"The situation is delicate? Western Mediterranean? ”

Lawrence immediately frowned when he heard this, and recalled that in his memory, the area around Corsica in the original historical timeline of 1770 was relatively peaceful, and there was no conflict and tension.

"It seems to be affected by my butterfly effect..."

Lawrence pondered silently, and was almost sure that there was something in the delicate situation that the Duke of Choiseul had spoken of.

However, Lawrence still had some doubts, except for France in the northwest, the area around Corsica was Italy in the east, and it was reasonable that there would be no tension in Italy.

The Republic of Genoa, to the north, which had been weakened for two centuries, has now completely abandoned Corsica under pressure from France, and has no choice but to survive on a few coastal cities on its own.

The Kingdom of Sardinia, though a rich and powerful kingdom in northern Italy, was still not a country of its magnitude compared to its borders on France, and it was unlikely to provoke any disputes, since northern Italy was a feast to which only the two great powers of France and Austria were entitled.

The papal states of central Apennines, while trying to encroach on the small states of northern Italy to expand the papal power, were not going to wage an expansionist war that even the Duke of Choiseul took seriously.

Further south, the Kingdom of Naples was a vassal state of Spain, with a high degree of autonomy but no diplomatic or political sovereignty.

In this way, although the Italian region is fragmented and multiplied, the overall situation is fairly balanced, and it is unlikely that there will be any internal problems.

"That is to say... Is there an outside force involved..."

Lawrence nodded slightly in affirmation of his thoughts, and then asked in a deep voice:

"What does this have to do with the British?"

The Duke of Choiseul glanced at Lawrence with some surprise, nodded repeatedly, and said:

"Yes, how do you know?"

"Wherever there is chaos in Europe, you can see the British." Lawrence said with a shrug.

"You're right."

The Duke of Choiseul couldn't help laughing, and then immediately returned to his seriousness and said:

"True, I received a report from the Mediterranean Fleet that the British fleet stationed in Gibraltar has recently been somewhat irregular. Not only did the number of permanent fleets increase, but also often cruised to the area east of Sicily, as if to do reconnaissance, such aggressive behavior had not been common before. ”

"It's a bit of an anomaly." Lawrence said with a frown.

"Hmph, I also summoned the British ambassador for this, the Baron Betura."

The Duke of Choiseul, recalling his meeting with Baron Betula, said with some dissatisfaction:

"As a result, he told me that it was just a normal convoy, to protect British merchant ships. Hell, I've only heard of light galleons escorting, not about escorting seven or eight third-tier battleships. ”

The Duke of Choiseul, who had been Lord of the Admiralty for several years, knew that Baron Betula's remarks were utter nonsense.

Most of the ships used to escort trade routes were light sail destroyers, like the USS Constitution, the spiritual symbol of the Americans, and these warships were only classified as fifth-class ships.

And the powerful but relatively bulky third-tier battleships would not be used to fight pirates and pursue privateers.

"I'm afraid this is also a unified rhetoric to the outside world, and it is indeed a good excuse for people who don't know the navy."

Lawrence closed his eyes and said as he thought:

It seems that the British are going to make some moves, but it is also strange that the British, instead of focusing on their own colonies, should come to Italy to join in the fun. It is difficult for their power to radiate to the Apennines. ”

"yes, I thought the British were struggling with all the in their colonies."

The Duke of Choiseul approvingly said:

"Their colonies in the Americas have been boiling with resentment lately, and I think it won't be long before the colonial peasants will throw away their hoes and pick up their guns."

Although the Thirteen Colonies formally united against the British government in 1776, peasants in these colonies had been sporadic in revolt from the middle of the eighteenth century.

This also led many historical politicians to anticipate the outcome of the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, including the Duke of Choiseul and former British Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder.

Even in 1765, the Duke of Choiseul sensed the revolt in the Thirteen Colonies and strengthened his military presence in the West Indies.

The British government at that time could naturally anticipate the rebellion of the colonial people, but on the one hand, they overestimated their own military strength and believed that they could suppress the rebellion by force; On the other hand, he also underestimated Louis XVI's determination to sell iron to resist Britain and aid the United States, but he did not expect that the French even donated the king's small treasury in order to aid the Americans.

"Thank you for the reminder anyway, Lord Duke."

