I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 944 Sometimes the wind blows, and it can’t be stopped

As a country that once fought wars with France in the Southern Netherlands, the Dutch Prime Minister is not treated as well as the Danes.

Schmelpenninck waited for more than three hours in a small room on the second floor of the Palace of Versailles and was finally summoned by the French Crown Prince.

Then, less than 20 minutes later, he walked out of Joseph's reception room with a lonely look on his face.

It is true that the Netherlands has nothing to offer that can impress France now.

He discussed for a long time with a group of members of the Dutch People's Party and found that they could only provide France with a loan of more than 110 million Dutch guilders.

And because their party represents the interests of financial capitalists, they cannot even lower interest rates.

Joseph naturally did not want to get involved in Dutch affairs for the sake of a loan of 1300 million francs.

He helped these liberals defeat William V, but they turned around and followed Britain to send troops to interfere in the Southern Netherlands. Now it would be a good idea to let William V teach them a lesson.

Even if William V came back to power, it would have little impact on France.

After all, even Prussia, William V's backer, had bowed to France. After experiencing the civil war, he wanted to consolidate his rule and might be more pro-French than the liberal government.

Joseph had just finished his lunch when Emmanuel reminded him, "Your Highness, the Ottoman Sultan's envoy is already preparing for an audience and will arrive at the Palace of Versailles in an hour."

Joseph rubbed his brow tiredly.

Recently, envoys from various countries have been appearing in the Palace of Versailles almost non-stop. This is because their level is high enough and they need him to show up. Talleyrand and Ségur must have received more.

After defeating the anti-French alliance - Britain was still independently supporting this "alliance", but at least the war on land was over - France became the political focus of continental Europe.

Almost all countries are realigning their foreign policies with France.

Generally speaking, they all rushed to show goodwill to France, or at least to ensure that they would not offend it.

According to convention, the Sultan's envoys usually need to be received by Louis XVI and his wife. However, Joseph did not want the Franco-Turkish relationship to be too eye-catching at the moment, so he only arranged a relatively simple diplomatic process.

After a lengthy religious ceremony, the Ottoman envoy Hamud Zagalos followed Joseph into the Hall of Peace in the Palace of Versailles.

"The Sultan asked me to convey his sincerest wishes to you, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Zagaros bowed and then ordered his servants to bring boxes of gifts. "This is the Sultan's love for his allies. May they bring you prosperity."

Soon, boxes of all sizes filled a corner of the hall, and all were opened, dazzling with all kinds of glitter. Well, the Ottomans just like to throw gold, silver and jewelry directly in your face.

A rough estimate puts the value at more than two or three million francs, which is much more generous than the Dutch.

However, Joseph immediately noticed that the envoy mentioned a word that had not been used for a long time - ally.

He immediately became cautious.

This is like your ex-girlfriend who broke up with you for more than ten years suddenly comes to give you a gift and calls you "dear" in a clip voice. She must have a big purpose.

Sure enough, after Zagalos talked about the traditional friendship between France and Turkey and the recent achievements of the two countries in Mediterranean shipping cooperation, he carefully turned the topic to the civil unrest in Austria:
“…That evil nation is paying a heavy price for the war it has waged against the great France!

“The thousands of rebels in Transylvania and Slavonia and other places are the curse of the Lord, causing them to rot, wail, and perish.

"You know that our country has also had a large amount of land seized by the Austrian robbers, and the imperial subjects of Wallachia have been enslaved by them for more than half a century and have been abused.

"The Grand Vizier hopes to take advantage of the bandits' injuries to recover the empire's northwestern territory. This is also a follow-up punishment for the bandits' aggression against France!" Joseph's expression remained unchanged, but he was sighing in his heart, "When a wall falls, everyone pushes it down." Austria had just fallen into decline, and Prussia was sharpening its sword in the north, and the Ottoman Empire was also about to take action in the south.

If they don't help the Habsburgs, they will probably be finished.

However, it is really uncomfortable to consume national strength for Austria.

Forget it, let’s first think about what France can get in return if it helps Austria.

There was no need to worry about the money. It was estimated that they would find it difficult to pay the full amount of 7 million francs in war reparations.

Territory...it seems that Austria only has the core area left.

What about politics and diplomacy?
Joseph's eyes suddenly lit up.

By the way, the Emperor of Holy Rai still has a certain political influence.

Even if they follow inertia, the numerous small states in Germany will more or less pay attention to the instructions from Vienna.

And isn't there something happening right now that requires the participation of a large number of small countries?
If we can get dozens of small states in the Holy Roman Empire to join the International Maritime Convention, and then bring in those small countries in Italy, the number of member states will increase rapidly.

Then the propaganda tone of the International Convention on the Law of the Sea can be changed to: The member states that have signed the convention cover a vast area from Northern Europe to Eastern Europe and North Africa, more than 60 countries, and it is an internationally recognized code of conduct in the ocean.

Well, it would be best if we could also bring the Ottoman Empire into the maritime convention this time.

Wouldn't the general trend be established in an instant?
In the past, I had planned to slowly advance it over more than ten years, but if I could get a large number of Holy Roman Empire states to "support the cause", this process would probably be shortened to one or two years!

In the future, Britain will indeed be able to rely on its powerful navy to show off its power in the oceans, but the price is that it will become the public enemy of all of Europe.

Thinking of this, Joseph paused again.

If Austria wants to order the Holy Roman Empire to "join the group", it will have to help it deal with the threats from Prussia and the Ottoman Empire.

Not only will it cost money and troops, but it will also offend the latter two countries.

Especially the Ottoman Empire. Now the French-Turkish trade is booming.

I can't bear to part with it...

His mind raced, wondering if he could use other forces to help Austria overcome the difficulties.
For example, the Netherlands.

Well, Schmelpenninck himself did not value the loan of 10 million francs with an interest rate of 1%, but it could be a life-saving measure for Austria.

Joseph still shook his head secretly. With only military funds, it would be difficult for Austria to cope with the attacks from both the north and the south at the same time.

However, Archduke Karl is now in command of the Austrian army. If he can buy time, this military genius may be able to defeat the Austrians one by one.

So, can the Ottoman Empire delay its military action?

Unless he blocked Ottoman's arms, but this would inevitably offend Ottoman.

So, let Prussia wait a few months?
Joseph couldn't help laughing. This was even more impossible. The Prussian army had already entered Silesia. How could they just sit there and wait?

(End of this chapter)