Make France Great Again-Chapter 916 - 907: A Generation’s Peace

The consecutive victories in the two rounds of negotiations gave Ambassador Cowley a feeling of euphoria.

However, before Ambassador Cowley could enjoy a moment of happiness, the Farokh Envoy, sitting opposite him, spoke in Persian: "Ambassador Cowley, shall we talk about our conditions now!"

The translator sitting beside Farokh quickly translated the Farokh Envoy’s Persian into French for Ambassador Cowley to hear.

Ambassador Cowley responded with a smile, extending his hand in response to the Farokh Envoy in English: "Of course! I am all ears!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The Farokh Envoy cleared his throat and replied to Ambassador Cowley: "Since we have agreed to your two conditions, we also hope you will agree to some of ours!"

After the translator finished translating Farokh’s words for Ambassador Cowley, he replied with a calm tone: "As long as your conditions are reasonable, I am willing to represent the Kingdom of Britain in agreeing to them!"

"Good!" Farokh Envoy held up one finger and said to Ambassador Lao Li: "We hope that after the treaty is signed, your country will withdraw from all the ports, regions, and islands in our country."

Then, the Farokh Envoy specifically emphasized: "I mean all of them!"

Ambassador Cowley naturally understood what Farokh’s emphasis on "all" meant.

It was nothing but the issue of the ownership of Muhamed City, as the Ottoman Empire had never given up its claim to this delta located on the Euphrates River, the only regularly navigable port for the Turks on the Euphrates (since Basra Port is too small for large ships at certain times of the year).

Long before Ambassador Cowley came to France, Prime Minister Palmerston had specifically talked to him about Muhamed City, telling Cowley at the time: if the Kaijia Kingdom did not specifically state the ownership of Muhamed City, then Ambassador Cowley should blur the issue of Muhamed City’s ownership.

Only in this way can Britain have the pretext that Muhamed City belongs neither to the Ottoman Empire nor to the Persian Kingdom and can claim the city.

"Britain can guarantee that after the treaty is signed, it will withdraw from the ports, regions, and islands of the Persian Kingdom, returning to the Kaijia Dynasty an undisputed complete territory!" Ambassador Cowley attempted to use a diplomatic ploy to blur the Muhamed City issue.

After all, Muhamed City is not a territory without disputes, and the neighboring Ottoman Empire has always had disputes with Persia.

Unfortunately, Farokh did not fall into Ambassador Cowley’s language trap, and he specifically asked: "Including Muhamed City, right!"

Ambassador Cowley’s face showed a hesitant expression, and Jerome Bonaparte immediately said: "Ambassador Cowley, since the Kingdom of Britain wants to conclude a peace treaty with the Kaijia Kingdom, it should not occupy other countries’ territories.

No country will engage in peace talks knowing its territory has been occupied!"

"That’s right!" Farokh Envoy said firmly to Ambassador Cowley, "We are willing to give up parts of our sovereignty in Afghanistan and Herat to maintain peace and stability in the entire Central Asia region!

If the Kingdom of Britain is unwilling to agree to return even Muhamed City to us, then I have reason to suspect that the Kingdom of Britain does not want to engage in peace talks at all!"

"Ambassador Cowley, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you really prepared to watch the negotiations break down?" Jerome Bonaparte, sitting on the throne, also sternly said to Ambassador Cowley, tapping the armrest.

Ambassador Cowley knew that Jerome Bonaparte was helping Persia exert pressure on him, forcing him to clarify the ownership of Muhamed City.

As for why Jerome Bonaparte was willing to help Persia exert pressure, it was probably because he had received some benefits from the Kaijia Kingdom.

However, Ambassador Cowley himself was unwilling to let such a small matter lead to the breakdown of negotiations.

After all, the negotiations also involved France.

If he acted unilaterally and caused the negotiations to break down, the French Empire would certainly be embarrassed.

The relationship between England and France would likely face turbulence.

After weighing the pros and cons, Ambassador Cowley sighed and said to Farokh: "My troops will withdraw from the territories of the Persian region, including Muhamed City."

"Thank you very much!" Farokh expressed his gratitude ceremoniously and continued: "My second condition is, if one day our country is actively invaded by any region/country in Herat or Afghanistan, our military has the right to suppress the invaders!"

After hearing Farokh’s proposal, Ambassador Cowley suddenly had a strange sense of déjà vu. After thinking for a moment, he realized that this condition was not the second reiteration of the clause from 1853.

However, three days after the clause was signed, the Kaijia Kingdom unilaterally tore it up.

"I would like to add a sentence at the end!" Ambassador Cowley said to the Farokh Envoy.

After a while, Farokh Envoy asked: "Add what?"

