I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 971 Old Friend

In addition, Adelaide also has the title of Duchess of France. With all these "halos" added together, even the Grand Duke of Modena would not dare to say that he is more powerful than her.

The most important thing is that she never gave orders blindly. Instead, she managed Modena's government affairs in an orderly manner in just a few days.

After all, she had also observed how Joseph governed the country up close. Even if she only learned 10% or 20%, it would be of great benefit to a small country like Modena.

Just as she ordered the establishment of the "Modena Woodcarving Trading Company", it was based on the model of the "Paris Angel Company" to build a brand, strengthen publicity, and unify sales.

This alone is estimated to earn Modena hundreds of thousands of francs more each year.

Under such a virtuous cycle, no one will be dissatisfied with her governance.

The city of Venice.

After the Austrians left Venice, preparations were made here for new parliamentary elections, and today is finally the day for counting votes.

There are three parties participating in the competition, but the neutral party has been in a very weak position since the beginning and has no chance of winning at all.

The final outcome will be decided between the more pro-French "Venice Trade Promotion Party" and the very pro-French "Venice Federalist Party".

At one o'clock in the afternoon, when Baroni, president of the Venice Shipping Guild, appeared in the square of St. Mark's Basilica, thousands of people waiting there held their breath and the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Baroni took the envelope from the election committee, opened it in public, and then read aloud: "The Trade Promotion Party received 61 votes. The Conservative Alliance Party received 7 votes. The Federal Party received 135 votes, and the Federal Party will form a government!"

The current political model of Venice has been substantially modified - the Doge, as well as institutions such as the "Great Council" and the "Committee of Ten" have been abolished, leaving only the "Senate" and "Parliament".

This made it difficult for the great nobles to control the political situation in Venice, and the merchants and the urban class dominated the election results.

The "French occupation army" that formulated this series of rules has gained great prestige in Venice. The most common phrase people here say recently is "His Majesty Louis XVI brings freedom and hope."

Of course, Joseph's main purpose in doing this was not to benefit the people of Venice, but because parliament was really easier to control than a monarch, especially in small countries.

At the same time, most of Venice's great nobles had close ties with Austria, and it was in France's interests to marginalize them.

In fact, for more lower-class Venetians, the main reason for their pro-France stance was that they no longer had to pay "tribute" to the Holy Roman Emperor after the French army arrived.

The first thing the Venetian Federalist Party did after taking power was to announce Venice's application to join the Mediterranean Security Organization and the Iberian-Apennine Common Market.

Then he sent people to negotiate with Milan on the issue of "returning Verona to the Republic of Milan".

In fact, for Venice, only the Venetian Islands and the coastal Treviso are indispensable. Throwing away the relatively poor inland provinces can reduce the financial burden.

As for the agreement on France's lease of the port of Split, the Venetian Parliament passed it unanimously and it was signed directly to take effect.

The port of Split is located on the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea in northern Italy, which is also the northwest side of the Balkan Peninsula. It was incorporated into Croatia after the 20th century, and is still a territory of Venice.

The port controls the Adriatic Sea and the Gulf of Venice. It is only more than 160 kilometers away from the southern Austrian city of Senj, and can serve as a fast channel to Central Europe when necessary.

But for Venice, it was isolated overseas and surrounded by Ottoman territory. It had to pay taxes to the Ottomans to carry out trade, so its value was very small, so it had no regrets to lease it to France.

Moreover, Venice has given up its navy for a long time. After turning to France, if a French fleet was stationed in the port of Split, it would make them feel more at ease.

At this point, the entire Apennine Peninsula, except for the Two Sicilies and the Papal States, has joined the French-dominated military and trade system.

……

Austria's southwestern border. Klagenfurt Fortress.

There was a knock on the door of the fortress commander's office, and the attendant outside said, "Marshal, Mr. Schulmeister is here."

"Let him in." Leo said lazily.

He is currently the general whose status in the whole of Austria is second only to Archduke Charles - officers more capable than him have been defeated by the French army one after another, but he still remains "undefeated", and his prestige is naturally at its peak.

So His Majesty the Emperor handed over the Klagenfurt Fortress, which was extremely important to the empire, to him.

The door opened, and Marshal Leo raised his eyelids slightly and glanced at the businessman standing at the door: "Schulmester, I'm very busy, you'd better not come to waste my time."

The businessman smiled and bowed: "Marshal, an old friend of yours wants to see you."

As he spoke, he took a step to the side, making way for the "follower" behind him.

Leo almost called the guards, but when the "attendant" took off his hat, he opened his mouth in surprise: "Le, Major Lefebvre? It's really you, why are you here?"

He both respected and feared this French officer - the latter only commanded a regiment, but was more powerful than the tens of thousands of soldiers under his command. He also helped him gain many military merits and was promoted to marshal.

Schulmeister corrected softly, "It's Colonel Lefebvre, Marshal."

"Oh, yes. Look at my brain," Leo smiled, "With your ability, you must have been promoted many times in the past two years.

"Please take a seat. I will have dinner prepared."

Lefebvre raised his hat to him and said with a smile: "There will be plenty of opportunities after the banquet, dear Franz. I came here this time because I want to ask you for help.

"Ah, this is also a favor to yourself."

Leo nodded quickly and said, "We are best friends, please go ahead and tell me."

……

The French military camp in Udine, more than 50 kilometers away from Klagenfurt.

Desai glanced at his pocket watch nervously. The agreed time was very close.

It was impossible for him not to be nervous. The next action would provoke a war between the two countries. If anything unexpected happened, he would definitely be brought to a military court.

But if things go well, he will be recorded in French history as the first officer to enter Vienna.

Just then, gunshots were faintly heard in the distance.

Desai immediately perked up and said to the staff officer beside him, "Go and see what happened."

"Yes, Commander."

In order to make the performance more realistic, most of the people in the Corsican Legion were unaware of the plans he and Napoleon and others had.

Soon, the rangers came back and shouted to him, "It's the Austrians, about two companies, attacking us!"

(End of this chapter)