The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 588 The Complete Form of the Eastern World
Russian Empire, St. Petersburg, Winter Palace.

Fifty-four-year-old Catherine II the Great was happily enjoying a sumptuous lunch with her favorite lover, Gregory Potemkin.

Time has mercilessly left deep marks on the face of this great emperor.

The once oval face was stretched into a horse face.

A small fleshy lump grew at the front of the tall and straight nose, completely destroying the queen's originally cold and heroic temperament. Now she looked like a scheming witch.

As for the figure that the queen was most proud of, the surging waves turned into a pile of soft fat, and her slender and powerful waist had also become quite thick.

Even the queen's hair, which was originally light gray and seemed to emit silver light from a distance, seemed to have turned into an old gray and no longer sparkled silver.

However, as long as Catherine II wanted, she would still be the most beautiful woman in the entire Russian Empire.

Not only because others admire her power and flatter her, but also because, even if you don't admire her power and don't want to rely on her to become rich and powerful, the queen can still chop off your head.

It is understandable not wanting wealth and fame, and there are many people who would not bow down for a few pieces of silver. However, there are very few people who do not want to have a brain, especially those who do not want to have a brain for some inexplicable reasons.

"Your Majesty, the Tatar envoy is still begging in the square outside the Winter Palace. Perhaps you could take the time to summon him?"

After finishing the delicious potato stew and thick sausages, Potemkin wiped his mouth gracefully and spoke in a low voice.

At this time, there was really nothing noteworthy about the Russian Empire, especially in terms of culture and art.

Because they were still in the process of greedily absorbing the nutrients of the Western European Renaissance, their own artistic temperament with a strong Russian style, rough yet delicate and elegant as genius, was far from being formed.

The food is even less worth mentioning. Russian food in later generations was just like that, and it was even cruder at this time, as if it had jumped from the Middle Ages.

"My dear, does that Tatar have any talent?" the queen asked very gently, as if she was chatting with her husband.

This world-famous emperor had many lovers throughout his life, but there were only two who truly made her fall in love.

One was Stanislaw Poniatowski more than 20 years ago. For him, the Queen even chose to invade Poland and helped him ascend the throne of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Although political factors certainly played a large part in this, the Queen's love for Stanislav was also an important contributing factor.

The second one is the current Gregory Potemkin. The Queen even called Potemkin "my husband" in front of foreign ministers.

As for the others, even Orlov, the empress gave birth to a son for him, but it was simply a use of Orlov's bravery and strong body. He was purely a concubine.

Hearing the empress's question, Potemkin shook his head. "This is a small Tatar noble who has been in France for thirty years. He has some knowledge of agriculture, but he is too obsessed with religion."

This small Tatar nobleman who stayed in France for thirty years was the famous Gao Leisi in history.

He arrived in France in 1752, introduced by the Qing court missionaries. He was once a popular representative of the East and met Louis XV.

In history, this person was actually a double agent. He initially went to France and was sent by Emperor Qianlong to Europe to investigate the situation.

This is also historical evidence that Qianlong and Louis XV were pen pals, because it is said that the correspondence between the two monarchs was conveyed by Gao Leisi.

However, Gao Leisi stayed in France for too long and was brainwashed by Catholicism. He became a spy for the French and was eventually arrested by the Qing Dynasty. It is said that he was secretly executed.

In this time and space, Gao Leisi arrived in France and only completed the first stage of the mission, and then was abandoned by France because Mo Zibu sent someone more valuable.

After the Qing Dynasty collapsed, Gao Leisi, who was a bannerman (questionable), was unwilling to defect to Dayu, and became an important voice for Fu Kang'an, who was struggling to survive, in Europe.

Catherine II was able to become a world-famous emperor, and a female emperor at that, which was quite pragmatic. When she heard that this Tatar had no talent, she immediately shook her head.

"No, the Khitans are now ruled by their own dynasty, and the Tatars are too weak after the fall of their Qing dynasty to be worth our efforts."

Potemkin hesitated for a moment, then finally asked, "Although the Tatars are very weak, it's better to have them than not."

