When Jerome Bonaparte thinks of "the Quai d'Orsay", he feels a bit tricky.
To be honest, he was not averse to taking a tough stance on the Ottoman Empire and making it obey the leadership of France.
This was France's strategic goal throughout the 19th century, which was to weaken the Ottoman Empire's authority in the Balkans to a certain extent and prevent the Ottoman Empire from avalanche-like collapse.
Once the Ottoman Empire collapsed, the Near East and the Middle East would completely turn into a hodgepodge. This ancient and decadent empire could be said to be a breakwater.
However, the "Porte d'Orsay" group always wanted to bind the Holy Land to the fate of France, which made Jérôme Bonaparte very unhappy. Co-authoring France's strategic goals must serve the priests, right?
If this is the case, how will he, the emperor, carry out his work in the future?
The Holy Land is not only in France, but also in the Russian Empire.
Sooner or later, France and Russia will reconcile because of geopolitics, and they cannot be like the Austrian Empire.
Jerome Bonaparte would never allow religious issues to mess up France's diplomacy.
Thinking of this, Jerome Bonaparte called Mokar again.
After receiving orders from Jérôme Bonaparte, Mokar quickly went to Montalembert's home.
Fortunately, it didn't stop raining for long. The carriage quickly passed through the Champs Avenue, and the low-lying rainwater splashed in all directions under the squeeze of the wheels, forming small waves.
Since Montalembert's home is not far from the Tuileries Palace, and there are few pedestrians along the way, Mokar's speed is more than twice as fast as before.
Mokar, who originally took 8 minutes to arrive, arrived at Montalembert's home in less than 5 minutes, and stopped Montalembert as he was about to go out.
After Montalembert heard the summons from Jerome Bonaparte, his expression showed a little surprise.
Jérôme Bonaparte has not come to look for him specifically for a long time.
"Let's go!" Montalembert replied to Mokar, straightening the corners of his wrinkled lichen.
Mokar and Montalembert arrived at the gate of the Tuileries Palace in a carriage.
While Mokar stayed where he was to set up the carriage, Montalembert arrived alone at Jérôme Bonaparte's office.
When Montalembert entered the study, he saw Jérôme Bonaparte standing under the portrait of Napoleon with his head raised and his hands behind his back. He quickly saluted Jérôme Bonaparte and said: "Your Majesty!"
"Count Montalembert!" Jerome Bonaparte turned around and looked at Montalembert expressionlessly, without any warmth in his words.
"I'm here!" Montalembert replied immediately.
"Can you tell me!" Jérôme Bonaparte's eyes were fixed on Montalembert's eyes, and he lowered his voice and said, "What exactly do you want to do!"
"We..." Montalembert couldn't help but swallowed. Of course he understood why Jerome Bonaparte was angry.
Although he does not belong to the same group as those guys from the "Port d'Orsay", the small group he belongs to still has some understanding of the actions of the "Port d'Orsay".
"Do you want to kidnap the entire country to serve you?" Jérôme Bonaparte snapped at Montalembert.
"No! We didn't!" Montalembert wanted to defend, but he found that he didn't seem to have any way to braid himself.
"I know that you have a lobbying group in the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs! The reason why I leave you alone is to maintain the harmony of the entire class. If you use my attitude towards your harmonious coexistence to kidnap the empire, I am afraid that I
Even if I promise you, Paris will not agree! Enough blood has been shed in Paris!" Jérôme Bonaparte reprimanded Montalembert in a stern manner, and then smiled meaningfully: "I don't want to
Bleed! If it’s not necessary.”
Jérôme Bonaparte's smile made Montalembert feel a chill that went deep into his spine.
The so-called not wanting to bleed is probably because they don’t want priests to be guillotined.
Of course there is another explanation. If the guillotine was really necessary, he would also send them to Napoleon without hesitation.
"Your Majesty, the Quai d'Orsay is a member of the extremists...and I..." Montalembert straightened his chest and said firmly to Jérôme Bonaparte: "I advocate a gentle approach!"
Yes, it is a bit funny that Montalembert suddenly turned into a moderate under the background of the lobby group of an ultra-Catholic party like "Port d'Orsay".
This is similar to how as long as you are left-leaning, everyone will be right in your eyes.
"I understand! Count Montalembert, please tell some people in the church not to overestimate your own power! Otherwise, you will die without knowing how you died!" Jerome Bonnet
Bar replied coldly to Montalembert.
"I understand!" Count Montalembert nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.
"Thanks for your hard work!"
Jérôme Bonaparte, who had basically eliminated the suspicion that Montalembert was the main promoter, showed a pleasant attitude.
After Montalembert left, Jérôme Bonaparte found De Ruys and Valette respectively.
After learning about De Luys's views on uniting public opinion (recently, ultra-Catholic voices for the Holy Land have become increasingly louder, and some republicans have also joined in the national advocacy), Jerome Bonaparte turned to think about whether
Valette should be allowed to serve as ambassador to Constantinople in compliance with "public opinion".
After all, ever since the founding of the Second Empire, Jérôme Bonaparte's prestige has been at a point where it's more or less than it is.
Advocating for France's ecclesiastical power in the Near East can indeed make him more loved by the French people, to be precise, by the clergy. At present, the grassroots of France are still in the hands of the huge clergy, so it can be said that he is loved by the clergy.
