"Prince Leopold of the House of Hohenzollern had already announced his rejection of the Spanish throne, and after informing the French government, the French ambassador in Ames further asked the king (William I) to authorize the ambassador to issue a telegram declaring that a member of the House of Hohenzollern would never be allowed to inherit the Spanish throne.

The King therefore refused to receive the Ambassador again, and the Aide-de-camp on duty informed the Ambassador that the King had nothing more to talk about. ”

After reading this telegram, Zhao Liewen pondered for a while before looking at Yi Zhizhi and said: "The cousin of King William I of Prussia has rejected the Spanish throne, should the crisis be resolved?" ”

"Crisis over?" Yi Zhizhi smiled contentedly, turned to Yi Zhengxing, and said, "What do you think of Xingzhi?" ”

After a slight sigh, Yi Zhengxing said: "William I's refusal to meet with the French ambassador and ask the adjutant to inform the French ambassador that there is nothing to talk about is not only arrogant, but also insulting, and what is even more unbearable is that this secret message is openly published in the newspaper, which is absolutely unacceptable to France with French arrogance." ”

After a pause, he continued: "Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck seems to have deliberately provoked the French Emperor. ”

After staying in Europe for so many years, Yi Zhishu nodded approvingly, "Yes, Bismarck is indeed provoking France." If France is an irritable bull, this publicly published telegram is a red cloth, and France is about to declare war! ”

A declaration of war is imminent? Zhao Liewen was a little incredulous, "Just such a telegram can make France declare war?" How do European countries treat war like this? ”

"No country dares to treat war so lightly." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The Prussian-Danish War and the Austro-Prussian War, Prussia has established the status of a European military power, and it is impossible for France to rashly declare war on a European military power.

Yi Zhizu said slowly: "The French Emperor Napoleon III actually knows very well that if Prussia wants to seek unification, there will definitely be a war between Prussia and France, and the candidate for the Spanish throne is just a fuse or an excuse. ”

Zhao Liewen could accept this statement, and after thinking about it, he said: "The negotiations in Tianjin, it is better to wait for the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War to discuss in detail, and it will definitely be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort." “

Once the Franco-Prussian War breaks out, Wu Changqing's negotiations with Western countries will be much easier, Yi Zhishu nodded slowly, "You can call Tianjin to slow down the progress of the negotiations." ”

Zhao Liewen continued; "Will the Western Expedition be carried out after the Franco-Prussian War officially breaks out?"

"There's no need." Yi Zhizu said in a deep voice: "The western expedition has little direct relationship with France and Prussia, and now the situation is clear, and the Franco-Prussian War broke out in these days, there is no need to wait, the sea and land routes can officially go west!" After a pause, he continued; Tell Hu Xueyan that the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War is a matter of the past few days! ”

Bismarck not only published the contents of Ames's urgent telegram in the newspapers, but also informed all Prussian missions abroad, the whole European public opinion was in an uproar, Napoleon III could not bear it, and a few days later, on July 19, France declared war on Prussia, and the Franco-Prussian War officially broke out!

With France declaring war on Prussia, the major financial centers in Europe also ushered in a huge earthquake, the war between the two major military powers in Europe undoubtedly has a huge impact on the financial affairs of Europe, for a time all the stocks in the European stock exchange market fell sharply, no one knows how big the scale of the war is, how long it lasts, whether the rest of Europe will be involved, but one thing is undoubted, the war is destructive enough to destroy the economies of Prussia and France, and it will affect more countries.

Some people are happy and some people are worried, war is a disaster for many long-term companies, but it is a rare opportunity for some companies closely related to war, and all stocks and futures closely related to war such as steel, brass, grain, and stocks and futures of military enterprises have risen sharply.

As early as half a year ago, Hu Xueyan began to lay out the layout of the four major financial centers in Europe, which can be called the biggest beneficiary of the European financial market, watching the war-themed stock futures rise slowly, Hu Xueyan has to sincerely admire Yi Zhi's amazing judgment, Yuan Qi has such an amazing treasurer who can foresee, and it is easy to make money in the European financial market!