"The Persian government has the right to attack the country that invades them, but after completing the mission, they must return to their national territory as soon as possible!

No occupation for the purpose of aggression!" Ambassador Cowley said, glancing at Jerome Bonaparte on the throne, "Am I right, Your Majesty the Emperor!"

Damn it, wasn’t that what I just said?

From his seat, Jerome Bonaparte had an unmistakable sense of shooting himself in the foot.

At the moment, he couldn’t refute Ambassador Cowley. After all, Jerome Bonaparte had just said those words not long ago, and even if he forgot, it wouldn’t be so quickly.

Unless Jerome Bonaparte publicly declared he was a fish, with only a seven-second memory.

"Of course!" Jerome Bonaparte responded to Ambassador Cowley with a smile.

Ambassador Cowley looked at Ambassador Farokh with a broad smile, and Ambassador Farokh also spoke: "I represent the Kaiji Kingdom in agreeing to your conditions!"

"That’s wonderful!" Ambassador Cowley said to Ambassador Farokh, "Our two countries are one step closer to peace!"

Following that, Ambassador Cowley proposed his third condition.

The Kingdom of Britain hopes to re-establish its embassy set up in Tehran, with the consulate general, consuls, vice-consuls, and staff at the embassy enjoying the privileges of the most favored nation.

"I agree with you!" Ambassador Farokh decisively agreed to Ambassador Lao Li’s request and then put forth his own condition.

Ambassador Farokh hopes the Kingdom of Britain can abandon the protection rights for any Persian citizens who are not practically working for the British envoys or British consulate general, consuls, vice-consuls, and staff (in simpler terms, requires the Kingdom of Britain to set the following threshold in the protection of lackeys.

After all, the reason this war was launched was because the Kingdom of Britain, under the guise of protecting Persians working for them, initiated a war.)

"I represent the British Government and agree to your condition!" Ambassador Cowley responded to Ambassador Farokh.

...

Ambassador Cowley and Ambassador Farokh went back and forth, presenting their respective conditions, and soon more than two hours had passed again.

When the negotiation ended, it was almost 4 p.m.

Ambassador Cowley and Ambassador Farokh regarding the issues between Britain and Persia proposed a total of 15 terms.

The majority of these terms were suggested by Britain to the Kaiji Kingdom, with a few requested by the Kaiji Kingdom from the Kingdom of Britain.

When the two secretaries exchanged their respective terms, the meeting officially reached a satisfactory conclusion.

Sitting on the throne, Jerome Bonaparte also stepped down from the throne to shake hands with Ambassador Cowley and Ambassador Farokh, as well as the translators and secretaries present.

"From now on, the relations between Britain and Persia will advance to a new level!" Jerome Bonaparte stated a rather empty statement at the end of the meeting.

Ambassador Cowley left the Tuileries Palace first, as he needed to report this news to London as soon as possible.

Farokh stood in front of Jerome Bonaparte and shook his hand excitedly, saying: "Your Majesty, thank you very much for your righteous remarks just now!

I can assure you, the Kaiji Kingdom will never forget all you have done!"

Faced with Ambassador Farokh’s guarantee, Jerome Bonaparte just smiled and did not take it seriously.

After all, there exists only bare interests between nations.

Don’t see now the Kaiji Kingdom relying on France to safeguard its own interests, but they will never possibly lean towards France.

The Russian Empire is still their first choice, even though the Russian Empire is still in chaos now.

Here’s some news about the Russian civil war: Emperor of the Russian Empire Alexander II and his Prime Minister Gorchakov have returned to Moscow.

And although the Second Russian Imperial Government in St. Petersburg is already at a disadvantage on the battlefield, they are still resisting tenaciously.

Especially after some Italian revolutionaries, Hungarian revolutionaries, and Polish revolutionaries (mainly from the Grand Duchy of Poznan) joined, the combat strength of the St. Petersburg army has not declined.

Therefore, it is not a simple matter for Alexander II to completely win.

It is estimated that it will take at least two more years for both sides to truly decide the victor. During this period of war, wealthy individuals from cities such as St. Petersburg and Moscow began to flee the Russian Empire gradually.

Among them, over 5,000 wealthy Russian Empire citizens have already taken root in France, bringing money from their hometowns that added some vitality to the French economy.

...

The day after the negotiations ended, the front page of the Paris newspaper reported the news of the peace talks between the Kingdom of Britain and the Kaijia Dynasty.

The article revealed between the lines that without the French Empire and without Emperor Jerome Bonaparte, the Kingdom of Britain could not have concluded a peace treaty with the Kaiji Kingdom.

This greatly satisfied the big-nation chauvinism mentality of the French people.