Chapter Summaries

Joseph used Russian ceasefire talks to plan a diplomatic move against England and enlisted Talleyrand to organize church reformers. Meanwhile, Robespierre submitted a proposal to transfer Tithe collection to the French Tax Bureau, and church leaders gathered in alarm as the proposal threatened their authority.

• Talleyrand told Joseph that Russia had sought contact and wanted a ceasefire, but Joseph proposed negotiations in Milan with the Mediterranean Security Organization and journalists present to draw England into the dispute.
• Joseph asked Talleyrand to contact influential Clerics and organize church reform proposals, and Talleyrand suggested involving priest Sieyès and Father Bénier.
• Robespierre worried that the church would resist a Tax Bureau application concerning the Tithe, but Roland said the Crown Prince expected the church to be distracted by a major coming matter.
• Robespierre submitted a Cabinet proposal for the French Tax Bureau to collect the Tithe and route it through the Treasury Department.
• Archbishop Boulogne and other church leaders met at Notre-Dame de Paris and grew alarmed by Robespierre's proposal and the involvement of Roland and Monge.

French church leaders planned indirect ways to preserve control of the tithe, but news of the Curia’s theological examinations gave Joseph an opportunity to pose as the defender of the French church. The archbishops left believing he would protest to the Pope, while Joseph intended to let the Pope take the blame.

• Archbishop Beaumont urged the archbishops to avoid confronting the Crown Prince directly and proposed appealing to Queen Mary, lobbying Archbishop Brienne, expanding church charity, and quietly encouraging people to give taxes to the church.
• The Curia announced a biennial theological review for clergy, with penalties for those who failed, and established the review committee’s office in Avignon.
• Archbishop of Chartres and Archbishop Tours decided to ask Joseph why the royal family had permitted the Curia’s committee to operate in France.
• Joseph angrily condemned the Curia’s interference and promised to protest to the Pope and demand the committee’s abolition.
• The archbishops left pleased, unaware that Joseph intended the Pope to play the villain while he presented himself as the defender of the French church.

Joseph explained to Queen Mary why he intended to bring the Tithe under government control, then moved to challenge the Roman Curia’s review committee. While he avoided signing a diplomatic protest by leaving Paris, the committee began assessing French clergy and issued a disciplinary order against Archbishop Boulogne.

• Joseph persuaded Queen Mary that France should rely on popular support and modern industry rather than the church’s political influence.
• Joseph ordered Archbishop Brienne and Count Segur to draft a diplomatic protest against the Curia’s unauthorized review committee, then left for Baden before signing it.
• Brienne fell ill and delayed his trip to deliver the protest, while Joseph secretly gave him a week’s leave to stay home.
• The Curial Examiners arrived in Paris and began assessing French clergy, including an Archbishop and four Priests.
• Archbishop Boulogne skipped his assessment and received a Holy See disciplinary order, then apologized and bribed the Examiners to regain a chance to retake it.
• French church officials urged Brienne to send someone else to Joseph, but Brienne insisted on delivering the protest himself and ordered his carriage prepared despite his fever.

Archbishop Boulogne’s theology retake tested geography, philosophy, astronomy, and other subjects, leaving him furious and among those who failed. As the Vatican Committee continued its assessments and church leaders crammed for them, Brienne set out for Baden and learned the Crown Prince might be heading to Cologne.

• Archbishop Boulogne began his private exam confidently, then struggled with questions about the Allegheny Mountains, Aquinas, and astronomy.
• Archbishop Boulogne discovered that the other clerics had received scripture-only exams and confronted the examiners, who said higher offices faced harder questions.
• The first assessment results showed that Archbishop Boulogne, three priests, and two others had failed, while church leaders focused on cramming instead of Robespierre’s Tithe proposal.
• The Treasury Department approved the Tax Bureau’s application to establish a Tithe Office.
• The second assessment disqualified two more archbishops, and Brienne recovered enough to travel by carriage toward Baden.
• Brienne reached Strasbourg and learned that the Crown Prince had finished dealing with the Kehl Railway Bridge and might be heading to Cologne.

Sir Gray and the British government learned that Russia was negotiating a truce with France in Milan and moved to prevent Russia from aligning with France. As the Milan negotiations opened, France demanded that Russia pay Venice twelve million francs in war reparations.

• A French merchant told Sir Charles Gray that Russia and France planned to negotiate a truce in Milan, and Gray paid him for the intelligence.
• Pitt the Younger ordered Lord Hawkesbury to offer Russia a loan and military supplies, mediate with Poland, and seek a truce between Russia and Persia.
• Milan celebrated the arrival of diplomats from the Mediterranean Security Organization as they prepared to negotiate with Russia.
• Count Segur and the representatives of the member states entered the negotiating hall, where Vorontsov arrived on Russia’s behalf.
• The Milanese Foreign Minister recounted Russia’s wartime destruction, and Count Segur opened France’s demands by calling for Russia to pay Venice twelve million francs in reparations.

