**Chapter 95**
(95/180)
**The Mexican-French War (10)**
‘It’s ironic.’
Many gathered in London. The exiled Orleans dynasty, defeated by our Mexico and driven out in a revolution. I, the Crown Prince of the victorious Mexican Empire. And the French Provisional Government’s Foreign Minister, who came to beg for an end to the war, despite the revolution being successful.
The French Provisional Government’s Foreign Minister who came was Etienne Moreau.
‘He’s a very cooperative figure for our military intelligence agents.’
I’m really curious what expression he’ll make when he finds out that the man he knows as Lucien Dufont is actually Juan Ramirez, a spy for the Mexican Empire, but that shouldn’t happen.
That’s why I knew Juan Ramirez’s face, having done a great service this time, but I pretended not to know him.
Instead, I started the conversation with a surprised tone.
“A revolution while the war isn’t even over? The French really love revolutions.”
It was truly a surprising event. It’s true that I had spent a fortune through my military intelligence agents to instigate a revolution, but the exact timing was scheduled for after the end of the war. I didn’t know if it could proceed this quickly.
‘I never thought a revolution would happen right after the second defeat.’
It ended while I was crossing the Atlantic with the Mexican fleet, so it was a truly swift victory. It was a revolutionary speed that truly made the title of “nation of revolution” not seem strange.
“*Ahem*. That’s our French situation, so I’d like to talk only about ending the war here.”
Etienne Moreau said with an uncomfortable look.
“Well, alright. Prime Minister, please proceed.”
I handed the reins over to the British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, who had arranged this negotiation.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. Now, shall we begin?”
Unlike the French officials, whose faces were filled with anxiety, the Mexican and British officials were relaxed.
“Wait! Before that, I’d like to agree that fighting will cease while this negotiation is ongoing.”
Etienne Moreau couldn’t hide his anxious look. It’s wrong for him, a skilled politician, to show his emotions in this diplomatic negotiation, but our Mexican Empire’s fleet is currently destroying the French fleet, which was under repair in Brest harbor, so he has reason to be anxious.
Lord Melbourne, hearing Moreau’s urgent suggestion, asked me.
“Is that alright with you, Your Majesty?”
From his perspective, it would be better for us to keep destroying the French fleet without stopping, but he asked me for my opinion.
It’s because we already have an agreement.
“If you adequately reflect the price of us Mexicans stopping the battle unilaterally in a situation that is clearly in our favor, we will stop.”
“What kind of price are you talking about?”
“Our Mexican Empire can’t occupy mainland France, but we can destroy the entire French Imperial fleet. That means we can also blockade the harbor. Wouldn’t it be fair to give us about half of the fleet that would have been completely destroyed as the price for stopping that?”
“You’re asking for half of the fleet that remains in France, just for stopping the battle during the negotiation period?”
Moreau asked, looking bewildered, but France was the one in a difficult position.
“If you don’t like it, you can refuse. I don’t know how long this negotiation will last.”
Will they lose the entire remaining fleet, or will they hand over half of it to their enemy, Mexico, and salvage at least half?
Moreau surprisingly made a quick decision to that question.
“…Alright! I’ll accept it, so please give the order right now!”
It’s only been a day since I arrived in England, and since the Mexican fleet started attacking Brest harbor. As a naval port, it must have coastal defense facilities, and they must be in the process of suppressing them, so if they stop now, they can save most of the fleet.
“Oh, you’re quick to decide. We have a steam-powered communication ship on standby that can deliver messages very quickly, so the attack will cease within three hours.”
It was the same communication ship that Juan, who was sitting next to Moreau, used to send secret messages to our Mexican homeland. As soon as I finished speaking, Diego instructed the messenger to send an order to cease the attack.
“Good. It’s a very cooperative atmosphere from the start.”
When Lord Melbourne said that, Moreau was the first to speak.
“If you end the war here, we’ll completely nullify the debt, which was the justification for the war, and cede the islands in the Caribbean to Mexico. And as we agreed earlier, we’ll also hand over half of the remaining fleet. What do you say?”
It was an unreasonable condition.
“You don’t seem to have any intention of ending the war. With those conditions, I’m leaving this place.”
Even without attacking, the mere fact that the Mexican Empire’s fleet is pressing France in the waters off their coast is a huge burden on the Provisional Government.
“Now, wait…”
I left the room, saying that we would talk again the next day, leaving Moreau, who was flustered, behind.
After all, time is on my side.
***
Day 4 of negotiations.
“…If you had told us your desired conditions from the beginning, it would have been better.”
Moreau said with a deflated face when we reached a certain level of agreement.
“Would you have readily agreed if I had?”
“…That’s.”
“No, you wouldn’t. We would have had to engage in a tiresome debate. After all, it’s going to end like this.”
I didn’t want to engage in a marathon negotiation that would be a waste of breath.
I listened to their proposal, said it wasn’t enough, and left the negotiation room, and Lord Melbourne urged them to offer better conditions if they wanted to bring the negotiation to a successful conclusion.
Four days passed. During that time, Moreau communicated with the French Provisional Government and revised the conditions, and the result was as follows:
1. France will admit and apologize for invading Mexico on the pretext of a debt that doesn’t even exist.
2. France will cede all its colonies in the Caribbean and America to Mexico.
3. France will cede all rights to Haiti to Mexico.
4. France will pay Mexico 35 million pesos in war reparations.
5. France will cede half of its remaining fleet to Mexico.
There were a total of five clauses.
“Anyway, is this enough?”
“There’s one thing missing. Our Mexico wouldn’t have ended the war if England hadn’t mediated. This negotiation was successful thanks to England, so there should be compensation for the mediation.”
