I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 300

Becoming the Genius of the French Royal Family Episode 300: The Future of the Empire (300/355)

Granting a just cause for war to one’s own country has been a universally accepted truth throughout history, across both Eastern and Western cultures.

We are the blessed of God.

You are the cursed of God.

We are devout believers in the one true God.

You are detestable heretics who worship idols.

We are great liberators who defend freedom and justice.

You are the embodiment of oppression and evil, spreading wickedness throughout the world.

Whether that cause is religion or ideology, the key is to create a framework where we are good and the opponent is bad.

Those who neglect this aspect have never had a good ending in the long run, even if they succeed in the short term.

It is not for nothing that so many great powers in history have adorned themselves with grand rhetoric such as holy wars and liberation.

Why is that?

No matter how excellent the weapons and how well-trained the soldiers, if the morale of the soldiers is shattered, they become useless.

If the gap is so large that the enemies flee just by breathing, it may not be very noticeable.

However, when the war starts to become difficult, the presence or absence of such justification has a tremendous impact on the morale of the soldiers.

The mindset when beating up innocent neighbors and when fighting against those who have invaded their country cannot be the same.

The former are more likely to run away when a certain level of stress is applied, but the latter will grit their teeth and rush in even more fiercely.

In that respect, the Russian Empire’s patience had long since passed its limit.

“You bastards! Let me go! Do you think you will be safe after treating the master of Russia like this! Aren’t you afraid of the anger of my people, you bastards!”

The reason why no one responded to the cries of the imprisoned Alexander I was also because of this.

“Kutuzov is a traitor! But why is there no one who is trying to reinstate me yet?”

Alexander I was the Tsar with unparalleled legitimacy in present-day Russia.

He expected that Kutuzov would not be able to maintain his position, no matter how much he coaxed the soldiers with pleasant words.

It doesn’t matter if they don’t really have loyalty to him.

He was confident that someone would come to reinstate him soon, as they could just use it as an excuse to get rid of Kutuzov.

But what was this?

Even after a few days, or even a week, no one raised an issue with the Tsar’s abdication.

He didn’t know.

Outside, Kutuzov was being praised not as a traitor who had staged a coup, but as a savior who had made a decision to save the country.

“Kutuzov! Kutuzov!”

“Please stop the war that we can’t win!”

“We don’t want war anymore! Give us peace!”

“The Tsar who is crazy about war should step down! The people are dying!”

Due to the endless economic sanctions and border closures, Russia’s internal economy was already in a terrible state.

In fact, the word ‘terrible’ was too mild to describe it; it was truly devastated.

Prices rose absurdly, and currency became meaningless.

Factories stopped operating, and food imported from outside was completely cut off, so the bodies of people who starved to death were lying everywhere.

Since there was not enough labor to cremate them, let alone bury them, naturally, diseases spread and people died even more, completing a vicious cycle.

Kutuzov imprisoned the Tsar and claimed that the current Tsar was responsible for all of this.

The Russian nobles also sensed that putting the blame on the Tsar was the way for them to survive, and they all sided with Kutuzov.

“We were actually against the war with France! But the Tsar didn’t listen to us at all.”

“We were fooled by the Tsar’s false information that the French royal family was abusing the Queen. If we opposed the war, we would become traitors who turned a blind eye to the insults of the royal family, so what could we do!”

“Awaken! Awaken! The royal family must awaken!”

Since even the nobles had turned their backs, anyone who supported the Russian royal family at this time would not be surprised if they were shot in the head.

If communism had been emerging in Russia at this time, it would not have been strange if the country had been turned upside down by a revolution.

Of course, everything would not be solved by simply imprisoning the Tsar like this.

No matter how much Kutuzov formed a provisional government, he could not become the new Tsar.

If he did, he would be showered with bullets as a birthday present along with the words, ‘Is this why you started the rebellion?’

Fortunately, the nobles agreed to his plan for now.

The two younger brothers of Alexander I, who were the biggest worries, did not raise any objections, whether it was because they wanted to survive or because they were sincere.

“Then, assuming that everyone agrees, I will express my intention to surrender.”

“Yes, yes, we need to get through this situation now, no matter what. Otherwise, we might be killed by the citizens next time.”

“Just listen to everything France tells us to do, so we have to lift the economic sanctions. Please make the ambassador aware of that point.”

To put it bluntly, the nobles didn’t care if they had to give up Poland, Belarus, or Ukraine.

It was better to be recorded as foolish fools in Russian history than to be beaten to death by angry citizens right now.

※※※

“I’ve been seeing lately that England has become a well-behaved puppy…”

“Do you think they are acting out of sincerity? Look at them singing songs about being an ally of France and the Commonwealth every time they move their troops. They are selling our name now because it is profitable for them.”

Louis XVI pointed to the piles of newspapers next to him with a lively face that was 180 degrees different from when he saw them last time.

