Countermeasures

"Napoleon, are you planning to send an expeditionary force?" Joseph asked.

"I'm a little worried; those guys are still capable of fighting," Napoleon said.

The Haiti black army was able to first defeat the French Army in Haiti alongside the Britain and Spain, and then, together with the few remaining Haiti French Army, turn around and defeat the British Army and Spain armies. Their fighting strength was quite good. According to veterans who had served in the French Army in Haiti and later returned to fight in the UK, their fighting strength was quite close to that of the Vendée rebels—referring, of course, to the Vendée rebels who had not left the Vendée.

The Vendée rebels were defeated by Napoleon with remarkable ease. However, Napoleon himself was well aware that the main rebel force he defeated was not the genuine Vendée rebels. The real Vendée rebels, who had scattered and gone their separate ways before the nobles demanded a march on Paris, possessed sufficient morale to launch a scattered attack in the Vendée region. Any army with such morale would be difficult to deal with.

"And our navy is still too weak to blockade the entire Saint-Domingue. Those Britain and United States will definitely take the opportunity to support them. What we did in Ireland, they will do in Saint-Domingue. The damned Britain are one thing, but the damned United States, if it weren't for us France, they would all have been captured and hanged by the Britain! Now they are ungrateful and dragging us down!" Napoleon continued to complain.

"The United States were already being very lenient by not joining the Anti-French Alliance," Joseph laughed. "After all, we have a grudge against the United States. We killed one of United States's Founding Fathers and exiled United States."

"What are you saying... Ah, what you're saying seems to make sense." Napoleon was initially taken aback, but then he understood. "To be honest, that fool Louis XVI could really be considered the father of the United States. And Lafayette wouldn't say a good word about us either."

"Napoleon, remember this: there are no favors between nations, only interests," Joseph added.

"Of course I know that," Napoleon said, "But it's truly heartbreaking to lose Saint-Domingue like this. It involves far too much money."

"Very good, very good!" Joseph clapped his hands with delight. "Napoleon, you are becoming more and more mature! You already know when to be patient. Of course, losing Saint-Domingue unconditionally would indeed be unbearable, after all, it involves too much money. However, I think we could send someone over to talk to that black governor, what's his name?" As he said this, Joseph looked at Napoleon.

Napoleon rolled his eyes and said, "How would I know? Who would bother remembering a Black man's name?"

"Toussaint Louverture," Lucien added from the side.

Napoleon glared at Lucien and said, "This isn't a full name. What is a full name then?"

"How would I know who would bother to remember a Black person's full name?" Lucien replied.

Well, their attitude was indeed somewhat racist. After all, this was the first year of the 19th century, before the Black Lives Matter movement, and even the question of whether Black people should be considered human was still somewhat controversial. Napoleon and Lucien's attitudes weren't actually that reactionary.

"Alright, let's forget about those useless things," Joseph said. "The important thing is how to minimize the losses as much as possible, and even cause trouble for the Britain and United States. First, think about what our bottom line is. Then consider what problems exist between us and them. Then consider what kind of outcome we can both accept. Hmm, guess what... um, guess what their bottom line is?"

Napoleon didn't speak, but he glanced at Lucien.

"Isn't it independence?" Lucien asked.

Joseph shook his head inwardly upon hearing this, and was about to speak when Napoleon suddenly jumped up from his chair, exclaiming, "My foolish brother! What are you thinking about all day? If you continue like this, at the next meeting, we should kick you out and let that troublemaker take your place. If that... only wanted independence, that wouldn't be a big problem at all. But you've forgotten, political actions always have economic reasons. He doesn't want nominal independence; he wants to change the land system in Saint-Domingue, just like the France Revolution! That's the real conflict between us and them!"

Lucien was stunned. After a moment, he suddenly clapped his hands and said, "Isn't that easy? This is so simple! Isn't it just because those blacks don't have land? Well, theoretically, these blacks are all France citizens now. So theoretically, they also have the right to immigrate to Louisiana. To encourage immigration, the system we established—where five consecutive years of cultivation grants land ownership—also applies to them, doesn't it? Let's let them immigrate to Louisiana! Although they are black, they are French-speaking blacks."

"Do you think they'll believe us? Won't they worry that we'll load them onto a ship, tow them straight to Georgia, and sell them to the United States there?" Napoleon said. "But your suggestion does have some merit. Let me think about it some more..."

"Think of their weaknesses, Napoleon," Joseph said. "The wealth of Saint-Domingue is built on trade. I believe that the man who can dance on the three eggs of France, Britain, and Spain should understand this as well. We must make him believe that if the land of the France whites is unconditionally taken away, he and his country will be excluded from the entire trade chain. And once excluded from this trade chain, even if they get the land, they will only live a life of hardship."

"Even if they did give them money, the Britain, Spain, and United States wouldn't let them into the trade chain. Because they're not a good example. If they were to live a good life, it would be encouraging rebellion within their own ranks. On the contrary, only we can provide them with continued trade opportunities. I think we can have a good talk with Toussaint Louverture from this perspective; he should be someone we can discuss things with," Lucien said.

"So, what are our bottom lines?" Napoleon asked again.

"Saint-Domingue will remain within France. White-clad lands can only be redeemed, and truly redeemed, but we can provide them with low-interest loans. Of course, we will also guarantee their France citizenship. In this way, they will owe us money, but will only be able to use our trade channels, allowing us to recover some of our economic losses, and we can also keep them bound to our cause," Lucien said.

"We should also demand control of the ports, at least the naval ports, so that we can station a fleet there to deter the Britain and United States. We must quickly build fortifications there, stockpile coal, and then get the steamships there. By then, the United States' navy, heh..." Napoleon said. "Furthermore, we will transfer the white people in Saint-Domingue to Louisiana, which will also increase the France white population in Louisiana. However, these people..."

"I wouldn't recommend sending them to Louisiana," Joseph said. "Indeed, they are France, true France. But will they be loyal to France? We think we've won them more ransom money, but will they think that way?"

Then everyone fell silent. After a while, Lucien spoke first:

"They won't be grateful to us; they'll only feel that we betrayed their interests. Besides, these people were able to occupy large tracts of land in Saint-Domingue and make so much money back then because they had very close ties with the nobles in the country. If they had been in the country during the revolution, they would most likely have been guillotined as enemies of the Republic or hung on lampposts. Although they hold France citizenship, they are not our people."

"So let's not count on them," Napoleon said. "Or we could just... just agree to their independence, no, it should be 'autonomy,' and secretly agree to allow them to become independent in the future, but with some special benefits, such as 'military protection,' or making them pay to buy back their territory."

"And what about those white landowners?" Joseph asked.

"They are not on our side in terms of interests," Napoleon said. "I don't care if they die!"

"Our Ministry of Truth should seize this opportunity to vigorously promote our ideals of 'liberty, equality, and fraternity.' Ha! Do those Britain and United States think they can cause us trouble and screw us over? I'll let them have their own headaches because of Saint-Domingue's example!" Lucien added.

"Doing so would inadvertently harm Spain," Joseph added.

"Joseph, you're not the King of Spain. Why do you care if they die? Even if we accidentally hurt them, do you think they won't ally with us? Would they dare? They'd be honored to be our dogs," Lucien said disdainfully.

"But we have other colonies in other regions," Napoleon said. "We can't shoot ourselves in the foot. So the Ministry of Truth doesn't need to put too much effort into publicizing this. As for causing trouble for the Britain United States, Saint-Domingue is there and was able to obtain these things peacefully, which in itself is causing them trouble."

Thus, the basic approach to handling this matter was set, and now the remaining task was to find an envoy.