"If you want to look, just pick it up and see! No need to sneak around!"

Just as Ivanov Gorchakov was distracted, Jerome Bonaparte’s voice reached his ears.

"I..." Ivanov Gorchakov quickly averted his gaze, stammering as if to explain something.

Jerome Bonaparte smiled and put the letter down, then pushed the telegram in front of Ivanov Gorchakov and said, "Read it yourself!"

"Can I really?" Ivanov Gorchakov asked nervously. He could hardly believe that His Majesty Jerome Bonaparte would place such important intelligence before him.

At that moment, Ivanov Gorchakov somewhat believed that the French Empire truly wanted to sidestep the Kingdom of Britain and negotiate directly with them.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t hand over such crucial intelligence.

"You may!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded and replied to Ivanov Gorchakov.

Ivanov Gorchakov hurriedly bowed his head and carefully read the contents of the telegram.

The telegram primarily covered two points. The first point was that, at the request of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Britain, Palmerston, the French Navy would attempt to attack Kronstadt Military Port together with the British Navy by the end of this month.

The second point was that the Kingdom of Sweden had been incited by Britain to join the war against the Russian Empire. Palmerston hoped that the French Army would dispatch some troops from home to act together with Britain, and the Kingdom of Sweden would become their second battlefield for attacking France!

Upon reading the telegram, Ivanov Gorchakov showed a panicked expression. He quickly said to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, please do not agree! The Kingdom of Britain intends to dismember the Russian Empire to achieve their goal of dominating Europe."

"Major Ivanov!" Jerome Bonaparte replied in a calm tone to Ivanov Gorchakov, "The fact that this telegram is here and not locked in a drawer already indicates my stance!"

That’s wonderful!

Ivanov Gorchakov felt relieved. Considering the current situation, whether the Anglo-French Army invades St. Petersburg through Kronstadt Military Port or enters Finland from the Kingdom of Sweden, and then attacks St. Petersburg from Finland, it would be very easy.

Because before the Vienna Congress, the Grand Duchy of Finland was still a province of the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Kingdom of Sweden left traces in this grand duchy that could not be erased in just a few decades.

If the Anglo-French forces invade Finland through Sweden, then those in the Grand Duchy of Finland who still have allegiance to the Kingdom of Sweden would immediately start a rebellion.

The Russian Army stationed in the Grand Duchy of Finland would also immediately find itself bogged down, just as France did in Spain.

The Anglo-French Army would then easily defeat the Russian Army and attack St. Petersburg through the Grand Duchy of Finland.

"Your Majesty, thank you for your kindness!" Ivanov Gorchakov expressed his gratitude to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Major Ivanov, I simply do not want French soldiers to suffer alongside the foolish Britons!" Jerome Bonaparte displayed an appropriately scornful look, "Besides trailing behind, what else can they do?

From the military campaign in the Crimea Peninsula until now, most of the time, it has been us, France, bearing the brunt, while the Britons do nothing but request support and cause trouble!"

"Indeed!" Ivanov Gorchakov echoed, "Our Highness has also said that if it weren’t for France, our Russian Army would have already won the battles on the Crimea Peninsula."

"We also admire the will of the Russian soldiers!" Jerome Bonaparte reciprocated with a bit of mutual flattery, "Even though your military equipment cannot compare to ours, your perseverance in dealing with us is very commendable!"

"Thank you for your recognition!" Ivanov Gorchakov humbly responded.

Then, Jerome Bonaparte set the letter on the table, tapped it lightly a few times, and sighed to Ivanov Gorchakov, "Although I agree with what your Crown Prince Alexander said, that France and Russia should not continue to wage war, some things are not so easily put aside!"

"Your Majesty, is there anyone else who can compel you to decide on a ceasefire?" Being in a constitutional monarchy himself, Ivanov Gorchakov was curious about France’s situation and asked.

"Of course, there are! Whether domestically or internationally, many people do not want to stop the advance of war!" Jerome Bonaparte told Ivanov Gorchakov.

"Then you can just dismiss them all!" Ivanov Gorchakov naturally inquired.

