From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Lawrence was also hinting to Duke Choiseul to skip the useless politeness and temptation and go straight to the point. As for whether the cooperation between the two can be achieved, it depends on what the content of the cooperation is.

"Of course, of course." Duke Choiseul smiled happily:

"I would like to ask you a question. With your intelligence, do you think France should intervene in the civil war in Naples?"

Lawrence frowned, looked at the Duke, and responded without missing a beat:

"There is no right or wrong, Your Majesty the Duke. France is not a concrete person, but a collection of countless interest groups. Choosing to participate in the war will benefit some groups and harm some groups. Choosing to avoid war will It's the same; generals long for war, but soldiers long for peace, speculators long for war, but the people long for peace, you long for war, but His Majesty the King longs for peace."

Lawrence paused and took a sip of black tea:

“In the final analysis, any decision involving the national level cannot benefit or harm all groups. As for whether a decision should be made or not, it all depends on the class and position of the decision-maker; standing with the people If you stand as a class, you will support equality and equal rights; if you stand with the bourgeoisie, you will support free trade; if you stand with the military class, you will support armament expansion and preparation for war; whether France will intervene in the war is also an undecided question. "

"A very wonderful speech, Your Excellency Bonaparte." Duke Choiseul listened patiently, looked at Lawrence with great appreciation, and asked in a low voice:

"So what exactly is your position?"

Lawrence replied calmly:

"I am a Corsican and I stand with the people of Corsica."

Duke Choiseul seemed to have expected this answer, and nodded with a smile:

"Then if I say that intervening in the war will be in the interests of the Corsican people, what choice will you make?"

Lawrence did not express his opinion rashly, but just stared at Duke Choiseul silently, gesturing for him to continue.

After all, everyone knows that Corsica is now at the center of the Mediterranean storm. If it is rashly involved in a war without preparation, this small and weak island country will fall into an irreversible situation in an instant.

"Given Corsica's geographical location, the possibility of being completely neutral and staying out of this war is undoubtedly very slim."

Duke Choiseul's expression became a little more serious:

"Now, the European countries, especially the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Sardinia, may have used the Malta incident and the shelling of Calais Port to further test the king's bottom line, and are convinced that France will not accept an armed conflict in any form. In this way, Even with the king’s protection, Corsica can’t sit back and relax, can it?”

Lawrence nodded lightly. He naturally understood these truths. After learning that the island of Malta was raided and seeing Louis XV without any expression, Lawrence had already begun to worry about the national defense security of Corsica.

The Kingdom of Sardinia and Great Britain, which have long coveted Corsica, are now united because of the Naples Civil War. It is difficult to guarantee whether the two countries will take advantage of the French King's firm resistance to the war when dealing with the war in South Italy. and brought Corsica into their sphere of influence.

In other words, at a time when Louis XV's bottom line has been clearly understood by the British, it is completely unfeasible to rely solely on the reputation of His Majesty the King to protect the safety of Corsica.

"Corsicans must be ready to take up arms if they want to defend their independence and freedom."

The Duke of Choiseul continued:

"Instead of waiting for the enemy to bring the war to the mainland, it is better to strike first and take the initiative to fight before the enemy is fully assembled and coordinated."

Lawrence looked calmly into the eyes of Duke Choiseul. Having said this, he fully understood the Duke's intention.

The fundamental purpose of Duke Choiseul has not changed. He still needs to provoke a war to maintain or even strengthen his power and status.

After inciting the Kingdom of France to go to war to no avail, the Duke of Choiseul had no choice but to resort to curves to save the country and seek Lawrence Bonaparte to lead the Kingdom of Corsica to join the war.

After all, the nominal monarch of the Kingdom of Corsica is still Louis XV. As long as Corsica becomes a spoiler in this war, the Duke of Choiseul behind the scenes will undoubtedly have greater confidence in bringing the entire Kingdom of France into the water.

And once the war expands, unless Louis XV wants to swallow the bitter fruit of humiliating defeat again, the position of French Minister of War can only belong to him, the Duke of Choiseul.

Lawrence did not respond rashly, but first closed his eyes and carefully thought about the interests involved.

In a sense, Lawrence did think of himself as the Duke of Choiseul.

