_oOo_

24 Political maneuvers

–oOo–

"You are taking advantage of my poor health…" complained Napoleon. "Yesterday I was dying and you are already trying to make the most out of my lingering weakness."

"Indeed, I do, wouldn't you?" agreed Fitzwilliam.

"Of course, I would, Fitzwilliam, of course I would, but you are the renowned good guy, your good reputation will never let you do that, remember?"

"Well it is because I'm a good guy that I have to do it. My heart bleeds to know that cousins of mine are under the iron rule of your nigger army… Words of massacres have reached my sensible ears and I have to intervene…"

"Nice story, I could even believe it…"

"I need those blockheads of the southern States to believe it! I must convince them that I've come to see you to get them out of your clutches not that I bought them… If they see the least trace of trade or understanding between us, they'll rebel even against me…"

"We have the means to contain them" said Fouché who was, as Minister for Inner Affairs, present and responsible for the police actions in the Southern ex United States. "Toussaint's troopers are very ready to show everybody what their old masters had taught them. They have learned quite a lot of handy skills when it comes to hand out pain and suffering."

"And their presence will help to give my story a real background. But I can't let you go on massacring innocent people."

"These are all slavers, there are no innocents…" protested Fouché.

"Without d'Arcy you would have lined up with the slavers, Fouché, so don't try to make me believe that the slaves' fate has any importance to you…"

"I'm a servant of the French Consulate and the Consulate has declared slavery to be a crime…In Consular France a slaver gets a free ticket to the Guillotine's kiss, your Majesty. Must I remind you that Great Britain is much slacker with those evil people?"

"Gentlemen, please" interrupted Napoleon. "We do quite well know that you are loathing each other with gusto, no need to remind me of it…" He looked at Fouché with insistence and the tall slight man nodded finally. Fouché dealt with, he turned toward Fitzwilliam. "State your demands…"

"In exchange of everything west of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers I'd like you to evacuate what you occupy east of it."

"Most of it is already mine" said Napoleon with a smile. "Must I remind you that only a little part of the US has accepted your offer? Everything south of the Potomac and the Ohio rivers has preferred my rule to yours. I already own most of the US."

"Only if your count the acres, if you count the manpower, I've got two thirds of the US."

"And it is the developed part, Fitzwilliam! It's where the factories are situated, where the Universities have been built. You've probably already got ninety percent of their Gross Product. Why spend even a minute to save those Southern Slavers? They aren't worth the bullets my armies use to shoot them."

"That's not totally true. There are also non-slavers living there."

"All real non-slavers –and I mean by that the ex-slaves- have already voted with their feet, my dear Fitzwilliam. At least ninety five percent of the former slave population has moved toward the Mississippi West bank where half of my troops are building cities, bridges and roads. The South is drained of its cheap manpower. Those happy plantation owners no longer have enough people to tidy up their manors' flower banks let's not speak about maintaining the buildings. They are already desperate and they will be broke within the next year."

"And you'll buy their plantations…"

"Already at it, dear friend, already at it," said Napoleon with a smile. "You can't imagine how low desperate people are ready to sell their properties…"

Fitzwilliam made a face, looked Napoleon in the eyes but choose not to take Napoleon's bait.

"Come on, you know as well as I that you won't be able to maintain a French rule upon these States without permanent garrisons everywhere. And if you don't do it, they will rebel twice a year!"

"I do fear so" agreed Napoleon while smiling at Fouché. "That's why my Minister for Inner Affairs is here with us. To give us a precise report of what we are facing in those new French territories."

"For the moment everything is under control. There are still population transfers but most of the new French citizens have already reached their destinations. The fact that they are used to living in very simple conditions is a great help. What the troops are building for them is way better than what they had before."

"How many slaves are we speaking of?" asked Fitzwilliam.

"You don't know the numbers?"

"I know that the USA had around one million and three hundred thousand slaves, but I ignore how much have moved."

"More than a million" answered Fouché. "And that number means that the USA has lost twelve percent of their population and probably fifteen percent of their labor force."

"It won't be easy to give work to such a mass of people."

"We will give them land to settle on" answered Napoleon. "But we have to take our treaties with the redskins into account. We can't settle them everywhere. Thank God we can transport them by airship to remote locations where they can settle. As soon as everybody is settled we will dismantle Toussaint's troops to provide garrisons to those settlements. It will help to reduce the risk these troops represent." He made a face. "They are tough and determined but rather unruly and prompt to disobey. Giving them that role will placate the displeasure at their dismantlement. Toussaint has been informed and he approves. He'll become a Senator and I'll make him Duke of the Caribbean. He's loving it, he knows that he'll never put a foot there again but he loves it to be the duke of the Isles, a Peer of the Realm and richer than he ever dreamt of." He snickered. "I'd love to see problems find such an easy solution."

