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Chapter 291: Spain's Bright Future

Carlos IV stared intently at Joseph, exclaiming, "Are you just saying this casually, or...?"

Joseph's expression was serious. "Her Majesty the Queen sent me to Madrid."

Carlos became even more agitated, his chest rising and falling dramatically. He clapped Joseph firmly on both shoulders. "France will always be Spain's dearest brother!"

Joseph then painted a vision of a bright future where France and Spain would jointly control the entire Iberian Peninsula. Carlos IV listened, his blood surging, practically itching to lead a grand army himself, drive out the British from Gibraltar, and then march to Lisbon to flatten it!

Joseph glanced at his expression, then remarked casually, "After retaking Gibraltar, Ceuta won't be of much use to you. Perhaps France could use it as a supply port."

Ceuta was the port across from Gibraltar, serving as the southern gateway to the Strait of Gibraltar. Ceuta Port, located in Morocco, had been occupied by Portugal in the fifteenth century. Over a hundred years ago, Spain had wrested it from Portuguese control.

Carlos IV nodded in agreement, almost without thinking. "That's certainly no problem! Please allow me, on the day I set foot in Gibraltar, to present Ceuta to my French brother."

While Ceuta's location was important, its position off the European mainland made resupply extremely difficult, limiting its use for the Spanish Navy.

For France, however, this wasn't an issue. North Africa was France's core development direction, and Morocco was inevitably destined to be within France's sphere of influence.

By helping Spain drive out the British and reclaim the northern gate of the Strait of Gibraltar, France would also gain the southern gate for free. This was an incredibly shrewd deal.

Seeing Carlos IV's eager demeanor, Joseph quickly poured a bucket of cold water on his enthusiasm. "Of course, the British currently possess unshakeable naval power, which makes Portugal difficult to conquer as well."

"We must first concentrate on developing our national strength, and only after our finances are robust should we begin building a large fleet of warships. The time to reclaim Gibraltar will be when our two nations' navies can overpower the British!"

"As for our armies, we have no worries at all. As long as the British fleet doesn't interfere, the combined Franco-Spanish forces could take Portugal within two months."

In the past, Emperor Napoleon's grand army had merely appeared at Portugal's doorstep, and the latter had surrendered at lightning speed. However, the British Navy was still present then, making stable rule over Portugal difficult to ensure. Thus, Emperor Napoleon had taken Portugal's overseas colonies and ordered a withdrawal.

Carlos IV nodded silently, his heart settling.

Given Spain's current national strength, it couldn't risk provoking the British. And France, having just barely emerged from a devastating financial crisis, likely couldn't spare much power to aid Spain.

Therefore, the sensible path now was to focus on silent development and accumulate warships.

Joseph then proceeded to offer some advice on reform and development. In fact, Charles III had left Spain with a very capable team.

Campos and the Count of Aranda were both highly capable ministers.

Although Count Floridablanca was very wary of France, he was still considered a wise minister.

Even Bernardo Tanucci, who had served as Charles III's Chief Minister when he was King of Naples, could be brought to Spain to assist with governmental affairs.

As long as Spain closely followed France and kept its colonies stable, it could at least retain its position among the European powers, if not achieve a dramatic surge in national strength.

Furthermore, the Spanish Navy had always been fairly well-developed. After all, this was the nation that had once fielded the Invincible Armada; its heritage remained.

Over the following period, Joseph and Carlos IV discussed everything from colonial administration to controlling the nobility and Franco-Spanish trade cooperation. Though he didn't know how much Carlos IV truly grasped, Joseph had done everything he could; the rest depended on Spain's destiny.

Naturally, there were also daily Spanish banquets and various balls.

Three days later, Joseph departed Madrid with a reluctant farewell from Carlos IV. He journeyed east, boarding a Spanish Navy warship at Valencia Port, then sailed north, disembarking at Toulon Port before continuing by carriage towards Austria.

Strasbourg.

Joseph gazed at the several carriage-loads of gifts Archbishop Talleyrand had brought and couldn't help but shake his head with a silent sigh. 'Mother truly is a straightforward person; she's certainly not stingy with gifts for her elder brother.'

'Forget it, it's her private money anyway; she can spend it however she likes...'

He motioned for the Foreign Minister to get into the carriage, first commending him on the successful return of Jeanne from Britain, and then meticulously outlined the diplomatic mission to Vienna.

This mission would determine the direction of French policy for a considerable period to come.

...

Poland.

Warsaw.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Jones, the American ambassador to Poland, scrutinized the two men before him. If not for the French intelligence agency's repeated assurances that there was no mistake, he would truly find it hard to believe they were the "people who could change Poland's destiny."

The taller man wore a coarse cloth jacket and dark grey trousers; his hands and face were extremely rough, making him look like a fisherman who had spent years at sea.

The other, fatter man had a bald priest's tonsure, and his grey cassock was tattered and worn, clearly indicating he was from a remote village church.

Both men saluted Jones by placing a hand over their chests and greeted him in French. Their manners and speech, however, were highly refined, completely at odds with their appearances.

Jones politely returned the greeting, then cautiously approached the window to ensure no one was watching. Only then did he turn back, retrieve two small pamphlets from his coat pocket, hand them to the men, and instruct them, "Please keep these safe. For security reasons, there are no backups."

The "fisherman" carefully took the pamphlets. He saw that the title of the topmost one was "The Glorious Polish Nation."

His heart stirred, and he looked at the next one: "Though I Speak Russian, I Will Always Be Polish."

He quickly flipped through the pamphlets, his expression instantly becoming animated. He looked at Jones and exclaimed, "Excellent, this is wonderful! Which great thinker wrote this? We desperately need it!"

Jones shrugged, giving a vague answer, "It's supposedly a German."

In reality, Joseph had commissioned the German national enlightenment master, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, to write these over three months ago.

Although Fichte hadn't deeply researched Poland, unifying national consciousness was primarily about incitement, and that was his forte.

Moreover, his patron was very generous, so he poured immense passion into the work, completing these two treatises on the concept of the Polish nation in the shortest possible time.

"Please print and distribute these throughout Poland as quickly as possible," Jones instructed. "Don't worry about funding; the patron will contact you shortly."

Joseph had been driven to this point by the sluggish efficiency of the Polish parliament, leaving him no choice but to unleash the potent weapon of national consciousness.