Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 270 Mr. Caulancourt's Failure

The Duke of Enghien was in the New World, but to outsiders, his daily routine at home in Edenheim remained unchanged.

When he was in Mexico City, he would never have thought that someone would come to his house with polite but ill intentions to ask him to come over.

Mr. Caulaincourt, who was carrying out this mission, did the same when he received instructions from Napoleon in Paris.

After all, the order did not specify how to deal with the arrogant Bourbon princes around him. At the same time, one thing can be confirmed that Napoleon had not figured out how to conduct the trial at that time, and it was not convenient for them to send people into the home of Duke Enghien in Edenheim.

After all, this duke has such a grand status that it is not easy for ordinary people to sneak in.

"What should we do?"

"Of course we knocked politely. If he didn't open the door, then we had to break it down and send someone in."

"General, is this a request?"

"We must be polite and courteous, and you should all understand what is going on."

Then, when they knocked on the door, no one responded, and they crossed the border between Baden and France. This cross-border law enforcement itself violates the basic principles of international relations.

Moreover, the grandsons-in-law of the Elector of Baden are the sons of the King of Bavaria, the Russian Tsar, the King of Sweden and the Duke of Brunswick. In terms of this relationship, except for Bavaria, the other forces are not friendly to France. Even the old Duke of Brunswick has a neutral working-class attitude.

Of course, if he was asked to work, he would do it. After all, his silly son married a princess of the exiled Dutch royal family. There was a reason for this.

But the French did it, and Napoleon was still confident in his own strength.

But after coming to nothing, Mr. Caulaincourt was a little amused when he saw a servant dressed as a duke.

"Where is the Duke of Enghien?"

"Sir, he left for America a few months ago and is not at home. I did this to reassure the master's fiancée."

"Is that so? Your master has gone to the New World. It's a long journey."

"And for a while, I won't come back here, maybe never."

"Well, then I have to leave a message to your master and explain why we are here. This is just an invitation."

As for Mr. Caulaincourt's failure to do his job well, the main problem was that the foreign intelligence was inaccurate.

But the fact that the Duke of Enghien was not captured and died by Napoleon did not stop the trend of European countries being wooed by Britain.

"That is to say, the Duke is not even in Europe now."

"Yes, and has been on a secret journey for several months."

"The person who did this is a genius, huh? Caulaincourt, as for why the Bourbon prince wanted to go to America, have you figured it out?"

"It is said that a Russian representative went to see him, and then made such an arrangement, pretending that the Duke of Enghien was still in Edenheim, but in fact he had boarded the Russian clipper and might have gone to Santo Domingo."

"Got to Santo Domingo? What the hell was he doing there?"

"General Dessalines of Haiti, after declaring their so-called independence, seems to be preparing to take direct action to eliminate the local white people. This is openly reported by the British newspapers."

"Thank you, Talleyrand, you are very quick in capturing diplomatic intelligence. But we were fooled this time. How is Saint-Domingue?"

"The British blocked the source of the news. Only a privateer from Brittany brought back news from the Caribbean after returning to Brest. The Russians did take away most of the white people in the area controlled by Dessalines in the west of Saint-Domingue a month ago."

"So what are they going to do?"

"I was also skeptical at first about what they were going to do. After all, Russia's overseas territories, apart from the American territories, were a small piece of land near Oldenburg, which was the legacy of the family of Empress Catherine II and passed to Tsar Paul, who was ruled by his aunt. Leaving thousands of French people on that piece of land would not actually benefit Russia, and it would also confirm their interference in French affairs."

"They are interfering in France's internal affairs. France will not recognize the existence of Saint-Domingue."

"But you also have to consider the reasons why they carried out this action. The Russians claimed that they were doing it to avoid a 'humanitarian crisis'. We cannot say that they are interfering in France's internal affairs. According to the Russians, France even needs to express gratitude to Russia. The Governor of Haiti took in the rebellious Poles, but carried out genocide against the French and Spanish. This helped France morally. As for how the Russians will resettle these people, it is not up to us to decide."

"Interesting, where will they choose to go?"

"It is said that they sailed westward. On the way, the Russian fleet passed through Martinique, where they replenished supplies and exchanged views with our Governor of Martinique."

"Are they sending people to Spain?"

"It's not to be sent to Spain, but to be sent through Spain. This method is like us going to India through Egypt."

"What can they do, Talleyrand? Just start a war there?"

"Obviously not. The Russians still want to maintain good relations with Spain. I think they will spend money to buy their way in, and then their targets will be places like the Aleutian Islands and Kamchatka."

Talleyrand would not have known that Russia had actually opened up a piece of land on the edge of Upper California. This kind of information was difficult to grasp accurately because it was on the edge of the world.

But he still guessed the general direction correctly, which shows some skill.

"Then we can't express our views?"

"We would like to express our gratitude to Russia. It is better to delay it in a diplomatic setting. Russia itself is far away, and their decision-making speed will be affected."

However, Talleyrand was not optimistic. He thought that by saying a few nice words, he could make the Russians indifferent to European affairs.

For France, the primary target of attack was still the British, and General Moreau's contact with his old superior, General Pichegru, although Moreau himself did not defect, he was still a staunch republican, and the conspiracy was unlikely to succeed.

But Napoleon would still find excuses to attack Moreau. He would often go to Madame Recamier's salon. Although his brother Lucien also often went there, there were still many people who criticized Napoleon.