The ceasefire negotiations in Milan stalled as France and its allies demanded harsh reparations and restrictions from Russia. After Alexander I accepted England’s offer of increased aid, Segur secretly offered Vorontsov major French concessions, leaving Russia to weigh peace against continued war.

• Segur and the other Mediterranean Security Organization delegates demanded reparations and sweeping restrictions, while Vorontsov presented Russia’s counterdemands without reaching agreement.
• Vorontsov sent the proposed terms to Saint Petersburg, where Alexander I summoned Lord Hawkesbury after reading them and reconsidered England’s offer of aid.
• Lord Hawkesbury offered a larger loan and supplies for General Kutuzov, and Alexander I ordered Vorontsov to break off talks unless France made major concessions.
• Vorontsov demanded that reparations and military restrictions be canceled, prompting Segur to suspect England had entered the conflict.
• Segur secretly met Vorontsov and offered to drop French support for Poland and accept most Russian demands, while keeping the ban on military supplies to the United Kingdom; Vorontsov welcomed the prospect of a ceasefire.

Alexander I and Vorontsov played France and England against each other for aid while Russia maneuvered in and out of the Milan ceasefire negotiations. The chapter ended with Polish Lieutenant Colonel Janik waiting for Sergeant Waldemar as Polish troops attacked Russian defenses near Minsk.

• Alexander I demanded more British money and arms in exchange for continuing Russia’s war against France, and Lord Hawkesbury negotiated additional aid.
• Vorontsov demanded an unconditional ceasefire, then agreed to keep negotiating after Segur offered concessions and benefits for Russia.
• Alexander I used the Milan negotiations to secure a British loan, military aid, and promises to pressure Poland and the Ottoman Empire.
• Vorontsov announced Russia’s withdrawal from the negotiations, prompting Italian states to pledge Poland nearly ten million Franc, troops, and supplies.
• Lieutenant Colonel Janik watched Polish assaults on Russian defenses near Minsk and asked whether Sergeant Waldemar had arrived.

Janik kept the determined young soldier Wizczeck in the army despite orders to send him home, then received French reinforcements and heavy cannons that helped the Polish assault on Minsk resume. Kutuzov watched the attack intensify and ordered defenses built behind the Russian lines along the Svisloch River.

• Janik confronted Sergeant Waldemar Zamoyski, whose real surname was Wizczeck, about breaking conscription rules, but let him remain with the brigade after hearing why he refused to go home.
• A messenger told Janik that more than six hundred Parma reinforcements, supplies, and three heavy cannons would arrive, and Janik assured his officers that France had not abandoned Poland.
• The 12th Royal Infantry Brigade celebrated a meal of fish stew supplied by the French allies.
• The Parma Royal Artillery Battalion used three Twelve-Pound Cannons to bombard the Russian right-flank defenses, and Polish soldiers launched an assault.
• Kutuzov listened to Alexander I's letter while watching the Polish guns, then ordered the Vorobyov Legion to build defensive lines along the Svisloch River behind the front.

Kutuzov ordered a counterattack to suppress the Polish cannons while Russian Cossacks struck toward their artillery. Polish reinforcements halted the cavalry, but the 6th Skirmisher Battalion suffered devastating losses, and Janik learned that Wizczeck had been struck by a saber.

• Kutuzov ordered Russian infantry to counterattack and sent three Cossack battalions against the Polish artillery.
• General Madalinski committed reserves to contain the Russian infantry, while Janik sent reinforcements from the Polish left flank.
• Wizczeck and his company received orders to defend high ground as a Russian Cossack battalion advanced toward the cannons.
• More than six hundred soldiers of the 6th Skirmisher Battalion held off over a thousand Cossacks for half an hour, buying time for Polish reinforcements.
• General Wojciechowski learned that fewer than seventy defenders had survived, and Janik was told that Wizczeck had been struck by a saber.

After Sergeant Wizczeck died protecting the cannon, Janik led the battered 12th Brigade in repeated attacks against Russian forces trying to rescue the encircled Dokhturov Corps. The chapter left the wounded Poles charging again as Tuchkov’s troops struggled to break through the encirclement.

