CHAPTER 500: CHAPTER 494: PROPAGANDA AND COGNITIVE WARFARE

"Your Majesty probably hasn’t retired for the night yet!"

Minister De Luyis, who quickly stepped down from the carriage, asked Mokal upon meeting him in the Tuileries Palace hall.

"Not yet! His Majesty is still working in the study." Mokal shook his head and replied to De Luyis, then deliberately lowered his voice to ask, "Lord De Luyis, did something happen for you to come here so late? If it’s bad news, could you report it tomorrow? His Majesty hasn’t had a good night’s sleep for several days!"

"Rest assured, I’m here to bring good news to His Majesty!" Minister De Luyis first assured Mokal that he wasn’t here to ruin the Emperor’s mood, then, in an excited tone, said, "The Imperial Army has engaged with the Russian Empire near the Silistra Fortress!"

"How is the situation? Did our forces win?" Mokal impatiently asked De Luyis.

"The Russian Imperial Army retreated to the north bank of the Danube River on the same night after a day’s battle with our forces!" De Luyis reported to Mokal.

"This is indeed good news!" Mokal immediately realized the significance of De Luyis’s news for the economically troubled Empire.

The Empire’s victory implies that short-term bonds’ prices may experience an upward trend, as the market would be filled with confidence in a victorious Empire.

"Quickly! Come with me! I’ll take you to see His Majesty!" An excited Mokal grabbed De Luyis’s shoulder and together they ascended the stairs, eager to report the news to Jerome Bonaparte.

Mokal and De Luyis arrived at the study door, where Mokal gently knocked.

After a moment, Jerome Bonaparte’s weary voice came from inside the room, "Who is it?"

"Your Majesty, it’s Mokal!" Mokal said, pressing close to the door.

"The door’s not locked; come in!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Mokal (De Luyis) outside the door.

The study door was pushed open by Mokal, revealing the figures of De Luyis and Mokal to Jerome Bonaparte.

Seeing De Luyis visiting so late at night, Jerome Bonaparte was first startled, then solemnly asked De Luyis, "Has there been good news from the Near East?"

De Luyis looked at Jerome Bonaparte in surprise; he couldn’t understand how Jerome Bonaparte knew he was going to report good news from the Near East.

Could it be that there really is foresight in this world?

Seeing De Luyis’s astonished expression, Jerome Bonaparte smiled and pointed at the clock in the corner, saying teasingly, "At this hour, someone who passes Mokal’s ’test’ to report news in the study likely brings no bad news. And since you mainly handle affairs in the Near East, your visit must be related to that region. Am I right, Minister De Luyis?"

"You’re absolutely right!" De Luyis said admiringly to Jerome Bonaparte, "I came late at night just to report on the situation in the Near East to Your Majesty."

"Quick! Let me see the telegraph!" Jerome Bonaparte said, getting up and addressing De Luyis.

De Luyis handed the telegraph to Jerome Bonaparte, who then instructed Mokal, "Mokal, quickly bring a kerosene lamp here! The lighting here is somewhat dim!"

"Yes!" Mokal hurriedly left the study to go to the storage room.

Jerome Bonaparte first piled all the documents on the desk onto the sofa, then retrieved a Near East map from a drawer.

Once Jerome Bonaparte had completely spread out the Near East map, Mokal returned to the study carrying a lit kerosene lamp.

The kerosene lamp’s orange-yellow glow brightly illuminated the entire map, as Jerome Bonaparte, standing beside it with a pencil, read the battle report from the telegraph and marked all the information on the map.

After repeatedly checking the consistency between the telegraph’s content and the map annotations, Jerome Bonaparte put down the telegraph, looked at the map’s marked arrow symbols, and said "good" several times.

From the telegraph’s content, Jerome Bonaparte learned about the battle scale near the Silistra Fortress and the deployment positions of Russian Empire’s forces on the Danube.

"Poor Nicolai, he probably doesn’t realize yet! After he ordered the retreat to the north bank of the Danube, what kind of outcome will he face! (Jerome Bonaparte didn’t know that this retreat was decided by Prince Paskevich without Nicholas I’s consent!)" Jerome Bonaparte said gloatingly to himself, then drew an ’×’ on the symbol representing the Russian Empire’s main forces in the Danube River region.

