what do you think sherlock

Chapter 71 Cooperation and Assistance

Paris, Elysee Palace.

Outside the two-storey, symmetrical European classical stone building, flowers and national flags were placed to welcome the British mission.

"Mr. Prime Minister, on behalf of the French government and all French citizens, I welcome you here." The current French President Francois said enthusiastically to Gladstone.

President Francois is not tall, with square shoulders and broad chest, brown hair, two dark and shiny eyes, piercing, deep-set eye sockets, broad and high forehead, and half a circle around his cheeks by a fence-like beard , and a slightly eccentric aquiline nose protrudes from the beard.

He has a sturdy figure, but his head is very elegant, and he looks like a missionary, but it would be a big mistake to think so. François is a typical 19th century scholar, pursuing Voltaire thought proposition.

"Thank you and the people of France for your welcome, Mr. President." Gladstone returned greetings.

Neither of them had a polite temperament, and after a while of pleasantries, they immediately got to the point.

"The alliance of three emperors is not in the interests of Britain, nor is it in the interests of France." Gladstone's first sentence tried to set the tone for this conversation.

But Francois has a calm temperament, he never makes a decision lightly:
"You are right, Monsieur Prime Minister, France supports your views in principle, but I think that just as before, the contradictions between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are difficult to reconcile, and there are potential conflicts of positions between Germany and Russia. Of course, I support standing with the UK, but I think it is still too early to react violently to the Three Emperors Alliance, and it is a safer approach to observe prudently."

The French Third Republic, established after the Franco-Prussian War, showed its image on the world stage, no longer as the mighty European hegemon, but with a conservative and comprehensive shrinking face.

The reason behind this is France's economic strength that has gradually fallen behind in the wave of the industrial revolution and its military strength that has exhausted the afterglow of Napoleon and fell from the throne of the world's number one army.

Coupled with Francois's conservative and passive political tendencies, Gladstone, who heard this answer, said he was not surprised.

But he believes that the French will never completely give up their overseas interests, at least they will find it hard to accept the Russians reaching out to Africa.

So he nodded slightly, showing a smile:
"I personally fully understand your concerns. In addition, unlike Disraeli, I am not unacceptable to the Russian expansion in West Asia and the Balkans, but I think this expansion should have a bottom line."

"Bottom line?" The word obviously aroused Francois' interest, and he raised his eyebrows.

"Constantinople," Gladstone circled a location on an open map, "this is the bottom line of the British Empire."

Francois stared at the map. After a while, he smiled and nodded, "This is also the bottom line of France."

"We'll all benefit from this," Gladstone smiled, holding out his hand, and François held out his own, clasping them tightly.

"By the way, Mr. President, there are two more matters that also need your assistance."

*
*
*
London, 221B Baker Street.

"Although I have already prepared mentally in advance, these files are too many." Sherlock clicked his tongue,
"Fortunately, I have extraordinary abilities in the field of memory."

Sherlock's words made Di Renjie's hand which was arranging the documents unnaturally stiff:
"Okay, okay, now everyone must know that you have extraordinary abilities in the field of memory.

"Then, since Mr. Sherlock has made a lot of achievements in the field of memory, I wonder if he has found the answer we want?" Di Renjie said teasingly.

"John, we must respect the laws of the objective world. I mean, although I have a stronger memory processing ability, I still need to read the files bit by bit." Sherlock raised his hands in surrender.

"Jingle bell," said Mrs. Hudson when the doorbell suddenly rang downstairs, and she ran to open the door:
"I'm coming,
"Oh, I remember you, Sherlock's brother."

After Mrs. Hudson opened the door, she saw the bald middle-aged man Mycroft standing at the door smiling and waiting:

"Hi, dear lady, let me visit Sherlock and the others."

"Sherlock, Mycroft is here," Di Renjie gave Sherlock a wink, and Sherlock immediately found a blanket knowingly and put it on the file they had borrowed from the museum.

With so many files on loan, covered with blankets, they look like some piece of furniture covered with dust sheets.

"Tat Tat Tat," accompanied by a few crisp footsteps, Mycroft's figure appeared in the living room. While saying greetings, he scanned the layout of the living room:

"I hope that my sudden visit did not cause trouble to you."

"It's too outrageous for you to say that, Mycroft, you have already caused us trouble without going to the door." Sherlock choked.

McCoff automatically ignored his younger brother's sarcasm. After looking around for a while, he pointed to the blanket covering the file and said to the two:

"It seems that you have been enjoying your life recently. Is this newly bought furniture?"

"Ah, that's right, a stool I just bought," Sherlock sat down on the pile of files as if worried that Mycroft wouldn't believe it.

McCoff gave Sherlock a meaningful look, didn't say much, turned to Di Renjie and said, "Let's not go around in circles, Mr. Watson, I'm here to find you this time."

Di Renjie seemed to have expected it, nodded and said: "Please tell me, Mr. McCoff."

Mycroft put his cane aside, like the master of the room, he calmly found an armchair and sat down:

"As for the new department to be established, Mr. Watson, your strength has not yet reached the third level, so although I appreciate your ability very much, I still cannot directly appoint you as the head of the department, but I hope you can be the chief of the department. Secretary, although this position is not the head of the department in name, it has the power to actually control the department."

