Chapter 450: How Much Is French’s Face Worth?
Chapter 440 – How Much Is France’s Face Worth?
Idle time is always short, the Cuban crisis has just been put to rest, Mexico is in trouble again. This time the Americans were not responsible for much, they just smuggled arms to the rebels.
This kind of thing, even if they didn’t do it, someone else would have done it. Good arms dealers sell weapons to their enemies.
As long as you have money, you don’t have to worry about not being able to buy weapons. If you can’t buy them, then you must not be rich enough.
The Mexican civil war has been fought for many years, and in the early stages, it was all about government forces pressing the rebels, but now it’s kind of a turning point.
In the fall of 1868, the Mexican government forces and the French army joined forces with the rebels to carry out a big siege, it was a war that was bound to be won, but in the end it was turned over by the rebels.
Detailed after, there is no need to delve into, summed up is: the rebels wrapped up civilians as hostages, Massimiliano I ordered to prohibit the troops to shoot civilians, and then the magnificent defeat.
Mexican government forces fearful, by the way, pitched a handful of allies, the French did not expect a flank threat, the result was heavy losses.
About a thousand men hung, and now Napoleon III is claiming responsibility for this from the Mexican government.
Franz now received a plea for help from his brother Massimiliano, broadly complaining about how unreasonable the French were and asking for his help.
Luckily it was a private letter, not sent directly to the government in Vienna, or else it would have been a great embarrassment. It is assumed that Massimiliano also knew that he had been wrongly accused, so he did not send an official diplomatic document.
What reaction of the French, Franz is not worried at all. Napoleon III is now too late to regret, want to return it is impossible.
Since he was going to embrace a middle-aged teenager as emperor, he naturally had to bear the consequences. Overall, their investment in Mexico was still at a loss.
Plundering wealth sounds great, but Mexico’s civil wars have continued, production has been severely damaged, and the country has long been deprived of people.
Even if Mexico is turned into a source of raw materials and a market for commodities, production must be restored before it can be done. The people have no money in their pockets, and naturally have little purchasing power.
Now the French in Mexico every year to obtain the benefits, but not enough to pay the military expenses. Although this expense, the last by the Mexican government to bear.
However, the Mexican government is now so poor that even Emperor Massimiliano I’s annuity is owed. This bitter child, ascended the throne for so many years, have not received a full paycheck.
The Mexican government’s primary income was now international loans, most of which were from France. In Franz’s opinion, it is not too much, just so many billions of francs.
If Mexico can end the civil war, restore production, and then strive to struggle, pay back the debt is no problem at all.
The silver empire is not much else, is the production of currency. While the price of silver has not hit rock bottom, they still have the ability to pay off the debt.
Rubbing his forehead, Franz helplessly wrote a reply. Borrowing money was non-existent, how could one take their own money and fill a bottomless pit?
The French were now rich and powerful and didn’t care about such a small loss. Things are Napoleon III made, or let them responsible for the end of the good.
To suppress the rebellion is very easy, directly to this business contract to the French good. If you don’t have the money, you still have the mines. The silver mines in Mexico are enough to cover the expenses.
There is only one point, to get rid of the French commander in Mexico. Whether it is a bribe, or fooled, just let him sign on the line.
Franz but a thousand instructions, fooling military generals on the good, not and the French minister bullshit, engaged in diplomacy are usually not good to fool.
After the letter was sent out, Franz decided to help his brother. Otherwise, with his ability to operate, even if the treaty is signed, it is unlikely that the French can not recognize.
Mexico’s internal problems, especially after the reforms of Massimiliano I, later generations have evaluated this war as the “War of Reform”.
The Emperor was a reformer, and so were the rebels. Only the emperor was a real reformer, while the rebels were reformers who used the banner of the reformers for their own benefit.
Ideals gave way to reality in the end, the rebels were victorious, and the emperor became the spokesman for the conservatives. In fact, Massimiliano I would not have lost the civil war if he had really hooked up with the conservatives.
The rebel victory marked the beginning of warlord politics in Mexico. It continued into the 21st century, and there was no peace in Mexico.
“Tyrone, send people to build up momentum in France and let the French people know that they have an army that can’t even beat the Native Indians.
Just stab the message out, and let the French people make up their own minds about the subsequent problems, and don’t get involved too much, lest it seem too deliberate.”
Hype public opinion, Franz is still very good at it. Right and wrong, black and white in a split second, especially in this era, the power of speech is in the hands of a few elites, it is even easier to manipulate public opinion.
The French army lost to the rebels in Mexico, which was supposed to be the truth, and the thousand or so killed in action was the best evidence.
What happened is not the point, just skim over it. The French public doesn’t care why the army lost, losing to the Native Indians just doesn’t work.
Despite the large number of white men in the rebel army, the Mexicans were not much different from the natives in the eyes of the French, at least in the eyes of the Parisian public.
How could the high-minded French people accept a loss that they had to make up for, if they just let it go?
Now there is no foreign intervention, after the split of the United States, the North and South are not and the French the strength of the wrist, the Paris government does not make sense will goat.
Moreover, now the Paris government invested capital, than the original time and space has also increased a lot, not to suppress the rebels, how to recover the cost.
Whether recognized or not, Massimiliano I is now the spokesman for their interests in Mexico, the emperor fell their interests will certainly be greatly affected.
The economic crisis is not over, Mexico this kind of fat meat in the world is not many. Not to mention, just mortgage to their tariffs, minerals, it is worth the French shot.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Head of Intelligence Tyrone replied calmly
It was just a revelation of a message, it wasn’t difficult at all. The French newspapers were not as obedient as the Austrian ones, as the beacon of the free world, freedom of speech had always been upheld by the French people.
