Make France Great Again

Franz Joseph nodded, and then invited Jerome Bonaparte to a room on the second floor of the Governor's Palace.

Entering the room, Jerome Bonaparte immediately went straight to the point with Franz Joseph, "Franz, I hope that the Austrian Empire can end its investigation of the Kingdom of Sardinia as soon as possible, so that the entire Apennine Peninsula can return to a state of peace as soon as possible. Peaceful and stable situation!”

After Franz Joseph pondered for a moment, he unexpectedly responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "Of course!"

"I know this may be a little difficult for you, but..." Jérôme Bonaparte, who had not yet turned the corner, thought that what Franz Joseph had just said was rejection, and he hurriedly tried to persuade Franz Joseph, suddenly he realized that what Franz Joseph said was agreement, he stopped abruptly, and then asked tentatively, "What you just said was agreement?"

Franz Joseph replied to Jerome Bonaparte with a blank expression, "That's right!"

"That's great!" Jerome Bonaparte replied to Franz Joseph with a cheerful expression.

"However, the 600 million francs interest-free loan you promised before..." Franz Joseph also replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "I hope you can implement it as soon as possible!"

“Don’t worry!” Jerome Bonaparte promised Franz Joseph, “We will give you an interest-free loan after this matter is completely over!

At that time, all you have to do is sit back and count the money! "

Franz Joseph and Jerome Bonaparte completed the entire transaction in just a few words, and the tug-of-war that Jerome Bonaparte had originally envisioned did not materialize at all.

Immediately afterwards, Jerome Bonaparte changed the subject and asked Franz Joseph, "Franz, what do you think of the future of Italy?"

Franz Joseph was stunned for a moment, then asked Jerome Bonaparte, "What do you mean?"

"Nationalism in Italy and the unity of Italy!" Jerome Bonaparte explained to Franz Joseph.

After listening to this, Franz Joseph frowned and said to Jerome Bonaparte with a hint of hostility, "Jerome, you should know that we will never allow any country to unify the entire Italian region!"

Seeing that Franz Joseph misunderstood what he meant, Jerome Bonaparte quickly waved his hand and explained, "No, you misunderstood! What I meant was not that Italy should be unified by a single country, but that it would be like the original Prince Metternich formed a relatively loose Italian Confederation just like he did with Germany!"

"Italian Confederation?" Franz Joseph muttered in a low voice, "Can this really effectively prevent Italian nationalism?"

Jerome Bonaparte shook his head frankly and replied to Franz Joseph, "To be honest, this situation will not prevent Italian nationalism, but will make Italian nationalism even more rampant!"

】

Franz Joseph frowned even deeper after hearing this, and he asked Jerome Bonaparte again, "Then why do I have to form this thing!"

“Because the establishment of the Italian Confederation can help you pretend to be Italians and thereby reduce the hatred of some nationalists!” Jerome Bonaparte explained to Franz Joseph, “Just like the current German Confederation! "

Franz Joseph fell into deep thought. He felt that Jerome Bonaparte's words seemed to make some sense, "If we, the Austrian Empire, take the lead in forming the Italian Confederation, then who should the chairmanship of this confederation be given to?" !”

"I think this chairmanship should not be held by the Austrian Empire, but by the Papal State!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Franz Bonaparte, "And this confederation can also exclude Sardinia. The Kingdom was established on the premise!

In this case, the nationalism originally associated with the Kingdom of Sardinia will stay away from them because the Kingdom of Sardinia is excluded from the Italian Confederation!

This will help you effectively control the vassal states of the Apennine Peninsula! "

As soon as Jerome Bonaparte finished speaking, Franz Joseph then replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "What you said does make some sense!

However, I don’t want to discuss these issues right now! "

Since Franz Joseph was unwilling to continue the discussion, Jerome Bonaparte had no choice but to shrug his shoulders and said to Franz Joseph, "Then let's end these topics for the time being!"

After saying that, Jerome Bonaparte stood up and suggested that Franz Joseph go with him to see the rooms of Augusta and Princess Sissi.

Franz Joseph also stood up, and then followed Jerome Bonaparte and left the room.

When Jerome Bonaparte and Franz Joseph arrived at Augusta and Princess Sissi's room, they saw Queen Augusta and Princess Sissi chatting and laughing.

