He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 304

(304) Napoleon Dislikes Being First Consul for Life

It is said that a person’s greed knows no end.

“Ten years is clearly not enough! That’s why these words are coming out! Isn’t that right, Talleyrand?”

Talleyrand was summoned to the First Consul’s office in the Tuileries Palace.

Napoleon’s expression seemed complex.

It didn’t seem like he was simply excited by the citizens’ cries praising him as a hero.

Talleyrand, sensing Napoleon’s complex and subtle mood, decided to start with pleasantries.

“Did you know that you are expecting a child next year? It is something to celebrate.”

“No, I only found out when Eugene told me.”

“But you knew that Madame Bonaparte was actually the one who orchestrated the pamphlet distribution, didn’t you?”

Napoleon stared at Talleyrand, acknowledging it with a sardonic look.

“Yes. I wasn’t going to make an issue of it, but Lucien keeps fussing about it, along with your man, Fouché.”

So, Napoleon also had his own [unofficial intelligence network].

It was likely Savary, the commander of the gendarmerie, or Lannes, the commander of the guard, who informed him.

Talleyrand decided to drop the idea of finding out who it was.

What was important now was Napoleon’s true intention.

“Fouché is not my man. He is the First Consul’s man.”

“I’ll ask Fouché about that later. The important thing is not that, but the result of this whole situation.”

“A constitutional revision towards a monarchy is a historical inevitability.”

Napoleon was startled by Talleyrand’s sudden remark.

“It’s not a restoration of the royal family. It’s the revival of the first citizen, like in the Roman era. You could even say it’s another form of republic. All Roman history experts will testify to that.”

Talleyrand explained very nonchalantly.

This was the talk circulating in the Tuileries political circles, centered around Talleyrand.

Rome, the origin of European civilization.

Even there, the republic eventually became an empire.

However, in the early days of the empire, the Princeps [first citizen], the leading man of the Senate, clearly reigned.

This position was for life and sometimes even hereditary, but it was clearly different from an absolute monarch.

But Napoleon was also an avid reader of Roman history books.

“Am I Caesar, and Eugene is Augustus? I don’t like that.”

“Just don’t get assassinated.”

“Right, Caesar’s daughter died early, and he had no son. Do you know that Augustus was adopted only after his death? I’m different.”

Napoleon remembered what Champollion had shouted at the Rosetta Stone commemoration ceremony.

Of course, there were many who hailed Napoleon as First Consul.

But there were also quite a few who remembered Eugene, the executor of the Egyptian expedition.

French citizens easily forget victories and complain a lot, but they also remember glory for quite a long time.

Everyone knew that some of the glory Napoleon had achieved was owed to Eugene.

Was Eugene dreaming of becoming Augustus?

After thinking for a moment, Napoleon became excited about another idea.

“Besides, Josephine is pregnant! I had given up on it! If a boy is born!”

An heir.

When Florence was born, Napoleon was still a general.

That’s why he hadn’t even thought about these issues.

Also, Josephine was quite old, so he thought it would be difficult for her to get pregnant again.

But at this point, having seized national power, a newborn child had a special meaning.

What if a son was born?

Napoleon, who had been shouting with an excited face, cleared his throat, feeling Talleyrand’s gaze.

“But a daughter could be born. Hmm!”

“In that case, your brother, Joseph Lombardi, the Prime Minister, or your younger brother, Lucien, the Minister of the Interior, would be first in line, according to the Salic law [a historical law excluding females from royal succession] of the old royal family.”

“Who decided that? Of course, it’s Florence! No, wait.”

Suddenly, Napoleon came to his senses and bared his teeth.

“Don’t try to lead me on, Talleyrand. I have never once said that I should go to an imperial system.”

Talleyrand looked at Napoleon, who was trying not to show his weakness, and smiled wryly.

“Then you don’t want it?”

“Come on, Talleyrand. That’s not for me to decide.”

“What do you mean by that, First Consul?”

Napoleon suddenly looked at Talleyrand and twisted his lips.

“Why are you acting like this when you know? This is a republic. A country where a revolution took place. It’s not a petty First Consul who decides the political system of this country, but the great citizens!”

Talleyrand was so dumbfounded that he opened his mouth wide this time.

Wasn’t Napoleon the one who was just complaining that a 10-year term was not enough?

Yet, he was taking a step back, saying that the citizens’ will was important.

But this statement was not entirely wrong.

Regardless of the cause, if there was no support from the citizens, not Napoleon, but anyone else would be ousted from the throne of France.

That was the lesson that the French Revolution left for those in power.

Talleyrand smiled wryly and asked back.

“Then, should we conduct a public opinion poll?”

“What are you talking about? Why would we investigate something like this? Isn’t politics about creating public opinion, not following it? When did you Jacobins ask the public opinion before carrying out executions?”

“I’m not a Jacobin. I was chased out by those friends. Then.”

After pausing for a moment to choose his words, Talleyrand raised both hands.

“I understand. I’ll discuss it first.”

Napoleon nodded vigorously.

“I expect a good conclusion. Foreign Minister.”

It was the moment when the ball was passed to Talleyrand.

***

A person in charge is usually the one who hears complaints when problems arise.

“Foreign Minister, did you know that in other countries, the Foreign Minister is often in the position of Prime Minister?”

Talleyrand, who had suddenly become responsible for this issue, sat in the cabinet meeting room and shrugged his shoulders.

