"... At the invitation of Emperor Napoleon, the Emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph, and his fiancée are about to arrive in Paris!"
After the Governor of Seine Province, Ossman, finished this statent, cheers erupted from the plaza of Paris City Hall. Parisians in the Town Hall Square eagerly awaited the arrival of this foreign monarch.
Seeing the enthusiasm in the Parisians before him, Ossman seized the opportunity to address them, "To prevent any trampling incidents and to maintain the stability of the square, around 9:20, a squad of soldiers will appear near Paris City Hall. We hope the Parisians will understand!"
Although, on a subjective level, Parisians did not like any violent institutions, given that the presence of two monarchs at City Hall indeed stressed the need for enhanced vigilance, in case any reckless assassins appeared, it would be disastrous!
Therefore, the Parisians did not oppose Ossman’s request.
Around 9:18, a contingent of nearly a thousand infantry appeared near the City Hall, forming two rows that spread to the left and right sides of the Town Hall Square, completely separating the Parisians from the central square.
So Parisians, who were squeezed into corners and couldn’t see the square, simply ran into nearby buildings, knocked on the doors of the rooms, and watched from the balconies with the hoowners.
More Parisians decided that when the two emperors arrived, they would tiptoe, so they could see the emperors in the square.
Thus, the Parisians at City Hall began their tedious wait.
On the other hand, Jero Bonaparte, on horseback, took nearly half an hour, under the watchful eyes and cheers of the Parisians, to reach the vicinity of the military temporary train station near Paris.
At this ti, this military temporary train station had been sealed off by French soldiers since the previous night. Until the Emperor of Austria arrived, no trains were allowed to stop at this platform.
As for pedestrians, that was even more impossible!
When Jero Bonaparte arrived at the train station, General Vayan, the commander of the Seine Province Military District responsible for guarding the train station, imdiately approached Jero Bonaparte and saluted!
"General Vayan, you have worked hard!" Jero Bonaparte dismounted solemnly and returned the salute to Vayan.
"Your Majesty, this is what I should do!" General Vayan replied to Jero Bonaparte with a resolute tone.
Then, Jero Bonaparte inquired where Richard tternich was.
"Your Majesty! Ambassador Richard tternich is inside the train station! Accompanied by Minister Kuzen Montebon, awaiting the arrival of the Emperor of Austria!" Marshal Vayan responded.
"Very well! Let’s go, join to the train station!" Jero Bonaparte said to General Vayan.
"Yes!" Vayan hurriedly responded, then followed behind Jero Bonaparte, alongside Nie’er.
Upon entering the station platform, Jero Bonaparte imdiately saw Richard tternich in the center of the platform and quickly approached him, saying, "Ambassador Richard, thank you for waiting so long!"
"Your Majesty! I just arrived!" Richard tternich quickly responded, though his gaze occasionally flicked towards the end of the railway.
"No need to look anymore! This train is about 20 minutes away!" Jero Bonaparte said with a smile.
Richard tternich’s face showed a hint of awkwardness, and he lowered his head, no longer looking at the railway.
Seeing the atmosphere gradually solidifying, Jero Bonaparte spoke again to Richard tternich, "Ambassador Richard, while we have so ti, shall we chat about sothing?"
"Your Majesty, please speak!" Richard tternich hurriedly responded, "I will speak frankly!"
"What are your thoughts on the railway?" Jero Bonaparte casually asked Richard tternich while pointing at the railway before him.
Richard tternich glanced at the railway, then tentatively responded to Jero Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, I think the railway is changing our way of travel!"
"That can barely be considered one aspect!" Jero Bonaparte nodded before answering Richard tternich, "The railway not only changes our travel, more importantly, it changes the mode of warfare!"
"The mode of warfare?" Richard tternich displayed a puzzled expression.
"Do you know how we maintained supplies when we were in Cria?" Jero Bonaparte asked.
"Through transport ships?" Richard tternich asked Jero Bonaparte.