“Every article says that England is no longer our rival, so shouldn’t we have stepped on them a little more?”

“This is just right. We have taken away all the places that could be the long-term foundation of England.”

“But they still have African colonies, don’t they?”

“At first glance, it may seem so, but in the long run, it is just a money-eating hippopotamus. Colonies are not geese that lay golden eggs.”

In order to extract long-term profits from a colony, it is not enough to simply have cheap labor.

There must be endless iron ore pouring out, or oil gushing out, or gold mines lying all over the place to have significant value.

If not, it should become a market like China or India that will accept goods from this side.

Unfortunately, Africa did not have any of these.

Cheap labor can be exploited, but that will eventually come back as a boomerang of human rights violations.

Louis XVI nodded nonchalantly and poured himself another glass of wine.

“If you say so, that must be right. Actually, I wasn’t that interested in that side. Rather, I felt so good that Russia was getting beaten up so badly recently.”

“I paid a little attention to relieve Your Majesty’s mood.”

“Hahaha! As soon as I said that, you reacted like this, so I really have a good brother!”

Of course, stepping on Russia was not for Louis XVI’s sake, but it was not like he had no intention of setting an example.

If you were going to compete with propaganda and fabrication, you should have been prepared to be beaten up in the same way.

“But Christian, what about what the Russian ambassador said this time…? Was that all within your expectations too?”

“It’s not that I didn’t consider it at all. But it was the most submissive thing I expected.”

If it were the Russia I knew, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable for them to say that they didn’t care if all the citizens died.

I didn’t think this was very likely, but I still considered it as a slight possibility.

It would have been 0% in other countries, but Russia is Russia.

But in another sense, the conditions presented by Russia this time were unconventional.

I don’t know, but I think Louis XVI must have been quite shocked.

“What does Your Majesty want to do? The opinion of the person concerned is the most important, so Your Majesty’s intention seems to be the most important.”

“Did the parliament say that too?”

“Yes. In a way, this is a proposal from the Romanov family to the Bourbon family. However, whether to lift the sanctions on Russia in exchange for this will be decided by the parliament.”

In fact, before coming to Versailles, I had already sorted out the situation in Paris.

If Louis XVI accepts, we will do as Russia asks, and if Louis XVI refuses, we will lift the sanctions in a way that extracts more from them.

“But is this really going to work?”

“Why shouldn’t it work? The princes are clearly descended from the Romanov family.”

The proposal made by Kutuzov and the Russian dignitaries was very complicated, but to summarize it simply:

Konstantin Pavlovich, Alexander I’s younger brother and the next Tsar, was originally a pro-French faction who opposed the war with France.

Moreover, he did not have a good relationship with his wife and had no sons.

So, Konstantin would adopt one of Louis XVI’s children as his son, and exactly three years later, he would abdicate and step down.

This would not cause any problems with legitimacy, and France would be able to assert its pride to the fullest.

It was obvious that the regime to be established in the future would be filled with pro-French factions, so misfortunes like this would not happen again.

For France, it is a victory with many benefits.

It was clear that there was a reason to lift the sanctions, as they were not simply asking for this, but also promising to make all the regions that are currently demanding independence independent.

All that remains is Louis XVI’s choice.

“I heard before that the princes don’t like the fact that the blood of the Romanov family flows in them.”

“That’s right.”

“But in other words, this is also an opportunity. The mother’s homeland oppressed the mother so much, but the child returns as king. In a way, it is the best revenge. They oppressed him as a threat to the throne, but in the end, they raised their son as Tsar.”

“…I see…I can see it that way. Well, if you’re really thinking of doing something, it might be better to go to Russia than to succeed me.”

No matter how much Russia is suppressed, you never know what will happen in the distant future, so the best way is to establish a blood tie with them like this.

If we create an environment where it is easy for us to intervene like this, we can effectively deal with it even if a communist revolution breaks out later.

Even if there is no way to plant anyone in England, there is room to aim for an additional marriage alliance with Spain.

If that happens, the Bourbon family’s bloodline will continue from Nouvelle France [New France, a former French colony in North America] to Spain, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and Russia.

Even if it is converted to a constitutional monarchy later, the existence of the royal family is not something to be taken lightly, either emotionally or culturally.

Looking at the cases of Japan, England, and Thailand in the original history, the estimate is clear.

“Okay. I’ll talk to my sons. They are probably filial children, so if I tell them what you said, they will volunteer to go.”

“I understand. Then I will formally ask Russia to sign the surrender document. Oh, and one more thing.”

Perhaps an even more important issue than England or Russia has not yet been completely resolved.

“I want the royal family to create some public opinion regarding Nouvelle France. I think we should have a discussion first.”

Whether France will remain the strongest country in the 21st century or not does not require looking at the future 50 or 100 years from now.

The next 10 years will be enough to solidify everything.

End