Precisely because the Bourbon family felt that they were becoming increasingly unpopular at home, in order to regain their prestige, they chose the national policy of "conquering Algeria".
However, before this national policy could officially bear fruit, the Bourbon family was overturned by domestic turmoil and fled into exile in despair.
The grand plan to conquer Algeria was awkwardly left in place, temporarily suspended, like an unfinished building.
When Aiglon returned to France, the Bourbon army had already occupied Algiers and assembled more than 30,000 troops in Algiers and surrounding areas, which was equivalent to gaining a foothold.
But this is still a long way from conquering Algeria.
Algeria is not a country, but a piece of loose sand. It belongs to Ottoman Turkey in name. In fact, it has no ruler at all. Except for a few coastal cities that can be controlled by the "government", the vast inland is divided by various tribes.
, there are grass-headed kings everywhere.
This brings about an inevitable result - "it is easy to establish a foothold, but difficult to conquer".
There is no formed country here that can be "taken over", and occupying its "capital" will not make other tribes willingly submit to French rule. If you want to conquer there, you must spend a lot of time and energy to rebuild it.
Create an order.
During his long period of dormancy, the Marquis of Treville never forgot to monitor the situation and wait for the opportunity to make a comeback, so he naturally knew the ins and outs of the Algeria problem.
Therefore, he also understood the true meaning of what Aigron said: "A successful general must not only be able to engage in military affairs, but also be able to engage in politics."
Can France defeat all the local tribal armed forces? As long as it is willing to invest resources, it certainly can, but "conquest" does not mean defeat. It requires the establishment of an order, and this "order", whether the French are willing or not, can
It requires the cooperation of the local elite, at least part of it.
This also means that the French army must win over some pro-French tribes, support some local elites, and then suppress those disobedient tribes, and use a few thorns to scare the monkeys.
These things are simple to say, but very complicated to implement, and even intricate - who can be trusted and won over, who must be wary of, who needs to be punished with force, and to what extent? What are the differences?
, are all very subtle and definitely not something that a reckless general can do.
If you want to conquer a place, it is not enough for a general who is good at killing people and setting fires. You also need to be good at pulling people together while killing people and setting fires.
European powers are actually no strangers to this point.
With the advent of the Age of Discovery, European powers have continued to conquer overseas colonies for hundreds of years, and have successfully conquered unimaginably vast territories.
The most outstanding one was the British conquest of India. In this conquest that lasted for one or two hundred years, the British not only used their own force, but also used all kinds of deceitful conspiracies to take advantage of various forces and ethnic groups in India.
The contradictions between them continued to divide and attack the various feudal lords, seizing the land and treasures from their hands, and also attracted the brave and fighting Sikhs to his side, which became a major help for him to conquer India... In the end
It achieved an outstanding masterpiece in the history of British conquest.
In this series of "conquests", the European powers have already mastered various diplomatic methods of "deception," "intimidation," and "blackmail", which can be described as extremely deceitful.
It was also during this period that the ancient Eastern powers, relying on their thousands of years of rich experience in "strategy", always felt that foreigners would not play tricks on them, and always wanted to compete with foreigners. As a result, they often ended in disastrous defeats in foreign negotiations.
, not only failed to win on the battlefield, but were repeatedly deceived at the negotiation table. As a result, the British and French easily deceived them into consular jurisdiction, received one-sided preferential trade treatment, and defrauded Tsarist Russia of a large area of ​​territory... Of course, this is also the problem.
Foreign language.
All in all, General Treville knew that if he was sent to North Africa, he would inevitably have to adopt methods such as co-opting, dividing, and suppressing various tribes. He must become a general who can do some politics, otherwise it would be impossible
Make big "achievements".
Fortunately, he was also confident in this. After all, the Treville family had been courtiers for hundreds of years, and conspiracy and conspiracy could be described as a "family tradition." He himself and his brother were also well versed in hedging their bets in this turbulent era.
And he has gained the trust and importance of the monarchs on both sides at the same time. He is not even afraid of the emperor and the king, so how can he take a few tribal leaders to his heart.
"Your Majesty, I fully understand what my responsibility is. We must conquer there and turn it into our territory. We must make everyone there accept your imperial power and accept the order and law of the empire." Marquis Treville was full of confidence.
Mandi told Aiglon, "This means that we must adopt constructive policies there and be gentle to those who are willing to join us; of course, necessary deterrence is also absolutely indispensable. When necessary, I will take ruthless measures."
Use your iron fist to destroy anyone who dares to throw a fist at the Empire!"
Looking at the smug General Treville, Aigron also felt great confidence.
Although he placed so much emphasis on General Treville mainly to cultivate his own confidants, he had always seen the Marquis' ability in his eyes, and he was convinced that the other party had the ability to do everything he should do.
At present, the officers and officers of the French army gathered around Algiers were all promoted by the "previous dynasty", but most of the soldiers must not care about this change of dynasties - besides, Marshal Moncey is sitting there, and there is absolutely no
People can cause trouble.
Besides, all their ammunition and supplies must be supplied from home, so they have no ability to "rebel" at all.
However, the lack of the ability to rebel does not mean the lack of the ability to "passively sabotage". Because of the change of dynasties, the expeditionary force must also be in a state of panic. In order to protect themselves and avoid suspicion, no one dared to make a move for fear of being caught by Paris.
The imperial government regarded him as a traitor.
Marshal Moncey, who was already in his seventies, was too old and had no energy to further expand the achievements of his conquests outside of his daily work.
Therefore, if you want to be "aggressive", you must send a young, powerful, ambitious, and trusted general to use his strong energy to mobilize the local officers to work together, and also to dispel their doubts.
