Make France Great Again-Chapter 894 - 885: Joint Pressure

Jerome Bonaparte’s suffocating understanding left a hint of embarrassment on De Luyis’s face, as he felt a fishbone choked in his throat.

Heaven pity him, his original intention was to compel the Kingdom of Morocco to obey France’s arrangements through diplomatic pressure after negotiations broke down.

Who would have expected His Majesty the Emperor to interpret it as wanting to launch a military action against the Kingdom of Morocco.

Although military action is indeed the most effective way to make one country obey another, it is also the simplest act to deepen the contradictions between the two countries.

If the French Empire does not take the Kingdom of Morocco at the first opportunity, France may fall into the same predicament as it did with Algeria.

Furthermore, De Luyis is not the Minister of War/Chief of General Staff.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, De Luyis despises a type of diplomacy that resorts to force, as during the period from the start of military action to the clarification of the war situation, the role he, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, can play is very limited.

In any country, the size of an official’s power is directly linked to the scope of affairs they can manage. During wartime, all powers are concentrated towards the military, and the powers of the Minister of Foreign Affairs naturally get diluted.

Seeing De Luyis remain silent, Jerome Bonaparte asked again, "Minister, did I say something wrong? Why are you not speaking?"

The suddenly alert De Luyis quickly turned his gaze to Jerome Bonaparte, hinting his stance diplomatically, "Your Majesty, you didn’t say anything wrong! Resorting to force is indeed the simplest method, but I still hope to resolve our issues with the Kingdom of Morocco in a peaceful manner!"

"A peaceful way!" Jerome Bonaparte spread his hands and then solemnly raised a finger to De Luyis, "I do not mind using any method to achieve this! I only care about one thing, and that is that the Kingdom of Morocco must not become the Kingdom of Britain’s territory!

I don’t want to be stuck with that bunch who love messing things up!"

"Rest assured, Your Majesty! I will discuss with the Moroccan Ambassador properly! We will strive to reach an agreement with them as soon as possible!" De Luyis assured Jerome Bonaparte.

"That’s good!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded, and as if something suddenly struck him, he spoke again, "By the way! I remember the Kingdom of Spain also has some ideas about the Kingdom of Morocco, is that right?"

On hearing Jerome Bonaparte’s words, De Luyis’s heart was suddenly in his throat, fearing Jerome Bonaparte might have inappropriate plans for the Kingdom of Spain, similar to Emperor Napoleon’s past actions.

After all, the Bourbon Dynasty ruling Spain shares a lineage with the Bourbons expelled from France, and the current Queen of Spain’s sister is married to the younger branch of the Bourbons, the Duke of Monpensier. Such relations are reasonably objects of caution for the Emperor.

"That’s right! The Kingdom of Spain indeed has intentions regarding the Kingdom of Morocco! However, their national power may not be sufficient to support their ambitions." Despite the fact that De Luyis was internally praying for the Emperor not to act rashly, his face showed no signs of panic, and all his words seemed to come out naturally.

"In that case!" Jerome Bonaparte paused, gently stroking his chin with a cunning smile on his lips, "Why don’t we join forces with the Kingdom of Spain to pressure the Kingdom of Morocco together!

This will not only make the Kingdom of Morocco feel the pressure but also clear up some misunderstandings between France and Spain!

Strengthening the relations between the two countries!"

As Jerome Bonaparte finished speaking, De Luyis felt a wave of relief in his heart.

It turned out that His Majesty wasn’t intent on acting against Spain but rather on winning Spain over!

Thinking of this, De Luyis hurriedly said to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, you are right! We should indeed unite with the Kingdom of Spain to exert pressure on the Kingdom of Morocco!"

As soon as De Luyis finished speaking, Jerome Bonaparte’s lips curled into an intriguing smile, and he spoke again in a slightly mocking tone, "However, I remember the Spanish Queen’s sister seems to be the wife of the Duke of Monpensier; you should know about this, right?"

De Luyis tensed up again, cautiously swallowing before saying calmly to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, this news is known by all the social elites in France!"

"No!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head, pointing at De Luyis seriously, "You are different! Mr. Luyis, I remember you previously served as the secretary at the Madrid Embassy, am I correct?"

How did His Majesty remember this matter!