"Dismiss them? How should I dismiss them? I can’t just send people to line up those war-supporting entrepreneurs and shoot them!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Ivanov Gorchakov.

"Your Majesty, why can’t you do that?" Ivanov Gorchakov asked, "Our Tsar can do that!"

"That’s why your country still has a large number of serfs, while serfs in France have completely disappeared!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged and said to Ivanov Gorchakov: "France is destined not to act as it pleases like the Russian Empire because the Parisians have already proven with their actions that any monarch who tries to have their way in Paris will be driven out of France by Paris.

Therefore, appropriate concessions must be chosen!"

"But what does this have to do with the entrepreneurs?" Ivanov Gorchakov asked in confusion.

"Entrepreneurs provide a large number of jobs for society, reducing unemployment and stabilizing the political situation in France!" Jerome Bonaparte answered Ivanov Gorchakov: "If I choose to eliminate them now, then in the next moment, there will be massive unemployment throughout France! When the angry Parisians take to the streets, can my throne remain as stable as it is now?"

Ivanov Gorchakov was about to say send troops to suppress, but he immediately realized that during the two Bourbon periods, it seemed this was used with resentment, yet now they are all buried in the earth.

"Domestic entrepreneurs need to utilize war to expand production and stabilize the employment rate! Once I stop the war, they will inevitably choose to cut production, and the unemployment rate will spike!" Jerome Bonaparte sighed again: "Sometimes, war is an unavoidable choice! Although personally, I do not agree with Palmerston’s choice, sometimes I have no choice but to follow it!"

Ivanov Gorchakov’s expression tensed, realizing what Jerome Bonaparte meant by "no choice."

"Your Majesty, just now you said you did not wish to see the French Army suffer alongside the British Army, did you not?" Ivanov Gorchakov asked anxiously.

"Major Ivanov, do you still not understand what I mean?" Jerome Bonaparte showed a trace of disappointment.

Ivanov Gorchakov shook his head, feeling somewhat tired dealing with such a ’Riddler’ like Jerome Bonaparte.

"Then let me be clear!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Ivanov Gorchakov: "Although I do not agree with what is in the telegram, due to domestic and foreign reasons, I have no choice but to do it.

Therefore, I hope the Russian Army can cooperate with us a little."

"How to cooperate?" Ivanov Gorchakov asked Jerome Bonaparte.

"It’s very simple! You just need to increase deployment to the Kronstadt Military Port and the Finnish border before the end of this month, and I will naturally have an excuse to refuse Palmerston’s request! To be honest, I don’t want to weaken the Russian Empire too severely. If you are willing to cooperate with us, then we can at least initially reach a collaboration.

This will be beneficial for both sides! After all, you don’t want to see the Anglo-French Army occupy the Kronstadt Military Port, do you?" Jerome Bonaparte said to Ivanov Gorchakov.

"I will report your request to Crown Prince Alexander!" Ivanov Gorchakov nodded and responded to Jerome Bonaparte.

Afterward, Jerome Bonaparte told Ivanov Gorchakov that the French Empire sincerely wanted to negotiate and hoped the Russian Empire could send someone who could represent the Tsar’s will to negotiate.

By then, he would choose a location for the talks.

"These are our terms, please take them!" Jerome Bonaparte took out the pre-drafted terms from a drawer and handed them to Ivanov Gorchakov.

Ivanov Gorchakov glanced at the terms. The four conditions proposed by the French Empire were not much different from the four points announced by the Tsar earlier.

[The Four-point Proposal under Count Baur’s Leadership: Russia must relinquish territorial claims on Serbia and the Two Danube Principalities, which will be placed under the joint protection of the Austrian Empire and the High Gate;

The Danube River will be open to all commercial navigation;

Modify the 1841 Strait Convention with the goal of "European Power Balance" (the dominant position of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea Region will be terminated);

Russia relinquishes the protection of the Turkish Christians, and their safety will be guaranteed after the four countries (Austria, United Kingdom, France, Russia) and the Turkish government reach an agreement.]

It’s just that at that time, the Russian Empire had not yet experienced a major defeat, so their spirit was still high.

Now, after multiple defeats, the Russian Empire should have become gradually more pragmatic...right!