Make France Great Again-Chapter 869 - 860: Celestial Kingdom? Man Qing?

After reading the contents of the document, Jerome Bonaparte furrowed his brows, showing a hint of reluctance and hesitation on his face. The dip pen in his hand intended for signing was picked up and put down several times.

After a while, Jerome Bonaparte simply put down the dip pen, closed his eyes, tilted his head back slightly, then slowly leaned back until his back was completely against the chair.

Having done all this, Jerome Bonaparte’s chaotic mind finally settled.

Meanwhile, he began to carefully consider each statement within the document.

To be fair, the envoys dispatched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Nanjing (since there were no formal relations between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the French Empire, contact was generally made by missionaries. However, due to the Emperor, the envoy sent to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was disguised as a missionary) did indeed try their utmost to communicate the possible issues of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to Paris.

The relationship between the Eastern King and the Celestial King had indeed reached an irreconcilable stage.

If Jerome Bonaparte’s memory serves him correctly, the Eastern King Yang Xiuqing might have already been beheaded by Northern King Wei Changhui, and the officials of Prince Dong’s Mansion were massacred by the bloodthirsty Wei Changhui.

Although Northern King Wei Changhui was eventually also beheaded by Wing King Shi Dakai, who was summoned by Celestial King Hong Xiuquan, the consequence of this action was a devastating blow to the central authority system of the Celestial Kingdom.

In the past, the various kings who could be commanded like an arm now began slowly defying Tianjing’s central orders after the Tianjing Incident, and all of the Celestial Kingdom’s army began to slide towards feudal warlordism.

History has proven that when a once-progressive army begins to slide toward feudal warlordism, it will face defeat.

Moreover, the challenges facing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the future are not limited to the Man Qing Court.

If Jerome Bonaparte were a thoroughly French person, he could easily help the Man Qing Regime suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom without psychological burden.

After all, the shameless kowtowing by the Man Qing Regime could indeed allow Jerome Bonaparte to gain enormous benefits.

However, Jerome Bonaparte is not completely French at heart, and he still harbors some compassion for his motherland from his past life.

Hence, he cannot resolve to completely abandon this regime, even though the hope of this regime seizing national power is slim, even though this regime might face a second split after unification, Jerome Bonaparte still holds some earnestness for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Compared to a hopeful regime, the Man Qing Regime, already over two hundred years old, is beyond salvation.

What’s more, the upcoming King Gan, Hong Renqian, of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is also a person who can view the world with open eyes.

However, Jerome Bonaparte must have a reason to persuade the public.

Otherwise, he really does not know what reason to use to support this regime in distress.

After a while, Jerome Bonaparte opened his eyes, having thought of a reason to persuade the public.

"Right! I can use the Xiling Case to highlight Man Qing’s barbarity and provide support to the Taiping Army!" Jerome Bonaparte mumbled to himself.

Even though Jerome Bonaparte’s reason for persuading himself seemed somewhat far-fetched, it was the only reason he could think of.

Moreover, the Xiling Case incident did, indeed, happen.

And it also indirectly led to the outbreak of the Second Opium War.

Thinking of this, Jerome Bonaparte reached out to the bell placed in the corner of the desk and gently shook it twice.

The servant outside the study, upon hearing the bell, swiftly entered the room to inquire about Jerome Bonaparte’s orders.

"Bring Chief Steward Bashirio to me!" Jerome Bonaparte instructed the servant.

"Yes!" The servant accepted the order and left.

After a while, Bashirio appeared before Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty!"

"Bashirio, head to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately and summon Minister De Luyis to me!" Jerome Bonaparte hurriedly said to Bashirio.

"Understood! Your Majesty!" Bashirio quickly responded to Jerome Bonaparte and then left the study for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A little more on personnel appointments, the former Austrian Ambassador De Luyis was reappointed by Jerome Bonaparte as the French Minister of Foreign Affairs in mid-August!

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Valerovsky, after leaving office, was appointed by Grand Duke Jerome Bonaparte as the Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The former Minister of Internal Affairs Percy, Minister of State Fuld, and Minister of the Seal Mornay were respectively appointed by Jerome Bonaparte as ambassador to England, Minister of Finance, and ambassador to Moscow (currently under Alexander II’s control).

