Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

After that came a series of fixed procedures.

Alexandra met with the envoy for the marriage alliance from France, received the latter’s blessings, and the token from the Crown Prince of France.

The court steward read the marriage document aloud, which was essentially a marriage alliance agreement.

Due to the involvement of conversion issues in this marriage alliance, the Church did not participate much, only sending choir boys to chant blessings in Slavic.

However, according to the agreement, the Princess could visit the Assumption Cathedral for a final prayer before leaving Russia—this was requested by the Princess herself.

After Antoine, representing Joseph, and Alexandra received the cheers and blessings from thousands of nobles present, the ball began.

After the ball came the banquet, followed by another ball… The entire ceremony process was to last for three days. During this time, all of Saint Petersburg would revel through the night.

Once the ceremony in Saint Petersburg ended, the Princess would move to Moscow and repeat similar procedures, before heading to Paris.

According to Catherine II’s arrangements, the wedding convoy would take over three months en route, deliberately detouring through Austria, Bavaria, and several other German states.

The next afternoon.

Amidst the lively and somewhat chaotic sound of the ball music, in a modest reception room on the south side of the Winter Palace, Talleyrand, holding a teacup, smiled at Zubov sitting opposite.

“That’s about it. You can entirely treat this as an ordinary military exercise, without even needing to prepare logistics supplies.

“After this, I will go to Vienna for negotiations, having them resolve the issues with the Ottomans.”

The Tsar’s lover was clearly in good spirits due to the marriage alliance, and nodded immediately: “Of course that’s fine. However, I thought the Crown Prince would be very keen to see the Austrians suffer a little.”

Talleyrand immediately replied with righteousness: “Even if the Austrians are to be taught a lesson, it should be done by French soldiers, rather than watching infidels ravage lands under the light of Jesus!”

“You’re right. The French are indeed born warriors.” Zubov tried hard to push the words “Sacrilegious Alliance” out of his mind, suddenly thought of something, and continued, “Actually, I could completely suggest to the Tsar to send troops to Moldavia, and join the Austrians against those infidels.”

Talleyrand’s face showed a puzzled expression: “Does the Tsar have plans for fighting on two fronts?

“Forgive me for being blunt, but that is not a good choice strategically.”

Zubov was even more surprised: “You mentioned fighting on two fronts? Besides Moldavia, where else might become a battlefield?”

“Of course, it’s the Transcaucasia region.” Talleyrand suddenly paused and looked at Mr. Lover, “Doesn’t your country have preparations for war there?”

“Transcaucasia?” Zubov thought for a moment and nodded, “His Majesty considered sending troops there, but it’s currently in the planning stage.”

Talleyrand immediately spoke urgently:

“Then you must hurry. After all, the Persian army could appear in Georgia at any time.”

Zubov was startled: “Persians? Where did you obtain this information?”

Talleyrand thought to himself that he didn’t know where the Crown Prince got his intel from, the Intelligence Bureau hadn’t submitted any reports related to it.

Well, Joseph must have obtained the information from historical records of his past life.

Currently, European countries aren’t paying much attention to Persia, a poor and remote place, even the British, who have the deepest infiltration in Persia, would only realize their intention to conquer the Caucasus region when the Persian army crossed the border.

Talleyrand solemnly said: “This is not a secret in the Persian court. Their eunuch king is insane and ambitious, currently having gathered over 60,000 troops, ready to march north at any time.”

The eunuch he mentioned was Persia’s current ruler Aga Mohammad Qajar.

This person was captured by a hostile tribe at six years old, castrated and sent to the Persian court.

However, Aga was intelligent, calm, and cunning, quickly rising to the position of chief eunuch.

Fifteen years ago, after Persia’s Khalim Khan died, he took advantage of the court’s chaos to escape back to his old tribe in the north.

He was exceptionally skilled in military strategy and, in the ensuing years, led troops to conquer numerous Persian tribes while leveraging the Persian royal family’s internal unrest, constantly expanding his power.

Eventually, a few years ago he breached the capital Shiraz of the Zand Dynasty, established the Qajar Dynasty, and moved the capital to Tehran.

Last year, Aga completely eliminated all Persians tribes and occupied much of Khorasan, ending Persia’s half-century of fragmentation, and declared himself King of Kings.

This King of Kings has long aspired to restore the territories of the Safavid Dynasty, with the Caucasus region being the last piece.

Historically, Aga rapidly prepared for war and, next year, in 1795, occupied Georgia and Eastern Armenia.

The Russian government was unaware of the Caucasus troubles until the Georgian Duke fled for refuge, hurriedly mobilizing troops south.

However, just a few months into the battle, Catherine II suffered a stroke and died.

The succeeding Tsar Paul I had a severe “hatred against mother” issue, primarily opposing anything his mother did, and intensely supporting what she opposed.

Based on this, he swiftly withdrew the troops sent to the Caucasus, even though the Russian Army had gained some advantage.

Five years later, Alexander I launched a coup against his father, then dispatched troops to the Caucasus again, coinciding with Aga being assassinated by a guard, reclaiming control over Georgia and other countries.

Afterwards, there was a long period of Caucasus Wars, with Russia and Persia in a continuous tug-of-war.

Joseph’s interest in this matter was because, as the Russian Army gained dominance and began to invade Persian homeland, the British finally couldn’t sit still.

Once Russians broke through Persia, they would gain control over the Persian Gulf, directly reaching the Far East, drastically altering the trading framework of Europe.

Moreover, starting from southern Persia, Russian Army could interfere with Indian affairs.

With the British Army’s strength, defeating Russians was truly uncertain.

Hence, the British had to fully support Persia, investing over a million British Pounds in funds, and undertaking significant construction in southern Persia, finally exhausting Russians’ ambition to influence the Indian Ocean after more than a decade.

And this competition in Central Asia marked the beginning of the 19th-century “Great Game” between England and Russia.

Thus, what Joseph aimed to do now, was firstly to prompt Russia to conduct military preparations in advance, quickly engage the Persian army.

Secondly, after Paul I ascended the throne, to avoid the decision to withdraw from the Caucasus, continuously provoking Britain.

Thirdly, to provide Russia with certain support, allowing the Russian Army to penetrate Central Asia further, ideally inciting Britain to send troops to Persia.

Upon repeatedly confirming the accuracy of the intelligence, Zubov stood up anxiously: “I must report this matter to the Tsar immediately.”

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