Fox of France

Napoleon took over the "Imberado Medal" and hung it on his chest, and there were shouts all around: "Imberado!" "Imberado!"

After Napoleon's shouts gradually died down, he made a short speech to the crowd. In his speech, he first thanked the French people for their love for him, and expressed that he was deeply moved. Then he reviewed the history of his struggle with countless heroes and martyrs to realize the freedom and democracy of France since the French Revolution, and said that those who really deserve this supreme honor should be those who are defending the freedom of France And democracy, and those heroes who died in building a free and democratic France.

Then Napoleon once again emphasized the French spirit of "freedom, democracy, and fraternity", and said that it was the greatest honor of his life to safeguard the French Republic, democracy and freedom together with the French people.

Finally, amid the cheers of the crowd, Napoleon finished his speech, and then returned to the Consulate to continue serving the French people.

Napoleon's impromptu speech was naturally reported on the front page of various newspapers. Today, not only the French newspapers, not even those of the allies (slaves) with which France is particularly close, but even some British, Prussian and Austrian newspapers praise Napoleon's humility and his loyalty to democracy.

Of course, the situation in foreign countries cannot be like that in France. In France, everyone praises Napoleon overwhelmingly, but abroad, sour voices are always inevitable. For example, a certain newspaper in Austria satirized Napoleon as a low-level country bumpkin crowned with a monkey, and reprimanded him for not urinating and taking pictures of himself.

This newspaper even declared that in the whole of Europe, there is only one legal "Imberado", and that is the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, His Majesty the Great Franz II.

"Her Majesty Franz II of noble birth is the true orthodox, God-blessed emperor of the Romans, defender of Catholicism, the true and legitimate Imperator. Compared with him, that Corsi Chia's dwarf is nothing more than a monkey."

The newspaper that made this statement is a newspaper with an exile background. It is really a very normal thing for this kind of newspaper to publish articles that slander France and Napoleon. Even, if such newspapers start to praise Napoleon, it must be that Napoleon has changed.

Moreover, the circulation of this newspaper is actually limited. In many cases, it is just printed by the exiles themselves to cheer themselves up. What's more, the letters from readers in newspapers are often made up by the editors themselves, which has the flavor of "don't look at the many people talking here, in fact, they are all my Amon's vest".

Under normal circumstances, those big newspapers, especially the French press, don't care about what these newspapers say - who is interested in going to the toilet with a magnifying glass to observe feces every day?

But this time, the newspaper’s report was suddenly noticed by the French media. First of all, a tabloid newspaper, which was also not very eye-catching, reported the incident with a more horrifying title "Austrians wantonly insulted the French leader", and also hinted that, The newspaper's vicious attacks on Bonaparte's regime were in fact at the behest of the Austrian government.

But then "Scientific Pravda" followed up, saying that such reactionary newspapers did not represent the attitude of the Austrian people. In fact, the Austrian people still respect the French people and Bonaparte's ruling. The newspaper was not bought in Austria at all. The "Sun" interviewed many Austrians in Austria. Many Austrians expressed their envy for a good government in France and believed that Bonaparte was the greatest man of this era when he was in power. The famous musician Mr. Beethoven even created a symphony specially for our first consul, and named it "Imberado". From here we can clearly see that the Austrian people have no ill will towards France.

But after making excuses for the Austrian people, "Scientific Pravda" raised another problem: We know that if a newspaper cannot be sold at all, it should soon go bankrupt and close its doors. But today, a newspaper that no one buys at all can be published in Austria for many years. Obviously, someone behind this must be supporting with real money.

Of course, it is not necessarily the Austrian government that supports such a newspaper behind the scenes, but when Austria and France reached a peace agreement, it included that Austria should prohibit other forces from using Austria's territory to engage in activities against France. It now appears that the Austrian government did not do this. They obviously violated the peace agreement signed with France, and obviously did not take France seriously. From this point of view, it is indeed not wrong to say that the Austrian government is insulting the first ruling lord and France.

Although above the name, "Science Pravda" has nothing to do with the French government, it is a completely independent media. But everyone knows that "Science Pravda" is, in a sense, the mouthpiece of the French government. Especially the editorials on "Science Pravda" often directly represent the voice of the French government. Therefore, the appearance of such an article in "Scientific Pravda" must not be taken lightly.

Upon seeing this report, Ambassador Metternich immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He knew that it would never be easy to come up with such an article on "Scientific Pravda", but Metternich thought about it all day and night, but he couldn't figure out why France is now messing with Austria. Because today's Austria has almost lay down, and only France is following the lead. Of course, some newspapers that oppose France do exist, but these newspapers have not existed for a day or two. The French have never taken it seriously. Now they suddenly make a big fuss about this matter. What is the intention? ?

Ambassador Metternich was worrying, but someone came to report that the banker Nathan Rothschild had come to visit.

Metternich asked Rothschild to come in.

"Mr. Rothschild, at this time, you condescend to visit, do you have anything to tell me?" Metternich asked.

"Of course I'm here for the article in Scientific Pravda," replied Nathan Rothschild very directly, "because it may have a great impact on our business."

"What do you think of the matter?" said Metternich.

"Mr. Ambassador, how much do you know about Your Excellency the First Consul? What do you think about the recent 'Imberado' incident?"

"The 'Imberado' incident? Obviously, it was led by the First Consul himself." Metternich also spoke bluntly when facing Nathan Rothschild.

"Your Excellency the First Regent is of course a very capable person, but he is not a saint, and a real saint would not be able to reach his position today." Nathan Rothschild said, "But the first The First Consul seems to be very fascinated by Rome. And I think his ambition should be more than a First Consul.”

These words reminded Metternich, he thought for a while and said: "So, he hopes to follow the example of Augustus and turn France into an empire?... In this case, his actions are completely understandable... "

In Europe, jurisprudentially, there are only two crowns, both of which come from Rome, the Crown of the Western Roman Empire and the Crown of the Eastern Roman Empire. In theory, the emperor of the Western Roman Empire was crowned by the Pope. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Pope successively put this crown on the heads of many monarchs. For example, the famous Charlemagne was once crowned by the Pope as "Roman Emperor of Man".

Today, the crown of the "Holy Roman Empire" also comes from Western Rome. The other crown is the crown of the Eastern Roman Empire. After the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Russians married the princess of the Eastern Roman Empire to Russia and regarded themselves as the heirs of the Eastern Roman Empire. This is how the Russian tsar’s crown came about.

If Napoleon really intended to be Augustus, it all makes sense, since the crown he needed was in Austrian hands.

"Mr. Ambassador, in terms of interests, France should not directly turn against your country at present. But I am very worried about one thing." Nathan Rothschild said.

"What is it?" Metternich asked.

"The French may play tricks through the Pope," replied Nathan Rothschild.

Metternich immediately understood what Nathan Rothschild meant. Today, although the crown of "Emperor of the Romans" is worn on Fritz II's head, under certain circumstances, the pope can also snatch the crown from Fritz II's head and then give it to the emperor. Napoleon. For example, accusing Emperor Fritz II of being impious, violating the canons of Catholicism, or even directly accusing him of being a heretic, then he can be excommunicated and his title of emperor can be withdrawn.

And considering the current situation in Italy, the French already have an absolute advantage there. The Northern Italian Republic is an ally of France, and the most elite French Italian Legion is stationed there. And Austria's power was almost completely squeezed out of Italy by France.

Facing the 100,000-strong army of the Italian Legion that is close at hand, and the Austrians far away in the Alps, what choice will the Pope make when he has to do multiple-choice questions? Know.

"So, what should we do? Can we still let His Majesty give up the crown?" Metternich said.