His words seemed to be a mere courtesy, but in fact, they were a declaration of loyalty to Joseph—I didn’t visit the Chief Minister or report to the Foreign Minister directly in charge after returning to the Palace of Versailles. Instead, I came to see Your Highness, the Crown Prince, first.
“Oh, I’ve missed you too, Archbishop Talleyrand. Please have a seat,” Joseph replied with a smile, gesturing to the sofa. “Your departure from Paris covered more than 7,000 nautical miles, didn’t it?”
Talleyrand nodded, “Indeed, more than 7,800 nautical miles, Your Highness, crossing the Atlantic Ocean twice.”
“That must have been quite taxing on you,” Joseph said, signaling a maid to bring Talleyrand coffee and pastries. “Actually, you could have come back with the convoy of Crown Prince Paul.”
Talleyrand nodded his thanks to the maid and then looked at Joseph with a smile,
“Your Highness, I took a ship back, setting out several days after the Russian Crown Prince. You see, I still managed to arrive first. Moreover, I believe it’s better to report some matters to you in advance.”
Joseph leaned forward a bit, “Please go on.”
“The situation in the United States is exactly as you predicted; their ‘Federalist Party’ strongly supports the purchase of warships and the joint fight against pirates,” Talleyrand began. “If it weren’t for their lack of funds, Mr. Hamilton would even like to buy a small fleet.”
Joseph remarked, “We just want to sell some old ships, not to strengthen the American navy.”
Talleyrand immediately agreed, “Yes, Your Highness, I also sense their unusual interest in the Caribbean Sea.”
“Your insight is very keen,” Joseph knew, as soon as the Americans had a bit of money, they immediately assembled a sizable fleet and engaged in fierce battles with France in the Caribbean Sea.
In the end, France lost a significant amount of interests in the Caribbean Sea. Combined with the land reforms, France’s earnings from its American colonies were almost wiped out.
“As for the Americans, we need to not only make use of them but also try our best to limit them, especially guarding against their westward expansion. They have a devilish greed for North American land,” Joseph earnestly said.
Talleyrand replied somewhat nonchalantly, “Your Highness, the Americans are all stingy and lack courage. I believe they would hardly dare to challenge the interests of Spain.”
Spain currently held the territories to the west of the United States.
Joseph did not bother explaining that historically, it took the United States just over a decade to nibble away the vast majority of Louisiana.
Talleyrand continued, “As for trade, Mr. Hamilton assured me privately that given the same prices, we would get their cotton before the British.”
“Very good,” Joseph nodded in satisfaction. North America was currently the world’s largest cotton exporter, and with the supply of American cotton, France would have a stronger position in the textile industry competition against England.
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The matter regarding the United States was relatively simple, and Talleyrand quickly finished his report, moving on to the diplomatic experience in Russia.
“Your Highness, upon my arrival in Saint Petersburg, I was quickly granted an audience with their Tsar. Over the next ten days or so, she summoned me two more times, which shows how much she values Russian-French relations.”
Joseph wasn’t surprised at all, as Russia and France had many common interests and a broad prospect for cooperation. As one of the most prominent rulers in Russian history, Catherine II naturally understood this.
Talleyrand spoke, “The Tsar of Russia expressed her gratitude for the guns and uniforms you sent her. Particularly those uniforms, which have almost become the exclusive gear for the officers.”
At this time, Russia’s manufacturing quality in Europe was subpar. Although they could also produce flintlock guns, they were quite inferior to the top-notch French goods.
Even the used guns Talleyrand brought back from the United States were highly coveted by Russian soldiers. Catherine had directly issued those 15,000 Charleville muskets to the troops on the front lines of the Russian-Ottoman war.
As for the uniforms, they were specially made in Lyon by Joseph, as he sought to penetrate the Russian clothing market, totaling 1,800 sets.
In that era, military uniforms did not have a standardized design, and Russia’s military attire was especially chaotic; as long as the colors were roughly the same, it was acceptable.
