Make France Great Again-Chapter 837 - 828: Dividing Spheres of Influence
Facing Franz Joseph’s serious inquiry, Jerome Bonaparte also put away his flippant expression, and instead adopted a serious demeanor, looking at Franz Joseph.
Franz Joseph knew that Jerome Bonaparte was starting to get serious.
"Franz, we can join forces to set a trap for the Kingdom of Prussia!" Jerome Bonaparte replied solemnly to Franz Joseph.
"Join forces to set a trap?" Franz Joseph muttered, his mind involuntarily pondering.
He recalled what Count Bao’er had told him after returning to Vienna from Paris, (Jerome Bonaparte asked Count Bao’er before he left if he was willing to take strong action against the Kingdom of Prussia.)
Thus, Franz Joseph asked Jerome Bonaparte: "What are you planning to do?"
"There’s an old saying, ’Before you destroy, you must first drive them mad!’ Jerome Bonaparte said slowly to Franz Joseph, "To sanction the Kingdom of Prussia, we must act without interference from the Kingdom of Britain.
If the Kingdom of Britain chooses to intervene, then all actions will be in vain.
Because the Kingdom of Britain will absolutely not allow a nation capable of resisting France and Austria, maintaining the balance of Europe, to disappear."
"But how can we ensure that the Kingdom of Britain won’t interfere!" Franz Joseph asked Jerome Bonaparte.
"First, we must lure the Kingdom of Prussia into disrupting the internal balance of the German Region, and then induce them to declare war!
At that time, our two countries can act with overwhelming force to completely eliminate Prussia!" Jerome Bonaparte answered Franz Joseph, "In that case, the Kingdom of Britain can only choose to acknowledge the established facts."
"How to induce the Kingdom of Prussia to disrupt the balance?" Franz Joseph asked once more.
"With the development of the Kingdom of Prussia, they will naturally become dissatisfied with their situation within Germany!" Jerome Bonaparte explained leisurely, "The new Junkers in the Rhine Region will complain that the Hanover Kingdom, straddling their two territories, is becoming an obstacle to their profits, and the military nobles of the Eastern Junkers also need merits.
In this case, just the right person needs to come to power! Then they will, as they did in Aumitz in 1851, choose to enact revenge against you!
Once war begins between the parties, France can join the war under the guise of protecting the Württemberg Kingdom!
Help the Austrian Empire defeat the Kingdom of Prussia!"
Franz Joseph was silent for a moment, still somewhat unconvinced by Jerome Bonaparte’s words, because in his opinion, overthrowing the Kingdom of Prussia and disrupting the balance in Germany did not seem beneficial to France either.
Isn’t he afraid that after the war against the Kingdom of Prussia, the Austrian Empire will become the rival of the French Empire?
Jerome Bonaparte seemed to already know the confusion in Franz Joseph’s heart, he smiled and said to Franz Joseph, "Franz, let me ask you a question, are you willing to abandon the current territories of the Austrian Empire and merge into Germany!"
"No! I would not do that!" Franz Joseph replied firmly to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Then it’s settled!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged and said to Franz Joseph, "As long as the Austrian Empire doesn’t abandon the territories of Hungary and the Apennine Peninsula, you can never fully integrate with Germany.
And my bottom line is that the entire German cannot appear as a regime that encompasses all Germans.
Of course, if possible, some of the territories in the Rhine Region can also be appropriately allocated.
Franz, I have told you before that the goal of the French Empire is not to solely hold all power in Europe!
The times no longer allow us to solely hold the power in Europe, because I hope the Austrian Empire can help the French Empire to jointly manage Europe.
As long as the Austrian Empire is willing, the entire Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and half of Italy will be within your sphere of influence!
The princely states of the German Region will be the best buffer zone for our two countries!"
Jerome Bonaparte’s words did indeed tempt Franz Joseph, being the Habsburg Emperor, he understood that the positioning of the Austrian Empire was never to be the hegemon of Europe, as long as they could have a place in Europe it would be sufficient.
Now Jerome Bonaparte is offering such a vast sphere of influence, which makes him quite tempted.
"What about the Rhine Land?" Franz Joseph asked Jerome Bonaparte.
"We only need part of the Rhine Land to defend Alsace-Lorraine. The rest can be decided by you!" Jerome Bonaparte replied to Franz Joseph.
"Let me think it over!" Franz Joseph replied modestly to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Of course!" Jerome Bonaparte answered with a smile to Franz Joseph, not believing that Franz Joseph wouldn’t be tempted by these terms.
