French Empire: But Napoleon IV

Chapter 108: The Arrangement for Troch, an Unexpected Delight (Seeking First Subscription)

Where is Troch now?

When His Highness asked him a question first, Drema paused for a moment, then stood up straight and spoke loudly.

"Your Highness, he has been imprisoned in the basement of the Tuileries Palace, under the special guard of a squad of military police. There is no way anything could go wrong."

"Furthermore, I have an important report to Your Highness: we found this in Troch's personal belongings."

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As he spoke, Drema took out an envelope wrapped in oil paper from his pocket and handed it to Eugène.

Looking at the well-preserved envelope, Eugène thought of the envelope he had intercepted; the two seemed to be exactly the same.

The envelope I received was more of a gesture of goodwill, and showing it to the public might be rather subtle, which some people might not understand.

Could it be that I can obtain even more evidence to completely expose the other party's identity as a traitor?

Somewhat excited, Eugène took the envelope, opened it, and sure enough, inside was a translated letter written in German, and a draft originally in French.

He glanced at it twice, quickly scanned it, and Euren wanted to laugh out loud, but realizing that his position made it inappropriate for him to laugh, he forced a smile.

After controlling his facial expressions, Eugène threw the French letter on the table and had everyone pass it around to read.

"Just as I expected, Trochschule has been secretly contacting the Prussians. This is a handwritten letter he wrote to Prussian Chief of the General Staff Moltke, which he wrote last night."

He sent out a letter, but seeing that the situation was not good, and wanting to betray his country to gain his own position, he wrote a second letter.

Eugène was somewhat speechless at Trosch's behavior.

Upon hearing Eugène's words, the generals disregarded etiquette and crowded around to see what was written in the envelope that could have angered the prince so much.

However, no matter how anxious they were, they had to wait for Eugénie to finish reading it first. Only after Eugénie finished reading it did they huddle together, their heads piled up like a human pyramid, to finish reading the letter.

Eugénie, who read the letter earlier, was furious, her face turning bright red. The generals who read the letter later all wore the same expression of anger.

This expression wasn't meant for Eugène's benefit. At that time, and even into modern times, the French have always been very proud, having inherited their heritage from the Western Roman Empire, serving as an important part of the Western Roman Empire, and later becoming the main body of the Frankish Kingdom.

France has always held considerable influence on the European continent; at any time, France has always been a nation that can hold its own at the table.

Under these circumstances, Trochet's easy surrender was indeed unacceptable to the French, who had been clamoring to annihilate Prussia before and in the early stages of the war.

In this letter, Troch practically groveled to Moltke, expressing his willingness to accept the Prussian support for him to become the President of France.

Troch was willing to order a ceasefire, offering to cede Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia, with the Meuse River as the boundary, and to pay Prussia a certain amount of war reparations.

Because the situation in Paris had begun to reverse when he wrote this letter, the anxious Trochet even made a promise.

If he were to come to power, he would be willing to disband the mobilized French army, restore it to its pre-war size of 30 men, allow the Prussian army to be permanently stationed in Paris and Lyon, and never be an enemy of Prussia again.

Politicians' words cannot be trusted, and neither can Troch. Everyone present knew that Troch's promises were nothing but empty words.

He couldn't possibly keep his promise to become president of Prussia. He wanted to first use Prussia to resolve the issue of the empire, and then rely on diplomatic pressure from Britain, Russia, and Austria to negotiate a new agreement with France on the terms.

In any case, Britain, Russia, and Austria would not stand idly by and watch France kneel down and lick Prussia's boots.

It's harmless to make a few empty promises or a little verbal courtesy now.

It's not like France is refusing to give it to you; it's just that Prussia doesn't dare to ask for it. Whose fault is it?

Adhering to this ideology, Troch wrote this more straightforward letter, clearly stating in black and white that he wanted to betray his country and surrender.

"This traitor."

After reading it, Auvergne, the commander of the 5th Cavalry Division, was so angry that his liver ached. He slammed his fist on the table, and the young and strong colonel used so much force that even the coffee cup on the table jumped.

Auvergne, a young officer who was just over 30 and served as a division commander in the 13th Army and was a true dragoon, hated traitors the most and expressed his opinion through gritted teeth.

"I knew he wasn't a good person, but I never imagined he could be this shameless. He dared to betray the entire country for his own power; he should be shot."

"No wonder he was unwilling to organize an army to resist the Prussians; it turns out he had already colluded with the enemy. If we hadn't quelled the rebellion in time, the Prussians would probably have occupied Paris without bloodshed."

Like Auvergne, Morel, the commander of the 6th Division and also a cavalry division commander, was somewhat better than the emotional Auvergne.

With his wildly imaginative mind, he even connected some of Troch's previous actions, directly categorizing Troch as a surrenderist who had wanted to surrender long ago.

Only those who have wronged you know how wronged you are.

Looking at the emotional crowd, Eugene knew that Troche was indeed a complete capitulationist, but he hadn't really reached the point where he wanted to surrender long ago.

Trox was writing this letter under pressure from them; he desperately needed external help to break the deadlock.

However, this conjecture was in Eugene's interest, and Eugene certainly couldn't stand up and defend Troche. He just watched as everyone spoke one by one.

Following the two division commanders, Pierre-Jacques, who had also made significant contributions this time and was now the Paris Police Chief, a figure comparable to a Major General in the Army, made a statement.

"Your Highness, Trox is guilty of heinous crimes and should not be let off easily. My suggestion is to hold a public trial and then execute him."

Finally, someone spoke to his heart, and Eugene immediately smiled and nodded to express his opinion.

"That's what I thought too. Before he was executed, I wanted all the people of Paris to know his true colors."

The people have the right to see clearly what kind of person the president of the republic they support is.

The Republic's dirty water must be splashed on. This is an era where everyone is competing to be the worst. The Empire is already bad enough. If they want to win back the people's hearts and make them embrace the Empire again, they will have to do it.

Besides making political statements, the empire aims to bring the republic to its level, and then use its rich experience to defeat the republic.