Chapter 249 Heat

France.

Jaime Medina, the current head of the Medina family, the old Count Jacob Medina unfortunately passed away in March this year, and Jaime Medina inherited the title.

The Medina family was an ally of the royal family of Hechingen in France, but the old Count Jacob Medina was thrown into the cold palace earlier because he opposed Napoleon III's reforms.

As an old man who followed Napoleon the Great, Jacob Medina was very dissatisfied with some of Napoleon III's policies, especially when faced with other factions other than the Napoleonic faction in the country.

After being rejected by Napoleon III, it was already hostile to the Orleans and Bourbon dynasties as well as the Republicans. The fate of the Medina family can be imagined.

The Medina family, which had faded out of politics, had already suffered a severe decline before Ernst's rise. This decline was all-round.

Later, Ernst went to France to reintegrate these old family friends, and through financial assistance, that is, the agent of the Hechingen Consortium in France, they became financially better day by day.

But the price paid is that it is further away from the political center of Paris, because the center of the Hechingen Consortium in France is the southern seaport city of Marseille.

The Hechingen French ally group represented by the Medina family, with the support of Ernst, has formed a considerable force in southern France.

The death of the old count reminded Napoleon III of this stubborn old guy. Although he disliked him very much, he was an old minister who followed the Napoleon family after all. So in June, Napoleon summoned Jaime, the successor of the Medina family, in Paris. Medina.

"Your Majesty, although the Medina family has long been ignored in France, I still want to say that there is no chance of winning the war. Unless France is prepared for a full-scale war, any irrational behavior may destroy the Napoleon family's influence in France. reputation.”

These were the first words Jaime Medina said after meeting Napoleon III.

"Well, Count Medina, I have no plans to start a war recently."

"I'm just predicting. There will always be a winner between Prussia and France. We need the land on the Rhine and a divided Germany, while Prussia wants the unity and integrity of the entire Germany. There are irreconcilable conflicts between the two sides."

"That's a good thing to say, but what do you mean by preparation for total war?"

"Prussia is not a small country, but a military power in Europe. The existing French military power and system cannot defeat Prussia quickly. Once the war is delayed, the whole of Germany will be squeezed into a fist by Prussia. Therefore, France's war against Prussia and The battlefields in Crimea and Italy were different in the past. To deal with the North German Federation, we should first change the structure of the French Army to be similar to that of Prussia, making it easier to organize large corps to fight..."

Before Medina finished speaking, he was interrupted by Napoleon III: "Prussia has indeed achieved some results in recent years, but that is because of the help of France. Without my acquiescence, not to mention Austria, even Denmark, they probably won't be able to fight." That's disgusting. Moreover, last time we were deceived by that despicable man Bismarck. He promised us the land of France but failed to fulfill it at all. Recently, Bismarck encouraged Leopold to compete for the King of Spain. If it were not stopped in time, France would be attacked from both sides. .”

"Your Majesty! Of course I know this, but the problem now is that the Prussian army has completed drastic reforms. After being trained in war, its military system has become increasingly perfect, but France is a little unwilling to make progress!"

"That's enough, Count Medina. It's not your turn to make irresponsible remarks here. If the old count knew that you had become like this and were as afraid of a little Prussia, he would probably crawl out of his grave in anger. Come out." Marshal McMahon, who had returned from Algeria, angrily shouted at Medina.

At the same time, other French generals also began to bombard Medina. Seeing that the situation in the court became a bit chaotic, Napoleon III urgently called a halt.

"That's enough, stop arguing. Let Medina go back to Marseille first! The answer will naturally be revealed in a month, and the imperial soldiers will prove everything with their strength."

In one sentence, the Medina family was dismissed again. Count Medina seemed to have expected it. He turned around and prepared to leave. Before leaving, he looked back and said, "Your Majesty, you will regret it!"

After leaving the Compiègne Palace, a group of media reporters swarmed in. They came from various French newspapers and publishing houses, and surrounded Medina as if they had premeditated plans.

The reporter from "Hustle" magazine asked Count Medina: "Count Medina, I heard that you are against the war. Is it true?"

"Of course France was not ready for war."

One day later, "Hustle" magazine published a cartoon titled "Surrender without a fight, the old count sheds tears." Medina knelt on a map of Germany, facing the direction of the map of France, and shouted "Peace!" characters, while the vilified Bismarck set up an artillery piece behind him, and a shell had already flown to France. In the upper right corner of the cartoon, the old Count Jacob Medina was scolding the "traitor" in heaven.

The reporter from Havas News Agency then asked: "Count Medina, who do you think is stronger, France or Prussia?"

"Of course it's France, but the military aspect is not easy to evaluate."

The next day, the Havas news agency's headline read, "Count Medina believes France is no match for the Prussians."

…

That night, Medina took a train overnight and "escaped" from Paris. If he didn't run away, the angry people of Paris might eat him alive tomorrow.

The French people, who had just experienced the humiliation of the Ems telegram, also known as the "Bismarck secret telegram" incident, were furious with Prussia. The war against Prussia was already the popular trend. If they sang against it, they would definitely be attacked by the crowd.

The reporters were not hired by others, they were all hired by Medina with money. As for why they did this, it was naturally for traffic.

Medina knows very well that since the old count retired, the Medina family has been completely marginalized in France. Even if it comes back now, it is impossible to gain trust. The French Empire does not have Medina's ship.

Although he deliberately caused a lot of trouble in Paris, after returning to Marseille, Medina planned to use the media under Hechingen to clean himself up.

But he can't really let the reputation of a capitulation faction fall on his head. He is also a militant, but he is not a blind militant, but a rational militant who "sees the shortcomings of the French government."

Three days later, the media in Marseille began to exert force. Medina used local newspapers to start a confrontation with Paris newspapers.

"The news media in Paris distorted the facts. They misinterpreted my original words. Unlike the media practitioners in the city of Marseille, they have an excellent spirit of seeking truth from facts."

The press in Marseille was naturally very happy. They used the "Medina Incident" to criticize their colleagues in Paris. They are noble children living in a "big city", and their public opinion towards France will always remain in the capital of Paris. He looked down upon any place other than Paris, not even Marseille, the great revolutionary city.

The Paris media, who were manipulated by Medina, naturally did not show weakness and bombarded Medina and his colleagues in Marseille.

Things got worse and worse, and the French government intervened in time to stop the farce, but the reputation of the Medina family was completely destroyed. Medina is now the main war faction, the peace faction, and the capitulation faction don't matter anymore.