From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

When Lawrence rushed outside the king's suite at Versailles, the Spanish ambassador seemed to still be conferring with Louis XV inside.

After waiting outside for more than 20 minutes, the chatter in the suite subsided. The Spanish ambassador opened the door and left expressionlessly. It seemed that no progress had been made. He and Lawrence outside nodded to each other, and then left directly. Left the king suite.

Lawrence was then led into the king's suite by the courtiers and saw the sad-looking Louis XV on the bed.

"Ah, my dear Lawrence, it is rare that you should see me."

Louis XV sat on the bed, his face a little pale, but he still tried his best to squeeze out a smile:

"You can sit down by yourself. Someone, come and give Monsieur Bonaparte a glass of brandy. Or if you like Shirley, you can cough. But what on earth do you need to tell me in person?"

For Louis XV, it was a very gratifying thing to see this young, promising and loyal minister.

In particular, Lawrence's behavior in recent times has been highly recognized by Louis XV. He accepted the position of whip of the Golden Iris Party, and immediately took action to get rid of Caesar Gabriel, and for the past two days, Shu When the Duke of Vasseur was dismissed, Lawrence did not come forward to make any intercession.

Although there was intelligence that Laurence Bonaparte and the Duke of Choiseul met before leaving, Louis XV did not care about this trivial matter.

After all, the king also knew that the Duke of Choiseul was the benefactor who brought Laurence Bonaparte to the Palace of Versailles. There must be some personal relationship between the two of them. The two old friends met and talked before leaving. Reminiscing about old times is not a sin at all.

Even Louis XV's own attitude towards the Duke of Choiseul was very complicated. After all, the two of them had indeed been treated as brothers before.

Lawrence sat on an armchair not far from the king, took a small glass of brandy from the servant and took a sip, taking the opportunity to observe Louis XV's face.

Although he successfully expelled the Duke of Choiseul and reached a peace agreement with Great Britain, His Majesty the King did not seem to be too excited about the political victory in the past few days. At this moment, the King's face was still full of unconcealable confusion. Sadness and exhaustion.

As for what is still bothering Louis XV, Lawrence naturally knows it well:

"I heard from Count Vergenin that the Spanish Ambassador to France seems to have been visiting the Palace of Versailles very frequently recently. I just saw him in the corridor."

"Ah, that annoying guy."

Louis XV waved his hands in disgust. It could be seen that His Majesty the King had been exhausted physically and mentally by this chattering ambassador in the past few days:

"He clearly knows that I can't agree to his request for reinforcements, but he still sticks to the Palace of Versailles like a piece of mud. Alas, in order to take care of the friendship with Spain, I can't refuse his application for an audience."

After successfully reconciling with England and escaping from the Naples Civil War, Louis XV's biggest concern now was to appease the sentiments of the Kingdom of Spain.

After all, Duke Choiseul and his faction can be said to be good friends of the Spanish. When Louis XV and Carlos III signed a family agreement to form the Franco-Spanish Alliance in 1761, Choiseul, who controlled France's foreign policy, was indispensable behind this. Matchmaking by the Duke of Searle.

Especially at the moment when Spain needs France to send troops to suppress the rebels, Spain hopes that the war-minded Duke of Choiseul can become the leader of French decision-making.

Louis XV's recent crazy suppression of the Choiseul faction and his avoidance of war have naturally disappointed the Kingdom of Spain.

"I tried to make concessions to Spain in other areas in exchange for their understanding."

In front of Laurence Bonaparte, a loyal minister, Louis XV sighed and did not mind revealing some true thoughts:

"Whether it was economic or diplomatic, the ambassador refused them all without communicating with the locals. He is really an idiot who doesn't know how to adapt."

Although he complained repeatedly about the ambassador, Louis XV also looked extremely helpless.

The alliance with the Spanish was something that the king was absolutely unwilling to break. Once it lost this traditional ally, France would not only be much weaker when facing Britain on the ocean, but it might even be isolated in the diplomatic structure of the entire European continent.

After all, apart from Spain, France's only allies among the European powers are Austria and Ottoman Turkey.

Although Austria maintained its alliance with France because of the united front during the Seven Years' War, Louis XV did not trust the Germans. There were already territorial disputes between the two sides, and the two countries had fought in three wars since the early 18th century. The two armies were at war, and no one could tell what Austria's position would be in the next war.

