Chapter 428: Old Friend

Tevez stared at the treaties with a sad face, and his hand holding the treaties began to tremble uncontrollably.

The accompanying Dutch and Indonesian officials were like frost-bitten eggplants, listless. They had completely lost their arrogant demeanor in the past.

One thing is certain: due to the poor performance in this Dutch-Chinese War, many Dutch and Indonesian officials present will lose their positions soon, including Tevez.

"The treaty is too harsh, please give us some time to consider."

The arrogant Dutch governor lowered his posture and said to Liang Yao in a pleading tone.

"If your army performs well enough on the battlefield, the contract will definitely not be so harsh." Liang Yao stood up from his chair, and he seemed a little impatient.

"I will only give you three days to consider."

Three days, this is the deadline Liang Yao gave Tevez.

Liang Yao had just walked out of the door when Sven walked up to him and said, "Sir, an old friend is visiting."

"Old friend?" Liang Yao was a little confused.

He really couldn't remember who would come to visit him in Borneo Island, a remote place, at this moment.

"It's General Tromelin of the French Navy." Sven said with a smile.

Liang Yao stroked his forehead and said, "Ah? It turned out to be him. What is he doing here?"

Tromelin was the commander of the French Navy's Pacific Fleet. Liang Yao's first warship, the Roland, was bought from Tromelin.

Chaoyong Yangwei II was also bought from a French shipyard by Tromelin.

Of course, Tromelin, as a middleman, also made a lot of money from Liang Yao when buying the ships.

Liang Yao's impression of this French naval general can't be said to be very good or bad.

Although Tromelin made a difference of more than 30,000 US dollars from him, at least he was paid for his work. Liang Yao finally successfully purchased an advanced steam warship from the French.

The French side also fulfilled its promise and helped him train qualified crew members.

As far as the two naval battles in the Java Sea are concerned, the three warships purchased from the French were a relatively successful military purchase.

These three warships have played their due value, and Liang Yao has not been a sucker.

"No." Sven shook his head and said.

"He only said he wanted to see you, but didn't mention what the specific matter was. I heard that General Tromelin had previously visited San Francisco, and when he learned that you were not in San Francisco, he made a special trip to Borneo, which must be a very urgent matter."

The French came at the right time.

Tromelin came to Borneo in a hurry to find him, most likely because of the Crimean War. Only this matter was worth a French general coming to him.

Although Britain and France have directly intervened in the Crimean War.

But the importance of this war to both sides is different.

To put it bluntly, the powerful British Empire can afford to lose, but France, or more precisely, Napoleon III, cannot.

If the British lost, they would only lose part of their interests in the Near East, but if France lost, given that the old revolutionary base had a glorious tradition of sending emperors to the guillotine.

Napoleon III would eventually face not only the question of whether he could keep the crown of the Second French Empire on his head, but also the question of whether he could keep his own head.

The French nobles and the people could push Napoleon III to the throne of emperor, and naturally they could also pull him down. The French were not at all soft-hearted when it came to changing emperors.

Therefore, compared with Britain, France was more eager to cut off the bear claws of Tsarist Russia reaching out to the Black Sea and Balkan regions and win this war.

Only in this way could France break through the shackles of the Vienna Conference, sweep away the dull atmosphere in the country after the fall of the First French Empire, and boost national self-confidence and France's position in the international community.

Of course, Napoleon III needed the victory of this war to consolidate his throne and demonstrate his legitimacy.

The French people did not love a republic or a monarchy, they loved power.

As long as France is strong enough, whether it chooses a republic or a monarchy, turns left or right, their people are happy to accept and support it.

"Meet this old friend."

Liang Yao adjusted his collar while thinking about how to use France to put pressure on the Dutch-Indonesian authorities to get Tevez to sign the contract as soon as possible and to contain the British in Sarawak.

"I think we can make some concessions so that Tevez can sign the contract earlier."

Fremont is shorter than Liang Yao and his legs are not as long as Liang Yao. In order to keep up with Liang Yao, he had to speed up.

Fremont doesn't like the humid and hot environment in the tropics, not because he is weak.

As an explorer, Fremont is very strong.

Compared with the humid and hot tropics, Fremont is more adapted to cold weather.

Most importantly, California is about to hold a gubernatorial election, and Fremont is eager to return to California to participate in the election as soon as possible.

Although California has reached a consensus on Fremont's second term as governor, the election is just a formality.

But Fremont still hopes to return to California and give a speech in front of the California people to narrow the distance between himself and the California people.

Only when the California people are closer to him, his future governance will be smoother.

Fremont has a special feeling for California, and he does not want to be a mediocre governor.

"They have no choice, and I will not make any concessions." Liang Yao's attitude remained as firm as ever. At the same time, he also saw Fremont's thoughts, "If you want to return to California early, I can help you Prepare a fast boat."

"It's not less than these three days." Fremont muttered and expressed his concerns, "What if Tevez still doesn't sign after three days? Continue to waste time with them?"

"He will sign." Liang Yao said with certainty.

"Your Excellency, long time no see."

As soon as he saw Liang Yao, Tromolan felt like he was seeing a long-lost brother. He warmly held Liang Yao's hand and asked him how he was.

Different from the first meeting, this time Tromolan prepared a valuable gift for Liang Yao.

It seemed that Tromolan took the initiative to visit this time, and indeed he had something to ask for.

These gifts were probably not given to him personally by Tromolan, but from Napoleon III. Because Tromelan is a rather stingy person.

After chatting for a while, Liang Yao invited Tromolan to have a cup of tea.

After drinking tea, Tromolan blew another rainbow fart. He was shocked that Liang Yao became a general at such a young age. At the same time, he praised Liang Yao's performance in the military conflict in the East Indies.

Liang Yao dealt with Tromolan very perfunctorily. He had already heard these words and his ears were calloused.

Finally, Tromolan expressed his intention to visit Liang Yao's military camp.