I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 141

< Each One's Logic >

“S, s, save me…”

One of the trembling black men mustered the courage to speak.

His English pronunciation was awkward, but Napoleon could understand him.

“Are you all the people who escaped from this vicinity?”

The black man who led the group was startled when Napoleon spoke in English.

In fact, Napoleon’s feelings about speaking English were also subtle.

He never thought that learning English from his days at the Young Men’s Military Academy, on Christian’s recommendation, would be used here.

To be using the language of those British bastards to talk to black people in the New World, far away from Europe.

But what could he do?

It was better to have conversations in English that the soldiers couldn’t understand in order to maintain security than to bring an interpreter.

“I’ll ask again. Are you all the slaves who escaped from this vicinity?”

“If you just spare our lives…”

“I don’t intend to kill you, so tell me right now. I don’t want to waste time. Otherwise…”

Napoleon glanced at the cannon, and the black men’s faces turned pale.

They had been threatened with guns or beatings, but this was the first time they had been threatened with a cannon.

“We’re all of them! Really!”

“Really? Then why are you sticking together instead of going your separate ways?”

“We don’t have a definite destination, and we don’t know this area at all… So we were planning to stick together until we found a suitable place.”

“Was your escape an impulsive act, or was it planned? I need to know the atmosphere on the other side.”

For now, they were saying that neither the United States nor Nueva España [New Spain, the territories of the Spanish Empire in North America] was affected by the abolition of slavery in Europe.

But that was their claim, and he needed to know how the slaves themselves felt.

This was a question that could only be answered by asking the slaves who had dared to escape.

“The slave owners try not to tell us the truth, but we have ears to hear and eyes to see. We had expectations. We had expectations, but…”

“You knew there would be no liberation, and you despaired and ran away.”

“Yes. We heard that there were no slaves in Nouvelle-France [New France, the area colonized by France in North America], so we came in search of freedom. Please, save us! If we go back, we’re as good as dead!”

Napoleon listened to the story expressionlessly.

The captured men looked at him with desperate eyes.

“Let me correct your misunderstanding. Even if you come to Nouvelle-France, it will be difficult to obtain the freedom you dream of.”

“…”

“You won’t be slaves, but of course, the people here won’t see you as equals. At best, you’ll be seen as objects of enlightenment and cheap labor to exploit. If you’re okay with that…”

“Anything is better than being a slave!”

Tears welled up in the eyes of those who were desperately shouting.

Their shoulders were trembling, and their backs were drenched in cold sweat.

It was the reaction he had expected.

“I suppose so. Anything would be better than being a slave. So, from now on, follow our instructions.”

Napoleon ordered the soldiers to take all but one of the slaves who had led them.

“You will all be considered dead from our shelling. Your bodies will be torn to pieces beyond recognition and fed to wild animals. We will collect the clothes you were wearing, tear them up roughly, and show them to the Americans.”

“T, thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Instead, you’ll have to do some work for us. I’ll tell you a safe route, so cross the border from time to time and carry out my orders. Of course, if you get caught, you’ll be someone who has nothing to do with us, and it will be difficult to save your life.”

This was not a suggestion but an order.

Fortunately, the slave in front of him seemed to be aware enough to know that.

“If I can just get rid of the shackles of slavery, what can’t I do? Even if I die, I’ll die as a free man, so I won’t have any regrets.”

“Good. Then follow my instructions from now on. I’ll make sure that you and your family have enough to eat.”

After telling him what to do, Napoleon turned away without regret.

The order was perfectly executed.

He accepted the slaves not out of mere sympathy or a sense of justice.

Everything was according to the Prince’s will.

He didn’t know exactly what Christian was aiming for, but he didn’t care.

He would be able to hear it directly soon anyway.

He couldn’t perfectly grasp the impact of the important election that would determine the next president of the United States and the abolition of slavery from far away Paris.

Christian sent word that he would soon visit Nouvelle-France himself.

‘Has it already been over a year since I last heard His Highness’s voice…’

He wanted to show him how much more he had developed than when they last parted.

He wanted to report and be evaluated on the numerous achievements he had made here, right in front of him.

The fact that he would soon be able to do so made Napoleon’s steps lighter.

※※※

Around the time when the turbulent 18th century was slowly coming to an end.

The Europeans, who had experienced a series of historical events such as great wars and the abolition of slavery, hoped that a peaceful state would continue for the time being.

And as they wished, the European mainland was not yet very noisy.

But the gentle waves that started in Europe became a tsunami and crashed into the New World.

In particular, the situation in the United States, where this election overlapped, seemed even more chaotic.

[Candidate Jefferson criticizes the continuous escape of black people as a clear failure of the government.]

[Thomas Jefferson argues that the current system of having to wait for instructions from the federal government is the cause of this accident. Taking this as a lesson, he argues that each state government should be given broad authority to judge and act on its own.]

Just by looking at the newspapers airlifted from the United States, it was clear who was in a favorable position in the current political situation.

Originally, the more there were things to attack like this, the more disadvantageous the ruling party became in the election.

And Jefferson cleverly did not directly attack President Washington.

