I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 851 Diplomatic Focus
Joseph was stunned. "You mean? Engagement? With, with Russia?"

In fact, Talleyrand had submitted a report on the marriage with Russia to him less than half a month ago. However, when Emand classified the report, he was not sure whether it should be classified as foreign affairs or domestic affairs, so he finally put it in the folder of "royal affairs".

At that time, Joseph was busy fighting and had no time to care about the trivial matters of the royal family, so he has not read the report yet.

Queen Mary saw her son's expression and thought that he was too happy, causing his mind to go blank, so she smiled and took his arm and said:

"I know you like her, but I have not been able to propose to her because I have been busy with state affairs. But you are already seventeen years old, and marriage cannot be delayed any longer. So after discussing with your father, I decided to help you..."

Joseph's mind was not blank at all at this moment, but was working at an overclocked speed. The Russian princess, that was Alexandra, or Yelena. Since his mother mentioned "you like her", it must be someone he had seen, so it must be Alexandra.

He was a little confused.

This little princess is not even eleven years old! How can she get married?

Besides, how did my mother know that I liked her?
When he thought of this, he suddenly understood.

By the way, I once mentioned that I didn’t want to marry a princess who was a close relative.

If we look around at the European royal families, it seems that among the major countries only the Romanov family meets the requirements.

From this perspective, the Russian princess is really the one I am most satisfied with...

Joseph suddenly thought of Alexandra's cute little face and beautiful big eyes. Yes, she was definitely a beauty.

After all, she is the descendant of Ye Er, who is able to charm everyone in St. Petersburg, so her appearance is definitely very good.

As for her personality, she is kind, well-educated, and sensible, and there is nothing wrong with her.

According to the French court's custom, he would definitely have to marry a princess, so Alexandra was almost the best choice...

Joseph habitually thought of political and diplomatic aspects.

Apart from its ambitions towards Poland, Russia has basically no conflict of interest with France.

After Poland blocked Russia's attack this time, it is estimated that Russia will not have any thoughts about Poland for quite a long time.

Therefore, France and Russia can really reach a consensus on interests.

If France can attract Russia as foreign aid, countries like Britain, Prussia and Austria will have to think carefully before they want to form an anti-French alliance.

After all, if France and Russia attack from the east and west, the entire German region will be like the ham in the sandwich, waiting to be eaten.

Even as the most important supplier of raw materials to Britain, Russia also has a considerable ability to contain Britain. In history, if Napoleon's continental blockade policy had been coordinated by Russia, it could have really "starved" Britain to death.

Of course, it is unrealistic for Russia to risk its own economic collapse and cooperate with France to cut off Britain's supply of raw materials.

But if France and Russia had a marriage relationship, they would still be willing to give Russia a face if it slightly raised the prices of several export raw materials. In the fierce competition of the Industrial Revolution, the cost of several key raw materials could sometimes determine the outcome.

The most important thing is that Prussia and Austria had just been beaten up by him. Even if they were dissatisfied with the cooperation between France and Russia, they could only keep it to themselves and dare not say anything.

In summary, the Franco-Russian marriage is definitely a good move at the national strategic level. If fully utilized, it can even subvert the entire political landscape of the European continent!

Joseph couldn't help but look at Queen Mary. Could it be that his mother was really so talented that she could complete such a grand diplomatic plan while chatting and laughing?

Queen Mary looked at her son's "excited and surprised" expression and smiled kindly: "I know you will be very happy. Then, let the astrologer choose the most auspicious day next year, and you can officially get married."

"Ah, no..."

Joseph was stunned. The Russian princess was still a child. Wasn't he a little too impatient?

He considered, "Perhaps, we can put off getting married for a while. After all, Alexandra is still very young..."

Queen Mary couldn't help but pat her forehead when she heard this and agreed, "My dear, you are right. You see, I was too happy and almost put you in the same bad situation as your great-grandfather."

She was talking about the engagement of Louis XV to the Spanish princess.

At that time, the Spanish princess was only four years old, and Louis XV urgently needed an heir to consolidate his political position, so he broke off the engagement with the little princess.

This action made the Spanish royal family feel humiliated and almost declared war on France.

But Queen Mary immediately thought that the Russian princess would soon be eleven years old and would be able to have children soon, so the risk was not that great. So she said to Joseph: "Then sign the marriage contract secretly and get married when she is twelve or thirteen years old."

Although Joseph felt that thirteen years old was still a little kid, he could let Alexandra come to the Palace of Versailles to adapt for a few years so that they could get to know each other better.

"Then everything will be at your will."

Queen Mary burst into laughter, then turned to her husband and whispered for a while. The two of them looked at Joseph with aunt's eyes.

On that day, people all over Paris, from the Palace of Versailles to the streets and alleys, were singing and dancing and stayed up all night.

Joseph was so drunk under the toasts from the nobles that he relaxed for once.

The next day, Joseph was awakened by a warm and soft kiss on cherry lips. As soon as he opened his eyes and saw Camellia's clear big eyes, the hangover headache began to torment him.

"Uh, I'm never going to drink so much again." He rubbed his forehead.

Camelia immediately turned over and put on her expensive maid outfit, then told the maid to bring an ice towel to wipe his forehead, and then gently massaged both sides of his temples.

The tender hands took away some of Joseph's discomfort, and the maid whispered in his ear, "Your Highness, I'll get you a cup of lemon coffee. You still have to rehearse for the summit this afternoon."

Joseph nodded, drank a cup of coffee, felt much more awake, and began to wash up carefully.

The Iberian-Apennine Summit will officially open the day after tomorrow. This is France’s most core diplomatic affair at present, so he must first familiarize himself with the process.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, when Joseph arrived at the Tuileries Palace, which served as the venue for the summit, he found that the gate was already crowded with people.

Teams of guards in different clothes held flags of Sardinia, Parma, Genoa, Modena and other countries. Each occupied a corner, and they all stretched their necks to look at the road.

(End of this chapter)