He also plans to rush back to Corsica in the near future to take charge of the overall situation, and use the war situation to use iron and blood force to seek opportunities for Corsica to expand its territory and expand its power.

"Of course I will not leave the Corsicans to fight alone, Monsignor Bonaparte."

Seeing that Lawrence had been silent for a long time, Duke Choiseul stopped making excuses and directly stated his conditions:

"As long as the Kingdom of Corsica joins the war, I will use all my connections to provide you with assistance. Most of the Kingdom of France will be your backing. Ships of gold and arms will be transported from Toulon to Ajacs day and night. Xiao, I can even sign a contract with you right now as a guarantee."

After thinking for a long time, under the expectant gaze of Duke Choiseul, Lawrence nodded slightly.

This war is an opportunity for Corsica to ascend one step at a time and plunge into the abyss one step at a time.

Going to war in person does carry the risk of being shattered into pieces and being destroyed forever, but for Corsica, a small, weak and poor island country, if it wants to become a new power in the Mediterranean in a very short period of time, it can only seize the moment. Opportunity.

Even if the Kingdom of Corsica gained nothing after the war, the war and economic assistance it received from France alone was enough to make this small island country's economy take off.

"There is no need for a contract. I believe in your character." Lawrence stood up and shook hands with Duke Choiseul, agreeing to another cooperation between the two, and casually joked:

"Besides, I don't know under what name you should sign the contract with me now."

Despite what he said, Lawrence had no doubt that after being dismissed, the Duke of Choiseul was still able to use his contacts and connections to lead France's war aid to Corsica.

The Duke of Choiseul, who had just lost his position as Minister of War, also didn't care at all about Lawrence's sarcastic joke. He smiled lightly and said:

"Maybe as the future chief minister and regent? That's all, just kidding. On your side, you should be confident in persuading His Majesty the King to agree to the Kingdom of Corsica's participation in the war, right?"

Lawrence squinted his eyes and put down Duke Choiseul's right hand, without making any comment on the Duke's unabashed ambition:

"It's about 80% sure, but if you can send a letter to the Spanish Ambassador to France, you'll be 90% certain."

The Duke of Choiseul also understood Lawrence's intention in the blink of an eye, and handed over this important task to the Corsican in front of him with complete confidence:

"Spanish Ambassador? Ah I will."

Three days later, on June 7, the news of the dismissal of the Duke of Choiseul once again sent a wave of earthquakes to the political world of Ile-de-France.

According to various gossips and newspaper reports, His Majesty the King issued an expulsion order to the Duke in the afternoon of June 4. He did not even allow him to stay in Versailles to attend his coronation ceremony, but ordered him to leave and return within 24 hours. Go to the fief.

The Duke of Choiseul obeyed this order, returned to his manor that afternoon to pack his bags, and led a large entourage to leave Versailles overnight.

However, before leaving, the Duke of Choiseul held a grand farewell dinner at his manor.

Strictly speaking, this dinner was not hosted by the Duke himself, but the nobles and officials in the court and government who were reluctant to leave the Duke spontaneously came to Choiseul Manor to see off the Duke who had been in power for more than ten years.

It was reported that several cabinet ministers and dozens of senior officials spontaneously attended the dinner. It is said that His Majesty the King had personally ordered against anyone seeing off the Duke of Choiseul, but a large number of nobles and officials still chose to disobey His Majesty the King. The ban came to Château Choiseul.

Many political commentators and analysts claimed that Duke Choiseul was conducting an invisible protest against His Majesty the King, telling the King that the mainstays in the French court and government were still subservient to him. Yes.

In addition to the news of the dismissal of Duke Choiseul, another blockbuster news also brought great shock to the political circles of Ile-de-France - Duke Richelieu returned to politics.

In response to the Calais Port incident that was causing a stir in the past few days, His Majesty the King did not assign the task of negotiating with the British to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Instead, he specially invited the Duke of Richelieu out of house arrest and appointed the 75-year-old Duke of Richelieu. The veteran minister is responsible for negotiating with Baron Bertula.

