"Exchange an island? What are you talking about? ”

Baron Betula couldn't believe his ears, the corners of his mouth twitched, he shook his head again and again in shock and anger, and said to Lawrence:

"Let me guess, what are you going to change? Ireland? Scotland? Why don't you just change the whole of Great Britain? ”

Even the Duke of Choiseul on the side couldn't help frowning, although he didn't know which island Lawrence was going to exchange, he also thought that Lawrence's proposal was too whimsical.

In the eyes of Baron Betula and the British government behind him, William Pitt was only a former prime minister anyway, and his imprisonment in Corsica only affected Britain's international reputation at best.

Even from the perspective of the private interests of the current prime minister of England, the current prime minister, on the contrary, would like to see William Pitt continue to be under house arrest in Corsica, because if Pitt stays in Corsica for one more day, his prestige in the domestic political arena will be reduced, and the possibility of Pitt regaining momentum in the political arena will be cut off.

After all, as the prime minister who led Britain to win the Seven Years' War, Pitt still has a good prestige in the hearts of the masses, which also makes the current prime minister somewhat jealous.

Even so, in order to maintain the national system, the British government still had to solve the problem of William Pitt as soon as possible, but they would definitely not accept an excessively high price, especially Lawrence's proposal to exchange territory for people, which was rejected by Baron Betula without thinking.

"Governor Bonaparte, with all due respect, this is said only among the three of us..."

Baron Betula spread his hands, his head still shaking, and said a little speechlessly:

"When it comes to the territorial question of a sovereign state ... Even if King George III falls into your hands, we will not accept the exchange of territories for hostages, and I myself will not set such a precedent. ”

Lawrence's reaction to Baron Betula was not surprising, as it would be difficult to clean up once such a practice had been set before.

William Pitt can be used to exchange territory today, so whether a captured British general can also be used to exchange British land tomorrow, this situation is naturally something that Baron Betula and the British government absolutely do not want to see.

So Lawrence said very understandingly:

"I certainly don't want to ask for the core territory of England with a lion's mouth, in fact, I just want to exchange a colonial island with you."

"Colonies?" Baron Betura's face was a little soothed, after all, the sale and transfer of land in the colonies was very common even between countries.

Two of the most famous examples of the sale of colonies were the sale of Alaska to the United States by Russia for $7.2 million in 1867 and the sale of French Louisiana to the United States by France for $15 million in 1803.

Considering that the exchange of hostages with a colony was essentially similar to the payment of a ransom, Baron Betula also regained his willingness to negotiate a little, frowned at Lawrence and asked:

"Governor Bonaparte, since you say so, it means that you already have a plan, right? But I must tell you beforehand that the colonies of England are also sacred and lawful territory of England, and even an island and reef will not be worth less than William Pitt. ”

Lawrence nodded slightly, understanding that Baron Betula's words were also indicating his attitude:

He could reluctantly accept a piece of colonial land in exchange for William Pitt, but it was impossible to promise Lawrence a rich or populous island, which was not only beyond the purview of Baron Betula, but also a condition that the British government would not have accepted in the first place.

"Of course, all I'm asking for is a tiny Caribbean island..."

So Lawrence leaned closer and said to Baron Betura:

"St. Kitts, a volcanic island at the northern tip of the Pearl Islands."

"St. Kitts? I don't think I've heard of that name. ”

Baron Betula was stunned, rubbing his head in some confusion as he remembered which colony it was.

Lawrence smiled, flipped over the prepared map and handed it to Baron Betula, pointing to a tiny black dot on it and said:

"This is it, the northernmost point of the Pearl Islands in the Caribbean, which is only one-fortieth the size of Corsica, and it's just a mediocre sugarcane-growing island."

The Duke of Choiseul also leaned over to take a look, but it wasn't until he took out his glasses from his pocket and put them on that he saw the little black dot that Lawrence was pointing at.

