The Scapegoat

Simonie opened the suitcase he was carrying. And indeed, it was Chris brand suitcase, made of the finest crocodile skin, and equipped with a combination lock supposedly invented by King Louis XVI —a lock that Chris Chris Chris because they are expensive enough to easily distinguish themselves from the poor. Of course, those who buy them will never admit this; they claim that they buy these expensive items mainly because they are "very special, very tasteful."

Moreover, this suitcase is a newly released limited edition this year. Considering that Britain has been under lockdown, this suitcase must have entered Britain through costly smuggling and ended up in Simonie's hands. Clearly, even though most of Britain is struggling on the brink of starvation and death, some Britain still have the money to enjoy "unique and unparalleled taste".

However, no one cares about the briefcase now. It's perfectly normal for the Foreign Minister to use this briefcase, and there are good reasons for it, because the briefcase has the most secure lock to ensure that confidential documents cannot be seen by others.

Simonie placed the suitcase on the table, turned the combination lock, and the lock clicked open. Simonie opened the suitcase, took out the thick stack of documents inside, and handed them to the Crown Prince who was standing beside the table.

"Just as His Highness the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister predicted, the France are more greedy than before because they have the upper hand on the battlefield," Simonie said. Although, in reality, the France have been much more "reasonable" than expected, and haven't taken advantage of the situation to make further unacceptable demands, Simonie wouldn't say that. Otherwise, how would he demonstrate his crucial role in the negotiations?

"They even demanded, in addition to their original demands, the military occupation of England and the cession of Dover to France," Simonie continued.

In fact, the France did not intend to militarily occupy Britain. Doing so would be very expensive and could easily lead to a people's war. In addition, being an occupying force abroad, especially one that would encounter local resistance, is actually quite detrimental to the discipline and combat effectiveness of the army.

Of course, Simonie's words were not entirely fabricated; the France did indeed make some demands of Dover.

The Britain coastline facing France is predominantly cliffs, offering few suitable landing sites and, consequently, few harbors. Dover is one of the Dover, situated on the western English Channel, and also one of the few places where large forces could quickly land on the Britain Isles.

Therefore, the Britain took great care in defending this area. They built a complex and robust defensive system. This system, consisting of minelayers and cruisers at sea, as well as fortifications, trenches, and tunnels on land, was extremely sturdy. The fortifications were equipped with eight 305mm guns, the same type of guns used on Britain battleships. However, compared to the guns on battleships, these were far more formidable. They were mounted on solid, unshakable ground, so their accuracy was far superior to that of guns on swaying warships. On warships, even at a distance of around two thousand meters, the hit rate was abysmal. But on the fortifications, these guns had a remarkably high hit rate even against targets five or six kilometers away.

Moreover, these cannons were better protected. On the warships, the Britain also provided them with steel turrets for protection. However, the thickness of the turrets was limited; if they were too heavy, the ship could not bear them. Furthermore, the enemy did not necessarily need to hit the cannon itself to destroy it; hitting the warship would be the same. And hitting the warship was much easier than hitting the cannon.

But the cannons on the Dover Fortress were different. Unlike warships, the earth couldn't be sunk by any shells. Moreover, the earth had a bearing capacity that warships couldn't match, allowing the thickness of the turret shells protecting the cannons to be increased almost infinitely. For example, the concrete roofs on the cannons at the Dover Fortress were now several meters thick.

Besides its eight main cannons, the Dover fortress also possessed over a hundred other cannons of various types, coupled with a garrison of tens of thousands, making it virtually impregnable. It is said that after careful study and map exercises of the Dover fortress, Napoleon's generals concluded that a direct assault might require the entire French Navy. After the French Navy victory in the Battle of the North Sea Strait, Napoleon became even more certain that it wasn't just the entire French Navy that might not be enough, but even if they were all there, it certainly wouldn't be sufficient.

Therefore, one of the demands made by the France was the dismantling of Dover's defensive fortifications. To ensure that Dover fortifications were truly dismantled and would not be rebuilt, the France wanted to establish an office in Dover and station personnel specifically to handle these matters. However, this was not a military garrison, and the France certainly did not demand that Britain cede Dover. Even if the Britain had agreed to such a demand, the benefits France would have received would have been limited, and it would have easily aroused widespread resentment.

However, given the Britain habits and political acumen, if they were the victors, they would indeed make such a demand. Therefore, judging by their own experience, they also believed that the France would genuinely make such a demand. Generally speaking, people tend to infer others' actions from their own. For example, someone who commits genocide against their own ethnic minorities will always accuse others of genocide; someone who likes to interfere in others' internal affairs will always accuse others of interfering in their elections; someone who advocates slavery will always accuse others of forced labor. In short, if they themselves are a genocidal gang against humanity, slavery, and racism, they will like to accuse others of being genocidal gangs against humanity, slavery, and racism.

"This... this request is truly hard to accept... but..." The Crown Prince sighed.

"However, Your Highness, as you know, the French Foreign Ministry Talleyrand is a very greedy man. He made these demands, but at the same time, he also hinted to me that there is room for discussion on many points."

Indeed, everyone in Europe knew of Talleyrand's greed. Using diplomatic opportunities to amass wealth was Talleyrand's standard practice. However, the matter at hand was so important, and more importantly, Talleyrand had been presented with an even greater opportunity to make a fortune, though the exact share he would receive was still uncertain. Therefore, he needed to make a good impression; at this moment, he couldn't afford to lose sight of the bigger picture for a small amount of money.