Taking all the above considerations into consideration, who else is more suitable than the Marquis of Treville? There is definitely no one else.
"General, after arriving in Algiers, in addition to serving as Marshal Moncey's deputy, you also have another responsibility, which is to manage the local military police. You not only have to rectify the local military discipline, but also shoulder the task of supervision. Who is
Potential royalists and Orleans parties need to be sorted out, and you can compile a list and report to me who are the talents worthy of promotion." Aigron warned the Marquis again.
The Marquis nodded understandingly.
As the emperor's confidant, he will inevitably have the task of "supervising the army" when he gets there. It is natural that he will also be responsible for inspecting talents for His Majesty. In this process, he can also naturally form cliques and accumulate knowledge.
of power.
After 15 years of idleness, General Treville's previous relationship network has been completely destroyed. He urgently needs to re-establish mountain power. Only in this way can he secure a stable leadership position in the army.
However, both the monarch and the minister are smart people, so there is no need to say these words too clearly, as long as they understand each other tacitly.
Because he had a pleasant conversation with the general, Aigron was in a good mood at the moment. He walked in the garden of the Palace of Fontainebleau, smelling the fragrance of flowers mixed in the cold wind, and couldn't help but feel relaxed and happy.
General Treville was naturally quite well-behaved. He played the role of courtier and "foil" quite professionally, accompanying His Majesty while walking and chatting.
At the end, Aigron finally turned the topic back to the general's mission and gave his final instructions, "General, now we have more than 30,000 troops there, which is definitely not enough. Next, Marshal Soult and I will
We must increase troops there. But this is by no means an unlimited investment. We have to deal with European countries, and the main force of the army must stay at home. Moreover, if political failure occurs, it is meaningless to increase troops blindly. It will only increase the number of troops.
It's just consumption - so how to make good use of the power in your hands is the key to your success or failure. I know your talent, and I am convinced that you will not disappoint me, but you must understand that the consequences of failure are very serious, and it requires
You have to pay a huge price to confess the past, you must keep this in mind."
Although I do trust you, my trust in you is by no means unlimited. You are not my unconditional favorite. We are all familiar with each other, and you will not show mercy if you mess up things. This is Aigron's last words.
warn.
General Treville is also very clear that the imperial government now regards the conquest of Algeria as a "national policy". Since it is a national policy, it will naturally invest resources first, pay and treat people; but on the other hand, once there is a problem with the implementation of the national policy,
It will inevitably become a huge political stain and even become a target for attacks by political opponents.
If that happens, His Majesty will never show mercy. He will throw himself out as a scapegoat to thank the people. Then he will replace others and continue to implement national policies.
General Treville did not feel any unfairness in this fact.
If you want to bear as much benefit as you want, you have to bear as much risk as you want. There are two ends of the scale. One end is "marshal, the central leader of the army", and the other end is "disrepute."
This is very fair and reasonable, and he also has this realization.
"Your Majesty, if I screw up, you will never see me again. I will shoot myself in the head in Algiers! I will use my life to compensate for the losses I have caused to the country."
The Marquis of Reville gave the assurance in a passionate tone.
"Very good." Aigron nodded with satisfaction.
Now that everything has been laid out, there is no room for dodge, which is good for everyone.
"I believe that I will see you again soon. Then we will continue to chat and laugh here and listen to you telling stories about the desert. Isn't this a beautiful thing?" Aigron responded with a smile.
Then, he made a gesture to the other party, "Since you are bidding farewell to me, you might as well go and meet your son. Before you say goodbye, the person you care about most is Edgar, right?"
Previously, Edgar had used the power of his wife to get the job of making celebration paintings. As the whole court moved to Fontainebleau, he naturally followed them and continued to perform his tasks.
So when General Treville entered the palace to say goodbye, Aigron naturally suggested that he let him meet his son.
This was in line with the wishes of the Marquis of Treville, so he immediately thanked His Majesty.
So, under the guidance of his attendants, General Treville left the garden along the path, then walked through the palace and corridors, and finally came to the door of a house.
Having been brought to the place, the attendant retired, and General Treville knocked at the door.
"Who is it?" Edgar's voice immediately came from inside.
"It's me." The Marquis of Treville replied impatiently.
"Dad!" Edgar's voice immediately became filled with confusion and panic, and then he quickly ran to the door and opened it.
Then, at a glance, he saw his father wearing a military uniform and looking majestic.
The power that his father had cultivated in his heart since childhood inevitably flashed a trace of fear in Edgar's eyes, and he finally regained his composure. "You...why are you here? You are dressed so formally."
"I'm here to say goodbye to His Majesty." The Marquis replied angrily, "I'm going to Algiers, have you forgotten?"
After being reminded by his father, Edgar naturally reacted, "Yeah... right!"
Then, he looked at his father with nostalgia and said, "Dad... I wish you a safe journey."
Seeing that his son was still so confused and ignorant, most of the good mood that Marquis Treville had originally felt was wiped out in one fell swoop.
But now, what is there to say? His son has always been like this, and he no longer has any hope.
"After I leave, no one will look after you anymore. You have to be careful and take care of yourself and your daughter." He impatiently told his son, "Besides, since you stay in the palace, you have to take care of yourself and your daughter."
Don't worry, don't cause any more scandals. In the past palace, this didn't matter, but Queen Theresa is old-fashioned, and she will not tolerate your ridiculousness. If you cause a scandal, not only will you be
Embarrassing myself will also bring shame on me, do you understand?!"
"I understand, Dad." Edgar replied quickly, "I have been living a careful life during this period, and I have never messed up in the palace..."
Seeing his son behaving like this, the Marquis finally relaxed a little. "So, what happened to the things you did in private?"