The arrival of Jerome Bonaparte and Franz Joseph brought an abrupt end to the dialogue between Queen Augusta and Queen Elizabeth.

"What's wrong?" Jérôme Bonaparte asked curiously.

"Nothing!" Augusta replied to Jérôme Bonaparte, shaking his head, and then asked, "Why did you end it so quickly!"

"Of course it's because we reached a consensus relatively quickly!" Jerome Bonaparte said lightly to Queen Augusta.

"Yes! The two of us didn't produce much analysis, so the conversation ended relatively quickly!" Franz Joseph also said the same thing.

"Then what are you going to do next?" Queen Augusta then asked Jerome Bonaparte and Franz Joseph.

Originally, Franz Joseph was going to tell Augusta that he would leave tomorrow, but Jerome Bonaparte, who was standing aside, started to take a look around, "Of course, I will take advantage of my free time to visit Milan and its surroundings. Take a walk around the area! I was right, Franz!"

Franz could only nodded, and his plan to return immediately was also temporarily shelved.

…

In the next few days, accompanied by Franz Joseph and Elizabeth Elizabeth, Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta traveled to Milan and nearby areas.

At the invitation of Franz Joseph, Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta also watched the performances of various arms of the Austrian Empire.

To be fair, the overall quality of the Austrian Empire's infantry is still somewhat inferior to that of the French Empire's infantry, while their artillery is almost the same as that of the French Empire's artillery.

However, the artillery of the Austrian Empire still uses front-loading bronze cannons, while France has gradually developed rear-loading steel cannons.

As soon as the French breech-loading steel cannon comes out, combined with the French Xia Sebo machine gun and Mauser breech-loading gun, it will be enough to transform into a harvester on the battlefield, harvesting all life on the battlefield.

Therefore, after the exercise, Lieutenant General Albrecht, who was in charge of commanding this army, was specially called to Jerome Bonaparte by Franz Joseph.

"Jerome, what do you think of our army?" Franz Joseph asked Jerome Bonaparte with a slightly proud expression.

"Not bad!" In order to save some face for Franz Joseph, Jerome Bonaparte did not tell Franz Joseph about the shortcomings of the army.

"Compared with your French army?" Franz Joseph asked again.

"Franz, your country's army is indeed inferior to our country's army!" Jerome Bonaparte politely replied to Franz Joseph, and then gave Franz Joseph a reply. Giving encouragement, "However, I believe that as long as you continue to work hard, you will be able to catch up!"

Although Jerome Bonaparte was already very majestic, the proud Albrecht felt very uncomfortable in his heart.

So, Albrecht asked Jerome Bonaparte in a strong tone, "Your Majesty, what is the difference between our country's army and your country's army?"

"General Albrecht!" Franz Joseph scolded him with a frown, and then continued to say to him, "You should not speak to the emperor in such a tone!"

Upon seeing this, Albrecht hurriedly apologized to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for the possible offense I just made!"

"Nothing!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and said to Albrecht, "General Albrecht, didn't you just ask me what the difference between our two armies is! I told us the difference between the two armies. The difference lies in the subjective initiative among soldiers, the quantity of the army, and the quality of individual soldiers..."

Jérôme Bonaparte enumerated to Albrecht, “These are all problems that can only be solved with a wealthy finance!

However, your country's finances are completely unbearable! "

At this moment, Albrecht stopped talking. The French Empire's annual investment in the army is indeed much higher than that of the Austrian Empire. The more investment in the army, the stronger the combat effectiveness. This is a universal theorem.

Seeing that Albrecht and Franz Joseph stopped talking, Jerome Bonaparte secretly smiled at the corner of his mouth.

…

Time passed quickly, and it was soon time for Jérôme Bonaparte and Augusta to leave.

The night before the two left Milan, a party hosted by Franz Joseph himself was held at the Governor's Palace.

During the banquet, Jerome Bonaparte came to the old Prince Metternich. He looked at the old Prince Metternich with a little confusion in his eyes and said, "Mr. Prince Metternich, I hope we can meet next time." , I can still see you!”

The old Prince Metternich reluctantly responded with a hint of sadness, "Your Majesty, definitely!"