On March 17, 1890, at the China Embassy in Berlin, the staff of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a sincere request. "Mr. Ambassador, we look forward to you bringing the Zulu diplomats back again."
Not long ago, the Zulu diplomats were beaten by the police in Germany and taken to the police station. The diplomatic staff of the Zulu Kingdom had made it clear that China recognized their status and recommended them. This made the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs feel a little embarrassed. Now that the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs had come to play this trick, the China Ambassador to Germany felt that there was a chance to regain face.
They were all in the field of diplomacy. The China Ambassador to Germany smiled and said, "May I ask which big shot wants to see the representative of the Zulu Kingdom?"
"Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also acting under orders." The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs tried to avoid the sensitive topic.
"Oh … acting under orders … So you were also acting under orders to beat up the Zulu diplomats?" The China Ambassador to Germany immediately seized on the question and laughed.
If an ordinary person was ridiculed like this, they might fall into a certain degree of embarrassment. The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff was unmoved. He even said to the China Ambassador to Germany with a serious expression, "Since China is endorsing the Zulu Kingdom, I personally think that China has not done its due diligence in diplomacy. It was not our Ministry of Foreign Affairs that beat them up, but the police. Think about it. If the Zulu diplomats were following behind the Chinese diplomats, and there were German security guards hired by China, they would have been killed. Would such a misunderstanding cause a conflict to happen again? I don't think the previous misunderstanding will happen again. "
The job of the China Ambassador to Germany was not to argue. Since the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a good attitude, he changed the subject. "I actually want to know your country's attitude toward imports from our country."
"Your country's tariffs are indeed not high, but we can't send goods all the way to your country."
"We import a lot of rails from your country. If Germany still imposes high tariffs on our agricultural products, we can only make a reciprocal choice."
"This is a matter for the Ministry of Commerce. It's useless for you to ask me."
"Who do you think can influence the decision of the German Ministry of Commerce more effectively?"
"You have to ask the Ministry of Commerce."
"Do you think the German Ministry of Commerce will tell me the answer?"
"… Then let's come back and continue to talk about the African issue." The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs quickly changed the topic.
Because he did not achieve his goal, the Chinese ambassador to Germany was angry. He immediately replied, "What's there to talk about …"
Halfway through his sentence, the ambassador realized that he should be more serious. He asked, "You mean the problem in Africa?"
"Yes. The problem in Africa was not just the Zulu Kingdom's problem. I wonder what your country thinks of Southern Africa, the United Kingdom, the Transvaal Republic, and Portugal? "The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs came prepared and asked a series of questions.
"I remember that you are not supporting Portugal's position? Your emperor has also made a very tough statement. "The Chinese ambassador's voice became emotional at the mention of German Emperor Wilhelm II. Even though China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had told the ambassadors in Europe that His Majesty the Emperor's actions could probably be regarded as a person whose brain and spirit were not fully developed, everyone still often felt that William II's behavior was indeed very surprising. Based on the discussions that China's ambassadors in Europe had when they met, they felt that the emperor's mentality was more like a country bumpkin who came to the city.
The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff finally showed some embarrassment. Of course, he knew how German Emperor Wilhelm II would react to China's seizure of Portugal's colony. It was a very inappropriate statement. The criticism of China and the hidden threats against the United Kingdom were more like a young man's idea of "if I were to lead the world, I would definitely do better than you" than an emperor's solemn expression of political views.
"Your Excellency, are you not willing to discuss these issues?" The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff forcibly changed the topic.
"I think we can talk about it." The Chinese ambassador did not want to make things difficult for the guy on the other side.
Seeing that the Chinese ambassador was so easy to talk to, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff finally breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps because he was too relaxed, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff actually tried to say something that would make everyone feel relaxed. He smiled and said, "Since the Roman era, the meetings that decided the fate of Africa have been held in Europe. Your Excellency, let's start the meeting properly. "
The Chinese ambassador couldn't help but blink a few times. Because he was not like Vézé, who had seen Germany launch World War I and World War II, he had never seen Germany show great ability to influence the world. Therefore, the Chinese ambassador could not understand where the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff's "blind confidence" came from.
After blinking a few more times, the Chinese ambassador still couldn't help but smile and say, "China's Western Han was earlier than the Roman Republic. Ever since the Western Han decided to destroy the Xiongnu, the meetings that decided the fate of Europe have been held in China."
Obviously, the Chinese ambassador overestimated the knowledge of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff. The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff did not know the history of the Xiongnu and Turks fleeing to the west, and they could not understand that China now had the ability to attack Europe. Therefore, they showed a confused expression.
The Chinese ambassador did not have the obligation to educate the Germans, so the ambassador said, "May I ask what your country thinks of the Transvaal Republic?"
