Chapter 396 Southern Netherlands Initiative
Austria.
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
Joseph II tried hard to lift his withered right hand, and only made an indistinct sound in his throat: "Tali, Tali..."
Leopold II on the side quickly speculated: "Your Majesty, do you mean Talleyrand?"
Seeing His Majesty the Emperor nod, he continued: "Are you very concerned about what he said about the British's intention to export revolution?"
Talleyrand had just concluded his visit to Austria, where he stayed for three full days, criticizing the British conspiracy to overthrow the monarchs of various countries in Vienna.
"It's worth... being vigilant." After Joseph II finished speaking, he rested for about ten seconds before continuing with difficulty, "First, use..."
Leopold II followed his words and added: "You are saying that we can use this to weaken the British influence on the situation in the Southern Netherlands."
Emperor Shinra nodded weakly: "Cooperate, France."
France and Austria had very unanimous opinions on expelling the British from the German region.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand. I will deal with it."
…
Western side of the Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Almeria.
In the conference room of the third-class battleship Colossus of the Royal Navy, Lord Talmos, the British special envoy to the Maghreb countries, was making a report to the Foreign Secretary:
“The Sultan of Morocco has agreed to launch an attack on Bise Leeds as long as we make concessions on food import tariffs and use Morocco as a transit for the textile trade in North Africa. There are currently 14,000 Moroccan janissaries in Annaba On standby, these men were basically equipped with Brown Bess flintlock guns and equipped with 20 cannons."
Marquis Wellesley nodded without thinking much:
"Tell Moroccans that their demands will be considered by parliament."
Compared with the situation in India, the empire's interests in North Africa can be completely conceded. Moreover, using Morocco as a trade transit will not have any impact on British profits.
"I will go to Morocco as soon as possible, Lord Marquis." Lord Talmos continued, "Algiers has also prepared an army of 12,000 people, but you also know that their combat effectiveness is not worth looking forward to. "
The Algiers Guards had been severely beaten by Joseph. More than half a year had passed and they still had not recovered their strength.
"Well, they can have their navy increase harassment of French merchant ships."
Marquis Wellesley gave instructions and then asked: "Where is Tripoli?"
"Benjiur currently has 12,000 Ottoman Guards in his hands." Talmos said, "However... he has made secret contact with him according to your instructions. He is only willing to send no more than 800 After all, Constantinople never wanted to offend France."
Marquis Wellesley waved his hand nonchalantly: "It doesn't matter. I'm here just to resolve this matter."
He has obtained an allocation of 350,000 pounds from the British Parliament, which is nearly 9 million livres. Of this money, 100,000 pounds was used to bribe Benjiour. Later, he would go to Constantinople and provide a certain degree of diplomatic support and trade concessions to the Ottomans in exchange for Selim III turning a blind eye to the unauthorized actions of the Tripoli garrison.
Wellesley had absolute confidence that Benjiour, the Ottoman warlord, was driven by huge profits and had enough courage to provoke the French army in Tunisia as long as the Ottoman Sultan did not hold him accountable.
In addition, Tripoli also has a fleet of nearly 300 ships. Although most of them are small ships and are by no means a match for the French navy, if they can be supported by British intelligence, artillery and port supplies, they still have the ability to seriously disrupt France's presence in the Mediterranean. trading ability.
Wellesley knew that the trouble the East India Company encountered in Mysore was very difficult - this time Britain would definitely have to give up some interests to France to solve the problem.
Therefore, he must try his best to create bargaining chips for himself so that he can minimize losses as much as possible when negotiating.
He even prepared to let the pirates in Algiers and Tripoli attack the coastal cities in southeastern France after the French army in Tunisia fell into a passive position - being attacked from two sides by nearly 40,000 troops. , to increase domestic pressure in France.
Coupled with his layout in the Southern Netherlands, if he is lucky, he may not have to pay anything in exchange for France not to interfere in the situation in Mysore.
However, just as the Colossus arrived at the port of Mitijia for simple supplies and was preparing to weigh anchor, a Royal Navy fast galley "Wheezy" came in hot pursuit from Gibraltar.
The Marquis of Wellesley was talking to Talmos in the cabin about how to use Britain's naval superiority to attack French trade in the Caribbean. Although Britain and France had a series of treaty restrictions, there must be ways to bypass the treaty to deal with the French. Saint-Domingue's sugar exports contribute more than 40 million livres in revenue to the French government every year!
Just when the two had just gotten to know each other a little bit, officers from the "Wheezing" knocked on the door and handed the latest European intelligence into Wellesley's hands.
The Foreign Secretary took out a few pages of documents from the mailbox, raised them to Talmos, and said with a smile: "I guess there is good news from Vandernott."
He unfolded the paper and read only a few lines before the smile froze on his face.
"My Lord Marquis, how is the situation in the Southern Netherlands?" Talmos asked rather blankly.
"Damn the French!"
Wellesley put away the documents with a gloomy face, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and shouted outside the cabin:
"Tommy, call Captain Taylor for me."
He looked at Talmos again:
"I'll leave the matter of Tripoli and Ottoman to you. I must return to Europe first."
The intelligence mentioned that Austria, Spain, Bavaria, Mainz and other countries had submitted notes to Britain, requesting clarification of Britain's attitude towards the rebellion in the Southern Netherlands, as well as the connection between the previous liberal riots in France and Britain.
In particular, the notes from Austria and Spain were very harsh, criticizing Britain's export of revolution in Europe.
Wellesley turned his back and looked out the window irritably. He was still careless. He didn't expect that the shameless French would connect the incitement of riots with "exporting revolution"!
He knows very well that if this matter is not handled properly, it is likely to cause a diplomatic disaster...
More than ten days later, just as Wellesley left Cologne and rushed to Prussia—yes, even William II also raised questions about Britain—he suddenly received news that the head of Hesse-Darmstadt King Ludwig IX proposed a "Southern Netherlands Initiative".
(End of chapter)