Chapter 249： heat

Chapter 249 Heat

France.

Jaime Medina, the current head of the Medina family, the old Earl Jacob Medina unfortunately passed away in March this year, and Jaime Medina inherited the title.

The Medina family is an ally of the Hechingen royal family in France, but the old Earl Jacob Medina was thrown into the sidelines because of his opposition to Napoleon III's reforms.

As an old man who followed Napoleon the Great, Jacob Medina was very dissatisfied with some policies of Napoleon III, especially when facing other factions other than the Napoleon faction in the country.

After being rejected by Napoleon III, they were originally hostile by the Orleans, Bourbon dynasties and the republicans. The fate of the Medina family can be imagined.

The Medina family, which faded out of the political arena, had already declined very severely before Ernst's rise, and this decline was all-round.

Later, after Ernst went to France to reintegrate these old family friends, through financial assistance, that is, the agent of the Hechingen Consortium in France, they became better and better economically.

But the price paid is that it is farther away from the political center of Paris, because the center of the Hechingen Consortium in France is the southern seaport city of Marseille.

The Hexingen French ally group represented by the Medina family, with the support of Ernst, has formed a considerable force in southern France.

Due to the death of the old earl, Napoleon III remembered this stubborn old guy. Although he didn't like him very much, he was a veteran of the Napoleon family after all. Therefore, in June, Napoleon summoned the successor of the Medina family, Jaime... Medina.

"Your Majesty, although the Medina family has long been ignored in France, I still want to say that there is absolutely no chance of winning the war. Unless France is ready for a full-scale war, any irrational behavior may destroy the Napoleon family in France. reputation."

These were the first words Jaime Medina said after seeing Napoleon III.

"Uh, Count Medina, I have no intention of launching a war recently."

"I'm just predicting that there will always be a winner between France and Prussia. We need the land along the Rhine and a divided Germany, while Prussia wants the unity and integrity of the entire Germany. There are irreconcilable contradictions between the two sides."

"That's a good sentence, but what do you mean by total war preparation?"

"Prussia is not a small country, but a military power in Europe. The existing French military power and system cannot quickly defeat Prussia, and once the war is delayed, the whole of Germany will be fisted by Prussia. So France's war against Prussia and In the past, Crimea was different on the Italian battlefield. To deal with the North German Federation, we should first change the French army system to be similar to that of Prussia, so that it is easier to organize large corps to fight..."

Before Medina finished speaking, he was interrupted by Napoleon III: "Prussia has indeed achieved some achievements in recent years, but that is because of the help of our France, without my acquiescence, not to mention Austria, even Denmark. That’s enough. And last time we were deceived by that despicable man Bismarck. He promised us the land of France, but he didn’t fulfill it at all. And recently, Bismarck urged Leopold to compete for the king of Spain. If we don’t stop it in time, I’m afraid France will suffer from the enemy. .”

"Your Majesty! Of course I know this, but the problem now is that the Prussian army has completed drastic reforms. After going through the fire of war, its military system is improving day by day, but France is a bit reluctant to make progress!"

"That's enough, Count Medina, it's not your turn to make irresponsible remarks here in the imperial army. If the old count knows that you have become like this, and fears a little Prussia like a tiger, I'm afraid he will crawl out of his grave angrily." Come out." Marshal McMahon, who had returned from Algeria, yelled at Medina angrily.

At the same time, other French generals also began to bombard Medina. Seeing that the situation in the court became a little chaotic, Napoleon III urgently stopped.

"Enough, stop arguing, Medina, let's go back to Marseille first! The answer will be revealed in a month, and the imperial soldiers will prove everything with their strength."

In a word, the Medina family was assigned again. The Earl of Medina seemed to have expected it, and he turned to leave. Before leaving, he looked back and said, "Your Majesty, you will regret it!"

Out of the Compiègne Palace, a group of media reporters flocked from various French newspapers and publishing houses, surrounding Medina as if premeditated and planned.

The reporter of "The Hustle" magazine asked Count Medina, "Count Medina, is it true that you are opposed to war?"

"Of course, France is not ready for war."

A day later, the "Hustle" magazine published a cartoon titled "Surrender without a fight, the old earl weeps." Medina knelt on the map of Germany, facing the direction of the map of France, shouting "Peace" The vilified Bismarck set up a cannon behind him, and a shell has already flown to France. In the upper right corner of the cartoon, the old Earl Jacob Medina scolded the "traitor" in heaven.

The reporter from Havas News Agency then asked: "Count Medina, who do you think is stronger, France or Prussia?"

"Of course it is France, but the military aspect is not easy to evaluate."

The next day, the headline of the Havas News Agency was "Count Medina believes that France is not an opponent of the Prussians at all."

…

That night, Medina "fleeed" from Paris by train overnight. If he didn't run away, the angry people of Paris might eat him alive tomorrow.

The French people who had just experienced the humiliation of the Eames telegram, also known as the "Bismarck telegram" incident, were furious against Prussia. The Prussian war was already the trend of public opinion.

The reporters were not hired by others, they were all hired by Medina. As for why they did this, it was naturally for traffic.

Medina is very clear that since the old earl retired, the Medina family has been completely marginalized in France. Even if they come back now, it is impossible to be trusted. The French Empire does not have Medina's ship.

Although he deliberately caused a lot of bad things in Paris, after returning to Marseille, Medina planned to use the media under Hexingen to clean himself up.

You can’t really let the reputation of the capitulators fall on your head. You are also a main fighter, but not a blind main fighter, but a rational main fighter who “sees the shortcomings of the French government”.

Three days later, the media in Marseille began to exert force, and Medina began to confront the Paris newspaper with the help of local newspapers.

“The news media in Paris distorts the facts. They misinterpret my original words. Unlike the media practitioners in the city of Marseille, they have an excellent spirit of seeking truth from facts.”

Stepping on and holding a handful naturally made the media in Marseille very happy. They used the "Medina incident" to criticize their counterparts in Paris. Look down on any place outside of Paris, not even the great revolutionary city of Marseilles.

The Paris media, which Medina put together, naturally did not show weakness, and they bombarded Medina and Marseille counterparts.

Things got worse and worse, and the French government stepped in in time to stop the farce, but the popularity of the Medina family was completely blown away. Medina is now the main combat faction, the peace faction, and the surrender faction are not important anymore.

(end of this chapter)