Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Within the small theater of Petit Trianon Palace, Joseph unfastened the buttons of his cumbersome theatrical costume and pointed to the actors reciting their lines on stage. He turned to Talleyrand and said:

"I apologize, please speak up. It's too noisy here, I can't hear clearly."

"Oh, of course, Your Highness," the Foreign Minister raised his voice, "The British have two main demands.

"First, France must not provide any support to Mysore, including recalling Marquis de Lafayette.

"Second, France must issue an announcement clarifying that Britain and the Southern Netherlands exporting revolutions is not connected."

"As expected," Joseph nodded, "And what do we gain?"

Talleyrand, clearly excited, took out his notes and read aloud:

"First, Britain will not support North African countries, including Morocco, and will publicly condemn the aggressive actions of Algiers, Morocco, and Tripoli against Tunisia.

"Second, Britain will recognize Annaba in Tunisia, Tripoli, and Algiers as within France's sphere of influence."

"Annaba?" Joseph looked at the Archbishop surprisingly, as this wasn't originally on his "list."

Talleyrand lifted his chin a bit proudly:

"I offered some spies from the Southern Netherlands in exchange, and the British agreed quite readily."

"You have done very well," Joseph nodded in approval. Annaba Province was the only passage from Algiers to Tunisia—if one didn't count the route through the southern desert. If we could control this area, the security of western Tunisia would be greatly enhanced.

Furthermore, from Tunisia, it serves as a beachhead into Algiers. The Algiers Guard had provoked France twice, and that score definitely couldn't just be settled so easily.

Moreover, the area isn't small, it's almost as large as France's Montpellier Province and includes a good port. While somewhat redundant with Bizerte Port, it was better than nothing, and it would reduce the cost of shipping grain sold from Algiers to France in the future.

"It's my duty," Talleyrand gave a bow, continuing to read his "spoils of war," "Third, Carnatic will remain permanently neutral, and Britain will not seek an alliance with it."

Given Britain's power, so-called alliances with Indian states essentially meant recognition of British paternity. This point meant that Britain would have a power vacuum to its southeast in India, providing France with an opportunity to step back into the Indian subcontinent in the future. Puducherry, France's only foothold in India, lies adjacent to Carnatic.

"Fourth, Britain will use its influence to push Russia to stay out of the Silesian conflict."

This was a demand from Joseph, and Wellesley almost agreed without thinking—Russia was currently at war with Sweden and had no intention whatsoever of getting involved in Silesia.

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

To defeat Poland with the least cost, she would have to persuade both Prussia and Austria to act against Poland, which certainly meant she had to first mediate the war between the two.

And the usual Russian method of mediation was—you two stop fighting, otherwise I'll send in troops.

Talleyrand closed his notebook:

"Fifth and last, Britain will reveal the whereabouts of Oscar Poli to us, but he must not die in Britain."

This was also a demand from Joseph. As for Oscar Poli, the supreme leader of Corsican Nationalism, it was imperative to deal with him promptly.

Not to mention that Napoleon had always considered him a spiritual mentor. To truly win Napoleon's allegiance for France, he was the biggest obstacle. Even just for the stability of Corsica, eliminating him was urgent—the nationalist faction kept fighting for power under his command in the Corsican Parliament, slandering the French Government everywhere, inciting Corsicans to resist national policies, making it impossible for Corsica to develop normally.

In history, it was only after Napoleon used strong-arm tactics to suppress the Corsican Nationalists that the island gradually prospered. But that was after Napoleon had become the first Stadtholder and held dominion over France—after all, one's position determines their perspective. Since Joseph couldn't offer him the grand position of first Stadtholder right now, he could only deal with Paul.

However, the British had some troublesome demands—they couldn't kill Paul in England.

This was understandable, unlike the female swindler in the Diamond Necklace case, whom the British Government had unhesitatingly handed over to the French people. For a figure like Paul with enormous political influence, the British had to consider the implications, if he were killed in England, who in the future would dare to establish an exile government there? That the British were willing to reveal his whereabouts was already a significant concession.

Joseph narrowed his eyes in contemplation; perhaps, for a political figure like this, social death might be more devastating than physical death…

As he was thinking, the head of the court theater troupe approached carefully and bowed to him:

"Respected Crown Prince, your Annie has arrived."

Seeing Joseph look confused for a moment, the head quickly explained:

"Oh, the leading lady in your play."

Joseph smiled awkwardly, having forgotten that he had renamed the heroine in "Breaking the Cerulean Sky" as Annie Xun'er Xiao.

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

"Yes, Your Highness."

Talleyrand spoke with the Crown Prince swiftly about some details of the treaty, then took his leave.

Joseph moved to the side of the stage in the theater and saw the troupe leader parting the crowd, bringing a little one who was not as tall as Joseph's chest, and said respectfully:

"Your Highness, this is Alexandra Pavlovna, who is playing Annie…"

Joseph looked at the round-faced girl before him, and her gentle, soft eyes, and nodded with a smile as a greeting:

"Hello, we meet again."

Alexandra immediately lifted her skirt and curtsied: "It is a pleasure to see you again, respected Crown Prince."

"I am also pleased to see you, Grand Duchess."

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

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

"I am glad you enjoy it," replied Joseph politely, then looked questioningly at the troupe leader, "You mean the Grand Duchess is playing Annie?"

"Ah, yes, Your Highness," the latter said with stiff resolve, "Grand Duchess Alexandra is the most suitable candidate for this role."

He silently lamented; the role was clearly arranged by the Queen herself, who had given him strict orders not to tell anyone, so he had to shoulder the responsibility alone.
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Indeed, this was the brilliant idea Queen Mary had come up with for her son's romance—to have all the nobles of the Palace of Versailles witness firsthand the Crown Prince and Alexandra as a couple, passionately performing on stage!

In this rather indirect way, she intended to gradually make the nobility accept the fact that they would have a Russian Crown Princess. Queen Mary thought herself quite clever for coming up with such an idea.