He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 427

Became Napoleon’s Genius Son-Episode 427 (428/547)

(427) King Eugenio I of Spain is Born

Although the war had already begun, France never sincerely treated Spain.

“Doesn’t Masséna feel slighted if you say that?”

“He hasn’t even taken control of all of Spain yet, so does he deserve it?”

“Well, he did occupy Madrid.”

Eugene scoffed at the words of his chief adjutant, Ippolito.

“You mean that half-ruined city.”

Once again, Madrid fell into the hands of the French Empire.

However, despite Eugene persuading all the defending generals in advance, a bloodless entry was difficult.

This was because the insurgent army itself was not a regular army but composed of people resisting the French army.

In the end, even though it was opened from the inside, they could only enter after a street battle.

As Eugene walked through the streets of Madrid, where the smoke of gunpowder still lingered, he suddenly heard the sound of spitting behind him.

“Ptooey! I hear someone cursing me from somewhere!”

“Surely not. Who would curse our great Marshal Masséna?”

“Your Royal Highness, no, Your soon-to-be Majesty, what are you thinking?”

Masséna, who was inspecting the city with the legion’s guards, glared at Eugene.

“What are you thinking, creating a country for nobles? This is a betrayal of the revolution!”

Masséna was relatively cooperative with the French Empire, unlike Augereau.

However, Masséna was also a revolutionary army officer who rose through the ranks through the revolution and had a love for the Great Revolution.

Even if a citizen emperor was just a gilded cage, he fought with the significance of upholding the constitution.

But now, Eugene, who would become king in Madrid, declared that he would create a country for nobles.

Even the usually smooth-talking Masséna couldn’t help but feel a sense of betrayal.

However, Eugene remained calm even in the face of Masséna’s anger.

Eugene suddenly asked Masséna.

“Masséna, what are we fighting for?”

“What?”

“Freedom? Equality? Fraternity? No, that’s nonsense. We fight for France. The country where I was born, the country where I grew up, the country where I have lived!”

This time, Eugene confronted Masséna, pressing him closely.

“Is it in France’s interest for Spain to become a great power? Ask yourself honestly.”

It was to the point where Masséna felt overwhelmed.

Moreover, when you think about it, Eugene’s words were all correct.

The revolution did not simply happen for the people to live equally well.

Masséna, who was a commoner sergeant, knew better than anyone how inefficient the system of noble rule was.

In fact, wasn’t Eugene originally a paratrooper officer appointed by Robespierre?

“Well, that’s, well, that’s true.”

“Then let’s think about the old France. What was France like under Louis XVI, my wife’s father?”

“It was a mess. It was even worse than the time of Louis XV. The High Court and the nobles of the sword were a disaster, weren’t they? It’s not like I was smuggling for no reason.”

Eugene smiled at Masséna’s answer.

“That’s exactly what this country will become. This Spain.”

Somehow, listening to it, it seems like a very wise choice for the national interest of France.

However, a country that recognizes the vested interests of the nobility is a bizarre story for a revolutionary army general.

Masséna, rolling his eyes, added a word of protest.

“Hey, it’ll be a problem if a revolution breaks out.”

“Who’s going to run the country so badly? That’s just a figure of speech.”

“No, it’s obvious that the country goes to hell when nobles seize power. Isn’t there a reason why enlightened monarchs were so popular?”

The 18th century was the heyday of so-called enlightened monarchs.

Empress Maria Theresa, Empress Catherine, Frederick the Great.

All of them claimed to be monarchs who realized the Enlightenment, integrating and developing the country.

However, in the end, the reform of monarchical dictatorship reached its limits and was pushed back by revolutionary France.

Eugene shrugged.

“It’s just as easy for the country to go to hell even if the monarch is a dictator, Masséna. Besides, this isn’t a bad thing for Spain either. Each region can develop autonomously.”

However, the more Masséna listened to Eugene’s words, the stranger he felt.

An enlightened monarch who is a dictator, doesn’t that sound familiar?

Besides, the fact that the monarch can mess things up sounds like a criticism of something.

Suppressing his uneasy feelings, Masséna asked again.

“Was that approved by Her Majesty the Queen?”

“Maria listens to everything I say. She’s not really interested in politics anyway.”

“Well, that’s only when she doesn’t have children. Think about when a child is born and she passes the crown on to the child. Women’s thoughts change then.”