Unlike the past four days, where Lord Melbourne urged me to offer Mexico better conditions, this time I urged England to be compensated.
“…Compensation?”
I added one clause without saying anything.
6. France will cede its African colonies to England as compensation for mediation.
The interpreter conveyed what I had written in Spanish to Moreau.
“Ha, it was all decided beforehand.”
He muttered helplessly and signed the treaty document.
***
“Victory!”
News of victory swept through the Mexican Empire.
Everyone in the Mexican Empire was ecstatic at the news.
Mexico had defeated France, which had once made all of Europe tremble.
“Long live the Emperor! Long live the Iturbide dynasty!”
National pride soared to the heavens, and celebrations were held throughout the Mexican Empire, including Mexico City.
“The people are so enthusiastic.”
The cheers and praise of the citizens of Mexico City reached the palace.
“Isn’t that right?”
My father said with a happy smile.
We’re always so busy with work that we barely have time to have a drink, but today we decided to have a drink together, just my father and me.
“Well, the government had been preparing for this war for a long time, but the people didn’t know.”
When the news of France’s declaration of war came, a tense atmosphere had pervaded the entire Mexican Empire. That worry and anxiety turned into joy over victory, so it’s no wonder the people are ecstatic.
“Yes. In that sense, it’s a bit of a shame that the election was held before the war ended.”
“It’s a bit of a shame, but I think it’s fortunate that the timing wasn’t the worst. It was held right after the victory in the first battle.”
The election was held in February 1840. The war wasn’t over, but we had won the first battle, and news had spread that France was gathering its fleet again.
The election results were 90 seats for the Imperial Party, 53 for the Landowner Party, and 58 for the Republican Party.
Considering that the last election resulted in 77 seats for the Imperial Party, 61 for the Landowner Party, and 63 for the Republican Party, it was definitely a good result, but my father seemed a bit disappointed.
“It’s not a bad result, but I’m a little disappointed because it seems like the Imperial Party could have won a majority if the election were held now.”
It’s true that if the election were held right now, the Imperial Party could secure over 101 seats.
“Well, we can look forward to the next election. There are variables, though.”
“The constitutional amendment won’t be unfavorable to us. It’ll be advantageous, actually.”
“I’m hoping for that too.”
It’s been over 15 years since the constitution was enacted. The Mexican Empire has changed drastically in that time.
Right after independence, it was a weak government that was only an empire in name, barely controlling Mexico City and its surrounding area, but now it has a strong central government worthy of the name “empire.”
My father took a sip of his drink and said.
“201 seats are too small now. 12 years is too short too.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Didn’t South Korea in my previous life have 300 members of parliament? The population is still smaller, but the territory is over 50 times larger than our Mexican Empire, so it’s too small to have only 201 members of parliament.
‘Considering the size of the country, it’s right to go to a bicameral system eventually, but I’ll think about that later.’
Considering that one state is 200,000 to 300,000 square meters, and California, New Mexico, and Texas are even larger, we will need members of parliament who can represent the states, not just based on population, but that’s not a big need right now.
‘The population is still too small, even for now.’
There isn’t much meaning in dividing into the upper and lower houses. That’s why I’m going to keep the unicameral system for now, but I’m going to adjust the number of seats.
“We said the number of seats would be one of 251, 301, or 351, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then it would be best to make it 301. 251 is too small, and 351 is still too big.”
“Yes, I thought that would be about right.”
I also plan to relax the term limits for members of parliament. Initially, I suggested to my father that members of parliament should serve a maximum of three terms, a total of 12 years, because I was worried that if people started to serve six, seven, eight, or even nine terms, like in South Korea, politics would become stagnant.
The problem is that my judgment, that 12 years would be long enough, turned out to be too short in retrospect. All the members of parliament who were elected in the first election have stepped down, and even Robert, a young man, is serving his third term and is done.
This has been decided after gathering opinions from various members of parliament, to change it to five terms, a maximum of 20 years.
“Alright, we’ve already talked a lot about the constitutional amendment, so there’s no need to talk about it anymore. This time, you’re going to send military intelligence agents to Haiti?”
“Yes. We’ve gained experience instigating a revolution in France, so it should proceed according to plan.”
France had claimed 150 million francs from Haiti. Haiti begged and begged and got it down to 90 million francs, but there’s no way Haiti could pay that exorbitant amount.
In my previous life, Haiti had to pay 80% of its national budget to France for 120 years, and even then they couldn’t pay it off, but thanks to US intervention, they were finally able to get their debt forgiven in 1947.
Naturally, Haiti remained one of the poorest countries in the world and suffered until modern times. As far as I remember, soon after, the Dominican Republic, which was a Spanish colony in the east, revolted and broke away.
The Dominican Republic, which broke away, became richer than Haiti, but it was just as politically chaotic, with the president changing 50 times in 90 years, and the people suffered greatly during that time.
‘Wouldn’t it be better if it became part of our Mexico?’
It’s not a colony.
Like Cuba, where we’re building a large railway network that circles the entire island, we’ll develop it as part of our Mexico and make its residents prosperous. And it’s right next to Cuba, isn’t it?
Hispaniola is a truly tempting island. It’s the second largest island in the Caribbean in terms of area, and it has farms that France and Spain have cultivated for a long time, along with hundreds of thousands of people.
If our Mexican Empire acquires it, we’ll have an even tighter grip on the Caribbean Sea, which would be great.
France, and some local power holders, will hate it, but it’s a good thing for everyone else.
My father approved my plan, and the agents who had gained experience in France with Juan Ramirez were sent to Haiti.