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After the fall of Dublin, the remaining Britain outposts along the Ireland coast quickly withdrew. Ireland was now completely liberated. Having largely settled affairs within Ireland, Chairman Russell was preparing to formally establish the Ireland government.

Regarding the form of the Ireland government, most members of the Federation agreed to simply copy France's model. In other words, they should create a de facto Consulate and then establish five parliaments—after all, France is so advanced and developed, and its people live such good lives, which proves that France's system is good.

However, Russell had some objections. He felt that in the France system, the power of the First Consul was still too great, even far exceeding that of the previous kings. The France had a reason for doing so, because it was very efficient. Revolutionary France was a thorn in the side of almost all the reactionary forces in Europe, and in order to defeat the grand alliance of reactionary forces across Europe, the most efficient system had to be adopted.

However, the situation in Ireland today is different. Ireland is not the center of the world, nor does it face the same dangers that France once did. It does not need to adopt a France -style system for the sake of efficiency.

However, since the Federation practices democracy, everyone opposed his opinion. Therefore, President Russell, after reserving his own opinion, respected the organization's decision.

Next came the various detailed arrangements and diplomatic matters. The first step was to inform friendly countries of the plan to establish a nation. Well, Ireland had quite a few friendly countries these days. Basically, all the countries that had joined France in declaring war on Britain were Ireland's de facto allies, and even those that remained neutral were considered friendly countries.

The Federation sent special envoys to these friendly countries to discuss matters related to the establishment of diplomatic relations and the founding of new nations.

Meanwhile in France, Napoleon and his family were discussing how to handle the situation in Ireland.

"Generally speaking, there are four types of allies," Joseph said.

Generally speaking, Joseph only provides general guidance on political matters; he's really not good at the specifics. In fact, aside from scientific matters, especially mathematics, Joseph basically doesn't concern himself with the details.

"Otherwise, how could he have the name 'Joseph who never makes a mistake'?" Napoleon reportedly once complained about his elder brother. But despite the complaints, Napoleon actually quite liked Joseph's style. On the contrary, if Joseph had meddled in everything, interfering in every little thing and every specific operation, that would have been truly unbearable.

"Which four?" Napoleon asked.

"Let's use four animals as metaphors," Joseph said.

"The first animal is the pig. People raise and protect this animal, but why? Of course, it's so they can be slaughtered and eaten during festivals. There's a type of 'ally' that's good for nothing but money and resources. This type of ally is the pig. Its significance to us is that we can slaughter it and eat it when necessary."

"Yes, I know you're talking about Turkey, Northern Italy, Austria, Prussia, and Spain." Napoleon smiled broadly. These fat pigs have been feeding France quite well over the years. Austria and Prussia's free labor force, resources, and markets have greatly benefited France. Of course, the fat pigs have been more unfortunate, suffering from labor and resource losses, and their markets are still dominated by France goods. These former Europe powers are not doing so well these days.

Despite the hardships, the positions of the kings or emperors of these countries remained relatively secure. (Austria had reconciled with the Holy See acknowledged that Emperor Fritz had been wronged, but the Rome emperor's hat could not be returned to him, so he became Emperor of Austria.) Although they were traitors and exploiters, practically compradors in crowns, France absorbed a large labor force, and the Americas, being a vast region, could accommodate many immigrants. Therefore, although the lives of ordinary people were not good, the small youth population prevented major unrest.

"The second animal is the cow," Joseph continued. "For us, these countries are our core allies. We protect them, and they work hard to support our cause. They are a beneficial and indispensable part of our supply chain, playing a vital role in our economy. Their economies are completely integrated with ours, almost part of the empire."

"I know, you're talking about the Confederation of the Rhine, the Netherlands, and Northern Italy," Napoleon said.

"These kinds of countries now share our fate, whether it prospers or suffers. Cherishing them and protecting their interests is protecting our own, because..."

"Because in reality, the large capital of these countries is all on our periphery," Lucien interjected.

"Oxen are different from pigs; raising them for work is more worthwhile than killing them for meat. Of course, in truly desperate situations, like a great famine where there's no food and you can't even survive tomorrow, let alone next year, then you can't worry about that. I hope we'll never encounter such a time in our lives," Joseph continued.

"You mean, our younger generations might encounter a similar situation in the future?" Lucien asked.

"Ah, there is no such thing as a permanent empire," Napoleon replied. "Like the stock market, no stock can rise forever; there will always be times when it crashes, and it might crash several times in a single week."

"The third type of ally is the dog. These countries offer limited economic assistance, and killing them wouldn't yield much meat. However, they have one great advantage: they can bite. As long as we support them from behind, they can bleed in our place, tying down the enemy's forces, much like hunting dogs, playing a crucial role in eliminating our prey. But the problem now is, what should we do with the hunting dogs if the prey dies?"

"I know who you're talking about, the Ireland. But the prey isn't dead yet. As for what happens after the prey dies— England isn't so easy to kill; it will always be a threat. Keeping Ireland around means we can always use it to suppress England. Besides, what can Ireland do besides grow potatoes? There's no meat at all, and even if we wanted meat, we wouldn't be able to get any from them."

