The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 352: French Fear
March 1735, 3, Palace of Versailles.

The young French King Louis XV sat on a magnificent throne, silently watching his subjects quarreling and discussing whether to take corresponding military retaliation measures regarding the exchange of fire between the French and French navies in the Sicilian waters half a month ago.

Cardinal Fleury, the King's political adviser and Minister of State, was firmly opposed to any form of retaliatory measures that would further escalate the conflict.

He believed that the kingdom was currently at war with the Austrians. Whether in the Rhine region or in northern Italy, the French army had suffered strong counterattacks from the Austrian army, and the situation was not very optimistic.

After the ally Kingdom of Sardinia suffered a major defeat in Palestro, it was obvious that it had become pessimistic about the future of the war and began to hesitate and passively avoid war in order to preserve its own strength.

Another ally, the Kingdom of Spain, seemed to back off after learning that the Austrians had sold Sicily to Qi for two million thalers. More than 10,000 Spanish troops gathered in Rhegium have gradually withdrawn to Naples, obviously not wanting to have a head-on conflict with Qi.

At that time, the French Mediterranean Fleet engaged in a firefight with Qi naval ships in the waters of Sicily. Not only did several Spanish naval warships not come forward to assist the French Navy, but they immediately evacuated the area in question and chose to stand by and watch.

It can be predicted that once a war breaks out between France and Qi, France will not only face the risk of fighting on multiple fronts, but will also most likely not receive support from Spain and Sardinia, and will have to deal with the pincer attack from Austria and Qi on land and sea respectively on its own.

In addition, Russia and Austria signed the Russo-Austrian Alliance Treaty in Vienna as early as August 1726. The treaty stipulated that when Austria was attacked by other countries, Russia would provide an aid force consisting of 8 infantry and 2 cavalry to protect Austrian territory from invasion by other countries. When Russia was attacked by other countries, Austria would also provide the same number of troops.

Although the Russians have not yet fulfilled their treaty obligations due to various difficulties, as long as they repel the attacks of the Ottomans and Crimean Tatars, they will definitely turn their troops around and lend a helping hand to the Austrians.

At that time, we in France will face military pressure from the two major military powers, Russia and Austria, and the situation will inevitably deteriorate sharply.

And if a war breaks out with Qi again, the coastal areas of France will likely be attacked by the enemy's naval fleet, and even our French overseas territories will be isolated from the mainland by the Qi navy, leaving us isolated and helpless.

At the end of Louis XIV's reign, France suffered huge losses in both finance and manpower due to continuous wars. Therefore, after Louis XV ascended the throne, France's domestic and foreign policies tended towards peace and order in order to slowly restore national strength.

Under the auspices of Cardinal Fleury, France finally stabilized its currency and balanced its fiscal budget ten years ago. In order to boost the domestic economy and improve transportation, France introduced a large amount of capital and technology from Qi, and successively completed the Seine River Bridge, the Saint-Quentin Canal (connecting the Oise River and the Somme River), the North-South Highway (Lille to Toulouse), the Paris-Marseille Railway, and the Paris-Nantes Railway, which greatly promoted the development of the domestic economy.

At the insistence of Cardinal Fleury, the Commerce Committee and the Commerce Bureau successively promulgated a number of policies to promote the development of foreign trade, stimulating coastal and overseas trade. Between 1716 and 1732, France's foreign trade volume increased from 2.2 million livres to million livres, which not only prospered the domestic market, but also greatly improved the national finances.

However, if a war broke out with Qi, the other side might not be able to send a large army to Europe to fight France due to the long distance, but they could use their superior naval power to blockade and isolate France's foreign trade.

Seven years ago, England, which had the best naval power in Europe, was defeated by the Qi navy. So how many rounds can the French navy, which is even weaker than the English navy, last against the Qi people?
Once France and the Austrians engaged in a war of attrition and stalemate, and Qi cut off France's overseas trade and frequently harassed French coastal towns, France would be caught in the dilemma of fighting on two fronts, and perhaps face an unbearable disaster.