As a married man and a senior who has lived longer, it is an accurate point.

Right now, Maria only looks at Eugene and blindly follows Eugene’s choices.

But what if she has a child?

Would Maria’s child accept that the country they will rule is being swayed by nobles and, as it turns out, is a vassal state of France?

Then Eugene turned around with a cold smile.

“Masséna, do you think I’ll be satisfied with the Spanish crown then?”

Masséna stared intently at Eugene, who was riding ahead with the commander of the guard, Junot.

If he is not satisfied with the Spanish throne, what will Eugene want in the future?

There is only one thing that comes to mind.

Masséna suddenly asked Ippolito, who was still next to him.

“Is this him telling me to get in line?”

“Did you just realize that? Well, maybe if Charles grows up a lot and becomes as great as His Imperial Majesty.”

“No, His Imperial Majesty is still only 38 years old. If he stays in power for at least 20 more years, then Prince Charles will also be an adult. Hmm.”

Ippolito chuckled and tapped Masséna on the shoulder.

“Hey, think carefully, Masséna. Think about how extraordinary our Emperor Eugene has been since he was young.”

It was just a scene of a mere major tapping the shoulder of a marshal, but Masséna had no time to criticize that point.

His head is spinning.

A critique of enlightened despots, a position beyond the Spanish throne, and the French Empire.

Emperor.

Barely, Masséna raised his fingers to the surrounding guards, instructing them to keep quiet, and shouted.

“Tell them not to have a fratricidal war for no reason. It’s not good to wear a crown, no, an imperial crown, while seeing blood.”

Ippolito, who was walking away and heard this, laughed and spurred his horse.

“You’re already worried. Eugene doesn’t like blood anyway. Haha!”

Of course, what Eugene’s surroundings are worried about now is the Madrid guerrillas who may suddenly appear.

***

Fortunately, Eugene’s prior persuasion seemed to have worked quite well.

“Oh, you’ve finally arrived! Archbishop Balabriga!”

Without any guerrilla attacks, the Archbishop of Toledo arrived at the Madrid Cathedral.

Rather, unarmed people crowded in to see the Archbishop of Toledo, making it difficult for the guards.

Of course, the nobleman Archbishop of Toledo was not very pleased with the sight.

The Archbishop of Toledo, Balabriga, bowed haughtily but politely to Fesch.

“It’s been a while, Your Eminence Cardinal Fesch.”

“Did you greet our Queen? She is truly beautiful.”

“I saw her. To leave such a person unmarried until that age. The Bonaparte family is truly too much.”

Fesch smiled at the Bourbon-born archbishop, who was mocking the marriage that was too late.

“That’s why we will hold a wedding today with the blessing of His Holiness the Pope.”

Originally a priest from Ajaccio, Corsica, Fesch has the easygoingness typical of rural priests.

Although Balabriga was full of pride as a member of the royal family, he could not simply ignore the cardinal appointed by the Pope.

Moreover, this is especially true when the new queen is a legitimate princess of Bourbon.

Suddenly trying to change the subject, Archbishop Balabriga stared at the front of the platform.

There, Eugene in ceremonial robes can be seen standing.

“I heard that the new King has declared the revival of the Cortes [Spanish parliament].”

“Well, maybe it’s like the Estates-General in France [a representative assembly of the three estates of pre-revolutionary France]. That’s right.”

“It won’t be that level. It means tearing apart this country, which has been barely integrated since the ‘Bourbon’ royal family came in.”

Philip V’s grandson, Balabriga, frowned.

“Those who are not royalty will rejoice, but will that really be good for Her Majesty the Queen, who is about my granddaughter’s age?”

Originally, there was an incident when the Bourbon royal family took the throne of Spain.

It was the integration of Spain, which had been a personal union system from before, into the Madrid central government.

That was when all the local Cortes, including the Kingdom of Aragon, which still existed at the time, were dissolved.

Therefore, the only Cortes that has survived to this day is the Cortes of Castile in Madrid.

But Eugene said he would revive the Cortes throughout the country.

But then doesn’t that mean that Spain, which was unified after the civil war, will be divided again?

It cannot but be that the achievements of the Bourbon royal family are collapsing.

However, Fesch, the clergyman of Bonaparte, who built the imperial family on the corpse of the ‘Bourbon’ royal family, simply smiled.

