"Your Majesty, the extremely noble Emperor, you only need to ennoble me as a dispensable knight. I don't need you to specially reward the knight leader. I can become your pawn. Why not?"
"I can contribute 100,000 US dollars in lord taxes to His Majesty every year. It will not be turned over to the national treasury, but will become your private property."
One hundred thousand dollars? You'll get excited talking about Maximiliano I.
The current political situation in Europe is unstable, and kings are being pushed to be beheaded every day. Many kings have begun to sell cheap titles that are not hereditary.
What's more, hereditary titles are even sold in the name of marriage.
With one hundred thousand dollars a year, you can buy a hereditary title in Europe, and even marry the second daughter of a duke!
He is really an American country bumpkin who has been dazzled by the title. He actually wants to pay one hundred thousand dollars a year for a small knighthood?
Forget about being a knight, I can give you the title of Barbarian Duke of America.
Maximilian I still tried his best to maintain the restraint expected of a thousand-year-old European nobleman, but his unnaturally straight body still exposed his inner thoughts.
"Your Majesty, see for yourself, here is my war plan."
"Uh-huh!"
"This is a strategic location in my opinion."
"Uh-huh!"
"When the time comes, I will send one hundred thousand elites to take only this place."
"Uh-huh!"
Seeing the deposit of US$500,000 that Tom's entourage put forward, Maximiliano I could no longer hold back and kept nodding "Yeah", indicating "You're right".
This is not to blame Maximilian I for being greedy.
Where was Maximilian I born?
One of the largest families in Europe - the Habsburg-Lorraine family.
Where was his birthplace - Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna.
What is the status of the elder brother - Emperor of the Austrian Empire?
And what is Maximiliano's situation now?
None of the palaces I live in now has a toilet as well repaired as the Schönbrunn Palace.
All funds came from charity from the Second French Empire, and he was completely left out.
If he hadn't lost face, Maximilian I would have fled back to Europe.
This solid half a million dollars was too tempting for Maximiliano I, who now had no real power.
Of course, Tom's participation in the war is not something that he, a puppet emperor, can say.
We also need to see if the French Second Empire behind him agrees.
"Your Majesty, don't worry, this five hundred thousand is a gift. Even if things don't work out and I don't become the knight vanguard of the supreme Habsburg family, I am willing to dedicate it to the Habsburg family, which is as dazzling as the sun. .”
"Is this true?"
"Even if I am not a nobleman and have no bloodline to speak of, I am willing to swear in the name of my grandfather without any hesitation!"
"Then what are you waiting for? Quickly send the message to the Foreign Minister of the Second French Empire - Minister Henri René de Talleyrand to come to the conference room for a detailed discussion!"
Several messengers walked out of the conference room and went to find the permanent ambassador of the Second French Empire in the Second Empire of Mexico and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Second French Empire - Minister Henry René de Talleyrand.
That great-grandfather was Prince Benifanto - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand - the current Foreign Minister of the Second French Empire - Minister Henri René de Talleyrand walked in in the conference room.
Here I have to mention the domestic current situation of the Second French Empire.
The ruler of the Second French Empire was undoubtedly Napoleon I's nephew, Napoleon III, Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte.
In the current French Second Empire, Napoleon III is reforming the imperial system. He wants to limit imperial power in the constitution, appropriately delegate power to parliament, and reduce the monarch's own power in order to gain the support of the bourgeoisie.
The idea is undoubtedly advanced in this era, but it is troublesome to implement.
The largest opposition to reform in France was Napoleon III's wife, Empress Eugenie, commonly known as the Empress Faction led by Empress Eugenie de Montijo.
(Queen’s full name: Maria Eugenia Ignacia Agustina de Palafos-Portocarero de Guzman-Kirkpatrick)
It’s not that the Queen’s Faction does not support Napoleon III’s position as emperor, they are a faction that supports Napoleon III’s strengthening of centralization. They hope that Napoleon III will centralize power, centralize power, and then centralize power. They are the number one vanguard against Napoleon III’s delegation of power to Parliament, and the group that most resists the delegation of power.
