Confidence.
This is a truth that everyone understands.
I have never heard of an enemy commander offering to deliver supplies to a besieged city, let alone spending empty war reparations on enemy citizens.
But for a siege commander who was sure of victory, Laurence Bonaparte's behavior was no less than the mercy of the Virgin Mary. After all, he could just wait for the food in the city to run out and watch the famine and plague raging in Turin.
In the end, the city was captured easily.
And if the Corsican people's kindness is rejected, although the messenger did not say it explicitly, his words already hinted that Turin will face another attack on the day when its city is broken, after the floods, famines and plagues are raging.
There will be a catastrophe of massacre.
Although they did not talk to each other, the vast majority of citizens had a thought in mind:
Let this flood recede, let this hell dissipate, let peace come, all this suffering is enough!
From the first day when the flood poured into the city, it was impossible to defend Turin!
The aristocrats can dance and dance in their mansions until they die, but we people may not even be able to see the sun tomorrow!
Soon, the people's demands for the Turin Palace changed.
They no longer asked Carlo Emanuele III to increase the rations per person and clean up corruption in the army and city hall. No one would place their hope in the superior but stupid and incompetent military officers and municipal bureaucrats.
Peace, peace once and for all, is now the only demand of nearly 100,000 people in Turin.
...
A moment later, the Foreign Minister forwarded to His Majesty the King the peace treaty brought by the Corsican envoy, as well as the latest demands of the people outside the palace.
After hearing all this, Carlo Emanuele III was in a daze for a long time. It took a full five minutes to finally come back to his senses, and only one sentence came out of his mouth:
"Laurence Bonaparte... as sinister as a snake and as cunning as a ferret, he truly deserves his reputation..."
"His Majesty..."
The Foreign Secretary raised his head cautiously and persuaded him wisely:
"Since the Corsicans want to use their logistical supplies to win over people's hearts, why don't we take advantage of their tactics and accept the supplies they send to defend Turin first, and then wait for His Highness Vittorio..."
"You idiot!"
His Majesty the King suddenly became angry, and the disappointment in his words could not be concealed. At this time, the King was too lazy to be polite to this useless foreign minister:
"Do you think Laurence Bonaparte's proposal to deliver supplies to us was really motivated by some kind of humanism? What kind of sympathy for his fellow Italians? He knew that I would never accept this proposal, so he deliberately said it to those people
Citizens listen!”
How could the old king not know that it was absolutely impossible for the defenders in the city to accept this ridiculous proposal of the Corsican people? If they accepted it, the Corsican people would definitely take advantage of the situation and put forward a series of additional requirements, such as that all supplies must be provided by
The Corsicans personally escorted him into the city.
And by then, who can guarantee that the cabins used by the Corsicans to transport grain will be filled with fully armed soldiers, preparing to stage a Trojan horse in the eighteenth century?
Carlo Emanuele III could already conclude at this time that Laurence Bonaparte was sure that he would not accept it, so he deliberately leaked the news to thousands of people.
After all, as a result, public opinion has become:
"Prime Minister Laurence Bonaparte was compassionate and took the initiative to send supplies to the suffering people of the enemy country; His Majesty the King of Sardinia became so angry that he would rather his people starve to death than accept charity from the Corsican people."
At that time, those people will not care whether the Corsican proposal will lead to the fall of Turin. They will only feel that His Majesty the King in the palace puts his face above the lives of his people.
As for the so-called part of the peace treaty that one-third of the war reparations would be set up as a Turin investment fund, Carlo Emanuele III could see at a glance that this was not what the envoy claimed at all.
Compensate ordinary people for their losses in the war.
The purpose of Lawrence Bonaparte's move was simply to coerce the public opinion in Turin so that he could monopolize and control the entire financial sector of the Kingdom of Sardinia in the future.
Although he has not yet seen the detailed treaty sent by the Corsicans, Carlo Emanuele III can already guess that the Corsicans will definitely add a large number of additional clauses to ensure that this investment fund will be in the kingdom's financial market.
privileges in the world, and complete Corsican control over the Foundation.
Once this so-called investment fund is established, it will have abundant funds, powerful political privileges, and enthusiastic support from the general public. With these unique advantages, the Turin Investment Fund will become a major player in the Kingdom's financial community in a very short period of time.
of excellence.
And such a foundation that represents the citizen class and monopolizes the entire country's financial industry is actually controlled by Corsicans.
Then the countless profits it earns will naturally flow to Ajaccio instead of staying in Turin.
However, those who can see this level are destined to be only a handful of people like Carlo Emanuele III who have received a good diplomatic education.
The general public is ignorant, and Carlo Emanuele III once again deeply realized this truth.
