Master Yuan, start!

"It's time for Britain to shift its focus."

Chapter 333: The Tortuous Franco-Russian Alliance

St. Petersburg, Russia.

In July, the sun shines directly on the Northern Hemisphere, and even St. Petersburg, which is located at 7 degrees north latitude, has begun to gradually warm up.

However, Peter the Great was very far-sighted when he chose this city as his capital.

Even though the weather is getting hotter, the average daily temperature here is 10-20 degrees, which is still a very comfortable temperature for the human body.

At least, for the new French Foreign Minister Delcassé, who comes from the Mediterranean region, St. Petersburg in July is better than his hot hometown, Ariège Province at the northern foot of the Pyrenees Mountains.

He stepped down from the carriage, looked up at the center of the Winter Palace Square, and at the Alexander Column shining in the sunlight. A hint of barely perceptible disgust flashed across Delcas' eyes.

This marble column was completed in 1812 to commemorate the victory of the anti-French war.

Looking south along the memorial column, you will see an arch more than 50 meters high, called the Arc de Triomphe of the General Staff.

On top of the Arc de Triomphe stands a statue of the goddess of victory driving a chariot. It is also a magnificent building built to commemorate the victory of the anti-French war.

A pillar, an arch.

It shows that the Russians were proud of defeating the French army led by Napoleon;

It also shows that this is the place where the dream of the French army that once wanted to unify Europe was shattered.

90 years ago, French Emperor Napoleon was defeated here. Today, 90 years later, his descendants have to put aside their past hatred and seek help from the country that engraved France on a stone pillar.

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"Minister Delcasser, welcome to St. Petersburg!"

When Delcas was stunned, the bearded Russian Foreign Minister Muravyov walked out from under the Arc de Triomphe and brought him back to reality.

"Count, long time no see!" Delcas quickly retracted his dissatisfied expression and put on a smiling face: 4

"On behalf of the French government, I extend my sincerest regards to His Majesty the Tsar and hope he is well and recovers quickly from his illness."

"Thank you for your concern. His Majesty the Tsar is out relaxing."

Russian Foreign Minister Muravyov nodded, seemingly not taking the matter to heart.

Delcas looked at Muravyov, who was not worried about the Tsar's illness, frowned slightly, and had a rough idea of ​​the internal situation in Russia in his mind.

Ever since Alexander III was assassinated in a train derailment in 1887 and became disabled, he gradually became indifferent to politics.

In order to stabilize the political situation in Russia, Crown Prince Nicholas began to gradually take over government affairs with tacit consent.

Counting it up, it has been nearly 10 years now.

An old tsar who is physically disabled and drinks all day long; a young, strong and ambitious crown prince.

Not to mention, the old tsar's health was deteriorating.

As long as they are not stupid, everyone inside and outside the Russian court knows what to choose.

"Let's go. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister are waiting for our guests from afar."

Muravyov turned sideways and raised his hand, guiding Delcas into this magnificent building complex.

"Thank you, Count."

The two walked step by step, and the sound of their footsteps echoed in the empty palace.

Walk around the majestic reliefs of the Atlas giants;

Through the porticoes inlaid with jasper, gilded with gold and silver;

Step onto floors paved with marble, malachite, and lapis lazuli.

Delcas breathed in the faint scent of incense until the guards brought him to the last huge red gate that symbolized imperial power, and then he finally stopped.

...

"Far East, no news yet?"

Tsarevich Nicholas turned his back to the closed door and asked Prime Minister and Finance Minister Sergei Witte who was beside him.

"Your Highness, at present, only the troops on the Amur River have sent back telegrams that they are fighting against the Khitans.

As for Vladivostok further south, the latest news still comes from the fleet's report before leaving port five days ago."

Sergei Witte reported all the information he knew word for word, without any personal emotions or judgments.

Historically, it was he who led the political reforms in the middle and late period of Alexander III and the early period of Nicholas II.

He advocated building a large number of railways, opening banks, abandoning Europe, which was full of contradictions, and starting from the Far East to obtain "delicious and easy" benefits for Russia.

In the original time and space, his actions greatly promoted the development of Russian capitalism, but his strategy of developing the Far East encountered the Qing Dynasty, which knew almost nothing about international politics.

Establishing a bank in China, developing Harbin, seizing Lushun, and rerouting the Trans-Siberian Railway through China and into Vladivostok

The Qing Dynasty either actively agreed to these measures or passively approved of them.

As a result, Russia's expansion in the Far East achieved far greater benefits than expected.

