Fox of France

Napoleon's victory in Italy shook Europe. It can be said that the feudal rulers throughout Europe are trembling in front of France. Those countries that are still at war with France are even more on pins and needles.

After capturing the Mantua Fortress, Napoleon did not immediately send his army north to attack Vienna, but returned to Milan with the army after leaving a part of the garrison on the grounds that the army had experienced a major war and needed to rest.

In Milan, General Napoleon listened to General Augereau's attempt to crush the counter-revolutionary riots of the Milan aristocratic group, and highly praised General Augereau's bravery and firmness in the fight against the rebellion, and pointed out: "Those reactionary things, It must be knocked down, just like there is dust in the house, it must be cleaned!"

When he learned that some of the nobles who participated in the rebellion escaped justice temporarily because they fled to the reactionary countries that opposed the great French people, General Napoleon said angrily: "Where can they escape? Wherever they flee, they cannot escape justice!" At the same time, he warned those countries that secretly supported the rebels not to think that the French people love peace, so they will tolerate such insults. The French people are kind, but they are not weak. No matter how far the reactionaries who offend the dignity and interests of the French people run, they cannot escape the wrath of the French people.

Napoleon was by no means just talking about it, he immediately sent a note to the surrounding Principality of Parma and the Republic of Venice, asking them to immediately make a reasonable explanation for their collusion with the rebels.

The Principality of Parma and the Republic of Venice suddenly fell into chaos. To be honest, neither of these two neutral countries is a friendly neutral to France. They have always been more friendly to Austria. This is also a natural thing, because they used to be under the roof of Austria. But in the battle between the French and the Austrians, their actions were indeed in line with the rules of neutral countries. As for some nobles from Milan who fled to them, wasn’t it normal for Italian nobles to come from one city to another in that era? How can it be said that they are secretly supporting these people?

But they know that in this day and age, cannons make sense, and the French are obviously far more reasonable than they are. So they can only quickly send someone to explain and make amends.

"Damn it!" Napoleon said angrily as soon as he saw the representatives of the two countries.

"What do you mean by coming here now? You colluded with those rebels, and now you come here to pretend to be good people?" Augereau quickly said with a very angry look.

"Ah, ah, our country has really been fooled by them! This time, I made it clear for this purpose. They came to our country, saying that they came to do business. I didn't expect them They escaped after committing a crime. Now that these people have gone to other places, we really have no way to catch them and send them back to face the crime, so we have to apologize to the general with the cheek. In short, this matter It's our country's negligence, and I'm sorry for General Bonaparte. Fortunately, France, and His Excellency the General, have always been magnanimous. .”

"However..." said Napoleon.

So these two countries each paid compensation to Napoleon (note that it is Napoleon, not France, that is to say, the money does not need to be recorded) millions of florins. Almost can be used to scare children to sleep.

The money was sent directly to Joseph by Napoleon. Napoleon proudly wrote to Joseph, showing off his achievements to him, and said, how much money did you earn after doing business for so long? Look at you brother and me, put a few words, and earn so many florins. So, when it comes to business, you seem to be inferior to me now.

After reading the letter, Joseph reportedly flew into a rage, and sent Napoleon a letter back. Then Napoleon's adjutant discovered that General Napoleon hadn't slept well for several nights.

"General, is something wrong? You haven't slept much these days?" the adjutant asked.

"Oh, nothing." Napoleon said indifferently, "It's just that a cheapskate came up with some very interesting math problems. You know, when I'm bored, I like to use math problems to exercise my mind and relax. my own."

Joseph sent Napoleon several math problems. As soon as Napoleon opened the letter, he knew it was Joseph's revenge. But Napoleon, who has never believed in evil, smiled slightly: "Isn't it just a few math problems? Anyway, there is nothing to do now, so I will let you lose your heart!" So he consciously fell for it.

"Then, general, these problems should have been solved, right?" the ignorant adjutant asked again.

"Oh, there are already some directions, and it should be resolved soon." Napoleon's eyes flickered.

