The Fox of France

Chapter 395: The Barbary War

The news of Napoleon declaring himself emperor naturally caused a huge reaction abroad.

After receiving this news, everyone almost turned their attention to Vienna. Many believed that even if the Habsburgs did not dare to declare war on the French, the relationship between the two countries would inevitably be affected.

Vienna lived up to expectations and held a press conference, expressing its attitude to the world. They conveyed two points to the reporters:

First, the Vatican's announcement of depriving His Majesty Emperor Franz of the title "Emperor of the Romans" was unjust, illegal, and invalid. The Holy Roman Empire is the legitimate Roman authority, and there is no doubt about it.

Second, Emperor Franz believed that the sudden event would not affect the friendly relations between Austria and the French Republic. The two nations remained friendly neighbors for generations.

Third, Austria congratulated France on successfully hosting the first modern Olympic Games. At the same time, Austria considered Vienna the best choice for the next Olympic Games. The Austrian Olympic Committee had invited various national Olympic committees, including the French Olympic Committee, to come to Vienna and discuss the establishment of a unified international Olympic committee.

"What? Did the Austrians just endure it like that?" Many people who wanted to see a joke were surprised. This disappointment was significant for those in Austria who had some expectations. However, considering the previous collusion between Austrians and the French, this situation was not surprising at all. The upper echelons of these two countries had long been in cahoots. Moreover, Austria had many internal problems, so it wasn't sensible for Emperor Franz to pick a fight with flourishing France over a hat at this time.

As for other countries, well, the attitude of the Russians was basically summed up in two sentences. The first was: "It's none of my business." The second was: "Those guys in Western Rome really know how to play." And honestly, the Russians were quite satisfied that the French chose the crown of Western Rome and didn't bring out the crown of Eastern Rome. Back then, when King Francis I allied with non-Christians, he spent money to buy back the crown of Eastern Rome from the non-Christians.

Of course, some said that the real crown of Eastern Rome was lost on the battlefield. What King Francis I bought was just a crude imitation made by the Turks, and the gems on the crown were even counterfeited with colored glass.

However, some argued that this actually proved that the crown might be genuine. Before the final days of Byzantium, Emperor Constantine XI had already removed the gems from his crown to raise military funds, selling them to the Venetians. So, the crown adorned with colored glass might indeed be the authentic crown of Eastern Rome.

Anyway, regardless, the legitimate authority of Eastern Rome was now in Russia.

As for those fellows in Italy and the Rhine region, they all expressed congratulations, especially when they learned that the French had sold a small piece of land near Paris to the Roman Empire, intended as the capital of the "New Rome." They sent envoys one after another, hoping to establish diplomatic relations with the Roman Empire. The nobles, senators, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Roman Empire, Talleyrand, were busy with these matters. (Although establishing diplomatic relations with the Roman Empire was straightforward – just change the sign at their diplomatic institution in France, and of course, the Roman Empire's diplomatic affairs in their country were mostly handled by the French diplomatic institution.)

It was said that Talleyrand complained privately, "This makes it difficult for me to perform my duties as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic." But some of his close associates privately said that Minister Talleyrand, though busy, was very happy. One reason was that the busier he was, the more opportunities he had to make money. Second, he finally became a nobleman again.

Yes, a bunch of people supporting the republic and holding positions in a republic suddenly got noble titles. The only unsatisfactory thing was that the aristocratic system of the Roman Empire was too simple, lacking the hierarchy of marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons, with at most an additional cavalryman who couldn't even be considered a noble. But at least they were nobles.

For example, Napoleon's generals became Roman nobles and senators. As for Napoleon himself, he became Augustus; Joseph turned into Caesar; Lucien added the title of Tribune, and even Pauline and the others became Princesses.

Across the English Channel, the Brits congratulated Napoleon on being crowned "Emperor of the Romans." However, they did not immediately send diplomatic personnel to establish relations with the "Roman Empire."

