He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 328

(328) America Wants to Buy Louisiana

The United States of America, commonly known as the USA, was still a young nation finding its footing.

“It’s a country where each state does as it pleases. Of course, they all clamor for westward expansion. Tsk!”

A handsome man spoke these words aboard the [Constitution], a frigate sailing proudly in the Caribbean Sea.

The man was Alexander Hamilton.

Now 45 years old, he was the former first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.

Even in the fledgling nation of America, with a population of only 5 million, he was considered a prominent politician.

What about the ship Hamilton was on?

Named the Constitution, it was the newest frigate commissioned by Washington after the nation’s founding.

It still fell short compared to European battleships, but in the original timeline, it even crossed the Mediterranean to fight the Barbary pirates.

The entourage, with a former secretary aboard such a ship, certainly had an unusual purpose.

On the other hand, some of Hamilton’s companions aboard the [Constitution] wore disapproving expressions.

This was because Hamilton was often seen as arrogant and prone to causing trouble. More significantly, they held differing political views.

A meticulous-looking man of similar age, rummaging through documents, retorted.

“Hamilton, I’m sorry, but not everyone embraces federal centralism.”

“Oh, Mr. Monroe. Isn’t that why I’m in the opposition party and you’re in the ruling party? Haha! I’m just here to crunch the numbers.”

“No, it’s a different matter entirely. I heard that France’s new [Viceroy] started his career by trading our national bonds.”

Viceroy, meaning Vice-King, a ruler representing the monarch.

That is, referring to Eugene Bonaparte.

James Monroe, who would later proclaim the [Monroe Doctrine] in the original timeline, coldly snapped.

“If he demands redemption of those bonds, it’s your job, as the former Secretary of the Treasury, to handle it diplomatically. After all, you were the one who issued those bonds in the first place, weren’t you?”

This was about the U.S. bond repurchase, the financial venture where Eugene first made his mark.

During the American Revolutionary War, France poured enormous funds into aiding American independence.

But nothing in this world is free.

Therefore, what France received were bonds signed by Washington.

Hamilton, as the then-designated first Secretary of the Treasury, spearheaded the issuance of these bonds.

However, the French monarchy collapsed, and the new revolutionary government was preoccupied with European wars.

As a result, no one demanded the bonds from America.

But now, the very person who traded those bonds was coming right to America’s doorstep.

Moreover, as a ruler who could influence [ports] crucial to America’s vital interests.

This was why Hamilton boarded the ship.

As if he were the protagonist of a tragedy, Hamilton looked up to the sky and cried out.

“How sad. Once, I was greatly praised for handling French debts all at once with [Continental Congress] guaranteed bonds. But now that we’ve lost power, it’s all my fault!”

At that moment, a middle-aged man sitting in a chair behind Monroe, enjoying the sunlight, scoffed.

“Who told you to lose power? Foolishly, why did you vote for Jefferson?”

“Oh, Mr. Pinckney. Are you saying I should have put Aaron Burr in the presidency? If that guy becomes president, this country is doomed!”

“Ha, you’re saying you supported Mr. Jefferson for such selfless reasons?”

Suddenly, Senator Charles Cotesworth Pinckney chuckled.

“You should tell the truth, Mr. Hamilton. Isn’t it just because Aaron Burr was the one who stirred up the Maria Reynolds scandal?”

Pinckney, who had just mocked Hamilton, was one of the heroes of the American Revolutionary War.

In the original timeline, he ran for U.S. President but lost to Madison, but he left a significant political mark.

For example, the founding of the [Federalist Party].

He was in the same faction as Hamilton, who advocated for a strong central federal government.

But as Pinckney said, Hamilton supported the current president, Jefferson, a so-called Republican, actually a state autonomy advocate.

Precisely because of the current Vice President and politician who lost in the presidential election.

Aaron Burr.

Vice President Aaron Burr was also a hero of the Revolutionary War, but he was also known as a very petty man.

He and Hamilton were bitter enemies.

Especially in financial policy, they didn’t agree on anything.

Hamilton had been emphasizing the establishment of a central bank since the early days of the nation.

But this central bank is an important tool for strengthening the power of the central government.

Therefore, all Republican politicians who advocated for state autonomy opposed the central bank.

Aaron Burr was one of them, emphasizing private banks.

Even so, it would have been fine if they only disagreed politically, but an even bigger incident occurred.

Hamilton had an affair with a married woman named Maria Reynolds and was caught.

The rumor that Aaron Burr was the one who exposed this incident to the media was rampant in Philadelphia’s political circles.

Because Maria’s lawyer was none other than Aaron Burr.

Of course, in 1802, Washington D.C. was completed, so it should be called Washington’s political circles.

Hamilton, a man who couldn’t become president because he played around with a married woman, glanced at Pinckney and snorted.

“That’s an overstatement. I feel like challenging you to a duel right now?”

“Go ahead. You were an artilleryman who never fired a cannon, but I was an infantryman. I’m better at shooting guns.”

“Huh, you don’t know my pistol skills. I can hit a fly from a hundred feet away!”

Hamilton, who would die in a pistol duel in the original timeline, was chattering, unaware of his fate.

“Both of you, stop it.”

At the very solemn voice, both Pinckney and Hamilton shut their mouths.

“We must heed our [Chancellor]’s words.”

“Hmph, I’m only holding back from shooting you right now because of Mr. Livingston.”

