Chapter 192 Europa Universalis (please vote for me)
In the middle of the ring, Sorel touched his opponent with his sword and saluted. Then, she took three steps back, turned sideways, and made a standard starting gesture behind her left hand.
The audience immediately started whispering:
"Yo! This lady seems to really know how to use a sword."
"Don't you know? She is the sister of Viscount de Fraise. She studied under the Marquis of Villaferte. She is very good at swordsmanship."
"The Marquis of Villafuerte? The famous Spanish swordsman?"
"Yes, that's him."
"Aha, it looks like there will be a good show today!"
The bell rang on the referee's side. Sorel's eyes suddenly became sharp. The swift sword in her hand was first feinted toward the opponent's left chest, and her feet were extremely flexible. Almost at the same time, she turned an angle to the right, and the tip of the sword pressed down, hitting the young man's abdomen.
The tall aristocratic young man was no ordinary man either. Although he was robbed of the opportunity, his defensive posture was not disturbed at all, and he sharply moved the sword to the side.
Before the two swords could clash, Sorel had already retracted her sword, took half a step to the side and back, raised her eyes and saw the upper body of her opponent in the middle of the gap, and stabbed him in the face with her sword again.
The young man felt that he could not avoid it, so he had to swing his sword and slash horizontally in order to force Sorel back.
The latter, however, was like a butterfly flying in the flowers. He retreated lightly and escaped from the sword light, stabbing his opponent's thigh again.
Next, the young man's two embarrassing blocks and counterattacks were easily avoided by Sorel, and he returned the blow with a tricky angle.
The audience in the audience applauded.
However, after only five or six exchanges between the two sides, Sorel felt her left heel press against something.
She immediately realized that it was the edge of the ring, and her heart suddenly tightened. It turned out that she was accustomed to relying on speed to jump around and wait for opportunities to counterattack, but she ignored the size of the ring.
The opponent took advantage of her distraction and struck with his sword without hesitation - there were hundreds of nobles around, and even the crown prince was paying attention to the game. He had no idea of being humble to a lady. He also wanted to show off his swordsmanship in front of His Majesty the King the day after tomorrow.
Sorel was blocked by the wooden fence at the edge of the ring and could not dodge, so he had to raise his sword to block.
She heard a "dang" sound and her wrist suddenly felt numb. Strength is by no means her strong point.
The opponent seized the opportunity and struck from another direction, but she had no choice but to block again.
The strength gap between the two sides was so great that this time her sword was even knocked to one side. The young man opposite immediately raised his wrist, and the tip of the sword wrapped in a wooden sheath was pressed against her abdomen.
Lost...
I came here to win the championship, but I didn’t expect to lose the first game!
Sorrell's mind went blank. It wasn't until the referee came over to urge her that she walked off the ring in despair.
She recalled that she had complacently asked the crown prince to buy her the championship, and that she was guaranteed to get a bonus. She was so ashamed that she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself.
The five fingers that the Crown Prince extended when he placed the bet flashed before her eyes again, and she couldn't help but feel a tremor in her heart. With the royal family's pomp, he had bet at least 500 livres!
Even 5,000 livres...
right! There must be 5,000 livres!
It's over, it's all over, Sorel almost cried. The crown prince helped her get a chance to play, but she caused him to lose so much money. What should she do? Will the Crown Prince hate himself? right! He will definitely hate himself!
The laughter of the audience reached her ears. Indeed, this is not a joke, most people find this episode quite interesting.
But when Sorel heard the laughter, like a kitten caught stealing food, she lowered her head and held her chest, silently muttering in her heart, "You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me!", as if flying. He ran past the auditorium and got into the crowd.
no! no!
She kept shaking her head as she walked, that was 5,000 livres! Don’t pretend that nothing happened!
right! She secretly made up her mind that even though she couldn't afford so much money now, she would pay it all back to His Highness the Crown Prince sooner or later!
In the stands, Clementine waved the candy heartlessly, looking rather regretful:
"Cousin, I was planning to give the lady candy after she won, but I didn't expect her to leave so fast.
"Yeah, but fortunately, you only bought her for 10 livres."
Joseph smiled and said: "This may not be an environment where she is good at."
"Then where is she good at sword fighting?" Clementine asked, raising her head.