At this point, if he objects to the establishment of the Turin Investment Fund, I am afraid that the first people to be angry will not be the Corsicans, but the 200,000 people in Turin. They will only rebuke His Majesty the King for preferring to give gold and silver to
The Corsicans were not willing to stay to benefit their own people.
And Carlo Emanuele III had already realized that the Corsican envoy's biggest purpose in coming to Turin was not to hand over the treaty at all. He had come to confuse Bonaparte from the beginning.
people's hearts, adding another fire to the already urgent Turin riots.
In the end, Laurence Bonaparte, who was firmly behind the scenes, could gain both fame and fortune, and reap the fruits of victory under the admiration of the citizens of Turin.
"Brilliant, really brilliant..."
After being furious, Carlo Emanuele III collapsed on the throne exhausted, muttering to himself:
"Landing at Valdolidore, raiding Genoa, dividing his forces to contain Vittorio, launching a surprise attack on Turin from the direction of Genoa, building embankments and attacking with water for two weeks, and finally demagogueing and manipulating public opinion. Laurence Bonaparte is really a master of tactics.
, even if I were twenty years younger, I'm afraid..."
The situation had reached a critical moment, and the old king had neither the energy nor the desire to rebuke Laurence Bonaparte for his hypocritical words and deeds.
The two of them were from the same land and were the supreme ruler over ten thousand people. Carlo Emanuele III himself understood very well that hypocrisy was just a compulsory course for an ambitious man.
Carlo Emanuele III also understood that although he had seen through Laurence Bonaparte's scheme, it was already too late.
The siege of Turin has become a dead end. Even if the most skilled chess player takes over the game, it will still be of no avail, not to mention that he is one of the most outstanding chess players on the continent.
With this thought in mind, the old king looked at the peace treaty at hand.
"His Majesty!"
Seeing that His Majesty the King seemed to be seriously considering the treaty in hand, the Foreign Minister was immediately shocked. He would not accept the fact of the Kingdom's defeat under any circumstances.
Prince Vittorio also led an army of 10,000 men and had an absolute advantage in strength. How could he sign this humiliating treaty without fighting a single soldier:
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's army has not yet fought with the main force of the Corsican army. We can feign surrender to delay until..."
"No need."
Carlo Emanuele III gently interrupted the Foreign Minister. The moment he accepted the defeat of the Kingdom of Sardinia in his heart, his body and mind relaxed, and his voice became much calmer:
"This treaty needs to be signed by the French. If it is torn up hastily after signing, not only Sardinia and Nice will be lost."
Like the last treaty signed with the Republic of Genoa, Lawrence also included the Kingdom of France as a co-signatory of the treaty. Based on the diplomatic experience of Carlo Emanuele III, Lawrence's intention can naturally be seen.
Although Louis XV's war-weary mentality is well known, France is also eager to regain the Savoy region. Since France formed an alliance with Austria, the focus of France's expansion in Europe has been on Savoy and Nice in the south.
.
On the surface, the Duke of Choiseul is still trying his best to expand the war in Italy. If the Kingdom of Sardinia tears up the peace treaty at this time, it will undoubtedly give the Kingdom of France a handle. The French army may be defeated in three days.
Will drive into Savoy.
The Savoy and Piedmont regions are the capital of the entire kingdom, and their importance is far from being comparable to that of Sardinia. If Savoy is abandoned in order to preserve Sardinia, Carlo Emanuele III himself
None of them could face the ancestors of the Savoy dynasty in the sky.
"But...!"
The Foreign Secretary wanted to say something more, but Carlo Emanuele III was impatient to listen.
He also had to admit that Laurence Bonaparte's treaty was drawn up just right. While the lion opened his mouth, he also controlled the intensity just above his own bottom line.
This chapter is not over, please click the next page to continue reading! If the treaty requires the cession of Savoy to France, then Carlo Emanuele III would rather risk being overthrown by a mob of two hundred thousand people.
We must defend Turin, and even if Turin is lost, we must order Prince Vittorio to resist to the end.
But if it is Sardinia, this island was originally a spoil of war obtained by the kingdom from the War of Spanish Succession. Its greatest role is only to turn over some financial revenue to the kingdom and provide a kingdom title.
As for Nice, when it held Sardinia, this seaport city was the kingdom's most important trade outlet. However, now that Sardinia is about to be ceded to the Corsicans, the importance of this city has been greatly reduced.
Already.
There were only two people in the empty throne room, the Foreign Minister and the King. Carlo Emanuele III quietly looked at the treaty in his hand without saying a word, but in fact he knew that he had nothing to do with the Corsican people.
To be continued...