**Chapter 97**
**Aftermath of War (2)**
"Ha, a royal wedding? Mexico and Prussia?"
Lord Melbourne, the British Prime Minister, scoffed.
"The Iturbide family's standing has risen significantly. A marriage to the Hohenzollerns?"
"Yes, they won against France, after all."
"It's not exactly good news for us in England."
This royal wedding essentially meant an alliance, making the two countries strong allies.
The aide nodded and said.
"You're worried about the acceleration of Prussia's German unification movement."
"That's right. Prussia unifying Germany and the emergence of another powerful nation on the European continent would be of no benefit to England."
"Couldn't we try to check Prussia now?"
England, while wary of Prussia's German unification movement, had largely refrained from direct intervention. This was because they were more focused on expanding their overseas colonies and maritime trade than directly intervening in the European continent.
As the aide suggested, if he, the Prime Minister, created public opinion to check Prussia, it might be possible to directly check them. But was it the right direction to use England's national power?
"Hmm... I don't think it's necessary. It's our British Empire's policy to manage the world beyond the European mainland, rather than its internal affairs."
Lord Melbourne, after briefly considering how to respond to the royal wedding between the Mexican Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, concluded that, like most Britons of this era, Africa and Asia were priorities over the European continent.
It was fine as long as no single country in the European continent became a hegemon. That meant that they only needed to check the most ambitious country, and after the fall of Napoleon, the target was Russia.
"Yes, the Mexican Empire is very cooperative with us, so I don't think we need to worry too much. Didn't we get the entire French African colony as a mediator's fee?"
Lord Melbourne recalled the face of the Mexican Crown Prince he had met in London, noticing his aide's answer, which reflected his superior's decision to simply let it go.
"Hmm. Cooperative? It's true they're cooperative, but it's not a one-sided gain for us in England. We also had to give up Belize and the islands in the Caribbean, so it's more like an exchange of colonies. The problem is that most members of Congress don't see it that way."
Unlike the British people and even the members of Congress, who thought it was a one-sided deal that benefited England, the Mexican Crown Prince's proposal was very meticulous.
The more you thought about the proposal, the more it was delicately adjusted, making it difficult to accept but also making it a shame to refuse.
"But even if you combine Belize and the islands in the Caribbean, they're not worth half of Algeria, are they?"
"Yes. Everyone just looks at the size of the territory painted on the map. But if you look closer, it's not like that."
They're giving the entire French African colony to England. It sounds grand, but France has only recently begun building colonies. The only colony worth anything in Africa was Algeria. There was a small outpost in Senegal, but it wasn't profitable.
On the other hand, Belize, which was not officially a British colony but was effectively controlled by Britain through agreements since the Spanish era, had been supplying high-quality timber for a long time, and Jamaica and the Caribbean colonies had established plantation farms for cash crops like sugar, cotton, coffee, and cocoa. In other words, they were colonies that generated real profits.
"And it's like giving up complete control of the Caribbean to Mexico, so it can't be called a one-sided gain for us."
"I see."
The aide nodded, as if he finally understood.
"Of course, it's not a bad deal for England. If it were, we wouldn't have accepted it. We gave up our influence in the Caribbean in exchange for gaining influence in the Mediterranean, which is more important."
It was a deal that they ultimately accepted because they thought it was slightly more beneficial to England, even though it was quite a difficult decision.
With the strongest competitor, France, out of the picture, wouldn't Africa be England's exclusive stage? Lord Melbourne had considered the future value.
"Yes, and didn't he also give us information about the new ships?"
"Ah, that's right. How long does it take to build them?"
When the Crown Prince saw that he was hesitating to accept the deal, he added some general information about the new ships, which were the decisive reason for his victory in the naval battle against France.
He didn't transfer the technology, he just shared the design philosophy he intended to use when building the ships, but that was enough for England.
Wasn't England the best shipbuilding nation in the world?
"I heard from the technicians that they can build those new ships in two years. But the cost... it seems like it will cost about 140,000 pounds."
"···140,000 pounds? That's enough to build two first-rate ships of the line."
It was a surprisingly expensive price, but they still had to build them.
The seas must remain under the British Empire's control.
***
"You're going to marry a foreign princess."
Cecilia stroked Carlos' head and said.
"Wow! A princess? I like it!"
Carlos just liked the word "princess." He seemed to have some kind of fantasy, probably because Cecilia read him a lot of fairy tales.
"It's good that he's not rejecting it. Well, he's not old enough to understand yet."
I decided to go ahead with the royal wedding, reflecting my grand strategy and the wishes of my father, mother, and Cecilia.
