I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1005 Three Parisians

"The balance of power in the German region is likely to be broken." Joseph said to Talleyrand, "Therefore, we must prevent Prussia from surrendering quickly, at least not letting them surrender according to Austria's conditions."

Talleyrand pondered: "You mean, we should provide assistance to Prussia?"

"We don't have any extra money to squander in Prussia." Joseph glanced at him and shook his head. "On the contrary, we have to fully support Austria."

"Ah?" The Foreign Minister thought he had misheard. "Austria?"

"That's right," Joseph said, "you bargain with the vendors when you buy things, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"If you bargain for 10 francs for a 9 franc item, the merchant will probably consider it seriously. But if you insist on buying it for 1 franc, he will definitely chase you away or even get angry."

Talleyrand touched his nose subconsciously. He often bargained down the price to one-tenth.

After Joseph finished explaining his plan, he nodded first, then said with some concern: "Your Highness, if Prussia can't stand the pressure and really agrees..."

Seeing Emmanuel bringing his dinner over, Joseph stepped back and waved his hand, saying, "William III will definitely not accept such conditions. Moreover, even if he does, the British will not agree to it."

He knew that although William III was indecisive, he was always extremely tough at critical moments.

Talleyrand had always had great confidence in the judgment of the Dauphin, so he bowed and said, "I will leave for Vienna as soon as possible, Your Highness."

Then, Emand placed another dinner in front of Talleyrand - the latter had come to the military academy early to report to the Dauphin, so he must not have had dinner yet.

"Thank you very much." Talleyrand nodded to Hermand.

Joseph continued: "We must also prevent Austria from concentrating its forces to continue attacking the heartland of Prussia."

After all, he still believed in Archduke Karl's fighting power. Now, Archduke Karl had an absolute advantage in military strength, and it was possible that he could directly occupy Berlin.

Talleyrand glanced at the food on the table - pickled carrot soup, mashed potatoes, bread and artichoke beet salad - and saw that the prince had already started eating with big mouthfuls. He did not dare to complain and hurriedly lowered his head to scoop a spoonful of soup.

He continued the previous topic and said, “Your Highness, we have two options.

"One is to provide support to the Hungarians and Romanians in Transylvania. Previously, Karl Ludwig did not completely eliminate the rebels there in order to deal with the situation in Silesia. As long as they have weapons, they will soon cause trouble for Vienna.

"The second is to let the Ottomans take action. After the last defeat in Wallachia, Selim III faced a lot of doubts at home. If he can rebuild a new army, he should be willing to get up where he fell."

Joseph chewed his stewed radish and thought, "Inciting civil unrest will easily be detected by Vienna, and most of those rebels are a motley crowd and cannot be trusted at all.

"You had better send someone secretly to Constantinople.

"As for helping them train new troops... the pace is too slow and we may not be able to catch up. It would be better to encourage their Royal Guards to take the lead."

It was already dusk, and Talleyrand and the Dauphin returned to the Palace of Versailles together, discussing the situation in Germany.

The streets of Paris were lit up by gas lamps as bright as day. Joseph's motorcade passed by the shops that were still open, and people could even be seen drinking in the taverns. "It's the 'Jewel VII' model, a custom-made model." A chubby young nobleman raised his wine glass and pointed out the window, "It's so beautiful, it's a work of art!"

Joseph usually did not hang the royal emblem on his carriage to prevent it from being filled with welcoming officials.

"1300 francs." The handsome blond young man sitting opposite took a sip of wine. "You can suggest Baron Rochefoucauld to buy one."

The fat young man nodded: "My father might really agree. Anyway, there is no need to buy me an official position now, and there is no point in keeping the money."

Yes, starting this summer, France has banned the purchase of official positions. Of course, if you do not perform well in the entrance exam of the Royal Administrative University, you still need to pay a large amount of tuition, but the prerequisite is that you must at least get a C+.

Smart commoners could have their tuition reduced or exempted based on their outstanding academic performance, and there was also a certain degree of care for wealthy nobles.

However, the two people who were talking now only scored C- and D in the exam three months ago, so they did not even have the right to enjoy care.

The young man with small eyes and a bulbous nose, who was sitting with his back to the window, gestured with his wine glass to his blond companion: "Danny, in fact, if you find another teacher to take classes, you should be able to meet the admission requirements next year."

Danny scored a C- this year, just two grades short of the minimum admission score.

Danny Edmond de Chaumont poured all the wine in his glass into his stomach and waved his hand, saying, "No, I have made up my mind. I want to join the army."

He raised the empty glass high, as if it were a sharp saber: "Amid the roar of cannons, facing dense bullets, break through the Austrians' layers of defense and occupy their headquarters!

“Then return to Paris in pride, like General Massena.

“Engrave the battles you commanded on the Arc de Triomphe.

"This is the romance a man should have!"

The little fat man curled his lips and said, "Your horsemanship is not even as good as mine. You can probably only enter a military technical school."

He was talking about a place that specializes in training soldiers, with a school system of eight months. If you want to command a battle, you must at least attend the Army Officer Academy.

Xiao Meng said loudly, unconvinced, "I have studied history, drawing, and I know German. I heard that these can all qualify me for priority recommendation!"

He patted the fat boy and said, "Henry, do you want to go to military school with me? You are an excellent marksman."

Henri François de Rochefoucauld shook his big head and said, "I'd better inherit the family business and do business honestly. I heard that the military academy requires running 5 kilometers to graduate. It would be better to kill me."

The young man with small eyes said lazily, "Doing business is not bad. Nowadays, steel, chemicals, medicines, furniture and so on are all very profitable. Or running steamship transportation in the Mediterranean is not bad either. I heard that Italian girls like French men very much. This way, you can make money and have a romantic encounter at the same time."

The fat man encouraged him, "Pierre, you are the smartest among us, why don't you start a business with me? I can lend you some capital."

Pierre scored an A- in the entrance exam for the Administrative University, but his family was not well off and he had an older brother who was chronically ill, so he could hardly afford even the annual tuition of 220 francs.

In addition, he is a person who does things based on his interests, so he just hangs out everywhere all day long.

(End of this chapter)