Chapter 420: The Walloon Special Trade Zone
Mrs. Delvaux's funeral service was quite simple.
The old woman hadn't had many friends in life. To avoid offending Baron Walter, they had largely cut ties with the Delvaux family, so only seven or eight people came to bid her farewell.
However, Joseph's appearance instantly sharpened Father Koch, who had been somewhat listless. The sound of his sacred readings became noticeably more solemn.
Camelia, dressed in a black gown, stood beside the coffin, her expression vacant. Her swollen eyes stared unblinkingly at her only living relative, utterly lost.
It wasn't until the priest finished the blessings and began offering incense before the body that she seemed to grasp the reality, bursting into tears with a heartbroken sob.
Joseph quickly stepped forward to comfort the distraught girl:
"Mrs. Delvaux will be watching over you from heaven; she hasn't truly left you..."
After the lengthy ceremony, Mrs. Delvaux's coffin was carried by servants to the nearest church, and only then did Camelia finally quiet down, utterly exhausted.
As Joseph stepped out of the manor gates, he saw Talleyrand approaching, who bowed to him and said:
The Foreign Minister then glanced at the black coffin, making the sign of the cross over his chest:
"May God have mercy on this poor soul."
"She was Her Majesty the Queen's wet nurse," Joseph replied, also making the sign of the cross. He then asked Talleyrand, "Do you have something urgent to discuss?"
Talleyrand leaned in closer:
"Yes, Your Highness. Baron Thugut has invited me for a discussion, likely concerning reinforcements for Silesia. Do you have any specific instructions or points of caution for me?"
Joseph nodded slightly. This was a preliminary step before he and the Holy Roman Emperor officially signed an agreement; the main points were usually settled during these initial talks.
"I will deploy the Guards Corps to Silesia. You can inform Baron Thugut that significant military breakthroughs are assured. However, France will maintain its non-belligerent status."
Remaining undeclared allowed for an easier withdrawal, as France wasn't there to sacrifice everything for Austria.
Hearing that the Crown Prince intended to deploy an elite corps, Talleyrand immediately felt more confident in his bargaining position with the Austrians, and quickly jotted notes in his notebook.
Joseph continued, "Furthermore, I will ensure that Russia does not interfere in Silesia."
A flash of surprise crossed Talleyrand's eyes, and he quickly lowered his head to take more notes.
This might seem minor, but it was enough to sway the entire course of the Silesian war. Recall how Catherine II, simply by mobilizing 40,000 troops westward, brought the War of the Bavarian Succession to an abrupt halt before they even fully assembled, forcing both Prussia and Austria back to the negotiating table.
What's more, the Crown Prince spoke with such certainty, as if the Russian Tsar would undoubtedly follow his directives.
"As for our demands, there is only one," Joseph stated, lowering his voice as he looked at the Foreign Minister, "And that is Wallonia."
Talleyrand nodded and jotted it down, then hesitated slightly before saying:
"Your Highness, given the current sentiment in Vienna, that might be difficult to achieve."
Currently, all of Austria was consumed by a fervor to reclaim lost territories. While Wallonia wasn't large, even losing a single town at this juncture would ignite fierce domestic opposition.
"Your concerns are entirely valid," Joseph mused, nodding. But he quickly broke into a smile. "Then we'll simply adopt a different approach, for instance..."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the funeral procession had moved on. With a helpless sigh, he instructed Eman to go in his stead, then proceeded to explain his detailed plan to Talleyrand:
"For instance, establishing a special trade zone..."
Schönbrunn Palace.
In Joseph II's bedroom, a look of pleasant surprise flashed in Leopold II's eyes:
"Are you saying the French have agreed to dispatch a powerful legion into Silesia, and that they will bear most of the expenses for this force?"
It wasn't that Joseph was being overly generous. Rather, he knew that with Austria's current financial state, should they also shoulder the Guards Corps' military expenses, they truly wouldn't last long. Though the Guards Corps wasn't exceptionally large, its required expenditures were considerable—firstly, the soldiers' salaries were significantly higher than those of regular troops, then came the replenishment and maintenance of various new equipment, and even their daily rations cost far more than other armies'.
Baron Thugut nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty. Archbishop Talleyrand also stated that the Coalition Forces are certain to achieve strategic breakthroughs."
Leopold II involuntarily clenched his fist. "If France can truly persuade Russia to remain neutral, we will have a strong chance of reclaiming Silesia!"
Joseph II, lying on the sickbed nearby, let out a grunt, a rare smile gracing his face.
Thugut continued, "Your Majesty, however, the French remain unwilling to declare war on Prussia, clearly hesitant to get too deeply involved."
"It doesn't matter," Leopold II dismissed with a wave of his hand. "As the tide of war shifts, we'll find many ways to keep them in Silesia."
A dozen ideas for binding France to the Austrian war effort instantly flashed through his mind. He couldn't help but smile; his sister still lacked political experience. Once embroiled in a conflict, how easy would it be to disengage?
If Joseph had been there, he would have returned the smile.
He naturally understood the adage 'it's hard to get off a pirate ship once you're on it', but he also clearly remembered that in less than three months, Joseph II would be called by the Lord to heaven.
At that time, Austria would first mourn the old Emperor, and then prepare for the new Emperor's coronation—and it was no simple affair for Austria. Leopold II would first have to go through the process of being elected Emperor by the Prince-Electors, crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor, and then embark on his lengthy journey to be separately crowned as monarch of Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia, Transylvania, Mantua, Galicia, Lodomeria, and the Austrian Netherlands...
'What? You want to be lazy and skip a place? Then you'll lose your legal basis for ruling it, and believe me, nobles will be trying to fill that void next year.'
(Just look at the Holy Roman Emperor's coat of arms to see how many titles there were.)
So, by then, Austria would certainly have no time to continue fighting. Joseph, after attending the Holy Roman Emperor's coronation ceremony, would be able to conveniently escort the "idle" French army back to Paris—'You can't expect us French to fight Prussia to the death while your royal house takes a six-month break, can you?'
After confirming the promising outlook for the Silesian war, Leopold II turned back to Baron Thugut:
"So, what are France's demands?"
"Archbishop Talleyrand said that many French citizens had previously invested in Wallonia, so they hope it can become a 'special trade zone'."
"A special trade zone?"
"Oh, it means both France and Austria can invest and trade there, and Wallonia's administration will be managed by a merchant guild," Thugut explained. "To ensure fair trade, no permanent troops will be stationed there; the Walloon Police Bureau will be responsible for public order."
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