Duke Choiseul couldn't help but glance at Lawrence in some surprise, although William Pitt was almost worth such a small colonial island as a former prime minister in terms of ransom value, but such an island was completely a chicken rib for Lawrence.

With Corsica's scarce population, they can't even fully develop the mainland, and there are still large areas of wasteland in Corsica waiting to be cultivated, let alone crossing the ocean to develop this remote island.

And in the impression of the Duke of Choiseul, there really is nothing special about this St. Kitts island, just a sugar plantation with an estimated population of less than 1,000.

"Am I looking away...? No way, this St. Kitts island has been colonized for more than 200 years, and if there is anything really special I don't know. ”

Duke Choiseul's surprise grew stronger and stronger, and his gaze turned from the map to Lawrence, and he thought silently:

"However, with this Lawrence's character, he will definitely not make a loss-making deal, right..."

Baron Betula was also staring at the map and frowning in thought, his thoughts were similar to those of Duke Choiseul, knowing that St. Kitts was just a mediocre colonial island, or a relatively desolate and barren colony, purely used to make up the numbers.

"What are your intentions?"

Lawrence waved his hand to interrupt Baron Betula, who was contemplating. He believed that neither Baron Betula nor the British government would refuse this good deal.

"Hmm... This is indeed an interesting condition. ”

Baron Betula nodded slowly, swiped his finger lightly across the map with some hesitation, and after a few last glances at the black dot on the map, he made up his mind and said:

"I'm going to report this to the mainland as soon as possible, and of course, from my personal point of view, I think we have a good chance of agreeing on this matter."

"That's great, but I have a small request."

Lawrence said with a smile and a nod.

"Request? Tell me about it. Baron Betula said with the same smile.

Baron Betula was also in a much happier mood after making up his mind to exchange St. Kitts for William Pitt, and the biggest problem hanging over his head was finally solved today.

Moreover, in Baron Betura's opinion, using St. Kitts Island in exchange for William Pitt actually took advantage of his own side, after all, he thought that Lawrence would use the power of Duke Choiseul to ask for a richer colony.

As a result, he didn't expect Lawrence to directly choose a dispensable piece of land in exchange, which made Baron Betula feel that he had picked up a big bargain.

Therefore, after the two reached an agreement, Baron Betula immediately became relieved in the face of Lawrence's small request.

Lawrence looked at Baron Betula and said:

"Since we have both agreed to this condition, I hope that you can issue a document of transfer signed by you in a moment."

"Sign it in a moment?" Baron Betula was puzzled and said:

"Not to mention when the formal land transfer will be, the transfer document signed by one of my ambassadors alone has no legal effect."

Lawrence shook his head indifferently and said:

"You only need to produce this document with your signature, it doesn't matter whether it is valid or not, anyway, your government will issue a formal agreement in the future."

"That's a violation for an ambassador abroad." Baron Betula said with some resistance and hesitation.

Seeing this, Lawrence's face did not change, and he directly stretched out his hand and pointed at the map, and said with a bit of threat:

"But when your country's approval comes, maybe I'll change my mind at that time...? I think I should ask for a more fertile piece of land, and a few of the main islands of the Pearl Islands would be fine..."

"Shhhhh

Baron Betula took a slightly embarrassed breath, the bargain deal of exchanging St. Kitts for William Pitt was certainly what he wanted to achieve, after all, it could also be part of his diplomatic exploits.

And if Lawrence really wants to claim several main islands of the Pearl Islands, not to mention that this deal is not in the interests of England, the time for reaching an agreement alone may drag on until the Year of the Monkey.

If William Pitt had any more accidents during this period, then Baron Betula would not only have failed but also been wrong.

After some weighing, Baron Betula had to grit his teeth and make concessions to Lawrence, sighing and saying:

"It's... Well, I'll go and draw up a standardized transfer agreement right away, and of course I'll put the conditions on it. ”

With that, Baron Betula took out his pocket watch and looked at it, stood up with some haste, and said:

"Then it's not too early, please forgive me for missing me."

