I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1409 Changes in North America

“There’s absolutely no need to waste money on this,” Joseph said with a smile and a wave of his hand. “Have Baron Bodleian send those two Basel councilors back as soon as possible.”

Talleyrand asked in surprise, "Your Highness, but..."

Joseph interrupted him, saying, "You can send someone to publish a commentary in the newspaper under the name of an 'anonymous official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,' stating that our country is unwilling to waste its energy in the German-speaking Protestant region of Switzerland."

"Make sure the article gets cited in Vienna's newspapers. Oh, why don't you just publicly express your appreciation for Austria's diplomatic efforts in northern Switzerland, such as 'this ensures the smooth flow of our land trade routes to the Alps'?"

Talleyrand grew anxious: "Your Highness, do you mean to abandon northeastern Switzerland?"

Joseph did not answer, but continued:
"Afterwards, the newspaper will publish a series of reports on 'Vienna's diplomatic achievements in Switzerland,' listing in the articles the various efforts Austria has made to promote the Swiss Confederation."

"On the other hand, you secretly contacted Württemberg and Augsburg, asking them to jointly invite the State of Basel to join the Stuttgart Trade Agreement."

Basel is an important transshipment port on the upper Rhine River, while Württemberg, Augsburg, and Baden are its traditional trading partners.

However, since the signing of the Stuttgart Trade Agreement, trade between these regions and Switzerland has decreased significantly due to tariffs.

Therefore, Württemberg and other countries have very good reasons to want Basel to join the trade agreement.

Talleyrand instinctively wanted to ask why, but as an accomplished diplomat, he suddenly realized a crucial point:

Wait, His Highness just said he was inviting the canton of Basel to join the trade agreement, not Switzerland.

For the Basel people, this would undoubtedly increase their trade volume several times over, but they should also be well aware that a pro-Vienna Swiss Confederation would never join the Stuttgart Trade Agreement.

In other words, they can only choose between trade prosperity and the Swiss Confederation.

He immediately thought of another problem: "Your Highness, we must take into account Vienna's enormous influence over certain people in the Basel Parliament."

Joseph smiled and nodded: "You are right, so our country must remain aloof, and even Baden, which has close ties with our country, cannot participate, in order to encourage Vienna to use this influence."

"Next, angry Württemberg and Augsburg will likely take further action."

Talleyrand couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He had previously wanted to invest hundreds of thousands of francs to support the pro-French faction and even send troops to intervene in northern Switzerland, but His Highness the Crown Prince had solved all the problems there by simply using a little "trade."

In fact, he was only half right. Joseph did this not only to eliminate pro-Austrian forces in northern Switzerland, but more importantly, to prevent Austria from recovering from its injuries.

Historically, Napoleon defeated Austria several times, but each time this vast empire was able to quickly recover its strength by relying on its own size and then rejoin the anti-French coalition.

As long as Austria tries to gain prominence, there will be opportunities to create opportunities for it to suffer losses. At the same time, it's crucial to avoid involving France. Switzerland, located at the intersection of France, Austria, and numerous countries in the Italian and German regions, is an excellent choice.

After Joseph finished explaining the key points of the Swiss plan to the Foreign Minister, Talleyrand took out another document and respectfully placed it on the table: "Your Highness, this is a draft secret agreement submitted by the American envoy Smith. It mainly concerns a joint attack on Canada..."

Joseph sighed, about to say, "Just hand it over to the Senate for discussion and report the results to me," when he suddenly remembered something and asked, "I remember the armistice agreement was signed at the end of last year, why are their people only arriving now?"

He was referring, of course, to the Franco-American Treaty of Pittsburgh. At the time, Louisiana Governor's Office diplomat Lammert reported to Paris that the United States had sent people to Europe.

Talleyrand quickly explained, "Your Highness, there are some problems with the US government."

"The Federalist Party, due to its defeat in the war, faced fierce attacks from the Democratic-Republicans led by Aaron Bair, and even impeachment. However, Hamilton managed to suppress the impeachment at the last moment. "Afterwards, the Democratic-Republicans demanded an investigation into whether Adams had engaged in 'treasonous' conduct during the armistice negotiations with our country. The special envoy involved was recalled to Philadelphia, causing several months of delays."

Joseph frowned.

His initial plan was simply to repel the American attack along the Mississippi River, but Napoleon went off on a tangent and led his troops on a "tour" to Richmond on the East Coast of the United States.

It now appears that this war has also sparked a wave of anti-French sentiment within the United States.

He then asked with some doubt, "In the end, the Federalists regained control of Parliament?"

If the Democratic-Republicans had won, this envoy Smith probably wouldn't have come to France.

Talleyrand said, "From what I understand, it seems that Adams made concessions on the presidential election at the end of this year in exchange for the cooperation of the Democratic-Republican Party."

Joseph casually flipped through the joint military plan drafted by the Americans and saw that, apart from requiring the Louisiana colony to increase its troop numbers, the rest was basically the same as his previous plan.

He felt there was something wrong with the draft, but couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he handed it back to Talleyrand: "You should sign the secret agreement with the Americans first."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Joseph then instructed, "From now on, unless it is a very serious matter, discuss it with the Senate first before submitting it to me."

"As you wish, Your Highness."

Joseph watched the Foreign Minister limp out of the room, then reached for a pen and paper, pondered for a moment, and wrote a secret letter to Governor Elcano of Louisiana.

……

Suburbs of Basel.

Shipowner Jeg stared intently at the policeman not far away until his figure disappeared, then spat forcefully on the ground.

In recent years, his business has been declining. He was quite excited when he heard that Basel had the opportunity to be incorporated into France.

However, Parliament soon issued a ban prohibiting any discussion of anything related to the "entry into law".

He and a group of citizens went to the city hall to protest, but were dispersed by the military and police. One of his friends was shot through the shoulder in the incident and died last month from an infection of the wound.

Just when Jagger's business was about to collapse and he was preparing to sell his ship, God once again had mercy on Basel—they were given the opportunity to join the Stuttgart Trade Agreement.

The plump man sitting next to him leaned forward and said in a deep voice, "Things aren't that simple. Parliament decided last week to join the Swiss Confederation."

"So what?"

The fat man shook his head: "Don't you know that the Swiss Confederation was created by the Austrians!"

(End of this chapter)