Just as Cavour was preparing for a stormy invective from Jérôme Bonaparte, the French emperor, who was supposed to be angry, showed his abnormal side.

Jérôme Bonaparte generously expressed his understanding not only of the Kingdom of Sardinia seeking the help of the Kingdom of Britain, but also of his gratitude to Cavour for coming to Paris to explain the situation.

Hearing such an unusual answer from Jérôme Bonaparte, Cavour felt not a hint of peace of mind, but became even more frightened.

"Your Majesty, the Kingdom of Sardinia has no intention of going against the French Empire!" Cavour spoke to Jérôme Bonaparte with increasing humility, "Our cooperation with the Kingdom of Britain is due to the increasing political pressure at home!"

"Mr. Cavour!" Jérôme Bonaparte frowned and complained to Cavour, "Didn't I say it!

The Kingdom of Sardinia is not a vassal state of the French Empire, you are two equal countries with us!

Therefore, the French Empire will not interfere in any diplomatic actions of the Kingdom of Sardinia!"

"Thank you for your generosity!" Cavour saluted Jérôme Bonaparte again.

Cavour knew in his heart that Jérôme Bonaparte's "nation of equal status" was nothing more than a spectacle, but since he (Jérôme Bonaparte) was no longer pursuing the "usurpation" of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Cavour did not need to accuse him again and again.

Explaining too much will only cause the other party to be disgusted.

Cavour quickly moved on to the next topic.

Cavour first pretended to congratulate France on its upcoming military exercises in the Mediterranean, and then curiously asked Jérôme Bonaparte why he had chosen the location of the military exercises near Corsica (Cavour did not dare to say why France would aim its artillery at Sardinia).

Naturally, Jérôme Bonaparte would not say bluntly that he just wanted to teach the Kingdom of Sardinia a "lesson", but used the pretext of "testing the French navy's combat capability around the island" to perfunctory Cavour.

Jérôme Bonaparte told Cavour that the French Naval General Staff had recently trained a new branch of the "Marine Corps" (in fact, this branch had been established by the emperor long after the establishment of the French General Staff, but it had not been branched by outsiders), and their purpose was to assist the navy in landing operations.

Since this class itself is in its infancy, it is necessary to find a suitable island for experimentation, so Corsica is the best place to experiment.

Although Cavour did not understand the nature of the "marines", he knew Jérôme Bonaparte's character well.

As for Jérôme Bonaparte's far-fetched explanation, Cavour naturally did not believe it in his heart.

However, Cavour could not openly contradict Jérôme Bonaparte, and he had to express himself to Jérôme Bonaparte in a euphemistic tone that the Sardinian inhabitants living in the Sardinia region might be overly suspicious of the French Navy, and he hoped that the Emperor would order the French Imperial Navy to conduct military operations far from Sardinia, given that the Kingdom of Sardinia had been friendly with the French Empire for generations.

"But......" said Jérôme Bonaparte to Cavour with a deliberately tangled expression on his face, "a few days ago, the General Staff (of the Navy) had submitted their plan to me, and it would have cost me a lot of money to change it!"

After thinking for a moment, Cavour gritted his teeth and said to Jérôme Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, the entire cost of this French naval exercise will be paid for by the Kingdom of Sardinia!!"

Hearing that Cavour was willing to bear the full cost of the military exercise, Jérôme Bonaparte had a slight surprise on his face.

You must know that although the purpose of this military exercise is to "bring goods", nearly half of the Mediterranean fleet was dispatched.

(Previously, the main purpose was to deter Sardinia, but after careful consideration by Jérôme Bonaparte, he decided to let Sardinia stir up tensions in Italy, so the purpose of the French Navy at this stage is mainly to sell warships)

There is a way that when a cannon sounds, there are ten thousand taels of gold

。

With such a large fleet, the cost of a single exercise is no less than five million francs.

This money is indeed a drop in the bucket for the entire French Empire, but it is a significant expenditure for the Kingdom of Sardinia, a medium-sized country.

"Mr. Cavour, did you consult with my brother (Victor Emmanuel II) before making this decision?" Jérôme Bonaparte asked Cavour a cautious question.

Such a large expenditure did not have any legal benefit to Cavour without the king's consent.

"Before I arrived in Paris, His Majesty Victor had given me full confidence!" Cavour assured Jérôme Bonaparte.

"I'm sorry about that!" Jérôme Bonaparte smiled reservedly, and then said unequivocally, "I will hand over to you all the expenses before the military exercises begin!"