The Empress laughed and said, "My dear, you should focus on New Russia. Things in the East are too unfamiliar to you."

After saying this, perhaps because he was afraid of hurting the reputation of this young husband who was ten years younger than him, the emperor patiently explained:

"Tatar is just our general term for these Oriental people with those funny braids on the back of their heads.

But in fact, the royal family of the Qing Dynasty and those guys currently in exile in Siberia are not Tatars on the grasslands, but border residents of the Chinese Empire. They are descendants of rebels from the Seres Ming Empire.

If they have a certain level of strength and can hold out against the suppression of the Seris Dayu Empire, we can fund them, because this will indeed help the Russian Empire control Siberia.

However, their current strength is too weak, and their ancestors are actually Seres, so they may return to their Seres identity at any time.

It's like a proud woman who leaves her husband in anger, and when she suffers a lot outside, returning home becomes an irresistible temptation, as long as her husband is willing to take her back.

After listening to the empress, Potemkin always felt that her arguments were a bit far-fetched, but after he carefully chewed on the words "focus on New Russia", he suddenly understood something.

The Queen may have realized that it is very likely that she will not succeed in competing with Seris Dayu for Siberia thousands of miles away, so she simply does not invest much to avoid being embarrassed in the end.

And New Russia, which was originally the territory of the Crimean Khanate on the northern coast of the Black Sea, happened to be the best logistical base for the Russian Empire to attack the Ottoman Turkey in the south.

It seems that the Queen still wants to concentrate all her forces and attack the Ottoman Empire in the south.

"However, we can ask Major General Klitschko Nikolayevich, the Governor-General of East Siberia, to provide some limited help to these Tatars.

Although I'm not planning to go to war with the Seris Empire over this frozen land, it's still necessary to understand the true situation."

Catherine II thought about it again and changed her decision.

Then the queen seemed to remember something, waved her hand to signal Potemkin to eat by himself, and she left quickly.

Potemkin wasn't surprised at all. The Empress must have been thinking about some important political matter. She wouldn't be distracted by anything else at this moment. "Dashkova, my dear, I hope you can go to the East. Haven't you always wanted to go to Seris?"

The Queen said as she looked at a slightly short woman who was still very beautiful despite the years having left many marks on her face.

Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova, one of the greatest women in Russian history.

An important figure in the Russian Enlightenment, a close friend of Voltaire, Diderot, and Adam Smith, bridesmaid and best friend of Catherine II the Great, and president of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences.

Historically, this person played a great role in promoting and protecting the development of Russian literature, philosophy and art, and was even called the patron of Russian literature and art in the 18th century.

"Are you in such a hurry? I just got back and haven't seen enough of my motherland yet."

Dashkova was not only a close friend of Catherine II the Great, but also played a major role in the military coup that overthrew Peter III in Yekaterinburg.

But more than ten years ago, she chose to leave because she couldn't stand the Queen's frequent taking of lovers, and she just returned to Russia recently.

In front of her best friend, Catherine II dropped all her disguises and said nervously:
"The rise of the Seris Dayu Empire was too rapid and too sudden. I still can't figure out how it all happened.

Moreover, the threat they pose to the east of the empire, and even to the entire Siberia and Ural Mountains region, is too great!
I really need a direct channel to communicate with Emperor Seris so that I can know what is happening and where the boundaries of Seris's desires are."

After saying a lot in one breath, the queen finally looked at her best friend Dashkova seriously.

"This is very important. Clarifying these things and establishing channels of communication will prevent the Russian Empire from suffering an unbearable misfortune.

You know, the Kingdom of England has been lobbying us to have the Russian Empire assume the same responsibilities as the Habsburgs or the Poles in the past.

I really don’t want the Russian Empire to become like this.”

The Queen smiled strangely and said, "I heard that Emperor Seris Guangzhong is a handsome and strong king."

Dashkova gave the Queen a speechless look. Only she dared to do this in Russia.

"Your Majesty, please let me think about it. In principle, I am willing to make the trip for Russia."

