"That has nothing to do with him! Three of the four assassins are from Sardinia, isn’t that too much of a coincidence?
Moreover, Orsini himself said he acted under the orders of the Italian Carbonari!"
Empress Augusta, misled by Jero Bonaparte, clearly also viewed Pri Minister Cavour as soone connected to the assassination, and thus found him particularly disagreeable.
Jero Bonaparte was pleased to see Empress Augusta’s dislike for Cavour.
Jero Bonaparte planned to use "Empress Augusta’s unwillingness to et Cavour" as an excuse to delay the eting with Cavour.
"So... should we et with Cavour or not? He’s on his way here!" Jero Bonaparte asked Empress Augusta, feigning indecision.
Unexpectedly for Jero Bonaparte, after showing her distaste for Cavour, Augusta thought for a mont and replied, "Since Cavour has traveled all the way from Turin to Paris, it is only proper to et him."
Jero Bonaparte paused, then showed an awkward smile.
However, seeing Jero Bonaparte’s expression, Empress Augusta revealed a sly smile, "Your Majesty, what’s the matter? Do you not want to et with Cavour?"
"Haha!" Jero Bonaparte gave a dry laugh and confessed to Augusta, "To be honest, I really didn’t want to et with Cavour imdiately, so I chose inspections as an excuse to delay eting him!
Who knew that fellow Cavour would catch up so quickly!"
Empress Augusta gave Jero Bonaparte a stern look and said bluntly, "Your Majesty, were you trying to use as an excuse to delay eting Cavour!"
"Augusta, you are so clever!" Jero Bonaparte praised Augusta with a thick-skinned smile, "Marrying soone as wise as you is truly a blessing for !"
Hearing Jero Bonaparte’s praise, Augusta blushed slightly. She glared at Jero Bonaparte once more and reproached him with a faint tone of complaint, "Your Majesty, we are husband and wife. If you have any plans in the future, please inform directly!
There is no need for such thods! Our interests are aligned and do not require such tactics!"
"I understand!" Jero Bonaparte replied, his expression sowhat embarrassed, as he knew he had acted improperly on this matter.
"It’s good that you understand!" Empress Augusta decided not to pursue the matter further and redirected the conversation, "Why are you so keen on delaying the eting with Cavour?"
Jero Bonaparte remained silent for a mont, then slowly spoke to Augusta, "The Austrian Empire plans to conduct military action against the Kingdom of Sardinia soon, and they hope the French Empire will cooperate!
The reason I am delaying the eting with Cavour is to ensure he cannot return to the Kingdom of Sardinia in ti before the war breaks out!"
"Why has the Austrian Empire chosen this mont to act against the Kingdom of Sardinia?" Augusta asked, her face showing shock.
"The main reason is that the Austrian Empire cannot withstand the impact of the current economic crisis!
Their Emperor, Franz Joseph, needs a military victory to reclaim the faltering economy and restore the Austrian people’s confidence in autocracy!" Jero Bonaparte explained to Empress Augusta. "Moreover, the recent Orsini assassination attempt has shown the Austrian Empire the threat of the Italian Carbonari, prompting them to seek collaboration with us to eradicate this organization throughout Italy!"
Empress Augusta nodded but then appeared puzzled, "Have you already agreed to collaborate with the Austrian Empire?"
"No!" Jero Bonaparte shook his head, firmly denying, "I do not intend to act with them against the Kingdom of Sardinia!
The Kingdom of Sardinia is, after all, a vassal state of the French Empire, and taking action against them would tarnish our reputation in Europe!"
"So what are you planning to do, just let the Austrian Empire proceed with their military action against the Kingdom of Sardinia?" Empress Augusta asked Jero Bonaparte again.
"Yes!" Jero Bonaparte nodded and replied to Empress Augusta, "I have an agreent with Richard tternich that the Austrian Empire’s military action this ti must not encroach on an inch of Sardinian land!
Moreover, once the French Empire announces diation, the Austrian Empire must end military action as soon as possible!"
"Did the Austrian Empire agree?" Empress Augusta asked incredulously, thinking that such harsh conditions would likely be rejected by the Austrian Empire.
