Fox of France

Napoleon was taken aback, but he knew that his eldest brother would either not speak, as long as he spoke, it would be certain, at least very very possible. He had been forced to give up his dream of Augustus just now, but Joseph suddenly said this. Napoleon felt that his blood was rushing to his face, and he asked in a stammering voice:

"Joseph...you, what do you mean...you just..."

"France must be a republic, and you must be the first ruler of the French republic, but this is not in conflict with being emperor." Joseph laughed. "I have the following plans for everyone to discuss."

"Tell me about your plan." Napoleon tried hard to suppress his excitement.

"Don't you want to snatch the hat of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire?" Lucien said, "I think this seems to be feasible."

"This is one of the plans," Joseph said, "the first plan, we can use the title of emperor as a kind of honorable title, or even something like a medal, just like Napoleon's set of medals. The highest level of the set of medals is the emperor, which is only awarded to the first ruler of France, and it must have a high enough threshold to conduct a separate referendum, and then the first ruler with outstanding merits can get the title of "emperor" Honorary title. And thus obtained a series of honors in etiquette. Similarly, the second ruler can obtain the title of 'Caesar'.

This plan is the least difficult, but the benefits are limited. At most, it is just to satisfy your vanity, and it cannot produce a royal family. "

Napoleon frowned: "The next plan."

Joseph also laughed. He knew that Napoleon probably wouldn't like this plan too much.

"We France, plus the Northern Italian Federation, plus the Rhine region, all these free republics form a federation, we name this federation 'Rome', and the coordinating body of the federation is called the 'Senate', the federation The leader of the alliance is called the 'Emperor'.

This 'emperor' is a bit more real than the previous one, and has some additional benefits, such as enhancing the domestic sense of honor, uniting the free world, making French freedom and democracy a 'sign of civilization', and vaguely Reduce other feudal states to barbarians. But this glory will still end, and it will not be possible to form a royal family.

The last plan, we first force Austria to give up the title of 'Holy Roman Empire', or force the Pope to announce the cancellation of their title and crown of 'Holy Roman Empire', and then we declare the establishment of an 'orthodox' Roman Empire, and You will be crowned by the Pope, proclaiming you 'Emperor of the Romans'.

Then the French government announced an alliance with the 'Roman Empire' and donated a small piece of land—I think Versailles is a good place—to the 'Roman Empire'. In this way, a country with land, sovereignty, and inheritance Empire emerged.

Then our Roman Empire signed an agreement with France on a mutual full open border, mutual full free trade, and allowing citizens of the Roman Empire and citizens of the French Republic to have dual citizenship..."

"Citizens of the 'Roman Empire'? Who are they?" Lucien asked.

"Those who have made certain achievements in various aspects, contributed to the progress of mankind, and promoted the progress of mankind, as long as they apply to the 'Imperial Senate' and are approved by the 'Senate', they can Possess the identity of Roman citizenship. We put all kinds of non-governmental organizations, all kinds of organizations under the banner of 'charity', in the territory of the 'Roman Empire'. Make the 'Roman Empire' a beacon of civilization. Well, Caesar He and Octavian established a great Roman Empire with force, and today, we use our love for civilization and mankind to establish another Roman Empire that can become a beacon of human spirit! You see, how good this is. And, This 'Roman Empire' crown can be passed on in the family."

"So, where does this 'Roman Empire' come from?" asked Napoleon.

"Isn't that simple?" Lucien said, "The 'Roman Empire' is the closest ally of the French Republic. Isn't it normal for the French Republic to give some financial assistance to her good allies? It can be done in minutes."

But Joseph shook his head and said, "Lucien, use your brain." Joseph said, "Couldn't Napoleon have thought of such a simple solution? Do you think you are the only one in our family who can pluck the wool of France? Nowadays, the French people are full of Napoleon. At the time of gratitude and admiration, they really don’t care about such small things. But what about the future? All passions in the world are like tides, which rise as fast as they fall. Whether it’s gratitude or worship, it doesn’t necessarily matter Durable. In the future, especially when we are gone, our opponents may use this to accuse us of taking advantage of the French people.

