Eagle’s Glory

"Did the King of Rome come up with it himself? Or did someone give him the idea?"

"His Majesty does have some talented think tanks assisting him, but major decisions are made independently by himself, and only he can decide these." The Marquis of Noirtier answered in a flawless manner.

After listening to the Marquis of Noirtier's explanation, Talleyrand did not speak immediately. Instead, he lowered his head and fell into deep thought, and his expression was not as leisurely as before.

"The little guy is quite generous." After a moment, he muttered.

Then, he asked the Marquis, "Then he is not afraid of being stigmatized? The people will definitely be angry about this."

Naturally, there will be anger, because Aigron's promise to Britain is tantamount to an admission that France is willing to give up its attempt to expand the lowlands by force, which is difficult for the people and nationalists to accept.

Since Louis XIV launched the Franco-Dutch War, expansion into the lowlands has been the long-cherished wish of the French government and the public for a hundred or two hundred years.

After the French Revolution, why did it start a fight with Austria?

On the one hand, this is because the HRE feudal lords headed by Austria are naturally hostile to revolution; but on the other hand, the French revolutionaries took the initiative to "export revolution" to Belgium, trying to get the local uprising to establish a sister republic, and then incorporate it into French influence Within the scope, Austria was stimulated, and the two countries eventually met at war, thus starting a European melee that lasted for more than 20 years.

Those "fathers" who led the revolution in 1789 had Enlightenment ideals on the one hand, but on the other hand they inherited the most traditional geopolitical ambitions of the French.

Danton openly wrote an article advocating: natural borders: "Worries about the republic's overexpansion of its borders are unfounded. The borders of the republic are naturally determined, and we will reach these borders at every corner of the horizon - the banks of the Rhine, the coast of the ocean, and the foothills of the Alps. These should be the final frontiers of our republic.”

It was Dandong who actively asked the Republic to annex Belgium and complete the first step in the expansion of natural borders.

Of course, due to the limited military and financial resources of the Republic, these goals eventually became a mirror image. The Republic itself was paralyzed due to economic collapse. Only after Napoleon launched a coup and came to power, relying on his unparalleled commanding ability, he really The natural boundaries preached by the revolutionary fathers have fallen into practice, and have even been "overfulfilled".

Unfortunately, with the final collapse of the empire, everything was wiped out again, and France's sphere of influence returned to what it was before the revolution.

“Natural boundaries” have become an elusive goal again.

But even so, the ambition that was once ignited has not been completely extinguished in the minds of the French. Some people are still obsessed with the theory of natural boundaries, and even think that is the only fair arrangement for France——

It is conceivable that if Aigron's terms of compromise with Britain are finally made public, it will inevitably arouse huge public opposition, and some may even scold him for failing the late emperor and tarnishing the family's honor.

Although the people here are different in status, they are all smart people. They can naturally see the problems that Talleyrand can see, but they also understand His Majesty's original intention.

Due to historical factors, the Bonaparte family carries huge external hostility. Therefore, if it wants to restore itself in France, it must not only receive domestic support, but also international recognition. Among them, the attitude of the British is extremely critical, and can even be said to be decisive - if the British decides to kill the Bonaparte family, then it can immediately organize an anti-French alliance with other powers, and Aiglon will definitely not be able to withstand this storm. ; But on the other hand, if the British acquiesce to his ascension, it will be difficult for other countries to unite with others to deal with France.

It is precisely because the British attitude is so critical that Aigron is willing to risk the disapproval of the French and make this concession in exchange for their friendly attitude.

"If you want to do great things, you need to cherish your reputation, but if you are afraid of notoriety in everything you do, nothing will be accomplished." The Marquis of Noirtier replied loudly, "I have always been an enemy of the British. To this day, I still hate them with all my teeth, but this does not prevent me from supporting His Majesty’s temporary compromise with Britain. We can no longer afford to be enemies with everyone.”