At the same time, the Forbidden City in Nanjing.

France is asking me to borrow money? Mo Zibu was quite surprised, holding the secret report from Zheng Xiu, the ambassador to France, and muttered in surprise.

But he was soon no longer surprised, because Mo Zibu thought about it and felt that borrowing money from the Chinese Empire was one of the few strategies that France could use to save itself in an emergency. If he were Louis XVI, he would probably also consider this.

However, should I lend it or not?

Should we let Louis XVI be confused as he was in history, or should we help him and allow the already corrupt Bourbon dynasty to last a little longer?
"Seventeen billion livres, tsk tsk!" Qian Daxin, the minister on duty in the cabinet today, said with a sigh, "Your Majesty, that's almost 70 million pounds, more than 200 million taels of silver."

Qian Daxin's face clearly showed the expressions of "no hope", "wait to die", and "goodbye".

This astonishing figure of more than 200 million silver dollars was France’s financial debt after the American War of Independence.

Of course, this is not entirely the expenditure of the American War of Independence, but also includes some fiscal deficits left over from the late Seven Years' War and France's massive shipbuilding expenditure in order to restore its navy as quickly as possible.

But no matter what, such a terrifying figure is enough to make France, not to mention China, suffer a lot. It will take at least 20 years to eliminate it, and this is the case when the deficit does not generate much interest.

However, France's current fiscal revenue is only one-fourth of China's, equivalent to a little more than 20 million silver dollars, while China has about 85 million silver dollars.

Moreover, a large part of it was owed to bankers across Europe, with the French government's credit as guarantee, and high interest had to be paid every year.

In other words, China had to use an annual income of 85 million silver dollars to repay the deficit of about 210 million silver dollars, which was almost 240% of the debt. It would take two and a half years to pay it off even without eating or drinking.

France used 20 million silver dollars to repay the debt, which would take ten and a half years to pay off even without eating or drinking. Add to that the high interest rates and the unsustainable expenses, and there is no possibility of paying it off.

After figuring out the whole thing, Mo Zibu had an expression that looked like he was waiting to die and there was no hope for him.

"This is a massive debt that can't be solved by cutting costs or robbing Peter to pay Paul, nor can it be solved by the spice trade.

Even if I gave all the benefits of the spice trade to France, the annual income would only be three or four million silver dollars, which would not even cover the interest."

"Yes, Your Majesty, the King of France is desperate and is trying every possible means." Qian Daxin chuckled and said, a little uncontrollably:

"But in China, this isn't a big deal. We can just have the Imperial Guards arrest those who run banks and money houses, and then have the salt merchants and traveling merchants reimburse some of the money. We might even make a fortune."

"Lord Qian, this won't do. China is a country of etiquette and morality. Everything is governed by moral laws." Mo Zibu shook his head with a stern face, but he was happy in his heart.

Because the Chinese bourgeoisie he cultivated began to emerge and successfully separated officials from businessmen, Qian Daxin was a little unsure how to view this phenomenon.

However, Mo Zibu touched his chin. The method Qian Daxin mentioned could really work in China. He could simply refuse to pay the debt and even make a profit by confiscating the property.

As for the cost, it is just to scare domestic capital into hiding again, but it is completely bearable.

Hey, Mo Zibu's eyes lit up. He discovered the biggest weakness, or the biggest worry, of Dayu, the weak local bourgeoisie with non-official background.

However, before Mo Zibu could think deeply about it, the Honglu Temple sent a report, "The Russian Empire wants to send a delegation to visit, and even wants to send an envoy."

Well, Mo Zibu nodded slowly. Although based on his understanding of Russia, war might be needed to resolve the conflict between Tsarist Russia and Serbia in the end, it would still be good to have some contact now.

"Get ready to set off, I'm going to Beijing." If we go to Beijing now, we can prepare in advance for the audience with the Mongolian tribes and the Japanese vassal states.

Mo Zibu waved his hand and said, "Let the Russians come and see the complete form of the Eastern world."

(End of this chapter)