"The current Bey of Tunisia, Ahmed Bey, is an arrogant, utterly untrustworthy ambitious man. We need a ruler who is friendlier toward us."
Franz's meaning was obvious: he intended to overthrow Tunisia's regime, then prop up an obedient puppet.
Such maneuvers were exceedingly common in this era. Under Ahmed Bey's rule, all of Tunisia had long since become crawling with turncoats; finding a puppet truly would not be difficult.
In fact, quite a few collaborators had already taken the initiative to contact the Austrian Empire. Not only had they provided a great deal of detailed and reliable information, they had even offered counsel and plans to the Austrian Empire.
Although Lord Habescu, the Foreign Minister, was still a greenhorn barely into his thirties, having remained in the position of Foreign Minister for so long had given him more and more to consider.
"Your Majesty, defeating Tunisia and installing a puppet would not be difficult for us. However, Tunisia has ties with both Britain and France. Britain and France may intervene in our actions out of consideration for their own interests."
Count Latour immediately said with great disdain.
"Then we'll clean them up along with Tunisia! The French are utterly incapable of putting up a fight now, while the British are tearing their hair out over the Near East. I refuse to believe they would dare interfere with our war."
"Count! The British have not entered the war yet! You must understand that! And Tunisia has an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men, along with thirty warships.
"We must consider whether the benefits of taking Tunisia can match what we would have to pay, rather than simply whether we can take it."
Lord Habescu, the Foreign Minister, had once been equally fervent, believing they should fight for every inch