Napoleon was taken aback, but he knew that his eldest brother would either not speak, and as soon as he did, it would be certain, at least, very, very possible. He had just been forced to give up his dream of Augustus, but Joseph suddenly came to him. Napoleon felt his blood rush to his face, and he asked in a stumbling voice:

Joseph ...... You, what do you mean...... You just ......"

"France must be a republic, you must be the first consul of the French Republic, but there is no contradiction between this and being emperor." Joseph smiled, "I have the following options for everyone to discuss. ”

"Tell me about your plan." Napoleon struggled to suppress his agitation.

"You don't want to snatch that Holy Roman Emperor's hat, do you?" "I think it seems like it's going to work." ”

"This is one of the schemes," said Joseph, "and the first scheme is that we can take the title of Emperor as a title of honor, or even as a kind of medal, like Napoleon's set of medals, the highest rank of which is Emperor, awarded only to the First Consul of France, and it must also have a high enough threshold for a separate referendum to be held, and then the meritorious First Consul can receive the title of 'Emperor'. And for this he received a series of honors in the field of etiquette. In the same way, the second consul would have received the title of 'Caesar'.

This solution is the least difficult, but the benefits are also limited, at most it is just to satisfy your vanity, and it does not create a royal family. ”

Napoleon frowned: "The next plan." ”

Joseph also laughed, knowing that Napoleon would probably not like this plan too much.

"We, the French Federation, plus the Confederation of Northern Italy, plus the Rhine region, all these free republics form a union, which we name 'Rome', and the coordinating body of the alliance is called the 'Senate,' and the leader of the alliance is called 'Emperor.'

This 'emperor' was a little more tangible than the last, and had some additional benefits, such as raising the sense of honor at home, uniting the free world, making French freedom and democracy a 'sign of civilization', and vaguely reducing other feudal states to barbarianism. But this glory will still be too long to form a royal family.

In the last option, we will first force Austria to renounce the title of 'Holy Roman Empire', or force His Holiness the Pope to announce the abolition of their title and crown of the Holy Roman Empire, and then we will proclaim the establishment of an 'orthodox' Roman Empire, and the Pope will crown you and declare you the 'Emperor of the Romans'.

Then the French government announced an alliance with the 'Roman Empire' and gave away a small piece of land – I think Versailles was a good place – to the 'Roman Empire', and in this way, an empire with land, sovereignty, and inheritance appeared.

Then our Roman Empire and France signed an agreement on the full opening of borders, the full free trade of each other, and the possibility of dual citizenship between citizens of the Roman Empire and the French Republic......"

"A citizen of the 'Roman Empire'? Who are? Lucien asked.

"Those who have made certain achievements in all aspects, who have contributed to the progress of mankind, and who have promoted the progress of mankind, can have Roman citizenship as long as they apply to the 'Imperial Senate' and are approved by the 'Senate'. We put all kinds of NGOs, all kinds of organizations under the banner of 'charity', in the territory of the 'Roman Empire'. Make the 'Roman Empire' a beacon of civilization. Well, Caesar and Octavian built a great Roman Empire by force, and today, with our love for civilization, for humanity, we have built another Roman Empire that can be a beacon of the human spirit! You see, how good it is. Moreover, the crown of this 'Roman Empire' can be passed down in the family. ”

"So, where did the funding for this 'Roman Empire' come from?" Napoleon asked.

"Isn't that easy?" "Isn't it normal for the 'Roman Empire' to be the closest ally of the French Republic, and for her good allies to receive a little financial aid?" This kind of thing can be done in minutes. ”

Joseph shook his head and said, "Lucien, use your brains. Joseph said, "Couldn't Napoleon think of such a simple solution?" Do you think you're going to be the only one in our house who will pick up French wool? At a time when the French people are full of gratitude and admiration for Napoleon, they really don't care about such a small thing. But what about the future? All passions in the world are like tides, rising and falling as fast. Neither gratitude nor worship lasts. In the future, especially when we are all gone, our opponents may use this to accuse us of taking advantage of the French people.