Napoleon's victory also made the Spaniards feel a lot of pressure. The Spaniards also have some interests in Italy. Now with Napoleon's victory, almost all of Italy has closed its doors to Spain-even those so-called "neutral countries". Now no one believes that the Spaniards have the power to protect themselves, so everyone is scrambling to fall to France.

If it is only the loss of interests in Italy, it is not unbearable for Spain to grit its teeth, but now, the bigger problem is that Spain cannot see any hope of victory in this war.

Napoleon's devastating victory in Italy made the entire anti-French alliance feel extremely desperate. The British are okay, because the already powerful and reliable navy blocked by the strait, at least it has no difficulty in protecting itself. But Spain is different. It borders France!

The Spanish navy is more or less powerful, but the Spanish army is really good. Even the Spanish army doesn't think it can compare with Austria. Before, they could use the Pyrenees to comfort themselves, thinking that although their army was not very good, relying on the terrain advantages of the Pyrenees, they could still block possible French invasions.

But after seeing Napoleon's performance in Italy, this confidence was immediately wiped out. Compared with the steep Alps, the Pyrenees are much lower. If even the Alps can't stop the French, will the Pyrenees be able to protect Spain?

In addition, in the struggle for overseas colonies, some conflicts occurred between the Spaniards and the British, so Spain, also surnamed Bourbon, actually hinted to France that it was willing to achieve a peace based on equality and mutual respect with France through some channels.

At this time, Talleyrand, who had just returned to Paris from Italy, got himself the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs through Ballas' relationship. After receiving the news, Talleyrand immediately realized that his opportunity had come.

Talleyrand immediately made contact with the Spaniards through these connections. On the one hand, he opened his mouth to the Spaniards and proposed high war reparations and a lot of compensation for overseas colonies. He told them that the Austrians were also communicating with him, and even offered to trade the Rhineland for Lombardy. On the one hand, he threatened that once France and Austria achieved peace, Spain would need to pay more to achieve peace with France.

Talleyrand's conditions were obviously too harsh for the Spaniards to accept. But the prospect of the war is so pessimistic, but it also prevents the Spaniards from rejecting Talleyrand directly. Because Austria may really withdraw from the war. The Spaniards knew that the Austrians had asked the British for more financial assistance, and claimed that if the British did not immediately provide a sum of money to support, Austria would have to negotiate a peace with the French alone.

During this period of time, there was also an economic crisis in the UK. Compared with the subsequent major crises that swept the world, this crisis is not that serious, but it also makes the British temporarily have no strong ability to pay.

If everything goes well in Italy, then the banks in Italy can also borrow some money. But under today's circumstances, those banks in Italy dare not lend money to the British or Austrians at all. Therefore, when Talleyrand threatened that the Austrians were ready to make peace with France, the Spaniards believed it very much.

Now that everyone is ready to sell their teammates, of course they must be the first to sell their teammates. Only the French, or rather Talleyrand, charged too much. The Spanish envoy said that if peace is achieved on this condition. That would not be peace, but Spain's defeat. Talleyrand immediately retorted: "At this time, does Spain still think that it has not been defeated?"

However, Talleyrand still gave the Spaniards a way out. He hinted to the Spanish envoy that as long as the Spaniards can give him enough money, he is willing to help the Spaniards to gain the sympathy and understanding of some important people, and see if he can help Spain. people to achieve better conditions of peace.

The Spaniards gave the money, but no one knows how much they gave. In short, Talleyrand was a man of great credibility. It wasn't long after he got the money that his tune changed. Soon he told the Spaniards that he had won a peace plan for the Spaniards that required neither cession nor indemnity—that is, the Kingdom of Spain declared an alliance with France. The two countries have become allies who help each other and jointly safeguard the peace of Europe and the world.

While the Spaniard was stunned, he thought about it carefully and found that there really seemed to be nothing wrong with this plan. Anyway, you are ready to sell your teammates, right? Then it's better to sell it more thoroughly. So the two hit it off. By early July, Spain and France had reached an agreement. Spain announced its withdrawal from the anti-French alliance and formed an alliance with France to jointly maintain peace and order in Europe.