Even if he’s not tempted, Jerome Bonaparte still has other options.
Such as letting a certain Iron Chancellor come to power, once he sits in the position of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia, he would make sure the Kingdom of Prussia initiates a war.
At that time, Jerome Bonaparte only needs to quickly intervene in the conflict to ensure his own maximum interests.
At that time, even if the Austrian Empire can maintain its position in Germany, their Italian territories will probably be doomed.
Shortly after Jerome Bonaparte and Franz Joseph finished their conversation, Maximilian appeared before them and asked, "What are you chatting about?"
"Nothing much, just casual talk!" Jerome Bonaparte replied to Maximilian dismissively.
"That’s right! Just casual chat!" Franz Joseph also replied dismissively.
Afterward, Jerome Bonaparte and Franz Joseph accepted a lady’s invitation to dance in the ballroom.
The ball continued until the early hours before ending, and Jerome Bonaparte and Franz Joseph returned to their respective rooms to rest.
Lying on his bed, Jerome Bonaparte quickly entered a dream, while in the other room, Franz Joseph tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Elizabeth, who was lying beside Franz Joseph, curiously asked what happened that prevented him from sleeping.
Franz Joseph replied dismissively, "Nothing, just can’t sleep!"
Elizabeth had to stop questioning him, and Franz Joseph eventually drifted into dreams.
In his dream, Franz Joseph "saw" himself on the Apennine battlefield, leading the Austrian army in battle.
On the opposite side was a group of troops wearing blue, white, and red uniforms—indeed, they were the French Army. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Under the formidable offensive of the French Army, Franz Joseph quickly fell into defeat.
The Four-Corner Fortress became their only stronghold in the Apennines, just as Franz Joseph felt despair over the Apennine Peninsula.
A message came from the opposite French side, stating that their Emperor Napoleon III was willing to negotiate with Franz Joseph.
Napoleon III? Could it be Jerome Bonaparte?
In his dream, Franz Joseph felt a wave of humiliation, but he still agreed to the negotiations.
After Franz Joseph agreed to "negotiate" with the Emperor of France, he suddenly discovered that the French Emperor across the river was not Jerome Bonaparte, but a man older than Napoleon III.
It was at this critical moment that Franz Joseph woke up.
He opened his eyes and gasped, making a "huff huff" sound.
Elizabeth, who was sleeping beside Franz Joseph, concernedly asked if he’d had a nightmare.
Franz Joseph steadied himself and responded to Elizabeth, "No! It’s nothing!"
In the morning, Maximilian, Jerome Bonaparte, and Franz Joseph, the three monarchs, went hunting again outside the city of Warsaw.
During this period, Franz Joseph frequently sneaked glances at Jerome Bonaparte, only to find that Jerome Bonaparte was very different from the Emperor in his dream.
"Franz, what’s wrong with you? Why are you so distracted?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Franz Joseph quietly while aiming his rifle at a distant prey and pulling the trigger.
"Nothing... nothing!" Franz Joseph shook his head and answered Jerome Bonaparte.
After the hunting ended, Jerome Bonaparte and the others had a customary picnic nearby.
This time, Maximilian once again cited the Kingdom of Poland’s lack of military equipment, requesting aid from the French Empire and Austrian Empire.
In the end, Maximilian purchased 100,000 modified MTL1842 rifles and 30,000 Minie Rifles, along with some rifle production lines, at a discounted price of 20% from Jerome Bonaparte’s warehouse.
And Franz Joseph also gifted Maximilian 5,000 Lorentz Rifles as a friendly gesture.
Of course, the money Maximilian used to purchase the rifles and production lines was all loaned to him by Jerome Bonaparte.
Maximilian’s actions essentially stabilized the market for the French Empire.
In the following days, Maximilian came up with various reasons to call Jerome Bonaparte and Franz Joseph for discussions.
Jerome Bonaparte and Franz Joseph gladly attended, and through several talks, the three parties of France, Poland, and Austria reached a basic consensus on jointly curbing the Russian Empire’s westward expansion.
However, regarding the establishment of a military alliance to prevent expansion, Franz Joseph and Jerome Bonaparte believed there was no need to reaffirm the intent to restrain Russia through a military alliance, as it could trigger a stress response from Russia.
Under the combined opposition from Franz Joseph and Jerome Bonaparte, Maximilian abandoned his intention to sign a military alliance.