Joseph smiled without saying a word, thinking that it would be fine at the Royal Palace, where hundreds of soldiers could not stop her.
When the fencing competition ended in the afternoon, Joseph, the Spanish Crown Prince and the little Loli walked down from the stands talking and laughing. Emang immediately hurried to Joseph's side and whispered:
"Your Highness, Archbishop Talleyrand is back and waiting for you in the drawing room."
Joseph nodded slightly. He knew that Talleyrand should have a lot of things to report when he returned from his trip around the United States and Europe.
So, he dismissed Antonio, handed Clementine to her maid, and went to his palace.
On the way, he remembered Antonio's environmentally friendly hat again, which had to be arranged in advance.
He pondered for a moment, then turned to give instructions to Emang. The latter immediately took the order and left.
Joseph returned to his drawing room. Talleyrand rushed to greet him and bowed seriously:
"May God bless you, Your Highness. I have been thinking of you since I left Paris. No, I came to you as soon as I got off the carriage."
His words seemed to be polite, but they were actually a show of loyalty to Joseph. After I returned to the Palace of Versailles, I did not go to see the chief minister, nor did I report to the directly subordinate foreign minister. Instead, I came to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince first. Your.
"Oh, I miss you too, Archbishop Talleyrand. Please take a seat." Joseph smiled and gestured to the sofa, "You left Paris this time and traveled more than 7,000 nautical miles, right?"
Talleyrand nodded and said: "More than 7,800 nautical miles, Your Highness, crossing the Atlantic twice."
"Thank you so much for your hard work." Joseph said, motioning to the maid to bring coffee and snacks for Talleyrand. "In fact, you can come back with Prince Paul's motorcade."
Talleyrand nodded to the maid to thank him, then looked at Joseph and said with a smile:
"Your Highness, I came back by boat. I set out several days later than the Russian Crown Prince. You see, I got there first. Besides, I think it's better to report some things to you in advance."
Joseph leaned forward: "Please tell me."
"Things in the United States are exactly as you expected. Their Federalists are very supportive of purchasing warships and jointly combating piracy." Talleyrand said, "If it weren't for lack of money, Mr. Hamilton would even want to buy one. A small fleet."
Joseph said: "We just want to sell some old ships, not to grow the U.S. Navy."
Talleyrand nodded immediately: "Yes, Your Highness, I also feel that they have an unusual interest in the Caribbean Sea."
"You have a very strong insight." Joseph knew that after the Americans had some money, they immediately set out to form a sizable fleet and had a fierce battle with France in the Caribbean.
The final result was that France lost a lot of interests in the Caribbean. Coupled with the Haitian Constitution, France's gains from its American colonies were almost wiped out.
"For Americans, we must not only utilize them, but also try our best to restrict them. In particular, we must beware of their westward expansion. They are as greedy as the devil for the land of North America." Joseph said seriously.
Talleyrand said indifferently: "Your Highness, Americans are stingy and lack courage. I don't think they dare to challenge Spanish interests."
Spain currently controls the western territory of the United States.
Joseph didn't bother to explain to him that historically, it only took the United States more than ten years to encroach on Louisiana.
Talleyrand continued: "As to trade, Hamilton assured me privately that we would get their cotton before the British at the same price."
"Very good." Joseph nodded with satisfaction. North America is now the world's largest cotton exporter. With the supply of American cotton, France will have more confidence to compete with the British textile industry.
Things in the United States were relatively simple. Talleyrand finished talking quickly, and then came Russia's diplomatic experience.
"Your Highness, after I arrived in St. Petersburg, I met their Tsar quickly. In the next ten days, she summoned me twice more, which shows how much she attaches importance to Russian-French relations."
Joseph was not surprised by this. Russia and France have many common interests and have broad prospects for cooperation. As one of the best monarchs in Russian history, Catherine II would naturally not fail to understand.
Talleyrand said: "The Russian Tsar expressed her gratitude for the guns and military uniforms you gave her. Especially those military uniforms, which have almost become exclusive to the officers."
At present, Russia's manufacturing technology level is at the lower end of Europe. Although it can also make flintlock guns, the quality is still much worse than the top French products in Europe.
Even the old guns that Talleyrand wanted back from the United States were highly prized by Russian soldiers. Ekaterina directly distributed the 15,000 Charlevilles to the frontline troops in the Russo-Turkish War.