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty!" Cavour said excitedly to Jérôme Bonaparte.

The "roadblocks" blocking Garibaldi's southward movement have been "cleared" by him, and the next step is to order Garibaldi to launch an attack on the Kingdom of Naples.

Jérôme Bonaparte then bluntly asked Cavour if he was ready to make an enemy of the Austrian Empire.

Cavour replied to Jérôme Bonaparte with a serious face, "Your Majesty, I have never thought of being an enemy of the Austrian Empire!"

"Come on!" Jérôme Bonaparte shrugged his shoulders and said unceremoniously to Cavour, "You don't want to be an enemy of Franz Joseph, and Franz Joseph won't let you mess with Italy!"

The revolution of 12 years earlier (1848) had made it abundantly clear that if there is turmoil in one country in the Italian region, there will inevitably be turmoil in the rest of the country!

Tell me honestly, Mr. Cavour, that you don't have any afterhand that you haven't used!"

"Your Majesty, I don't know what you're talking about!" Cavour looked confused, and he was reluctant to reveal his cards lightly.

"Mr. Cavour, I advise you to be honest!" Jérôme Bonaparte threatened without moving, "I may not have the ability to accomplish one thing, but I can still bring it down!"

To tell you the truth, the reason why I am willing to give you this convenience is to weaken the Austrian Empire's control in Italy through you, and thus weaken the Austrian Empire.

Now that the French Empire has been satisfied in Italy, I don't want to interfere in anything that is not part of France.

As long as the Kingdom of Sardinia does not choose to attack the Papal States under the patronage of France, then whatever the Kingdom of Sardinia does, we will not object.

But there are still some places where the shackles of the French Empire still exist, and we must break them again!

We are somehow aligned with you on this issue!"

Even if the second half of Jérôme Bonaparte's words were euphemistic enough, for a Cavour who was almost full of political ability, Jérôme Bonaparte's words could not be more understandable.

It was nothing more than the Emperor of France, after getting Savoy and Nice, who turned to the land of the Rhineland.

However, it is also normal to think about it, Napoleon III has always been committed to consolidating his position at home and abroad, and the Rhineland will inevitably become the object of Napoleon III's attention.

Although Cavour had already guessed Jérôme Bonaparte's actions, when this speculation came out of Napoleon's mouth himself, Cavour felt an inexplicable joy in his heart.

As long as Napoleon III shifted his attention from the Italian peninsula to the German region, the chances of success of this operation of the Kingdom of Sardinia would have increased considerably.

Thinking of this, Cavour decided to inform Jérôme Bonaparte of part of his plans, who was also afraid that Jérôme Bonaparte would help the Austrian Empire.

After all, Jérôme Bonaparte was sometimes too willful.

"Your Majesty,

I'll tell you the truth! I have made contact with Garibaldi and Mazzini, and I am just waiting for Garibaldi to attack Sicily!

Mazzini would instigate an uprising of the Charcoal Burners in Lombardy and Venice, and even in Central Italy.

At that time, the Austrian Empire will inevitably choose to suppress Lombard and Venice for the first time, followed by the Kingdom of Central Italy!

When it was the turn of the Kingdom of Naples, General Garibaldi would probably have already occupied the whole of Naples."

"What are you going to do if the Austrian Empire chooses to divide its forces?" Jérôme Bonaparte challenged Cavour.

Cavour was silent for a moment, then spread his hands and said to Jérôme Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, it's up to General Garibaldi!

I suppose that with the present finances of the Austrian Empire, it is simply not possible to mobilize a large army into Italy!"

"So, your plan is based on the fact that the monarch of the Austrian Empire did not dare to act on a large scale because he was afraid of financial difficulties!" Jérôme Bonaparte chuckled, "I didn't expect you, who have always been steady, to start carrying out such a frivolous plan!"

"Your Majesty, I am a Sardinian, and I am also Italian!" Cavour said unwaveringly to Jérôme Bonaparte, "The fate of Italy should be in the hands of the Italians themselves!"

After listening to Cavour's words, Jérôme Bonaparte could not help but feel a trace of respect for Cavour in his heart.

Respect for respect, Jérôme Bonaparte is still very unoptimistic about Cavour's actions this time.

Cavour's strategy is like walking a tightrope with no end, and the slightest mistake will shatter the bones.

However, in the absence of any major powers willing to take the lead for it, Cavour's strategy is already one of the best.

(After reading it, remember to bookmark it for next time!)

Free to read.