I am the Crown Prince of France

Austria.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Emperor Joseph II struggled to lift his frail right hand, his voice barely a whisper. "Talle...Talle..."

Leopold II, standing nearby, quickly interpreted, "Your Majesty, are you referring to Talleyrand?"

Seeing the Emperor nod, Leopold continued, "You're concerned about what he said, about the British planning to spread revolution?"

Talleyrand had just completed his visit to Austria, staying for a full three days, during which he had gone around Vienna, denouncing the British for their alleged conspiracy to overthrow monarchs across Europe.

"It's worth...being cautious," Joseph II managed to say, pausing for nearly ten seconds before continuing, "First...use it..."

Leopold II picked up on his brother's thought. "You mean, we could use this to weaken Britain's influence in the Southern Netherlands?"

The Holy Roman Emperor weakly nodded. "Cooperate...with France."

When it came to pushing Britain out of the German states, France and Austria were in complete agreement.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand. I will take care of it."

...

Western Mediterranean, Almeria Bay.

In the meeting room aboard the HMS Colossus, a third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy, the British envoy to the Maghreb, Lord Talmoss, was reporting to the Foreign Secretary.

"The Sultan of Morocco has agreed to attack Bizerte, as long as we make some concessions on grain import tariffs and allow Morocco to be the hub for North African textile trade. Currently, 14,000 Moroccan Imperial Guards are stationed in Annaba, equipped with Brown Bess flintlock muskets and 20 cannons."

Without much hesitation, the Marquis of Wellesley nodded. "Tell the Moroccans that Parliament will consider their requests."

Compared to the situation in India, the Empire's interests in North Africa were something they could afford to compromise on. Moreover, making Morocco the trade hub wouldn't significantly affect British profits.

"I will head to Morocco as soon as possible, Your Lordship," Lord Talmoss continued. "As for Algiers, they've prepared 12,000 troops, but you know their combat effectiveness is questionable."

The Algiers Guard had been severely weakened by a previous confrontation with Joseph, and even after half a year, they hadn't fully recovered.

"Have their navy increase harassment of French merchant ships," Wellesley instructed, before asking, "What about Tripoli?"

"Currently, Benguiour has 12,000 Ottoman Janissaries," Talmoss replied. "But…as per your instructions, we've had secret negotiations with him, and he's only willing to send 800 men for raiding, as Constantinople doesn't want to provoke France."

Wellesley waved off the concern. "That's fine. I'm here to deal with that."

He had secured a grant of £350,000 from the British Parliament—nearly 9 million livres. Of this, £100,000 was allocated for bribing Benguiour.

Next, he planned to visit Constantinople, offering some diplomatic support and trade concessions to convince Selim III to turn a blind eye to Benguiour's actions.

Wellesley was confident that, with enough money, Benguiour, a bold Ottoman warlord, would be willing to challenge the French forces in Tunisia, as long as the Ottoman Sultan didn't hold him accountable.

Additionally, Tripoli had a fleet of nearly 300 ships. While most were small and no match for the French Navy, with British intelligence, artillery, and logistical support, they could still severely disrupt French trade in the Mediterranean.

Wellesley knew that the situation in Mysore was challenging for the East India Company—they would have to concede some interests to France to resolve the issue. Therefore, he needed to create as many bargaining chips as possible to minimize British losses in negotiations.

He even planned, after French forces in Tunisia were bogged down by being attacked on two fronts—facing nearly 40,000 troops with just over 20,000—that Algerian and Tripolitan pirates would harass coastal towns in southeastern France, increasing domestic pressure on the French government.

Along with his efforts in the Southern Netherlands, if luck was on his side, he might not have to concede much at all to get France to back off from Mysore.

However, just as the Colossus was preparing to set sail from Mítiya port after a brief resupply, a Royal Navy fast galley, the HMS Gasp, sped over from Gibraltar.

Wellesley was in his cabin discussing with Talmoss how to leverage Britain's naval superiority to hit French trade in the Caribbean—despite the various treaties in place, there were always ways to sidestep them to strike at the French. The sugar exports from Saint-Domingue alone contributed over 40 million livres annually to the French treasury!

Just as they were beginning to form a plan, an officer from the Gasp knocked and handed Wellesley the latest European intelligence report.

The Foreign Secretary pulled out several sheets of paper from the envelope, waved them at Talmoss with a smile, and said, "I bet this is good news from Vandernot."

But after reading just a few lines, his smile vanished.

"My Lord, how are things in the Southern Netherlands?" Talmoss asked, oblivious to the change in Wellesley's expression.

"Damn those French!"

Wellesley, his face darkening, folded the papers and hesitated for a moment before calling out to his aide outside the cabin, "Tommy, get Captain Taylor for me."

He then turned to Talmoss. "You'll have to handle Tripoli and the Ottomans. I need to head back to Europe immediately."

The intelligence report indicated that Austria, Spain, Bavaria, Mainz, and several other countries had sent formal notes to Britain, demanding clarification of Britain's position on the Southern Netherlands rebellion and its connection to the recent liberal uprising in France.

The notes from Austria and Spain were particularly stern, filled with accusations of Britain exporting revolution to the continent.

Wellesley, frustrated, looked out the cabin window. He had underestimated the French—they had twisted the narrative of inciting revolts into one of "exporting revolution."

He knew that if this situation wasn't handled properly, it could escalate into a diplomatic disaster.

More than ten days later, just as Wellesley was leaving Cologne for Prussia—yes, even King William II had questioned Britain's actions—he suddenly received news that Ludwig IX, the ruler of Hesse-Darmstadt, had proposed something called the "Southern Netherlands Initiative."

(End of Chapter)

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