Catherine and the Black Emperor

Chapter 124. French Ambassador Jones

The carriage headed towards the palace.

"Have you received any letters from Anastasia recently?" Sergei asked.

Roman replied, "Not yet, but the lady's residence is quite far from here. Yuri has already sent people there, and I believe there will be good news soon. I will keep an eye on things, sir."

Sergei nodded.

The carriage arrived at the palace, and Sergei alighted. Led by the royal steward, he proceeded to the garden.

When he arrived, Nikita Panin was already chatting with Adolf and King Louise and Queen Louise.

Of course, there are two more – Parliament Speaker Joachim and French Ambassador Jones.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am so sorry, I am late."

Sergei bowed to the King and Queen in apology.

"Ambassador Saltykov, you're too kind. His Majesty and the Queen just made a bet with me on how late you would arrive, but I bet that you would be half an hour later, and I lost 1 thalers to the Queen for that."

It was French Ambassador Jones who spoke, and this half-joking manner cleverly defused Sergei's predicament.

"Yes, Ambassador Saltykov, you let me win 1 thalers. It seems His Majesty and I will be inviting you to dinner tonight."

""

Queen Louise wore a black dress, looking very elegant, and her gentle smile was captivating.

"It's settled then, Ambassador Saltykov. We'll have dinner together tonight." King Adolf nodded.

Then, he stepped forward and whispered something in Sergei's ear.

"You haven't given me my niece's letter yet. Her mother is in Sweden, and you haven't even given it to her. That's really inappropriate."

Sergei replied quietly, "I have it with me. I'll give it to His Majesty later."

Adolf smiled with satisfaction.

Sergei and Jones made eye contact; Jones smiled, while Sergei nodded in thanks.

As everyone dispersed in small groups and chatted amongst themselves, Panin said to Sergei, "You've seen how formidable that French ambassador is, haven't you?"

Sergei nodded sincerely.

"He is absolutely our biggest rival in the Swedish court."

The other party's help in getting him out of trouble was genuine, but that doesn't mean they didn't want to kill him. On the contrary, the more someone wants to kill you, the more effort they'll put into showing kindness.

Such a person, if they don't make a move, all is well; but if they do, they will bring utter ruin to their victims.

Moreover, these seemingly "sincere" attempts to please are actually aimed at lowering the target's guard.

Sergei has already listed Jones as his most dangerous opponent.

From the exchange between them, he could tell that Speaker Joachim respected Jones, and there wasn't even a hint of disrespect for Jones or France in his words.

Rather than the speaker of the Swedish parliament, he felt more like the speaker of the French parliament was standing there.

Even if the Hat Party needed huge financial subsidies from France, there was no need for them to act this way, which shows that Jones's methods were even more formidable than he had imagined.

"Duke Saltykov, Count Panin, how about we take a walk together?"

Queen Louise's voice came, and the King and Queen arrived together.

"With pleasure," Sergei replied.

Panin smiled and nodded in return.

The four walked among the flowerbeds, seemingly admiring the thriving flowers, but their attention was actually elsewhere.

"Duke, last time I heard you speak about economic trade and agricultural development. After I recounted it to His Majesty, His Majesty was very interested. That's why he specifically wants to hear about your rather unusual social structure today."

Louisa smiled slightly.

"How could I dare to show off in front of His Majesty?" Sergei shook his head with a smile.

Adolf said, "Does the Duke not wish to share with me? There are many kinds of flowers, and everyone has their own strengths, so the Duke need not be so modest."

Sergei nodded.

"Alright, since Your Majesty has said so, I will not refuse any longer, otherwise it would seem too pretentious."

Everyone else just smiled.

Sergei knew that the King and Queen had come for this afternoon tea, so he stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point.

"Diplomatic means are an important capability for a country to maintain international stability and security, while social structure is the key to a country's internal stability."

Simply put, for a country to develop, it cannot be just the development of a certain region or city, but comprehensive development and prosperity. Only in this way can the balance of people's hearts not be tilted, and the social structure become stable instead of collapsing.

With just two sentences, Adolf and Louisa's eyes lit up, and they understood the deeper meaning in Sergei's words.

Even Panin was impressed by Sergei.

Clearly, he had not expected the other party to have such profound insights into politics and governance.

"As we mentioned before, banking and trade are aimed at forging inseparable economic ties with Russia and France. Of course, my personal motives as the Russian ambassador also play a role, as Russia also needs to shake hands with Sweden" to jointly embrace a better future.

"Therefore, after engaging in economic cooperation, agricultural development, or rather, an agricultural revolution, became Sweden's top priority. However, with any development, great benefits are always accompanied by hidden risks."

"While the agricultural revolution could greatly increase social productivity, it also exacerbated social stratification, leading to a sharp increase in the number of landless tenant farmers who had to sell their labor for a living."

On the other side, French Ambassador Jones and Speaker Joachim were watching the four people talking.

"What did those two Russians say that captivated the King and Queen so much?" Joachim asked, his face grim.

French Ambassador Jones, on the other hand, looked relaxed.

"I underestimated this new ambassador a bit. Yes, how could someone so young be so easy to deal with, capable of replacing Panin?"

He and Joachim arrived at the garden first, followed by Panin.

Before Panin arrived, the King and Queen had already told him about Sweden's plan to produce paper money.

Not to mention him, even Joachim was greatly surprised.

Because he learned of this secret through French channels, even Joachim thought he was kept in the dark.

According to what he knew, it would take some time for Sweden to complete all preparations and announce its national policy of issuing banknotes, but the King and Queen had told him in advance.

That's why they made a temporary bet using the new banknote "Thaler".

"They're not to be trifled with."

Joachim was also watching Sergei's figure.

Jones looked at him: "Speaker, aren't you going to explain to me that Sweden is going to issue paper money? Parliament is receiving huge financial subsidies from France, yet they're hiding such a big thing."

Joachim looked troubled: "To be honest, this was entirely the work of the King and Queen in collusion with the Hat Faction. I found out too late; I originally intended to tell you today."

Jones stared at him without saying a word, as if to say, "Keep making up your lies and see if I believe you."

Joachim chuckled and picked up the red wine, adding some to the glass Joachim was holding.

"Look, there's no more wine. I'll go get a bottle." Joachim looked at the empty bottle and turned to leave.

"Does the Speaker need to go get it himself?" Jones shouted.

"I must personally collect the wine for the ambassador!" Joachim replied.