Chapter 205: ,pit

"You are taking my time to bargain with me." Napoleon said.
Metternich didn't make a sound, which was acquiescence.
"But this condition is still not good enough." Napoleon shook his head. "Just this benefit is not enough to think you won such a decent peace."
"So what do you suggest, General?" Metternich asked. He was ready to bribe Napoleon, because they knew one thing from all the Italian states, that is, General Napoleon Bonaparte was a man who loved money.
"Mr. Metternich, do you remember how Spain withdrew from the war?" Napoleon said with a smile.
Metternich was surprised at first, then rejoiced in his heart.
Spain withdrew from the war on the condition of an alliance with France. Therefore, it successfully evaded the cede indemnity package. If it is in this way, then...especially Russia has just mingled with France not long ago. If at this time, the French and Austria are allied, then the Russians...How could the French make such a request?
"Of course it is impossible for you to obtain the Spanish terms. If we follow the Spanish terms completely, our Russian friends will be unhappy." Napoleon's next sentence broke Metternich's illusion and proved Napoleon's inexorableness. No head dizzy.
"The general, what do you mean?" Metternich felt that the meeting seemed to have exceeded his expectations and ran out of his preset battlefield. This made him a little flustered, because the appearance of this kind of situation meant in a sense that he lost the initiative in the negotiation.
"To achieve long-term peace between our two countries, we cannot rely solely on a piece of paper agreement. You know, agreements are often unreliable. Between our country and your country, there are too many such things, and finally Not yet... Well, don’t rush to defend your country. After signing the agreement, both our country and your country have indeed done a lot of things that went beyond the agreement. You see, such things are often difficult to avoid. Yes, and the accumulation of this kind of things may completely destroy the relationship between the two countries and cause the peace agreement to become a piece of waste paper. If we want to talk about peace again today, we should naturally avoid this result as much as possible in advance. ."
After Napoleon said this, he leaned back on the soft back of the chair, smiling while waiting for Metternich to digest the meaning of his words.
If it were Prime Minister Metternich many years later in the original history, or even Metternich, the ambassador to France a few years later, they might see something implied in Napoleon’s words, but at this time Metternich was still too young, too naive. He did not really understand where the sharp knife was hidden in Napoleon’s smile, and he could only answer in a very general way: "As long as our two countries can uphold the love..."
"No, Mr. Metternich, I'm afraid you haven't fully understood what I mean." Napoleon sat up straight, put his elbows on the table, and put his head on his fists and said, "goodwill And promises can’t guarantee anything, at least it’s not a long-term guarantee, because these things are not long-lasting. So'don’t swear by the moon' (the line in Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet", the next sentence is'It's fickle Yes, every month you make a profit and loss; if you swear by it, maybe your love is as impermanent as it'), what can be reliable, can really unite us, and let our friendship grow day by day Common interests. You see, since the peace between Spain and our country, the friendship between us has been increasing day by day. Isn’t a big reason behind this because the peace has benefited both of us? And we and Spain back then In the agreements reached between, I think there are some points that can be used for reference from each other."
"What do you mean specifically?" Metternich asked.
"A mutual trade agreement between us and Spain." Napoleon said.
This mutual trade agreement stipulates that France and Spain form a trading community, and the two sides give each other "Most Favored Nation Treatment" on an equal basis. According to this agreement, except for some goods, the two sides exempt or reduce tariffs on the other side’s goods. The tariffs imposed on any goods shall not exceed half of the tariffs on similar goods in any country other than the contracting country. Both parties agree to grant nationals of the other country to the country when they live, conduct business and engage in other legal activities in their own country and territory. The nationals have equal rights, and the merchant ships of the other side are given the same rights as their own ships. In addition, there are detailed content-specific rules such as mutual respect for intellectual property rights.
In general, this agreement is very equal whether it is literally or in actual content. It is a model of equality and mutual benefit. After the signing of this agreement, both Spanish and French businessmen have obtained more benefits.