"Where are his troops?" asked Fitzwilliam.

"In Georgia and South Carolina," answered Fouché. "They are under pressure right now and there are a few spots where we will have to show who's at the helm. I fear it won't come without a certain death toll. People have not appreciated that we have seized all fire arms. They are still not aware that their Constitution is a thing of the past. Some resisted and were arrested. There is unrest brewing. Murat's army is in Tennessee and ready to intervene at Toussaint's first call."

"I don't doubt for a second that France has the fire power to smother any American rebellion, what I'm here to propose is a way to avoid any rebellion at all. We agree officially through a treaty that everything west of Mississippi and Ohio Rivers is attached to the Nouvelle France and that everything east of said Rivers is British territory. And you get back your troops to do more interesting things than counter American insurrections twice a year."

"They won't like to be British subjects" said Fouché. "I have my informers and they hate your guts almost more than ours."

"Had they liked me they would have accepted my offer" countered Fitzwilliam. "So, thanks, but I already knew about their mood. I hope the Northern States will be able to bring them around into the mold."

"It would probably be best for you to let us do our cleaning job for a few years" said Fouché. "They'll come with more enthusiasm after a few thousand troublemakers have been guillotined…"

"I'm not here to get new territories but to save lives…" insisted Fitzwilliam.

"And I do believe you, Fitzwilliam" said Napoleon. "And that's exactly why I will, some day in the future, agree with this trade of yours –with a little cash and a part of your Pacific possessions to sweeten the soup, of course- but not immediately. I need the world to believe it is a hard discussion between two determined partners. Officially I'll come to Pemberley once or twice a month to discuss with you. It will be for the show but I need everybody to believe me there for at least a few days. A part of the payment for my American agreement will be that you play the role of the host who hosts nobody."

Fitzwilliam shrugged.

"Whatever you want and I don't even need to know why you need to stage that show…"

"It's no secret for the man who has such a talented cousin who works on spying on us, Fitzwilliam. I need this to hide what I'm currently onto." Napoleon stood up and pointed toward the new maps he had gotten a few days ago. "I'm not in the least interested in the ex United States! I wasn't touring Greece last week; I was in Madrid to put a little more heat under that boiler. The King of Spain is a weak frightened man. His fears need to be entertained and seeing me has that effect on him. He's sure that if it comes to an open fight between Spain and what's now France, he will be utterly destroyed."

He shot an ironic smile toward his guest.

"And that's exactly what would happen, but I would look like a bad man, attacking what is still, at least on the paper, an ally. So that solution isn't acceptable. I need to protect the image d'Arcy had convinced me to project. But I still want a great part of the Spanish main-land and if I can't grab it, I need him to give me what I want…"

Fitzwilliam snorted.

"The problem is that you want everything!"

"Not everything, that's not true. I want what's a Roman Emperor's due…"

"I was forewarned that you had these little fits of illusion of grandeur… I hope you don't believe in your own lies."

"Of course, not but it comes in handy to let weak minded people believe I'm crazy enough to believe my own delusions. You can't imagine how he reacts when I role play my little Caesar ranting. I have to be very careful not to let my mirth show too much… I had to insert bouts of mad laughter to get a few minutes of free laugh."

"You are playing with a man who has none of your mental abilities. It's petty and unworthy of a ruler!"

"Politics are all about unfair, Fitzwilliam. You are able to do what you do, the soft fair way you do it, because d'Arcy levelled you the path and because Gardiner and Bingley have created an economy that literally shits gold ingots in your coffers! Without them you wouldn't be able to be so fair, so Darcyish. You'd have to do it the hard way like me."

"You could have the same economy…"

"I have the same economy, Fitzwilliam! Lebrun gave me the keys to build the same system you have. But there's a real difference between what you have built and what I got, my friend. And the difference is the people who work for you, Fitzwilliam. Your Gardiner is a monk, he pays himself a monthly wage I can't give my barber if I want to be sure to survive his next shave. You, Fitzwilliam you aren't even paid for what you do as a regent. And your brother spends all his money for inventions and science that, in the end, benefit to everybody on earth. That's not how it is done in France. Here everybody wants a share of the cake, and, if possible a greater share than his neighbor."