For example, in the Naples Civil War this time, if France sides with Spain and joins in suppressing the rebels, then they are very likely to have a conflict with the Austrians who support the rebels.

As for the Ottoman Empire, it was difficult for them to provide direct assistance to France because they were located on the edge of the European continent. At this time, France's main purpose of maintaining relations with the Ottomans was to drive the Ottomans to fight against Russian expansion in the Russo-Turkish War.

Therefore, Louis XV's most favored ally is undoubtedly Spain, which is also ruled by the Bourbon dynasty. Especially after the imminent succession of the young Lord Louis XVI, France needs a trustworthy and powerful ally.

This is why Louis XV has been troubled by the Spanish ambassador in recent days, but he still had to be patient and find a solution that would satisfy the Spanish.

After complaining a lot, Louis XV realized that he was talking to himself. He looked at Lawrence and asked with a smile:

"Forgive me for saying too much, but why do you suddenly ask these questions?"

"I also heard from the Count of Vergenin about the current diplomatic stalemate with the Spanish Ambassador, Your Majesty."

Lawrence looked like he was too late to speak. He paused for a moment and then said slowly:

"I have an idea that might satisfy the Spanish ambassador."

"Oh?" Louis XV's eyes lit up, and he directly motioned for Lawrence to continue. He was full of expectations for this courtier who had brought him surprises several times.

However, Lawrence's next words made Louis XV's face change instantly:

"Declaration of war on the Principality of Sicily in the name of the Kingdom of Corsica."

"Huh? What?!"

Upon hearing this, Louis XV was stunned for a moment, then his expression became stern, and he couldn't help but scolded:

"Declare war? Lawrence, you should really listen to what you just said! You should see how much effort I have put into protecting this hard-won peace these days. Why do you still have such an idea?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, as your ministers, we are all aware of your hard work." Lawrence immediately lowered his stance, and after complimenting Louis XV as usual, he explained eloquently:

"But what I'm more worried about is that if we lose the Kingdom of Spain as an ally, the peace you have spent so much effort to protect may not be able to last for too long."

Louis XV fell into silence for a while. In fact, he had already understood what Lawrence said. If the alliance with Spain is severed, then after the crown prince succeeds to the throne, the dual crisis of the new crown prince and diplomatic isolation will undoubtedly put the entire kingdom in danger. among.

Seeing this, Lawrence struck while the iron was hot and continued to advise:

"Under today's situation, it must be quite difficult to obtain the understanding of the Spanish through economic or diplomatic concessions. Spain is a wealthy colonial power, and they do not lack your material assistance; Carlos III is willing to cooperate with You concluded the alliance because you took a fancy to France's military strength, not to mention that they responded to France's call during the Seven Years' War and paid a heavy price for the war. "

In 1762, the Duke of Choiseul secretly signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau with Spain, ceding the French Louisiana colony to Spain in exchange for Spain's participation in the Seven Years' War against Britain.

However, in hindsight, Carlos III's decision to participate in the Seven Years' War was undoubtedly a failure.

In response to France's call for war, Spain not only went to war with Great Britain and directly confronted the British on the ocean, but after its defeat, it was also forced to surrender an extremely important colonial territory that had been in operation for more than two hundred years, Florida. , all ceded to Britain.

Therefore, the Spanish court was naturally extremely disappointed after learning that Louis XV refused to send troops to Italy. They once participated in a European war to help France and paid a heavy price for it, but now the French could not even fight a small battle in southern Italy. Even the little civil war is unwilling to lend a helping hand.

The Spanish ambassador also warned Louis XV very forcefully that Carlos III was already carefully considering whether it was necessary to maintain the alliance with France. After all, France had never proven that in the more than ten years since the alliance was established, Exceed your own military value.

After listening to Lawrence's words, Louis XV's expression softened a lot. At least he understood that everything Lawrence said was true.

"Then as you said, declare war on the Sicilian rebels in the name of the Kingdom of Corsica. Will this satisfy the Spanish?" Louis XV asked hesitantly.

"It depends on whether the ambassador will accept it or not. For them, although Corsica only has a few thousand troops, it is still better than having no reinforcements at all. Moreover, Corsica's port rights are very important to their navy. It also helps a lot.”

