Chapter 194 Europa Universalis 4

Chapter 195 European Storm 4

Joseph seemed to be unsatisfied and waved his hand vigorously: "It is a pity that there are still Ottoman fortresses on the northern shore of the Black Sea. Only by clearing them as soon as possible can the stability of the ports needed for Black Sea trade be ensured.

"After that, Russia should march to the south bank of the Danube and seize control of the Danube estuary from the Ottomans!

"And on the east bank of the Black Sea, Georgia, the small country protected by Russia, is still occupied by the Ottomans at the Black Sea estuary and is suppressed by the Persians. It is in urgent need of Russia's rescue."

He looked at Paul seriously: "If necessary, France can provide you with help at any time!"

Crown Prince Paul was stunned. Why did he feel that the French crown prince was more radical than his mother? He directly attributed everything except the southern shore of the Black Sea, which was the Ottomans' hometown, to Russia. If there were outsiders present, they might think that he was the Russian crown prince.

In fact, Joseph just repeated the situation of several Russian-Turkish wars in history. These places are the interests that Russia has always dreamed of, and no Russian can help but be excited after hearing this.

Sure enough, Paul nodded excitedly: "This is also the King's..."

Joseph immediately followed: "It's all the King's intention, please be sure to tell Her Majesty the Queen."

As the French Crown Prince, his words have full diplomatic effect.

The Russians are straightforward, and they are straightforward in repaying favors and revenge.

Paul also immediately reciprocated: "I assure you that we will also provide support for France's actions in North Africa at any time!"

After separating from the Russian Crown Prince, Joseph returned to his bedroom and saw the servants surrounding the Spanish Crown Prince with a helpless look on their faces - he obviously drank a lot of wine, his hair was messy, and the whole person looked extremely decadent.

When Antonio saw his cousin coming back, he immediately stood up with a glass of wine, and his eyes were red again.

Joseph had no choice but to accompany him to drink a few glasses, silently patting his back to comfort him.

Soon, Antonio was drunk. Joseph ordered the servant to move him to bed, and then he saw Fouché coming quickly, saluted him and said: "Your Highness, do you think we should continue to watch the second floor of the South Palace?"

He was talking about the person responsible for monitoring the Spanish Crown Princess.

"No need." Joseph shook his head. Antonio himself was useless, and he really had no other choice.

He turned around and glanced at Antonio, and casually said to Fouché: "Is there any way to give him the courage to deal with that unfaithful woman?"

Fouché was stunned for a moment, and whispered: "Your Highness, it is a bit troublesome to deal with that woman, but it should not be difficult to deal with her lover."

"Oh?" Joseph asked, "What are you going to do?"

Fouché showed an excited and cold smile: "Just destroy him, it shouldn't be too troublesome."

Joseph frowned, he didn't like to use too "dirty" means to solve the problem, so he subconsciously ignored this option.

However, he immediately remembered Antonio's painful expression, and couldn't help squinting his eyes. Godoy was just a little guard with no background, and perhaps simple and direct means would be the most effective.

He looked at Fouché: "Can you ensure that everything is safe?"

"Please rest assured, he just had an accident, no one will suspect."

"Tomorrow is the birthday of His Majesty the King, don't make too much noise."

"Yes, Your Highness, I understand."

At lunch time, a tall and handsome man in his thirties met Joseph in the corridor and immediately took two steps forward to salute him.

Eman hurriedly whispered: "Your Highness, this is Prince Poniatowski of Poland."

Joseph nodded slightly, but deliberately turned his face away, ignored the Polish prince, and left proudly under the latter's embarrassed gaze.

There were eyes everywhere in the Palace of Versailles. Since Joseph chose the route to get closer to Russia, he had to show an attitude of keeping a distance from Poland.

Poniatowski was not very angry. After all, Poland is now in decline and has internal problems. Especially ten years ago, Russia, Prussia and Austria had just ceded a large area of ​​territory. It is normal for a big country like France to look down on them.

But just as he turned the corner of the stairs, a strange young man suddenly saluted him and then stuffed a note into his hand.

