Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 947 - 855: Iberian-Apennine Summit · 4

The Chief Minister of Spain frantically signaled to his Crown Prince, who had already done ample homework before coming, and immediately understood the hint. He stood up loudly and said:

"I am here to execute the authorization of His Majesty the King of Spain and formally request to join the ’Iberian-Apennine Security Defense Organization.’ May we bring eternal peace and prosperity to the shores of the Mediterranean."

Spain was already an ally of France, and at this time, increasing the number of military allies was naturally a welcome development.

The second to respond was Sardinia’s Crown Prince Emanuele.

The Sardinian Army is currently still with Napoleon besieging the Mantua Fortress, effectively already tied to France’s war chariot. They might as well show some enthusiasm.

Parma, Lucca, Modena, and other countries also successively requested to join the Security Organization.

However, both the President of the Milan Council and the Governor of Genoa hesitated, appearing very awkward.

Although Milan has broken free from Austrian rule, it has not yet established a state, and thus it doesn’t have the status to join the Security Organization.

As for Genoa, it is a neutral country, as written in their laws, and Governor Biasso has no authority to change this.

Joseph first smiled and looked at Giuseppe, the President of the Milan Council: "The Duchy of Milan has a long history. It has always been the ruler of the Lombardy region, only to be shamelessly invaded by Austrian bandits, which interrupted it for decades.

"I believe now is the time to restore Milan’s glory. Of course, since Milan is now under the management of the Council, it should be renamed the Milan Republic."

Giuseppe’s eyes immediately shone brightly. The Austrian Army is currently in Mantua—only a hundred kilometers from Milan, and could strike back at any time. Furthermore, Milan is under French military control, and the French Government has not commented on Milan’s future direction.

Thus, until now, Milan’s legislators did not dare to speak of establishing a nation.

Now, with the Crown Prince of France’s approval, the establishment of Milan as a nation becomes a matter of course.

And it will be a republic, meaning there won’t be much change in the political structure.

Giuseppe, as the interim President of the Council, is very likely to become the President of Milan!

He hurriedly bowed to Joseph, feeling both honored and flustered: "Praise you, benevolent Crown Prince, praise France! With just one word, you bring freedom and hope to Milan, and all Milanese will remember your achievements forever..."

Joseph interrupted his flattery, saying, "You can use the Sharp Signal Tower to relay this decision back to Milan.

"Oh, you might not be aware of this invention, it can help you transmit messages to Genoa within 40 minutes. By this time tomorrow, the Milan Council can start drafting the nationhood bill."

The Sharp Signal Tower is a large target and must be built on open high ground, visible from a great distance by anyone.

Previously, due to war, information about the Sharp Signal Machine was strictly controlled. Once the battles ended and trade increased, the existence of the signal towers would soon become known to other countries.

Thus, Joseph directly disclosed the matter of the Sharp Signal Machine.

He even planned to open the signal tower to the postal service, to handle civilian mail delivery.

The Sharp Signal Tower is equivalent to the telegraph of this era. With civilian business, the previous construction investment could quickly be recouped.

However, Giuseppe hesitated a bit—he really wanted to personally oversee Milan’s nation-building, as such a major event could earn him a massive amount of political capital.

Joseph evidently saw through his thoughts and added:

"And for your outstanding contributions in Milan’s nation-building, I believe that all Milanese would regard you as the Father of Milan."

Giuseppe was overjoyed. With the endorsement of the Crown Prince of France, he would at least need to be considered the Father of Milan, if not.

If any Milanese politician was dissatisfied, they could totally go protest to the French garrison.

Suddenly, he thought of something and hurriedly bowed again, "Your Highness, what I did is insignificant, you are the true ’Father’ of Milan! You, yourself, created this nation!"

Joseph did not dwell on this topic and only instructed, "Please urge the Milan Council to swiftly initiate the nation-building agenda."

He was quite satisfied with Giuseppe.

When Napoleon first entered Milan, Giuseppe, then Vice President of the Council, emerged to stabilize the Milanese public and effectively appeased Napoleon’s army, preventing them from causing trouble. A capable ’精法’, very suitable to be the first President of Milan.

"At your will, Crown Prince," Giuseppe, incredibly excited, bowed deeply once more and then returned to his seat.

Joseph calmly turned his attention to the Governor of Genoa.

He almost did not realize that with just a few words from thousands of miles away, he could establish a new country on the Italian Peninsula.

"Your Excellency, the Governor, you can also use the Sharp Signal Tower to have the Genoa Parliament vote on joining the Security Organization."

"Yes, Your Highness, after adjournment, I will have the parliament convene a special session."

The Sharp Signal Tower was completed last week, only less than 30 kilometers west of Genoa, and can genuinely relay his instructions within an hour.

After deciding on the creation of the Iberian-Apennine Security Defense Organization, Joseph handed over the task of chairing the meeting to Archbishop Brienne.

The latter half of the meeting mainly focused on discussing the various clauses of the Security Defense Organization.

In fact, the clauses were already drafted by Joseph long ago, and the representatives from various countries were simply passing them symbolically— the clauses were very reasonable and fair to the member states. With the political acumen of the time’s politicians, they couldn’t find anything to nitpick even if they wanted to.

Of course, looking beyond the objective equality to the essence, the Security Defense Organization was essentially still controlled by France.

Firstly, the headquarters of the Security Defense Organization was located in France, so aside from representatives of various nations, the staff responsible for daily affairs were essentially all French. This meant that even if the direction of decisions was set, France had numerous means during the execution phase.

Secondly, within the Security Defense Organization, France held the highest military and political status. Any military decision might as well be impossible without France’s support.

So while it seemed every member state had the same voting rights, France’s vote carried overwhelming weight.

Finally, due to France’s significant influence over other member states, the representatives to the Security Defense Organization from various countries would likely be ’精法’. As long as matters did not pertain to the survival of their nation, they would follow how the French representative voted.

Once the Security Defense Organization was established, it would essentially become a ’United Army’ under France’s command.

The other member states’ armies, although less capable, would provide tremendous support to the French Army in terms of military funding, wartime passage rights, logistics supply, intelligence sharing, and other aspects.

Moreover, as joint military efforts continued over time, it would lead to interests among member states becoming more aligned, and an increased military dependency on France.

France’s ’backyard’ would thus become increasingly stable.