Chapter 422 Destiny and Future
Joseph II on the side immediately made an anxious "Uh-huh" sound when he heard this.
Leopold II hurriedly leaned over to listen, and then said to Turgut: "Your Majesty, ask you, did the French mention the sovereignty of Wallonia?"
"Archbishop Talleyrand says sovereignty still belongs to the King of the Southern Netherlands."
"What about the province of Ghent?" Leopold II asked again.
Ghent faces the Atlantic Ocean to the south and can guard the outlet of the Rhine River. Its strategic position is extremely important.
"Ghent is not included in the special trade zone," Turgut added, "nor Bruges."
Bruges is another coastal province next to Ghent.
Leopold II was relieved when he heard this. In this case, the so-called "special trade area" was completely inland and only included the two provinces of Mons and Namun, as well as part of southern Liège. The area is only slightly larger than Luxembourg.
As long as the coastal provinces are in hand, plus Antolfo can firmly control the mouth of the Rhine River, then the best interests of the Southern Netherlands will not be lost.
He looked at Joseph II, nodded and said: "Your Majesty, I think this condition is acceptable."
In fact, the mouth of the Rhine River, which he valued most, was just a hot potato for Joseph.
The Rhine River is the commercial artery of the German region. If France controls the mouth of the Rhine River, it will gain huge trade advantages in the German District and even squeeze Britain out of here. By then, the British will not hesitate to launch a national war to drive France away from here.
Historically, one of the core factors behind Britain's active instigation of the anti-French alliance was France's occupation of the entire Southern Netherlands.
In addition, if the British wanted to have a bad influence on the Walloon region, they would first have to cross the coastal provinces controlled by Austria, which in turn became a barrier to France.
Therefore, it is most appropriate to leave the coastal provinces to Austria.
What Joseph cared about was only the coal resources in Wallonia and the large French-speaking population. Moreover, after the establishment of the Walloon Special Trade Zone, it will be connected with Luxembourg. When the track is completed, the combined coal and iron resources of the two places will become another powerful engine of the French Industrial Revolution.
As for the ownership of sovereignty, it is just a false name.
After previous operations, the current Walloon Chamber of Commerce is basically promoted by Joseph, and even the president is directly French. The original Military Materials Preparatory Committee had already controlled all aspects of commerce and trade.
If the administration was run by the Chamber of Commerce, which was a common pattern in France, then Joseph would be in control.
At the same time, there are no longer Austrian troops stationed in Wallonia, and the Walloon police are the only violent agency here.
It seems that this will be an "undefended" trade zone, but the police's combat effectiveness has huge room for flexibility.
Have you never heard of the Paris Police Academy? The Walloon police will take you for training first. Don't blame me for the regular soldiers who beat you to tears.
Joseph II was silent for a long time, thinking that this was a sure-profit deal, so he nodded with difficulty and squeezed out one word from his throat:
"Agree."
…
While Joseph was busy signing the "Special Agreement of Vienna" with Leopold II, Mrs. Delvaux's funeral had completed a series of ceremonies and the funeral was officially held.
When Joseph rushed to the cemetery from Schonbrunn Palace, the guests attending the funeral had all left, and there was only a newly built tomb isolated there. The tombstone was engraved with Mrs. Delvaux's name and a line of small words: She had received the most valuable gift in the world. My thoughts are with your beautiful Majesty the Queen.
Camelia was still standing in front of the tombstone, her head lowered and unwilling to leave for a long time.
Joseph stepped forward and patted her on the back, and said softly: "The deceased is gone, and you will have a new home. Her Majesty the Queen is waiting for you in the Palace of Versailles."
The girl slowly turned her head, then slowly curtsied and saluted, and choked with sobs: "Thank you very much for your and Her Majesty's care. May God bless you and Your Majesty."
Joseph nodded and said:
"I will return to Paris the day after tomorrow. Do you want to follow Madame Delvaux's wishes and set off with me?"
Camelia looked at her grandma’s tombstone and nodded with tears in her eyes:
"Yes, Your Highness... Paris is the only place I can go..."
Just as he was talking, the palace officials of Schonbrunn Palace came over under the leadership of Eman, and saluted Joseph:
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, His Majesty the Emperor invites you to attend the ball tonight."
A treaty that had a great impact on Austria was signed, so it was natural to celebrate it.
Joseph had no choice but to comfort the girl a few more words, leaving two servants to take care of her, while he rushed back to Schonbrunn Palace to participate in political social activities.
In the afternoon of the next day, Camelia finally had her first meal in nearly two days, wiped away the tears from her eyes, and prepared to go out to say goodbye to her only friend.
The servants sent by Joseph to take care of her were immediately busy preparing the carriage - all the servants of the Delvaux family had been dismissed, leaving only Camelia's personal maid, who could only do these things when going out.
In a mid-range villa on Railston Street, Mr. Barzel enthusiastically brought hot cocoa to Camelia:
"Drink some, it's loaded with sugar and it'll soothe your soul."
Seeing the girl silently picking up the cup, he asked carefully:
"Well, what are your plans for the future? What if..."
He tried to muster up the courage to say, "If you want, I can take you out of Vienna, anywhere, and I will take care of you for the rest of your life."
Although he is Camelia's music teacher, he is also deeply obsessed with her. So when everyone else avoided her out of fear of Baron Walter, he still firmly guarded her.
Now that Mrs. Delvaux has passed away, he is the only one left in the world who can protect this poor girl. He couldn't deal with Walter, but he could take her away. For her, he would rather give up his comfortable life and spend the rest of his life on the run.
However, before he could say anything, he heard the girl whisper: "Grandma wrote a letter to Her Majesty the Queen of France, and the Dauphin of France will take me to Paris."
She looked up at Bazel: "I'm very scared. It's a distant and strange place. I don't know what kind of fate is waiting for me. Do you think I should go?"
Bazel's heart tightened, and he immediately wanted to say "No, don't go", but he was immediately stunned again.
The French Crown Prince?
He lowered his head slowly. If Camelia could go to the Palace of Versailles, it would be ten thousand times better than following him everywhere to avoid Baron Walter.
That's the life she should have.
It only took him two seconds for his eyes to become firm. This was even more of an opportunity for her.
He heard Camelia mention the relationship between her grandmother and the Queen of France, which meant that she had many opportunities to come into contact with the future King of France!
Although it is impossible for her to become the crown princess due to her background, as long as she can climb up to the crown prince even a little bit, her destiny can change drastically.
(End of chapter)