Therefore, the style of these military uniforms, designed by French designers, appeared much more “trendy” compared to the existing Russian military attire. They were immediately in high demand among Russian military officers upon arrival.
Though the uniforms were not cheap, costing over 60 livres each, the deal was extremely worthwhile for Joseph—France only expended a few guns and uniforms but gained political support for the Russian-Ottoman war. Knowing that these Russian soldiers fought and won battles with French guns and wearing French uniforms, some of the glory would also be attributed to France.
Indeed, Austria had sent tens of thousands of troops to fight against the Ottomans, and Russia’s gratitude towards them was hardly any more than what they felt for France.
Moreover, once those military uniforms given to Russia became popular among Russian officers, there would definitely be a large number of nobles wanting to purchase them.
In fact, two batches of the same model of military uniforms had already been shipped to Russia, each selling for over 100 livres.
Talleyrand said with a smile,
“The Tsar of Russia has expressed support and gratitude for our action in North Africa tying down the Ottoman Navy and even hopes that we can extend our attacks to the region of Alexandria Bay.”
Upon hearing this, Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly. Alexandria Bay was near Egypt, implying that Russia recognized that from Algiers all the way to Egypt was within France’s sphere of influence!
This meant that among all the great powers in Europe, only England had not yet acknowledged France’s stance on North Africa. Of course, Prussia probably did not recognize it either, but considering Prussia’s pitiful navy, their attitude towards North Africa did not matter at all.
Talleyrand continued, “At the same time, the Tsar of Russia also hopes we could support some of their demands on Poland.
“Although Russia is currently tied down on the Ottoman front, it seems to be hinting that once they are done with the southern front, they would be ready to expand towards Poland once again.”
Joseph couldn’t help but sigh. No wonder Catherine II was so generous in supporting France’s acquisition of North Africa; there were more conditions behind it.
The coveting of Poland by Russia was a well-known fact, and historically, Catherine II did indeed collude with Prussia and Austria to partition poor Poland completely on three occasions.
However, due to the partition of Poland, Russia had also taken on the heavy burden of being accused of disrupting the European order and naturally hoped for more great powers to back them.
Especially now, as Austria’s attitude towards the partition of Poland was still very passive, making France’s stance even more necessary.
Talleyrand said, “Your Highness, perhaps we can leverage Poland to obtain more benefits from Russia.”
Yet Joseph shook his head, “Although Poland may not have much of our interest, we should try our best to ensure it is not consumed by Russia, at least not too easily.”
Talleyrand paused, looking perplexed, “Why is that?”
“Because Prussia and Austria must not become too close.”
“I still don’t quite understand, Your Highness.”
Talleyrand was the key minister of foreign affairs chosen by Joseph, so it was good to clarify some aspects of political strategy with him in advance.
So, Joseph patiently explained,
“On the European continent, France’s most direct adversary is Prussia. This is not only because Prussia has always coveted the Rhine River basin, but also because they are England’s spokesperson on the European Continent. Draining Prussia is essentially the same as exhausting England.”
Talleyrand nodded thoughtfully. England was France’s eternal rival and the biggest obstacle to France’s ambition to become the hegemon of Europe. After centuries of intermittent warfare, strategically containing England was France’s “absolute correctness.” Of course, the reverse was also true; England was also trying by all means to contain France.
Still, he was unclear on how this related to Poland.
Joseph continued,
“And to confront the Anglo-Prussian alliance, we should try our best to align with Austria. Fortunately, Prussia and Austria also have many contradictions, such as Silesia.”
Silesia was a rich piece of land in the northwestern part of Austria. Over fifty years ago, upon the death of Emperor Charlie VI of Holy Rome, his daughter Maria Theresa — who was Louis XVI’s mother-in-law and Joseph’s maternal grandmother — succeeded the throne. At that time, Prussia used the pretext that women had no right to succession to start the Silesian Wars.
Austria, defeated by Prussia and pressured by England, eventually ceded the Silesian region to Prussia.
Since then, Silesia had become a thorn in the Austrians’ side.