What shocked Hu Xueyan even more was that Yi Zhizu provided a full 200 million silver dollars, which is surprisingly accurate, even in normal times, such a large amount of funds in major European financial markets is enough to call for wind and rain.

An extremely ordinary carriage stopped outside the back door of the Paris branch of the Yuanqi Bank, and the French Foreign Minister Duke Gramont got down from the carriage and looked at the deserted alley, he was very puzzled, why did the other party ask him, the dignified French Foreign Minister, to go through the back door so low-key, if it were not for the eagerness to seek funds to stabilize the domestic capital market, he would definitely not be so accommodating!

Hu Guangyong, who had been waiting at the back door for a long time, hurriedly greeted him and said with a spring breeze on his face: "Welcome to the Paris branch of Yuanqi Bank." ”

Duke Gramont glanced at him, "Mr. Hu? ”

Hu Guangyong nodded, "It's down, Hu Guangyong." ”

At the time of the American Civil War, the entire European financial market and cotton market knew that it was Yuanqi's Hu Guangyong shopkeeper who controlled the entire European cotton trade and futures, but there were many people who had heard of this name, and there were really few people who knew or said that they had seen or dealt with it.

Gramont took off his hat with a smile on his face, bowed slightly, and said, "It's an honor to meet Mr. Hu." ”

"It's also an honor for me to meet Your Excellency." Hu Guangyong returned the salute with a smile, "Your Excellency can be invited, which is not only an honor for Yuanqi, but also an honor for France." ”

Listening to the translator, the smile on Gramont's face couldn't help but stiffen, this sound really out of tune, but now that he has a request for the other party, he can't care about it, and immediately said politely: "We are also honored to cooperate with Yuan Qi." ”

Greeted and entered the back door, and under the guidance of Hu Guangyong, he entered the living room specially prepared for VIPs in the backyard, and after taking a seat, Gramont couldn't wait: "Your Excellency said that Yuan Qi is willing to underwrite 250 million francs of French government bonds?"

250 million francs is equivalent to 10 million pounds, which is really a small amount for Hu Guangyong, and he said with a smile: "Is your country a little contemptuous of this war?" ”

Listening to the translation, Gramont couldn't help but be stunned, what does this mean? What does it mean to despise this war? Is the amount of government bonds underwritten by the other party too small? After a slight groan, he said, "I don't quite understand what Your Excellency means. ”

"We attach great importance to the war that took place in Europe." Hu Guangyong said unhurriedly: "Our big shopkeeper said that for France, this is a life-and-death war, and if your country cannot treat this war with extreme caution and prudence, it will definitely lose!" ”

What is this called? Gramont's face immediately became gloomy, he had just declared war on Prussia, and he actually said that France would lose this war, was this a curse on France? If it weren't for the other party's initiative to underwrite the 250 million francs of the national debt, he really wanted to leave directly! After a moment of silence, he said: "Yuan Qi underwrote such a large amount of my country's national debt, wouldn't it be in the hope that my country would be defeated?" ”

Hu Guangyong smiled and said: "As the second largest military power and the second largest financial empire in Europe and even the world, Yuanqi is not worried about the safety of this fund at all, and your country has enough strength to pay this national debt no matter whether you win or lose in this war." ”

He continued: "Our chief treasurer said that war is an all-round contest, and what really determines success or failure is often outside the battlefield, such as diplomacy, finance, economy, and industry........ Wait. ”

This remark aroused Gramon's great interest, he knew very well that the big shopkeeper in the other party's mouth was the big shopkeeper of the Qing Kingdom's Zhennan Wang Yuanqi, Yi Zhi, for this legendary figure in the East and even the world, the actual controller of the legendary ancient Oriental empire, he naturally had some understanding, and also had a strong interest, he immediately asked: "Can you tell me in detail?" ”

"Absolutely." Hu Guangyong smiled and nodded, "From the diplomatic aspect, in this war, your country has been completely isolated and helpless, for England, your country is a strong opponent of England's maritime hegemony, and furthermore, England has always pursued a continental equilibrium policy, England prefers to appear a military power to contain or balance your country, in this war, England must remain neutral, if you want to favor one side, it is definitely Prussia, not your country."