He gained the love of the people.
Therefore, regarding the clergy, Jérôme Bonaparte has always advocated using a combination of grace and power to win them over.
Previously, Montalembert was used to send a message to the clergy to ask them to be more honest. It was a favor to support Valette as ambassador to Constantinople to safeguard the interests of the Latin Church.
After some explanations, De Luys assured Jérôme Bonaparte that he would personally control the Near East diplomacy and prevent Valette from taking any drastic action. Jérôme Bonaparte decided to change his thinking.
However, he had to give Valette a warning first.
Under the order of Jérôme Bonaparte, full-time secretary Vernia sent De Ruys out of the Tuileries Palace, and then notified Valette, who was waiting for summons in the guest room of the Tuileries Palace, to enter the study.
After Valette was invited into the study, Jerome Bonaparte had a detailed discussion with Valette about the Near East. During this period, he also specifically emphasized that he should try his best to put pressure on the Ottoman Empire to favor France, but not to offend Russia too much.
empire.
If war begins while he is ambassador, he will bear full responsibility.
Upon seeing this, Valette could only agree to Jérôme Bonaparte, and the flames of war that were about to stir in his heart were also successfully extinguished by Jérôme Bonaparte.
"Your Majesty, I wonder if you can send a fleet to Constantinople?" Valette cautiously tested Jérôme Bonaparte: "Only cannonballs can make them completely obey our orders!"
"You can try, but you need to wait for a while! Regarding the navy, I need to discuss it with Minister Dicko! You can go back and wait for the notice!" Jerome Bonaparte waved his hand and issued an order to expel the guests.
After Valette left, Jérôme Bonaparte took a carriage to the office of Admiral Dicko.
Jérôme Bonaparte, who had just entered the office, was surprised to find that from some unknown time, there was an extra simple camp bed in Dicko's office.
"Your Majesty!" Dicko quickly stood up to greet Jerome Bonaparte.
"Are you going to treat the minister's office as your second home? Are you going to treat the warship as your second wife?" Jérôme Bonaparte joked with a smile.
Dico also laughed heartily.
After the teasing was over, Jerome Bonaparte continued to say to Minister Dick: "Follow me, I have a gift for your Admiralty!"
Under Dick's doubtful gaze, Jérôme Bonaparte took him away from the Admiralty and came to an unpainted building not far from the Admiralty.
"Here is..." Dico looked at the building in front of him doubtfully.
"Go in!" Jérôme Bonaparte threw the key to Dicko.
After taking the key, Dico opened the door of the building. What looked like a rough house on the outside turned out to be something special inside. This was a leisure club that had been carefully decorated and laid out inside. There were candles on the ceiling chandeliers and candles hanging on the windows.
The gold curtains all show the strong financial resources behind it, and the 19th century products such as library area, rest area, restaurant and entertainment area are all available.
"From today on, this place belongs to your Admiralty!" Jérôme Bonaparte explained to Dicko.
"Ah!" Dicko opened his mouth and looked at everything in front of him in surprise.
"To be precise, it's not just your departments!" Jérôme Bonaparte said to Dicko, then came to the billiard table and asked, "Would you like to play a game?"
"I am very honored!" Dicko responded to Jérôme Bonaparte.
Jérôme Bonaparte threw one of the two billiard cues to Dicko, who took it and stroked it.
The white ball made of ivory was placed at the designated position by Jérôme Bonaparte, and then he used the strength and skill of his left and right hands to push the white ball out hard.
The white ball smashed into the pile of other small balls like an arrow, and the piles of small balls arranged in a triangle instantly scattered in all directions.
Several small balls were transferred into the net with the help of strong inertial force. Then Jérôme Bonaparte once again hit the small balls of other colors with white balls. The small balls entered the net hole under the combined effect of skill and force.
among.
"How is the situation in the navy? When will your new warship be completed?" Jérôme Bonaparte said to Dicko while aiming at the ball.
"The steam gunboat construction has started and is about to be completed. It is expected to be completed next month! There are still some problems with the iron-clad battleships, and we are expected to make breakthroughs by the end of this year!" Dicko reported the current progress of the navy to Jérôme Bonaparte.
"Okay!" Jerome Bonaparte slowly raised his head and said with a smile on his face: "You did a good job!"
"This is what we should do!" Dicko smiled modestly: "Good shot!"
Another billiard ball was hit by Jerome Bonaparte's white ball and rolled into the hole. Jerome Bonaparte then asked: "Where is the Pacific Ocean? Is there any new news? I have been gone for a while.
The New Year should be here too!”
"No news yet! However, I think if we don't encounter any problems along the way, we should be here!" Dicko responded to Jérôme Bonaparte.
"Have the logistical problems in the Near East been solved?" Jérôme Bonaparte raised his billiard cue to observe the position of the billiard balls.
"In the event of a war, the Navy is fully capable of supporting the logistics of 150,000 people in the Balkans!" Dicko responded confidently.
"Very good! You really did not disappoint me!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded with satisfaction, and then continued: "One more thing, the new ambassador to Constantinople is about to leave. I hope
The navy can use warships to escort him to Constantinople!"