his efforts seemed to be in vain, and things were developing in the worst direction predicted by the Great Prophecy.
The purpose of his trip to Paris this time, under the pretext of accompanying Grand Duchess Natalia on a blind date, was not only to have a secret meeting with Napoleon's illegitimate son Valevsky, but also to contact the Qing Dynasty's envoy - he hoped to allow Russia to establish a consulate in Shanghai.

Shanghai is very close to the territory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and that "demon"!
But he never expected that he received news in Paris that Britain and France were instigating Qing Dynasty and Russia to go to war!

Sushun frowned, not knowing how to explain to the Russians.

He knew that Emperor Xianfeng would never really go to war with Russia, nor did he have the energy to do so.

But now the Qing Dynasty is becoming "late Yuan Dynasty-like".

The Emperor of the Qing Dynasty was unwilling to send troops, so it is hard to say what Luo Xueyan, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zuo Zongtang were thinking.
When Duke Gorchakov saw that Sushun was silent, he thought that the Qing Dynasty was really planning this "unrealistic" evil idea, so he frowned and said in a threatening tone: "If the Qing Dynasty really dares to follow Britain and France in going to war with Russia, then the Russian Empire will ally with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

Bai Siwen, who was sitting with Sushun, quickly told Sushun what the Russian Duke diplomat had said: "Sir Su, this Lord Ge said that if we ally with Britain and France, they and Russia will ally with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

"Alliance with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" Sushun hurriedly said to Tupolev, "Tula Maha, have you told Lord Ge that the Heavenly King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan, claimed to be the second son of God?"

Tupolev waved his hand and said, "Sir Su, don't expect to use this excuse to stop Russia from forming an alliance with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

If you don't want us to form an alliance with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, then you, the Qing Dynasty, must maintain a pro-Russian neutral position between Britain, France and Russia!

If you are willing to remain neutral while being pro-Russian, we will help you fight the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a revolutionary force, once we defeat Britain and France!"

Defeat Britain and France?

Can you do it?
Sushun is no longer looking at the world with his eyes open. He has been in Britain and France for several months. How could he not know how powerful Britain and France are?
However, he did not want to offend Russia, so he nodded and said, "Tula Ma, please tell Lord Ge, I will definitely convey his intention to the emperor.

As for the Russian Empire's plan to open a consulate in Shanghai, that's easy to say. Just go ahead and open it. I'll take care of it!"

(End of this chapter)