You're Our Prey Now, Barbary Pirates!

"North Africa?" Talleyrand seemed surprised that the Crown Prince would suddenly bring this up, and paused slightly. "I know a little about it, Your Highness. What would you like to hear?"

Anything is fine, the more detailed the better.

Talleyrand, limping, followed Joseph and said thoughtfully, "North Africa is roughly located on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. From west to east, it includes several countries such as Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia, Tripoli, and Egypt."

"Ah, how should I put it? Apart from Morocco, the others might not really be considered countries. Depending on the circumstances, they could easily change between Ottoman provinces and states..."

He suddenly realized that the Crown Prince probably didn't want him to talk about these basic geographical concepts, so he quickly changed his approach to the political system: "Currently, Morocco is under the rule of the Alaviyya Dynasty. However, in recent decades, Rebellion have frequently broken out there, and court struggles have been very intense. Their Sultan often die violent deaths just a few years after taking the throne. In short, Morocco is now very weak and has to rely on sending pirates to plunder merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea to maintain its Finance..."

Talleyrand glanced quickly at the Crown Prince, seeing that he seemed quite interested, before continuing, "To the east of Morocco lies Algiers —a city established two hundred years ago by pirates, or perhaps you could call them the Ottoman Navy, it's all about the same thing."

"Those pirates controlled the Berbers originally lived in Algiers, but faced enormous pressure from the Spanish Navy, so they voluntarily became Ottoman provinces in order to gain Ottoman support."

"After that, the Ottoman sent an elite Imperial Guards there. Over a century later, the Ottoman had lost control of distant Algiers. The Imperial Guards stationed there became the rulers. Currently, the Imperial Guards, pirates, and locals of Algiers form a Parliament, which elects the Governor of Algiers."

"Oh, by the way, their navy, what we call pirates, wields considerable power in Algiers. Several Governor there were former pirates."

Joseph smiled and nodded, "You've explained it very well, please continue."

"Oh, yes, Your Highness. Adjacent to Algiers to the east is Tunisia, a small but very rich place, almost entirely fertile land, abundant in resources."

"However, Tunisia only ended nearly half a century of repeated coups 20 years ago. The current Pasha there, oh, similar to Governor, is Hamoud Bey."

"Due to previous wars, Tunisia has lost its former prosperity, and relations between the two countries are extremely poor because Algiers was involved in the previous coup in Tunisia. Algiers also frequently raids the Tunisia border."

"However, our Textile, Glass, and wines are very popular in Tunisia. It's our largest market in North Africa."

"Of course, Tunisia is also one of the strongholds of Barbary Pirates. Our merchant ships are plundered from time to time. The navy needs to go there frequently to crack down on them."

"Actually, we're not so bad off. After all, Toulon has a powerful fleet stationed there. Denmark, Sardinia, and United States merchant ships are robbed even more. Oh, did you know that the United States have to pay millions of Livre to pirates every year to avoid being Tribute?"

Joseph frowned. "Why do I keep hearing you mention pirates?"

"Oh, yes, Your Highness." Talleyrand nodded. "The Mediterranean Sea has always been a paradise for Barbary Pirates."

"They used to be part of the Ottoman Navy, responsible for attacking merchant ships from Catholicism countries. However, the Ottoman were not as powerful as before and gradually lost control of their navy. Those naval personnel then turned into pirates. They established strongholds throughout North Africa and even ruled directly as Governor —like in Algiers."

"The Barbary Pirates had received formal naval training, making them far more formidable than ordinary pirates. They roamed the Mediterranean Sea, attacking all merchant ships unless the country to which the ship belonged had already paid Tribute to them. Every year, Europe countries also had to spend a considerable amount of money to ransom hostages kidnapped by pirates."

"By the way, the Barbary Pirates would also raid the northern Mediterranean Sea region of Europe, capturing the inhabitants there and selling them as slaves to North Africa, the Ottoman, or the Arabia world."

"The Spanish Navy has repeatedly fought against the Barbary Pirates for over a century, but the pirates are based in various North Africa countries— Tripoli is one of their bases—so it is impossible to eliminate them."

With Talleyrand repeatedly mentioning the "Barbary Pirates," Joseph suddenly remembered that the famous Barbary Wars would break out more than a decade later— the United States, unable to bear the Barbary Pirates' raids any longer, would send almost their entire naval force to the Mediterranean Sea to fight the pirates.

However, it wasn't until decades later, with the assistance of France, that the Barbary Pirates were completely eradicated. During this period, the United States spent 20% of its State Finances to pay Ransom to the pirates!

Joseph's eyes suddenly lit up, and he excitedly patted Talleyrand on the shoulder. "Thank you for reminding me, Dean Talleyrand! I think it's time we made up our minds to eliminate these scourges of the Mediterranean Sea."

He had previously adhered to the historical route Napoleon his campaigns into North Africa, starting with Egypt. However, France's current strength was insufficient to intervene in Egypt, and the Ottoman was still powerful and would certainly reinforce Egypt — Egypt was nominally still Ottoman province.

But the Barbary Pirates offered Joseph a new idea.

We could start with the Barbary Pirates, strike at their strongholds in North Africa, and then turn their territory into spoils of war.

Moreover, eliminating pirates is a popular aspiration, especially among the United States who have suffered greatly from them, who will undoubtedly provide strong support. It is estimated that the Spain will also contribute.

In this scenario, if the United Kingdom wanted to intervene, firstly, they would lack a pretext; they couldn't very well say, "I oppose eliminating the Barbary Pirates," could they? Secondly, they would offend the United States and Spain. If we take into account the Franco-Russian alliance against the Ottoman, Russia would certainly support France actions in the Mediterranean Sea as well.

If United Kingdom really insists on going its own way, it might even be able to form an "Anti-British Alliance" or something similar, which would be a huge gain for them.

France's North Africa strategy thus began to take shape on the country lanes Petit Trianon.

Talleyrand, however, asked with great doubt, "Your Highness, the Barbary Pirates are a powerful force, and eradicating them would require a huge investment of funds. Given France's current Finance situation, I'm afraid..."

Joseph smiled and shook his head, "No, Dean Talleyrand, this campaign against pirates will only make money; it won't require much funding."

He stopped and looked at Talleyrand: "Perhaps you would be willing to accept a diplomatic position."

(End of this chapter)