Make France Great Again-Chapter 922 - 913: Exchange of Interests
"Ambassador Cowley, don’t speak just yet; let me guess the purpose of your visit to the Tuileries Palace?"
Jerome Bonaparte responded assertively, causing Ambassador Cowley to be momentarily taken aback.
After a few seconds, Ambassador Cowley regained his composure and responded politely, "Of course, Your Majesty!"
Jerome Bonaparte furrowed his brows, pretending to be deep in thought, and then looked up to respond to Ambassador Cowley, "If I’m not mistaken, your visit to the Tuileries Palace is to seek access to our railway to reach the Mediterranean!"
A hint of surprise flashed in Ambassador Cowley’s eyes; Jerome Bonaparte’s words were indeed what Britain wanted him to do.
However, Ambassador Cowley was perplexed as to why Emperor Napoleon would know the purpose of his visit to the Tuileries Palace!
While Ambassador Cowley was contemplating, Jerome Bonaparte’s voice reached his ears again, "I’m guessing you’re quite puzzled as to why I know your purpose!
Am I right, Ambassador Cowley?"
Recovering his senses, Ambassador Cowley shook his head, dishonestly responding, "Your Majesty, I haven’t had such thoughts!"
"Mr. Cowley, you’re really not being honest!" Jerome Bonaparte murmured under his breath.
"I..." Ambassador Cowley was somewhat at a loss for words, unsure how to reply to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Never mind! You diplomats are all like this! Out of ten sentences, only one can be trusted, and even that only halfway!
The remaining nine sentences are half-lies, and the other four are complete gibberish!
I really don’t know how you think up so much nonsense..." Jerome Bonaparte whined incessantly to Ambassador Lao Li, and Ambassador Cowley could only silently endure the "malice" from His Majesty the Emperor towards diplomats like them.
After Jerome Bonaparte finished complaining, Ambassador Cowley finally responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, I did come for this matter!"
Immediately, Ambassador Cowley informed Jerome Bonaparte that he was sent by the British Cabinet, hoping the French Empire would allow the Kingdom of Britain’s army to enter French territory, relying on French railways to traverse the entire France.
"Ambassador Cowley, do you know the extent of the damage that allowing foreign troops to enter French soil would cause to our citizens?" Jerome Bonaparte spoke to Ambassador Cowley with a slight tone of indignation, "This might remind them of scenes from the collapse of the First Empire!
Our citizens may suffer irreversible psychological trauma because of this matter!" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
After listening to Jerome Bonaparte’s remarks, Ambassador Cowley found it somewhat absurd.
He merely wanted France to agree to lend their railways for troop transport, how did this become tied to the fall of the First Empire!
More absurd is the notion of causing irreversible psychological trauma to the citizens.
Back during the Crimean War, didn’t the British Army openly pass through, and why wasn’t there any so-called psychological trauma in France at that time? Does psychological trauma have timelines? (Psychology had not yet begun to develop during this period.)
Ambassador Cowley couldn’t help but rant mentally for a few moments.
Despite Jerome Bonaparte’s ridiculously absurd comments, Ambassador Cowley gleaned key information through Bonaparte’s absurdity.
That is, the issue of Britain crossing the border isn’t entirely off the table; it merely requires conditional discussion.
Otherwise, Jerome Bonaparte would simply reject them directly, rather than refusing on flimsy grounds as he did now.
Currently, suppressing the Indian rebellion (large uprising) takes precedence over all other actions in Britain.
As long as the conditions put forth by Emperor Jerome Bonaparte are within Ambassador Cowley’s and his Cabinet’s tolerance range, then Ambassador Cowley could relay Britain’s agreement to their conditions.
"Your Majesty, I understand this matter is somewhat difficult for your country!" Ambassador Cowley first followed Jerome Bonaparte’s train of thought, then shifted to say to Jerome Bonaparte, "But I hope you can consider the fact that our two countries once fought shoulder to shoulder on the Crimea Peninsula for liberalism, and allow our troops to traverse your land to reach the Mediterranean."
Ambassador Cowley paused briefly, then said to Jerome Bonaparte, "I presume you are aware of the dilemma the Kingdom of Britain currently faces!
The Indian Region under our jurisdiction is being harmed by a small band of rebels, and we must dispatch forces to suppress them quickly!
Provided Your Majesty agrees to allow us to pass through, we are willing to cover all expenses of crossing France!"
"What do you mean by that!" Jerome Bonaparte reprimanded Ambassador Cowley sternly, "Is your statement implying that France is so poor it can’t even cover travel expenses?"