I'm not saying we can't take advantage of the French people. This kind of cheapness is not taken for nothing. But we can't make it so obvious that it has no technical content. In fact, there are many ways to make money. For example, we set up an organization dedicated to humanitarian relief and accept donations from all parties for various charitable causes. Of course, these cash can be deposited in the banks of our Roman Empire, which can make a lot of money. Well, in order to encourage good deeds, we can stipulate that those who donate a certain amount can get the honorable status of "Roman citizen", and those who donate more can become "Roman cavalry" or even "Roman nobleman". I think, with these alone, we don't have to worry about money to maintain the 'Roman Empire'. "

"This? There is such an operation? In this way, even if our descendants are idiots in the future, they may be able to live a good life just by selling the titles of Roman citizens and nobles!" Lucien felt that he had learned again. something.

This is actually a very routine operation in later generations. For example, a "suspected country" that even leases the seat of the government and does not have an inch of its own land - the State of the Knights of St. day? If you are lucky, you meet a Kaizi on a certain treasure island in East Asia, and then establish diplomatic relations, and then from time to time get some news about breaking diplomatic relations, so that the Kaizi can maintain diplomatic relations.

"I think the third option should be good." Napoleon finally said, "It seems that we have to send another person to contact our Pope."

Of course, this matter should not be too urgent, and many things have to be prepared slowly. For example, doing so will obviously cause Austria's dissatisfaction, and there may even be a new war. Although Prussia has been disabled today, Austria may not have the courage to go to war, but the necessary preparations are still essential.

In addition, to make the French people have enough support for the Bonaparte family, they must also find ways to improve the living standards of the common people. Although the "Zeus Project" has been successful, it will take time to fully become an advantage in productivity.

The war some time ago brought various indemnities, which was a good thing, but on the other hand, the money poured into France, especially Napoleon’s combat allowances, which also brought a certain amount of inflation. .

Besides that, there is the question of the shipping lanes to Ireland, any of which, for the time being, takes precedence over how to claim the Emperor.

Soon after, Napoleon sent an envoy to the Holy See, but this envoy was not to discuss the matter of becoming emperor, but to continue discussions with the Holy See on the status of Catholicism in France.

Of course, the Holy See and the Holy See are very enthusiastic about the restoration of the French diocese. Because even though France often disrespects the Pope and the Holy See, among the countries that support Catholicism, there is really no other country that can be compared with France.

The era of Spain has passed, and they are no longer the 1:00 version of the day when the sun never sets. As for Austria, the Holy See once very much hoped that it could carry the banner, but looking at it now, Austria can't live up to such hopes at all. If the French diocese can't be recovered, and even finally the French side becomes the same as Britain in the past, and there is a French Anglican Church, then Catholicism will really cool down.

However, there are still disputes between the two parties on some conditions. The French demanded that the French Catholic Church have the following privileges:

First, the French Church is financially independent and has no obligation to contribute to the Holy See. In France, religious taxes such as the tithe are no longer imposed.

Second, the French church has independent personnel rights. Whether it is a cardinal, an archbishop, a bishop, or even the lowest priests and pastors, they are all appointed by the French themselves and notified to the Holy See for the record. (Note, it is a notification. Not to report) The Holy See shall not interfere with the personnel rights of the French Church for any reason. That is to say, in France, who is the cardinal, who is the archbishop, who is the bishop, etc., are all decided by the French themselves (Napoleon). The Pope can stay where you are cool. France does not need the approval of the Holy See to adjust the diocese, build new churches, etc., and can proceed completely independently.

Third, any resolution of the Holy See must be recognized and signed by the current cardinal representing France recognized by the French government before it can take effect in the French diocese. And these resolutions, even if they have been implemented in the French diocese, are less effective than the democratically adopted resolutions of the French diocese. That is to say, if the French feel that a certain resolution is now unfavorable to France, they can directly suspend its implementation in the diocese.

"This...is this fucking Catholic? Isn't this a complete French version of the Anglican Church?" It is said that when the Pope saw these conditions of the French, he couldn't help but sigh.

It is said that the French envoy replied: "Holy See, our country has always planned to implement a constitutional monarchy politically from the beginning, and did not intend to become a republic. But some people did not want to, and as a result, France became a republic. Now republican France is willing to accept A church with a constitutional monarchy, I personally feel that this is already a very sincere performance."