"We call that corruption" pointed out Fitzwilliam.

"No, it isn't corruption because I personally see to it that nobody gets undue advantages or special privileges out of it, but it is, I agree, costlier for the all-out economy. With each invested franc, France earns the same money than Great Britain does, but we pay more money to those who have invested than you do. And that's because you and your family who are Great Britain's main shareholder are paragons of virtue and honesty."

"I'm not convinced" said Fitzwilliam. "I agree that Uncle Gardiner and I –and the rest of the family for that matter- are not interested in increasing our personal wealth and therefore we don't suck the profit the Company makes. But we are paying wages to our workers that are a third higher than what any other employer in Europe pays! And still we are better off than them."

"I've tried a thousand times and I'm still unable to explain to my factory owners that by giving better wages to their employees they ensure better made products, less accidents and what should be their preoccupation as well as mine, give France a better income by increasing the mass of income taxes! Each time they answer that they prefer increasing their own income."

"There are ways to counter this sort of egotism" said Fitzwilliam. "You should ask Lebrun he is the specialist who developed the totality of our fiscal system. He proposed a system which taxes more if you earn more."

"You didn't choose that system, remember?"

"Indeed, because we believe that a man who works more and better shouldn't be punished by the tax system. The State gets his equal share of his income after all! But we are lucky that the Company holds most of the factories. Gardiner drives the wages upwards because the best workers go where they earn more so even the independent manufacturer are forced to increase their wages or they'll lose their best elements. Without d'Arcy we wouldn't have been able to force the shareholders' hands and impose the profit-sharing rule but now it is firmly rooted in the Law and nobody dreams of abolishing it. Everybody –and I can prove that even investors earn more- wins thanks to it… You should try it."

"I have and it exists all around the Mediterranean Sea where Gardiner and Bingley have put up shops. It helps to have them giving the trend."

"No longer afraid to have foreigners dominating your industry?"

"I'll make do as long as your Uncle is at the helm. That man is too honest to be real. He even refused the Duchy I proposed him…"

Fitzwilliam could only smile. Uncle Gardiner had also refused the Earldom he had proposed. 'Don't be a fool Fitzwilliam, I'm a businessman and I have no need to become a member of the Peerage. Let me do what I'm good at and shower your honors and titles onto someone who needs that to be productive.'

Well he would give the Earldom to Uncle's eldest son when he would be of age. It would help his ego after having seen his sisters marry a Duke and an Earl.

"He's a little on the extreme side of the business but we can't complain, he is adored by his workers, admired by his competitors and appreciated by Europe's rulers for his willingness to give them free advice. Without him I would be struggling to replenish the State coffers my wife is so prompt to empty with her pet projects."

"Her pet projects are what will give Great Britain the leading edge in the next generation. Healthy and well-educated workers are the sine qua non condition to succeed in the technology race your brother has brought upon us. I'm shamelessly copying her with our Public Instruction Ministry. We started after you, but we will catch up and our system has been carefully overthought to eliminate the flaws of your Parish based school system."

"It is probably that parish based Christian school system that will permit us to smother failings out of our pupils' minds. It won't be accurate at one hundred percent, but it will help against petty greed."

"I agree: it is difficult to overcome petty greed in the people's mind." He shook his head. "But let's go back to my main problem. As said, I'm currently discussing with Spain and it could be that we come to an agreement. But it could very well be that we won't. In that last case I have my troops on stand-by in Northern America ready to storm all Spanish possessions they can reach while afoot." He shook his head. "But that's music for the future. Meanwhile I'll give you a hand in staging your support for your south of the Potomac solution." He looked at Fitzwilliam. "Don't be surprised but there are quite a lot of journalists from all over the world who will fall upon you when you quit my residence. They know you have been here to plead for your American cousins. Let them know that I'm reticent but that everything's still open… Hope still exists!"

–oOo–

"We could rebel…" grumbled Adams.

"Against what?" asked Gallatin. "There's not even a British official anywhere. North of the Potomac everything is as it was before the Regent's proposition. Each State just got an acknowledgement from the Crown that it was accepting its integration in the Kingdom and that the State Governor was nominated Crown Governor. The State authorities still manage almost everything inside their territories. The administration everywhere is clearly at work and has its normal efficiency."

"I lost my troops" said Eustis.

"Only those stationed in the South, the rest is still ready to fight, we could…" insisted Adams.