In addition to England, there is another country whose attitude is very important, Tsarist Russia! After the crushing defeat in the Crimean War, Russia's military strength can no longer be compared with your country and Prussia, because of the problems of West Asia and Poland, Russia will naturally lean towards Prussia. ”

Speaking of this, Hu Guangyong deliberately paused for a moment, and only after the translation continued: "In addition, I might as well reveal an important news to your country, as early as March 1868, Prussia and Russia had signed a secret agreement, once the Franco-Prussian war began, Russia would deploy troops on the Austrian border to prevent Austria from forming an alliance with your country. ”

Hearing this, Gramont was shocked, and hurriedly said: "Since it is a secret agreement, how did your shopkeeper know about it?" ”

"Whether this news is true or not, your country will soon become clear." Hu Guangyong said slowly, in fact, he was also extremely shocked in his heart, although Russia and the Qing Dynasty have concluded an alliance, but such an important secret agreement is obviously impossible to reveal, which can only show one point, Yuan Qi has a huge intelligence network in Europe!

Without waiting for the other party to ask questions, he continued: "The military contest between the two sides of the war is, in a sense, also a contest of economic strength, and the economic conditions of the two countries have an important and even decisive impact on all aspects.

To put it simply, the state of the economy is closely related to military strength, for example, the steel industry has promoted the development of machine building, and the machine building industry has a close connection with the arms industry, and the Prussian Krupp company has increased the number of workers from 237 to 7,000 in just 20 years, which is enough to show that Prussia's heavy industry has developed rapidly in these 20 years.

Here, I would also like to disclose to you that the Krupp factory is capable of producing not only large-caliber heavy guns, but also mortars of 21 cm caliber and 12-pound shells.

In addition, railways are also of great significance to warfare, and a well-developed railway network can quickly transport large numbers of troops to the front line and assemble them in the combat area, and can make the supply of troops replenish in a timely manner.

What is the length of railways in your country? 18,000 kilometers, right? How much is Prussia? 22,000 kilometres, and the main railways of Prussia had been in operation for ten years at the time of the opening of the main lines of your country. ”

Gramont looked at him as if he had seen a ghost, as the French Foreign Minister, he found that he did not know France as thoroughly as the other party, at least he did not know the total length of the French Railway, let alone Prussia! And the Krupp plant can make mortars of 21 cm caliber, which he also does not know.

"In addition to this, there is the quality and combat effectiveness of the army, which is actually a manifestation of the state of the country's economy......." Without waiting for Hu Guangyong to finish speaking, Gramont couldn't help but stretch out his hand to interrupt his words, and asked directly: "Is Yuan Qi planning to buy more treasury bonds?" ”

Interrupted by him, Hu Guangyong didn't feel angry at all, and still said in an unhurried tone, "In addition to buying treasury bonds, Yuan Qi can also provide arms, medicines, and food ....... to your country." ”

Gramont said vigilantly: "This is an additional condition for the purchase of government bonds? ”

"Of course not." Hu Guangyong smiled and said: "If your country doesn't need it, we can sell it to the Russians, and as for your country's national debt, we can underwrite 500 million francs or more, but we need to negotiate the interest rate." ”

Underwriting of five hundred million francs or more! Glamundon was overjoyed, for France, which was in urgent need of funds, this was tantamount to a send-off, as for the interest rate, he directly filtered, as long as the other party could provide a large amount of funds, the interest rate or something was completely negotiable, and he was even considering whether he should suggest to the War Department that a large number of arms and medicines be purchased from Yuanqi, not to mention arms, at least the medicines of the Qing Kingdom are well-known throughout Europe.

However, he quickly calmed down, why didn't Yuan Qi show favor to France for no reason? It can be said that this war has nothing to do with the Qing State, is it just because of the Tianjin teaching case?

Thinking of this, he took the initiative to express his position: "With regard to the Tianjin teaching case, my country respects your country's handling opinions, and is also in favor of restricting and restricting the missionary behavior of churches and missionaries. ”

Hearing this, Hu Guangyong couldn't help but laugh secretly in his heart, Yuan Qi was so generous, it couldn't be for the Tianjin lesson plan, but this was also an unexpected joy, France has this attitude, and the Tianjin lesson plan will be more convenient to deal with.