Chapter 421 Destiny and Future
Chapter 422 Destiny and the Future
Joseph II on the side immediately made an anxious "uh uh" sound when he heard this.
Leopold II leaned over to listen, and then said to Thugut: "Your Majesty, did the French mention the sovereignty of Wallonia?"
"Archbishop Talleyrand said that the sovereignty still belongs to the King of the Southern Netherlands."
"What about the province of Ghent?" Leopold II asked again.
Ghent is located on the south side of the Atlantic Ocean and can control the estuary of the Rhine River. Its strategic location is extremely important.
"Ghent is not included in the special trade zone." Thugut added, "nor does Bruges."
Bruges is another coastal province next to Ghent.
Leopold II was relieved when he heard this. In this case, the so-called "special trade zone" is completely inland, including only the two provinces of Mons and Namun, and part of the southern part of Liege. The area is only slightly larger than Luxembourg.
As long as the coastal provinces are in hand, plus Antorf, the Rhine estuary can be firmly controlled, and the greatest interests of the Southern Netherlands will not be lost.
He looked at Joseph II and nodded, "Your Majesty, I think this condition is acceptable."
In fact, the Rhine estuary, which he valued most, was just a hot potato for Joseph.
The Rhine is the main commercial artery of the German region. If France controls the Rhine estuary, it will gain huge trade advantages in the German region and even squeeze Britain out of here. At that time, the British will not hesitate to start a national war to drive France out of here.
Historically, one of the core factors for Britain to actively instigate the anti-French alliance was that France occupied the entire Southern Netherlands.
In addition, if the British want to have a crooked mind on Wallonia, they must first cross the coastal provinces controlled by Austria, which has become a barrier for France.
Therefore, it is best to leave the coastal provinces to Austria.
What Joseph cares about is only the coal resources in Wallonia and the large French population. Moreover, after the establishment of the Walloon Special Trade Zone, it can be connected with Luxembourg. When the track is completed, the coal and iron resources of the two places will be combined to become another powerful engine of the French Industrial Revolution.
As for the sovereignty, it is just a false name.
After the previous operation, the Walloon Chamber of Commerce is basically promoted by Joseph, and even the president is a Frenchman. The original military supplies preparation committee has already controlled all aspects of trade.
If the Chamber of Commerce manages the administration - this is a very common model in France - then it means that Joseph controls this place.
At the same time, there will be no Austrian troops stationed in Walloon, and the Walloon police will be the only violent agency here.
It seems that this will be an "undefended" trade zone, but the combat effectiveness of the police has a huge floating space.
Haven't you heard of the Paris Police Academy? Take the Walloon police to train first, and don't blame me if your regular army cries when they are beaten.
Joseph II was silent for a long time, and thought that this was a sure win, so he nodded with difficulty and squeezed out a word from his throat:
"Agree."
...
Just when Joseph was busy signing the "Vienna Special Agreement" with Leopold II, Madame Delvaux's funeral had completed a series of ceremonies and officially held a funeral.
When Joseph rushed to the cemetery from Schönbrunn Palace, the guests who attended the funeral had left, and only a newly built grave was isolated there. On the tombstone was engraved Madame Delvaux's name and a line of small words: She was once remembered by the most beautiful queen in the world.
Camelia was still standing in front of the tombstone, lowering her head for a long time and unwilling to leave.
Joseph stepped forward and patted her on the back, saying softly:
"The dead are gone, and you will have a new home. Her Majesty the Queen is waiting for you at the Palace of Versailles."
The girl slowly turned her head, slowly knelt and saluted, choking with sobs:
"Thank you very much for your care with Her Majesty the Queen. May God bless you and Your Majesty."
Joseph nodded and said:
"I will return to Paris the day after tomorrow. Will you follow Madame Delvaux's wishes and go with me?"
Camelia glanced at her grandmother's tombstone and nodded with tears in her eyes:
"Yes, Your Highness... Paris is the only place I can go..."
As she was speaking, the court officials of Schönbrunn Palace came over under the leadership of Emmanuel, saluted to Joseph and said:
"Your Highness, the Honorable Crown Prince, His Majesty the Emperor invites you to attend the ball tonight."
The treaty that had a huge impact on Austria was signed, so it was natural to celebrate it.
Joseph had to comfort the girl a few more words, leaving two servants to take care of her, and rushed back to Schönbrunn Palace to participate in political and social activities.
The next afternoon, Camelia finally had her first meal in nearly two days, and then wiped away the tears from her eyes, ready to go out and say goodbye to her only friend.
The servants sent by Joseph to take care of her immediately prepared the carriage - the servants of the Delvaux family had been dismissed, leaving only Camelia's personal maid, and these things could only be done by them.
In a mid-range villa on Ryleston Street, Mr. Bazel enthusiastically brought hot cocoa to Camelia:
"Drink some, it's added with a lot of sugar, it can soothe your soul."
Seeing the girl silently picked up the cup, he asked carefully again:
"Well, what are your plans for the future? If..."
He tried to muster up the courage to say, "If you want, I can take you away from Vienna, anywhere, and then I will take care of you for the rest of your life."
Although he was Camelia's music teacher, he was also deeply infatuated with her. So when others avoided her because they were afraid of Baron Walter, he still firmly protected her.
Now that Madame Delvaux has passed away, he is the only one in the world who can protect this poor girl. He can't deal with Walter, but he can take her away. For her, he would rather give up his comfortable life and spend the rest of his life in exile.
However, before he said anything, he heard the girl whispered: "Grandma wrote a letter to Her Majesty the Queen of France, and the French Crown Prince will take me to Paris."
She looked up at Bazel: "I'm scared. It's a distant and unfamiliar place. I don't know what kind of fate is waiting for me. Do you think I should go?"
Bazel's heart tightened, and he immediately wanted to say "No, don't go", but he was stunned again.
The French Crown Prince?
He slowly lowered his head. If Camelia could go to the Palace of Versailles, it would be ten thousand times better than following him to avoid Baron Walter.
That was the life she should have.
It only took him two seconds to make his eyes firm. This was an opportunity for her.
He heard Camelia mention the relationship between her grandmother and the Queen of France, which meant that she had many opportunities to get in touch with the future King of France!
Although she could never become the Crown Princess due to her background, as long as she could get close to the Crown Prince even a little bit, her fate would change dramatically.