At this point, he changed the subject again, "In the end, what did we really sacrifice? We just promised to give up something we didn't own. Even the most radical nationalists should admit that before suffering After such a tragic loss, we should stop and recuperate for the time being, right?"

"You are right, my friend, I completely agree with you." Prince Talleyrand nodded leisurely, but then sneered again, "But based on my experience, even if all your starting points are correct, , but as long as you lose the face of the country, you will be thrown into rotten eggs by the people. While the people are secretly glad that they do not have to go to the battlefield, they will be furious at your concessions. I am too familiar with this scene - so, King of Rome Are you ready to accept his insult to the country?"

Noirtier turned pale with anger at Talleyrand's ridicule. He wanted to refute but didn't know how to refute for the moment.

"His Majesty has never been afraid of taking the blame. He will do whatever he thinks should be done." Edmond Dantès quickly said, "Besides, Your Highness, you are his chosen foreign minister. If everything If everything goes well and he reaches a compromise with the British, then you will become the prime minister——"

Edmund paused at this point, but the subtext couldn't be more obvious.

Everything is left to you to negotiate, and you have taken the opportunity to reap such huge benefits. Naturally, you will be indispensable for being a traitor to one's country for glory and self-respect. What qualifications do you have to make sarcastic remarks?

In fact, Aiglon is still very young now. He can use the excuse of being young and immature and not good at diplomatic games to put all the blame on Talleyrand. Anyway, Talleyrand has a good reputation in the hearts of the people. You know, everyone believes that he is capable of such things as taking advantage of the British and betraying the country for glory.

So in the end, although Aiglon's reputation will be damaged, it will not be fatal, and Talleyrand's rich traitorous resume has been added to the story. It's hard to say who has the uglier face, at least Aigron's supporters. Talleyrand was available as a shield.

A normal person would probably be offended by Edmond Dantès's blunt and explicit comments, but Prince Talleyrand was not a normal person after all. Instead, he picked up a handkerchief and covered his mouth, and then laughed uncontrollably with his shoulders twitching. got up.

"Haha, hahaha...hahaha..."

After laughing for a while, he looked up at the Marquis of Noirtier again, "It seems that it is indeed the age of young people. They are all as shrewd and cunning as we were back then, and their spirit and courage are even greater! The King of Rome is not very old, but I didn’t expect that he would be so thorough in his thinking, and even the price has been prepared for me, hahahaha... well, everything is laid out, it’s pretty open.”

There is bound to be a turbulent period when power changes, especially when there is a change of dynasty.

In Aiglon's calculation, if he were to return to France and take over power, it would inevitably bring about a drastic reorganization of the entire political situation, and he would also have to cleanse and compromise the old system as needed.

Whether it is purging or compromising, it will inevitably arouse dissatisfaction among some people, which will in turn bring about opposition and even bad reputation - and this kind of bad reputation is extremely dangerous for a nascent regime.

Therefore, Aiglon's response method is simple. Since he is planning to win over Talleyrand and other neutrals to pave the way for him, then while sharing the power with them, he also packages the infamy they must bear with them. Who can He can't run away. When the time is right and the political situation is stable, he will slowly replace those who have been won over and replace him with his close men.

He was not afraid to confront Talleyrand, because he knew that Talleyrand was the person who cared least about reputation - because he had none.

From this perspective, Talleyrand was his best first partner. He was sophisticated, cunning and ruthless, regardless of his reputation. The best part was that he would not live long and would be called by the Lord before the two sides turned against each other.

"Your Majesty has told me a long time ago that there is no point in playing any conspiracies with you. You are an expert at this, so he will not show his shame." Now that everything has been said, Edmund simply said it. Quan Liangming said, "If you nod and cooperate, then he is willing to wipe out the past grievances between you and the Bonaparte family, and respect you, the elder of the country, with the greatest respect from now on; as long as you fulfill his wish, he is also willing to give you Whatever you want; he can respect your implementation of your policies, but accordingly, as Prime Minister, you must also bear due responsibilities for His Majesty's government. Every signature of his will have your countersignature. .”

