I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 948: Opening up a new battlefield for the British
After that, there is a series of fixed processes.

Alexandra met with the French marriage envoy and accepted his blessing, as well as a token from the French Crown Prince.

The palace steward read out the marriage certificate in public, which was actually a marriage agreement.

Since this marriage involved the issue of conversion, the church did not participate too much and only sent choir boys to chant a blessing in Slavic.

However, according to the agreement, the princess could go to the Cathedral of the Assumption to pray for the last time before leaving Russia - this was the princess's own request.

After Antoine, on behalf of Joseph, and Alexandra accepted the cheers and blessings of thousands of nobles present, the ball began.

After the ball comes a dinner, followed by another ball... The whole ceremony lasts for three days, during which the whole of St. Petersburg will revel all night long.

After the ceremony in St. Petersburg, the princess will move to Moscow and repeat a similar process before heading to Paris.

According to the arrangement of Catherine II, the wedding convoy would take more than three months along the way, as it would deliberately take a detour through several German countries including Austria and Bavaria.

The next afternoon.

Accompanied by the lively and somewhat chaotic dance music, in a small reception room on the south side of the Winter Palace, Talleyrand was holding a teacup and smiling at Zubov who was sitting opposite him:
"That's about it. You can treat this as a normal military training and don't even need to prepare logistical supplies.

"After that I will go to Vienna for negotiations and let them solve the Ottoman troubles."

The Tsar's lover was obviously in a good mood because of the marriage, and he nodded immediately and said, "Of course, there is no problem. However, I think His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would like to see the Austrians suffer a little."

Talleyrand immediately said righteously: "Even if the Austrians need to be taught a lesson, it should be done by French soldiers, rather than watching the pagans wreak havoc on the land illuminated by the glory of God!"

"You are right. The French are born warriors." Zubov tried hard to get the words "sacrilegious alliance" out of his mind, and suddenly thought of something, and continued, "In fact, I can suggest that Your Majesty send troops to Moldavia to fight against those pagans together with the Austrians."

Talleyrand showed a puzzled expression on his face: "Does His Majesty the Tsar intend to fight on two fronts?
"With all due respect, this is not a good choice strategically."

Zubov was even more surprised: "You mean a two-front war? Apart from Moldavia, where else will it become a battlefield?"

"Of course it's the Transcaucasus." Talleyrand suddenly paused and looked at Mr. Lover. "Isn't your country preparing for war there?"

"Transcaucasus?" Zubov thought for a moment and nodded. "Your Majesty has considered sending troops there, but it is still in the planning stage."

Talleyrand immediately said in an anxious tone:
"Then you'd better hurry. After all, the Persian army may appear in Georgia at any time."

Zubov was shocked: "Persians? Where did you get this information?"

Talleyrand thought to himself, I don't know where His Royal Highness the Crown Prince got the information from, but the Intelligence Agency has never submitted any relevant report.

Well, Joseph naturally got the information from historical materials from his previous life.

At present, European countries do not care much about Persia, a poor and remote place. Even Britain, which has penetrated Persia the deepest, had to wait until the Persian army crossed the border before knowing that they were going to attack the Caucasus region.

Talleyrand said solemnly: "This is no secret in the Persian court. Their eunuch king is crazy and ambitious. He has assembled more than 6 troops and may march north at any time."

The eunuch he was referring to was Agha Mohammad Qajar, the current ruler of Persia.

He was captured by a hostile tribe when he was six years old, castrated and sent to the Persian court. But Agha was smart, calm and scheming, and soon became the chief eunuch.

Fifteen years ago, after the death of Karim Khan of Persia, he took advantage of the civil strife in the palace to flee back to his old tribe in the north.

He had outstanding military talent. In the following years, he led his troops to conquer a large number of Persian tribes. At the same time, he took advantage of the internal strife of the Persian royal family and continuously expanded his own strength.

Finally, he conquered the Zand dynasty's capital Shiraz several years ago, established the Qajar dynasty, and moved the capital to Tehran.

Last year, Agha completely wiped out all the Persian tribes and occupied most of Khorasan, ending Persia's more than half a century of division and proclaiming himself the king of kings.

This king of kings had always been determined to restore the territory of the Safavid Dynasty of Persia, which only remained in the Caucasus region.

Historically, Agha quickly completed his war preparations and in the next year, in 1795, he sent troops to occupy Georgia and the eastern part of Armenia.

It was not until the Grand Duke of Georgia sought refuge there that the Russian government realized that something had happened in the Caucasus and it hurriedly dispatched troops to the south.

However, just a few months into the war, Catherine II suffered a stroke and died.

The succeeding Tsar Paul I was a severe "mother-hater". He opposed everything his mother did, and supported her with all his might.

Based on this, he withdrew the troops sent to the Caucasus at the speed of light, even though the Russian army had gained a certain advantage at that time.

Five years passed like this, and Alexander I launched a coup and overthrew his father. He then sent troops to the Caucasus again. It happened that Agha was assassinated by his guards, and then he regained control of Georgia and other countries.

What followed was the long Caucasus War, in which Russia and Persia fought back and forth.

The reason why Joseph was interested in this matter was that when the Russian army gradually gained the upper hand and began to invade Persia, the British finally could not sit still.

Once the Russians conquer Persia, they will gain control of the Persian Gulf and have direct access to the Far East, which will dramatically change the entire European trade pattern.

And from southern Persia, the Russian army could interfere in the affairs of India.

With the strength of the British Army, there was no guarantee of defeating the Russians.

As a result, the British had no choice but to give their all to support Persia, investing more than one million pounds and carrying out a lot of construction in southern Persia. Finally, more than ten years later, the Russians' ambition to get involved in the Indian Ocean was wiped out.

This competition in Central Asia also marked the beginning of the "Great Game" between Britain and Russia in the 19th century.

So what Joseph had to do now was to let Russia prepare for military battles in advance and collide with the Persian army as soon as possible. The more than 3 flintlock rifles that had just been delivered were used for this purpose.

The second was to try to prevent the decision to withdraw from the Caucasus after Paul I came to power, and to continue to provoke Britain.

The third is to provide certain support to Russia, allowing the Russian army to penetrate deeper into Central Asia, and preferably to induce Britain to send troops to Persia.

After repeatedly confirming the accuracy of the intelligence, Zubov stood up nervously and said, "I must report this to His Majesty the Tsar immediately."

(End of this chapter)