Chapter 358: The Third French Empire

Chapter 358: The Third French Empire

Chapter 358: The Third French Empire

In the square outside the Palace of Versailles, bugles and drums sounded and "God Save the Queen" was played.

Ahem, that's right, it's the British national anthem, God Save the Queen, which has just been designated as the national anthem of the newly-minted German Empire.

Of course the lyrics were changed, and the song title was also changed to "Long Live the Victor's Crown."

The title of this song clearly shows the traditional Prussian tendency to insult France. Prussia and France are enemies for generations. Prussia won the Franco-Prussian War and completed unification. After the victory, William I was crowned in the Palace of Versailles. The national anthem also specifically reminds everyone that we are the victors of the Franco-Prussian War...

Britain and Germany share the same national anthem. The British are proud of being the world hegemon, and the Germans are our fans.

As for the Germans, they did not use this melody as their national anthem because they are die-hard fans of Britain. In fact, they were holding a grudge and wanted to seize Britain's position as the world hegemon.

A normal emperor's coronation is usually attended by many foreign envoys and journalists.

But this time the German Emperor's coronation was very embarrassing. The only foreign envoy who came was Shao Quanzhong. Apart from Germany's own reporters, the only foreigner who came was Mark Twain.

The Germans were alone in Europe, and none of the surrounding countries wanted to see a strong Germany. Therefore, those who participated in the coronation ceremony were all German princes and nobles.

Including the heads of four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five principalities, seven principalities and three free cities within the German territory.

As for the journalists, your German Emperor went to the Palace of Versailles to be crowned just to humiliate France, so not a single French journalist came, and neighboring countries also banned their own journalists from coming to flatter the Germans.

Reporters from faraway countries wanted to come, but they didn't expect to arrive in time.

Only Mark Twain trusted Shao Quanzhong's fighting ability and had the foresight to arrive in war-torn France early and wait, becoming the only foreign journalist to witness the coronation of the German Emperor.

William I stood in the center, with his son Crown Prince Frederick III on the left and his son-in-law Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden on the right. Shao Quanzhong stood next to the German Crown Prince.

Shao Quanzhong finally discovered today that when it comes to the solemnity of ceremonies, the Western barbarians are far inferior to our Qing Dynasty.

When you are crowned emperor, you should at least have a "crown", right?

No. It's not that Germany was so poor that it couldn't even afford a crown, but that no one was qualified to put a hat on the emperor, and according to European tradition, wearing a crown must be legitimate.

There were only three crowns in Europe before. The Holy Roman Empire, which inherited the crown of the Western Roman Empire, and the Russian Tsar, who claimed to have inherited the crown of the Eastern Roman Empire. No one was willing to recognize the Tsar's crown.

Another one is Emperor Napoleon of France, who snatched the crown from the Pope and crowned himself. After all, it was the Pope who crowned him, right?

As a result, Germany was a Protestant country, and the Pope could not crown the leader of a Protestant country. William I actually wanted the Austrian crown so that he could rule all Germans, but the Austrians refused to give it to him.

So, William’s so-called “coronation” was actually just adding the title of emperor to show off himself.

There was no throne, no worship, only Frederick I took the lead in raising his hand and shouting "Long live the Emperor".

The ministers below were almost all soldiers, and they did not stand in formation like the Qing dynasty. They gathered together and some raised their hands, some raised their swords, and shouted "Long live the king". William I was crowned emperor standing up.

"boom!"

Mark Twain's camera recorded this historical event, and the photo was later turned into three oil paintings.

One version is an orthodox oil painting centered on the German Emperor, and the other version was later painted on Bismarck's birthday. The German Emperor had someone specially repaint a picture with Bismarck at the center of the picture as a birthday gift for his important minister.

The last version was painted much later, after Shao Quanzhong had become a big shot close to ruling the world. The title of the painting was also changed from "Coronation of the German Emperor" to "Marshal Yu Attends the Coronation Ceremony of the German Emperor."

After the coronation ceremony, a banquet was held. At the banquet, Bismarck and Shao Quanzhong jointly announced that the Qing-Puk joint war against France had ended successfully, and that after negotiating a post-war treaty with France, the Qing-Puk joint war would withdraw in an orderly manner.

The banquet is over and we are cleaning up immediately because the next event is the coronation of the French Emperor.

The band outside was replaced by the French Military Band, which played the French national anthem from the Louis XVIII era, "The Return of the Prince of France to Paris".

His Majesty Alfonso was very satisfied with the name of this national anthem. It was simply tailor-made for me, so I will keep it.

All the Prussians had left, and only Shao Quanzhong stayed behind. He had to attend two games in a row.

France was originally a kingdom, but it became an empire under Napoleon. Even Napoleon III was an emperor. We, the restored Bourbon dynasty, cannot be smaller than the fake emperor Napoleon III, right?
We in France already have a crown granted by the Pope himself, so it would be a waste if we don’t become emperor.

Therefore, Alfonso was restored and became emperor.

It was originally planned to invite the Pope to crown Alfonso, but Pope Pius IX did not come and refused to crown Alfonso.

The reason was that most of the soldiers who supported Alfonso to become emperor were heretics who claimed that the Emperor of Heaven had several sons, and the Holy See could never recognize such a thing.