Lawrence nodded, smiled and said:

"I will keep the Corsican Navy on the lookout for movements of the British fleet."

"No, in addition to the aberrant behavior of the British, there are also problems in southern Italy."

The Duke of Choiseul shook his head and said with a solemn expression:

"To be precise, something is wrong with the Kingdom of Naples."

"The Kingdom of Naples? What happened to the Spanish vassals? Lawrence asked, frowning.

"Famine."

The Duke of Choiseul spat out the word heavily, and said slowly:

"The price of food has skyrocketed throughout the kingdom, and it is said that in some places you can only buy ten loaves of bread for a single florin. Large numbers of city dwellers have fled the famine because they have no food, but the situation in the countryside is just as dire. Countless peasants left their land and houses behind to join the huge groups of refugees. The famine was just the beginning, but it would not be long before it began to spread throughout the Kingdom of Naples. ”

Hearing the word famine, Lawrence couldn't help but sit up straight, frowning solemnly and listening.

Regardless of the time and region, the word famine carries so much weight.

When people's basic survival needs cannot be satisfied, all civilization and order, morality and restraint will immediately fall apart.

The instinctive desire to survive will turn into savage impulses to get whatever fills your stomach, whatever it may be.

Cannibalism, the tragedy of cannibalism could happen in every inch of southern Apennines at this time, and even the most loving couples could stick daggers into each other's hearts for a piece of bread.

And after a brief shock, Lawrence also immediately came to his senses.

Generally speaking, widespread famines are caused by severe natural disasters, but Lawrence vividly remembers that in July 1770, there were no large-scale climate disasters in Italy.

And for the geography of the Kingdom of Naples, July is the time when the wheat harvest is nearing its end.

This is supposed to be the time when food reserves are at their most abundant, why is there a famine at such a time?!

"Something is wrong..."

Lawrence frowned and asked:

"Sicily, the Kingdom of Naples, is rich in grain, and it can be counted as half of the granary of Europe, how can there be famine in such a place?"

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean, more than twice the size of Corsica, and separated from mainland Italy by a strait four or five kilometers wide.

Although Sicily's terrain is predominantly hilly, its fertile land and climate are suitable for farming, so agriculture is very developed, and it has been the breadbasket of the empire since the time of the Roman Empire. The island's population is conservatively estimated to be more than half a million.

"That's what I'm interested in, too." The Duke of Choiseul said in a deep voice:

"And even more strangely, Sicily, where agriculture is the most developed, is the epicenter of the famine. It is said that tens of thousands of people have fled Sicily, and that many poor peasants, who have no money to take a boat, have tried to swim from the northernmost tip of Sicily to the other side, or even to swim with their young children on their backs, and I am afraid that no fewer will drown in the strait than those who will starve to death. ”

Lawrence held his forehead and sighed and asked:

"What about the cause of the famine? Is it an act of God? ”

Although Lawrence was asking, he was already convinced that the famine was definitely not caused by a natural disaster.

The Duke of Choiseul was silent for a moment, and then said with some irritation:

"The ambassador of Naples sent me a diplomatic note with only a brief mention of the matter. He said the disaster was caused by a volcanic eruption on the island of Sicily. But my intelligence tells me that the volcano in Sicily has not erupted at all recently. ”

Sicily does have two volcanoes, an active volcano and an extinct volcano.

The Southern Song Dynasty of China mentions volcanoes in Sicily:

"Sgari wild country, near the border of Lumei, the island is a thousand miles wide, and the clothes, customs, and voice are the same as those of Lumei. There are caves in the country to the deepest, the fire comes out in four seasons, the distant view is towards the smoke and twilight fire, the fire is very fierce when you look closely, the people of the country are with the big stone of the bar, the weight of 500 catties or 1,000 catties is thrown into the hole, the whiskers burst out in a moment, broken like a pumice stone. ”

However, Lawrence's memories and the Duke of Choiseul's intelligence confirm that the cause of the famine was not a volcanic eruption, as the Naples ambassador claimed.

"The Naples ambassador is hiding the real situation?"

Lawrence asked, feeling more and more strange that the sudden outbreak of the great famine in the Kingdom of Naples, which did not exist in history, was very strange.