"We could what?" interrupted Madison. "Attack the French? We have Toussaint Louverture's Black Army in South Carolina. If we attack they will come, don't doubt it a second!"

"Well that would produce a casus-belli between Britain and France… We could use that to rebel against the British."

"What would happen would be the destruction of Washington, that's what would happen! Napoleon would express his deep felt regrets to have been forced to enter British territory to chase rioters and the Regent would look pissed at France for at least a week. End of the counterattack!"

"You're a defeatist, Eustis…"

"And you are an idiot! The Regent knew what he was doing when he refused to hang you. With you alive we are a lot weaker than with you dead. At least you would have been replaced with someone capable."

"Stop it, gentlemen…" said Madison. "Must I remind you that technically we are no longer the men in power because there is no longer a Nation called United States of America? The Northern States that accepted the regent's proposition have legally seceded from the Federation to join the United Kingdom. We still have an administration and a budget but we no longer have a territory."

"The District of Columbia is still under our authority" pointed out Gallatin. "And the Southern States are still members of the federation. It is our duty to work to get them free." He looked at the rest of the Cabinet. "Gentlemen, the French occupation of more than half of our territory gives us the opportunity to remain what we were. We are still the government of the United States and as such it is our duty to work at the re-establishment of our beloved country."

"That British pig will never allow it" shouted Adams. "Now that he has his claws in our Nation's heart he will rip it out…"

Madison chose not to answer to that stupid comment.

"You are right Gallatin, we are still a government and our citizens want us to react in order to restore the United States. Let's go to work…"

–oOo–

"I'm scared…"

"I know your Majesty, I know, but we must find a way to survive…"

Manuel Godoy y Alvares de Faria smiled at his King. Carlos the Fourth wasn't a bad King but against a man like Napoleon he was outclassed and outmatched. And he was smart enough to know it.

"He will invade us…"

"We are his allies and he is very prone to show the world that he is a man of his word. If we resist his pressure, he won't enter open warfare."

Carlos shook his head and went to the little window to look at the city of Madrid. All those people were counting on him. He had to do something to protect them against a war in Spain. Ten years ago, he would have sworn that, had the French entered his land, his Hidalgos would have bled them to death. But the Berber wars in North Africa had shown to the world that a Nation with airships had an astounding advantage. Nobody was invisible to eyes looking from above.

"He's not a patient man and he won't take 'no' for an answer for a very long time." He looked over his shoulder at his most trusted man. "And he is crazy, Manuel… As crazy as those Emperors he mimics!"

Manuel came over and placed his hands on his King's shoulders.

"He's playing a role, Majesty. He's a very clever and well-informed man. He knows everything about your father's illness and how it shattered your confidence. He knows that being in presence of mad people makes you go to pieces and he plays with that knowledge. We must resist or he will swallow us alive."

"He has an army who has defeated every foe in Europe and America, Manuel. We have nothing to face him with."

"We don't need an army, majesty, we are his allies and he needs to look like the truthful man he isn't. He can't attack an ally. Great Britain wouldn't accept it…"

"Great Britain? They are his puppets, Manuel, they dance at his tune…"

"That's what they both want the world to believe, Majesty, but nothing is clear in that relationship. They form a very strange couple, those two, it looks like France is the leading partner in that alliance but if you look behind the scenes that's not at all what you see. For the last ten years it has been Great Britain that has influenced France in everything and not the contrary! And with the Company building trading posts and factories all around the Mediterranean Sea, more and more of France's income comes from the Company. France looks like the main partner but it is true only in political matters; for the rest Great Britain is the main character in the game."

"You forgot Napoleon's military power, Manuel. Great Britain has nothing to present to oppose the French."

Manuel pouted.

"That's where you are wrong, Majesty. Great Britain has still the mightiest and most modern Navy of the world. And the British armies in India number, at my last count, three hundred thousand men. That's not nothing and even if only fifty thousand of them are war experienced veterans, the rest is a well-equipped and well-trained army whose men will fight for the Crown if they believe it necessary."

Carlos frowned at the figures. Indeed, those were interesting numbers.

"Last, but not least, Great Britain has the most modern air fleet in the world and, if my sources are correct, the latest airship they have just launched is going to revolutionize aerial warfare…"

Carlos could only shake his head.

"How can they revolutionize something that didn't exist ten years ago?"