Although Alfonso did not admit it himself, his Taiping Army subordinates spread the word throughout the French countryside that he was the fifth son of Heaven. He did not refute it, which was a heinous act.

When Shao Quanzhong heard about this, he sighed and said, "It is true that plans are not as fast as changes. Tokugawa Yoshinobu, I originally thought that you were the fifth son of the Emperor of Heaven, but the quota was taken by your Spanish brother-in-law. Now you can only be the sixth son."

I don't have time to take care of Japan's affairs now, and I don't know what has happened to you over there after being beaten by the anti-shogunate army. You better hold on, old man.

The Pope was completely distraught about France. Napoleon snatched the crown from the Pope, humiliating the Pope, and France became a republic without a father or a king.

After finally restoring the Bourbon dynasty, it became a heresy again, and the Pope vowed never to embarrass himself in France again.

Since no one crowned him, Alfonso became an uncrowned emperor.

Although he also did not wear a crown, Alfonso's enthronement was much more prestigious than William I. At least a lot of reporters from neighboring countries came, and Spain, Britain, Qing Dynasty, and Russia sent people to watch the ceremony.

Ahem, the person sent by Spain was Princess Maria Isabel, and the person sent by Qing was Consul in Paris Chen Lanbin. Russia was too far away so they didn't have time to send anyone. The original ambassador to France had fled to avoid the war and had not returned yet. A temporary telegram appointed Grand Duke Shao Quanzhong of Crimea as the plenipotentiary representative, so Shao Quanzhong has now become a guest of Russia.

The only country that came to solemnly congratulate the French emperor on his coronation was France's traditional enemy, Britain.

British Prime Minister Braxton personally went to Paris to watch the ceremony.

Why did Britain suddenly show goodwill to France? Times have changed.

The Franco-Prussian War ended with France defeated and severely damaged. Prussia rose and Germany unified, and was on the verge of becoming the overlord of the European continent.

Britain was very sensitive, and its next containment strategy was immediately directed at Germany and it began to win over France.

Lucia asked Shao Quanzhong to represent the country, with one purpose in mind: to contain Germany.

The French boasted that they were more civilized than the Germanic barbarians, and Alfonso at least sat on the throne and was crowned emperor.

All the ministers stood in line, led by Marshal McMahon, who had just been released by the Prussians. They bowed together and shouted "Long live the people".

The envoys of Britain, Russia, Spain and Qing also bowed together, and Alfonso officially became the French Emperor. The Third French Empire was established, and the Emperor was called Alfonso I.

He was called Alfonso XII in Spain because there were too many kings named Alfonso in Spain, so when he came to France he became Emperor Alfonso I of France.

When the new emperor ascended the throne, he conferred titles on his ministers. He did not appoint a prime minister, but instead gave Zhang Siwen, a loyal minister, the title of advisor to the Privy Council.

That’s because Zhang Siwen can’t work in Paris for a long time.

The so-called Iron-blooded Prime Minister Richelieu was just an important official of the Privy Council and did not have the title of Prime Minister. The title of Prime Minister was given by later generations because of the job he actually did.

The Minister of War conferred the title on the old general MacMahon who had surrendered. MacMahon was a pure soldier who was loyal to France.

He successively served Louis XVIII, Charles X, the July Monarchy of Orleans, the Second Republic, and the Second French Empire. He fought bravely for France, made countless contributions, and had a brilliant record.

Even though he was defeated at Sedan, that was caused by the blind command of Napoleon III, the mentally ill, micro-manipulator and self-aware Emperor of the Second Empire. It was also caused by Empress Eugenie, who stayed in Paris as regent and insisted on interfering in the affairs of the old women, and the old marshal could not be blamed.

The Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Foreign Affairs were Gustave and Blanqui, who were recruited by the government, ahem, the two who were rescued from prison by Zhang Siwen.

McMahon was appointed Secretary of War because he was well-known and supported the monarchy, and because he was of Irish descent.

The two Irish Youth Volunteer Divisions were all naturalized as French citizens to guard Paris, which was equivalent to the Fengtai Camp of the Qing Dynasty.

McMahon's main task was to train this group of Irish fellows, with the aim of being unfriendly to the British who were trying to win over France.

If these Irish people were to train in Cuba, Cuba would be dangerous and vulnerable to attack from the British Empire.

France is fine. Even if it loses the war, it is still a world power. When it comes to disgusting the British big brother, every French government has never spared any effort.

Once Alfonso sits on the throne of France, he has to follow the rules. This is the will of all French people.

After the coronation ceremony of the French emperor, there was another banquet. You can’t eat enough at a state banquet, especially a buffet in the West, which is not a place for eating, but a place for everyone to chat.

British Prime Minister Braxton came over to Shao Quanzhong with a glass of wine in hand. It was obvious that he wanted to talk. Shao Quanzhong smiled apologetically at Braxton and said, "Please wait a moment."

Shao Quanzhong ran to Alfonso immediately and whispered with him for a long time. Then a French guard ran out to send a telegram, conveying the first decree of His Majesty Alfonso.

Tell the French fleet that the pseudo-republican government you are loyal to has been destroyed. Now that the Third French Empire has been established, I am your boss. Stop attacking the friendly Qing fleet immediately.

When the imperial decree telegram arrived at the Cadiz naval port, it was too late because the fighting had already started for several hours.

(End of this chapter)