Make France Great Again-Chapter 978 - 969: Suppressing the War Ministry

"Minister Vayan, your actions are wantonly squandering the diplomatic credibility of our French Empire!" De Luyss sternly reprimanded Vayan.

Vayan was not the type to be easily bullied either; he defiantly retorted, "Minister Luyis, you are sacrificing the interests of the French Empire for the sake of your Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ reputation!"

Faced with the argument between Minister Vayan and Minister De Luyss, Jerome Bonaparte’s expression showed particular impatience.

Thus, Jerome Bonaparte slammed the document heavily on the table, prompting Minister Vayan and Minister De Luyss to stop.

Seeing no further movement from the two, Jerome Bonaparte snorted coldly and in a stern tone asked, "Finished arguing? If not, I can lend you the study to continue your quarrel!

Whenever both of you are finished! That’s when I’ll return!

This way both of you should be satisfied, right!"

"Your Majesty, I apologize for my overly intense remarks earlier! Please forgive me!" Minister Vayan sincerely apologized to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Your Majesty, please forgive my rude behavior earlier!" Minister De Luyss also responded to Jerome Bonaparte with an apology.

Only then did Jerome Bonaparte lift his head to glance at De Luyss, and then at Vayan.

He then sighed helplessly and said to them, "I don’t understand, the combined age of you two exceeds a century, and you’ve been through many ups and downs!

How could you have acted so unruly just now? Is it because as a monarch I’ve given you too much freedom, thus encouraging your audacity!"

Within the court of the Second Empire, one could hardly sense the rigid ceremonies and stern hierarchical system of the old monarchy.

So much so that everyone invited to the Tuileries Palace experiences a refreshing feeling.

In front of such a court and monarch, each minister is more or less indulgent.

"We do not dare!" Minister De Luyss and Minister Vayan lowered their heads to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Hmm! Do not dare! Good!" Jerome Bonaparte snorted coldly and then changed the topic, "I summon both of you to the Tuileries Palace to seek common ground amidst differences and jointly find a solution, not to let you here accuse each other!"

De Luyss and Vayan nodded to indicate their understanding.

Jerome Bonaparte then turned his gaze to Minister Vayan, "Vayan, since this is a suggestion from your Ministry of War, I want to hear your opinion!

How does your military department plan to partition the Kingdom of Morocco?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Your Majesty, after careful discussion by the Ministry of War, it is believed..." As Vayan spoke, he glanced around, seemingly searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" Jerome Bonaparte asked in response.

Minister Vayan showed a shy smile and inquired to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, do you have a map of the Kingdom of Morocco here?"

"I don’t have such a thing here!" Jerome Bonaparte replied irritably, then called Bashirio: "Now, go to the Ministry of War and bring a military map of the Kingdom of Morocco!

Remember, be quick!"

"Yes!"

After Bashirio swiftly left, Jerome Bonaparte turned to Minister Vayan and Minister De Luyss, saying, "Let’s sit here and wait a while!"

Minister Vayan and Minister De Luyss both nodded, and Jerome Bonaparte stood up from the sofa, went to the desk, opened the drawer, and took out the last remaining box of Havana cigars before returning to the sofa.

Jerome Bonaparte opened the cigar box and took out two cigars, handing them to De Luyss and Vayan.

The two carefully accepted the cigars from Jerome Bonaparte, who then tossed the matchbox he carried onto the table and drew out another cigar before sitting on the sofa.

De Luyss and Minister Vayan quickly reached out for the matchbox on the table, with De Luyss ultimately grabbing it first.

He lit the cigar for Jerome Bonaparte first, then for Minister Vayan and himself.

Soon, the entire room was filled with white smoke, although the smoke produced by Havana cigars compared to traditional cigarettes was not too irritating.

After about 3 or 4 more minutes, Jerome Bonaparte rose once again, this time walking over to the window, opening it, allowing a rush of cold wind to blow into the room, dispersing the smoke, and clearing his slightly dazed mind.

Considering De Luyss and Vayan’s ages (one nearing 50, the other already over 50), Jerome Bonaparte, standing by the window, turned and asked De Luyss and Vayan how they felt and if they needed the window closed.

De Luyss and Vayan shook their heads indicating they did not need it.

