"Well... this dish is so delicious! I haven't eaten such authentic Chinese food in a long time! I can't believe it! Am I really in Stockholm?"

Xia Shu gave a thumbs up in surprise. At this time, what was placed in front of him were plates of delicious food, including crispy duck, sweet and sour fish, salt-baked chicken, white shrimp, stir-fried waist flowers, roasted sea cucumbers, braised beef and hot white...dumplings!

Such a fantastic oriental delicacy actually appeared in the royal palace in Sweden, which really surprised Xia Shu. After the trip to Germany, he brought an Irish visiting delegation to Stockholm, with the intention of enhancing friendship with this Nordic power with rich iron ore resources, so as to obtain a preferential iron ore supply contract to meet Ireland's future industrial development needs. With the threading of his long-time friend Prince Gustav, Xia Shu had a great conversation with Gustav V, who was then the Swedish king, and Adolf, the Swedish prince. After enjoying the orthodox Swedish feast, the Swedish prince specially invited Xia Shu to taste his private meal.

"That's because I have the only authentic Chinese chef in Nordic here." The Swedish prince, who was filled with a bright smile, snapped his fingers at the inner hall. After a moment, an oriental man with a slightly fat body and apron walked over. His appearance did make Xia Shu feel a long-lost intimacy, but before he could speak, Xia Shu noticed that a long whip was dragged behind his head.

Didn’t the Qing Dynasty perish four years ago?

When Xia Shu thought about it, she did not ask so many questions or show off her Chinese language. Instead, she listened quietly to the Chinese chef introducing the dishes and origins in Swedish, which sounded awkward in Swedish.

Swedish and German belong to the Germanic language family. You can understand six or seven points by just listening to words, but there is a certain difference in grammar. Gustav, who was sitting next to Xia Shu, kept explaining in a low voice in German, but his move was obviously redundant. For Xia Shu, the dishes in front of him were not unfamiliar with them.

After the Chinese chef invited by Swedish Prince Adolf, after a lot of verbal introduction, Xia Shu nodded at him with a smile and said "Thank you" in German. The other party bowed deeply and turned around and left. The black whip was very eye-catching.

"If there is no shortage of authentic ingredients, Mr. Wang can also cook more delicious dishes," Adolf explained.

Xia Shu looked at her friend Gustav: "It's already quite amazing! Compared with the Chinese food we eat in Chinese restaurants in London, it's not inferior at all."

The prince looked at his younger brother with some curiosity: "Oh? Have you eaten authentic Chinese food in London? Is it in the Chinese Street in Lymehouse?"

"Well, that's what happened several years ago." Gustav replied disapprovingly.

"It was the 9th Cup of NEW Cup of NEW water racing ten years ago." Xia Shu said that there was no special intention, but Gustav patted his head and said loudly: "Oh, yes! It was the year when His Highness won the Cup of NEW and I won the runner-up. Speaking of which, at that time I was still deeply attached to Princess Louise, ha, time flies so fast! I have become a father, and Princess Louise is still single."

"Aren't you still thinking about her now?" Adolf said suddenly, his tone as if he was complaining.

Gustav picked up the wine glass as if nothing had happened: "Come on, my sincere brother, for our more than ten years of friendship and for us to meet again here!"

Before coming to Sweden, Natsuki did not know that Gustav had ended his marriage with his wife who had been married for six years last year. In this era, common people divorced in Europe, while royal marriages were much more cautious. Perhaps the anger of Prince Adolf was because Gustav's divorce would cause some damage to the reputation of the Swedish royal family, and perhaps there were other reasons. Natsuki was an outsider, so it was inconvenient to ask more questions, so after drinking with Gustav, he quickly changed the topic and asked when Adolf began to study Eastern culture.

Speaking of what made me very proud, Adolf immediately opened up: "Ten years ago, my grandfather gave me a very precious wedding gift, a pair of 18th-century Chinese porcelain bottles. I had never seen such exquisite handicrafts, and I was deeply attracted by them almost at first sight, and thus developed a strong interest in the country and culture that made them. Soon after, I began to collect Chinese porcelain, and as the number of collections increased, my curiosity and yearning for Eastern culture were also

Continuously deepening. Later, by an unexpected opportunity, I came into contact with Chinese bronzes from more than two thousand years ago. They are completely different from the bronzes we dug in Uppsala (central Swedish city). They have great and indescribable historical beauty. From then on, I was deeply attracted by the charm of Eastern civilization, and Chinese cuisine has become my favorite. Nowadays, most of my collections are stored in the Swedish National Museum. If your Highness is interested, you can accompany you to visit at any time."

