After the meeting, Xu Jichao and his group were taken to a lounge and waited for the dinner to begin.

This lounge is more than 50 square meters and is very elegantly decorated. The floor is covered with dark red wool carpets, the wall is hung with yarn curtains, the roof is painted with colorful paintings, the corners of the wall, and the baroque decorative lines. There are 4 sets of combined sofas distributed in the four corners of the room. There are also tea pots and snacks on the coffee table. There are also bookshelfs that make walls and newspapers, as well as playing cards and chess, which can be used for rest to pass the time.

However, most of the members of the group cannot understand German and cannot play chess. They can play cards, but they are not suitable for playing in this occasion. Therefore, they are divided into 2 and 3 groups and sat down to chat. Li Sanjie said: "Didn't it say that William II is a very arrogant person! I think he is still very polite."

Xu Jichao said: "He is polite to us. Firstly, Germany now has demands from us and wants to establish a partnership with us; secondly, it is based on the confidence that our army has made on the battlefield. If we had not won the Far East War, we would see if the Germans would be so polite to us. This is with the old time and space, what really made China win the respect of the world was the Korean War. To put it bluntly, dignity and face were all made on the battlefield."

At this time, Jiang Yongtao said: "That is, when I came to Germany as a consul, I could feel that the Germans were just polite to us on the surface and looked down on us in my heart. But after the end of the Far East War, it was completely different. Whether it was Germans or people from other countries, they would be respectful when they saw us, but it could definitely be seen that this respect is not superficial, but indeed respect from the heart."

Xu Jichao nodded and said, "So this sentence is not completely unreasonable to fear power but virtue. If we hadn't won the Far East War, even if Germany had asked for us, William II wouldn't have been so polite to us."

Jiang Yongtao said: "Isn't that true! Take Li Hongzhang's visit to Germany mentioned by William II just now. At that time, Germany also gave Li Hongzhang a very high-standard reception etiquette. He used all the honor guards and military parades. On the surface, he looked very respectful to Li Hongzhang. Of course, he also wanted to sell more weapons and arms to the Qing court through Li Hongzhang. However, when Li Hongzhang met Bismarck, he still exposed the Germans' contempt for Li Hongzhang. At that time, Li Hongzhang told Bismarck that he was called "Bismar of the East" in Asia, but Bismarck's answer was that no one called himself

He was "Li Hongzhang of the West"; later Li Hongzhang talked about his achievements in front of Bismarck, suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Nian Army, etc., but Bismarck responded unceremoniously. The Germans were ashamed of slaughtering their own nations and taking pride in destroying foreign races. He had no regard for Li Zhongtang's face. What's ridiculous is that in our old time and space, there were people who bragged the meeting between Li Hongzhang and Bismarck as a dialogue between two great men. In fact, when Li Hongzhang met Bismarck, he lowered his attitude, which was completely a bit self-aware. "

Li Sanjie said: "It's a pity that Bismarck is dead. If Bismarck is still there, I really want to visit him. I don't know what his attitude would be like when he sees us!"

Xu Jichao smiled and said, "Old Li, I'm afraid you want to show off in front of Bismarck."

While the few were talking, a servant came in and said that the time for the banquet was up and invited them to attend. So the group followed the servant and left the lounge, walked through several corridors, and came to a hall of hundreds of square meters. The hall was decorated in a grand and magnificent manner, with a dome-shaped roof painted with colorful murals, and several exquisite crystal palace lanterns hanging on the lamps. The slightly trembling tassels on the lamps, combined with the shining floor, and the velvet red curtains hanging low by the window, giving people a blurry and trance.

On both sides of the hall, the band played jazz music in different ways, and there were two maids wearing dresses standing against the wall. In the middle of the hall, more than 10 long dining tables with white tables were placed, with silver candlesticks on the tables and high-backed palace chairs on both sides. At this time, about half of the seats had already been seated, and people were constantly taking the seats under the guidance of the attendants. Many of them were wearing female companions. The men were well-dressed and elegant, and the ladies were dressed carefully, with jewelry, and from time to time, acquaintances greeted each other, which was very lively.

The attendants brought Xu Jichao and his group to their seats. At this time, people kept saying hello to Jiang Yongtao, basically all diplomats from various countries in Germany, or officials from Germany. Jiang Yongtao also introduced them to Xu Jichao, Li Sanjie and others one by one.