I plan to maintain relations with England as much as possible, but we can't rely on them forever. It's time for us to create our own independent foreign relations.
We can't go back with France, so we can interact with powerful nations like Prussia, Austria, and Russia, but choosing Russia, which is competing for hegemony with England, is tantamount to declaring war on England.
England wouldn't like it if we allied with Prussia or Austria, but they wouldn't have a reason to strongly oppose it either.
"It's not a permanent alliance."
Where are there permanent alliances between nations?
After organizing my thoughts, I enjoyed a peaceful time with Cecilia.
Carlos, my eldest son, was playing by himself, and Leo, my two-year-old son, was sleeping in his crib.
"Oh! The baby kicked. Did he react to the word 'princess'?"
Cecilia said.
"Hmm... Maybe?"
I stroked Cecilia's belly and said that, but deep down, I was desperately hoping for a princess this time.
I spent some time with my family during lunchtime and then returned to my office.
"You've been spending more time with your family lately."
"Haha, it's too precious to miss this time. You know that."
Diego, who was the same age as me, was also married and had a child.
"Yes, I'm glad I have more time to see my family."
I'm 33, still young and have a long way to go, but as Diego said, I'm spending more and more time with my family.
"Raising children well is very important, so you need to invest enough time. And even though you've reduced your workload, you're still working more than anyone else. You've been through a lot."
Diego had been working hard because of me, who was working like crazy. Before getting married, his waking hours were his working hours, and even after getting married, he only spent time with his family briefly in the morning and evening, working the rest of the time.
It was clearly excessive labor, even considering the times, but I couldn't rest easy, considering the reality of the Mexican Empire, which still had a long way to go. That began to change slowly after the victory against France.
"Your Majesty even bought me a house near the palace, so how could I complain? My commute is only 10 minutes."
"Hahaha, yeah, you should have taken it when I offered it. I've told you repeatedly that commute time has a huge impact on quality of life."
"Haha, that's right."
The fact that I can spend time with my family even though I'm working long hours is possible because my office is in the palace.
I travel frequently, but my commute is only five minutes on a normal day, so I have plenty of time.
I wanted to buy Diego a house near the National Palace so that he could enjoy this advantage as well, but he kept refusing, and he finally accepted recently.
"Alright, let's stop chatting."
"Yes, I have important news."
Diego handed me a document.
"It's a report from the intelligence unit."
"Yes, I haven't read it, but it's probably about the Haiti situation."
"That's right... Let's look at it together."
"Yes."
We had agents in Haiti, and this was their first report.
"They haven't done anything yet, it's just about the current situation in Haiti."
"Yes, the situation's not good, as expected."
Despite its hopeful title as the only successful slave revolution in history, Haiti's situation was dire.
The revolution was successful, and a black-led nation was born, but the economy was still in ruins, and they didn't know how to solve it. Meanwhile, a small number of elites and military leaders were monopolizing power and land.
We in Mexico, who received the bonds from France, had no intention of forgiving the debt, and as a result, 98% of the residents were living lives that were not much different from when they were slaves.
"‘Not much different from when they were slaves.’ It's an impressive phrase. If you reverse it, it means they feel 'still enslaved.' If that's the perception of the Haitian people, we can use it."
"Then, we can proceed as planned."
"Yes. The stories of the freed blacks in Texas and Cuba will work well."
Many blacks in Texas and Cuba received land through settlement immigration and became farmers, or they received benefits for urban immigration and became laborers.
The plantation owners had to pay wages similar to those of my companies to recruit farm workers, but they were able to manage their plantations thanks to the decreasing prices of various agricultural machinery, which reduced the demand for labor, and the increased productivity due to the effects of dams and irrigation facilities.
There's no need to rush. We're going to make these stories spread widely throughout Haitian society. That's the first step.
"Tell the intelligence unit to proceed as planned."
"Yes, I'll encrypt the order and send it."
"Alright. What about the constitutional amendment?"
"Roberto is bringing it up and gauging public opinion, but there are no members of Congress who oppose it, as it means increasing their term from a maximum of 12 years to 20 years."
No member of Congress would oppose increasing the number of seats and the term. There are other details that are being adjusted, but those two are the most important.
"Of course, that's right. What about the rest?"
"Everyone agrees that the administrative districts of the northern territory need to be reorganized, but they can't agree on the details."
At this point, when public support is strongest, I'm promoting one more project besides the constitutional amendment: reorganizing the administrative districts of the northern territory, which are treated as territories, and merging them into official states.
Over 40% of the Mexican Empire's territory is divided into just three territories.
I had left it alone because the population was too small, but now that the population is increasing rapidly, it's time to reorganize it.
I began to ponder how to divide this vast territory.