Although Lawrence said he was unsure, he was already very sure in his heart. The Spanish ambassador should have received the news from Duke Choiseul long ago and knew that he should cooperate with Duke Choiseul to first let the Kingdom of Corsica join the war, and then By chance, the whole of France sent troops to intervene in the war.

"Your Majesty believes that this decision is the most feasible compromise at the moment." Seeing that Louis XV was still hesitating, Lawrence continued to describe the advantages of this decision:

"Strictly speaking, your agreement with Carlos III is an alliance between two royal families, not an alliance between Spain and France. Therefore, it is naturally legal for you to respond to their call for war in the name of the King of Corsica. , and in this way, no matter how bad the outcome of the war is, you will only lose a barren Corsica."

As he said this, Lawrence pretended to smile bitterly:

"Of course, such an ending may not be a trivial matter to me."

Upon hearing these words, Louis XV's expression immediately became moved, and he sighed repeatedly with great emotion:

"Lawrence, oh, you actually took such a risk to advise me. I really don't know what to say. Your loyalty is a lesson to both humans and gods."

Later, Louis XV sat back on the bed, closed his eyes and pondered the details of this plan, and carefully weighed the pros and cons.

Lawrence patiently waited for His Majesty the King to make a decision. He was confident that after the Spanish ambassador deliberately put pressure on Louis XV, Louis XV's only choice was to accept his proposal.

"Somebody come!"

Sure enough, Louis XV finally made up his mind and summoned a courtier to order:

"The Spanish ambassador should not have gone far yet, call him back to see me immediately!"

Soon, the Spanish ambassador, who was still stranded in Versailles, was brought before Lawrence and Louis XV.

When the ambassador listened to Louis XV's plan, he immediately put on an expression of extreme shock, and repeatedly waved his hands and said that he would never accept such a ridiculous and loophole plan.

Lawrence, on the other hand, spoke with emotion and reason, describing in detail the strategic role that the Kingdom of Corsica could play in this war. Even Louis XV seriously echoed a few words, hoping that this would Mr. Ambassador can accept this proposal.

The Spanish ambassador pondered for a long time under the persuasion of the two men, and finally accepted the plan reluctantly, saying that it was acceptable for the Kingdom of Corsica to participate in the war now that the scale of the war was not large, but if the situation expanded in the future, the Kingdom of France would There is still an obligation to participate in the war.

At the same time, the Spanish ambassador also asked Louis XV to promise in the form of express regulations that the Kingdom of France must provide Corsica with sufficient military and economic assistance during the war.

In the ambassador's original words, if France did not provide assistance to Corsica, he would even doubt whether that impoverished small island country would have enough ships to transport their soldiers to the Italian battlefield, let alone help the war in any way. .

Of course, Louis XV readily agreed to this request, fearing that the Spanish ambassador would regret it. After all, he originally planned to respond to Spain's request for assistance through material assistance, but now he is just handing over these resources to Corsica. .

The three people who reached an agreement signed a simple letter of intent on the spot in the King's Suite, which served as the basis for a more formal diplomatic treaty.

After completing the signing, Lawrence declined Louis XV's invitation to stay at the Palace of Versailles for a banquet and immediately rushed back to No. 10 Champs Elysées.

For Corsicans today, not a single second can be wasted.

Lawrence summoned his cronies in the embassy, ​​briefly explained to them the pattern of the Naples Civil War and announced Corsica's decision to intervene in the war, and then ordered everyone:

"Everyone pack up immediately, Grosso. Early tomorrow morning you will lead everyone back to Corsica. I still need a few days to deal with political affairs. After everything is ready, I will issue a declaration of war against the Principality of Sicily and its allies." Announcement, you must return home before the war begins.”

The main reason why Lawrence wanted to send his cronies back to the mainland first was to prevent this sudden war from affecting his control of Corsica.

Although it can be said that no one can shake Lawrence Bonaparte's position in Corsica today, after all, Lawrence took the initiative to transfer part of his power to the Parliament and localities when he revised and promulgated the "Charter of the Kingdom of Corsica".

In order to prevent these new power groups from shaking their authority when the war came, Lawrence chose to send his cronies back to the mainland first to further strengthen the power and power of the Bonaparte Party in Corsica.