He created a frame that all of this was the fault of Vice President Adams, who was not properly assisting Washington.

This was surprisingly effective.

Americans did not like criticism being directed at Washington, whom they respected.

Still, the current government’s actions clearly had many flaws, and they were eager to vent their anger.

In this situation, how could they not vent their anger on Adams, who had been singled out as the scapegoat?

The citizens began to criticize Adams as refreshingly as if they had been drinking cider after having a hard-boiled egg stuck in their throats.

“So… you’ve concluded that Jefferson will win this presidential election?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not very familiar with politics either, but I think so too.”

Lavoisier and Napoleon’s voices could be heard over the piles of newspapers.

So the situation was so tilted that it looked that way even from the neighboring country.

Jefferson’s momentum was stronger than expected.

It was not yet known whether this would be a blessing or a curse, but at least it was not bad that the next president had been decided.

They could prepare policies in advance that matched the next president’s tendencies.

“Then, Lavoisier, let’s hear your opinion. What do you think we should do in the future?”

“Thomas Jefferson is a clear Republican. He respects the autonomy of state governments and will issue citizenship more strictly. His pledge was to abolish the Alien and Sedition Acts. This is good news for us, who are trying to bring in many immigrants from Europe.”

“Good analysis. Napoleon, what’s the atmosphere among the young officers like?”

He had received reports from the generals in writing, but the opinions of those who breathed with the soldiers were also important.

In particular, he needed to hear about Napoleon’s relationship with the young officers.

“It’s not bad. I often meet with Davout, Jean Lannes, and Michel Ney to drink, and we’ve talked about this topic then. Other officers are also showing expectations that they will have the opportunity to prove their abilities.”

“Is chaos calling for heroes? Everyone can’t be the main character, but it’s good to be confident.”

But the fact that even company-grade officers were talking about that meant that they were taking the situation a little more seriously.

He had expected that the prevailing perception would be that there would be no problems since the United States and Spain were allies of France, but it was unexpected.

No, maybe they were hoping for a problem to arise.

The young soldiers I’ve gathered in this Nouvelle-France are people who roamed and destroyed Europe in the original history.

Moreover, they had been given gifted education since they were young, so how great would their confidence be?

It wouldn’t be strange if there were people who were really looking forward to a war breaking out.

Of course, it wasn’t time for that yet.

“First of all, Napoleon. I’ve sent the organization you’ve conceived to the military, so there will be personnel changes soon.”

“Thank you!”

Changing the already established organization of the military was not as easy as it sounded.

It was a matter directly related to the nation’s power, so it had to go through tremendous debate and verification.

Of course, if the opinion was actually adopted, it could be recognized as an achievement no less than any victory.

No one would be able to object even if he was promoted by one rank.

Even I thought that I was investing an enormous amount in Napoleon to the point where I wondered if it was okay.

He had given him plenty of practical experience and had perfectly mastered the theory, so his future was truly frightening.

In addition, he had even upgraded the marshals under his command, so I thought that he could literally grind Europe if it was this much.

Of course, it would be a big problem if that really happened.

“By the way, how long do you plan to stay here, Your Highness?”

“Well, once Jefferson is elected president, I’ll have to discuss what to do in the future, so I’ll have to stay here until then, right? I think I’ll be here for a few months.”

“I see. Then please send my regiment back to the South. I’ll show you a clear victory while Your Highness is here.”

As expected of Napoleon, was he addicted to the taste of expanding territory?

“Okay. I’ll tell them, so go with Masséna. But I’ll say it again, don’t forget to try to win over as many natives as possible who have room to assimilate into this side.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

A few days later.

As soon as Napoleon’s unit left, the results of the US presidential election were announced.

As expected, Jefferson, who easily secured a majority of the electoral votes, was elected as the second president of the United States.

“President Jefferson is someone who wants to maintain friendly relations with France, so diplomacy will be much easier.”
“He said he received a lot of help from Your Highness, so if he has a conscience, he will actively cooperate with this side’s affairs. He probably will.”

Most of the reports from the staff were full of optimistic predictions about the future situation.

Of course, my expectations were not much different.

The reason why I didn’t deliberately create a big rift was to slowly grow it and eat it, not to use it right now.

However.

The gunshots that rang out from the South reminded me once again of the obvious fact that everything in this world does not go as expected.

– Residents of the United States and Nueva España clash on the border between Louisiana and Texas. Five American citizens died.

Up to this point, it was a simple happening.

If they tried to patch it up, they could have patched it up enough.

But Jefferson, who had just taken office, seemed unable to be criticized for this, and took an incredibly strong stance.

[The reason for the clash is that Nueva España has completely lost control over its periphery. The United States of America cannot condone such events from continuing to occur in the future. The United States of America expects Nueva España to take sincere follow-up measures by selling southern Texas to the United States of America.]

There was no manipulation, distortion, or exaggeration.

To put it simply, this was the content of the statement officially announced by the President of the United States.

– Give me Texas.

What is it? Are they crazy?

The moment I had that thought, a realization came over me anew.

That’s right. The United ‘States’ of this period were originally like this.

< Each One's Logic > End