On November 26, 1858, negotiations officially began over the Franco-Sardinian conflict triggered by the assassination attempt.
As both host and victim, the French representative Auvergne said with an angry expression, "I presume everyone is clear on what happened. His Majesty the great Napoleon III was assassinated by an evil organization.
"And the murderers remain at large to this day. Peace-loving France sent a diplomatic note to the Kingdom of Sardinia at the first opportunity after the incident.
"The result was that the relationship between the Sardinian Government and this evil organization ran far deeper than we had imagined. Not only did they refuse to arrest the murderers, they instead provided them with shelter, ignoring France's well-intentioned warnings.
"We now declare that if the Sardinian Government is incapable of bringing the murderers to justice, we do not rule out the possibility of taking forceful measures."
Auvergne was clearly no simple man. He did not mention compensation at all, instead fixating on the capture of the murderers to win everyone's sympathy and support.
The threat of force merely demonstrated their hard-line stance. They said nothing about demanding territory or indemnities from the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was completely different from the private communications between the two countries beforehand.
Prime Minister Cavour had a headache. His opponent was clearly a professional; on the question of punishing the murderers, the governments of every country essentially shared the same position.
Cavour answered through gritted teeth, "My Lord Count, the murderers have already been apprehended, and everyone has verified their identities. This matter has absolutely nothing to do with the Kingdom of Sardinia."
This had been discussed with the British beforehand. The Sardinian Government absolutely could not admit any connection to this assassination attempt. Only by denying it to the bitter end could they have a