"The last type of ally is the wolf. They're only temporarily on our side; more importantly, they have their own ambitions and might compete with us for resources in the future. For example..."

"Take the United States, for example," Napoleon said. "But now, the United States don't have much room for expansion either. To the west is Louisiana, and to the north will soon be Quebec. But it would be best to find an opportunity to dismember it, so as to protect our interests."

"And what about Russia?" Lucien asked.

"Russia is unlike any of these countries," Joseph said. "Russia is not our ally, nor is it our enemy at the moment, well... they are barbarians for now. In the long run, Russia is vast, resource-rich, and populous, naturally destined to become a powerful nation. However, their diverse ethnic groups are a weakness that can be exploited."

After conducting this strategic research, the next focus shifted to how to handle the issue of Ireland independence. Ireland envoy had arrived in Paris and met with Napoleon and Joseph to discuss the matter.

Joseph and Napoleon naturally supported the founding of Ireland. The question now was how France should conduct itself at Ireland's founding ceremony. Ireland, on the other hand, hoped to invite Joseph to their ceremony and have Ireland address the nation on behalf of the advanced Europe powers.

Joseph declined, saying, "What kind of speech would I, a retired general and a scientist, give at a political event?"

Joseph was not a member of the Federation, so the envoy could not tell him "this is an organizational decision." So the envoy found his student, Carroll, Carroll was a member of the organization and even a nominal member of the Central Committee.

The envoy then approached Carroll and said, "Carroll, the organization has a glorious but arduous task for you."

Carroll laughed upon hearing this, "Jimni, you want me to persuade my teacher to attend the founding ceremony, right? Well, that's not a easy task. You don't know my teacher's personality; he really dislikes being in public. Hmm, strange, isn't it? After all, he was a general, he's given speeches to soldiers countless times, and he's lectured to many people in various classrooms. He's never blushed or become speechless in front of anyone. But he truly doesn't like standing in front of a large audience. Just like his defensive positions, normally you can't see anyone there. However, I can try my best."

With Carroll's persuasion and Napoleon's statement that Ireland was still a very useful tool, Joseph shouldn't bother making the trip. Joseph then replied that while he disliked such tasks, personal sacrifices were worthwhile for the country. He couldn't possibly refuse just because he was afraid of seasickness. However, he warned Joseph not to take advantage of his absence to cause trouble at the Academy of Sciences!

Napoleon was very displeased with this, saying, "You are the tyrant of the Academy of Sciences of Sciences. The academicians have suffered under Joseph's rule for a long time. But those academicians are all cowards; even without you, few of them would dare to follow my reckless actions."

Given that the British Navy still maintained a presence at sea and was frequently active, Napoleon dispatched the battleship HMS Caesar, along with the supercruiser Free Trade and Common Market, which had returned from North America, and two armored cruisers ostensibly to participate in the naval review for the founding of Ireland, but more importantly, to ensure Joseph's safety en route.

The British Navy is indeed full of dauntless spirit. Even in such an unfavorable situation, they are still making efforts. At this point, the British Navy can no longer guarantee its own sea control, so their operational objective has become to undermine the sea control of others.

To this end, the Britain made bold improvements to their cruisers. They realized that for a considerable period of time to come, their success or failure would depend entirely on the high speed of their ships. So they removed the armor from their armored cruisers, leaving only some armor around the boilers and ammunition magazines. In other words, the Britain adopted a "naked" approach to increase speed and attack various maritime targets across Europe, except for modern warships.

After removing the armor, the ships became much lighter, making Britain cruisers faster than their France counterparts for the first time in the age of sail. Their decision to go without armor also yielded another unexpected benefit.

Just a few days earlier, one evening, a Britain cruiser, while attacking a Netherlands merchant ship, encountered an old armored cruiser from the Confederation of the Rhine. The Britain were taking control of the captured merchant ship when a thick fog rolled in. The two warships then suddenly met in very close proximity, at a distance of only about 300 meters. A brief but intense firefight ensued, and the Confederation of the Rhine armored cruiser was severely damaged. Had it not been for the cover of the fog, it might have been sunk by the Britain warship.

The Britain cruiser also took more than ten shells. However, these shells all had a serious problem—overpenetration. Because Britain cruiser had virtually no armor, the shells that were designed to penetrate armor all the way from the port side to the starboard side, leaving the cruiser riddled with holes. But not a single one exploded.

Because of the thick sea fog, the Confederation of the Rhine naval soldiers couldn't see that their shells had penetrated the enemy's armor. As a result, their story became: at such close range, they should have hit many enemy shells, but all of them were blocked by the armor of the Britain cruisers.

This news even stunned the France. For a moment France genuinely believed that the Britain had made some technological breakthrough, to the point that their warships not only surpassed the France in speed but also in defense. As a result, France Admiral Treville specifically ordered that France warships avoid engaging Britain warships unless they had a numerical advantage.

The Britain, of course, knew that their warships were completely exposed. If the enemy noticed, a simple exchange of ammunition would be enough to set their cruisers ablaze and leave them battered and bruised. Therefore, they issued the same order, resulting in the France still believing, to this day, that the Britain had acquired new armor technology.