I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 180

Became the Genius of the French Royal Family Episode 180 Mother’s Grand Plan (180/355)

< Mother's Grand Plan >

Emperor Joseph II of the Holy Roman Empire didn’t miss the warnings and concerned voices emanating from the Imperial Diet [the legislative body of the Holy Roman Empire].

-Confirmed that dissatisfaction with strengthened Dutch control has risen to dangerous levels. The primary cause is believed to be fundamental questions about the empire’s status.

-Unrest is detected among Hungarian nobles.

‘I can’t be an Emperor…’

‘Is there no end to the problems that keep popping up one after another in this country?’

He realized how hard his mother, Empress Maria Theresa, had worked to manage the empire.

When he was the co-ruler, the second-in-command, overshadowed by his mother, he hadn’t fully realized it.

No, he knew it, but there were many aspects he didn’t fully grasp.

But now, he was the sole Emperor of the Empire.

As he took on the position of having to take responsibility for everything, the numerous problems scattered throughout the empire weighed down on him all at once.

‘My ideals are high, but the reality is too bleak.’

Joseph II felt the end of the empire was not far off, day by day.

“What are they saying in France?”

“Fortunately, they are showing a positive response.”

The attendant presented two letters in succession.

One was the official reply from France, and the other was a personal letter from his sister, Marie.

Joseph first reviewed the contents of the official letter.

“…In summary, they want us to take over Saarland and hand over real power to them… They don’t recommend annexing Silesia.”

“Yes. It is a pity that we lost Silesia to Prussia, but if we try to reclaim it, Prussia will resist with all its might. Then, the nightmare of the Great War [likely referring to the Seven Years’ War] will be repeated.”

In short, they meant that if they tried to annex Silesia, the front line would become too large, so they wouldn’t help.

France’s position was understandable enough.

They wouldn’t want to repeat the history of crashing and burning during the Seven Years’ War.

‘Even if I were Christian, I would have made the same choice.’

In the past, losing Silesia would have been a huge blow, but now the situation had changed.

Thanks to France, they successfully annexed southern Bavaria.

If even the annexation of Bavaria had failed, Joseph II’s foreign policy would have completely failed, and riots might have broken out in the Netherlands and Hungary.

Of course, all of this actually happened, and it was unimaginable that he, who was exhausted in body and mind, should be lying in a grave by now.

“…Now, shall we see what my lovely sister has written?”

Joseph, who unfolded the letter without much expectation, froze in place for a moment without a word.

He was already worried about how to handle the situation that France had requested, but there were very appropriate pieces of advice listed.

He was surprised when he saw her in Vienna last time, but he could feel that her insight had deepened even more than then, just by looking at the writing.

He even thought that she might have a more accurate view of the great powers than he did.

‘Or did Christian write it for her?’

For a moment, he even had that thought, but looking at the handwriting, that wasn’t the case.

Even if Christian had hinted at it, it was amazing that she understood it and wrote it in her own words.

The innocent child who used to be so cheerful had grown up to be a mother of three and grown this much.

He felt a sense of regret.

If his sister’s son had a more secure order of succession, he could have considered making him his successor.

Considering his current situation without any direct descendants, it wasn’t entirely a delusion.

Of course, logically speaking, the next successor is his younger brother Leopold’s son.

Still, if he started working on it now, might it be possible?

‘First, if I successfully finish this war, I should seriously consider it.’

To maintain the empire, which is bound to sink, he had to take extreme measures that no one could imagine.

If it really didn’t seem like it was going to work, he could just pretend it didn’t happen and cancel it.

The eyes of Joseph II, reading the letter sent by his sister, were more cautious and lowered than ever before.

※※※

‘What the hell is this?’

Christian seriously doubted if he was blind, so he read the reply that Ambassador Argenteau handed him over and over again.

Apparently, even the ambassador didn’t know what Joseph II wrote.

“…Prime Minister, is there a problem with the method we proposed?”

“No. It’s not that, but…”

The plan was proceeding smoothly without any setbacks.

The Holy Roman Empire used its head quite a bit to put pressure on Prussia.

The Saarland region at this time had no clear ruler.

Even though it was a tiny piece of land, this region was currently divided into three parts by Oldenburg and Bavaria, which were territories of the Holy Roman Empire, and Prussia.

Here, Joseph II argued that since they had annexed part of Bavaria, they had legally obtained the dominion over the Saarland region.

Prussia, of course, told the Holy Roman Empire not to talk nonsense and didn’t even listen.

In fact, this part was so entangled in complex relationships that it was difficult to say which side had a clear justification.

Therefore, Joseph II suggested that the hearts of the residents and nobles of Saarland were the most important thing.

And he went so far as to make an unprecedented proposal to decide this issue by a vote of representatives.

The words were plausible, but there was a high degree of calculation hidden behind them.

The Holy Roman Empire was spreading rumors that it would establish a food customs alliance with France, which was bound to be a considerable pressure on the residents of Saarland.

Currently, the country with the best productivity in Europe was undoubtedly France.

When the enormous amount of food coming from the New World was added to this, France had already far surpassed the level of being able to be self-sufficient.