Batch people.
Most of the Queen's faction are new nobles entrusted by Napoleon I and Napoleon III. They know that the weakening of monarchy will inevitably affect their status. They all want a stronger monarchy system so that they can have greater power and live a better life.
A more luxurious life.
This is the common interest of the Queen's faction. Their interests are based on the monarchy of the Napoleonic royal family.
At the same time, until World War II, there were a large number of royalists in France who supported the Bourbon dynasty.
The royalists don't even recognize you, the emperor of the Bonaparte family, and you still want to give up the monarchy that should not belong to you?
Henry René de Talleyrand, as the great-grandson of Prince Benifant, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, and the son of a family that has been passed down for thousands of years, is undoubtedly the
The royalist faction, and recently they have been in cahoots with the queen faction.
The vast majority of royalists believe that if power is really given to the bourgeois group of nouveau riche, it will be an insult to monarchy, a threat to feudal power, and a threat to the rule of these thousand-year-old nobles - from ancient times to the present.
Impact on legal legitimacy.
Most of the current royalists have colluded with the queenists for common interests, and have joined forces to protest Napoleon III's "decentralization behavior."
Henri René de Talleyrand is the full name of the French Foreign Minister. He did not have his great-grandfather's vast fiefdom named Périgord, so he did not have Périgord as the suffix of his surname.
"Minister René, this is our first meeting, hello!"
"Hello, I don't know what you are doing here, Mr. Tom? I haven't received the information you want to visit before?"
"Didn't His Majesty Emperor Maximilian I tell you that I was coming? I have made countless enemies in the country. I was afraid that the descendants of those English sissies of the Yankees would assassinate me at sea, so I didn't tell you widely."
"English sissies can indeed do this kind of thing. Those sissies never dare to compete with me, France, on land. They only know how to stand behind others and do evil in secret!"
"I am also forced to have no choice! I also want to visit the royal members of the supreme Habsburg family openly. I even want to go to France to make offerings to the long-established Bourbon royal family and pray for a title, but the Yangki sissy will act like
Their ancestors, the English sissies, were secretly doing evil!"
Since the Hundred Years War, France and England have fought hundreds of battles, large and small, and it goes without saying that they despise each other.
Look at Tom's sincere "admiration" of the Bourbons and Habsburgs and his mindless belittling of English sissies.
Minister René chose to forgive Tom, an "American royalist" person, and his "secret visit" that was not in line with aristocratic etiquette.
"I am different from those savage Yankees who do not respect the monarchy. I visited His Majesty Emperor Maximiliano I just to become a knight who leads the way. I want to spread the monarchy and feudal system to every corner of America and even the world.
.”
"Knight? You?"
"Of course, as long as I can become a knight of His Majesty Maximilian I, I will definitely be able to make great achievements, just like every traditional European nobleman, like the twelve saints who followed Charlemagne in the war.
Like a samurai, I will conquer the east and west for His Majesty Emperor Maximilian I!"
"Then my friend Mr. Tom, what do you want?"
"What are you talking about, Minister René? I just want to be a glorious knight!"
"It's not good to be dishonest between friends, Mr. Tom."
"I am very honest. For my efforts, the return I ask for is minimal. You also know that I also know how to give benefits to my seniors."
The expressions of "pork-laughing" between Tom and Rene betrayed their inner consensus of interests.
Seeing that the other party had the same "pork smile" as his own, Tom knew that it was done.
Maximilian I also believed what Tom said, and the reward he asked for was a small reward.
One hundred thousand US dollars per year and half a million US dollars in meeting gifts, which in Europe would make you a duke or count.
Now that I have only purchased a knight's position, I still need to fight for the territory on my own. What is the return if it is not a small reward?
Maximilianno I looked at Minister René's expression similar to Tom's, and secretly admired Minister René for being the Foreign Minister of the Second French Empire. He had learned the etiquette of the wilderness of Texas.