Grosso frowned. Although he nodded and accepted Lawrence's order, he still asked in confusion:

"Is the situation already so anxious? I thought this was just a small riot among the Neapolitans, involving at most a few small countries in northern Italy."

Although Grosso has been staying at No. 10 Champs Elysées, Lawrence has no intention of letting him participate in political affairs, so his access to information is not much better than that of ordinary Paris citizens.

In the eyes of ordinary people, since Britain and France promised not to interfere in the Italian war, the Naples Civil War had become safe and harmless. The war had gone from a spark that might ignite a powder keg to a petty quarrel among Italians.

So far, the scale of the war is not large at all. Only three states in northern Italy, the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the Duchy of Milan, have openly supported the independence of the Duke of Sicily.

The main force currently suppressing the rebels is still the Royal Army of Naples. Although the Kingdom of Spain is preparing to deploy troops in southern Italy and launch a full-scale attack on Sicily, the Kingdom of Naples does not seem to fully welcome the entry of Spanish troops.

The reason is still the same old rhetoric - the autonomy of Naples. The local nobles and ministers of Naples are worried that the Spanish army will not leave after suppressing the rebellion. For this matter, there have been several rounds of fierce fighting between the two countries. diplomatic dispute.

In the end, in order not to break his promise to his former subjects, Carlos III only sent a small number of troops to Italy. He chose to trust his son Ferdinando IV again and instead provided logistical assistance to the Kingdom of Naples.

Without the intervention and participation of several major powers, the entire Naples Civil War suddenly seemed less important in the eyes of the people.

Of course, for the very few people who stand at the top of power, they can naturally see more when they climb up and look far away.

"No, Grosso, this is not a petty fight within Italy at all." Lawrence looked at Grosso seriously, and he also understood that this sailor-turned-soldier was not good at politics and diplomacy:

“The eyes of the great powers have never left Italy, and the entire Apennine Peninsula has become a chessboard for their games; Great Britain supports Sicily and the Kingdom of Sardinia, France supports Corsica, and Austria supports Tuscany and Milan. Spain supports Naples; in other words, this is not Italy’s own rebellion and counter-insurgency war at all, but a proxy war between the four major powers to test each other. "

"Is that so?" Grosso's face was very solemn, and at the same time mixed with some obvious disappointment. Most of the other people in the embassy also had such complicated expressions:

"Italy has once again been treated as a chess piece and puppet of a foreign country. Alas, it has been like this for hundreds of years. There is nothing surprising about it."

Grosso, who was born in central Italy, naturally feels sad and helpless about the current situation of his homeland. The rest of the Corsicans have almost the same emotions. After all, Corsica itself is also a part of the Latin cultural circle.

For more than 300 years from the 15th century to the present, Italy, which is in disarray and has many states, has always been a piece of fat that the surrounding powers are eyeing and vying for.

War and strife are the main themes here. The roar of cannons has long since completely overwhelmed the church bells. The forces of various countries outside the Alps have penetrated into the Apennines pervasively.

The people born and raised in this fertile land simply cannot control their destiny in their own hands. The people who dominated Italy for hundreds of years were basically the aristocrats of Austria, France and Spain. The people who had been exploited by the Genoese colonists for hundreds of years Corsica is like a microcosm of the entire Italy in the hands of foreign powers.

Starting from the eighteenth century, with the rise of nationalism on the European continent, the Italian national spirit gradually began to awaken.

Just like everyone present, more and more Italians have realized that they can no longer leave their destiny in the hands of foreigners. The broken situation of the Apennine Peninsula cannot continue. Italians should be unified into a sovereign country. under.

After entering the nineteenth century, it was this trend of thought that provided a solid foundation for the Italian unification movement.

However, in 1771, the unification and revival of Italy was undoubtedly just an unattainable dream for everyone present.

What is before everyone is still the Apennine Peninsula, which is regarded as a chessboard and puppet by the great powers.

Lawrence's eyes slowly swept over his subordinates, scanning the expressions of bitterness and sadness on their faces, but he didn't say much.

He will soon use his actions to declare to everyone that a unified Italy is not an unattainable dream.

The Naples Civil War will be an excellent opportunity for the Kingdom of Corsica to move towards a Mediterranean power, and it will also be the first small step towards unification and rejuvenation for all of Italy.