• Janik demanded an order to attack after learning Wizczeck’s body had not been found, and General Wojciechowski assigned him the main assault.
• Kutuzov learned that Polish forces had encircled Dokhturov’s Corps and ordered Tuchkov to reinforce it, abandoning Minsk’s outer defensive line.
• After the Russian reinforcements arrived, Janik led the 12th Brigade into an attack, but Russian fire caused heavy casualties and his Guard Captain pulled him from the battlefield.
• Janik rallied the surviving soldiers by invoking the 6th Battalion and Sergeant Wizczeck, and the battered brigade reformed and attacked again.
• Tuchkov’s troops heard the 12th Brigade’s war drums and faced another charge despite the Poles’ disorganized formation and weak firepower.

The Polish Army captured Minsk and recovered its occupied territory, prompting Kutuzov to retreat across the Dnieper while Kościuszko rejected a proposal to attack Prussia. In Switzerland, Oberholzer presented a railway proposal funded by French payments, but Gesellan demanded that Geneva recover its money.

• Janik woke in a field hospital and learned that the surrounded Russians had surrendered and that his remaining troops were being reorganized.
• Kutuzov ordered the Russian forces to withdraw across the Dnieper after losing Minsk and hearing that Polish troops had taken the river’s western bank.
• On March 18, 1800, the Polish Army reached the Dnieper’s west bank, and Stanisław II declared the day Poland’s “Victory Day.”
• Kościuszko rejected General Mokronovsky’s proposal to seize Tuchel and made advancing to the Dnieper’s eastern bank Poland’s priority.
• Oberholzer outlined a railway from Bern to Zurich funded by French payments, while Gesellan said Geneva’s State Parliament wanted its money returned.

The Swiss Federal Assembly’s railway financing plan unraveled as cantons withdrew their funds or demanded concessions, leaving the Bern-Zurich railway short of money. After investors sued and the project’s compensation estimate reached 25 million francs, Bern’s leaders faced financial ruin.

• Oberholzer accepted Geneva’s withdrawal from the railway investment, and Uri and Schwyz also demanded their funds back.
• Uri rejected Bern’s offer of tariff concessions, while Lucerne, Fribourg, and other cantons demanded benefits to keep supporting the project.
• Count Elerach realized that five cantons had refused to invest and four more sought concessions, creating a funding gap that threatened construction.
• After word spread that cantons were reclaiming funds, Milan Bank hired French railway experts, learned the project lacked sufficient money, and sued the Bern Parliament.
• Investors and nobles sought repayment, and the Bern State Court was flooded with lawsuits.
• Count Elerach and other Bern parliamentarians saw a compensation estimate of 25 million francs, far beyond what they could repay.

Count Elerach fled Switzerland’s escalating railway-project crisis to attend the Karlsruhe World Expo with his mistress, intending never to return. As the Expo opened, Switzerland’s banks and dependent cantons descended further into turmoil while visitors began touring the exhibits.

• Arens Bank’s manager warned Frey that a depositor run threatened the bank, and Frey left Parliament to handle the crisis.
• Count Elerach avoided Milan’s demand for compensation by claiming he had to lead Switzerland’s World Expo delegation, then traveled through France to collect Doriane.
• After reaching Karlsruhe, Count Elerach learned that bank runs, public protests, and separatist uprisings had plunged Switzerland into chaos, and decided to settle in Baden.
• Karl Friedrich opened the World Expo, where thousands of visitors gathered to see exhibits from around the world.
• Count Elerach and Doriane passed a United States steam cotton gin as an American official praised its productivity.

Count Elerach toured the American and Parma exhibits, where mechanized cotton processing and food production left him amazed by France’s industrial advances. After tasting Parma’s starch sausage, he believed its secret machines could make both cheese and meat production vastly more efficient.

• At the American exhibit, Count Elerach watched a steam-powered Cotton Gin clean and dry cotton in minutes, then learned that Whitney’s newer patented machine had already made it obsolete.
• After Italians mocked his praise and explained Whitney’s invention, Count Elerach left the United States exhibit with Doriane.
• At Parma’s booth, officials demonstrated steam-powered milk mixing and a press that could process tons of curds, astonishing Count Elerach with their speed.
• Parma officials showed Count Elerach a sausage machine that mixed pork with flour and seasonings, then served him slices of the finished sausage.
• Count Elerach and Doriane praised the sausage’s taste, while a Parma Official concealed that starch was the secret behind making the meat yield seem to multiply.

Count Elerach toured the World Expo and saw how new machinery and French technology were driving prosperity across Europe. On the fifth day, France unveiled its high-manganese-steel drill bits, and an eager visitor placed an order.