Even at the end, Cardinal Fleury used the massive War of the Spanish Succession more than 20 years ago to warn His Majesty the King and all the ministers present.

France was simply unable to cope with enemies from both land and sea, let alone withstand a war that would involve enormous costs.

However, the war faction, led by Minister of State Count Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet, firmly advocated taking tough measures against Qi, believing that the Qi naval ships' unauthorized firing on the kingdom's navy half a month ago was tantamount to a military provocation against the Kingdom of France and could even be considered an act of declaration of war.

In order to maintain the dignity of the kingdom and to demonstrate France's "leadership" position in Europe, this blatant provocative behavior of Qi should be resolutely counterattacked.

If France chooses to keep quiet, it will encourage the arrogance of the Qi people and may even encourage them to further expand in the Mediterranean and even the European continent, thereby weakening France's influence on the European continent.

Count Fouquet also proposed that France's strategy was to continuously weaken the Austrians and gain dominance in continental European affairs. After decades of estrangement from the Austrians, Qi suddenly improved relations with them at the critical moment when France was attacking the Austrians, and also provided a large amount of financial and material assistance to the Austrians.

If the people of Qi say that this action is not directed at us France, they are absolutely deceiving themselves.

Their navy had been in armed confrontation with our Mediterranean Fleet in the waters of Sicily for more than two months. At first, they maintained necessary restraint, but just when we, France, were dispatching reinforcements to northern Italy, an exchange of fire suddenly broke out. Was it an attempt to support the Austrians at sea, thereby attracting our French attention and taking the opportunity to build momentum for the Austrians?

Therefore, the people of Qi may have reached some kind of military alliance agreement with the Austrians, preparing to launch an attack on us French from land and sea respectively.

In view of this, it is very necessary for us in France to give a strong response to Qi's military provocation, not only to confiscate Qi's commercial investment in France, but also to declare war on it directly. Even if our French navy is defeated, we must show our determination to fight.

In other words, regardless of whether we can win or not, we must not lose the dignity of our Kingdom of France. "Ladies and Gentlemen," Louis XV stood up and slowly walked to the center of the hall. He looked around, scanning the ministers and nobles in the hall one by one, and said in a steady tone: "Twenty years ago, the late king (Louis XIV) said these words to me before he died. He urged me to be a great king and not to be obsessed with architecture and war like him. He warned me to live in peace with our French neighbors and avoid war. To give God everything I deserve without forcing it. To be good at accepting good advice and listen to opinions from all sides. And to save the people from suffering, which he had not been able to do before."

Upon hearing this, Cardinal Fleury immediately smiled with satisfaction, made the sign of the cross on his chest with his right hand, and silently said "God bless my king".

"Over the years, we have learned from the diplomatic envoys and merchants stationed in Qi that Qi is a country with extremely strong financial resources and military strength." Louis XV walked to a wall, looked at an oriental ink painting hanging on it, and continued: "This country has a huge population, vast territory, and countless colonial territories. Their ships travel in every corner of the ocean, and the goods they produce cover the entire world. It is said that Qi's annual military expenditure is as high as 30 million gold yuan. ... Well, my dear bishop, how many livres should this be converted into?"

“陛下，3千万齐国金圆应该折合约4亿5千万里弗（按照1726年路易十五的财政大臣制定的新标准，1马克白银折合51里弗，1里弗约为4.5两白银）。”弗勒里枢机主教微笑着回道。

"So, what is our annual fiscal revenue in France?"

"Your Majesty, our French revenue last year was 2 million livres."

"Did you hear that? Qi's military expenditure alone is twice the fiscal revenue of France." Louis XV sighed slightly and said with a wry smile, "This means Qi can devote more military forces to a war with France. Their strong financial resources are enough to offset the time and energy they spend crossing the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Oh, they don't even need to mobilize too many soldiers to fight us in person. With such strong financial resources, they can easily recruit tens of thousands of mercenaries in Europe."