Of course, in this time and space, Sergei Witte's Far East strategy is still just a vague idea, and he focuses more on domestic economic reforms.

As for the political leadership, it was in the hands of Crown Prince Nicholas.

Be cautious and restrained.

Find Book 6

This is Sergei Witte's official creed.

This was also one of the important reasons why Nicholas III kept him in office.

After all, the saying "a new emperor appoints new ministers" is not unique to China. After William II came to power in Germany, he dismissed Bismarck, an important imperial official whom William I highly valued, from his position as chancellor.

Sergei was able to rise from being the finance minister during the reign of Alexander III to becoming the prime minister and finance minister under the rule of Crown Prince Nicholas.

It won’t work if you don’t have real skills.

"Forget it, report the news as soon as possible."

Crown Prince Nicholas waved his hand, dispelling the trace of uneasiness in his mind.

Seeing that the matter in the Far East had come to an end, Sergei Witte gave a gentle reminder.

"Your Highness, the French Foreign Minister is waiting outside for an audience."

"French, hum..."

Recalling the events of a few years ago, Nicholas laughed out loud with some disdain: "They finally can't sit still anymore, are they no longer optimistic?"

Historically, France and Russia signed the Franco-Russo Alliance in 1892 to counter the military alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

This Russo-French alliance was also the basis of the Triple Entente between Britain, France and Russia during the First World War in the original time and space.

However, in this time and space, the issue of agricultural product tariffs did not trigger a confrontation between Russia and Germany. On the contrary, William II took the initiative to lower tariffs in exchange for a "great reconciliation" between Russia and Germany.

Because France occupied Vietnam and Taiwan too easily, they turned their attention to the Far East.

In this way, the two countries that had originally allied in history did not come together due to the flapping of butterfly wings.

Although William II later restored tariffs on some Russian agricultural products in order to take care of the feelings of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this led Russia to want to sign a friendship treaty with France.

But at this time, France was completely obsessed with the huge profits brought by colonizing Taiwan and economically invading Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Search Q: Jushan*, Si They believed that the "optimistic" era belonging to France would continue, so they ignored Russia.

The Russians were arrogant, especially when the French were indifferent. Crown Prince Nicholas, who was in power at the time, gave up his plan to join forces with France.

As time went by, the alliance between France and Russia was interrupted.

Until Yuan Shikai marched south to Hunan under the banner of anti-French, and then marched into Beijing to fight against the Manchus under the banner of anti-Russian.

The French finally came to their senses and sent the French Army in the Far East to support Vladivostok as a gesture of goodwill, while also sending the Foreign Minister to St. Petersburg to explore the possibility of repairing relations between the two countries.

It's no wonder that Crown Prince Nicholas was a little angry when the French were so arrogant at first and then respectful.

After all, although he is a politician, he is just a 28-year-old young man.

At the age of 28, how can one not be young and energetic?

"Never mind, Sergei, please ask him to come in."

Nicholas sighed, adjusted the medal on his chest, and decided to put national interests first.

...

"Your Majesty, it is an honor to meet you."

Delcas took off his hat and put it in his hand, then knelt on one knee, with his forehead slightly lowered, and saluted Nicholas.

"Minister Delcasser, huh? I've heard of your deeds." Nicola cleared his throat and said:

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"To be able to serve as foreign minister for more than five years in a French cabinet where prime ministers change as often as drinking water is truly an incredible skill."

Although he had decided to communicate with the French, Nicolas inevitably brought in personal emotions and started the conversation by making fun of the French political situation.

It should be noted that at the end of the 19th century, the republic was not a system that everyone envied or emulated by other countries.

Otherwise, France would not be the only country in the entire European continent to choose a republic.

Even within France, a considerable number of people feel that the republic is a system that was adopted out of necessity.

The republic is purely a compromise made by the "Bourbonists", "Orleanists" and "Bonapartists" within France in order to prevent the "Bourbonists", "Orleanists" and "Bonapartists" from coming to power.

Britain, Germany, Austria and Russia are all monarchies, and their monarchs naturally have prejudices against France under the republican system.

"Haha." Delcas could only smile awkwardly and change the subject:

"I wonder what Tsarevich Nicholas thinks of the current situation in the Far East?

The British, aided by their Chinese helpers, seem to want to monopolize the interests of this land.”

"Dominate?"

Nicholas thought for a moment and said slowly:

"I don't think so, Minister Delcasser, do you think the Russian army will lose this war against the Khitans?

I see no reason why Russia should fail, whether on land or at sea."