Chapter 292 US Presidential Candidate

Chapter 293 US Presidential Candidate

When the US Ambassador Jones saw the two men taking the pamphlet and preparing to leave, he suddenly remembered the instructions in the letter from the French Crown Prince, and hurriedly stopped them again, saying solemnly: "I believe you have understood the current situation. ɱThe primary task is to keep Poland and deal with the Russians' ambitions, so I hope you can support the king, after all, he can call on more Polish people to resist Russia.

"Oh, and you have to put aside your religious demands for the time being... I don't mean to stop you from spreading Catholicism, but that should be after the crisis in Poland is resolved.

"If the Bar Union can make outstanding contributions in resisting the Russian invasion, I believe that the Polish people will like Catholicism more."

When the two heard the term "Bar Union", they subconsciously shrank their heads and looked around, appearing extremely nervous.

Yes, they are the few remaining members of the Bar Union in Poland. Seven years ago, some patriotic Polish nobles established the Bar Union in order to maintain the country's political and diplomatic independence and oppose Russia's infiltration into Poland.

At first, the alliance formed an army to expel Russian forces from all over Poland, and took advantage of the Kriyvšena uprising to expand into Lithuania-Ukraine [Note 1]. In addition, the alliance actively instigated the Ottoman Empire and Russia to go to war, which to a certain extent contributed to the Fifth Russo-Turkish War.

However, after the alliance grew stronger, the policies it implemented shifted.

First, it announced its opposition to the King of Poland - after all, Stanislaw II was the former lover of Catherine II, and the fact that he was elected as the King of Poland [Note 2] was also due to the fact that the Russian Tsar bribed the Polish Parliament. Therefore, the Bar Confederation was very resistant to this king and announced that it would depose him, and even briefly kidnapped Stanislaw II.

Then the alliance fell into religious fanaticism and began to frantically promote Catholicism in Poland and persecute Protestants and Orthodox Christians.

So Catherine II joined forces with Prussia and Austria, and launched an invasion of Poland under the pretext of protecting the King of Poland and Orthodox Christians.

The Bar Confederation was defeated before it could hold out for long in front of the Russian army, but the Russian, Prussian and Austrian armies did not stop, but occupied the Polish territories they desired.

This is the beginning and end of the first partition of Poland.

After the war, most of the leaders of the Bar Confederation and their families were imprisoned in concentration camps built in Lithuania, and a small number were exiled to Siberia.

Although the Bar Confederation failed, Joseph knew that they were the most determined anti-Russian group in Poland, and as long as they did not engage in religious fanaticism, they also had a considerable degree of support among ordinary people and the army.

It is most appropriate to let them promote Polish national consciousness.

As long as national consciousness can be spawned, Poland's internal cohesion can be greatly enhanced, while reducing the living space of pro-Russian Polish traitors. You know, Russia, Prussia and Austria can easily divide Poland, largely because Poland is divided into Polish, Lithuanian, Slavic and German people, who do not speak the same language, have independent policies, and will sabotage each other when encountering foreign invasions.

With Poland's population and land area, if they can really work together, it will be difficult for Russia, Prussia and Austria to bite it off in a short time.

Moreover, if the situation in Poland really reaches a point where it cannot be reversed in the future, the influence of the Bar Confederation can be used to raise resistance forces among the Polish people and fight guerrilla warfare with Russia, Prussia and Austria for several years.

The next day.

Tin Dome Palace.

This is the residence of Prince Poniatowski, the nephew of the King of Poland.

At this time, Jones was strolling in the garden behind the house with several Polish nobles, just like an ordinary afternoon chat.

"In fact, what the major families are worried about is that the power of the parliament will be restricted if the veto is abolished." A noble old man in his sixties looked at the US ambassador to Poland, "So it is best to pass a constitution with separation of powers first, and solve the problem of the veto at the same time."

The "free veto" he mentioned is Poland's notorious veto system - any member of parliament can veto the decree of the parliament with one vote, making it impossible for Poland to reform and progress.

"Yes, I am very familiar with this kind of political wrangling." Jones nodded and said in Polish, "The US Congress is often like this, which is really a headache.