The positions of Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of the Seal were taken by Barroso and Mane, while the Minister of State was assumed by François Guizot, who once served as Prime Minister during the July Monarchy.

As for the original Ministry of Railways, Jerome Bonaparte completely split it to form five major railway bureaus: east, west, south, north, and central. The directors of each railway bureau continued to serve in their previous positions, and railway bonds were evenly distributed among the five bureaus.

This not only avoided the issue of excessive power within the Ministry of Railways but also discreetly reduced the risk associated with railway bonds.

...

Sitting in the study and waiting for quite a while, Jerome Bonaparte did not see De Ruyys and Bashirio but instead received a visit from Colonial Minister De Castner.

Upon hearing from the servant that Minister De Castner had come to visit, Jerome Bonaparte showed a hint of surprise on his face; he couldn’t understand why Minister De Castner would arrive at this time.

After a brief moment of surprise, Jerome Bonaparte returned to his calm expression and said, "Let Minister Castner in!"

The servant brought Minister De Castner into Jerome Bonaparte’s study and closed the study door.

"Please have a seat, Minister Castner!" Jerome Bonaparte extended his hand to invite De Castner to sit opposite him.

Once De Castner had sat down, Jerome Bonaparte again opened his mouth to inquire, "Minister Castner, what brings you here?"

"Your Majesty, I received a letter from Libreville!" Minister De Castner said as he handed the letter to Jerome Bonaparte.

"What does the letter say?" Jerome Bonaparte asked while extracting the folded letter paper.

"The letter contains some insights and experiences regarding the prevention of malaria and cholera!" Minister De Castner responded to Jerome Bonaparte.

Jerome Bonaparte unfolded the letter paper silently, reading its content.

The letter was written by Jerome Patterson, detailing the measures taken during the recent malaria and cholera outbreaks in the French colonial region of Gabon.

At the end of the letter, Jerome Patterson expressed hope that these measures would be helpful to other French colonies and the homeland.

After reading the letter, Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but remark to De Castner, "Governor Jerome Patterson’s summary is excellent, and the prevention of malaria and cholera should indeed be approached accordingly."

"I think so too, Your Majesty!" Minister De Castner echoed, "Moreover, I am considering having all colonies emulate Governor Jerome Patterson’s approach!"

"Well, we should consider the differences between colonies," Jerome Bonaparte hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and replied to De Castner, "Methods suitable for Libreville might not necessarily work elsewhere.

Hence, it is essential to adopt epidemic prevention policies tailored to local conditions!"

"You’re absolutely right, Your Majesty!" De Castner expressed a humble learning attitude in response to Jerome Bonaparte.

"How about this! The Colonial Department should not rush to have the other colonies learn from this. Wait for my next instructions." Jerome Bonaparte responded to Minister De Castner.

"Understood!" Minister De Castner said, then asked Jerome Bonaparte if any substantial rewards should be given to Governor of Gabon.

"No substantial rewards are necessary!" Jerome Bonaparte declined, "Your department can provide them with verbal praise!"

"Understood!" De Castner replied.

Subsequently, Jerome Bonaparte inquired about the situation in Senegal with Minister De Castner.

"Your Majesty, our exploratory team (actually disguised military) is advancing inland in Senegal as per your instructions!" De Castner answered Jerome Bonaparte.

"Mm!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded to De Castner and said, "The Colonial Department must seize every opportunity for expansion; otherwise, we may face more opponents in the future!"

"Yes!" De Castner responded resolutely to Jerome Bonaparte.

Even though he didn’t understand why Jerome Bonaparte insisted on expanding territory in Africa, he knew he only needed to follow orders.

"Well! That’s all I have to say! Do you have anything to add?" Jerome Bonaparte gently issued a hint for De Castner to leave.

De Castner wisely departed from Jerome Bonaparte’s study.

As soon as Jerome Bonaparte was alone again, he glanced at the letter on the desk, his mouth curved into a wry smile, "That Rastigne, I tasked him with assisting Governor Jerome Patterson in governing Gabon.

Not to run around flattering and soliciting rewards from Paris!!"

With that, Jerome Bonaparte tossed Jerome Patterson’s letter aside.

A while later, Minister De Luyys entered the study, led by Bashirio.