"By always searching new ideas and implementing them, Majesty, they are very very good at that sport." He looked his king in the eyes. "I know that what happened to Algiers has been the stuff of your worst nightmares, Majesty…"

"How could it not, Manuel? Imagine airships flying over Madrid at such a high altitude that you can do nothing to destroy them and when they are in position they open their lower cargo holds and hundreds of grenades rain on my helpless people! How can that not be the stuff for my nightmares?"

Manuel smiled at his King.

"And that's where you and Darcy differ, Majesty. You imagine your cities being destroyed by rains of grenades and he imagines ways to stop the airships before they are in position to let said grenades fall."

Carlos frowned at his Minister and friend.

"You mean he has found a solution?"

"More than one if my sources are good. And, as we speak test sites are being implemented at England's coasts…"

"Can we copy these solutions?"

"Not with our current industry, Majesty. We are helplessly outdated! We have splendid craftspersons but Britain has engineers and educated workers who are able to read and write and reckon. Who are capable to build that tech you refused us, Majesty."

"If I let this Gardiner put a foot in Spain, he'll control the economy in fewer weeks that I can picture."

Manuel nodded.

"Indeed, but we are facing a dilemma here. Do we want a fair man like Gardiner at our economy's helm or a crooked greedy one like Napoleon?"

"I already refused you proposal at least a hundred times."

"And since it is a bad decision, I come back and ask anew. We need the Company to boost our tech, Majesty. Without them we are outclassed and even with the extend of our American colonies we will be pushed into bankruptcy." He came forward and looked his King into the eyes. "And we need to enter into a treaty with Great Britain…"

"They have stolen California, Manuel. I cannot accept to discuss with thieves!"

"Javer di Caraca attacked their expedition, Majesty, technically they retaliated and counter attacked."

"Taking over a territory larger than continental Spain…"

"They had airships and Javer hadn't…"

"He paid his mistake with his life!"

"And if you ask me, he got off lightly. I would have him quartered if I had been able to put my hands on him alive. Great Britain could have been our best asset against France and he destroyed everything with his foolish attack."

"They were entering on our territories, Manuel."

"You don't shoot a neighbor who knocks at your door!"

He couldn't help but grind his teeth.

"Polite people greet the visitor and eventually offer him a seat. Or if the newcomer is impolite go visit the intruder and ask him to go back where they belong! Polite people show good education. And smart commanders don't attack when they don't have the least idea about what they are attacking. He was perhaps your cousin but he clearly was an idiot and with his last idiocy he lost half of our Northern American territories! And wrecked any chance of an alliance between Great Britain and us!"

"They invaded us…" protested Carlos.

"They were on an exploration trek and had just crossed two thousand miles on foot and in canoes. You don't shoot at first sight on men who trespass your property! You, at least, ask about the reason of their visit. There was, in the past, a thing called hospitality which defined people as civilized! I'd like to think that we Christians are better human beings than all those heathen around the world."

"Javer paid his mistake with his life, and, let it be told once more, he was obeying my orders."

"Indeed, he was and those orders were, once more, born out of fear and mistrust. It is time, Majesty, to grow a spine and look at the world with positivity and confidence. We are not yet defeated; we still have the first empire in the world and we could still give it a chance to survive. But to do that we have to look at those who think ahead of their time and not those who dwell into the past."

Carlos sighed and looked at the floor. He and Javer had been friends and he had always admired his cousin's courage and recklessness. He had cried when he had learned his demise.

"What do you want me to do?"

"We have to stall, Majesty. We have to save what can be saved. And, I'm sorry to says it thus we won't be able to save the whole of Spain."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that to save the estate it is, from time to time necessary to sell a cottage or two. And today, to save the Kingdom and the Empire it could turn out to be necessary to let go of a part of it."

"What do you mean?"

"We have already lost the Baleare and Cataluña which are French and British for Minorca, it could be a good idea to let Napoleon include Some other parts of Spain into his Empire."

"Impossible…"

"Utterly necessary…"

"Those territories are a part of the Kingdom since the twelfth century we can't let any of them go!"

Manuel Godoy y Alvares de Faria forced himself to stop arguing and chose another path.

"What do you believe will happen should the French invade Spain?"

"We will probably be conquered…" said Carlos while biting his lower lips.

"Yes, and not only here in Europe! Napoleon's armies are positioned to strike in America and I'm quite sure that New Spain will fall within weeks after the first strike. And if we lose the Mainland and the American colonies at the same time, what would be the consequence?"

"We would only exist because we have colonies in the Philippines."

"For how long?"

"We could send ships there to be sure to be able to hold the isles."

