I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 100

Would I give it up? Everything? Absolutely. This Treaty of Paris isn’t just between England and France; it’s far more complex.

It was a large-scale negotiation involving Spain and the Netherlands, who directly participated in the war, the United States, and even Russia, who had subtly intervened with a maritime blockade towards the end.

José Moñino, representing Spain, didn’t even try to conceal his excitement before entering the conference room.

“Finally, this day has come. The day those English bastards get their comeuppance.”

“Isn’t it all a result of our united efforts in fighting and achieving this?”

“Still, the greatest contributor to this war is undoubtedly His Highness the Prince. Things have progressed smoothly according to His Highness’s plans, haven’t they? Amazing. I’m truly impressed.”

“You flatter me. No matter how accurate my predictions were, France alone couldn’t have achieved this level of success without your country’s help.”

My words visibly brightened José’s face.

Widely regarded as the most capable politician in 18th-century Spain, he was practically already designated as the next Prime Minister. Considering future events, I needed to build rapport with him by saving face as much as possible here.

Of course, the same applied to him as well.

“I actually thought when I met Your Highness at the Vatican that you would accomplish great things in the future. Hahaha!”

“I’m grateful that you saw me that way. Then, let’s cooperate fully to ensure that this negotiation also concludes beautifully.”

“Of course.”

José smiled pleasantly and walked closely beside me.

Conversely, the Dutch ambassador to France, Mattheus Lestevenon, was watching us carefully.

No matter how allied you are, the amount of ‘pie’ [benefits] you get depends on your national power and contribution to the war.

From that perspective, the country that would gain the most from this war was, of course, France.

And next was Spain.

Even though they lost naval battles to England, they invested considerable forces in North America and successfully cornered England along with France.

In the case of Russia, they didn’t expect much since they only subtly got involved at the end.

From the start, Alexander, who attended as a representative, seemed content just watching me handle England.

On the other hand, the Netherlands’ position was a bit ambiguous.

“Your Highness Christian, surely we’ll be able to get back the colonies we lost, right?”

“Of course. We will provide compensation that more than makes up for the Netherlands’ losses this time. Trust me.”

“Thank you. If you do that for us, we won’t forget this favor.”

Dutch Ambassador Mattheus bowed his head outright.

That’s how desperate the Netherlands’ situation was right now.

Even though the Netherlands enjoyed a golden age just one or two centuries ago, it was already no exaggeration to say they were a second-rate country now.

In fact, in this war, the Netherlands was crushed by England in every battle they fought alone.

Not only that, they were unilaterally pushed back by England and even suffered the humiliation of losing a significant number of their colonies.

The only time England, which had hardly been able to flex its muscles in this war, had any fun was when it was beating up the Netherlands.

Therefore, the Netherlands effectively had no say in this treaty.

It would be a blessing just to have their lost colonies returned and receive some compensation, but I decided to share a bit more of the spoils.

“If we shed blood together in war, it’s no different from being blood brothers. France will never turn a blind eye to the difficulties of its allies.”

“You are indeed magnanimous. Those English bastards wouldn’t hesitate to stab their allies in the back if it only benefited them.”

José actively chimed in from the side.

Since the Netherlands was already weakened, there was no threat to the future even if we shared the benefits.

The same goes for Spain.

The era when these two countries dominated the world was already over and would never return.

But even so, they still had some use left.

“Well, shall we go in then? The English side has already arrived, so we shouldn’t keep them waiting too long.”

“Indeed, they must already be feeling bleak, so reducing their time of humiliation even a little would be an act of mercy.”

José sneered, and Mattheus, who was following behind, had a smile on his face.

I also outwardly agreed with them and stood in front of the tightly closed conference room door.

Soon, the door opened, and the English representatives who had been seated in advance rose from their seats.

“How have you been, Your Highness? I look forward to working with you today.”

“Lord North, did you sleep well last night? I am the one who should be saying that I look forward to working with you.”

I calmly accepted Lord North’s greeting and sat down.

However, my attention was not on the Prime Minister, who would soon be ousted from power anyway.

It was because a key figure I had seen countless times in books and records, William Pitt, was right in front of me.

While his father was also a great figure, I was paying a little more attention to the son.

Unlike the elder Pitt, who didn’t have much time left to live, the younger Pitt would have many more clashes with me in the future.

“Are the people next to Lord North also participating in this negotiation?”

“Of course. Earl Pitt is a former Prime Minister of England, so I am confident that he has all the insight and background necessary to participate in this negotiation.”

“I look forward to working with you.”

The elder Pitt bowed politely and turned to Benjamin Franklin, who was participating as a representative of the United States.

Franklin’s voice, filled with regret, flowed from his lips as their eyes met.

“It’s been a while, Earl Pitt. I’m glad to see you still look healthy.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“I would like to express my gratitude once again for your consideration in many ways when you were in England. I wish things could have been resolved more peacefully before it came to this.”

