Queen Mary and the "Crown Princess Consort"

In the small theater of the Petit Trianon, Joseph unbuttoned his bulky costume, pointed to the actors reciting their lines on stage, and said to Talleyrand beside him:

"Excuse me, could you please speak louder? It's too noisy here, I can't hear you."

"Oh, yes, Your Highness." The Minister of Foreign Affairs quickly raised his voice, "The United Kingdom have two main demands."

"First, our country will no longer provide any support to Mysore, including recalling the Marquis de Lafayette."

"Secondly, China issued a statement clarifying that it had no connection with the United Kingdom's Export Revolution to the Southern Netherlands."

"As expected." Joseph nodded. "And what about our gains?"

Talleyrand became excited, pulled out his notebook, and read aloud:

"First, United Kingdom must not provide support to North Africa countries, including Morocco, and must publicly condemn the aggression of Algiers, Morocco, and Tripoli against Tunisia."

"Secondly, United Kingdom will recognize Tunisia, Tripoli, and Annaba in Algiers as France spheres of influence."

"Annaba?" Joseph looked at the Archbishop with some surprise, as she was not originally on his "list".

Talleyrand raised his chin with a hint of smugness:

"I offered some Southern Netherlands Spy in exchange, and the United Kingdom readily agreed."

"You've done a very good job," Joseph nodded in approval. Annaba Province is the only route from Algiers into Tunisia —if you don't count the road through the South desert—and if control of it could greatly improve security in the West Tunisia.

Furthermore, this location serves as a bridgehead for entering Algiers from Tunisia. The Algiers Guard Corps has twice provoked France, and this debt certainly cannot be left unpaid.

Moreover, this area is not small, almost the size of the Montpellier Province in France, and it has a good port. Although it overlaps somewhat with the Port of Bizerte, it's better than nothing, and the transportation costs for grain shipped from Algiers to France will be reduced.

"This is all I should do." Talleyrand bowed slightly, then read out his "achievements," "Third, Carnatic will remain neutral indefinitely, and United Kingdom will not seek an alliance with it."

Given United Kingdom's power, the Indian Princely States and their so-called alliances were essentially recognizing United Kingdom as their father. This meant that United Kingdom would have a power vacuum in the South India, leaving an opportunity for France to re-enter the Indian Peninsula. France's only foothold in India Pondicherry, was adjacent to Carnatic.

Fourth, United Kingdom will use its influence to persuade Russia not to intervene in the Silesia conflict.

This was Joseph's request, Wellesley agreed almost without hesitation— Russia was currently at war with Sweden and had no intention of intervening in Silesia whatsoever.

However, Joseph knew that Catherine II had never ceased to covet Poland.

To defeat Poland at minimal cost, she must win over both Putin and Austria-Hungary to attack Poland simultaneously, which necessitates mediating their war first.

The Russia ' usual mediation tactic is. "Stop fighting, or I'll send troops!"

Talleyrand closed his Notebook:

"Fifth, and finally, Congress reveal Oscar Pauli's whereabouts to us, but he cannot die in the United Kingdom."

This was also Joseph's request. Oscar Pauli, the supreme leader of Corsica Restorationism, had to be dealt with as soon as possible.

Not to mention that Napoleon always regarded him as a spiritual mentor, he was the biggest obstacle to Napoleon's true loyalty to France. As far as the stability of the Corsica region was concerned, getting rid of him was also an urgent matter. Under his command, the Restoration Faction fought for power in the Corsican Parliament, slandered the French Government everywhere, and incited Corsica to resist national policies, which made it impossible for Corsica to develop normally.

Historically, the island only gradually prospered after Napoleon forcefully dealt with the Corsican Restorationist Faction. However, that was after Napoleon became First Stadtholder and ruled France —his position determined his perspective. Joseph couldn't offer him the position of First Stadtholder now, so he could only deal with Paoli.

The United Kingdom request was a bit troublesome – they couldn't Paoli in the United Kingdom.

This is understandable. Unlike the female con artist in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, the British Government handed her over to the France without hesitation. For a figure like Paoli with enormous political influence, the United Kingdom had to consider the impact. If he died in the United Kingdom, who would dare to establish a government-in-exile United Kingdom in the future? Allowing him to reveal his whereabouts was already a huge concession from the United Kingdom.

Joseph narrowed his eyes. Perhaps, for this kind of politician, social death was more devastating than physical death...

As he was thinking this, the head of the court theater troupe carefully approached him and bowed respectfully.

"Your Highness, Crown Prince Anne has arrived."

Seeing Joseph pause for a moment, the foreman quickly explained:

"Oh, that's the female lead in your play."

Joseph chuckled awkwardly, realizing he'd forgotten that he'd renamed the female lead in ""Refining the Firmament"" to Anne Xun'er Shaw.

"I understand, I'll be right there."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Talleyrand quickly spoke with the Crown Prince about some details of the treaty before taking his leave.

As Joseph approached the stage, the troupe leader pushed through the crowd, bringing a tiny child, barely reaching Joseph's chest, to him. The leader respectfully said:

"Your Highness, this is Alexandra Pavlovna, who plays Anne..."

Joseph looked at the chubby baby face and the gentle, soft eyes in front of him, and nodded and smiled in acknowledgment:

Hello, we meet again.

Alexandra immediately lifted her skirt and curtsied to him. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Grand Duchess."

A shy smile flickered across Alexandra's lips as she leaned closer and whispered:

"Your Highness, your amusement park is simply the greatest invention in the world!"

"I'm glad you like it," Joseph said politely, then looked suspiciously at the troupe leader. "You mean, the Grand Duchess will play Anne?"

"Ah, yes, Your Highness," the latter said, forcing a smile, "Grand Duchess Alexandra is the most suitable candidate for this role."

He inwardly groaned. This role was clearly arranged by Her Majesty the Queen, but Her Majesty had instructed him not to tell anyone, so he had no choice but to bear it alone.

Yes, this was the brilliant idea Queen Mary came up with for her son's Love —to let all the Nobility of the Versailles Palace witness the Crown Prince and Alexandra as lovers performing on stage!

In this relatively indirect way, the Nobility were gradually made to accept the fact that they would have a Russia Crown Princess Consort. Queen Mary thought herself a little genius for coming up with this idea.