The next morning, German Prime Minister Bi Luo met with Xu Jichao and Li Sanjie and held talks. During the talks, Bi Luo represented Germany and expressed his acceptance of the suggestions of East China ** and concluded a partnership, and hoped that from then on, the two sides could cooperate closely and help each other. Xu Jichao also expressed his willingness to establish good relations with Germany, support each other, and jointly respond to various international challenges.

The atmosphere of the talks between the two sides was quite harmonious, and after the talks, the two sides formally signed an agreement to enter into a partnership and issued a joint statement, which also symbolized that the relationship between East China and Germany took another step forward. Although it was not as good as that of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it had a state relationship with the state that had signed a military alliance and had a common defense, it was still much closer than that of ordinary state relations.

After the talks, Biluo also set up a work lunch to entertain the delegates of the East China Conference. The work lunch is simpler and casual than a formal banquet. Although the formal banquet in Biluo is rich, the atmosphere is too detained. Therefore, only countries with close relationships will be so casual. Biluo's arrangements are also intended to express his closeness to the East China Conference.

Although there are not many diplomatic exchanges between East China and Germany, the two sides have not cooperated a lot in recent years. Because the level of military cooperation is relatively high, some military cooperation has not even been between Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so it has reached a relatively close level.

East China ** defeated the Russian Army in the Far East War and defeated the joint fleet with the British fleet as the main force in the naval battle. This record must be given enough respect even if it was Germany.

After lunch, Xu Jichao and his party returned to their apartment. At 3 pm, Prince Heinrich from Germany came to the apartment and asked the main members of the delegation such as Xu Jichao and Li Sanjie to go to the palace to attend the Christmas dinner. In addition, Emperor William II of Germany also planned to meet the delegation members before the dinner.

In a country where the monarch is still retained, it is of course a great honor for the monarch to receive foreign envoys, who are envoys of a non-monarchical country. In particular, on the first day of the visit, a member of the palace came to receive the invitation in person. Of course, Prince Heinrich visited East China many times, and knew most of the main officials of East China. Xu Jichao was also an old acquaintance. Therefore, this time he volunteered to invite the members of the envoy. In order to express his kindness to the envoy, William II agreed.

Xu Jichao and Li Sanjie brought five main members of the mission to the Berlin City Palace with the prince to meet William II.

Although the City Palace in Berlin is so famous, it is one of the oldest imperial palaces in Germany. It is also the residence of the German emperor in Berlin and the place where he handles government affairs and meets ministers. Therefore, it is also magnificent and almost luxurious.

William II was wearing a military dress and met the members of the mission in the palace hall. Xu Jichao, Li Sanjie and others, bowed to William II and said, "Your Majesty, on behalf of China East China **, I will show you to Your Majesty."

William II also stood up from his seat, bowed slightly, and said, "Dignified guests from the East, welcome you to Germany. I hope you can feel comfortable and happy during your time in Germany! Please sit down."

Xu Jichao and others bowed to William II again, and then they all sat down.

In this era, most palaces still retained certain power, and although technology has reached a certain level, most royal families still regard themselves as gods or agents of gods, so the palace countries still retain some etiquette of magnanimity. Although European countries do not usually engage in the etiquette of kneeling and worship, in formal occasions, when the monarch is present, only the monarch has a seat, while other ministers can only stand and answer to the conversation to show their etiquette.

But this brings certain difficulties to the interaction between non-monarchical countries and monarchical countries, because non-monarchical countries pursue equality for everyone, and dialogue between superiors and subordinates is also equal in form, at least they can sit face to face. Therefore, the royal family will not come forward to the exchanges between non-monarchical countries and monarchical countries, and the ministers will deal with them. However, countries with particularly good relations must not be ignored. Over time, a set of interactions between non-monarchical countries and monarchical countries have been formed. The etiquette of the royal family meeting will be ceremonial first, and then the royal family will give it to sit. Of course, the ministers accompanying the monarch to meet will also have seats to show equality, but the monarch's seat will be several steps higher and it will appear more respectful.

After Xu Jichao sat down, William II smiled and said, "I remember that in 1896, Prime Minister Li Hongzhang of your country visited Germany. This was the first time in German history to receive visitors from Eastern China. He left a deep impression on me at that time. I still remember that he was called Bismarck of the East at that time. I didn't expect to welcome Chinese guests again. We waited for 12 years!"