I'm not saying that we can't take advantage of the French people. This kind of cheapness, not to occupy nothing. But we can't take advantage of such obviousness, such a lack of technical content. In fact, there are many ways to make money. For example, we have set up an organization dedicated to humanitarian relief, accepting donations from all parties for various charitable causes. And of course, this cash can be deposited in the banks of our Roman Empire, and a lot of money can be made in it. Well, in order to encourage good deeds, we can stipulate that those who donate a certain amount can get the honorable status of 'Roman citizens', and those who donate more can become 'Roman cavalrymen' or even 'Roman nobles'. I think that with this alone, we don't have to worry about the money to maintain the 'Roman Empire'. ”

"This? And this kind of operation? In this way, even if our descendants are stupid in the future, we may be able to live a good life just by selling the titles of Roman citizens and nobles! Lucien felt that he had learned something again.

This was actually a very routine operation in later generations. For example, isn't the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem the Kingdom of the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem living a good life by relying on the title of "Paladin" all over the world? If you are lucky and meet Kaizi on a treasure island in East Asia, then establish a diplomatic relationship, and then get some news from time to time that you want to break off diplomatic relations, so that Kaizi can maintain diplomatic relations, then you really don't have a good time.

"I think the third option should be good." Napoleon concluded, "It seems that we are going to send another man to make contact with our Pope." ”

Of course, this matter should not be rushed, and many things must be prepared slowly, for example, which will obviously lead to the dissatisfaction of Austria, and maybe even a new war. Although Austria may not have the courage to go to war today, when Prussia is crippled, the necessary preparations are still indispensable.

In addition, in order for the French people to have enough support for the Bonapartes, they must also find ways to improve the living standards of the common people. Although the "Zeus Plan" has been successful, it will take time to fully turn it into a productive advantage.

The war some time ago brought all kinds of reparations, which was a good thing, but on the other hand, the money poured into France, especially Napoleon's war allowance, which also brought a certain amount of inflationary problems.

In addition to this, there is the question of the shipping route to Ireland, and any of these issues, for the time being, the priority is how to claim the throne.

Soon after, Napoleon sent an emissary to the Holy See, but this emissary did not discuss the matter of the emperor, but continued to discuss the status of Catholicism in France with the Holy See.

The Holy See and the Holy See are of course very enthusiastic about the restoration of the French diocese. Because even though France often behaves disrespectfully to the Pope and the Holy See, there is really no country that can be compared with France among the countries that support Catholicism.

Spain's time has passed, and they are no longer the one-point-zero version of the sun that once roamed the seven seas. As for Austria, the Holy See once very much hoped that it would carry the banner, but now that Austria does not afford such a hope. If the French diocese cannot be recovered, and even the French side is finally made to come up with the same French Anglican Church as Britain did back then, then Catholicism will really be cool.

However, there are still some disputes between the two sides on some conditions. The French demanded that the Catholic Church in France have the following privileges:

First, the French Church is financially independent and has no obligation to contribute to the Holy See. In France, religious taxes such as the tithe tax are no longer introduced.

Second, the French Church has independent personnel powers, whether it is cardinals, archbishops, bishops, all the way to the parish priests and priests at the bottom, all appointed by the French themselves, and notified to the Holy See for the record, (note, it is a notice, not a report) The Holy See may not interfere with the personnel rights of the French Church for any reason. That is to say, in France, who is the cardinal, who is the archbishop, who is the bishop or whatever, it is up to the French themselves (Napoleon) to decide, Pope, where you are cool and where to stay. In France, the adjustment of dioceses, the construction of new churches, etc., do not need the approval of the Holy See, and can be carried out completely autonomously.

Thirdly, any decision of the Holy See must be endorsed and signed by the cardinal representing France recognized by the French Government in order to be effective in the French diocese. And these resolutions, even if they have been implemented in the French diocese, are less effective than those adopted democratically by the French diocese. This means that if the French feel that a resolution is now unfavorable to France, they can suspend its implementation directly in the diocese.

"This ...... Is this tm or Catholic? Isn't this a complete French version of the Anglican Church? It is said that the Pope, when he saw these conditions of the French, could not help but exclaim.

The French emissary is said to have replied: "Holy See, our country has always intended to be a constitutional monarchy politically, and has not intended to become a republic. But some people were unwilling, and as a result France became a republic. Today, republican France is willing to accept a constitutional monarchy, and I personally think that this is a very sincere expression. ”