It stands to reason that France and Spain were staunch allies, and the Kingdom of Naples, as a subject of Spain, should have tried to seek French assistance.

But the ambassador of Naples behaved as if he was deliberately trying to get the deal out of it, rather than wanting France to pay too much attention to it.

"I suspect so." The Duke of Choiseul's face was slightly gloomy, touched the beard of his chin and said:

"I have secretly sent people to the Kingdom of Naples to investigate, but it is estimated that it will take some time before the results are achieved. And even more bizarrely, the Kingdom of Naples did not even ask Spain for assistance, citing arguments such as autonomy. And King Carlos III of Spain has not yet responded to this set of rhetoric. ”

Although the Kingdom of Naples was a vassal state of the Kingdom of Spain, it still had independent jurisprudence and a high degree of autonomy.

In this sense, the relationship between the Kingdom of Naples and Spain is much like that of Corsica with France, and the autonomy of the Kingdom of Naples is even higher than that of Corsica.

After all, it took only thirty-five years for the Kingdom of Naples to return from the Austrian Habsburgs to the Spanish Bourbons.

In 1735, Carlos III, still a prince of Spain, was crowned King of Naples, when he promised the Neapolitan populace autonomy in order to accommodate the Italian resistance, and promised that the King of Naples and the King of Spain would not be the same person.

This is why, after Carlos III returned to Spain in 1759 to inherit the throne, he passed the Kingdom of Naples to his son Ferdinando IV.

Now, King Ferdinando IV of Naples did not ask Spain for help, fearing that it would affect his autonomy.

Although this reason can be barely explained, after all, the cannibalistic mouth is soft and the hands are short, once the Kingdom of Naples accepts the aid, there will inevitably be corresponding additional conditions, such as reducing autonomy, increasing tax rates, recruiting soldiers in Naples, and so on.

But in the face of a nationwide famine, Ferdinando IV's statement pales in and is bizarre.

Lawrence rubbed his dazed head, sighed and concluded:

That is to say, the whole of southern Italy is now in the midst of a famine, and the cause of the famine is not a natural disaster. The officials of the Kingdom of Naples were also secretive about this famine and deliberately concealed it. ”

"That's right." The Duke of Choiseul nodded and added:

"And if the plague of the Kingdom of Naples were to the north, it might affect the order of the whole of Italy. Do you have any ideas? ”

Lawrence closed his eyes and collected his thoughts, shaking his head after a long exhale.

Although it had been speculated that the famine was strange and not an act of God, Lawrence could not be sure what had happened in the Kingdom of Naples based on the scarce intelligence information available so far.

After all, there are many factors that have led to a sharp rise in food prices due to non-natural disasters, such as the fact that Louis XVI appointed Durgo to carry out liberal economic reforms after his succession to the throne and relaxed the regulation of the grain market, which led to a sharp increase in food prices around Paris.

"The famine in Naples, the provocation of the British, do you think there is a relationship between these two things?"

Duke Choiseul looked at Lawrence and asked solemnly.

"Eighty percent is related. It is not yet known what the British were trying to do, whether they wanted to take advantage of the famine to make a fortune or to put pressure on the Spaniards, or some other attempt. ”

Lawrence affirmed:

"And it's been more than a month since I returned to Corsica, and it's probably the time when the situation in Italy is at its worst."

"I'm afraid yes, you'd better be careful not to let Corsican get involved in these things." Duke Choiseul reminded earnestly.

"No"

Lawrence suddenly said firmly:

"I should have taken the initiative to intervene in the famine in the Kingdom of Naples."

"Huh? Why? The Duke of Choiseul frowned and asked, of course he didn't want Lawrence to put himself in danger, after all, he still wanted to use Lawrence to maintain relations with Crown Prince Louis.

"I am also an Italian, and I cannot ignore the hunger of my compatriots." Lawrence said with a shrug.

Duke Choiseul narrowed his eyes, apparently not believing Lawrence's words, and said with a smile:

"I don't know, Governor Bonaparte, that you turned out to be a pan-Italian nationalist?"

"All I believe in is the supremacy of profit, and my negligible conscience." Lawrence said with a shrug.

"Profit comes first... What do you see in the starving kingdom of Naples? Duke Choiseul asked, looking at Lawrence.

"A rich land, and a heart waiting to be bought."