As for the military uniforms, Joseph specially customized them in Lyon in order to better open up the Russian clothing market. There were 1,800 sets in total.
Anyway, there is no unified standard for military uniforms in this era, and Russia is even more chaotic. As long as the colors are roughly the same, it will be fine.
Therefore, the styles of these military uniforms designed by French designers looked much more "trendy" than the existing military uniforms of the Russian army. Once they arrived, they were immediately snapped up by Russian military officers.
Although these military uniforms are not cheap, with each set costing more than 60 livres, Joseph's deal is still very cost-effective - France can reap the political benefits of supporting the Russian-Turkish war with just a few guns and military uniforms. You know, those Russian soldiers holding French guns and wearing French military uniforms won the battle, and any amount of their military exploits should be credited to France.
Austria actually sent tens of thousands of people to fight against the Ottomans, and Russia was not necessarily more grateful to them than to France.
In addition, as long as these military uniforms given to Russia are sought after by Russian officers, a large number of nobles will definitely want to buy them.
In fact, two batches of military uniforms of the same style were subsequently shipped to Russia, each selling for more than 100 livres.
Talleyrand said with a smile:
"The Russian Tsar expressed her support and gratitude for our actions to contain the Ottoman navy in North Africa, and even hoped that we could extend our strike range to the Alexandria Bay area."
Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard this. Alexandria Bay is already near Egypt. What Catherine means is that Russia recognizes that North Africa from Algiers to Egypt is France's sphere of influence!
This means that among all major European countries, only Britain has not yet recognized France's claim to North Africa. Of course, Prussia would probably not admit it, but with Prussia's pitiful navy, they didn't need to care about North Africa's attitude at all.
Talleyrand continued: “At the same time, the Russian Tsar also hopes that we can support some of their demands for Poland.
"Although Russia is currently unable to get away from the Ottoman battlefield, she seems to be hinting that when the war on the southern front ends, they will expand again towards Poland."
Joseph couldn't help but sigh. No wonder Catherine II so generously supported France's acquisition of North Africa. It turned out that there were more conditions behind it.
It is almost universally known that Tsarist Russia coveted Poland. In history, Catherine II did struggle with Prussia and Austria three times, carving up the poor country.
However, Tsarist Russia also shouldered the heavy burden of undermining the European order because of the partition of Poland, and naturally hoped that more major powers would stand up for them.
Especially now that Austria's attitude towards the partition of Poland is still very passive, France needs to take a stand even more.
Talleyrand said: "Your Highness, perhaps we can use Poland to gain more benefits from Russia."
Joseph shook his head: "Although Poland does not have many interests from us, we should try our best to ensure that it is not eaten by Tsarist Russia, at least not too easily."
Talleyrand was stunned and asked in confusion: "Why is this?"
"Because Prussia and Austria must not get too close."
"This...I still don't quite understand, Your Highness."
Talleyrand was Joseph's chosen diplomatic minister, so it would be better to explain some political arrangements to him in advance.
So Joseph patiently explained:
"France's most direct opponent on the European continent is Prussia. This is not only because Prussia has always coveted the Rhine River Basin, but also because it is the spokesperson of Britain on the European continent. Consuming Prussia is equivalent to consuming Britain."
Talleyrand nodded thoughtfully. Britain is France's feud and the biggest obstacle to France becoming the European hegemon. The two countries have been fighting for hundreds of years, and it is France's "absolute right" to strategically contain Britain. Of course, the reverse is also true. The UK is currently trying its best to contain France.
However, he still didn't quite understand what this had to do with Poland.
Joseph continued:
"To deal with the British-Prussian alliance, we must try to bring Austria together. Fortunately, Prussia and Austria also have many conflicts, such as Silesia."
Silesia is a fertile land in northwestern Austria. More than 50 years ago, Emperor Charles VI of the Holy Roman Empire passed away, and his daughter Maria Theresa—the mother-in-law of Louis XVI and the biological grandmother of Joseph—inherited the throne. At that time, Prussia provoked the Silesian War on the pretext that women did not have the right to inherit.
Austria was unable to defeat Prussia, and under pressure from Britain, it eventually ceded Silesia to Prussia.
Since then, Silesia has become a thorn in the hearts of Austrians.
