Chapter 380 Guizot’s Downfall
The war gradually died down, and there was no movement from France and the Netherlands. Seeing that the German Confederation was beginning to return home, the Anglo-Saxons across the strait finally couldn't sit still.
The latter tried to contact various countries to send representatives to London to attend the aftermath meeting, but failed because no one responded, and the final location was set in Luxembourg.
Of course, it would be better if it was in Frankfurt or Vienna. After all, it would be a great opportunity to highlight the status of the winner of the German Confederation.
But it doesn't matter, because the cake distribution has been basically completed, and all that's left is the final bargaining with France.
Because the French violated their previous agreement with the German Confederation, they should be punished. However, neither Austria nor other German states were willing to officially go to war with them because they were not sure of victory against the behemoth France, so they just The German-French dividing line was renegotiated.
However, for the sake of "fairness", the final ownership of Namur Province will still be decided by vote. If the locals are willing to stay in France, Germany will never interfere. On the contrary, France must do the same.
Senior officials in Paris, including Louis Philippe and Guizot, felt that the minds of senior officials in Vienna were either broken or their collective memory was blind, because Wallonia belonged to the French-speaking area.
However, what the former did not know was that the local residents had just been plundered by French soldiers, causing almost every household to suffer disaster; either they lost all their money and food, or their wives and children were separated, and many of the civilian husbands and women who were expropriated were Never came back.
In fact, the reason why people in the Walloon region hate the French so much cannot be just because of the 20,000 French troops. No matter how beastly they are, they cannot harm many people.
But the hundreds of thousands of German Confederate troops who were defeated by them were different. The defeated troops were bandits. This sentence was true in many cases and in many cases.
As a result, this land suffered unprecedented brutal looting. Fortunately, the number of German Confederate troops was large enough to rotate. These defeated soldiers who had done bad things no longer wanted to make achievements. They just wanted to find a place where no one was around to stay, so they all embarked on the journey back home.
The Walloons could not find the culprits, so they simply placed all the blame on the French. Coupled with incitement from the media and the church, the province of Namur voted almost unanimously to reject the proposal to join France.
The people of Hainaut and Brabant, who were about to be assigned to France, also fled. They did not like this kind of ruler who did not care about their life or death.
France, Paris, Tuileries Palace.
Louis Philippe was furious.
"Look at the stupid thing you did! The Austrian envoy personally promised Wallonia to us not long ago, but you, a fool, lost it and let France sacrifice 20,000 excellent soldiers in vain!"
However, the truth is that Prussia soon discovered that these prisoners of war were a hot potato, and the Austrians gave them trouble rather than trophies.
So Prussia released the prisoners of war hastily despite the objections of other states, and they did not want to get into trouble. But trouble will never come to them.
Those unarmed prisoners of war who had once caused trouble for one side now faced hundreds of thousands of angry residents of Wallonia.
Soon a real-life battle royale was staged in the Walloon region, and only a handful of the remaining soldiers were able to escape back to France.
Because among the angry pursuers, there were still some dissatisfied German Confederate soldiers hiding in their hearts. They were also sulking and had nowhere to vent their anger.
Those French officers and soldiers who were lucky enough to return home were not treated well by Paris, and they were just treated as ordinary defeated soldiers.
Neither Louis Philippe nor Guizot were interested in losers.
In addition, because their weapons have been confiscated by the German Confederate Volunteers, not to mention that losing equipment is a felony, most of their endings are very miserable.
The book returns to its true story.
"But the British said they would send troops to help, shouldn't we?"
It was a good thing that Guizot did not mention Anglia, but the mention of it made Louis Philippe furious.
At that time, the British agreed to let their son be the King of Belgium, but in the end they chose the King of England's son-in-law. Fortunately, he was smart enough to marry his daughter to King Bi.
But his son-in-law failed to live up to his trust and did not turn to France at all. Not only did the Belgians refuse to join the proposed Franco-Belgian customs union, they even flirted with the Anglo-Saxons all day long.
All these things made Louis Philippe resentful, and at that moment, the Namur that the Austrians stuffed into his throat was gone, which made him even more angry.
"Tell me! Are you a spy sent by the British?" he asked angrily.
This sentence has been hidden deep in the heart of this monarch until now.
The inexplicable results of this war, coupled with the loss of Namur and the loss of 20,000 troops, and the fact that he could have waited for a profit but ended up losing a good situation, how could he not be upset.
Guizot's series of actions clearly seemed to Louis Philippe to value Britain more than France.
However, he misunderstood Guizot. The reason why the latter acted like this all along was because he knew the strength of Britain better than anyone else, and also knew the truth about France's internal weakness under its strong appearance. Therefore, he was afraid that his country would be on the wrong team and trigger dozens of attacks again. The crisis of intervention by various countries years ago.
"Your Majesty, I remain loyal to you and to great France. You should know that we cannot afford any defeat now."
"That's enough! Without your stupid actions in private, there would not be today's defeat! Look at what you have done, are you still embarrassed to deny it? It is because of you that I am the 'First Citizen' I am ashamed.”
Historically, Louis Philippe was nicknamed the "Pear King" by a wandering painter because his head was big and his face was like a pear. However, he himself preferred to be called the "Citizen King" or "First Citizen" .
"Everything I do is for France, I swear to God."
"Haha, dear Guizot, I'm afraid money is your God, right?" Louis Philippe sneered. He has lost patience. France is now facing unprecedented changes.
Neither the former Kingdom of France nor the Napoleonic Empire could reasonably develop overseas colonies.
And now Louis Philippe firmly believes that he has figured out the password to dominance. If every colony can be like Texas, he can recreate countless large and small Frances.
Maybe one France can't rule the world or defeat Britain, but two? Three? What about four? Texas, Algeria, Morocco, Guatemala, La Plata, these lands are full of great potential…
"Your Majesty the King, I feel that wealth not only makes people free, but also makes them smart. When our citizens are no longer driven by the damn blind fighting spirit, then a broad road to prosperity will open. There is nothing wrong with wealth. Okay! Even if you get to sit here and give me orders today!”
To be honest, Guizot and Louis Philippe were both puppets brought to the stage by financial capitalists. Of course, the latter was nominally the master and the former was the minister.
Guizot's implication was that Louis Philippe had no right to accuse him. But the latter didn't think so. Louis Philippe never defined himself as a pawn.
In his eyes, he is the chess player, and the group of financial capitalists are just his "supporters", people who want to get rewards and are optimistic about him.
"Mr. Guizot, in the name of the first citizen of the Kingdom of France, I solemnly declare that you have been dismissed from office. However, from now on, although you are no longer a member of the cabinet, you are still an official of France.
I now give you a brand new task, Governor of Guatemala, please take office immediately! "
After hearing this, Guizot walked out of the king's study without saying a word.
Although Louis Philippe admitted that Guizot had certain abilities, his almost flattering policy towards Britain caused France to continue to suffer losses.
This is the real reason why he kicked him out of the cabinet. In addition, this is also the result of his expanding ambitions. Historically, Guizot's diplomatic strategy towards Britain was called traitorous diplomacy, and France made concessions in almost all disputes and conflicts.
But France is now stronger than in history and has more conflicts with England. Therefore, Guizot will naturally be criticized more, and the intensification of conflicts is the biggest factor that makes him step down.