“Well, ask him slowly after he ascends the throne. Now, let’s go proceed with the ceremony.”

Balabriga frowned, but eventually bowed his head.

“I understand, Your Eminence.”

Anyway, now is the era of Bonaparte, not Bourbon.

***

The majestic music of the orchestra echoes through the cathedral.

-Tan, ta-tan, ta-ta-tan!

The orchestra added a smooth accompaniment centered on a brilliant piano solo.

It is enough to captivate the ears of the citizens of Madrid who are looking into the wide-open cathedral from afar.

However, looking at the face of the man conducting in front of the orchestra, the lower nobles who know music quite well chattered.

“Wow, isn’t that Haydn?”

“He’s so old now that he hardly comes out of the country. How did he get here? This is wartime!”

“The new ‘King’ must have forced him to come.”

Even those who do not welcome the coronation now acknowledge it.

That the new king has stood.

Anyway, even an armed uprising requires someone to take the lead.

But the church and the nobles have recognized the accession of the new ‘kings’.

So everyone decided to watch for now.

In the middle of the ceremony, the Archbishop of Toledo stepped forward.

Archbishop Balabriga asked Maria, who was wearing a gorgeous French-style wedding dress.

“Now, Her Majesty Queen Maria will become one with her husband, Eugenio, in the name of God. Your Majesty, would you like to say a word?”

This does not happen in a typical coronation.

However, this coronation has a unique point.

It is because a co-king will be established for the first time in 400 years.

Suddenly, Maria, wearing a veil, took the crown and turned around.

“I, no, I, Maria, swear in the name of God, ancestors, and Spain to protect the nation. Also.”

Maria declared in front of the nobles, citizens, and soldiers who filled the cathedral.

“I proclaim that my husband, ‘Eugenio,’ will be crowned as co-king.”

Maria lowered the crown towards Eugenio, soon Eugene Bonaparte.

Eugene knelt before Maria, accepted the crown, put it on his head, and then finally stood up.

This is an act that symbolically shows that the kingship of this country originally belonged to Bourbon and originated from Maria Theresa.

The Spanish nobles were about to nod when Eugene opened his mouth.

“I, Eugenio, declare.”

Indeed, he abandoned the [American] pronunciation that he had insisted on even in France.

This was a matter of course for the Spanish nobles, but it was surprising for the French soldiers watching.

Immediately, Ippolito, Masséna, and Junot widened their eyes and watched.

Indeed, what kind of pronouncement will Eugene, who has become Eugenio, make?

Eugene said again.

“Respecting the traditions of old [Hispania], we will revive the honor of the knights and revive the Cortes [Spanish Parliament].”

This is as expected so far.

However, Eugene’s words did not end.

Suddenly, Eugene’s eyes flashed.

“Furthermore! We will drive out the British who are invading the sacred territories of the New World!”

Declaration of the Great British War.

No negotiation.

Fight the British and drive them out of this land.

It soon means that they are willing to wage a proxy war for France.

The moment he made a declaration that the Spanish nobles, clergy, and people would not welcome, Eugene immediately poured out a cry.

“Nueva España [New Spain, referring to Spain’s colonies in the Americas] belongs to Spain!”

At that moment, Alava jumped up.

That’s right.

The history of Britain targeting Spain’s New World colonies is truly long.

Because since the Seven Years’ War, they have invaded not only Gibraltar but also Florida and other Spanish colonies.

Therefore, Spain has a reason to fight against Britain, which infringes on its sovereignty.

To protect the land of glory, the New World colonies conquered by the conquistadors [Spanish conquerors].

If you want to make the Atlantic Ocean a sea that Spaniards can freely travel again.

“The New World belongs to Spain!”

“Oh, Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Queen! Long live!”

“Long live Emperor Eugenio I!”

Listening to the voices of the nobles, citizens, and even Spanish soldiers, Eugene looked back at Maria.

“Well, now it’s either the guillotine or glory, Maria.”

That’s what it means to be king.

Maria knows.

From the moment she saw Eugene handing a dagger to Louis XVI.

From the moment she tolerated what happened then, Maria decided.

Live with this man, or die.

“To the end, I’ll be with you.”

April 1, 1807.

April Fool’s Day.

Emperor Eugenio I and Empress Maria I of Spain were born.