Di Renjie thought for a moment, then agreed: "I have no reason to refuse, Mr. McCoff."

"That's a pleasant cooperation, Mr. Watson. In addition, the preparation of the department will take some time. You can find some people with clean backgrounds in the next two months, who can fill your command in the future, but for the sake of safety, We will also conduct identity checks on them at that time."

*
*
British Prime Minister Gladstone's trip to Paris has attracted the attention of the whole world, especially at the critical juncture of St. Petersburg announcing the resumption of the alliance of three emperors. Whether Britain and France can reach a consensus on European issues has become a rapidly changing political situation in the European continent. The most touching part.

However, on the fourth day of Mr. Prime Minister's visit to Paris, with the introduction of the "British-French Double Insurance Agreement on Constantinople and the Eastern Question", this most worrying boot was finally settled.

Obviously, Britain and France hold a conservative attitude towards the establishment of the Three Emperors Alliance, but they have a firm bottom line for Russia's southward expansion.

Constantinople, which can also be called Istanbul at this time, is the bottom line drawn by Britain and France. Until Russia violates this bottom line, they will take a cold-eyed attitude towards the situation in the Balkans.

For the British Empire, this is obviously a rather "appeasement" agreement, but it will not give up their arrangements in Turkey. For the Gladstone cabinet, if they can, they do not mind. If the strait is not lost, let Russia expand their influence along the Black Sea coast, and maybe they will be satisfied and put down the pace of expansion.

However, the facts have proved that the Gladstone cabinet has always been criticized for lack of diplomatic ability. It is true that this agreement did not bring about the stability they had expected at the beginning, but instead aroused the anger of the Russian military aristocracy.

This kind of anger is composed of two parts. One part is that the core purpose of Russia's southward expansion is Constantinople, the "Tsargrad" in their eyes. Whether it is religious or strategic, Constantinople is not Southward expansion strategies aimed at all are unattractive;
The other part is that this behavior of excluding the third party, directly drawing the bottom line and then notifying them not only failed to please the Great Slavophiles, but also angered them. China's contempt for the Russian Empire, especially when recalling the setbacks brought to Russia by Britain and France in the previous two Russo-Turkish wars, such contempt is even more glaring and unbearable.

So on the day this "Double Insurance Agreement" was released, the Caucasus Army and the Black Sea Army in southern Russia both advanced 100 kilometers to the southern border, and an infantry division of the Black Sea Army even set foot directly in Bulgaria.

Of course, in name, the Grand Duke of Bulgaria invited the Russian army to protect his homeland security, but in fact, everyone knows who is behind the scenes.

This has instantly brought the international situation into an extremely dangerous and turbulent situation. All political, diplomatic and military actions have become part of such a tense situation that affects the whole body. In a complex and delicate system that is nested layer by layer, like a spider web, the Gladstone Mission is like a flying insect that has accidentally fallen into the spider web. It seems to be able to shake the ripples, but in fact it is powerless .

But is that really the case?Is there really an inevitable slide towards war and conflict?
At this time, Gladstone, who had ended his visit to Paris early and had already boarded back to Calais, didn't think so.

Because from the very beginning of leaving London, the double insurance agreement is not only the dual insurance of Britain and France on the surface, but also a second layer of insurance hidden in it.

Gladstone looked at the scenery outside the train window with a complicated expression. He actually didn't want to use this second layer of insurance, but the current situation forced him to use it...

[Sure enough, in terms of diplomacy, I am still far from Disraeli. ] Gladstone thought to himself, he finally used the other party's plan.

"Your Excellency, the train is going in the wrong direction," Mills broke in suddenly, interrupting Gladstone's thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Gladstone smiled meaningfully.

"We should be heading northwest, but the train is heading northeast at this time." Mills said nervously: "Could it be that the French have turned to St. Petersburg?"

Gladstone laughed and said:

"No, don't worry, Mills, we're on the right track."

*
England, Hughundon Manor.

Disraeli took out a special rune disk, and behind him appeared a man dressed in a rather weird manner, like a Frankenstein.

"Is it usable in this way?" Disraeli turned his head and asked.

"Of course," Frankenstein nodded impatiently:

"Tell me which line you want to connect to?"

"Berlin, help me connect to Berlin." Disraeli said with a smile.

Frankenstein didn't say a word, and immediately started to operate. Before waiting for a long time, bursts of light appeared on the rune disk.

"Is this the connection?" Disraeli asked curiously.

"That's right, it's already connected." It wasn't the Frankenstein who answered Disraeli, but a thick old man's voice from the rune disk.

"Ah," Disraeli let out a cry of surprise, obviously he didn't realize that the other party was already waiting for him at the other end, but then he laughed a little happily:

"Sorry, I didn't expect to be connected."

"Haha, of course it doesn't matter. It's been a long time, dear Disraeli." The old man on the other end of the phone also said with a smile.

"Yeah, long time no see, I hope you are all well, respected Your Excellency Bismarck."

　Today this chapter is two in one, it doesn’t feel right to separate~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)