Chapter 1033 The Jealous Frenchman (Second update, please subscribe)
March in Paris is the best season of the year. The lush trees on both sides of the Champs-Elysées form a beautiful street scene. From time to time, some birds fly over the treetops, leisurely flying over this prosperous and noisy city.
In 1882, the Second French Empire was still prosperous despite many internal problems.
A ragged newsboy was carrying a large stack of new newspapers and selling them on the street:
"Sell newspapers, sell newspapers. Big news in the Little Newspaper - a legislator of the Legislative Council had an affair with a married woman and was caught by her husband on the spot..."
Even though Le Petit News is the most influential business newspaper in Paris, it is always filled with various official scandals and romantic affairs. In fact, without all of this, no newspaper can attract attention.
It has to be said that gossip is always the best news to attract people's attention.
After all, the vast majority of people are ordinary people.
A car stopped by the roadside. When the window opened, an oriental man dressed as a gentleman stopped the newsboy and asked in fluent French:
"Is there any in today's Morning Post?"
"Yes, yes, sir."
The newsboy nodded and quickly took out a morning paper from his cloth bag.
"I want one."
The oriental gentleman handed the newsboy a one-franc note. After taking the newspaper, the car continued to drive along the road, and the man sitting in the back seat just read the newspaper in the car.
Halfway through the journey, the passenger seat turned around and said to him:
"Mr. Wang, we are here."
Putting the newspaper in his hand aside, Wang Lin looked out the window. This was the Ministry of Transport of the Second Empire. As the deputy manager of the Imperial Railway Company, he came here at the invitation of the Minister of Transport, Count Charles Leon.
When the car stopped in front of the gate of the Ministry of Transport, officials had been waiting for a long time.
"The Count is waiting for you."
After entering the Count's office, Count Charles Lyon came forward to greet him with a smile from the center of the office.
"Ah, come in, my old friend is here, long time no see."
"Count, long time no see."
Count Charles Leon asked Wang Lin to sit on the sofa in the middle of the office. When he sat down, Leon walked to the wall, opened two doors, and revealed a wine cabinet.
"Have some red wine."
Count Leon laughed.
"I personally selected this bottle of red wine at the winery."
"Thank you, sir, just a little!"
Wang Lin replied with a smile.
Count Leon was holding a glass of red wine in one hand and two wine glasses in the other. After pouring two glasses of wine, they toasted each other and tasted the red wine. The two of them were chatting about many things, many of which were gossips in Paris, and of course there were some sex scandals. This kind of thing was very common in Paris. Even the Count in front of them was a product of sex scandals. He was the illegitimate son of Emperor Napoleon I and his mistress. In France, whether it was a high-ranking official or an emperor, they all had their own lovers, and even women had their own lovers.
After talking about these gossips, Count Leon smiled and poured a glass of wine for Wang Lin.
"Wang, I asked you to come this time. You must be curious about why,"
Putting the bottle of red wine aside, Count Leon said,
"As we all know, whether it is Syria or Mesopotamia, the importance of those colonies to France is self-evident. The Royal French Petroleum Company believes that with the increasing demand for oil in various aspects such as automobiles, Europe's demand for oil will exceed 50 million tons in ten years, and 40% of it will be produced in Mesopotamia!"
That’s 20 million tons!
Wang Lin couldn't help but feel a little envious of France. France sacrificed an emperor in Jerusalem, but they received an even richer reward - oil!
The oil fields of Mesopotamia are the closest to Europe, apart from the Baku oil fields of the Roman Empire.
"That's true. 50 million tons is relatively conservative. It may even reach hundreds of millions of tons!"
Wang Lin’s answer made Count Leon nod in agreement.
"Yes, by then the oil fields will bring billions of francs of wealth to the empire every year. Because of this, the importance of that colony to France is self-evident. Therefore, in order to strengthen the connection with the colony, we believe it is necessary to build a railway from Paris to Baghdad!"
"The railway from Paris to Baghdad?"
Wang Lin said in surprise.
“That’s going to involve crossing a lot of countries.”
Count Leon looked at him and answered.
"Yes, yes, our plan is to go through Switzerland, enter the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and then enter Russia... that is, the Roman Empire, and then enter Mesopotamia! This railway can not only connect us with Mesopotamia by land, but more importantly, this railway will connect us with our allies."
Although the count did not show the map, Wang Lin was still stunned by his plan. Such a railway was one that had never been planned by European countries.
An intercontinental railway that needs to pass through three countries.
They are so ambitious!
"Well, Count, this railway can indeed produce these effects...but Switzerland?"
"Yes, yes, Switzerland is a problem, but we can definitely convince them that they are a neutral country. As long as we give them some promises, I believe they will agree. Whether it is Switzerland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or even the Roman Empire, they will eventually agree. After all, they all need the financial support of the French Empire."
This is true. In the past few years, the financial circles in Paris have provided more than 5 billion francs in loans to foreign countries, especially Rome. As a financial empire, France has enough chips to convince other countries to accept this railway.
"What can we do, Count?"
Now it was Wang Lin's turn to be confused. The French did not seem to need the assistance of the Imperial Railway Company. After all, technically, France was fully capable of building this railway independently. During the reconstruction of the Roman Empire, French companies had always been the most powerful competitors of the Imperial Railway.
"Well, you know, we need to connect Paris with Baghdad..."
Count Leon stared at Wang Lin and said.
"So, we need a high-speed train...like the America Star!"
"America Star!"
Now Wang Lin knew the other party's intention.
"Do you want to buy it?"
"No, we want to introduce your technology. How about it, my friend, do you think we have a chance to reach an agreement?"
"this……"
Wang Lin pondered for a moment. Although he knew that this matter was of great importance and involved many advanced technologies, he did not directly object.
"I personally would not object, but you know, this ultimately requires a decision from the top of the empire, and it also needs to be reviewed by the board of directors."
The other party did not refuse outright, which gave Count Leon an opportunity, and he was relieved. The room was warm and the sofa was very comfortable. Facing the old friend's answer, he smiled and said.
"Of course! As long as the company has no objection, we will convince the top leaders of the empire through other channels."
Lifting his glass, Count Leon said:
"Let's toast! My friend, you know, this cooperation will open a new chapter, my friend."
(End of this chapter)
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