Chapter 291 Spain's Bright Future

Chapter 292 Spain's bright future

Carlos IV stared at Joseph and said excitedly: "Are you talking casually, or..."

Joseph said seriously: "Her Majesty the Queen asked me to come to Madrid.

Carlos was even more excited, his chest heaving violently, and he patted Joseph's shoulders hard: "France will always be Spain's closest brother!"

Joseph also envisioned the bright future of France and Spain working together to control the entire Iberian Peninsula. Carlos IV was so excited that he wanted to lead the army now, drive away the British army in Gibraltar, and then flatten Lisbon!

Joseph glanced at his expression and said casually: "After taking back Gibraltar, Ceuta will be of no use to you. Perhaps France can use it as a supply port. ”

Ceuta is the port on the other side of Gibraltar and is the southern gate of the Strait of Gibraltar. The port of Ceuta is located in Morocco and was occupied by Portugal in the 15th century. More than a hundred years ago, Spain seized it from Portugal.

Carlos IV nodded in agreement without even thinking about it: "Of course it's no problem! Please allow me to present Ceuta to my French brother on the day I land in Gibraltar. ”

Although the location of Ceuta is also very important, it is not on the European continent, so it is very difficult to supply it, and its role in the Spanish Navy is quite limited.

However, for France, this is not a problem. Because North Africa is the core development direction of France, and Morocco will inevitably be France's sphere of influence in the future.

In other words, France is equivalent to supplying Ceuta from its homeland.

Helping Spain drive away the British and recapture the northern gate of the Strait of Gibraltar, France can also earn the southern gate of the Strait for free. This is definitely a very cost-effective deal.

Joseph saw that Carlos IV was eager to try, and hurriedly poured cold water on him again: "Of course, the British still have an unshakable maritime strength, which makes Portugal difficult to conquer.

"We must first concentrate on developing our national strength and build a large number of warships after the fiscal surplus. When the navies of our two countries can overwhelm the British, it will be the time to recapture Gibraltar!

"As for the army, we don't have to worry at all. As long as there is no British fleet to make trouble, the French and Spanish coalition forces can capture Portugal within two months. "

Back then, the army of the King of Naples only wandered in front of Portugal, and the latter surrendered at the speed of light. However, the British navy was still there at that time, and it was difficult to guarantee stable rule by occupying Portugal, so the King of Naples took Portugal's overseas colonies and ordered the withdrawal of troops.

Carlos IV nodded silently and calmed down.

With Spain's current national strength, it dared not provoke the British. And France had just barely escaped from a devastating financial crisis, and it was probably difficult to spare too much power to help Spain.

So now it is the hard truth to develop and accumulate warships.

Joseph then told him some suggestions on reform and development. In fact, Carlos III left a very good team for Spain.

Gombos and Count Aranda were both very capable ministers.

Although the Count of Florida Blanca was very wary of France, he was also a wise minister.

Even Bernardo Tanucci, the chief minister when Carlos III was the King of Naples, could be transferred to Spain to assist in government affairs.

As long as Spain can keep up with France and stabilize its colonies to prevent chaos, it will have no problem keeping its seat among the European powers, not to mention a significant increase in national strength.

Moreover, the Spanish navy has always been well built. After all, it is a country that has produced the Invincible Armada, and its foundation is still there.

For a period of time afterwards, Joseph talked with Carlos IV about the management of colonies, the control of nobles, and the trade cooperation between France and Spain. Although he didn't know how much the latter could understand, he did his best. The rest depends on the fate of Spain. .

Of course, there were also Spanish dinners and various dances every day.

Three days later, Joseph left Madrid with Carlos IV reluctantly saying goodbye, heading east, boarding a Spanish Navy warship at the Port of Valencia, and then sailing north, disembarking at the Port of Toulon, changing carriages and rushing to Austria.

Strasbourg.

Joseph looked at the gifts that Talleyrand brought, which filled several carriages, and couldn't help shaking his head and sighing. His mother was really an honest person. The gifts she gave to her brother were not stingy at all.

Forget it, it was her private money anyway, so she could spend it however she wanted...

He motioned the Minister of Foreign Affairs to get in the car, first praising him for successfully getting Jeanne back from England this time, and then carefully explained the diplomatic mission to Vienna this time.

This will affect the policy direction of France for a long time in the future.

…

Poland.

Warsaw.

Lt. Col. Paul Jones, the U.S. ambassador to Poland, looked at the two people in front of him. If the French intelligence agency had not repeatedly assured him that they were not wrong, he would have found it hard to believe that they were the so-called people who "could change the direction of Poland" -

The taller one wore a coarse cloth coat, gray-black trousers, and the skin on his hands and face was very rough, like a fisherman who went out to sea for fishing all year round.

The other fatter one had a bald priest's head and a tattered gray priest's robe. At first glance, he was from a remote rural church.

The two saluted Jones and greeted him in French. Whether in etiquette or conversation, they seemed very educated, which was completely inconsistent with their appearance.

Jones also politely returned the greeting, and walked carefully to the window to confirm that no one was watching. Then he turned around and took out two pamphlets from his pocket, handed them to the two, and reminded them: "Please keep them properly, because there is no bottom plate for confidentiality."

The "fisherman" took the pamphlets very carefully, and saw that the title of the top one was "The Glorious Polish Nation".

He was moved, and looked at the next one, which was "Although I speak Russian, I will always be a Pole".

He quickly flipped through the pamphlets, and his expression suddenly became excited. He looked at Jones and said: "Okay, this is great! Which great thinker wrote this? We need it!"

Jones shrugged and said vaguely: "It is said that it was written by a German."

In fact, this was written by Johann Gottlieb Fichte, the master of German national enlightenment, whom Joseph had asked to find more than three years ago.

Although Fichte did not study Poland in depth, the unification of national consciousness was mainly based on incitement. And he was best at this.

In addition, the client was willing to pay, so he put in great enthusiasm and completed these two works on the concept of the Polish nation in the shortest time.

"Please print them as soon as possible and distribute them throughout Poland." Jones urged, "Don't worry about the funding, the sponsor will contact you soon."

Joseph was forced by the slow efficiency of the Polish Parliament and had no choice but to use the killer weapon of national consciousness.