"At this time, what we need is a leader with extremely high political prestige to unify different opinions."

Prince Poniatowski sighed helplessly: "Your Majesty, uh, you know, he is always so easy to talk to..."

Jones turned his head and looked at him: "Perhaps, you can call on those members of parliament on behalf of Your Majesty."

The old man on the side immediately shook his head: "The Potocki family will not listen to Your Majesty, oh, and the arrogant Czartoryski family."

He is an elder of the Poniatowski family. Looking at the surname, you can see that this is the family of the King of Poland, but it is far from the largest family in Poland.

Currently, Poland's politics is basically controlled by less than ten noble families. If you want to pass something in the parliament, you can't get around them at all.

Jones recalled the letter from the French Crown Prince and said in a deep voice: "Poland has reached a very dangerous edge. At this time, perhaps some ungentlemanly methods should be used. At present, His Royal Highness is in charge of the recruitment and training of the army. You should make good use of this.

"As for the Potocki family, perhaps they have done something despicable. If other families knew about this, they would be very happy to divide their power."

Several senior members of the Poniatowski family immediately looked at each other in surprise. The old man lowered his voice and said, "I'm afraid this will cause a big mess!"

"So His Royal Highness needs to mobilize the army in a timely manner to stabilize the situation. As long as the Potocki family is solved, the Czartoryski family will definitely start to become cooperative."

Prince Poniatowski frowned: "Maybe there is no need to make such a big move. The conditions proposed by the Potocki family are actually negotiable."

Jones sighed in his heart. As the mouthpiece of the French Crown Prince, he could only do so much: "The decision lies with you, Your Majesty the Prince, but I can guarantee that the Potocki family will be eliminated within three months." The evidence of treason is given to you."

He had no evidence of the Potocki family's crimes, but the French told him there would be.

Joseph knew very well that historically, although the Poles were very procrastinating, they finally passed a constitution three years later - the May 3rd Constitution.

This constitution abolished the one-vote veto system, canceled the king's electoral system, changed it to hereditary, established the Polish political system of separation of powers, and paved the way for national development.

However, the May 3rd Constitution's restrictions on the power of the nobility touched the interests of some families headed by the Potocki family. They immediately colluded with the Russian Prince Potemkin to form the Tagovica Alliance and requested Russia to send troops to intervene.

Subsequently, the troops of the Tagovica Alliance, together with the Russian army, defeated the Polish government forces. At the same time, Prussia and Austria invaded Poland from the west in accordance with the secret agreement with Russia.

The second partition of Poland begins.

The Potocki family has always been in cahoots with the Russians, and if you look for it, you will definitely find evidence.

Of course, Joseph was also prepared to "create" some evidence if he really couldn't find any evidence. As long as the Potocki family is brought down, someone will naturally confess.

And now that the Russo-Swedish war is in full swing, Russia cannot spare a hand to intervene in this matter.

As long as the May 3rd Constitution can be implemented smoothly for a few years, Poland's national strength will be greatly enhanced. Moreover, without the Potocki family's internal support, Russia's excuse to send troops will disappear, and it will become very difficult to carve up Poland.

If Prussia and Austria, especially the latter, believe that invading Poland will seriously deplete their own strength, then they will probably have to weigh whether they should join the war.

Because both Prussia and Austria have the desire to unify Germany, as long as there is no common interest in dividing Poland, they will definitely start a war for hegemony in Germany.

In that case, the strategic pressure faced by France will be greatly reduced. At least it can buy France a few more years of development time.

Prince Poniatowski hesitated for a while, then bowed to Jones and said: "Thank you for your help to Poland, Ambassador, I will definitely consider your suggestion seriously.

"Oh, the party is about to start, let's go inside."

…

USA.

New York.

"The votes are counted!" A middle-aged man wearing a short black vest opened the door and entered the room with excitement. Under the anxious and expectant gazes of the people in the room, he deliberately paused for two seconds before asking George. Washington stroked his chest and saluted, "Congratulations, Your Excellency, President!"