"Your Majesty, the amount of fiscal revenue does not represent the strength of a country." Count Fouquet was still making his last effort. "You know, during the time of the great Sun King, the Spanish Habsburg dynasty owned the richest gold and silver mines in the Americas, as well as countless colonial territorial revenues. In terms of fiscal revenue, it was far greater than our Kingdom of France. But facts have proved that our France still defeated the Kingdom of Spain several times and once stood at the top of Europe."

"Count Fouquet, I would like to ask you a question here. With our current strength, can we defeat the State of Qi?" Cardinal Fleury interrupted.

"No matter how many troops Qi sends, we in France are confident that we can defeat them." Count Fouquet glanced at Army Minister Tocqueville and said confidently.

"Do you think Qi will send its army across the ocean to invade France?" Cardinal Fleury was speechless at his answer.

"Can Qi drive their warships onto the land?" Count Fouquet said disdainfully.

"Qi cannot bring their warships to land, but they can block our overseas trade and even attack and seize our overseas territories." Cardinal Fleury said coldly: "Under this situation, we in France can spare more energy to continue to fight against the Austrians and the Russians who may turn around at any time."

"...So, we must show weakness and compromise with Qi?"

"We must clearly understand what our French strategy is and who our primary enemy is at present." Cardinal Fleury bowed slightly to Louis XV, then glanced at the ministers present and said in a deep voice: "After decades of war, the Kingdom of Spain has been completely weakened and no longer threatening, and we can still use the name of the common dynasty to win it over and use it. After a series of blows, the Kingdom of Sweden, although it has received a certain degree of economic support from Qi, has long lost its edge and can only maintain a strategic confrontation with Russia. The Austrian Habsburg dynasty, relying on its strong influence in Germany and Italy, has become the most powerful country on the European continent, posing a subtle threat to our France. As early as two hundred years ago, in order to fight against the Habsburg dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire, our France resolutely formed an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, thus reversing our unfavorable strategic dilemma in one fell swoop. So, before the Austrians are substantially weakened, do we need to provoke a world-class maritime power?"

"But facing the military provocation of Qi, we can't just do nothing, right?" Army Minister Tocqueville said, "Otherwise, the prestige of our Kingdom of France will be completely destroyed, and we may even be despised and ridiculed by European countries."

"Of course, the dignity of the Kingdom of France cannot be violated." Louis XV nodded and said, "Since we have no intention of going to war with Qi, we cannot turn a blind eye to Qi's provocations and do nothing. We must impose severe sanctions on the Qi people in other places, preferably to put them in great trouble."

"I admire your wisdom very much." Cardinal Fleury looked at the young king lovingly. "As your majesty said, we cannot ignore the provocation of the Qi people and must respond accordingly. However, the intensity of this counterattack must be controlled and we must not over-stimulate the Qi people, lest they completely stand on the opposite side of France and even trigger an unnecessary war."

"You won't impose trade restrictions on Qi, will you?" Count Fouquet said angrily, "You know, Qi's steel, machinery, hardware, and various precision instruments and equipment are irreplaceable and irreplaceable to us."

"In addition to imposing limited trade restrictions on Qi, we can also take action against Qi's many overseas territories." Cardinal Fleury said: "The hundreds of thousands of residents on Sicily are ultimately God's people. They must be deeply dissatisfied with being ruled by pagans. When the Qi people are still unstable, as long as someone organizes and instigates Catholics to bravely launch a resistance, it will inevitably shake and disintegrate Qi's colonial rule."

"On the island of Saint Domingo (Haiti), the Qi people have been trying to occupy the eastern region occupied by the Spanish. We can use Qi's occupation of Sicily to persuade the Spanish to expel the Qi people from the island, thereby destroying their attempt to gain a foothold in the Caribbean."

"Qi has occupied Arcadia for only seven years, and the number of immigrants is only a few thousand. If we can encourage the French residents there to demand more autonomy and government power, then we can inevitably put the local Qi colonial government into huge trouble."

"In Morocco, the Maghreb, and even Egypt, those True God believers and local lords may not tolerate the oppression of the Qi people. So, can we do something based on this?"

"..."

(End of this chapter)