The First Consul was also preparing to launch a vote to become the "Emperor of the French People", a title that was more like the Roman commander, as can be seen from the title. Moreau would have found it difficult to agree with this, and Napoleon also wanted to take this opportunity, his secret meeting with General Pichegru, and the actions of those in Madame Recamier's salon, to strike down those who held different political views, whether they were political enemies or those who did not support him.

While Talleyrand and Caulaincourt were explaining the situation to Napoleon, someone also delivered a letter to them.

"Let's see how this matter should be handled. Pichegru is here again. When he betrayed the Republic, Moreau defended him, but it was Moreau who found evidence of his collusion with the royalists."

"I suggest you should conduct an investigation, who knows what it might reveal."

Talleyrand twirled his cane in circles in his hand. When he did that, it was always something bad, and sometimes he looked quite sinister, a sinisterness that no painter could remove by retouching a picture.

"Then we will launch an investigation and ask Fouché to find the evidence."

"If there is clear evidence, it is treason. But Moreau refused to cooperate with them, and his actions also showed that he had nothing to do with it."

"But there will be big problems. Anyone who is suspected will have to go through the court's review."

It's very interesting that Napoleon wanted to punish Moreau, but he didn't, and in the end he even showed tolerance.

But the final outcome for the conspirators who had close ties with the British would not be very good.

Even Mr. Recamier was in trouble. His banking business was mainly lending for overseas trade, and the British blockade severely hit his business.

In this way, it would be difficult to clear the suspicion, especially since the salon hosted by his young wife was home to many anti-Bonaparte people.

And Talleyrand also believed that something would be found out.

Fouché did not deliberately fabricate charges, but simply found some evidence in Mr. Recamier's bank account book.

If this happens, you will inevitably end up in jail or even be executed by guillotine.

General Moreau was also implicated, but the original case had little to do with him. Even though the court found him not guilty, Napoleon insisted that the trial should continue.

The result was that when Moreau was sentenced, Napoleon offered exile as a lenient measure.

Such a trial is indeed a wrongful case.

But Moro could not clear his name, Pichegru committed suicide in prison, Cadoudal was killed in Nantes, and too many people were involved in the assassination plan that was carried out on his behalf.

This led to a purge of the salons in Paris, Madame Staël was expelled to Switzerland, and many industrialists and bankers were also implicated.

However, it is somewhat funny that Madame Recamier was involved.

Her refusal to serve as a maid in the Consulate or any future court, combined with her husband's relationships with these people, would not result in her beautiful neck being cut open by the guillotine, but would be enough to confiscate her property and expel her from the country.

If her father had not saved Bernadotte, the general would have married the sister-in-law of Napoleon's eldest brother Joseph and Napoleon's former lover. It is always a good thing to have someone plead for him, but her husband's situation is very dangerous. He might even lose his head because of the assassin's random accusations.

The lady had no choice but to leave her mansion on Mont Blanc Avenue pitifully, sell it to a businessman for 25 francs, and then embark on the road of exile abroad.

However, this lady did not go to England as others expected, but went to Berlin, the capital of Prussia, and even had an affair with Prince August there.

But this lady only looks coquettish, but actually she is very innocent.

But her husband, who was directly hit, might use his head to deter dishonest bankers in France.
These things are still unknown to you in the New World.

As for Madame Récamier herself, she had not divorced Mr. Récamier. Mr. Récamier's attitude was very clear, that is, if he could not escape the guillotine, this lady would still be his heir.

It is no wonder that the young and beautiful lady is always considered to be Mr. Recamier’s illegitimate daughter.

After all the trouble, from the military, political and economic perspectives, no one could directly stop him from becoming emperor.

Considering the current situation in France, his power as a lifelong ruler is actually not unlimited compared to that of the emperor.

Although it was a bit awkward, Napoleon's enthronement would soon reach the voting step, and he could forcibly declare victory without even requiring a voter turnout of more than 50%.

This trick was also learned by those who admire him in Africa and Latin America, and the fans' behavior was particularly excessive.

The biggest victim of this conspiracy was General Moreau. After being acquitted, he passed through Spain and went to the United States with his family.

He had not expected these things to happen, but he recalled what the young Russian officer who had appeared in his home had told him.

It was really an irony of fate that by going to the United States he was away from the political whirlpool, but it also put his military and political careers on hold.

It’s just that in the United States, the French might be more popular, and their living environment should not be bad either.

As for Napoleon's attempt to kidnap the Duke of Enghien and send people to Baden to capture him, it was just a joke. After all, it aroused the high vigilance of various monarchies.

It was only because he failed to steal the chicken that he aroused the resentment of Austria and Russia.

The Austrians' method was to make the marriage of Archduke Karl and Princess Marie Therese public, but the wedding took place in Prague instead of Vienna.

Obviously Austria has the support of Britain, but they are just sending this signal to the French. If the French exiled princess gets married, it will not pose a threat to the French throne, because the French succession rights are still subject to the Salic succession law. No woman will get her turn until all the men in the family die.

But this is all they did, and it's clear that the price the British offered was not high enough.

This requires the British to carefully evaluate what price they should offer in order to attract the 200,000 French people training in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

Fortunately, the British have a navy, and they do have enough money to subsidize their allies and ask them to come as thugs to attract firepower, otherwise they would also suffer in a one-on-one fight.

(End of this chapter)