Fox of France

On the coast of Le Havre, facing the estuary of the Seine River, on a high ground, there is a small manor. It is said that this manor originally belonged to a certain nobleman. When he was bored, he often visited here , watching all kinds of sailboats in and out of the Seine River, so he named this manor "Wangfan Manor".

During the Great Revolution, the great nobleman naturally fled abroad, and his manor was naturally confiscated by the revolutionary government. In fact, this manor did not produce anything, it was just a leisure place for the nobles, but the location was good. As an observation post, it could monitor the area around the mouth of the Seine, so it became a post for the French army. Later, the situation stabilized, and it became the country house of the upstart of the Republic, Talleyrand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Early this morning, several carriages came to the manor and stopped at the gate of the main building. An old man in his sixties and a group of young people got off the carriage and saw Talleyrand, the owner of the manor. The minister has already greeted him from the door.

"Simone, welcome to my villa." Talleyrand, who was also grey-haired, limped over with a smile on his face, and extended a hand to the old man in a friendly manner.

The two hands were held together, and both of them had smiles on their faces, as if they were really good friends.

The two held hands, just like young lovers, walked in with a smile.

Talleyrand himself led them into the small drawing room, where they sat down on the sofa, while a waiter brought them tea.

Generally speaking, the French of this era used more coffee when entertaining guests, but this time the waiter served black tea.

Drinking tea was also popular in France, but since the Seven Years War, France lost a series of colonies in the Far East, the tea trade was basically monopolized by the British, and the French colonies in Africa and Haiti were rich in coffee, so, French consumption habits turned to coffee. Before that, Talleyrand also entertained them, but he also invited them to drink coffee. This time, black tea was suddenly served. Of course, it can be said that the French are showing the hospitality of the host, but are there other things in it? , more meaning?

British representative Simeone picked up his teacup and took a sip. This is a black tea from Darjeeling, India, with a unique aroma of grapes. Since Britain has been locked down, it is difficult for even the British nobles to drink such authentic Darjeeling black tea.

"Alas, the war has been so long that I haven't had such a good Darjeeling black tea for a while." Simeone put down his cup and sighed, "My friend, I think it's time to end this meaningless battle." war."

"I also agree with this. The war is not a happy thing for either of us. It has affected a lot of business. And the war is too expensive. You see, we have commissioned the third issue of the Bank of Rome War bonds. If things go on like this, sooner or later our government will be in deficit. Maybe we will have to suspend the annual increase in stipends for veterans. Also, plans for the Palace of Culture, Art Gallery, etc. This will directly affect the people's satisfaction with life, and will reduce their smiles. This is really too bad." Talleyrand said, frowning.

To Simeone's ears, Talleyrand was brazenly showing off. The British didn't know how many times they had issued the third war bond. There is also the phrase "our government expenditure will run into deficit sooner or later", which is even more flaunting. What he means is that the French government has not yet experienced a fiscal deficit! Such a financial advantage is tantamount to demonstrating to the British in Hongguoguo.

What about the "annual increase in veterans' allowances", what about the "Cultural Palace" and the "Art Gallery", it's not all about showing off, for the British, the war that exhausted the national strength, for the French, Even the impact on their lives is limited.

However, no matter how much the French show off, this is also the right of the victor, at least they also agree on this important point - everyone needs peace.

"I don't know what your country thinks about peace." Simeone asked.

"When we met last time, I provided a memorandum to your country on behalf of our country, but at that time you had some opinions on our memorandum, or some misunderstandings." Talleyrand said with a sincere smile, "In order to As for some conflicts that we didn't want to see later. Therefore, we carefully studied the memorandum we sent to you last time, and we found that there are indeed many inappropriate things in it, and it is no wonder that it will cause you So, we have revised the last memorandum. You can look at it first, and then see if we can use this new memorandum as a basis to bring peace to our time."

A young assistant of Talleyrand handed Simeone a document.

Simeone's complexion was not very good. In his opinion, the "modification" Talleyrand said must have added more and harsher content. Although before coming, whether it was the crown prince acting as the king or the prime minister, he was asked to hold back, to reach peace as much as possible, and to "measure the material resources of Great Britain and win the favor of France." Moreover, the Prime Minister also said that the French have always been greedy. Nowadays, the conditions they put forward may be even more unacceptable, but no matter what the other party asks, don't refuse immediately, hold back, you know, the kingdom is close to Crashed, unable to continue the war.

So, he reached for the memo anyway.

"The content is a bit too much and complicated." Talleyrand said with a smile, "You can read it slowly, you can also discuss it with other people, or even send someone back to discuss it with the country. However, Your Excellency the First Ruling hopes that we It is best to complete the negotiations within a week."

