I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 140

< The Great Escape >

The Paris Debates are later regarded as a testament to Europe’s tolerance, wisdom, and decisiveness.

Contrary to later evaluations that hailed it as a historic event recognizing the human rights of Black people, the situation surrounding it was far from ideal.

Not only England and France but also most countries with a foothold in the New World immediately entered into political strife.

“Do those who have unscrupulously made money by exploiting slaves really deserve to hold public office?”

“It is said that there are those who have secretly traded even Indigenous people as slaves, and these people must also be exposed.”

Originally, moral superiority is the best means to unilaterally defeat an opponent.

Unlike the United States, the clear majority in Europe at this time had little direct connection to slavery.

For these people, the abolition of slavery was nothing less than the best weapon to wield against their political opposition.

Black people’s human rights?

They had little genuine interest in such things from the start.

Moreover, the ones leading this trend were the Prime Minister of England and Prince Christian, a highly influential figure in France.

The class attacking those who had amassed wealth through slavery acted as if they were comrades with Pitt and Christian.

In effect, a witch hunt-like purge began.

Christian and Pitt anticipated this situation but did not bother to stop it.

Nor did they encourage it.

They took a step back, appearing to observe as if they knew nothing.

On the other hand, Spain was in a slightly different situation.

Unlike England, Spain still managed a vast colony in the New World called Nueva España [New Spain, encompassing territories in North and Central America].

Naturally, they were operating slaves with great enthusiasm, and the scale was enormous.

In fact, most of those who were most active in opposing the abolition of slavery in the Paris Debates were from Spain.

However, no matter how loudly Spain raised its voice, it could not go against the will of England and France, who had the Pope on their side.

Presently, Spain was being criticized as a shameless country that tried to enslave Indigenous people even during the Valladolid Debates [a historical debate in the 16th century concerning the rights and treatment of colonized peoples] and now seeks to exploit Black people in the Paris Debates.

After a long period of deliberation, Spain came to one conclusion.

“The decisions of the Paris Debates apply only to pan-European countries and do not affect other continents. This is a fact that England and France also acknowledge! In the future, Spain will also strictly prohibit the slave trade and will not tolerate the continuation of inhumane systems such as slavery throughout Europe.”

Anyone would misunderstand and think that Spain does not use slaves; it was such a perfect example of disassociation.

Of course, they didn’t lie.

Spain withdrew from the slave trade that had been conducted in Europe and Africa and no longer sold slaves within those regions.

However, the core of this declaration was that Nueva España was not in Europe.

So, Nueva España continued to maintain slavery, only refraining from purchasing new slaves.

Emboldened by Spain’s declaration, the United States issued an official comment that they would also ‘refer’ to the European declaration.

“Considering the inhumanity of the slave trade, we will not purchase slaves crossing the Atlantic. However, the United States respects the property rights of its citizens and will never infringe upon them.”

This was also a joint declaration by Adams and Jefferson, who were running for the next presidential election.

In fact, this was just a play on words, as the United States at this time was gradually reducing the slave trade anyway.

The number of Black slaves had already been supplied sufficiently, so the slave population could be self-sustaining.

In the end, the United States also compromised with reality like Spain.

Only countries that do not use many slaves actually welcomed and celebrated the abolition of slavery.

The Paris Debates were clearly a great step forward, but the actual impact on reality was minimal.

Because this world was still too calculating and cold.

※※※

In recognition of his achievements in Oklahoma, Major Napoleon is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

Napoleon, who had been promoted to regimental commander at near-light speed, was immediately given an important mission.

The situation was exactly as expected.

That the United States would not abolish slavery was a fact that anyone who wasn’t foolish could have predicted.

Then, how would the slaves in the United States react?

It is natural that those in the western frontier, if not in the central and eastern regions, would seek an opportunity to escape.

New France does not officially recognize slavery.

In addition, rumors are gradually spreading that, unlike the United States, it treats the natives reasonably.

Therefore, it is only natural to worry about the escape of Black people who had hoped for the news of the abolition of slavery in Europe, only to fall back into despair.

Then, the part to consider naturally was one.

‘What will be the main route for slaves to escape?’

The southern border has the Mississippi River forming a natural boundary, so this side is excluded.

So, the escaping slaves will naturally try to head towards Indiana and Ohio.

The United States sent an official request for cooperation to New France.

“Please prevent slaves from escaping across the border. It is permissible to shoot them if they try to enter by force.”

Christian, facing an official request from an allied country and not wanting to antagonize the United States right now, accepted it.

Outwardly.

“Napoleon. What New France urgently needs is population. Especially people who can go to rugged frontier areas without hesitation and who are desperate enough to give their lives in the military without hesitation. Do you understand what I mean?”

Napoleon accurately understood Christian’s instructions.

He felt it when he was subjugating the Apache tribe, but it’s not enough to just be good at fighting.

In fact, if he had simply repeated battles, it would have taken much longer to develop the Great Plains.

No matter how much of a genius Napoleon was in tactics, what couldn’t be done couldn’t be done.

The enemy’s conciliation, division, and alienation that take place before the actual battle.

When you think about it, wars between countries are not much different from this, only in terms of scale.

Napoleon actually concluded that the way France won against England in the last war was similar to this.

That’s why he was more satisfied now than ever.

Because he can accumulate experiences in real-time that he would never have learned if he had only studied theories in France.

“Lieutenant Colonel! Deployment is complete as you ordered.”