Chapter 1121

“You…”

Brooke pointed at Tang Wenjie in anger, while Tang Wenjie had a nonchalant expression, as if to say, “You can decide how to handle this yourself.”

After a few rough breaths, Brooke forcibly suppressed his anger. At this time, he suddenly felt a deep sense of sadness.

Anger without power was meaningless, and his current display only served to make him a laughingstock.

Slowly standing up, his expression returned to normal. “Although this matter is a bit regrettable, I hope it will not affect the trade between our two countries.”

“Of course.” Tang Wenjie gave Brooke an official smile.

Snorting softly, Brooke walked out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a grim face.

Watching Brooke’s figure disappear, Tang Wenjie’s expression also gradually turned cold. Since the British had failed to achieve their goal through diplomatic means this time, he believed that they would definitely resort to other underhanded tactics.

To prevent the Empire from suffering any losses, he felt it was necessary to suggest to the Emperor that they should tighten their control over the activities of Europeans in the Empire.

At this time, Brooke, who had left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, went all the way back to the guesthouse.

The British envoys who were waiting at the guesthouse immediately came forward to ask about the negotiation. When they learned that all of their conditions were completely rejected, everyone fell silent.

“The Chinese Empire is too confident. At worst, we’ll just fight them again in Europe. We might not lose in Europe,” one person said.

“That’s right. Can’t all of Europe unite and deal with them?”

“…”

The envoys spoke over each other. The room was a chaotic mess, and the frantic atmosphere made everyone extremely agitated.

Brooke quietly looked at the numerous envoys. He was not carried away by impulse.

In his opinion, the Empire’s confidence came from two things: one was its powerful military strength, but the other was that the Empire now seemed to not be worried at all that the current Europe would unite.

Although the reparations issue had caused the five countries to argue for a long time, and their relationship had been affected, he generally felt that this would not have a key impact on Europe.

So what was it that made the Empire so dismissive of them? At this time, he remembered a rumor about France, and his expression immediately became grim. He only hoped that none of that would happen.

…

Saint-Nazaire.

This was a coastal port located southwest of Paris, France.

It was now occupied by the French Youth Army.

Six months ago, André’s confidant, Cooper, was assassinated on his way home. The furious André then set his sights on the officers whom he had been dissatisfied with for a long time.

This caused a conflict to erupt. The young officers who had been dissatisfied with André for a long time launched a rebellion, vowing to send André to the gallows to atone for the crimes he had committed against France over the years.

The war first broke out in Paris, but because André’s influence was strong in Paris, the Youth Army was quickly besieged and forced to retreat to the southwest, where André’s influence was weak.

And here, the Youth Army received full support.

“Henry, this is our fulfilled promise.”

At the port, Mi Zhu pointed at the boxes of supplies being unloaded from the warships and said to Henry.

After the Youth Army launched the rebellion, Mi Zhu also came to the south with Henry, because he knew that André would definitely not let him go.

And according to the Empire’s plan, they would groom Henry to be the dictator of the European continent.

Many French officers had gathered around Henry. They were all followers of Henry. The current state of the war made them feel a little desperate.

Although they had received support here, they were always at a disadvantage when fighting André’s army due to a shortage of weapons and ammunition.

If the situation were to continue to worsen, they would be heading towards defeat.

“Thank you, Empire!”

Henry hugged Mi Zhu tightly. This batch of supplies had come just in time. He now had enough men, but what he lacked were weapons and ammunition.

Mi Zhu showed a smile. He led Henry to the boxes of supplies and had the soldiers open them for Henry to receive.

The soldier heard this and pried open a wooden box. Inside the box were neatly arranged Falcon-style rifles. Then some other boxes were opened, which contained paper cartridges.

“Rear-loading rifles?” Henry’s mouth hung open in shock. The other officers also had incredulous expressions.

An officer said, “We suffered losses from this kind of rear-loading rifle in Paris. That bastard André has been dissatisfied with us for a long time, so he equipped all the rear-loading rifles that were produced to his personal guard army.”

The other officers all swarmed forward and picked up the Falcon-style rifles to examine them.

Henry was so happy he couldn’t close his mouth. He was even happier when he looked at the cannons that were being hoisted down from the warships. With this equipment, defeating André was just a simple matter.

“Henry, the Empire has provided you with a total of sixty thousand Falcon-style rifles and bullets, as well as three hundred cannons. I hope you can defeat André as soon as possible and repay the Empire,” Mi Zhu said.

During his time in Europe, he learned that the Europeans were already replicating their rear-loading guns. It would have been meaningless to provide them with smoothbore guns.

Henry remembered his promise to the Emperor of the Empire. After he defeated André, he had to recognize the Empire’s occupation of French Indochina and Canada.

In exchange, the Empire would support him to become the ruler of France.

“Please convey to the esteemed Emperor that I will keep my promise.” Henry said.

Mi Zhu nodded, a strange look flashing in his eyes. When Henry made this request in Qingzhou, the Empire had already determined that Henry was an ambitious man.

And this was exactly what the Empire needed. They determined that Henry would surely establish a dictatorial France after he defeated André.

Then Henry, driven by ambition, would very likely launch a war to unify Europe, because this had always been the dream of the French people, let alone Henry.

However, the Empire’s purpose was not to make Henry the hegemon of Europe. A unified Europe was not what the Empire wanted to see.

According to the Empire’s plan, they would let France’s expansion be ended by Tsarist Russia. And in this process, the Empire would earn a large amount of profit by selling them weapons.

“I will relay that to His Majesty. I hope that when I return again, you will have become the ruler of France.” Mi Zhu said.

Henry’s eyes were filled with excitement. “Perhaps this will have already been realized by the time you return. Not even André has equipped his army with so many rear-loading rifles.”

“That would be for the best.” Mi Zhu looked at the warships behind him. He would be returning to the Empire with the warships to report on his mission.

After all the supplies were unloaded, Henry saw Mi Zhu off on the warship.

Watching the steel warships slowly sail away, emitting black smoke, Henry’s face turned cold, and he put away his hypocritical smile.

He would not keep any foolish promises. He was using the Empire, and the Empire was also using him. Once he unified Europe, the Eastern Empire would be his biggest enemy.