Poniatowski was surprised to hold the note in his hand, and did not unfold it until he came to a secluded place to read it.

The note was written by the French crown prince, and the content was only a simple sentence, asking him to wait for him somewhere outside the Palace of Versailles at 2 pm.

The summer afternoon was very hot, especially since it had not rained in France for a long time.

Poniatowski wiped his sweat and was about to look at his watch again when he saw two of France's most popular "jewel" high-end carriages parked next to him.

A moment later, in the carriage, Joseph looked at the rather heroic Polish prince in front of him and smiled, "I'm sorry to meet you in this way. But please believe that our next conversation is very important to you and Poland."

Joseph knew that the current Polish King Stanislaw II was not reliable at all. Back then, he was placed on the Polish throne by the Tsarina because he was Catherine's lover. [Note 1]

Perhaps it was because Catherine had been too powerful in front of him in his previous life experience that he was still very afraid of her even after he became king.

This also led to the fact that in the second war to carve up Poland, Stanislaw II firmly believed that he could never defeat Russia when the main force of the Polish army still existed, so he ordered the entire army to surrender.

Throughout Poland, most of the nobles formed gangs for their own political interests, either defecting to Prussia or colluding with Russia. No one cared about the life and death of Poland.

Only the nephew of the King of Poland, Prince Poniatowski, and the famous general Tadeusz Kosciuszko always insisted on preparing for war, and they were once able to do so in the Second Partition War a few years later. Defeating the Russian army is an object that can be cultivated.

In particular, Kosciuszko has not yet risen to prominence. Poniatowski is responsible for Poland's army formation tasks, and as a prince, he also has a greater influence on Poland's political situation.

This time he happened to come to France, and Joseph naturally wanted to seize this opportunity and introduce him to some ways to "strengthen" Poland.

As for how much he can implement after listening, it depends on Poland's luck.

Poniatowski looked at the young French Crown Prince for a few seconds, then nodded solemnly: "I believe you, Your Highness. Please tell me."

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief and said: "First of all, you must understand that the situation facing Poland is very dangerous. It may be that in about five years, it will be in danger of annihilation."

According to the historical trajectory, Poland will be partitioned for the second time five years later.

Poniatowski was stunned, shook his head slightly and said: "Your Highness, are you being a little alarmist?

"Although Poland faces many threats, we are still a big country, and we also have an alliance with Prussia. Once we encounter threats, Prussia will send troops to help us."

Joseph was speechless. The Poles are really naive. Prussia is the country that is most active in carving up you, even more than Russia!

It's just that Prussia believed that it might not be able to defeat Poland on its own, so it secretly encouraged Russia to join forces, while pretending to form an alliance with Poland on the surface.

Historically, as soon as Russia sent troops, Prussia immediately tore up the alliance and attacked Poland from both sides.

Joseph immediately said in a deep voice: "If you want to keep Poland, you must first remember that you must not trust Prussia!"

The Prince of Poland was surprised: "Why do you say that?"

"I..." Joseph really wanted to tell him that he had read historical materials, but he could only say, "The French intelligence system has received absolutely reliable information, and gaining access to northwestern Poland is Prussia's primary strategic goal."

"This, how is this possible?!"

"You can confirm it through your own intelligence methods." Joseph didn't expect him to believe it immediately, but as long as the Poles could be on guard, I believe they would find some clues sooner or later.

Poniatowski nodded and asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"First of all, I don't want Prussia's plan to succeed."

Poniatowski had no doubt about this - Prussia and Britain were very close, and Britain and France were feuding countries, and France certainly did not want Prussia to become stronger.

Joseph continued with a sincere face: "Of course, more importantly, because I sympathize with Poland very much and do not want more suffering to fall on the Polish people."

Poniatowski automatically ignored this point. "Sympathy" and "goodwill" are just useless decorations in international politics.

"Thank you very much for the reminder, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"This is nothing." Joseph continued, "Also, the constitution being established in Poland probably needs to be accelerated."

