I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 248

No One Gets Fooled Thrice

The Forbidden City was in utter chaos.

Even though the Central Plains [historical term for the heartland of China] had weakened somewhat compared to its golden age, it had never been openly disregarded by its vassal states.

This was the tributary system that had governed East Asia until now, a truth they had believed would continue unquestioned.

However, the successive alarming reports were enough to shake this belief to its core.

“Vietnam refuses to dispatch troops?”

“Yes. They brazenly stated that it wasn’t even worth considering unless we ceded Yunnan and Hainan.”

“Demand Yunnan and Hainan? Have those bastards lost their minds…”

“Furthermore, they insulted our envoy who protested and forcibly dragged him out.”

Like loaches jumping when a grey mullet leaps [a metaphor for small actors taking advantage of a larger one’s misfortune], even insignificant countries like Vietnam dared to insult the imperial family now that France was so assertive.

Listening to the reports, the Jiaqing Emperor’s fists trembled with rage.

He wanted to immediately deploy all the Eight Banners Army [Qing Dynasty’s main military force] or the Green Standard Army [secondary military force] to conquer Vietnam and drag its impudent king from his throne.

However, the fact that he couldn’t afford to do so infuriated him even more.

Realistically, the situation was such that he doubted whether they could even defend Hainan or Yunnan if Vietnam took the opportunity to strike, let alone fight Vietnam.

“What about Joseon [ancient Korean kingdom]? Aren’t those guys usually crawling on their bellies when we speak?”

Although proud and haughty, Joseon had been obedient to Qing ever since tasting bitterness in the distant past.

He believed that they would send troops this time as well if he persuaded them with a mix of threats and enticements.

However, that was no longer the case, unlike ten years ago.

“Joseon reports that a rebellion has broken out in the north. The King of Joseon has collapsed from the shock and has no spare capacity to send reinforcements.”

“Nonsense! How can a few ignorant rioters rebelling deplete a nation’s resources? Are they making excuses to avoid providing support?”

“That is…”

The ministers trailed off, but the Jiaqing Emperor roughly understood what they wanted to say.

Strictly speaking, Qing was also struggling with rebellions breaking out in various parts of the country.

There was no point in scolding Joseon for not being able to suppress a mere rebellion; it would only be spitting in his own face.

“What about the Waeguk (Japanese) [derogatory term for Japanese]? Did we send envoys to them as well?”

“They are openly acting as France’s lackeys. What’s the point of talking to those who spout nonsense about wanting His Majesty and their king to be treated as equals from the start?”

“…I see. So, in the end, we have to do it with our own strength.”

But… was that possible?

After experiencing the miraculous defeat of pouring in 100,000 troops without killing a single enemy, the military’s morale itself had been broken.

Of course, it was true that the initial information was incorrect, which led to the disastrous defeat.

However, the defeated general, Mingliang, had asserted that he could never win even with four times the forces, and it would be difficult even with ten times the forces.

Qing was the greatest power in Asia, with a population of approximately 400 million.

If they were determined to conscript soldiers, they could easily raise them in units of a million.

However, where would they get the weapons to equip them, where would they get the food, and how would they control the regions after such a large labor force had been removed?

Considering various realistic factors, even organizing 250,000 troops, ten times the enemy’s strength as Mingliang had said, would be a desperate measure.

No matter how he thought about it, losing 100,000 troops from the start was too painful.

The Jiaqing Emperor glared at the two main culprits who had caused this situation, the defeated general Mingliang and the Senior Grand Councilor Zhang Lin, and asked:

“This is your last chance. I hear that the French army has changed its course, occupied Nanjing, and is settling down there. Do we still have the strength to make them retreat on our own?”

“Your Majesty… well, that is…”

“If not, do we have no choice but to accept the conditions they are demanding?”

“…There is one last method remaining.”

The Jiaqing Emperor leaned forward at the Senior Grand Councilor’s resolute statement.

“What is it?”

“Using barbarians to control barbarians. Historically, using other barbarians to repel barbarians has been the method used by wise ancestors, and its effectiveness has been proven.”

“But even the vassal states have refused to participate in the war…”

“In fact, we are already using the strategy of using barbarians to control barbarians in Uyghur. Haven’t we made England our ally to check the treacherous Russian hordes? We can use them this time as well.”