• Count Elerach sampled Parma King Sausage and admired innovations displayed by Milan, Florence, Modena, Venice, and Genoa.
• Count Elerach ignored Switzerland's antiquated exhibition and wondered why the central French Exhibition Area remained closed.
• Joseph opened the French Exhibition Area on the fifth day, drawing a huge crowd, and Count Elerach bribed his way inside early.
• A French technician demonstrated a Magic Metal drill bit boring a clean hole through an Iron Ingot in under half a minute.
• The technician announced that the drill bits cost 800 Francs each and gave Common Market member states priority ordering rights.
• A German-speaking visitor ordered three drill bits and asked whether the Drilling Machine was for sale.

At the French Exhibition Area, Count Elerach saw new machinery, chemical products, medical equipment, and a train, while factory owners rushed to buy affordable lathes. The French official ended the railway presentation by announcing that His Highness the Crown Prince would share railway and train technologies with member states of two trade agreements, leaving the crowd stunned.

• A French official explained that the Multi-Function Combined Lathe cost twenty to forty thousand Francs, and several factory owners hurried to buy one.
• Count Elerach and Doriane toured exhibits showing coal-tar processing, synthetic products, a Steam Rail Crane, and medical equipment.
• Count Elerach bought Doriane a costly hat and folding fan before Gas Lamps illuminated the exhibition area.
• French officials unveiled a train and described its capacity and the railway system to the gathered crowd.
• A French official announced that His Highness the Crown Prince would make railway construction and train technologies public to members of the Iberia-Apennine Common Market Agreement or the Stuttgart Trade Agreement, stunning Count Elerach and the crowd.

At the Paris World Cup, European officials learned that France would license its railway and train technologies, but the combined fees were too costly for most countries. After several days of hesitation, news that the French Crown Prince might pass through Karlsruhe prompted the officials to prepare gifts and gather by the road.

• Wilfred told the officials that France would announce railway patent licensing fees the next day.
• The officials saw that acquiring railway patents would cost 14 million francs, with another 21 million francs needed to manufacture trains.
• The Minister of Industry of Lucca asked Wilfred whether the fees could be discounted, but Wilfred declined.
• After three days, most countries considered abandoning the licenses while French officials continued promoting railways.
• The Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of Baden announced that the French Crown Prince might pass through Karlsruhe, so the officials prepared lavish gifts and gathered beside the road.

Joseph received reports on the wars involving Poland, Russia, the Ottomans, Persia, and Mysore, and urged France’s allies to act cautiously. As his convoy approached Karlsruhe, Tressaguet warned him that several hundred people were plotting against French fiscal revenue.

• Berthier reported that Polish forces had recaptured Minsk and were preparing to cross the Dnieper, so Joseph ordered Stanisław II to recall them and follow the original plan.
• Berthier told Joseph that the Russian Gudovich Corps had retreated to Tbilisi while Ottoman and Persian forces hesitated; Joseph decided to send Talleyrand to Constantinople.
• Lavalette reported that English tax increases had provoked unrest in India and that Mysore had declared war, so Joseph instructed him to tell Tipu to prioritize defense.
• Joseph’s convoy stopped near Karlsruhe, where Tressaguet warned him that several hundred people were waiting outside the city and plotting to harm France’s fiscal revenue.

Joseph explained to Tressaguet why lowering prices on machinery and railway patents could increase France’s profits and extend its control over industrial standards. The carriage reached a gathering of foreign officials and nobles seeking a discount on railway licenses.

• Tressaguet told Joseph that officials and nobles from several countries, including Ludovico, had gathered to ask for lower railway patent licensing fees.
• Joseph said that cheaper machinery could prevent imitation, establish customer habits, and earn continuing revenue from parts, upgrades, and maintenance.
• Joseph explained that foreign railway construction would still create demand for French iron, rail components, steam engines, and bearings.
• Joseph argued that controlling industrial standards would bring France technological and diplomatic influence, while richer foreign markets would buy more French goods.
• As music approached, Joseph told Tressaguet to leave the carriage to avoid arousing suspicion, and the convoy later stopped as hundreds of foreign officials and nobles gathered around it.

Joseph attended a banquet in Baden, where Prince Ludovico and other rulers sought cheaper access to French railway patents. Pretending to be drunk, Joseph granted them the right to sub-license the patents within the Common Market, and the chapter ended with him signing the agreement.

• Karl Ludwig welcomed Joseph and gave him a jeweled set of tobacco pipes as a wedding gift, while other rulers and officials presented gifts in turn.
• King Karl Friedrich hosted a banquet where Prince Ludovico praised Therese and France while guests toasted Joseph and French achievements.
• Ludovico raised the cost of railway patents and asked Joseph to lower the authorization fee, but Joseph instead proposed allowing buyers to sub-license the patents among Common Market states.
• Joseph granted the sub-licensing right within the Common Market, signed the agreement, and told Ludovico to tell Therese she could visit Paris.