"Huh? Constitution?" Poniatowski did not expect that the French would talk about Poland's internal affairs.

"With all due respect, the constitution you are currently trying to develop is too huge, resulting in too many things to discuss and slow progress."

Joseph said: "The biggest sticking point in Poland right now is the 'free veto', and the process of abolition of it should never be mixed with the new constitution. According to my estimation, your Sejm will not be able to complete everything within three or four years." constitution."

The so-called "free veto power" means that when the Polish Parliament makes resolutions, members can veto them with one vote.

This has resulted in foreign countries, such as Russia and Prussia, being able to bribe a small number of parliamentarians to prevent Poland from passing any bill that makes them unhappy.

At the same time, out of consideration of their own interests, legislators will veto a large number of bills that are beneficial to national development. The final result is that Poland has been able to implement almost no good policies for hundreds of years, and the country is getting worse and worse.

The Polish Sejm is planning to implement the abolition of the one-vote veto system in the new constitution, so until then Poland will still be a backwater.

"what do you mean?"

"Enact a separate bill to abolish the 'free veto'." Joseph added, "Poland is really in danger, we must seize the time!"

He didn't know if the Polish prince listened, and continued: "The Polish army also needs to expand as soon as possible. To achieve basic national defense security, a standing army of 100,000 is necessary. And you currently only have 10,000."

Poniatowski was a little surprised. According to repeated studies by the Polish military, it also believed that the army needed to be expanded to 100,000, which coincided with the statement of the French Crown Prince.

In fact, Joseph told him in advance the 100,000 military expansion plan required by the Polish Constitution four years later. However, at that time, there was only one year left before the second partition. In the end, Poland only expanded its army by 37,000 people, which was still far from the "lifeline".

Joseph continued: "In addition, tell your Sejm not to rush to abolish serfdom.

"I know that abolishing serfdom can greatly improve Poland's national strength, but all reforms will have a 'pain period' before great development. Poland can't afford the pain now.

"Of course, you can improve the situation of serfs, but the premise must be to try to unite more forces to resist foreign enemies."

Historically, Poland offended many old aristocratic forces because of the radical serf reform. These people were passive when Poland was invaded, which greatly weakened the power to resist foreign enemies.

Poniatowski felt a little funny. Poland's current reform trend is freedom, equality, and constitutionalism. Aren't these ideas all from you France? What about Rousseau and Montesquieu.

As a result, the French prince suggested that Poland temporarily retain serfdom...

In the moving carriage, Joseph expressed to the Polish prince that France would provide certain assistance to Poland through the United States, hoping that they would complete their preparations for war as soon as possible.

After he had basically said everything he needed to say, Poniatowski returned to his carriage and went back to the Palace of Versailles from another route.

…

On the birthday of Louis XVI.

The whole of Paris was in carnival mode. Several places where the government distributed free food became gathering places for citizens.

Every three hours, there would be a free performance by a troupe hired by the government.

In between performances, people took out their musical instruments, played and sang by themselves, and tried their best to praise the wisdom, bravery, benevolence and love of His Majesty the King. It was a scene of peace and prosperity.

No one remembered that France was facing the most serious food shortage in hundreds of years.

At the same time, various celebrations in the Palace of Versailles had reached their climax.

The singing and dancing and swordsmanship competitions had produced eight finalists, and professionals were commenting on the characteristics of the contestants, which caused the audience to cheer loudly from time to time.

In an inconspicuous little room on the second floor of the Palace of Versailles, Fouche stared at his men and asked in a deep voice: "Are you sure there are no exceptions?"

"Yes, sir. Godoy has been in the Palace of Versailles for four days, and he will attend Mrs. Garland's music salon on time at 9 o'clock every night."

Fouche nodded secretly when he heard this. He had already found out that Godoy was favored by the Spanish Crown Princess because of his good guitar and singing skills. Music is his livelihood.

[Note 1] At this time, Poland implemented a system in which the king was elected by the nobles. Moreover, the political situation in Poland was chaotic. Catherine bought off the Polish nobles with money and forced Stanislaw to take the throne of Poland.