"Of course not!" Ambassador Cowley responded firmly, "We’re merely attempting to minimize inconvenience to friends!"
"No trouble at all! Not in the slightest!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and responded to Ambassador Cowley, "We in France are a hospitable nation, we can entirely afford these expenses!"
"Your Majesty, so you’re saying you agree to let us pass through to India?" Ambassador Cowley asked Jerome Bonaparte with excitement in his voice.
"I agree!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded and said to Ambassador Cowley.
"Your Majesty, we will never forget the assistance Britain receives from you!
France will be Britain’s eternal friend!" At that moment, Ambassador Cowley appeared particularly sincere.
"Friend!" Jerome Bonaparte’s expression changed, and he revealed a slight cold smile, "Mr. Cowley, I have to ask, what is this agreement between the Kingdom of Britain and the Kingdom of Morocco? This is not the action of a friend!"
Ambassador Cowley was stunned, and before he had time to react, he hurriedly inquired to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, I don’t understand what you mean?"
"Don’t understand?" Jerome Bonaparte continued to smile coldly, then informed Ambassador Cowley about the agreement signed between Britain and Morocco a few months ago, which is currently being used by the Kingdom of Morocco as their protective umbrella to provocatively challenge the French Empire under British protection.
"This... this must be some misunderstanding!" an uninformed Ambassador Cowley stammered to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding could there be?" Jerome Bonaparte gritted his teeth and spoke, then took a letter from the drawer, "This is a letter written to the embassy from the President of our Commercial Association in the Kingdom of Morocco, which the embassy has now handed over to me!
Ambassador Cowley, take a look!"
Ambassador Cowley opened the letter and looked through the contents line by line.
The President of the French Commercial Association narrated their ordeal at the hands of local merchants and bureaucrats in the Kingdom of Morocco, who told the French Commercial Association that their actions were entirely following instructions from higher-ups,
The higher-ups said that the Kingdom of Morocco has already turned to the Kingdom of Britain, so they have no need to fear the French Empire.
The letter also mentioned that several French merchants have already been driven to death in Rabat!
Having read the letter, Ambassador Cowley quickly explained to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, these actions are personal actions of the Kingdom of Morocco and have no relation to the Kingdom of Britain!"
Jerome Bonaparte didn’t listen to Ambassador Cowley’s explanation, he placed a second letter in front of Ambassador Cowley, "Mr. Cowley, this is a letter written to me by the Church!"
Ambassador Cowley opened the letter once more, and the contents were still a denunciation of Morocco.
The French Church accused the Kingdom of Morocco of persecuting their Jesuit branch in the Kingdom of Morocco, mentioning that a group of extremists had slaughtered dozens of Moroccan believers who worshiped God along with two priests in the countryside, the French Church hopes France can severely punish these murderers and restore justice for them.
"Your Majesty, this is religious vendetta, unrelated to us!" Ambassador Cowley once again explained to Jerome Bonaparte.
"According to our investigation, those who claim to be responding to the call of Abdu (the Sultan of Morocco)!" Jerome Bonaparte replied calmly, "Previously, he wasn’t as bold as he is now!"
Ambassador Cowley understood that Jerome Bonaparte implied that the Sultan of Morocco is acting under the instructions of the Kingdom of Britain.
To be honest, Ambassador Cowley also didn’t expect the Kingdom of Morocco to be so uninhibited.
In a matter of a few months, they’ve done so many outrageous things.
If this continues, the Kingdom of Britain might be directly dragged down by them.
Ambassador Cowley’s heart couldn’t help but blame whoever genius is behind the signing agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco.
"Oh, and there’s this too!" Jerome Bonaparte handed another letter to Ambassador Cowley, and under Cowley’s confused gaze, Jerome Bonaparte explained, "This is a letter from the Governor of Algeria!"
Ambassador Cowley opened the letter once again, it was written by the Governor of Algeria, Montauban, half a month ago, and it described the small border clashes between the Kingdom of Morocco and the French Army a month before, a month and a half before Ambassador Cowley saw the letter.
The cause of the conflict was a missing French soldier during a French Army exercise, France requested the Moroccan Army to allow them to cross the border to search for the missing soldier, unexpectedly receiving refusal, leading to friction between the sides.
In the end, France easily defeated the Moroccan Army and gained the right to enter Morocco to conduct searches.
After a fruitless search, they returned to camp, and in the evening of the same day, the missing soldier returned.
The incident should have ended there, but unexpectedly the Moroccan Army daringly ambushed the French Army, resulting in 1 French soldier killed and 6 injured.
And of course, the dozen people responsible for ambushing the French were all killed.