"Your Majesty, should we inform the Austrian Empire about the Imperial Army’s victory on the Danube River? This way, they can make the right choice sooner!" Minister De Luy asked Jerome Bonaparte.

"There’s no need to deliberately inform them! That would make it seem as if we’re begging them to join our camp!" Jerome Bonaparte lightly tapped his desk with his index finger and said, "We need to announce this victory with great fanfare so that everyone knows the French Empire has achieved a significant victory! At the same time, we will declare that France will conduct a goodwill visit to the Kingdom of Sardinia at the end of March. Only in this way will the Austrian Empire feel the pressure and be compelled to submit to us."

"If we put too much pressure on the Austrian Empire, I fear it may backfire!" Minister De Luy was somewhat concerned that the Austrian Empire would lean toward the Russian Empire.

"I believe the Austrian Empire is a nation that understands the situation! They will see clearly who truly dominates Europe!" Jerome Bonaparte said with an air of pride, "Speaking of pressure, the wounds my uncle inflicted on the Austrian Empire were far greater than what I’m doing now. Yet the Austrian Empire only dared to rebel when the Russian Imperial Army arrived. The Austrian Empire is more aware of the times than we thought!"

Jerome Bonaparte could responsibly say that no one in this world understood Joseph Franz, the "coward," better than he did. As long as he applied some hard-line measures, the Austrian Empire would naturally lean toward him.

In Europe, no country was as "forgetful" as the Austrian Empire; they could forget past enmities for their own interests.

If it weren’t for encountering a staunch anti-Austrian figure (historically Napoleon III), the flexible diplomacy of Austria might not have ended in the Austro-Prussian War (perhaps).

De Luy, who considered himself pro-Austrian, clearly did not understand Austria as well as Jerome Bonaparte did. Although he didn’t wholly agree with Jerome Bonaparte’s pressure on the Austrian Empire, out of respect for the Emperor’s authority, he was still willing to follow the Emperor’s orders.

"Mokar!" Jerome Bonaparte turned his gaze to Mokar and issued a command, "Go to the press immediately and have the editors rush to write and print overnight! This news must appear on today’s front page!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Mokar respectfully received the telegraph from Jerome Bonaparte and turned to leave the study.

"Minister De Luy!" Jerome Bonaparte addressed De Luy.

"Your Majesty!" De Luy bowed and responded.

"I wonder if you would be interested in having a drink with me?" Jerome Bonaparte invited De Luy.

"It would be an honor to enjoy fine wine with Your Majesty!" De Luy replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Then let’s go!"

Jerome Bonaparte and De Luy, one after the other, left the study, walked through the quiet corridor, descended the stairs, and reached the dining room on the first floor.

After a while, a small cart pushed all the dishes in front of Jerome Bonaparte and De Luy, with each person served three dishes (foie gras, snails, and caviar with baguette).

Wine from the Bordeaux Region was poured into glasses, and Jerome Bonaparte and De Luy clinked their glasses.

After taking a sip of red wine, Jerome Bonaparte asked, "Minister De Luy, what do you think of Vienna?"

De Luy put down his glass and cautiously responded, "Your Majesty, do you mean the scenery of Vienna or the Vienna government?"

"Both," Jerome Bonaparte replied to De Luy.

"Although I haven’t been to Vienna personally, I hope to visit there one day. As for the Vienna government, my understanding is limited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," De Luy responded carefully to Jerome Bonaparte.

"If... I mean, if..." Jerome Bonaparte emphasized a bit, "If you were appointed as the French Ambassador to Austria, would you be willing to go to Austria?"

De Luy looked blankly at Jerome Bonaparte, knowing that the "if" spoken by Jerome Bonaparte was likely to become a reality.

Thinking about the possibility of leaving his ministerial position, De Luy showed a bitter smile and asked, "Your Majesty, can you tell me who will replace me?"

Jerome Bonaparte was silent for a while, then said, "I want Valerovsky to serve as the Minister of Foreign Affairs!"

"I believe Mr. Valerovsky will become a more excellent minister than I am!" Somehow, after saying this, De Luy felt an inexplicable sense of loss.

"Minister De Luy, when you leave this position, I will grant you the honors and titles you deserve!" Jerome Bonaparte assured De Luy, "Moreover, your tenure as ambassador won’t be too long!"