Make France Great Again-Chapter 772 - 762: Exchange of Interests and Being Entrusted
After the second conference ended, all the issues that could be openly discussed were largely resolved.
As the host of the conference, Minister Valveski announced on the spot that the third and final meeting would be held in a week’s time.
By then, the Paris Peace Conference will provide the final consultation result, and neither any country nor individual will have the ability to overturn the established facts of the third Paris Conference.
Everyone in the ambassador hall clearly understood that Valveski set the third meeting a week later, mainly as a hint for them to use this time to pull as many allies as possible to stand by their side.
After all, the current Europe is still a diverse Europe; no single country yet has the power to dominate all others like the United States did in later generations.
Not even the Kingdom of Britain.
Therefore, the number and quality of allies are the key to obtaining a bigger share of the pie; the more allies you can rally, the larger piece you can cut off from the pie.
Conversely, the fewer allies stand by your side, the less pie you will be able to get.
And in this pie-dividing conference, as the arbiter, France has already secured its share (investment rights in the Russian Empire, investment rights in the Ottoman Empire, the Luxembourg Duchy, the ownership of Rhodes Island, and the right to station troops in the Holy Land; these were already sliced away by France before the conference began), and thus Valveski can comfortably watch the forces vying to win favor.
Sure enough, on the evening after the second conference ended.
The Austrian Empire’s Minister of Foreign Affairs once again invited Minister Valveski to dine at the most luxurious Louvre Grand Hotel in all of Paris, and the two enjoyed themselves exchanging drinks.
After several rounds, Minister Bao’er presented the prepared gifts to Valveski.
"How can this be!" Valveski righteously refused Bao’er, "I already felt undeserving of the previous gift!
Mr. Bauer should take these back!"
Saying this, Valveski pushed the gift Mr. Count Bao’er offered back to him.
Count Bao’er chuckled at this and said to Valveski: "Mr. Valveski, the last gift was from His Majesty our Emperor, but this time, Grand Duke Maximilian has sent you one!
He specially instructed me in the telegram to hand you this gift to thank you for your support.
Grand Duke Maximilian also said that this gift symbolizes the friendship between the French Empire and the Kingdom of Poland!
You must accept it!"
After listening to Count Bao’er speak, Valveski immediately demonstrated his exceptional acting talent, showing a moved expression and said: "Since this gift represents friendship between France and the Kingdom of Poland, how could I dare to damage this sincere friendship!
Then I will shamelessly accept it!"
"This should have happened sooner!" Count Bao’er subtly pushed the gift once again towards Valveski, then raised the glass to Valveski and said: "Mr. Valveski, let’s toast to the friendship between the French Empire and the Austrian Empire, and the French Empire and the Kingdom of Poland!"
"And the friendship between the Austrian Empire and the Polish Kingdom!" Valveski raised his cup as well and "reminded" him.
"Yes, yes, yes! And the friendship between the Kingdom of Poland and the Austrian Empire!" Count Bao’er quickly corrected himself towards Valveski.
The clinking sound of high-stemmed glasses echoed cheerfully, and Count Bao’er and Valveski downed their Bordeaux wine in one go.
Count Bao’er, having handed the gift to Valveski, began idly chatting with him; they discussed music and history, then moved onto family.
When talking about sons, Count Bao’er told Valveski that he had a son who had always been a cause of concern for him, keeping him worried about his future. However, now that his son was serving as the military attendant to Grand Duke Maximilian, he no longer needed to worry about his future.
Though the Kingdom of Poland is not as strong as the Austrian Empire, their competition isn’t as fierce as that in the Austrian Empire.
In the Austrian Empire, aspiring to high rank means having to carve out a path between the political factions of Germany and Bohemia (Hungarian political groups exited the stage after 1848).
Only those who have experienced it can understand the hardships, but in Poland, it’s different.
Those who follow Grand Duke Maximilian to Warsaw are naturally his allies; they only need to face the domestic forces of Russian Poland, while their allies are the nobles of former Austrian Poland.
In such a situation, the difficulty compared to that in the Austrian Empire is greatly reduced.
After hearing Count Bao’er speak, Valveski shared a sentiment of mutual understanding; wasn’t he also considering the future of his own 10-year-old son by sending him to the Tuileries Palace.
"Ah! Being a parent is not easy!" Valveski sighed with emotion.