"Against airships coming from the Moluccas? You know that the French have stationed an airwing and a fleet there? If there is an offensive against us, they will strike everywhere."

"And the Kingdom will disappear…"

"Indeed, but we can avoid it if we play smart."

"And playing smart means giving away aven more than Cataluña?"

"Of course, not in so crude a manner… We can't just give away a territory of the Crown. We will have to organize dissent like the French did in Barcelona. If a province secedes to join France and if France shows that they have the intend to greet this other parting Province we would probably have no choice but to accept the partition."

"It will show that we are weak…"

"But we won't be invaded and whilst our independence lasts, we can organize our future in a position of relative strength. Once we have French soldiers everywhere, we are dead."

Carlos couldn't help but accept his Minister's last sentence. Indeed, if they were invaded, Spain would disappear under a foreign yoke like the Aztecs or the Incas had disappeared under Spanish rule. He would not let it happen.

"Organize our future? How do you propose to do it?"

"With foreign help, Majesty. With foreign help…"

–oOo–

Baghdad was not Istanbul and Mesopotamia was not the shore of the Black See but it was what was left, and he had to do with it.

Selim the Third had been lucky to survive the devastating defeat five years ago but in his country's bad luck he had been lucky. Lucky that most of his main opponents have been killed in one battle or another. Lucky that the Janissaries had been totally wiped out. Lucky that his foes had chosen not to erase his Empire but let it survive. Lucky that he had survived to reorganize his Empire.

What was left of it, at least!

He sighed and looked another time at the report his spies in Croatia had provided.

He smiled in spite of himself and with a bow acknowledged a smart and superior player.

So it's really you, d'Arcy… And so you made the world believe you're dead.

Selim could very well understand why a man would choose to forfeit glory and fame to disappear from the light and become a shadow among shadows.

How he would have loved to be a simple musician able to write his music and the song his mind was always weaving! Had he had the opportunity he would have make himself disappear and reappear in some other place where Selim could have been the name of a happy man with a cithara in his hands and a song on his lips.

He could have done that at the end of the war, but he had chosen to stay and to fight for his people. The Turks had been one of the leading forces of Europe for six centuries and he would not -could not- accept to see his civilization sink slowly into the pit of oblivion.

He was a little disappointed that one of the men he admired most had chosen to blow his perfect scheme because of a pair of women but it had happened before and he wouldn't begrudge the man's choice because the only woman worth of love he had encountered had died on him while offering him her daughter. Had she lived he would have chosen her without a hesitation. He would give him the opportunity to stay with them… If he did what he was told!

He had no doubt that a man like d'Arcy would not obey just because threatened. If he had judged the man correctly and he was sure he had done so, the man would retaliate and try and counterattack! Which was alright with Selim because he wanted the man at his best and not cowed and fearful.

But, for now, d'Arcy was not yet needed.

What was needed was a new Ottoman Empire with a modern economy and efficient and imaginative leaders. A modern State who would, again, be able to rise into the firmament of world powers.

–oOo–

"If Allah would have wanted us to fly, he would have given us wings…"

There was a long pregnant silence after Mehmet's words and Selim just tilted his head to the side while looking at his –no longer so- trusted councilor.

"Do I hear disapproval, there?"

Selim had, all his former reign, been a kind and thoughtful man, who had always tried to rally those around him with patience and conviction. They had seen it as weakness and lack of resolve and had tried to outwit him. So, with the utter catastrophe of his all-out defeat he had taken steps. Bloody and definite steps who had granted him out of fear what they never gave him out of gentleness.

"Of course not, your Highness, never…" stammered Mehmet who was quite aware that surviving that little smile of his lord and master was among the most difficult tasks in the world.

"I'm sorry, Mehmet, my friend, but the tone of your words seemed disapproving to me. You could perhaps explain what behind my plans was triggering your disapproval?"

"There was no disapproval, your Highness, I guarantee…"

Selim nodded slowly his head while closing his eyes and sighing.

"Perhaps we need to listen once more to your exact words, Mehmet, to see why I could be lent to commit such a crass misinterpretation. Could you please repeat?"

Selim wasn't enjoying what he was doing but he had learned the hard way that even the slightest sign of weakness would entail some people to believe him weak and ripe for the taking.

"I don't remember the exact words, your Highness but I swear I wasn't showing any disapproval at all!"

Selim didn't grant his councilor the respite he was so desperately seeking.