De Luyis’s pupils slightly contracted, and an involuntary unnatural expression appeared on his face. After a while, De Luyis confessed to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, I indeed served as the first secretary at the Madrid Embassy!

The wedding of the Duke of Monpensier and the Spanish Queen’s sister, Louis Ferdinand, was also a matter assigned to me by then Prime Minister Thiers to negotiate with the Madrid government.

Thiers had promised me that after facilitating this marriage, I could return to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to serve as the Director of the Commercial Affairs Department!"

"I see!" Jerome Bonaparte showed a look of sudden understanding, "No wonder you went from being a secretary at the Madrid Embassy to the position of director so quickly!"

"Your Majesty, I can assure you! I have no connection with Madrid!" Mr. Luyis said to Jerome Bonaparte, bowing his head.

"Of course I know!" Jerome Bonaparte said kindly to Mr. Luyis, "Minister Luyis, you don’t need to explain anything!

Right now, you are the most valued imperial minister to me, and I completely trust you!

The reason I’m saying all this is simply because I felt compelled to express it!

I hope you don’t feel any psychological burden because of this!"

Although Mr. Luyis had a hundred doubts about the sincerity of the second half of Jerome Bonaparte’s speech, he still put on a look of gratitude.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Mr. Luyis replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

Indeed, as Jerome Bonaparte said, among all the "bosses" Mr. Luyis had experienced, no one valued him as much as Jerome Bonaparte did,

and all diplomatic decisions were either made according to his suggestions or after mutual consultation with him.

Therefore, Mr. Luyis had no intention of betraying Jerome Bonaparte. Even when his former boss, the Regent Princess of the Orleans Kingdom, personally wrote to him promising to make him the Kingdom Prime Minister after the restoration, Mr. Luyis remained unmoved.

Heaven knows how many prime minister positions the Orleans Kingdom had promised.

"Where were we?" While Mr. Luyis was deep in thought, Jerome Bonaparte’s voice again reached his ears.

Mr. Luyis quickly responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, you were just saying that we should join forces with the Kingdom of Spain to put pressure on the Kingdom of Morocco and bring them back to the right path!"

"Exactly!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded to Mr. Luyis and said, "You must make the Kingdom of Morocco understand how damaging their behavior of leaning completely towards one nation at the expense of ignoring others’ interests can be!"

"Yes!" Mr. Luyis said.

Next, Jerome Bonaparte and Mr. Luyis discussed the matter of the Persian envoy. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Mr. Luyis informed Jerome Bonaparte that the Persian envoy was still within the territory of the Ottoman Empire.

"What a foolish fellow!" Jerome Bonaparte showed a contemptuous expression, "He’s probably still fantasizing that the United States of America could negotiate a reconciliation opportunity with the Kingdom of Britain for them!

I really don’t know what the mind of the Persian Kingdom is thinking?"

"Your Majesty, the Kaiji Kingdom might need some more time to fully grasp European diplomacy! Please be patient!" Mr. Luyis replied unhurriedly to Jerome Bonaparte.

"I’m not in a rush!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged indifferently, "After all, it’s not France whose territories are occupied, they should be the ones worried!

If they don’t ceasefire soon, I’m afraid the Kingdom of Britain could directly march into their capital!

The Duke of Cambridge is indeed quite capable, if Britain had half the capability it has now back in Crimea, we could have won the war even faster!"

After the Crimean War, the Kingdom of Britain made certain reforms to the existing issues of their army, some departments that shouldn’t have existed were cut, and the power disparity issue saw significant changes.

However, due to the short duration of the Crimean War, some of the problems of the Kingdom of Britain had not yet been discovered.

This resulted in the combat power of the British Army witnessing some significant improvement compared to pre-Crimean times, but still a long way from the historical British Army.

Unless Britain can engage in a second similar war to Crimea, it would be difficult for them to progress further.

[PS: In OTL history, after the Crimean War, the Kingdom of Britain did not carry out another large-scale military reform for nearly thirteen years,

Until the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, when Prussia shocked them into starting a military reform.]

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Cambridge was able to achieve such results largely thanks to us!" Mr. Luyis immediately praised Jerome Bonaparte, "If it wasn’t for our army’s excellent performance in the Crimean War stimulating them, Britain’s army wouldn’t have undergone military reform so quickly!"