Bringing in England to strike France.

At first glance, it seemed like a good idea, but he doubted its feasibility.

Would England really move according to their wishes?

No matter how positively he imagined the future, he couldn’t picture a proper outcome.

“England is confronting Russia in Uyghur. Would they try to strike France?”

“Frankly speaking, Xinjiang can be retaken at any time once France is driven out and the situation stabilizes. England doesn’t want to hand over Xinjiang to another country for the sake of stability in India, so if we coax them, they will help us then too.”

“Temporarily vacating Xinjiang strategically and striking France first… It’s a tempting story for us, but England doesn’t seem to have much practical benefit?”

“We will have to give them enough concessions.”

Like the military bases in Hong Kong or Guangdong, cede all the territories France has occupied so far to England.

And exclusively open major ports only to British merchants and spare no support in protecting India.

The Jiaqing Emperor’s heart gradually began to lean towards the idea of accepting additional conditions that England wanted.

Although the bleeding was painful, it would be better than the country being divided if things continued this way.

“Then secretly negotiate with England. First, you two go to the French commander in Nanjing and stall for time appropriately. In the meantime, send an envoy to the English commander in Xinjiang to coordinate opinions.”

“Understood! We will devote our lives to carrying out Your Majesty’s orders!”

“Keep in mind that you two are responsible for letting the situation escalate to this point, and put your lives on the line for this matter.”

In other words, their heads would be on the line if there were no satisfactory results this time either.

“We will keep that in mind!”

Mingliang and Zhang Lin hurriedly bowed their heads and shouted in unison at the stern emperor’s threat.

It would be good if the French army didn’t move until the negotiations with England were concluded… He couldn’t shake off the unease that they had used other methods behind the scenes while claiming to negotiate before.

They had done that twice so far, so would they really be fooled a third time?

There was a saying that no one gets fooled three times unless they are a fool, but what would happen?

The Jiaqing Emperor tried hard to shake off his anxiety and decided to look for an envoy to go negotiate with England.

※※※

Continuing a war against a country that has expressed its willingness to engage in negotiations in good faith is a violation of a kind of unwritten rule.

War was, after all, recognized as one of the processes for finding a compromise between the two countries.

Therefore, Napoleon did not turn away those who had come all the way to Nanjing to have serious negotiations.

“Thank you for coming all the way from Beijing. I am Napoleon, the commander-in-chief of the French army.”

“Is the commander-in-chief of the army personally attending the meeting?”

“Ah~ Originally, someone from the Governor-General’s office should have come, but they are currently busy with other tasks and don’t have the capacity. However, there is approval from the parliament that all authority here is vested in me, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

When Napoleon showed the official document approved by the French parliament, Zhang Liang, the Senior Grand Councilor, also understood and sat down.

Mingliang, who was sitting next to him, was busy glancing sideways at Napoleon, who had crushed his army.

‘I thought he would be a monster with three heads and six arms because he was known as the god of war in Europe… but he’s more normal than I thought?’

Even though it was a negotiation, it was not easy to face the person who had made him an incompetent figure in the history of the Central Plains.

At the same time, the realistic aversion to not wanting to fight that person again was another factor that weighed heavily on his mind.

“By the way, it seems that Qing is still thinking of continuing the war with us. I heard that the defense forces are gathering at the border between Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province.”

“Well… of course, we can’t just leave the army completely empty.”

Logically speaking, if Shandong was breached, Hebei, where Beijing was located, was just around the corner.

Whether they continued the war or not, they had to prevent the French army from crossing over.

“I see. But it seems that they are not just guarding the border, but also slowly crossing over into our territory.”

“Hmph… your territory? Jiangsu Province, where Nanjing is located, is clearly the territory of the Great Qing Empire.”

Zhang Lin desperately suppressed the urge to swear and answered calmly.

It was fortunate that he could use refined language thanks to the interpreter.

“Ah, that’s right. I’ve been here for so long that I temporarily forgot.”

What? Forgot?

No, I have to be patient.

This is clearly a provocation. The moment I fall for this cheap provocation, the initiative in the negotiations will be lost.