He could accept some comments, even some criticisms –would accept them with joy if it helped him to make the best decisions- but he knew that a sentence where the word 'Allah' was set in was an attempt to use the religiosity one could find in any Muslim to undermine his authority. And he had made it very clear since he had moved his Capital City to Baghdad that he would no longer accept an argument based only on the invocation of God or the Holy Scripture.

"Can somebody refresh Mehmet's memory?"

He could feel the fear crawling around in his councilors' minds. They were torn between their survival instinct that rushed them into repeating Mehmet's words and the necessity not to make new enemies by seeming to enjoy a rival's downfall.

Selim let wrinkles appear on his brow.

The result was immediate.

"If Allah would have wanted us to fly, he would have given us wings…" blabbered out together Ismaïl and Yussuf, the two youngest members of his council and, for a little time more, the most scared.

"Thank you gentlemen" said Selim with a smile while frowning at Mehmet. "Even when hearing it a second time and under such fallacious spelling, I still have a general feeling of disapproval, haven't you?"

"I guarantee that…"

"Haven't you?"

Selim hadn't shouted. He had spoken in the very quiet and icy tone that, had he learned, was a lot more scaring than shouting aloud.

Mehmet had a last chance to save his life if he found the backbone to look up at his Sultan and accept that he had played and lost. He would lose his post and his wages, but he would remain in Baghdad and keep his estates. If, on the contrary, he just continued to deny evidence he would lose everything. And with the new Selim, everything meant everything…

"I assure you, Your Highness that it wasn't in my intention to…"

"Yes, it was!" interrupted Selim while standing up from his cushions. In the past he had been portly and round. That was the past. Now he was lean and edgy. With fire in his eyes and an overwhelming will that led him down his solitary path.

He snapped his fingers and two guards appeared at his side.

"Open the window, please…"

Mehmet found the resources to become even paler.

"I will repeat it one last time for the benefit of those who have still a chance to learn the lesson" whispered Selim while walking toward the balcony. "I'm the ruler of this Empire and it is my intention to give it back its Glory and its Strength." He looked at Mehmet. "And I'll do it in my lifetime. I will be the Sultan who has lost almost everything but won over more than he had lost." He went to the parapet and turned to look at his trusted men. "I will always listen to facts and overthought arguments. But I will not accept bigotry and arguments that try to use our Faith to make me look bad. I'm the commander of the faithful and I'm the one who decides what Allah's will on this Earth is!" He shot a dark glance at Mehmet. "Not you…"

He looked at Mehmet and his eyes were devoid of any human feelings.

"I'll give you a chance to prove your assertion, my friend" said Selim while pointing at the void. "Show me that you are right, and I'll forget that you have a family who could pay my displeasure. And don't forget to bat your arms! Who knows? With enough battling you could perhaps acquire enough lift not to crash yourself in the courtyard?"

Selim gave his ex-councilor a dozen seconds to find the courage needed to jump. Since nothing happened, he made a little gesture toward his guards and two seconds later Mehmet was flying toward the cobblestones of the courtyards while screaming his lungs out. An awful thump announced to everybody his arrival in the courtyard.

Selim who had observed the whole fall shook his head in disappointment.

"He didn't bat his arms, what a shame we'll have to make another experiment…" He looked at the guards. "Go get his sons…"

"That's enough, Selim!" said Kör Yussuf his Grand Vizier. "I'm sure we have all understood the lesson."

"I'm not so sure, my dear friend" said Selim. "Twenty years ago, I tried to convince my dear councilors that the Empire needed reforms and above all needed to be led into this new century in the same way as those Rumi States were doing. They didn't listen and forced me to stay put… To go on as always because it was thus that was best for their interests. Now they are all dead –God be praised and may their souls burn for all eternity in this Christian Hell where they belong- but their death came with a price since we've lost almost everything. Had I found the courage, in these times, to have them thrown out of a window we would perhaps still be in Topkapi enjoying the perfect climate of the Black See! I didn't and it brought the wrath of God upon us with the results we all know too well. Now we are defeated, lessened and humiliated and some still believe they can play with me and try to play their little power games!" He looked at his trusted –this time he was sure of it- councilor. "I'm done playing politics; Kör! I'm done listening to stupid advice born out of greed or bigotry. I'm done with people who do not accept my decisions, is that clear?"

All, save Kör, nodded with force.

"Well, let's go back to the problem of airships, another comment on my decision to finance the research of our own airship?"

–oOo–

"We should stop building airships" said Kutuzov, Alexander's Military councilor. "We need to replenish our troops."