The embassies of various countries in Germany also knew about the visits to Germany, and they were also very concerned about it, because at the beginning of the year, Germany visited East China and reached a series of intention agreements with East China. This return visit to East China was naturally attracting attention, and the original intentions would be implemented. Therefore, Jiang Yongtao now introduced Xu Jichao, Li Sanjie and others to the ambassadors. Of course, the ambassadors were also greeted and greeted each other one by one. Some countries were also very enthusiastic, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, the Ottoman Empire and other countries.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is Germany's most iron-hard ally and has no conflict of interest with the East China National Congress. Therefore, if Germany and the East China National Congress have a good relationship, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will naturally not lag behind. Although Italy is also an ally of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it has long been a second-minded, but it still needs to be done on the surface. Moreover, Italy and the East China National Congress have not had conflicts of interest. Forming a good relationship can also expand Italy's market in the Far East region. Of course, there is no need to have an unhappy relationship with the East China National Congress. As for Belgium, Portugal, Spain and other countries, they are now third-rate countries and are basically neutral in international relations. No one is willing to offend easily, and naturally they will not offend the East China National Congress, which just won the Far East War.

Only the Ottoman Empire is a bit special. The Ottoman Empire was later Turkey. Although from the perspective of regional division, the Ottoman Empire spanned the two continents of Asia and Europe, Europe regarded it as an Asian country, and Asia regarded it as a European country, and neither end was pleasing to both ends. Of course, in history, the Ottoman Empire was once strong, spanning the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. Its heyday was nearly 6 million square kilometers, reaching the Strait of Gibraltar in the west, reaching the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf in the east, reaching the present Austria and Slovenia in the north, and now Sudan and Yemen in the south. Moreover, because it lies between the Eurasian continent and cut off the ancient Silk Road, European countries were forced to find a new route to Asia from the sea. Therefore, in a sense, the Age of Discovery was actually forced out by the Ottoman Empire.

However, since modern times, the Ottoman Empire has gradually weakened and has been bullied by European powers one after another. Since it was Europe and part of Africa, most of its territory had been lost. Europe was not forced to remain in the Balkans, and Africa had retreated to Egypt and Sudan. However, the core area of ​​the Ottoman Empire is still there and is still a crossroad connecting Eurasia.

In the early 19th century, Russia rose and frequently occupied the territory of the Ottoman Empire in Asia. A total of 10 Russian-Turkish wars were launched. The Ottoman Empire lost more than it won, and lost Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Caucasus and other places. Russia expanded to the Black Sea coast. However, Russia's expansion also aroused the alertness of European countries. At this time, the Ottoman Empire also learned a lot and knew how to use some barbarians to control barbarians. Therefore, in the Ninth and Ten Russian-Turkish wars, Britain, France and Germany and other countries either supported Turkey openly or secretly. It was because it was during the Ninth Russia-Turkish wars that Britain and France even participated in the war in person that the Ottoman Empire paid some price, but it still prevented the Bosphorus Strait and blocked Russia's exports to the Mediterranean.

But now, in order to fight against Germany and form an alliance with Russia, although Britain and France did not give in like Russia on the Bosphorus issue, it also made the Ottoman Empire feel deeply uneasy. Maybe it was sold by Britain and France as soon as it opened. Therefore, the Ottoman Empire continued to maintain relations with Britain and France, and actively developed relations with Germany to prevent accidents. In order to balance the relations between Britain and France and Russia, Germany also actively responded to the Ottoman Empire, so the relationship between the two sides rose rapidly.

While the Ottoman Empire was uniting and joining forces with various countries, it was also working hard to carry out military, political, economic reforms in order to change its backward and beating situation. In military reform, the Ottoman Empire adopted the model of relying on Germany and the navy relying on Britain to enhance its military strength. However, in the past 1 or 2 years, Britain's attitude towards the Ottoman Empire has become much more negative, and it has become more perfunctory about the naval construction of the Ottoman Empire. Fortunately, Britain also took the shipbuilding order of the Ottoman Empire, and has not completely abandoned the Ottoman Empire, but this also caused the Ottoman Empire to have a great sense of crisis.

At this moment, the East China ** hit Russia hard in the Far East War and wiped out the expeditionary fleet dominated by British warships, which immediately gave the Ottoman Empire new hope. The enemy of the enemy was his friend. The East China ** was thousands of miles away from the Ottoman Empire, so of course they would not be interested in the territory of the Ottoman Empire. The East China ** also bordered Russia, so as long as they were willing to help the Ottoman Empire, they could prevent Russia's attack on the Ottoman Empire.

In addition, the East China ** defeated the expeditionary fleet with British warships as the main ships, which shows that the East China *** navy also has its own unique features. It may be able to replace Britain and help the Ottoman Empire build a navy. At least it can leave a backup for itself. If Britain really sells the Ottoman Empire to Russia, it will also have a backup. Therefore, the Ottoman Empire also decided to try to develop relations with the East China ***.
Chapter completed!