Chapter 408 Queen Mary and the “Crown Princess”
In the small theater of the Petit Trianon, Joseph unbuttoned his bulky costume, pointed at the actors on the stage who were reciting their lines, and said to Talleyrand beside him:
"Sorry, please speak louder. It's too noisy here and I can't hear you clearly."
"Oh, okay, Your Highness." The Foreign Secretary quickly raised his voice, "The British have two main demands.
“First, our country will no longer provide any support to Mysore, including recalling the Marquis de Lafayette.
"Second, our country issued an announcement clarifying that Britain was not involved in the export of revolution to the Southern Netherlands."
"As expected." Joseph nodded, "What about our harvest?"
Talleyrand seemed excited, took out his notes and read loudly: "First, Britain must not provide support to North African countries, including Morocco, and publicly condemn Algiers, Morocco and Tripoli's aggression against Tunisia. Behavior.
“Second, Britain will recognize Tunisia, Tripoli and Annada in Algiers as French spheres of influence.”
"Annada?" Joseph looked at the archbishop with some surprise. This was not originally on his "list".
Talleyrand raised his chin with some pride:
“I offered some Southern Netherlands spies in exchange, and the British quickly agreed.”
"You did a great job." Joseph nodded in praise. Anada Province is Algiers' only way into Tunisia - if you don't count the road in the southern desert - if it can be controlled, the security of western Tunisia will be greatly improved.
In addition, starting from Tunisia, this is the bridgehead into Algiers. The Algiers Guards provoked France twice, and this account must not be settled just like that.
And the area of this place is not small, almost the same as the Montpellier province in France, and there is a good port. Although there is some overlap with the Port of Bizerte, it is better than nothing. In the future, the freight for grain sold from Algiers to France will be reduced.
"This is what I should do." Talleyrand bowed and said, "Thirdly, Carnatic will remain neutral forever, and Britain will not seek an alliance with it."
With the strength of Britain, the Indian princes and their so-called alliance actually regarded Britain as their father. This means that Britain will have a gap in its power in the southeast of India, leaving an opportunity for France to set foot on the Indian Peninsula again in the future. Pondicherry, the only French foothold in India, was adjacent to the Carnatic.
"Fourth, Britain will use its influence to urge Russia not to intervene in the Silesian war."
This was requested by Joseph, and Wellesley agreed almost without thinking - Russia is currently at war with Sweden and has no intention of intervening in Silesia.
But Joseph knew that Catherine II had never stopped coveting Poland.
If she wants to defeat Poland at the minimum cost, she must win over Prussia and Austria to attack Poland at the same time. Then she must first mediate the war between the two countries.
The usual mediation model used by the Russians is - stop fighting, otherwise I will send troops.
Talleyrand closed the notebook:
"The fifth and final item is that Britain will reveal Oscar Paoli's whereabouts to us, but he cannot be allowed to die in Britain."
This was also Joseph's request. Oscar Paoli, the supreme leader of Corsican Zionism, must be dealt with as soon as possible.
Not to mention that the Emperor has always regarded him as his spiritual mentor. He is the biggest obstacle to the Emperor's true return to France. As far as the stability of the Corsica region is concerned, it is also a top priority to deal with him - those Zionists are here all day long. Under his command, he fought for power in the Corsican Parliament, slandered the French government everywhere, and incited Corsicans to resist national policies, which prevented Corsica from developing normally.
Historically, it was only after the Emperor used force to deal with the Corsican Restorationists that the island gradually prospered. But that was after the emperor became the first consul and ruled France - the butt determines the head. Now that Joseph could not give him the position of first consul, he could only deal with Pauli.
It's just that the British requirements are a bit troublesome - you can't do it in the UK. This is understandable. Unlike the female liar in the diamond necklace case, the British government handed her over to the French without hesitation. For a figure with huge political influence like Pauley, the British must take into account the impact. If he is allowed to die in the UK, who will dare to go to the UK to set up a government-in-exile in the future? Being able to reveal his whereabouts is already a very big concession for the British.
Joseph couldn't help but narrowed his eyes. Perhaps, for such a political figure, social death can destroy him more than physical death...
Just as he was thinking about it, the foreman of the palace troupe came over cautiously and bowed to him:
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, your Anne is here."
Seeing Joseph stunned for a moment, the foreman hurriedly explained:
"Oh, she is the heroine in your play."
Joseph smiled awkwardly. He had forgotten that he had renamed the heroine in "Breaking the Sky" to Anne Xun Er Xiao.
"I know, I'll come right away."
"Okay, Your Highness."
Talleyrand quickly told the Dauphin some details about the treaty, and then left.
When Joseph came to the stage of the theater, he saw the foreman of the theater group pushing aside the crowd and coming to him with a little guy who was less than Joseph's chest height. He said respectfully: "Your Highness, this is the person who plays Anne. Alexandra Pavlovna…”
Joseph looked at the baby-fat little face in front of him and the big gentle eyes, nodded and smiled:
"Hello, we meet again."
Alexandra immediately picked up her skirt and curtsied to him: "Nice to meet you, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Nice to meet you too, Grand Duchess."
A shy smile flashed across the corner of Alexandra's lips, she took a step closer and whispered:
"Your Highness, your playground is simply the greatest invention in the world!"
"I'm glad you like it." Joseph said politely, and then looked at the foreman of the troupe suspiciously, "You mean, the Grand Duchess will play Anne?"
"Ah, yes, Your Highness." The latter said bravely, "Grand Duchess Alexandra is the most suitable candidate for this role."
He secretly complained in his heart. This role was clearly arranged by Her Majesty the Queen herself, but Her Majesty ordered him not to tell others, so he had to take it on his own.
Well, this is Queen Marie's brilliant idea for her son's love - let all the nobles in the Palace of Versailles see with their own eyes the Crown Prince and Alexandra, as a couple, performing to their heart's content on the stage!
In this relatively indirect way, the nobles gradually accepted the fact that they would have a Russian crown princess. Queen Mary felt that she was a little genius for coming up with this idea.
(End of chapter)