The system of book and newspaper censorship, which could be enforced in Austria, that was something that everyone had gotten used to.
France is not the same, these binding system has long been gone, Napoleon III does not have the courage to make a law of this kind, and enforced.
With no restraints on speech, it was natural that such news could not be kept secret. It was only natural that what happened in Mexico should come back to Paris and be published in the newspapers.
The Parisian press can make news if there is no news, and if there is news, why not publish it?
It has always been the responsibility of journalists to deliver this kind of genuine news. There are many such responsible people in Paris who will fulfill this honorable mission.
……
Early morning in Paris is the best time of the day. It is the only time when you can breathe fresh air, and in a few moments when the factories start up and the thick black smoke rises, the feeling is not so wonderful.
Of course, compared to London, the weather in Paris is good every day. Happiness depends on comparison, and after having London to cushion them, the people of Paris don’t find it a problem.
In the winter of 1868, the weather in Paris was exceptionally good, probably the only benefit of the economic crisis.
A large number of factories closed down and the sources of pollution were cut off. The sky became bluer and the air fresher.
These changes, unfortunately, failed to catch the attention of Paklen. As a member of the unemployed army, Paklen’s only goal now was to find a job, all other problems were not worth mentioning.
Now he was going to collect unemployment assistance, the money was not much, but it was enough for him to eat black bread without worrying about starving.
Doesn’t that seem advanced, unemployment assistance was available in the 19th century. It was one of Napoleon III’s achievements that not only unemployment assistance but also old age pensions appeared.
Just think of Napoleon III’s other title and you won’t be surprised – “Socialist Emperor”.
Thanks to these good policies, even in the midst of the economic crisis, Napoleon III’s popularity did not diminish.
This period was also the best time for French workers, who after Napoleon III did not have this kind of treatment throughout the 19th century, until the rise of the Soviet Union, when they once again enjoyed this range of benefits.
Soon Pacron’s attention was drawn to the situation and he quickly stepped forward to an acquaintance and asked, “What’s going on, Cross?”
Cross chattered a chorus of complaints, “You know what, Paklen? Our army was in Mexico and was defeated by a band of native bandits, rumored to have lost over a thousand dead and thousands more wounded.
My God, tens of thousands of French troops can’t even defeat a bunch of indigenous bandits?
These fucking bastards have disgraced France. If this news gets out, we’ll lose our position as the world’s number one army power.
It’s simply awful ……”
What followed, Paklen could no longer hear. With one hand, he snatched the newspaper and read it carefully.
Forgiven for not having enough knowledge, he didn’t recognize many of the words on it, but the most important casualty figures, defeats, those were words he still recognized.
Then, the whole person was immersed in the news of the French defeat, tens of thousands of French troops actually could not beat a group of natives. He said to himself:
“This is impossible!”
“How could we have lost?”
……
News is all about, if you don’t exaggerate, how can you attract everyone’s attention?
Through the artistic processing of newspaper editors, the final has become tens of thousands of French troops in Mexico suffered a major defeat, heavy casualties.
In fact, less than 10,000 French troops participated in the battle. If there were tens of thousands of French troops, the Mexican rebels could not have won.
Absolute strength gap, not by some small calculations can change. Massimiliano I’s order is only effective for the Mexican government forces, the French army will not care about the order of the Mexican emperor.
Seeing the momentum is not right, the Paris government rushed out to dispel rumors. But there is no use, the French army defeat is always a fact, the reason this is not the French people care about.
In short, the French people were furious. Without any surprise, the people of Paris started their daily activities again – marching.
If you are happy, you can march, if you are angry, if you are empty and lonely, you can march, if you are dissatisfied with the government, you can still march, there is no problem in France that cannot be marched.
In this time of economic crisis, many people have nothing to do, which makes the marches much bigger, starting from Paris and spreading to the whole country.
The story got bigger and bigger, and the news of the French defeat in Mexico was quickly spread across Europe as newspapers added fuel to the fire.
At this time there is no longer any Paris government to retreat, if not quickly retaliate back, the Mexican rebels will step on their shoulders to become famous.
Now the French army can not defeat the Russians to build up the prestige of losing to the Mexican rebels, everyone will not think it is an accident, the countries will only push the saying that the army fighting strength is not.
This would certainly be disastrous for the French government. Countries do not recognize their strength, means that in the international interests of competition, they will be in a disadvantageous position.
After the decline of the Russian Empire, the French hastily put on themselves the hat of the world’s first army power, do not they know that trees attract the wind?
Obviously, Napoleon III will not be so shallow, just a false name, it is not worth them so no food.
Behind the false name there is also a large number of interests, this is the reason why the French are eager to seize the power, they want to take over the Russians left the European continental hegemony.
The cake is so big, European countries divide the cake, rely on the strength, the stronger the strength to get a larger share.
The weaker countries will just watch from the side, it has nothing to do with them. If you are not lucky, you will become a cake on the table.
Including the Spanish throne fight, France can veto so many candidates, relying on their own strong strength.
If this time, let the outside world that their strength is not good, then it is not likely that Spain is going to be another anti-French king.
At least England and Austria want to support an anti-French king, once the strength of France can not suppress the scene, this situation will happen.
The most convincing way to prove one’s strength is through war. Where you fall down, you have to get up.
The future stability or otherwise of France’s rear will depend on their next performance. Now the face of France is worth a lot of money, and it’s not just a city.
(End of chapter)