Baron Betula then bowed slightly to the two of them, and then walked briskly out of the garden.

Although there are still many matters to be negotiated between the two men in this Corsica incident, such as the handling of the prisoners of war on the Reasonable Ship and the recognition and compensation of the losses caused by the two governments, these matters are less important than the first order of the release of William Pitt.

Baron Betula was anxious to leave and was prepared to immediately draft the transfer agreement that Lawrence had spoken, lest Lawrence not regret the bargain that had benefited him halfway.

After Baron Betula left, Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul sat still, unhurriedly sipping hot tea.

"How? Governor Bonaparte, what do you think of this Mr. Ambassador? ”

The Duke of Choiseul said calmly, still wondering why Lawrence had gone out of his way to Baron Betula for such a remote and tiny island.

Lawrence pondered for a moment and then said:

"He's a shrewd diplomat, but there's nothing special about it. But when he first arrived, I was very concerned by the reaction you had when you mentioned the Duke of Richelieu. ”

"Hmm... I noticed it too. ”

The Duke of Choiseul nodded his head and said:

"Combined with what you said, Ambassador Betula has been with Richelieu for the past few days, then they must have some kind of plan."

Lawrence glanced at the unfazed Duke of Choiseul and added:

"And judging from the current situation, this plan is probably aimed at you. You don't care? ”

"Hmph," the Duke of Choiseul, apparently not taking to heart the collusion between Baron Betula and the Duke of Richelieu, snorted disdainfully and said:

"That damned old man has a lot of plans against me, but it's basically just to get Madame du Barry to blow some pillow wind at King Louis's place, and to unleash his dog-legged slander against me."

Lawrence could probably guess these ways, after all, the Duke of Richelieu's focus must have been on Louis XV within the court, so the means used were basically unrelated to political means.

It's just that this time, the English ambassador to France joined the Duke of Richelieu's side, which still made Lawrence vaguely aware that something was wrong:

"Maybe that's the case, but Baron Betula doesn't have much influence on the court of Versailles, but the Duke of Richelieu took the initiative to woo him, there must be something wrong with this."

"You have a point." The Duke of Choiseul pondered for a moment and nodded in acknowledgement:

"But since they just got together, it means that the plan is in its infancy, and we can't see any clues on our side for the time being, so let's put it aside for now."

After that, the Duke of Choiseul added with great interest:

"But you surprised me by the negotiation you just had, I thought you would trade Pete for other resources. And, even if it's a replacement colony, the St. Kitts island you proposed is too conservative, right? ”

Although the Duke of Choiseul did not understand Lawrence's approach, he still believed that Lawrence had his plans, so he did not interfere in the negotiations between the two halfway.

And in the face of Duke Choiseul's inquiry, Lawrence just smiled and said:

"I think one island of St. Kitts is enough, and even such a small island is not capable of being exploited by the current Corsicans."

"Oh? Do you still have to claim this island? ”

Duke Choiseul frowned and asked:

"Even if the British had issued a formal transfer agreement to transfer sovereignty over St. Kitts to Corsica, I would have guessed that the Corsicans would have been able to plant a few flags on the island at most."

Lawrence looked up at the sky, the sun was already much softer than it had been at noon, and in a moment the banquet that Louis XV had given him would begin.

"I'm going to see King Louis in a moment, and I'm a little nervous."

Lawrence said with a sudden smile.

"Huh? King Louis? What do you mean... And so on."

The Duke of Schwarcel was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted, and couldn't stop laughing and said:

"I see, that's why you asked Ambassador Betula to issue a transfer agreement immediately, which is really a good means."

In the face of Duke Choiseul's praise, Lawrence only shrugged his shoulders and said:

"Let's hope our Majesty the King is as forgiving as he is rumored."

See from Corsica to the Fourth Rome.