However, just because Talleyrand gave up this money-making opportunity doesn't mean Simonie will give it up as well. In any case, this kind of money certainly won't be recorded in the accounts and can't be traced, and Talleyrand certainly won't issue a receipt, so who knows who actually took the money?

"Well, what was the outcome of the discussion?" asked the Earl of Liverpool.

"Talleyrand made some concessions; he relinquished his demands for military occupation and the cession of Dover. He indicated that he could persuade the First Consul to abandon these demands by arguing that the costs were too high. Of course, he alone was not enough to convince His Excellency the First Consul. Therefore, he needed the help of more people. And that required money... Furthermore, he stated that even if he was willing to make this effort, the dismantling of Dover's defensive fortifications was non-negotiable. In addition, they needed to establish an agency in Dover specifically to oversee the dismantling of the fortifications and ensure that they were not rebuilt. Of course, this agency could operate under other names and would not wear military uniforms. Your Highness, Your Excellency the Crown Prince, Your Excellency the Prime Minister, I have done my utmost, but this is the best I can achieve."

"My friend, this is very good. You have handled it exceptionally well, exceptionally well," said the Earl of Liverpool. "Apart from these, do the France have any other requests?"

"It's basically the same as the previous Twenty-One Demands. I did my best to persuade Minister Talleyrand to believe that being too harsh on Britain would not turn an enemy into a friend. So he reluctantly agreed to make some changes, but not many, mostly just minor wording changes, in order to reduce the pressure on our government. But on the most crucial issues, he remained unwavering."

"That's normal, after all, we are a defeated nation," the Earl of Liverpool sighed.

"The details are all in the memo. This is the best I can do," Simonie said.

So the Earl of Liverpool and the Crown Prince began to study the memorandum together.

After looking at them for a while, the Crown Prince suddenly spoke up, "Prime Minister, am I seeing things wrong? These clauses seem quite good to me."

"Ah, Your Highness," the Earl of Liverpool explained, "These clauses are merely worded differently; the substance remains largely unchanged. For example, the promise of equal market access seems to imply that the France market is completely open to us, but even domestically, we cannot compete with France goods, so how can we possibly compete with them in the France market? Therefore, the Earl of Liverpool that France has also fully opened its market is meaningless. And this clause, you see, while it appears equal on the surface,..."

"So that's how it is!" the Crown Prince exclaimed. "The France are really cunning! But... that's a very good way of putting it. I was almost fooled just now, let alone others!"

"It's basically still those twenty-one demands. Unfortunately, I'm incompetent and unable to secure better terms for the United Kingdom," Simonie added.

"No, my friend, you have done more than we expected. Even better than we anticipated," said the Earl of Liverpool. "We thought the France terms would be much harsher. As for your point that the new memorandum is not substantially different from the previous Twenty-One Demands, in fact, it is already quite remarkable that we have achieved this. After all, what is lost on the battlefield cannot be fully recovered at the negotiating table."

After saying this, the Earl of Liverpool sighed again.

"Then, Your Highness, Your Excellency, Prime Minister, may we sign a formal peace agreement based on this memorandum?" Simonie asked again.

"Yes, and the sooner the better," said the Earl of Liverpool. "The news of the military defeat can no longer be suppressed. We just brought Lord George Kirkburn to a military court, hoping to divert attention with that. Hmm, can France quickly sign a peace agreement with us based on this memorandum?"

"Minister Talleyrand also hopes to achieve peace as soon as possible, but to speed up the negotiations, we must first fulfill our agreement with Minister Talleyrand," Simonie replied.

"How much money does he want?" the crown prince asked.

Simonie's heart pounded. He knew that because of Talleyrand's reputation, a sum of money had been specially prepared in the country to Talleyrand before this trip. He calculated the amount of that money and then said a slightly larger sum.

"One million two hundred thousand pounds. It must all be gold coins, not paper money," Simonie said.

"Yes, this is a bit more than we prepared, but if we can actually sign a peace agreement according to this memorandum, it will be worthwhile," said the Earl of Liverpool.

"We'll figure out a way to cover the shortfall. We'll have the money ready first thing tomorrow morning. And then..." said the Crown Prince.

"Then we transferred the money into the account designated by Minister Talleyrand," Simonie said.

"My friend..." the Earl of Liverpool suddenly spoke again. His expression was somewhat strange, and his words were hesitant. "Well, my friend, you know, no matter how you try to cover it up, this agreement is still an unequal one, and signing such an agreement will inevitably draw criticism. Sometimes... I mean, you've done a great service by signing this agreement, but... but not everyone knows our difficulties. So once this agreement is signed, it will definitely... So, ah, my friend, do you understand what I mean?"

"Your Excellency, I understand!" Simonie looked dejected.

The Prime Minister's meaning isn't hard to understand: a treasonous treaty was signed, and someone has to take the blame. Now, this huge, infamous burden falls on Simonie. As the saying goes, a true hero takes the blame for his country. If Simonie doesn't take the blame, who else but the Prime Minister or the Crown Prince? This means that Simonie must resign after signing this treaty due to "diplomatic setbacks."

"Of course, we won't treat you unfairly. We never treat any friend unfairly. Well, tomorrow we'll give you 1.3 million pounds. The extra 100,000 is our compensation for your sacrifice."