Just as Tallyran revealed to the Spaniards, the Austrians were indeed trying to negotiate with the French, and the conditions of the Austrians were indeed similar to what Tallyran said, that is, Austria used the Rhine region and France to exchange Lombardy region.

In fact, the people who supervised the government were quite excited about Austria's plan. If they obtained the Rhine region, it would mean that the French border was pushed along the Rhine River. France had a relatively safe natural border in the north. Lombardy was separated from the French mainland by an Alps, so it was naturally inconvenient to manage it.

Even Joseph felt that the Rhine region was much more valuable than the Lombardy region. This was not only because of natural boundaries, but also because of mineral deposits.

In this era, the industrial revolution has not yet begun, and the great significance of those crucial minerals to the country has not been shown. However, as a time traveler, Joseph knew very well that Italy was a country with very poor mineral resources. Italy did not have coal and iron ore that were most important in the first round of industrialization.

The country with the best mineral conditions in Europe is really the United Kingdom, with both coal mines and iron ore locally. France has relatively large iron ore in Lorraine, but the coal mine resources are not particularly ideal. There is a coal mine in Lorraine that is the remnant of the Saar coal mine, but this is already the largest coal mine in the entire France.

If such an agreement is reached with Austria, it means that the Saar mining area, which is rich in coal mines, is completely in the hands of France. In this way, the resources required for the first round of industrial revolution will be basically complete.

But at this time, both Joseph and Napoleon opposed this plan. The reason is very simple. Even if they have obtained the Rhine region, this area is also from France, not from Bonaparte. What about the Lombardy region? It will definitely not become a part of France, but it is indeed under the control of the Bonaparte family.

Of course, Joseph could not object to the above reason, but you can have a high-sounding excuse for anything, as long as you want. So Lucien gave such a speech in Parliament:

"For a long time, the Italian people, like the French people, lived a painful life under the oppression of the church and the feudal nobles. Now we have defeated the priests and nobles who rode over them and brought freedom and liberation to the peasants and civilians.

The whole of Italy and Europe are looking forward to us, just as the farmland is longing for dark clouds and thunder after a long drought.

It is precisely for this reason that when our army advances toward Belgium, the people of Belgium rise up and hold an uprising to respond to us; when our army pursues the fleeing Austrian army in Italy, the Italian people greet us with bread and wine. They provide us with food and serve as guides. Why do they do this? Because they see us as their liberators! Why can we continue to achieve brilliant victories? This is not only because the whole French people are standing behind us, but also because our army can get the support of people wherever we go!

If at this time, we abandon the Lombardy people who had just gained freedom and liberated with our help and re-promoted them into the fire pit of feudal autocratic rule, then I would like to ask, how will the people of Europe view us in the future? In the future, when those feudal autocratic countries unite again and attack us, can we still expect that the people of Europe will stand on our side?

Besides, how reliable is this so-called "peace"? Do our enemies really want peace?

No! It is definitely not like this! I think anyone with a little bit of mind can see that our enemies have no sincerity for peace at all, because their hatred for the French Revolution has not changed. They still protect the traitors and exiles in France, and they still support the clown who proclaims himself the king of France. In their propaganda, they still call us renouncers. Anyone with eyes, as long as they see these, it is not difficult to see that they do not need peace at all. What they need is actually just for them to lick their wounds and restore their strength to a standstill. And once they feel that they have recovered their wounds, they will show their teeth to us again!

Sir, I love France the same as everyone else; I love peace the same as everyone else. Because we French all love peace. But we French are not fools! For a peace that is destined to be torn apart, we have to sell our loyal friends. Is this peace that does not conform to any moral principle or any military principle acceptable to us French?

No! Never! Accepting such peace will not only betray our allies, but also betray France's ideals, and betray France itself!"

Lucien's speech is of course quite good, but what really makes Lucien's speech particularly infectious is that his speech actually represents an attitude of power. The attitude of this attitude of power is:

"The Rhine region is ours, and Lombardy is ours. We will never give up any place! If they want peace, they must accept such peace, otherwise, let the war continue!"

Of course, since this force opposes such peace and demands peace that "My is mine, and yours is mine", then this peace must be fought out by them themselves.

As for how to fight, some people suggested that the Northern Legion troops should be given priority now to improve their combat effectiveness and strive for greater victory.

The person who made this view was a MP named Alfred, and his view also received a lot of support. Obviously, these people did not want to see Napoleon's military achievements alone, so they hoped that Juber and Morrow in the north could make contributions to balance Napoleon.

Both Joseph and Lucien understand this meaning, but neither of them has any reason to object to this suggestion. First, the north is the real main battlefield. If it weren't for the fierce battles in Italy, military equipment should have been given priority to the north. Second, it is because Kano also supports this issue. Third, this is also business, money!

However, the production capacity of Joseph's military-industrial complex is actually far less intimidating than the name of his institution. Because its production method is actually quite backward. Steam engines and industrial revolutions have not yet developed into military factories. When Joseph's previous life, steam engines, at least cylinder-type steam engines, were basically eliminated. Joseph only knew one general principle about this thing, and basically knew nothing about other things.

This has led to the fact that although the weapons produced by the "Military-Industrial Complex" are very advanced, their way of producing these weapons is still very backward. At least in Joseph's eyes, it is really a bit lacking in its own production capacity alone.

So at Joseph's instruction, Lucien proposed that he hoped that other arsenals could also produce new rifles in authorized manner.

In fact, the technology of the Minnie bomb is quite simple. When this rifle begins to enter the army on a large scale, even after Napoleon's army, it is actually impossible to strictly keep this secret. Not to mention domestic manufacturers, the Austrians, Prussians and British, it will not take long to know this technical secret. It will take time if they want to change the army.

At this time, France did not have a patent system, which means that it would not take long for Joseph's competitors to produce the same rifle that meets the requirements of the army. Even if Joseph relies on his influence in the army, he can ensure that he can earn the most. Those people can still find ways to win over those generals who are not the Bonaparte system and thus gain a market for themselves.

In this case, Joseph from later generations naturally came up with a solution, which is to use his technological advantages to establish a cartel alliance.

Generally speaking, there is a prerequisite for the existence of a technology-based cartel alliance, that is, there must be a patent system. For time travelers like Joseph, patents are even more important. Before this, Lucien had proposed a proposal to establish a patent system in Parliament. However, this proposal was not passed, and the votes of support were about ten fewer than the votes against.

This was a setback for Joseph. But it seemed too much to launch a military coup for such a setback. So Joseph came up with such a plan, first using the technical alliance to win over some arms dealers with the strength to influence parliamentary votes. Once these arms dealers enter the alliance, the establishment of patent laws will become a very beneficial thing for them.

Once the patent law is passed, the alliance will be tied tighter, and the Bonaparte family, who have mastered the source of technology, will undoubtedly become the leader of the cartel. In addition to Napoleon's influence in the army, Joseph even felt that he could turn this technical cartel into a syndicate that uses technical patents and sales channels. By that time, because there is no independent technical source and sales channel, even if the enterprises in the alliance are still independent in law, all their economic activities can only follow the meaning of the headquarters. By that time, the "military-industrial complex" may be truly called its name.
Chapter completed!