On March 20th, three days after the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff visited the Chinese ambassador in Germany, three Chinese people were fiddling with a camera on the rooftop of a building near the government building in London, England. Cameras were developing rapidly these days, especially after China joined the market and came up with a design that separated the camera body from the lens. Cameras had officially entered a stage of scientific division of labor.
For example, the camera the three Chinese people were fiddling with had a British body and a German lens. It was a Carl Zeiss product. When it came to plagiarizing industrial designs, the British were a little more reserved, while the Germans displayed a shameless and invincible spirit.
"March really is a month of chaos." The person fiddling with the camera was the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom. The ambassador's hobby was taking photos. In a foggy city like London, the ambassador was very happy every time he came out to take photos. In other words, he also talked a lot.
The two people next to him were also embassy staff. Looking down from their vantage point, the street was full of people. There were people wearing woolen coats, suits, or the blue "work clothes" produced by the United Kingdom in imitation of China. There were also students in various high school and university uniforms. There were men and women. Other than beggars, people from all walks of life in London gathered in front of the government building.
The shutter clicked continuously, taking pictures of the British people walking on the street, including the police who did not seem particularly nervous. It should be noted that the United Kingdom was the leader in economic crises in the past hundred years. The economic crisis that occurred every ten years made the British people more and more used to walking on the streets. As soon as they were on the streets, it was inevitable that there would be conflicts. The police were responsible for suppressing these mobs. The British police who appeared in front of the camera now were too gentle.
"Oh! Take it out, take out the slogan! "The Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom used the camera as a telescope. He relied on the Carl Zeiss lens, so he observed it quite carefully.
"Punishment and Blackout! Ha, that's interesting. "The voice of the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom was full of joy.
Perhaps because his performance was a little frivolous, the two staff members next to him looked at each other helplessly and then asked the ambassador, "Ambassador Luo, why are you always so happy?"
"In a place like the United Kingdom where it's cloudy every day, if you can't even find your own fun, then what else is there to be happy about?" Ambassador Luo's voice was still relaxed.
The two young people next to him showed a wry smile of understanding this time. The narrow English Channel separated the United Kingdom and France, so these young diplomats had been to Paris. London was indeed a city with dense heavy industry and had a strong production capacity. Compared with the beautiful and romantic Paris, London, which had "wet weather" or "very wet weather", seemed cold and humid. The air was dirty and smelly.
More slogans were displayed, and the content of the slogans was a bellicose clamor. It seemed that the killing of 20,000 people from the British expeditionary force was hard for these guys in the United Kingdom to accept. In addition to the one that was mischievously translated by the ambassador as "Punishment and Blackout", "Fight to the end", "England bleeds but not tears", "We want to join the army".
The young diplomats seemed to be affected by the ambassador and could not help but laugh with some malicious intentions. One of them laughed and said, "When they came out with the slogan 'I want bread', did they ever think that one day they would burst out with such patriotism?"
Another young man shook his head, "I think they've awakened the soul of the people's imperialism, right?"
The ambassador was not amused. He just sighed, "Sigh! Don't laugh at the patriotism of other people. From a purely patriotic point of view, you're no different from the British. It's just that the British love the United Kingdom, and you love China. "
"What's wrong with loving China?" The young man immediately retorted as his immediate superior, the ambassador, "And we fight for the motherland, and everything we seize will be distributed to all the people. And these British people are willing to shed blood for the British upper class, and what do they get in return? Will the British upper class really throw them a bone? "
For the young man's righteous speech, the ambassador had no intention of objecting. The people who got to the ambassadorial level were not rookies. Not only were they not rookies, but they were also guys who surpassed ordinary people in intelligence, physical strength, and moral. The Min dynasty guaranteed that the victory of the war could be enjoyed by the people through the state ownership of land. The ambassador was very clear and very proud.
Therefore, the ambassador deliberated for a while before continuing, "It's a fact that you have patriotism, and it's also a fact that the people of other countries have patriotism. I just hope that you don't smear the facts because of your personal preferences, in order to make the facts look like what you want them to be. I can understand this idea, but I have to say, this idea is not scientific. "
After saying this, the ambassador's mood suddenly became gloomy. These were the things that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeatedly emphasized during training, and of course the diplomats' ears were calloused from listening to it. But after really understanding the chill of these words, the ambassador felt that it was unrealistic to rely on talking to others to understand these ideas. This kind of thing, if you understand it, you understand it, if you don't understand it, you don't understand it. It was useless to just listen to these words.
As he was thinking, his attention was suddenly attracted by the new slogan that appeared. In addition to the words, there was also the depiction of a dark claw. The words on the slogan looked like they were written when they were full of emotion. "Catch the mastermind behind the scenes!"
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