Talleyrand fell into thought.

In Talleyrand's heart, he had no preference for the Orleans family and the Bonaparte family. In his eyes, as long as it could bring him the power he dreamed of, that would be enough.

He only wants to be on the side of the winner.

At present, it seems that the Bonaparte family is bidding higher - this is not surprising, because the Bonaparte family is indeed relatively weak now, and they are willing to pay a higher price to buy themselves.

But can this check be cashed? Can the Bonaparte family really regain the throne?

Although he has never met that kid, he has been paying close attention to his every move in the past few years. Through the agents of both parties, they have communicated and confronted each other several times. He even received a message from the kid. 's handwritten letter.

During these exchanges, he came to the conclusion that the boy definitely had some talent, at least better than his 18-year-old self.

With this talent and the aura of the emperor that the people will never forget, who dares to say that he cannot succeed?

If you ask an ordinary person whether the Bonaparte family still has a chance to become emperor, they will definitely find it ridiculous, but Talleyrand has witnessed too many major events in his life. He has seen with his own eyes how the originally supreme king became the emperor. Within three years, the sinner who was despised by everyone finally walked to the guillotine. He witnessed the changes in the Republic, Empire and Kingdom with his own eyes. He also witnessed and even participated in bloody coups...

I would like to ask, in this fickle country, what else is "impossible" to happen?

All the drama has happened, and I'm afraid it will happen again.

So what would happen if it really happened?

The Count of Monte Cristo opposite has already stated the results of his choice to cooperate.

He did not say what the consequences would be "if you are unwilling to cooperate", but it was all unspoken, and Prince Talleyrand knew it very well.

——That is to settle the old and new accounts together. Anyway, the Bonaparte family has a grudge against him, and dealing with him will only make his supporters applaud.

Talleyrand knew very well that he had too many enemies. The reason why he could remain standing despite so many changes of dynasties was just because the highest authorities often needed him, so he did not want to delve into himself. In other words, if someone with a strong heart came to destroy him, Talleyrand knew that he had too many enemies. Seeing the monarch as an enemy, he could not even imagine spending his remaining years in this beautiful castle of Varese.

Right now, the guests are staring at him, waiting for his answer, which means in what capacity they will live together in the future.

You can either be his ally or his mortal enemy, there is no room for maneuver.

Talleyrand was not troubled by this, because he had already experienced too many such choices, and he even had a long-lost sense of excitement and excitement, because this was the life he wanted.

"Hahahaha... That's fine. Anyway, I'm already this old, so what responsibilities do I care about?" He laughed again, "Then please do your best, Your Majesty, and let me bear the blame."

Talleyrand knew that he didn't have many years to live, and his conflict of interest with the King of Rome was not big, so it didn't matter even if he accepted these prices. After all, he had already suffered too much infamy, and it didn't matter if he got a little more. , as long as the power is in hand.

Hearing Talleyrand's words, Edmund suddenly felt a sense of relief. Talleyrand's statement seemed to mean that he nodded.

"You agreed?" he asked.

"I generally find it very constructive." Talleyrand gave an ambiguous answer.

"Then what else do you want?" the Marquis of Noirtier asked impatiently. "We really can't give any more."

"Don't worry, old friend..." Talleyrand shook his head easily, with a sarcastic sneer still hanging on the corner of his mouth, "This kind of thing can never be decided in a few words - how many can you forward to me?" Send him a letter? We still have some differences to agree on."

Edmund and the Marquis breathed a sigh of relief.

They didn't expect the old fox to express his position immediately, but as long as he was willing to continue talking to His Majesty, it meant that he was tempted.

Only His Majesty can decide what will happen next, and they have already fulfilled their responsibilities.

"Of course." The Marquis stood up and paid sincere tribute to this famous and infamous old man, "Your Highness, I wish you and your Majesty all the best!"

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