The Holy Roman Empire was also maintaining an agricultural system quite well.

In this situation, what would happen if these two countries openly controlled food?

Prussia, which was importing food, was bound to be hit hard.

The residents of Saarland could also face a situation where food prices would skyrocket overnight.

It was a problem where the answer was already determined without asking the representatives.

In the first place, the residents didn’t really care whether they were attached to Prussia or the Holy Roman Empire, let alone France.

Of course, Prussia strongly protested, saying it was a despicable method of using food as a hostage.

The current King of Prussia, Frederick William II, was aware that this was not a simple territorial dispute.

It would be strange if he didn’t know, unless he was an idiot.

This is a battle for leadership that will determine who will be the leader of the Rhine region in the future.

If they back down here, they will have no choice but to keep being pushed back.

However, Prussia alone is cautious about taking a strong stance.

They were confident enough to deal with the Holy Roman Empire alone, but France and Russia were bothering them.

Fortunately, Russia was busy fighting with the Turks, but France could raise an army at any time if they wanted to.

The only way Prussia could take in this situation was to bring in England.

“But what if England really intervenes?”

To Ambassador Argenteau’s worried question, Christian gave him a bright smile as if to say, ‘what are you talking about?’

“England will definitely intervene. Would those meddling bastards just let this good opportunity pass by?”

“…Yes? But wouldn’t that make things too big…?”

“England is not the kind of country that would back down because it’s afraid of that. They will unconditionally side with Prussia.”

‘Living with the intention of eating good land without fighting a war is bound to be struck by lightning.’

Anyway, the timing for fighting with England was slowly coming.

Pitt [likely referring to William Pitt the Younger, British Prime Minister] was probably thinking the same thing.

Their strong ally, Russia, was distracted by the Turks, so it was a golden opportunity for them.

“But if England really joins the war, wouldn’t the situation become too big? The Prime Minister clearly said at the beginning that he didn’t intend to make things too big…”

“The front line won’t expand unconditionally just because England intervenes. Don’t worry.”

“But in the past, that’s what happened, and the war dragged on to the point where we couldn’t handle it…”

“Humans are creatures that learn from their mistakes.”

Both they and England have not yet forgotten the nightmare-like experience of crashing and burning during the Seven Years’ War.

Unless their prime minister is an extreme hardliner, they can make a reasonable prediction of how Pitt will come out.

And anyway, even if they wanted to expand the front, there were no British strongholds left in the New World.

Even in India, they are now putting all their efforts into expanding south, so they don’t have the capacity to strike their territory in the west.

In the end, the area where the front line is formed will be limited to the territories of Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire.

Even if they wanted to do the same stupid things as the Seven Years’ War, they couldn’t.

When Christian said strongly with emphasis, Ambassador Argenteau finally relaxed as if he was relieved.

Christian took his eyes off him as he politely greeted him and stepped back, and he couldn’t take his eyes off the last part of the letter written by Joseph II.

‘Yes. Everything else is going as expected, but this is a proposal that I have never even thought about.’

To be honest, it was to the point where he wondered if this human suddenly ate something wrong while writing the letter.

-I would like to have a serious discussion with you about the succession structure of the Empire. I would like you to send me your opinion as soon as this matter is settled, so please send me your opinion.

‘No… Why do you want to hear my opinion on deciding the succession of the Holy Roman Empire?’

Logically speaking, the reason for talking about this is because there is a high possibility that they will be the party concerned, but there is only one case where that happens.

‘My child is being considered as the next successor to the Holy Roman Empire?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘Why would I send my child to be the captain of a sinking ship?’

In the first place, even though their children are Marie’s children, they are also his children who are illegitimate.

There were more than a few mountains to climb to be recognized as legitimate successors in that high-nosed empire.

So what, if they could become the emperor of the world’s strongest power, he wouldn’t be too interested in the emperor’s hat of the Holy Roman Empire.

If he squeezed his head and used all sorts of means, and got involved with France or Nouvelle France [French colonies in North America], he could find a corner to lean on… but no matter how he looked at it, the cost-effectiveness is too low.

No, before that, he should ask Marie for her opinion on how she would accept this.

Unlike him, she still thinks of that place as her hometown, so her thoughts might be different.

He was planning to have a fourth child this year, but a problem burst out in an unexpected place.

And after a while.

Christian showed Marie the letter from Joseph II, clutching his head, and carefully waited for Marie’s mouth to open.

Next to her, who was reading the letter seriously, he slipped his opinion.

“…Honestly, I think this is Joseph’s overreach… What do you think?”

“Hmm…”

He thought she would refuse immediately, but why is she taking so long to think?

Could it be that she’s really tempted?

As if she knew his anxious heart, she kept silent and then clicked her tongue softly.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Right? You know right away.”

Why was she holding back so anxiously?

But Marie, who was staring at him as he stroked his chest, added an unexpected word.

“But it would be better to pretend to accept it. Because there may be much more that we can get.”

“…Oh…”

Because it was a matter about children, his thoughts didn’t turn coldly for a moment, but to think that she would think that far.

Today, he once again felt the truth of life in an unexpected place.

As expected, mothers are… strong.

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