"The transport ships dismantle already assembled artillery and transport it over! All we need are the materials for weapons and rail tracks, which are transported entirely by rail. Our railway network can transport iron ore from the Lorraine region to Paris and Le Clerc in the shortest ti. After processing at these two places, it is dismantled, loaded onto trains again, and sent to Toulon! From Toulon, it takes a ship again to Strasbourg! The delay throughout the entire process won’t exceed three days!" Jero Bonaparte told Richard tternich, "Moreover, in Paris alone, our armory can produce nearly thirty thousand bullets, more than five thousand rifles, over three hundred artillery pieces, two thousand shells, and more than twenty kiloters of rail tracks and logs daily, and this capacity isn’t even the limit of Paris as more and more armories are being built in Paris!"
After hearing Jero Bonaparte’s data, Richard tternich couldn’t help but feel an unprecedented chill.
What was the purpose of Jero Bonaparte saying this? Was it rely to show off to him?
"The reason I provide you these data is not to show off to you!" Jero Bonaparte seed to see through Richard tternich’s thoughts, and he hurriedly reassured Richard tternich, "I just want you to understand the role of railways in the military field. The logistical problems that used to plague large armies are no longer an issue with the advent of the railway. We can transport personnel and materials from one region to another within two weeks!
This is sothing my uncle could never have imagined, even though there were steam engines at that ti, their power was far inferior to now... In less than half a century, our world has undergone such a significant change.
If the Austrian Empire continues to embrace outdated thinking in welcoming the new era, then even with the help of France, Austria is destined to be ruthlessly eliminated!
The wheels of ti never spare a nation just because it has a long history; they will rcilessly crush everything in their path that hinders their progress!"
"Your Majesty, I am just an ordinary diplomatic personnel! These words, you should say to the Emperor or the Pri Minister!" Although Richard tternich internally agreed with Jero Bonaparte’s words, he still had to position himself correctly and responded to Jero Bonaparte.
"Am I not talking to a future Austrian Pri Minister?" Jero Bonaparte said with a slightly frivolous tone.
"Your Majesty, you really know how to joke!" Richard tternich responded to Jero Bonaparte with a wry smile and shook his head.
"What? Not confident about becoming Pri Minister? Or do you want to live in your father’s shadow all your life!" Jero Bonaparte asked Richard tternich.
An outstanding father often becos a child’s nightmare, as people unconsciously compare the two, concluding that the child is inferior to the father.
In fact, so children are not inferior to their fathers, but they do not have a stage and opportunities to showcase their talents like their fathers did.
"Your Majesty..." Richard tternich couldn’t help but want to tell Jero Bonaparte that he wasn’t fit to be Pri Minister, but he couldn’t say it when the words reached his mouth.
In Richard tternich’s heart, there was indeed a dream of becoming Pri Minister and surpassing his father.
"What’s the matter, Pri Minister Richard!" Jero Bonaparte teasingly asked Richard tternich.
"Your Majesty, I am just an ordinary diplomatic personnel!" Richard tternich emphasized again, this ti with a hint of embarrassnt and anger.
Jero Bonaparte shrugged and said to Richard tternich, "Alright! Ordinary Ambassador Richard!"
Then Jero Bonaparte continued, "Where were we? Railways... Hmm, railways..."
Jero Bonaparte eloquently extolled the benefits of building railways to Richard tternich, and after hearing Jero Bonaparte’s words, Richard tternich felt slightly tempted.
However, thinking about the financial situation of the Austrian Empire, Richard tternich’s heart suddenly turned cold.
Given Austria’s current financial condition, let alone building railways like France, even building a third of it would require astronomical sums of money that Richard tternich couldn’t imagine.
"Your Majesty, the railways you ntioned are indeed essential for a country, but the length of the railways depends on a country’s economy!" Richard tternich said to Jero Bonaparte, "It would be challenging for the Austrian Empire to build railways like the French Empire!"
"You are right! There are indeed so differences between countries, which is why you need to leverage external forces!" Jero Bonaparte said to Richard tternich.
"External forces?" Richard tternich imdiately understood what Jero Bonaparte ant.
"Exactly! External forces! The French Empire is willing to lend a hand to the Austrian Empire, as long as the Austrian Empire can afford to pay so interest!"
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