Charles IV eyed Joseph intently, his voice tinged with excitement, “Are you speaking off the cuff, or…?”
“It was Her Majesty the Queen who sent me to Madrid,” Joseph said seriously.
Instantly, Charles became even more animated, his chest heaving dramatically as he fervently patted Joseph’s shoulders, “France will always be Spain’s dearest brother!”
Joseph then shared with him a vision of France and Spain hand in hand controlling the entire Iberian Peninsula—visions that filled Charles IV with such ardor that he was ready to lead his armies personally to drive the British out of Gibraltar and then sweep across to conquer Lisbon!
Joseph glanced at his eager expression and casually mentioned, “Once Gibraltar is reclaimed, Ceuta will be of no use to you. Perhaps, France could use it as a supply port.”
Ceuta is the port opposite Gibraltar, the southern gateway to the Strait of Gibraltar. It lies in Morocco and was occupied by Portugal in the fifteenth century. Over a hundred years ago, Spain took it from Portugal.
Almost without thinking, Charles IV agreed, “Of course, there’s no problem! Allow me, on the day that I set foot on Gibraltar, to present Ceuta to my French brothers.”
Although Ceuta’s location is also significant, because it’s not on the European Continent, supply is very difficult, hence its limited usefulness to the Spanish Navy.
However, for France, this is not an issue. North Africa is a core focus of French development, and Morocco is inevitably going to be within France’s sphere of influence.
In other words, France would essentially be supplying Ceuta from the mainland.
Helping Spain drive away the British and reclaim the northern gateway of the Strait of Gibraltar, France would also gain the southern gateway at no cost—an exceedingly advantageous deal indeed.
Seeing Charles IV all too eager, Joseph quickly tempered his enthusiasm, “Of course, the British currently have an unshakable naval dominance, making Portugal equally difficult to conquer.
“We must concentrate on developing national strength first, and after replenishing our finances, construct a large number of warships. Only when our navies can overpower the British will it be time to retake Gibraltar!
“As for the land forces, there’s no need to worry. Without the British fleet causing trouble, the Franco-Spanish allied forces could take Portugal within two months.”
Back then, Napoleon’s great army merely loitered near Portugal’s doorstep before the latter swiftly surrendered. However, with the British Navy still present, maintaining stable control over Portugal was difficult, which led Napoleon to take Portugal’s overseas colonies and order a withdrawal of his forces.
Charles IV silently nodded, his mind cooling down.
With Spain’s current national strength, it would not dare provoke the British, and France, having barely recovered from a devastating financial crisis, could scarcely divert much energy to assist Spain.
Therefore, focusing on development and amassing warships was the sound course of action.
Joseph then shared some suggestions for reform and development. In reality, Charles III had left a very decent foundation for Spain.
Campos, the Earl of Aranda, were quite capable ministers.
Although Count Floridablanca was very wary of France, he could be counted as a wise minister.
Even Bernardo Tanucci, Chief Minister during Charles III’s reign as the King of Naples, could be transferred to Spain to assist in the administration.
As long as Spain kept up with France and stabilized its colonies without disturbances, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to see a significant rise in national power, or at the very least, maintaining its status among the European powers should not pose a problem.
Moreover, the construction of the Spanish Navy had always been fairly sound. After all, this was the nation that had once boasted the Invincible Armada; its foundations were still in place.
In the following period, Joseph discussed with Charles IV everything from colonial management and control of the nobility, to Franco-Spanish trade cooperation. Although uncertain how much the latter could grasp, Joseph did all he could; the rest was up to the fate of Spain.
Of course, there were also the daily Spanish feasts and various balls.
Three days later, Joseph, bid a reluctant farewell by Charles IV, left Madrid and headed east. He boarded a Spanish Navy battleship at the Port of Valencia and then sailed northwards, disembarking at the Port of Toulon before switching to a carriage to race towards Austria.
Strasbourg.
Joseph looked at the gifts Talleyrand had brought—several carriage-loads—and couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh in secret. His mother indeed was a straightforward person; the gifts she sent to her eldest son were anything but stingy.
Oh well, it was her own private money after all. She could spend it however she wanted…
He signaled to the Foreign Minister to get in the carriage, first commending him for successfully retrieving Jeanne from England, and then he meticulously laid out the diplomatic mission to Vienna.
This would influence France’s policy direction for a considerable time into the future.
…
Poland.
Warsaw.
Lieutenant Colonel Paul Jones, the United States Ambassador to Poland, scrutinized the two individuals before him. Had it not been for the French intelligence agency’s repeated assurances that there was no mistake, he would have found it very hard to believe that these were the so-called “men who could change the course of Poland”—
The taller one wore a coarse jacket and grey-black trousers. The skin on his hands and face was rough, resembling that of a fisherman who had spent years at sea.
The other, chubbier, had a balding head typical of a priest and wore a tattered grey robe that clearly came from a remote country church.
The two men bowed to Jones, pressing a hand to their chest, and greeted him in French. Both their manners and speech were extremely cultivated, which completely mismatched their appearances.
Jones, returning the civility, diligently checked out the window to ensure there was no surveillance before he turned around. He then took out two pamphlets from his coat pocket and handed them to the men, adding a caution, “Please keep these safe; we have not made any printing plates for security reasons.”
The “fisherman” carefully took the pamphlets and noticed that the title on top was “The Glorious Polish Nation.”
His heart stirred, and he looked at the next one. It was “I May Speak Russian, but I Am Forever Polish.”
He quickly thumbed through the pamphlets and immediately became excited. Turning to Jones, he said, “Good, this is excellent! Who is the great thinker who wrote these? We need them!”
Jones shrugged faintly, giving an evasive answer, “It is said to be a German.”
In reality, these were works commissioned by Joseph over three months ago by Johann Gottlieb Fichte, a master of German Enlightenment.
Although Fichte’s research on Poland was not particularly deep, matters like unifying national consciousness mainly relied on provocation—which he excelled at.
Plus, since the sponsor was willing to pay generously, he threw himself eagerly into the task and completed these two works on the concept of Polish nationhood in record time.
“Please print them as quickly as possible and distribute them all over Poland,” Jones instructed. “Don’t worry about funds; the sponsor will contact you shortly.”
Joseph resorted to this ultimate weapon of national consciousness because he had been driven to the edge by the Polish Congress’s dithering inefficiency.