Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 1503 - 1409: Changes in North America

"There’s no need to waste funds on this matter." Joseph waved his hand with a smile, "Have Baron Bodley quickly send those two Members of Parliament from Basel back."

Talleyrand was surprised and said, "Your Highness, but..."

Joseph interrupted him, "You should send someone, under the name of an ’anonymous official from the Foreign Ministry,’ to publish a commentary in the newspaper, stating that our country is unwilling to waste energy on the German-speaking Protestant area of Switzerland.

"Make sure the article will be quoted by the newspapers in Vienna. Oh, you might as well publicly express appreciation for Austria’s diplomatic efforts in northern Switzerland, saying something like ’this ensures the smooth flow of our land trade routes toward the Alps.’

Talleyrand was a bit anxious: "Your Highness, do you mean to abandon the Northeast Switzerland region?"

Joseph did not answer, but continued:

"Afterwards, the newspapers will publish a series of reports on ’Vienna’s diplomatic achievements in Switzerland,’ listing Austria’s various investments in promoting the Swiss Federation.

"On the other hand, you should secretly liaise with Wurttemberg and Augsburg, inviting them to jointly ask Basel State to join the Stuttgart Trade Agreement."

Basel is an important trade transit port on the upper Rhine River, and Wurttemberg, Augsburg, and Baden are its traditional trade partners.

But since the signing of the Stuttgart Trade Agreement, trade volume with Switzerland greatly decreased due to tariff reasons.

Therefore, places like Wurttemberg have very sufficient reasons to want to pull Basel into the trade agreement.

Talleyrand instinctively wanted to ask the reason for this, but as an excellent diplomat, he suddenly discovered a crucial point:

Wait, just now His Highness said inviting Basel State to join the trade agreement, not Switzerland.

For the people of Basel, this would undoubtedly allow their trade volume to increase several times, but they should also be well aware that the Stuttgart Trade Agreement would never accept a Switzerland allied with Vienna.

That is to say, they can only choose between trade prosperity and the Swiss Federation.

He immediately thought of another issue: "Your Highness, we must consider Vienna’s significant influence over some people in the Basel Parliament."

Joseph nodded with a smile, "You’re quite right, so our country must remain detached, not even having Baden, with whom we have close relations, involved. This is to encourage Vienna to use this influence.

"Next, the angry Wurttemberg and Augsburg will probably take further action."

Talleyrand couldn’t help but marvel in his heart that he previously wanted to invest hundreds of thousands of francs to support the Pro-France Faction, or even send troops to intervene in northern Switzerland, yet His Highness the Crown Prince only used a little ’trade means’ to solve all the problems there.

Actually, he only guessed half of it. Joseph’s purpose in doing so, in addition to eliminating the pro-Austria forces in northern Switzerland, was more importantly to prevent Austria from being able to comfortably recover from its wounds.

Historically, Napoleon had also defeated Austria several times, but each time this massive empire could quickly regain its vitality due to its size, then once again join the Anti-French Alliance.

As long as Austria wants to rise, then there is an opportunity to create bleeding points for it. At the same time, it’s necessary to avoid France getting entangled in it. Switzerland, where France, Austria, and numerous countries from Italy and the Germanic Region intersect, is an excellent choice.

After Joseph instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the key points of the Swiss plan, Talleyrand took out a document and respectfully placed it on the table, "Your Highness, this is the draft secret treaty submitted by American envoy Smith. It’s mainly regarding jointly attacking Canada..."

Joseph sighed, preparing to say "just submit it to the Senate for discussion and report the result to me," but suddenly thought of something, asking, "I remember a ceasefire agreement was signed at the end of last year, how come their people only just arrived?"

He was naturally referring to the France and America Pittsburgh Treaty, where the diplomat Lamert from the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion had reported back to Paris, saying America had sent people to Europe.

Talleyrand quickly explained, "Your Highness, there were some issues on the American Government’s side.

"The Federalist Party was fiercely attacked by the Democratic Republican Party led by Aaron Burr due to the war defeat and even faced impeachment. However, at the last moment, Hamilton suppressed it.

"Afterwards, the Democratic Republican Party demanded an investigation into whether there was any ’treasonous behavior’ by Adams during the ceasefire negotiations with our country, so the envoy involved was recalled to Philadelphia, causing months of delay."

Joseph furrowed his brows.

His initial plan was just to repel American attacks along the Mississippi River line, but who knew Napoleon would be inexplicably drawn in and directly took a ’tour’ to Richmond on the U.S. East Coast.

Now it seems that this war even stirred up a wave of anti-French sentiment within the United States.

He was a bit puzzled and asked, "Did the Federalist Party regain control of Congress in the end?"

If the Democratic Republican Party had gained the upper hand, this envoy Smith probably wouldn’t have come to France.

Talleyrand said, "According to the information I obtained, it seems Adams made some concessions regarding this year’s presidential election, in exchange for the cooperation of the Democratic Republican Party."

Joseph casually flipped through the American-drafted joint military proposal, noting that aside from the demand to increase the number of troops in the Louisiana Colony, the rest was basically in line with the plan he had previously proposed.

He had a nagging feeling that something seemed off, but couldn’t pinpoint it immediately, so he handed the draft back to Talleyrand, "You should first proceed with signing the secret treaty with the Americans."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Joseph then instructed, "In the future, unless there is something very serious, discuss it in the Senate first before submitting it to me."

"As you will, Your Highness."

Joseph watched as the Minister of Foreign Affairs left the room with a limp, reaching out to pick up paper and pen, he pondered for a moment before writing a secret letter to Louisiane Governor Elcano.

...

Outskirts of Basel City.

The ship merchant Jager stared angrily at the distant police officers until their backs disappeared from view before spitting forcefully onto the ground.

In recent years, his business had been deteriorating. He was quite excited when he heard a while back that Basel might be incorporated into France.

However, the Parliament soon issued a ban, prohibiting any discussion related to ’joining France.’

He and a group of citizens went to protest at the Parliament House, only to be dispersed by the military. A friend of his was even wounded by a bullet in the shoulder during the incident and died last month due to an infected wound.

After the establishment of the United States, its political and administrative organizations were not complete. Initially, the Congress Building in Philadelphia was not convenient because it was far from all of the southern and western states, hindering the setup of a central political and administrative hub.