As for the common people, it was basically a chorus of approval, at least on the European continent. However, in England, the situation was slightly different. Some newspapers there sarcastically mocked Napoleon for wanting to be an emperor but not daring to undermine democracy, accusing him of having the desire but lacking the courage. However, most major newspapers did not express such opinions.

After proclaiming himself emperor, Napoleon became even busier because he now had to deal with the affairs of two countries. Although the affairs of the Roman Empire were quite limited, he had to appear and play the part of the emperor, which kept him extremely busy. Napoleon enjoyed the feeling of playing the part, making him even more occupied.

While Napoleon was busy playing the emperor, the envoy of Sultan Selim III had just returned from the Barbary States. The Sultan's envoy, of course, went to request the Pashas of the Barbary States to come to Istanbul and pay homage to the supreme and sovereign Sultan.

This was a routine matter. Almost every few years, Sultan Selim III would send for them. As for those Pashas, they would conveniently fall ill or something, claiming that they couldn't go to Istanbul. In the end, the Pashas would offer a small gift, send an envoy, make a trip to Istanbul, express apologies to the supreme Sultan, and then, everything would be settled. For the Pashas in the Barbary States, it seemed like an annual autumn wind from the Sultan's side.

But when their envoys arrived in Istanbul, things went awry. Because the Sultan was very busy, the envoys had to wait for several days in Istanbul before they could see the supreme Sultan. This was normal, so the envoys could enjoy their time here.

However, for some reason, the Sultan suddenly summoned these envoys, and two of them were found drunk! It's crucial to note that abstaining from alcohol was a significant religious precept in the Crescent Moon Faith, far more severe than avoiding certain cloven-hoofed animals. What's more damning was that these two drunken envoys, perhaps inebriated to the point of confusion, claimed that the Pashas were not sick at all but merely unwilling to heed the Sultan, who regularly called them. They even went on to accuse Turkey of being unworthy to lead the Crescent Moon world.

Of course, all the above statements were made by the Sultan. As for those envoys, well, in the palace of the supreme Sultan, uttering such disrespectful words undoubtedly meant their heads would be chopped off on the spot!

What, you say we're covering up a murder? How is that possible? Haven't we left a few envoys behind? These envo

ys also admitted quite honestly, in Sultan's view, that the Pashas of the Barbary States were not devout, and they held contempt for the Sultan. What, you say they were coerced? Forced by the curved blade? Young man, your thoughts are quite dangerous...

In short, the Sultan was very angry, but he remained merciful. He ordered the Pashas of the Barbary States to come to Istanbul immediately to clarify the facts. However, these Pashas once again refused the Sultan's benevolence and even spoke insolently to the Sultan's envoys. This was intolerable, and the great Sultan issued the order to suppress the rebellion.

Just as the Pashas in the Barbary States were troubled by their conflict with the Sultan, the French came knocking on their doors again. The French approached because of the incident where French ships were attacked by Barbary pirates.

This incident had passed for several months, and everyone thought it had been resolved. However, unexpectedly, the families of the victims collectively came to Paris to petition Napoleon and the French people. According to them, they had wanted to come earlier but didn't want to spoil the atmosphere of the Olympics, so they waited until today.

The families' noble sacrifice for the greater good deeply moved Napoleon. Of course, Napoleon expressed sympathy to the families of the victims and assured them publicly, in front of the media, that justice would be sought for them.

"Anyone who dares to harm the people of France will be eliminated, no matter how far they run!" At that time, Napoleon said these words to the families of the victims and the media.

So, the consuls of France in the Barbary States immediately issued an ultimatum to those Pashas, demanding that they unconditionally hand over the French sailors and the perpetrators within three days. When the Pashas claimed that they couldn't find the missing personnel within three days and hinted that they might have died long ago, the French consuls bluntly stated, "If His Excellency's army cannot find those missing persons, then let our French army find them."

After delivering the ultimatum, these consulates immediately lowered the flags on the flagpoles, and all personnel boarded ships, leaving the Barbary States.

With the departure of the consuls, smoke columns almost immediately appeared on the sea.