But according to Joseph, this situation of equality and mutual benefit is actually only temporary. Soon, this equal and mutually beneficial trade agreement will become an unequal treaty. Because the "Zeus Project" has made great progress, and another "Hephaestus Project" is also steadily advancing. Now only stable coal and iron ore are needed. The success of these two plans is not a problem. Then France's production capacity will explode.
At that time, this equality and mutual benefit agreement will become an unequal treaty similar to the "Sino-U.S. Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation." It is equal in name, but in reality it is equivalent to an unequal treaty that completely colonizes the other side. Therefore, when signing this treaty with Spain, the French also deliberately extended the time limit of the treaty to 25 years. It also stipulates that after the expiry of the treaty, it will be automatically extended if there is no objection.
This kind of agreement is actually a huge trap. Even more frightening is that once this agreement is implemented, it will be very difficult to abolish it in the future. Let alone how strong the French army will be after the Industrial Revolution, even in Spain, this will be resolved by a large number of comprador classes formed by the Spanish who made money by selling French goods. Even, under certain circumstances, it is not impossible for the entire Spanish government to change from an economic vassal to a political vassal-once you fall into this trap, it will be difficult to climb out.
A few days ago, after Napoleon and Joseph met at Verdun, Joseph expected that it would not be long before the Austrians and Prussians would seek peace from France. So he especially emphasized to Napoleon that other issues can be discussed, but the issue of trade agreements must be implemented.
This trap, based on the technological revolution that will emerge in the future, is too concealed. Don't say that it is Metternich, who is not mature enough now, but a more old and cunning guy, such as an old fox like Talleyrand, can't really understand the truth in it.
So Metternich also didn't want to understand what was going on, but this time was not the time to make him hesitate. Because Napoleon spoke again:
"Regarding this incident, um, I have information about the trade agreement between France and Spain. This information is public. I believe you can find it easily if you want to, but it takes time. The most precious thing now is time. You can take this information back to discuss with your Excellency Grand Duke Carl. However, it must be fast. You know, the most valuable thing in your negotiation terms is time. Every additional second is spent. , It means that your bargaining chips have shrunk partly, and I naturally have the right to ask for more compensation. If I don’t wait for your reply before 12 noon tomorrow, I must start military operations."
Metternich stood up and left, because he was always thinking about the trade agreement in his mind, so he was a little bit distracted, and almost forgot to take the information about the French trade agreement that Napoleon gave him.
Metternich hurried back all the way, and when he saw Archduke Karl, it was already dark. Regardless of fatigue and hunger, Metternich directly relayed his contact with Napoleon to Archduke Karl.
Grand Duke Carl listened, thought for a while, and asked, "Has General Bonaparte made any other demands?"
"No, he just said that time is very precious now, and after finishing this, he asked me to come back and discuss with you immediately." Metternich replied.
Grand Duke Carl nodded and said: "It can be seen that ~EbookFREE.me~General Bonaparte attaches great importance to this trade agreement. Mr. Metternich, what else do you have about this trade agreement between the Spanish and the French? Understanding the starter
Metternich shook his head and said: "I don't know much about this agreement. However, it seems that the Spaniards don't have too many complaints about this agreement. From this point of view, there should not be too many problems with this agreement. Yes, your Excellency, I thought of a little bit on the way back. You know, the Bonaparte family is the upstart of France and also the famous rich. Their operators range from arms to shipbuilding, shipping, mining and other businesses. There are many. People say that their family is already the number one rich man in France. I wonder if they hope to pass this agreement..."
"This is also a possibility." Grand Duke Carl nodded. "I have heard some comments about General Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy. Many people have come to his greed. It is said that he did it just under the crown of the Pope. After reaching tens of millions of francs, most of them were swallowed up by him... Maybe, what you said was one reason."
"Your Excellency, the Bonaparte family will certainly have a very important position in France in the future, and they will even become the real masters of France. If our country has a lot of his wealth, then maybe our country is really real. It can be a lot safer." Metternich said, "In addition, I think we can attach some conditions like this..."
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