“I said shut up, both of you.”

A very solemn-looking 56-year-old man stroked his beard and spoke heavily.

“The person this delegation is going to deal with is a French [hero]. Don’t underestimate him just because he’s young.”

Robert Livingston, one of the five [Founding Fathers] who created the American Declaration of Independence.

He was the first [Chancellor] of New York State, a title similar to a governor, so his nickname became Chancellor.

The Bible that the U.S. President holds and swears on in modern original history also belonged to this man.

He was also the first Grand Master of the New York Freemasons, and he brought many American Revolutionary War heroes into the Freemasons.

However, the reason this person’s name remains in the original timeline is strangely due to the [steamboat].

He is the person who commissioned Robert Fulton to build the world’s first steamboat, the [North River Steamboat].

Of course, Robert Fulton was currently running around proposing a failing submarine to Napoleon.

Anyway, at Livingston’s words, the leading American politicians on the deck put their heads together.

“First, let’s do a preliminary check. The key is to get France to recognize the [Pinckney Treaty].”

“Strictly speaking, isn’t that treaty still in effect? The territory hasn’t been completely transferred from Spain to France, has it? Legally.”

“The important thing is that the power to govern is effectively in the hands of the French Emperor’s Viceroy. That means he can abrogate the treaty.”

So, these four men were [Presidential Envoys] going to the Viceroy of New France, Eugene Freischütz.

They were the best minds in America, carefully selected by the 3rd U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson.

First of all, Livingston was interested in Freemasonry, the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and steamboats, but more importantly, he had a crucial characteristic.

That is, he served as the French Ambassador.

Pinckney also briefly served as the French Ambassador, and his brother, Thomas Pinckney, served as the Spanish Ambassador and was well-versed in the Spanish situation.

James Monroe was Jefferson’s disciple and also served as the French Ambassador in the early days of the revolution.

Above all, Monroe had a major characteristic: he was an admirer of the French Revolution.

In short, all three except Hamilton, who was dispatched as a financial expert, were experts on France.

This shows how much President Jefferson devoted himself to this special mission.

However, there was one problem with this selection.

None of them had ever seen Eugene in person.

“So, is the [President]’s idea to solve the problem by buying the port of New Orleans outright? Mr. Monroe?”

Suddenly, Hamilton asked, and Monroe, the youngest of the envoys at 44, nodded.

“That’s right.”

“Does that make sense?”

“Mr. President thinks it’s possible. Anyway, controlling the west bank of the Mississippi River is an important commercial issue, and furthermore, if France effectively controls [Louisiana], it’s a national security issue.”

New Orleans is a port city at the southernmost tip of Louisiana.

It is located where the Mississippi River, the longest river in North America, flowing through the midwestern United States, flows into the sea.

This city exists at the terminus where western Americans travel for trade and fishing.

However, when Spain controlled Louisiana, the United States and Spain signed a treaty.

That is the treaty that Pinckney’s brother, Thomas, signed and returned with in 1795, commonly known as the [Pinckney Treaty].

A treaty that defined the border between the United States and Spain and secured the right to freely navigate the Mississippi River.

It was a tremendous achievement for a fledgling nation only five years after its founding.

The problem is whether France, which will newly own New Orleans, will abide by this treaty.

They heard that the French Viceroy is a [warmonger] who even conquered Egypt.

Wouldn’t he act the same way in the New World territories?

Among the envoys looking at each other with worried faces, Hamilton snorted and suggested.

“Instead of stingily buying just New Orleans, how about buying the entire Louisiana? Both are absurd anyway.”

“Mr. Hamilton, that’s why Aaron Burr dislikes you. Why are you always sarcastic?”

“Oh, I have to give orders that are worthy of becoming president! Mr. Pinckney!”

At that moment, Hamilton shouted as if he was frustrated.

“What madman sells territory for money?”

In fact, that is the judgment of a sensible politician.

But the world doesn’t always work according to common sense.

In the original timeline, this negotiation would become the best purchase negotiation in American history.

Under the name of the [Louisiana Purchase].

Then Captain John Rodgers shouted.

“Come and see, everyone. It seems France has come out to meet us first!”

The four U.S. presidential envoys all ran to the front of the deck, towards the bow.

At that moment, all four stopped.

Livingston, Pinckney, and Monroe, who doubted their eyes for a moment, looked at each other.

“Oh, is this a battle of wills from the start?”

“Is that a battleship I’ve only heard about?”

“No, I’ve seen quite a few during the Revolutionary War.”

Twenty massive 3-deck battleships were lined up off the coast of Pensacola.

Even though they were not fully armed, their size alone overwhelmed the frigate.

At that moment, a cannon was fired into the air.

-Bang!

Just as the startled envoys were about to scatter in confusion, one battleship approached.

The sculpture hanging on the bow was the Egyptian god, Horus.

On top of it, a young man in his twenties, dressed in formal attire, shouted clearly.

In very fluent English.

“Welcome, everyone. I am Eugene Bonaparte, the Viceroy of New France.”

At that moment, Hamilton narrowed his brows and chuckled.

“This negotiation won’t be easy.”

It was the day when the founders who would remain as the [Founding Fathers] of American founding in the later original timeline met Eugene for the first time.

The greatest deal between Napoleon and America in the original timeline.

For the Louisiana Negotiation.

Of course, as Hamilton said, Eugene had no intention of selling Louisiana.