Heinrich, who accompanied William II to meet, only rolled his eyes when he heard this. Although Li Hongzhang and Xu Jichao and others are both Chinese, this is a general term. Li Hongzhang is an official of the throne, while Xu Jichao and others are from East China. These are two hostile political institutions. Therefore, William II compared Li Hongzhang and Xu Jichao and others, perhaps out of kindness, but it was a bit out of kindness, and it was also very rude in terms of diplomatic etiquette. However, Heinrich also knew that his royal brother liked to do things on a whim. When he thought about it, the ministers were also very troubled by this, which was also a normal operation.

Xu Jichao said: "Although Mr. Li Hongzhang belongs to the hostile camp with us, he had a good relationship with us when he was alive, and we also respect his knowledge and contributions to China. We have also heard of Mr. Li Hongzhang's experience when he visited Germany. I think as our cooperation between China East China and Germany continues to deepen, the relationship continues to strengthen, and the visits and exchanges between each other will become frequent. I believe that the next time a Chinese visits Germany, there is no need to wait for 12 years."

After he finished speaking, Biluo and Heinrich were relieved, but the other party could speak. This was to resolve the emperor's inappropriate remarks and avoid embarrassment between each other.

William II didn't feel that he was wrong, but Xu Jichao's answer still satisfied him and said with a smile: "Yes, I also hope that Germany and China will have eternal friendship this time."

Xu Jichao said: "We believe that although China and Germany are far apart, they have many similarities. We should be good friends and good partners."

William II was also a little surprised. He couldn't think of any similarities between China and Germany. To be honest, if there were no East China **, he wouldn't have looked at China in this era. This sentence would have been considered an insult to Germany, but only after the East China ** messenger said it, William II would pay attention and said: "Is that true! Germany and China have similarities!"

Xu Jichao said: "China and Germany are both countries with a long history, and they each have created splendid cultures. China is the center of East Asian civilization, and Germany is the center of European civilization. Isn't this very similar?"

William II laughed and said, "There are indeed many similarities!"

In fact, Germany has not had a long history. It has been less than 40 years since its founding. Even if the entire history of the Hohenzollern dynasty is included, it has only been nearly 500 years. However, Germany has always regarded itself as the heir of the Holy Roman Empire. This way, it can be avoided to be strong for thousands of years. Although it is still not enough to compare with China, it is indeed a country with a long history in Europe. Of course, Germany can indeed be regarded as the center of European civilization, and a large number of writers, philosophers, and artists have emerged in history. Therefore, it is not a pity that it has created a splendid culture, but William II will naturally be happy when he hears it.

Xu Jichao continued: "And Germany has been in a long period of division in history and has been bullied. In the end, Germany finally achieved national unity and national rejuvenation through its own tenacity and hard work. Now China, Germany at that time was very similar, backward, national division, and bullied by foreign enemies. We are also working hard to achieve national unity and national rejuvenation, and in this regard, we should learn from Germany."

After hearing this, William II nodded repeatedly, and felt very helpful, because realizing German reunification and national rejuvenation were the greatest achievements of the Hohenzollern dynasty and the place where William II was proud of it. He was naturally happy to be mentioned by Xu Jichao, and he also had some common hatred for China, saying: "We Germany will do our best to help China and achieve national reunification and national rejuvenation as soon as possible."

Prime Minister Bi Luo was also shocked, fearing that the emperor would be so proud of these words that Xu Jichao would not be able to find the North, so he made some promises.

Fortunately, Xu Jichao owed her body and said, "On behalf of China East China **, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness." He gently revealed this paragraph, and Bi Luo also breathed a sigh of relief, and his impression of Xu Jichao was a little better.

It turned out that William II was only about to receive him for about 30 minutes, and he said a few polite words, and it was enough to express his intentions. However, Xu Jichao responded appropriately and did not show any traces of praise. He was in a good mood, so he couldn't stop talking. He had a talk for more than an hour, but he still didn't have the intention to end. Bi Luo was not only anxious, because today's focus was on Christmas dinner, and the emperor also had to do a lot of things and set aside enough time to prepare. So he could not finish the talk? So he signaled Prince Heinrich with his eyes and asked him to remind the emperor.
Chapter completed!