"So urgent?" Simeone's face became more and more bad. "Our two countries have the sincerity of peace. Peace is inevitable. Why are you so anxious?"

"Because peace has not yet come, the dividends of peace have not yet come—how can we not be in a hurry?" Talleyrand said, "And, based on some information we have learned, if we cannot reach a peace agreement as soon as possible, then your country will There may be some turmoil. And we are worried that such turmoil will cause trouble for peace."

Simeone opened the thick memo and looked at it, then said: "We need to take a closer look at this document, can you give us a separate room?"

"It's easy, ah, Bossian, take my friends to my little study." Talleyrand turned his head and said to his assistant.

Simeone and the others followed Bossian to the small study room, and everyone gathered to study the new memorandum proposed by the French. In order to save time as much as possible, each of them is responsible for a chapter. Moreover, the structure of this memorandum is very similar to the previous one, which is convenient for everyone to compare and read.

Soon several people finished watching their assigned part.

"My lord, what I see is not much different from the last memo." A young man spoke first.

This sentence made Simeone feel a lot easier.

"There are only some differences in wording. Well, the wording of the current memorandum puts more emphasis on the reciprocity of the responsibilities and obligations of both parties. It seems that it is more... more equal than before, but the essence is not too much. Big change." The young man added.

"Bring it to me?" Simeone said quickly.

Everyone knows that apart from the negotiations this time, what will be signed is a traitorous treaty that will humiliate the country and humiliate the country. Anyone who signs this treaty will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history. Therefore, the original Minister of Foreign Affairs suddenly resigned due to physical reasons, and Simeone, a special envoy who had only made some secret contacts, was suddenly promoted to Minister of Foreign Affairs by leapfrogging, in fact, he needed to be blamed.

Although forced to do so, Simeone had to sign a traitorous treaty, but if this treaty really looks a lot better in writing, that would be great.

"Hurry up and show me?" Simeone said quickly.

So the young man handed over the chapter he was reading and the corresponding chapter in the last memo.

Simeone quickly looked up.

It is true that today's provisions are indeed much more "equal" in terms of text. For example, this article deals with the full opening of the British domestic market to the French. In the previous memorandum, it was described as follows: "The UK must open its domestic market to France and its allies unconditionally. Individuals, enterprises and their products in France and its allies must obtain the same level as the UK's domestic economic activities. Full equal, non-discriminatory status for the British people and British businesses. France and its allies will form a committee to monitor the implementation of this clause and submit a relevant assessment report to the French and its allies governments."

You see, this is a clause that requires the UK to unilaterally open the market, thereby turning the UK into a French colony and destroying the UK.

But now, the clause has become like this:

"Both the French Republic and the United Kingdom are aware that equal economic exchanges are the most reliable guarantee for world peace. In order to ensure world peace and promote the well-being of the two peoples, the two governments have made the following commitments on trade issues: the two governments As well as the governments of various countries that will join the peace agreement in the future, they all promise to fully open their markets to each other, and neither side can restrict the sales of each other's goods in their own markets by discriminatory means, including tariffs and quotas, and both promise to give each other's citizens and businesses Full non-discriminatory national treatment.

In order to ensure the implementation of this clause, the two parties will equally form a joint free trade committee to mediate and arbitrate the conflicts arising from the implementation of this clause. Both governments promise to respect the mediation and arbitration of this committee. After other countries join in the future, they will also join this committee, fulfill their own obligations and enjoy their own rights. "

Look at the second statement, is it more equal than the first one? The taste of losing power and humiliating the country is much less? However, in many cases, the equality in the provisions itself is the greatest inequality.

Just like what Joseph said after the "Napoleonic Code" was promulgated: "The law, with its solemn equality, prohibits the poor from sleeping under bridges, begging and stealing bread along the street." Status, the so-called "equality" clause, is nothing more than a fig leaf for the winner to take all.

Just imagine, now that the British economy has collapsed, and a large number of companies have closed down or are on the verge of bankruptcy due to losses. Under such circumstances, how can they engage in so-called "equal competition" with French companies? Letting them "compete on equal footing" is as absurd as having the men's heavyweight champion and the women's featherweight boxer on the same stage as a "fair match". "Fair competition" will only bring about the result of "everyone who has will be doubled to make him redundant; whoever has nothing will be taken from him."

Therefore, there is no real difference between such an equal mutual opening of the market and the unilateral opening of the market by the United Kingdom.

For the UK, this clause is no different from the clause in the previous memorandum. However, for Simeone, such a clause is almost a life-saving straw.