I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 275 Conspiracy

Joseph looked very calm when he looked at the report about the two British spies - if the British didn't do something, he might really feel uncomfortable.

The spy was captured by Ishaq himself.

Because the information was very detailed, before the two of them could commit suicide by taking poison, they were knocked unconscious by Tunisian agents.

Ishaq also found a lot of useful documents from the two people's secret residence, and he could determine the identity of their spies without basically interrogating them.

"Apart from the fact that they are from the British Naval Intelligence Agency, is there any useful information?" Joseph put down the thin report and looked at Ishak.

Ishaq said helplessly: "Your Highness, those two people only received the order. They didn't even know who the officer who gave the order was. Then they were stuffed into a merchant ship and sailed in Tunisia as Italian businessmen. Port landing.”

Joseph shook his head helplessly: "Send them back to Paris and let Talleyrand take them to England. The benefits will be as much as possible. Oh, it would be best to exchange that Jeanne back. Her Majesty the Queen will be very happy."

He knew very well that according to the thickness of the British government's face, even if the evidence was conclusive, they would refuse to admit that this was their own spy.

As the protagonist of the diamond necklace case [Note 1], Jeanne has been hiding in England. Queen Mary will get angry every time she is mentioned. Using two spies to make my mother happy, and at the same time save France's face, is more cost-effective than asking for money.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Ishaq took the order and left, but returned in less than ten minutes. He leaned forward with a serious look and said: "Your Highness, the information just came from Tripoli. Four days ago, more than 10,000 Ottoman troops landed in Tripoli and announced that Benji Ur served as Pasha.”

Joseph suddenly frowned. Before, Morocco had not seen any increase in troops to Algiers, but almost at the same time, another tens of thousands of Ottoman troops appeared in the east of Tunisia, and there were also troops on both sides. If there are British people involved, it will definitely not be simple here.

He subconsciously wanted to write a letter to Paris and ask the General Staff to send more troops to Tunisia to prevent any eventuality.

However, as soon as he picked up the pen and paper, he was suddenly startled.

The British are not fools. They will never think that just more than 20,000 North African troops and 10,000 Ottoman troops can shake France's foundation in Tunisia. With the combat effectiveness of these troops, France only needs to send an additional 20,000 troops. Soldiers can make Tunisia impregnable.

So, what do the British want to do?

Joseph looked at the Mediterranean map on the wall and narrowed his eyes slightly. Although the Port of Toulon is only more than 400 nautical miles away from Tunisia, it still separates the two sides of the Mediterranean.

Even if only 20,000 French troops are sent to Tunisia, the logistical consumption of these troops is no different from that of overseas troops. Given the current situation in Tunisia, not to mention the large number of indigenous tribes who owe taxes, even if the tax revenue is normal, the economy will be greatly affected if they have to support 20,000 garrison troops.

As for a quick victory, it is unrealistic to completely defeat Algiers and Tripoli.

France cannot and does not want to go to war in North Africa now.

France's finances have just begun to improve, and various domestic reforms also require a large amount of funds. Using troops in North Africa at this time is likely to worsen the financial situation again.

And no matter which side of Algiers or Tripoli is attacked, the other side will attack Tunisia, making the French army unable to care about each other. Unless more troops are deployed, that would put a greater financial burden.

Even if France really defeated these two guys at all costs, it would be difficult to eat it-if France only occupies the small area of ​​Tunisia, European countries will not care too much, but if Al The two big guys, Gier and Tripoli, are equivalent to taking most of North Africa into their pockets. Their area is far larger than that of France, and they can control most of the trade in the Mediterranean.

This is unacceptable to the European powers. At this time, Britain could join forces and ask France to reveal its interests in North Africa, or even directly send a fleet to intervene.

The British Parliament may not risk offending Russia and the United States to get into trouble with France over a little bit of Tunisia. But if it were most of North Africa, those British MPs would not hesitate to give Peter the authority to start a war.

Today's France is far from being a rival to the British in the Mediterranean. Historically, the warships that the French had been saving for more than ten years, and combined with the Spanish and Dutch navies, were all destroyed by the British fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar, let alone now?

After investing a large amount of troops in North Africa, it is even more unacceptable not to occupy Algiers and Tripoli. There is no way to make up for the huge military expenditures, which will inevitably strain the French finances and intensify domestic conflicts.

Therefore, the best situation for France is to maintain a sizable army in Tunisia and waste Tunisia's fiscal revenue.

This means that Tunisia has had little output for France for a long time.

Joseph tapped his fingers on the table unconsciously: "This is a conspiracy by the British..."

…

On the west side of Europe, the Port of Lisbon.

After completing supplies and preparing to pull anchor and set sail, there was a knock on the door of the wardroom on the British third-class battleship Colossus. The voice of Lord Talmos, the new British diplomatic envoy to the Maghreb countries, came from outside the house: "Your Majesty, Marquis, there is news just sent from Constantinople."

"The door is open, please come in."

Lord Talmos entered the cabin and handed a secret report to the British Foreign Secretary, the Marquess of Wellesley: "Hamid I is critically ill, and their Prime Minister Yusuf does not seem to have any intention of threatening Tunisia.

"In fact, according to what our informants heard, the Ottomans only wanted to use the Tripoli garrison to threaten the Mamluk officers in Egypt."

[Note 1] Diamond necklace case: In 1784, a declining aristocratic lady named Jeanne learned that Archbishop Rohan wanted to please Queen Mary, so she pretended to be the queen's maid and used a forged letter from the queen to deceive Archbishop Rohan and order him to I believe the queen is interested in him. Later, he even found a concubine who looked somewhat similar to the queen, dressed up like the queen, and met with Luo Ang in the dark night to "exchange their feelings."

After Rohan was convinced, Jeanne revealed to him that the queen wanted to buy a diamond necklace worth 2 million livres, but she didn't have enough money on hand. So, without hesitation, Rohan paid the down payment with his own money, bought the necklace, and gave it to Jeanne to pass it on to the queen.

Jeanne and her husband immediately dismantled the necklace and sold it. The queen didn't know about it until the jeweler came to her to make the final payment. Subsequently, all those involved in the crime were arrested.

But after Jeanne was caught, she escaped from the Bastille in 1787 and was sheltered by the British in London. She also wrote a book about the fraud to humiliate the French royal family.