Pitt smiled bitterly and nodded.

Franklin must have felt sorry that Pitt, who was friendly to the colonies, was dragged into this defeat negotiation.

Of course, that doesn’t mean he would consider his circumstances in the negotiation.

Even if he had such thoughts, I wouldn’t allow it.

“Then, shall we get down to business now? In fact, our side has already coordinated our opinions in advance. If the British side agrees, we can quickly conclude the treaty.”

“Yes. First, would you like to tell us your demands?”

“First and foremost, England must unconditionally recognize the independence of the United States. And you must agree that retaliatory actions through economically unreasonable tariffs and regulations are absolutely prohibited.”

“I understand. We also believe that is what should be done.”

“And there’s one more thing.”

Adding to my words, Franklin placed a large map on the table.

“What is as important as recognizing independence is finalizing borders and territories. We have agreed to have additional territory reaching west of the Mississippi River, not just the existing 13 states. The British side must also recognize this.”

“Did France and Spain allow this?”

Lord North looked at us with disbelief.

Contrary to the shocked reaction of the British side, I nodded nonchalantly.

“Yes. In this war, the United States fought and shed blood more bravely than anyone else. I believe they deserve to claim a rightful price.”

José also stepped forward to support my opinion.

“We have no objections either.”

Whether they had not anticipated this development, a difficult expression settled on the faces of not only Lord North but also the elder Pitt.

“Hmm.”

In fact, I had already expected the British side to react this way.

They must have thought that France would oppose the United States expanding its territory beyond its current size.

In fact, the Spanish side did express concerns.

Even if you only combine the existing 13 states of the United States, it is already comparable to the territory of France.

If you add the newly expanded territory to this, its size will almost increase by 1.5 times.

This would inevitably pose a significant threat to Spain, which has colonies in Mexico.

However, my perspective was slightly different.

Whether we recognize it or not, the United States, which is obsessed with territorial expansion, will inevitably push westward.

This was a significant long-term risk for France, which needed to secure New France [French colonies in North America].

So, what should we do?

Trying to forcibly resist the incoming wave that is destined to crash will only harm us.

But even if we can’t stop it, we can guide the flow in the direction we want.

The key is to prevent the gaze of the United States, which is obsessed with territorial expansion, from turning towards us.

In other words, my plan was to pretend to cooperate with the United States to some extent and divert their attention not to the Midwest, which we occupy, but to the Southwest.

That would inevitably lead to a conflict with Spain, but from my perspective, that’s actually a good thing.

While they are fighting each other, we would be buying time to stabilize New France.

The problem was the backlash from the Spanish side, but I had already prepared a card to quell this.

“Next is Spain’s demand, and we will keep Gibraltar, which our and Spain’s fleets occupied some time ago, as Spanish territory.”

“Wouldn’t it be possible to return the territory to us in exchange for paying the desired amount?”

“No. Instead, although it’s not much, that’s the end of Spain’s demands. We plan to receive only the minimum amount of compensation and end it.”

Lord North’s complexion was more somber than before.

That’s because handing over Gibraltar was not simply about losing a key strategic point.

Gibraltar plays the role of a gateway from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.

Whether you occupy it or not makes a world of difference in the influence you can exert on the Atlantic.

That’s why Spain wanted to recover Gibraltar more than anything else.

As soon as he heard that we would hand it over, José recognized the US border according to my opinion without asking any questions.

Some might say that we are giving too much power to Spain, but we have to do this much to keep them fighting with the United States and buy time, right?

Of course, even if we do this much, Spain will eventually fail to defeat the United States.

“Gibraltar is also a very important land for England. I’m afraid giving up this place…”

“The Spanish side said that they would never stop the war if this condition was not accepted. And we currently occupy this area. I hope you will make a wise decision.”

In the original history, it was a land that England held tightly until modern times, but it will be different now.

Since England had no capacity to resume the war anyway, they had no choice but to quietly follow my will.

“But Parliament or His Majesty may not approve this decision.”

“Then we can’t help it either. To be clear, this part is not negotiable. I would like you to keep in mind that there are voices on our side asking why we are stopping the war at this point.”

In summary, it is a threat that says, ‘Keep fighting if you don’t like it.’

Of course, it wasn’t a lie since there were such voices in France.

However, I wanted to avoid a situation where France, which was already heavily indebted, continued the war any further.

If the war gets any longer here, I will have to commit to ruining England, but that will not be good for me in the long run.

The moment England disappears, it is obvious that France will directly enter the position of England, which is now the public enemy of Europe.

In the end, Lord North, who did not know our thoughts, bit his lip and nodded.

“I understand. I will acknowledge it for now. Then, let’s hear France’s demands last.”

“What we want is simple.”

I pointed to the British colonies in North America with the friendliest smile I could muster.

“Please hand over all the colonies in the New World to France.”