“Was there such a country? In England, it’s the Chancellor of the Exchequer.”

“There are. Austria, Spain, and even the United States of America.”

“It seems that the last one has a person called the President as the leader. That’s strange. Haha.”

Talleyrand, who had been to the United States and was somewhat familiar with it, laughed, and Lucien, who had never been to the United States, snapped.

“What I mean is that the Foreign Minister is that important of a position. It’s not just about adjusting foreign relations, but also about coordinating between the head of state and the cabinet!”

In short, he was asking why Talleyrand hadn’t stopped Napoleon’s [overreaching ambition].

From Talleyrand’s point of view, he could have retorted, telling his younger brother not to nag others and to talk directly to Napoleon.

But instead of saying that, the elegant Talleyrand twisted his words and retorted.

“What’s your complaint, Minister of the Interior? Is the national administrative reform not going as you wish? The demarcation of the départements [administrative divisions] was theoretically completed during the Directory.”

“Ha, that’s just on paper. Right now, in disaffected areas such as the Vendée region and other former royalist areas, pro-British areas such as Brittany, and even the Navarre region bordering Spain, administrative power is not reaching at all!”

“You’ll have to work hard. Furthermore, a stronger central power will be needed, wouldn’t it?”

He was referring to the issue of establishing the départements, the local administrative districts introduced after the revolution.

This transformation of the local system was surprisingly difficult because of old customs and local interests.

It was only possible with a major upheaval like a revolution or a strong central power.

Lucien, towards Talleyrand, who was alluding to the monarchy by comparing it to this, shouted and asserted.

“Even so, the restoration of the monarchy is not allowed!”

At that time, Cambacérès, who was sitting on one side of the cabinet meeting room, twisted his hair.

“Hmm, but according to early Roman law, the [Caesar] was just the first citizen. Not an absolute monarch.”

“Minister of Justice Cambacérès! How can you say such a thing! Weren’t you also a member of the Committee of Public Safety with Robespierre?”

“I’m talking about legal legitimacy. The republic and the monarchy are not necessarily contradictory structures.”

Cambacérès, a Roman law expert and former member of the Committee of Public Safety, added.

“If it’s a Roman-style imperial system.”

Lucien looked around.

It was half and half.

Some nodded at Cambacérès’ words, and others agreed with Lucien.

Perhaps the current political elites of France were in a similar situation.

Then, a man who was neither opened his mouth.

“What about a lifetime appointment?”

Talleyrand, looking back at the Minister of War, an engineering-type figure who had led the French military reform, asked.

“What do you mean, Carnot?”

“Let’s be frank. Why did Freischütz talk nonsense? It was for the First Consul’s lifetime rule. But we hate kings.”

“So, let’s make the term lifetime?”

Carnot, who had once worked with Robespierre, looked around at the ministers and asked back.

“In the past, the Stadtholder [chief magistrate] of the Netherlands had a lifetime appointment. The same was true for Venice. If you think about it, don’t you know that Caesar originally intended to serve as a lifetime dictator?”

In the end, if the problem was the term of power, then the term could be made lifetime.

Also, a lifetime head of state was an example that could be found even in city-state republics that maintained the old republican system.

Just like the Netherlands, which the French Republic had modeled after.

Lucien, in a very heavy tone, muttered in a disgruntled voice.

“I think I can compromise to that extent.”

Talleyrand sincerely hoped that Napoleon would accept this compromise.

***

However, Napoleon rejected it outright.

“I refuse.”

Talleyrand looked at Napoleon, hiding his embarrassment.

Talleyrand, who would later remain as the leading figure in French diplomacy, found Napoleon to be a very difficult opponent.

Diplomacy is not a zero-sum game.

It is a negotiation that derives a solution by reducing the distance between each other’s interests through compromise.

But this military-born ruler didn’t know anything about negotiations.

“First Consul. A lifetime consul is no different from a monarch. Furthermore, you can virtually appoint an heir.”

“Also, it’s a position that can be overthrown at any time by the whims of the parliament. It’s something that almost happened several times in Venice and the Netherlands.”

“Your Excellency, that’s.”

Suddenly, Napoleon shouted as if roaring.

“I don’t want power for personal gain, Talleyrand. What I want is the glory of France! But, in order to achieve the glorious France, I need inviolable authority and the power to push things forward!”

This statement was a lie, a truth, and a cry from deep within Napoleon’s heart.

The reason Napoleon wanted the throne was personal ambition.

But what he wanted to achieve with that power was the glory of the great community called the nation.

In the 19th century, when tens of millions of people had formed countries, hundreds of millions of people lived on Earth, and material civilization was developing, it was not easy to become a glorious hegemonic power.

If he wanted to transform France, seize hegemony, and achieve glory, that much power and authority was essential.

In the original history, Napoleon was swept up in assassination plots several times during this period.

Because everyone looked down on the ruler who had risen from the bottom.

But surprisingly, assassination attempts disappeared after the empire was established.

This was the difference between a monarch and a consul.

However, Talleyrand had no way to overcome the opposition among the French political elites, where revolutionaries were still the mainstream.

As Talleyrand was leaving the First Consul’s office with complicated feelings, Eugene appeared in front of him.

“Minister Talleyrand, you need my help, don’t you?”

Talleyrand looked at Eugene intently and smiled wryly.

“I think I’ve been outsmarted this time.”

“I remember being tricked several times overseas.”

“What should I do? You seem to have a plan. That’s why you caused this accident, right?”