Chapter 411 Hidden Dangers of the Second Empire (Fourth Update, Please Subscribe)
"In order to maintain the independence of South China, South China is a civilized act, while Argentina ignores the current international public law and blindly expands and annexes, which is actually a barbaric country."
Around 1870, many mainstream newspapers in European countries published similar news, which had only one core point - South China was the guardian of civilization, and Argentina was a barbaric country.
The A people are tyrannical and should be severely punished.
Some newspapers even questioned whether Argentina, a tyrannical country that massacred civilians and allowed its soldiers to rob, should exist in the world.
"...For the European people of this era, Argentina is too far away. All they know about it is through newspapers. All we need is to use newspapers to tell them that we are just and civilized. That's enough."
In the speeding carriage, Xie Liangde said as he looked at the Champs-Elysees Avenue outside the car.
"It seems that the French are not interested in foreign countries these days! It makes our work difficult!"
Xie Liangde, the South China Ambassador to Paris, feels very depressed.
As an ambassador, he has been responsible for promoting South China's "public opinion war", which is to publicize South China's image as a "civilized army" through the press and use the extensive propaganda of international public opinion to show that South China is a civilized country, and Argentina is the barbaric country that brutally massacres its people.
But now, he felt a little powerless. The Parisians didn't care about the affairs of "Southern Siberia" at all, and they didn't care about the fate of Argentina at all.
"Thank you, Ambassador. The French are more concerned about the fate of France now. What did the people of Paris do during the parliamentary elections last year? One-third of the people took to the streets to march. The demonstrators sang the Marseillaise and shouted "Long Live the Republic." In the end, the Liberals won 120 seats out of a total of 283 seats, becoming the largest party in parliament. The Republicans also won 30 seats. You have to know that this was the result of the imperial government's pressure on voters."
Hu Weizhi's brows were furrowed as he spoke. As a military attaché, or intelligence officer, in the embassy, he found that this country was heading towards the brink of losing control. If it were any other country, it would be fine, but France was different. France was an ally of South China.
"In January this year, there was another scandal in which aristocrats killed journalists. His Majesty the Emperor had to make a series of concessions and chose the liberal Olivier as prime minister - the prime minister soon found that he was despised by the right and alienated by the liberals."
"Yes, if it weren't for the peasants standing firmly in front of Bonaparte in the general election this month, the emperor's chair would probably be unstable. Maybe one-third of the people in Paris are republicans, but in the countryside and small places in France, the vast majority of peasants support Bonaparte."
The ambassador's words made Hu Weizhi smile.
"Indeed, it's just like when the peasants chose Napoleon III because his last name was Bonaparte. However, Mr. Ambassador, although the empire won back the election with the peasants' votes, the protests have intensified. The former liberal Prime Minister Olivier had to ban public meetings and close down opposition newspapers. The situation in Paris now..."
The sudden stop of the carriage and the thunderous shouts outside the carriage interrupted Hu Liangzhi's words. They looked out of the window and saw teams of French people gathering on the street with red flags in their hands. The entire Champs-Elysées was filled with the sound of the Marseillaise.
This scene on the street fell into the eyes of Xie Liangde and Hu Weizhi, and their expressions became a little solemn.
No one spoke, they just sat quietly in the carriage, waiting for everything to be over. Suddenly, the door of the carriage was opened, and a French boy stuffed a leaflet into the carriage and shouted at them.
"Long live the Republic, gentlemen, long live the Republic!"
Then the young man with the tricolor flower on his chest left singing the Marseillaise.
The two of them didn't even look at the flyers in their hands, they just sat there with frowns on their brows.
Soon, accompanied by the sound of horse hooves, teams of cuirassiers appeared waving whips. Under the whipping and impact of the cuirassiers, the crowd quickly fled in all directions. When the Champs-Elysées returned to peace again, the ground was covered with leaflets and red flags.
Xie Liangde didn't speak until the carriage started moving again.
"Under these circumstances, Parisians will definitely not care about South American affairs anymore. It seems we can stop paying for advertising!"
His so-called "advertising fees" were actually hundreds of thousands of francs paid to major French newspapers to bribe the newspapers so that the news reports in the newspapers would be more favorable to Nanhua. But now, it is obviously no longer necessary.
"You can definitely stop for a while. There's no need to waste money."
Hu Weizhi said after taking a look at the flyer in his hand and crumpling it into a ball.
"The situation in Paris is so turbulent, I'm afraid it's definitely not a blessing for the empire!"
"Yes, the situation is so turbulent, how could the emperor not know about it? What do you think is the emperor's biggest concern at this time?"
"The throne!"
Xie Liangde's answer made Hu Weizhi nod slightly.
"Indeed, nothing is more important to the emperor than the throne. All along, the emperor has been trying every means to please the French. After all, no one supported him from the beginning. The Republicans hated him for destroying the Republic, and the royalists wanted to protect the Orleans Dynasty. What does it have to do with Bonaparte? Without the support of the peasants and small cities, his throne..."
Hu Weizhi said while shaking his head and sighing.
"It's unstable. If he wants to keep the throne, he has no choice but to..."
"war!"
Xie Liangde directly uttered the two words, and then said it in an extremely affirmative tone.
"If you want to divert domestic attention and awaken the patriotism of the French, there is only one choice, which is war. If I were the emperor, I would definitely start a war. A war is enough to unite all the French around the empire. In fact, in most cases, foreign wars are the best choice to cover up internal problems. After all, with the blessing of patriotism, even the Republicans will temporarily give up their differences."
From accompanying Zuo Zongtang on foreign visits to serving as an envoy abroad, Xie Liangde was no longer a failed scholar from Huizhou. Many of his views were not much different from those of Europeans at that time.
"And a glorious victory might even turn many people into royalists - royalists who support Bonaparte!"
"premise……"
Hu Weizhi said directly.
"We have to win at least!"
(End of this chapter)
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