"Indeed, it is!" Count Bao’er nodded in agreement, then once again raised his glass and said to Valveski, "Come! Let’s drink, drink!"
Count Bao’er and Valveski clinked glasses once more and continued drinking until about 11 o’clock at night when the slightly tipsy Valveski leisurely climbed into the carriage he took when he arrived.
The carriage carried Valerovsky back to the residence, and Valerovsky, lying in bed, rested until noon the next day before getting up.
Just as Valerovsky was getting up and hadn’t fully awakened, his wife told him that the Russian Empire’s Foreign Minister had invited him to the Louvre Hotel tonight.
With that, she handed a red invitation card to Valerovsky.
Valerovsky opened the invitation and looked at it for a long time, but did not see which minister was inviting him; the name in the inviter column was "Russian Empire."
So, Valerovsky raised his head and asked his wife: "Did the person who delivered the invitation say which Russian minister it was?"
His wife shook her head and replied to Valerovsky: "The servant who delivered the invitation handed it to me and then left!"
Valerovsky frowned and muttered to himself quietly: "Who could it be?"
...
Just as Valerovsky was pondering which Russian government Foreign Minister could have invited him, Jerome Bonaparte at the Tuileries Palace also received an "uninvited guest."
Entering the room, Mokar looked at Jerome Bonaparte, who was flipping through the expense statements for the Century Exposition and Paris Conference, and respectfully responded: "Your Majesty, Princess Mathilde wishes to see you!"
"Sister Mathilde?" Jerome Bonaparte put down the report in his hand, slightly furrowing his brow, unsure why his sister would seek him out at this moment.
Could it be that she was sent by someone?
Jerome Bonaparte considered this possibility, after all, that fat Cavour had already established relations with his sister; he might be trying to use Mathilde to influence Jerome Bonaparte.
Currently, Jerome Bonaparte didn’t dare refuse Mathilde’s visit, so he could only say to Mokar: "Let her in!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Mokar nodded to Jerome Bonaparte.
A moment later, Princess Mathilde appeared in Jerome Bonaparte’s study.
"Your Majesty!" As soon as she entered, Princess Mathilde solemnly bowed and greeted Jerome Bonaparte.
Seeing his sister’s sudden change in demeanor, Jerome Bonaparte immediately sensed something was amiss.
As the saying goes, when ceremonious, there’s definitely an ulterior motive.
The more respectful Princess Mathilde was to him, the more Jerome Bonaparte feared she would propose something beyond his capability.
"Sister, you’re too kind!" Jerome Bonaparte hurriedly reached out to Princess Mathilde and said: "Please, have a seat!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Princess Mathilde bowed again to Jerome Bonaparte and then sat opposite him.
After Mathilde sat down, Jerome Bonaparte quickly called Mokar to leave, "Mokar, there’s nothing more for you here! You may go out first!"
"Yes!" Mokar also bowed to Jerome Bonaparte.
The room was left with only Jerome Bonaparte and Mathilde Bonaparte as the siblings. Jerome Bonaparte said with a helpless expression: "Sister, could you be a bit more normal! I’m scared!"
"Puhaha!" Princess Mathilde chuckled lightly, using a teasing tone: "Who would’ve thought, even an Emperor of the Empire has moments of fear!"
"Spit it out! What do you want from me?" Jerome Bonaparte said helplessly to Princess Mathilde.
"Can’t I come over if there’s nothing?" Princess Mathilde retorted.
"Of course, you can!" Jerome Bonaparte spread his hands and replied to Princess Mathilde: "Sister, you can come over whenever you want! The Tuileries Palace is always open to you!"
"Those words are pleasant to hear!" Mathilde, wanting to extend her hand to stroke Jerome Bonaparte like she used to, stopped halfway, suddenly realizing her brother was now the Emperor and she couldn’t treat him as before.
"Sister, what do you want from me?" Jerome Bonaparte’s repeated inquiry helped ease Princess Mathilde’s embarrassment.
Princess Mathilde subtly withdrew her hand, then answered Jerome Bonaparte: "Are you free tonight?"
Jerome Bonaparte nodded.
Subsequently, Princess Mathilde informed Jerome Bonaparte that Prime Minister Cavour had asked her to invite him to a banquet.
She hoped Jerome Bonaparte would accept his invitation!
"Sister, go back and tell Cavour to come to the Tuileries Palace tonight as a guest! Out of courtesy and propriety, I should be the one hosting him!"