More than a dozen people in the room immediately burst into cheers and gathered around Washington to congratulate him.

Washington's red face became even redder in an instant, but he took a deep breath and looked at the messenger: "Mr. Thomas, can you tell me the specific votes?"

"You got 50 votes, an overwhelming advantage!"

Washington suddenly felt relieved. 50 votes out of all 69 votes was definitely considered a big victory.

At the same time, he was secretly thankful that the French Dauphin had helped him. Otherwise, given Hamilton's astonishing popularity before the election, he would have been the one celebrating his election at this time.

You know, even with the support of the French, Hamilton still got 33 votes! 【Note 3】

Joseph brought Hamilton the achievements of eradicating pirates in the Mediterranean and sending pirates back to the United States for public trial, which made the latter unparalleled in the limelight, even surpassing Washington, the commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War.

There is no way, people are forgetful, the War of Independence has passed for several years, how can the hanging of pirates a few months ago be so impressive?

However, Joseph soon realized that Hamilton was a very radical hawk and had a special obsession with the army.

If he is elected as the president of the United States, he is likely to re-establish a standing army - currently the United States only has militias and no professional soldiers - and this will greatly speed up the United States' westward slaughter of Indians and devouring North American land.

A United States with only thirteen states is nothing to worry about, but a United States occupying half of the Americas will become a nightmare for all of Europe.

Of course Joseph wanted to prevent this from happening.

So he sent people to the United States to support Washington, whose overall style was relatively moderate. At least while he was in power, the United States relied on militias to get by.

His method is very simple. He provides some campaign funds to Washington and at the same time creates a newspaper "American News" in the United States and sells it at a very low price. With cheap wood, paper and printing technology from France, the newspaper is 60 yuan cheaper than its American counterparts. % can still make 10% profit.

Coupled with the exclusive U.S. publishing rights of "Refining the Sky", "American News" unified the U.S. newspaper market in a very short period of time.

The next thing was to publish the events of the War of Independence in the newspaper every day, constantly mentioning Washington's great contribution, and at the same time attribute the credit for fighting the Barbary pirates to the Federal Congress. Those congressmen praised the objectivity and fairness of the American News.

Under the arrangement of the French campaign team, Washington gave speeches and various shows in various parts of the United States, and his public support rate quickly surpassed Hamilton.

Of course, Washington also reciprocated. Jones, the ambassador sent to Poland, was his confidant and worked hard.

While Washington was celebrating his election as president, the manager's office of the American News was holding a meeting to discuss the opening of a branch.

According to the instructions of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, a more orthodox newspaper like the American News was not enough to cover all Americans, and a newspaper with entertainment content had to be opened to attract the lower class of Americans.

In the subsequent US congressional elections, the newspaper had to "send" at least 10 congressmen, which was a difficult task.

...

In the carriage driving in Baden, Talleyrand smiled at the crown prince opposite him and asked tentatively: "Your Highness, have you seen any good news?"

Joseph pushed the report sent from Nancy before leaving the French border in front of him: "Take a look, this is the sales of the United Steam Engine Company last month."

"Our high-pressure steam engine has been sold to the UK, and orders are constantly coming in."

The Foreign Minister obviously did not understand the significance of the steam engine, and smiled: "Oh, one can be sold for 11,000 livres, which is a good business."

"Yes, it's probably the best business. "Joseph smiled and nodded.

You know, the low-pressure steam engine produced by Watt's company is also priced at 480 pounds, which is 12,000 livres, but its power is only 60% of that of the French products.

If most of the production capacity of the United Steam Engine Company was not supplied to France, Watt's company would probably not be able to operate...

[Note 1] Ukraine was still a geographical term in the late 18th century, and a large part of it belonged to Lithuania.

[Note 1] Poland implemented the king election system in the late 18th century, and the king was elected by the parliament composed of nobles. This gave foreign countries an excellent handle to interfere in Poland's internal affairs - as long as they bribed Polish members of parliament, they could elect the king they liked. Catherine II used this method to send her lover Stanislaw II to the throne.

[Note 2] In the first presidential election in the United States, each presidential elector could vote for more than one candidate.