The Duke of Richelieu did not betray His Majesty the King's trust. He only negotiated with Baron Bertula for two days, and the British and French reached a mutually satisfactory agreement, nipping the threat of war in the cradle.

During this period, Baron Bertula signed the settlement agreement directly in the name of the plenipotentiary ambassador without even asking for instructions from the mainland.

Neither Britain nor France disclosed the specific details of the settlement treaty. People only know that Great Britain paid an unknown amount of compensation to France, and France made concessions on territorial disputes with the British in North America and the West Indies.

Since the specific amount and details have not been announced to the outside world, people do not know which party made more concessions.

The French people believe that they are undoubtedly the beneficiary party, and the British must have paid them a large amount of compensation; and the British people also believe that they have won a diplomatic victory and won a large area of ​​America at a very small cost. colonial territory.

No matter what, most people felt happy and happy that peace continued. The Duke of Richelieu was praised by people from all walks of life in the Ile-de-France for his extraordinary achievements.

But there are also people like the Duke of Choiseul who are aggrieved by the peace treaty. The Duke, who has returned to his fiefdom, openly denounces Richelieu without hesitation, saying that the traitorous treaty he signed will end France's ten years in the West Indies. The colonial efforts came to nothing.

In addition to successfully resolving the Calais Port incident, Duke Richelieu also brought an unexpected surprise to Louis XV during the negotiations-a latest Anglo-French non-aggression treaty.

In this non-aggression treaty, in addition to the routine clauses, Britain and France also emphasized the recent outbreak of the Naples Civil War.

Both sides made commitments in the treaty, stating that neither Britain nor France would directly intervene in the Italian war to prevent the expansion of the war and the outbreak of disputes between Britain and France.

Although historically speaking, the existence of this non-aggression treaty will turn into an extremely fragile piece of waste paper in the end, but at least now that it has just been signed, the existence of this treaty still makes His Majesty the King and everyone look forward to it. The peaceful people were relieved.

Especially the clause that neither Britain nor France would interfere in the civil war in Naples made Louis XV overjoyed. It is said that His Majesty the King personally held an extravagant and extravagant celebration dinner for the Duke of Richelieu on the night he received the news.

Of course, not everyone was happy about the continuation of peace between Britain and France and the two countries' decision not to expand the war in Italy.

Both the Spanish ambassador and the ambassador of the Kingdom of Naples expressed their anger at the non-aggression treaty, accusing Duke Richelieu of violating the family covenant between France and Spain by negotiating peace with the British without authorization.

Both ambassadors urged the Kingdom of France to immediately fulfill its family alliance with Spain and join in the suppression of the Sicilian rebellion.

For this reason, the Spanish ambassador even went to the Palace of Versailles every half day to personally persuade the French King to abide by the covenant, and said that if Louis XV refused to send troops, Spanish King Carlos III would carefully consider whether the covenant between the two countries was There is also a need for maintenance.

For the sake of France's military security, Louis XV naturally wanted to retain his alliance with Spain, so he chose to meet the Spanish ambassador in person every time.

But every negotiation between Louis XV and the Spanish ambassador was just a waste of time. The two met five times in just a few days, but so far Louis XV has not given any effective commitment.

In any case, despite some objections, Louis XV rewarded Duke Richelieu generously for these two great diplomatic achievements.

The king not only completely lifted the duke from house arrest and surveillance, but also promoted the Duke of Aiguillon, another mainstay of the Richelieu faction, to the Finance Committee as financial director.

The Richelieu faction, which fell directly due to the death of Madame Du Barry, now seems to be gradually recovering its original status.

During these three days, Lawrence spent almost all the time in the Foreign Minister's Residence with Count Vergenin, negotiating and communicating with ambassadors from various countries, while paying attention to the changes in the Naples Civil War and the current situation in the Mediterranean.

As for the transaction with Duke Choiseul before leaving, Lawrence naturally did not forget it, but was just patiently waiting for a suitable opportunity.

On June 7, Lawrence learned from Count Vergenin that the Spanish ambassador had once again taken the trouble to go to the Palace of Versailles to see Louis XV this morning, requesting France to send troops to Italy to help suppress the rebels.

After silently calculating the timing, Lawrence left the Foreign Secretary's residence and drove to Versailles alone.