"The Austrian Empire agreed!" Jero Bonaparte said lightly, "As I just ntioned, the Austrian Empire’s goal is rely to use this military victory to restore dostic political and economic stability; they do not intend to excessively invade the Kingdom of Sardinia’s land!
If the French Empire were to border the Austrian Empire, I doubt any Austrian minister would sleep well at night!
Therefore, in this military operation, the Austrian Empire will only be satisfied with so reparations!"
At this point, Jero Bonaparte paused for a mont, then continued, "However, Sardinia, affected by this economic crisis, probably doesn’t have much money either!
At that ti, they will inevitably choose to borrow money from us or the Kingdom of Britain, and our control over the Sardinian Kingdom will deepen further!"
"Won’t they borrow from Britain?" Augusta asked Jero Bonaparte.
"Of course they can!" Jero Bonaparte replied to Empress Augusta, "But they also have to consider the cost of losing France’s protection, and the Apennine Peninsula is not just the Sardinian Kingdom alone!"
"I still don’t understand, what does this have to do with drawing Cavour in?" Empress Augusta curiously asked Jero Bonaparte.
"If Cavour stays in Turin, then Austria’s military operation against the Sardinian Kingdom could likely be thwarted by Cavour. Cavour is not a person to be underestimated!" Jero Bonaparte seriously told Empress Augusta, "In my opinion, only two and a half people on the Apennine Peninsula can be regarded as great Italians, and one of them is Cavour!"
"Who is the other half?" Empress Augusta continued to ask.
"One is Giuseppe Garibaldi, and the other half is Giuseppe Mazzini!" Jero Bonaparte replied to Empress Augusta.
"Giuseppe Garibaldi, Giuseppe Mazzini..." Empress Augusta muttered softly, then said to Jero Bonaparte, "Why don’t I have any impression of them!"
"Both of them were governors of the Roman Republic in 1848!" Jero Bonaparte said with a smile, "But in 1848, they both failed, so they lost their reputation!"
"Since both of them have failed, how can they be compared to Cavour!" Augusta said.
"Although Garibaldi failed, it was not due to his own reasons; he simply encountered an unbeatable opponent, so he was defeated yet honorable!" Jero Bonaparte explained to Empress Augusta, "As for Giuseppe Mazzini, he founded the Charcoal Party!"
"Ah! So Mazzini founded the Charcoal Party!" Empress Augusta realized.
"However, he now has almost zero control over the Charcoal Party, so he can only be considered half an influential figure!" Jero Bonaparte continued to tell Empress Augusta, "If it weren’t for Italy’s stage being too small, plus the Italian region itself being a place of negotiation for various forces, their achievents wouldn’t be just this."
The current Apennine Peninsula is like a big cesspool where all forces are intertwined.
If any force wants to disrupt the balance, they will end up covered in filth.
Historically, Napoleon III believed he had the skill of lightweight water floating, thinking he could traverse the cesspool but ended up accidentally igniting it, splattering himself with filth.
Any small benefit gained from the cesspool was heavily criticized at ho.
Jero Bonaparte was different; he resolutely refused to disrupt the existing political forces on the Apennine Peninsula and instead weakened countries attempting to disrupt politics, earning the title of "toilet expert."
As for Savoy and Nice, he would take them if there was an opportunity; otherwise, he would give them up.
Placing oneself in danger for a small benefit is simply foolish behavior.
Jero Bonaparte would rather go to the Rhine Land and engage in a real battle with the Kingdom of Prussia than get involved in the crisscrossing interests of Italy, causing himself trouble.
Augusta nodded with a hint of understanding, then responded to Jero Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, let’s go back to the issue of Cavour! When do you plan to delay until?"
After thinking for a mont, Jero Bonaparte responded to Empress Augusta, "About a week or so! I think by then, the Austrian Empire should have already issued a war threat to the Sardinian Kingdom!"
"Okay!" Empress Augusta nodded and replied to Jero Bonaparte.
...
Ti quickly moved to the third day, and Cavour, arriving in Blois by train, searched the city for Emperor Jero Bonaparte.
His efforts paid off, and on the second day of arriving in Blois, Cavour found Jero Bonaparte and Augusta.
At this mont, he did not know that far away in Milan, Prince tternich, the advisor to the Emperor of the Austrian Empire, had quietly arrived, bringing disaster to the Sardinian Kingdom.
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