Gustav muttered in the alcohol, "Wow, there are a lot of antiques there that were bought from London and Berlin for a lot of money. If they were auctioned all of them, I think it would be enough to buy a King-class dreadnought."

"Even if the parliament approved the navy to order a dreadnought, what's the point of asking for it? Carrying one or two thousand sailors around the Baltic Sea, or traveling around the world, visiting forty or fifty countries that most Swedes have never even heard of names every year?" Adolf retorted. The two sides did not have the momentum of tension, so it looked more like a bickering between brothers, but both of them were young and might still do something out of line under the stimulation of alcohol.

Gustav took a big sip of strong liquor and vented in a very frustrated manner: "If we had a strong enough navy, the Russians would dare to point fingers at our internal affairs? Your consultant could still collect antiques in the distant East by cheating? Don't forget that we were once the northern lions that made the European continent tremble, and the richest country in the entire Nordic!"

Prince Adolf did not argue loudly with Gustav at this moment. He generally gave people the feeling of being a steady, mature, calm and elegant royal noble, and was not suitable for yelling with others when his face turned red.

"But those have become history!"

"New glory is always waiting for us to create!"

"Most Swedes are tired of war, the parliament is eager for peace, ordinary civilians are also eager for peace, and only the nobles hope to use war to restore their former power and honor. Haven't you seen how the father's call for the army to be reorganized and prepared for war was coldly treated or even ridiculed?"

"That's because people are afraid of Russia's military power in their hearts and think that we can't take the first step no matter what, but what's the reality? A first-class power like Britain and France has been defeated. Russia's overall failure is only a matter of time. We dare not use this opportunity to seize even a little territory that originally belonged to us, and we are cowardly!"

"We cannot just see the potential benefits of war and ignore the hidden threats behind the war. Have you ever considered that a difficult war could destroy Sweden's economic balance and the political balance between royal power and parliament?"

...

Listening silently as the two brothers argued about Sweden's current situation and strategy, and then extended it to Ireland's national strategy. Sweden has long passed its historical heyday. They failed to become a trading power like Denmark and the Netherlands after the new route was opened, nor did they occupy and rule large areas of colonies like Britain and Portugal. All colonial activities ended in failure, and were defeated by Russia, gradually losing their hegemony in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea. After the former French marshal Bernardote came to Sweden, Sweden joined the anti-French alliance and obtained it from the long-decline Denmark.

Norway, but Norway took the opportunity to declare independence and promulgate the constitution. Sweden forced Norway to agree to surrender to the Swedish king as a country. After that, Sweden was not involved in any war conflicts. Lasting peace and stability brought about domestic economic and technological development. At the end of the 19th and early 20th century, Sweden completed the industrial revolution and its national strength was greatly improved. Although there was still a big gap with first-class powers like Britain, France and Germany, Sweden, with a population of more than 5 million, is much higher than Ireland, which has a population of more than 4 million.

Sweden's family background is still quite rich, but as the two princes mentioned in the debate, the Swedish bourgeoisie controlled the state power through parliament, and the royal power and nobles were excluded, and their status was in danger, and they even had the hidden worries of being overthrown. On the eve of World War I, Gustav V made his final attempt to regain the royal power. He chose the national defense issue as a breakthrough, advocated strengthening military power, and shouted "My navy...my army..." at mass gatherings. But he was bored and was ridiculed by the Social Democrats and Liberals. The frustrated Gustav V never cared about politics anymore, and all the major issues of the state depended on the government.

Gustav's plan for the Navy also fell into vain. During the war, the Swedish Parliament only added a military budget to purchase some shore artillery and lightning strike ships, and expanded the size of the army and navy by one third each. Such an army level is still acceptable, and it is far from waiting for an opportunity to participate in the war.

After arguing, neither of the two Swedish princes could convince each other. After a while, they finally realized that there was an important guest present today, so they calmed down. Of course, there were always gossip rumors about the disputes within the Swedish royal family, saying that Prince Adolf married a British princess, Ostav married a Russian princess, and Gustav V's wife, Queen Sweden, was a German princess. Before the conflicts between European powers intensified in the early years, the family's life was still harmonious, but as
Chapter completed!