Zhang Lin restrained Mingliang, who was about to burst into anger, and calmly returned the topic to its original state.

“What we want is peace between the two countries. In fact, if your country can get what it wants, there is no reason to continue the war, right?”

“Of course. We will turn our troops around right now if Qing accepts the conditions we have set forth.”

“You have no intention of compromising on the conditions you are presenting?”

“Yes. We can adjust the details, but we have absolutely no intention of modifying the big picture.”

So, they were saying that they would push through to the end with that ridiculous condition of treating the prime minister of one country as equal to the emperor.

These guys really had no intention of seriously engaging in negotiations.

It was just a pretext to save face, saying that they had tried to resolve it through words.

What crazy person in the world would mark treating the prime minister and the emperor as equals as the most important first item?

This was an absurd claim that was even worse than those rude Waeguk (Japanese).

At least those guys asked for the Emperor of Japan, not a general, to be treated as equal to the Emperor of China.

Moreover, the fact that the commander of the military was the one who included such a request was ridiculous from the start.

He heard that the prime minister of France was elected by vote, but the commander-in-chief of the army was loyal to such a person?

No matter how he tried to understand it from various perspectives, it didn’t make sense.

In the end, there was only one conclusion.

This Napoleon guy was a warmonger who was trying to continue the war using his country’s prime minister as an excuse, and he didn’t have any true loyalty.

If he had recognized this fact from the beginning, his country’s response might have been a little different, but it was a pity that he realized it so late.

“I understand your country’s position well. But since the matter is what it is, we also need time. I hope you understand this part?”

“Well… isn’t it your country that has always said that while preparing other things behind the scenes? I don’t trust you.”

“This time it’s real. You demanded rights to the areas where the rebellion is taking place right now, but Qing’s territory is vast. You know how long it takes just to send an official document there and receive a response.”

“Tsk, it would be over with a single telegram in my home country, but you’re making it so inconvenient.”

Napoleon, who had been subtly scratching his nerves until the end, spread out a nearby map with a look as if he were doing a great favor.

“Then, I will trust you one more time, feeling like I’m being fooled again. Instead, you must take the minimum action to make us believe you. Withdraw the Qing troops on the border between Shandong and Jiangsu, as well as the soldiers who have crossed into our territory. Then I will believe that you have the will to engage in serious negotiations.”

“…I understand. It’s a very difficult proposal, but I will accept it.”

He did it.

As expected, ignorant Westerners can be fooled not only twice but even three times if you just say plausible things.

Zhang Lin slowly got up from his seat, being careful not to burst out laughing.

“Then I will prepare a concrete negotiation plan and visit you again in the future.”

“Yes. Please take care on your way.”

Napoleon, who had seen off Zhang Lin and Mingliang, who were leaving with joyful expressions, even waving his hand, called Davout as soon as he returned.

“Issue a mobilization order to the corps. We must annihilate the Qing army on the Shandong border tomorrow.”

“…Hmm? Weren’t we supposed to be negotiating? As proof of that, we told Qing to withdraw its troops…”

“That’s right. But Qing didn’t withdraw its troops, did they? So, it’s clear that they have other intentions.”

“Oh…”

Certainly, he had told them to withdraw the troops, but he hadn’t specified an exact date for when they should retreat.

So, if they didn’t withdraw immediately, he could attack first and then argue why they didn’t withdraw the troops.

Davout stared blankly at his friend’s face for a moment, speechless at this amazing and mysterious shamelessness that even England would take a step back from.

“What are you doing? Time is of the essence for this operation.”

“Ah, right. I understand. I’ll prepare right away…”

Since he wasn’t the person in charge anyway, he should just empty his brain and follow orders in times like this.

“Also, ask for cooperation from the navy so that we can take Shandong and break through to Beijing as it is.”

The scene of shamelessness that even England would take a step back from.

But when you think about it, Qing was the one who got caught in their own trap while trying to be cunning, so there was no one to blame.

Was this what they called poetic justice?

Davout almost whistled out of habit, but quickly stopped.

He would make an exception this time only and oppose it from next time onwards.

He couldn’t be on par with the English bastards, could he? Yes, that’s right.

No One Gets Fooled Thrice – END