Jerome Bonaparte turned around and returned to the sofa, and when he sat down again, a knock on the door came to Jerome Bonaparte’s ears.

"Come in!" Jerome Bonaparte raised his voice towards the door.

The door slowly opened, and Bashirio appeared in front of Jerome Bonaparte.

At the same time, he held a rolled-up military map in his hand.

"Your Majesty!" Bashirio walked to the sofa and spread the military map on the table.

"Minister Vayan, please proceed!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Minister Vayan.

Minister Vayan nodded and then pointed to the northern Moroccan stronghold of Tetouan, "Your Majesty, after extensive discussions between our Ministry of War and the Colonial Department, it’s been determined that France can let the Kingdom of Spain govern the territories north of Tetouan, except for Daniel!

The remaining territories will be merged into the Algeria Province under the direct leadership of the French Empire government!"

As Jerome Bonaparte watched the territory indicated by Minister Vayan, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

When comparing the territory marked by Minister Vayan with the lands held by the Kingdom of Morocco, it becomes clear that the territory allocated to the Kingdom of Spain is less than one-tenth of the French territory.

Such a division would be unacceptable not only to the Spaniards but also to Jerome Bonaparte himself.

This division by Minister Vayan is nothing short of an open insult to the Kingdom of Spain.

Among the territories allocated by Minister Vayan, only three cities have relatively large populations: Tetouan, Ceuta, and Tangier.

Furthermore, the Kingdom of Spain already occupies Ceuta, which means the Spanish Kingdom’s deployment of over 20,000 troops only yields one city, Tetouan.

If the current leader of the Spanish military government, Prime Minister O’Donell, agrees to General Vayan’s terms, then his role as Prime Minister would effectively end.

[*General O’Donell, who came to power in 1857, was a well-known military leader within the Kingdom of Spain. In an effort to restore the military government’s reputation among the public, O’Donell opted for a successful expedition to recover the social order nearly shattered by the Liberals. It was through his efforts that the Kingdom of Spain chose to ally with the French Empire to act against the Kingdom of Morocco.*]

To maintain the friendship between the Kingdom of Spain and France, Jerome Bonaparte would never allow O’Donell to fall from power.

"Minister Vayan, your actions are simply insulting to the Kingdom of Spain!" Jerome Bonaparte bluntly responded to Minister Vayan, "This territory is disproportionate to their efforts!"

"Your Majesty, it was entirely through the efforts of the French Empire that the Kingdom of Morocco’s army was defeated in this battle!

When our forces stormed the Rabat Royal Palace, the Spanish forces had just reached the corner of Tetouan’s walls!" Minister Vayan confidently replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "I believe it is entirely reasonable to allocate Tetouan to them!"

"De Luyis, what do you think?" Jerome Bonaparte turned his gaze to De Luyis.

"Your Majesty, I still insist on adhering to the original agreement!

The northern part of Morocco should be handed over to the Kingdom of Spain!" De Luyis replied firmly to Jerome Bonaparte, "We cannot break our agreement with the Kingdom of Spain! Even if it is only a verbal agreement! Territories can always be acquired elsewhere! If our diplomatic credibility is lost, we will be severely restricted!

Your Majesty, I cannot let the diplomatic relationship we’ve worked hard to build with the Kingdom of Spain be ruined in an instant!"

"Minister Luyis, you are letting the blood of hundreds of French soldiers be spilled on foreign soil!" Minister Vayan further criticized De Luyis.

This time, Jerome Bonaparte reprimanded, "Vayan, discussions should be conducted appropriately!

Don’t oversimplify matters or suggest that French soldiers’ blood is being spilled on foreign lands!

By your standards, the Crimean War I led would receive a similar assessment in your eyes!"

"No, it’s not like that!" Minister Vayan shook his head in response to Jerome Bonaparte, "The Crimean War and this war are very different!"

"Different, how are they different?" Jerome Bonaparte asked rhetorically, "I ceded Poland and part of Finland from the Russian Empire, giving them to Austria and Sweden! For what purpose?"

Jerome Bonaparte paused, then continued, "Wasn’t it to have them stand with us?

If we could do it back then, why can’t we do it again now?

...

I’ve always said, our French Empire must increase its friends and decrease its enemies!

This way, we can gain the support of more countries!

I’ve repeated it many times; solo actions are no longer suitable for this era!"