"First of all we need to replenish our coffers, and taking all these workers out of our factories will lessen my income, Kutusov, and we need that money…"

"I agree" said Bagration, Alexander's new Chief of Staff. "We have no real foe for the time being, we need to build an economy that gives us a security. We have strategic depth, but we need to build an industry first!"

"The Company is helping, we have ten times more factories than two years ago" said Alexander. "And what's even better, we are ahead our planned schedule."

"The Ottomans are rearming" pointed out Kutusov. "We need to have enough men to stop them would they decide to get back what we took. And with Napoleon's expeditionary corps in America we can't count on him to help us."

"We can't count on foreigners to fight for us" grumbled Bagration. "We need to be ready to face our enemies ourselves. But we are not ready; we need to retrain our men to cope with all these new military technologies. We have now rifles that shoot at thrice the range we were used to, if we go on thinking battles like we did we will lose our men before they are able to see the enemy."

"Well if they don't see the enemy the enemy won't see them either" said Kutusov who had no liking for Bagration. He hadn't liked at all Napoleon answer to the Czar's demand. 'You don't have a good general' had said Napoleon, 'save Bagration who's your best tactician and wouldn't deface my Staff, if you accept to let him go, I'll take him'. And within minutes, Bagration had taken Kutusov's place as Chief of Staff, which had more than angered the old general.

"Indeed" agreed the younger general who was quite aware of the old man's distaste but didn't give a damn because he knew that Napoleon was right. With the little exception that he knew a better Russian general than himself. But even a Chief of Staff needed a good man to do the job in the field and Matvei Platov would be useful for quite a few more years.

And even if he was better, he was only a Cossack and a Cossack couldn't be the Czar's Chief of Staff.

"But we need a new tactical military doctrine that will give us another way to fight battles. And we don't have, thanks to the Constantinople bloodshed –sorry no criticism implied-, a lot of soldiers who have bad tactical habits. We need to teach the new recruits new ways to use their new weapons and we can't do that before we have succeeded to work out said new doctrine. I believe we should ask our British allies, there are rumors that Wellesley has been put out of command and adjoined general Fitzwilliam and a lot of promising young innovative officers. Nobody knows what they are upon, but I would bet half my estates that he is thinking like mad about a new doctrine to make battle."

"I have had an occasion to speak with Kellermann before he retired to his new estates in Palma de Majorca" said Kutusov; "and he was very disgruntled by what he was figuring the battle of the future would be. He was certain that within a few years all battles would become battles of attrition where the generals would have no other choice but to send waves after waves of soldiers to try and take the enemy's positions. He made nightmares about battles where millions of men would be sacrificed to gain a few square miles… I must admit that his nightmares were indeed nightmarish!"

Bagration had read the same files about Kellermann's gloomy foresights. And he was rather in agreement with his visions. But that had been before the Brits created airships. He was sure that airships would transform the way battles were fought.

"We need a few of those heavy load airships the Brits are testing" said he finally. "I'm quite sure it would knock out the padlock Kellermann's was foreseeing. With them we would have a way to spring this bolt!"

"But to do it you need even more airships" grumbled Kutusov. "And must I remind you that airships are unable to occupy landscapes!"

"Indeed, that's why I need not only more airships but I need more special airships." He looked at his Sovereign. "I need a dozen of those heavy lifting airships and thousands of those 'paratroopers' the English have been using against the Afghan mountain fighters."

"You can't do everything with only airships" pointed out Kutusov.

"I agree but airships do resolve quite a lot of Kellermann's fears. You no longer have to grind away your enemies' defenses; you jump over them and take them out from behind!"

"I'll see if we can afford at least one" agreed Alexander. "You'll have to see how it works before putting all our money in these special units of yours. Remember that a parachute is a very costly business."

"That's why we need to make them ourselves…" said Kutusov.

"Which means new factories" agreed Alexander, "and brings us back to the beginning of our argument. Rearming will have to wait! I'll invest my money in even more new factories."

"The Boyars won't like to see even more men siphoned by even more factories!" pointed out Kutusov.

"I know but it doesn't matter at all" insisted Alexander. "If I had listened to them, we would have allied ourselves with Prussia and Austria and we would probably have lost every battle Napoleon would have mounted against that pitiful alliance."

"With the British Gold and our manpower, we would have been able to, finally, win against the French" said Kutusov.

"Since said Gold is now in Napoleon's pockets, my choice was the good choice! Just look at the maps and out of the window if you still have a doubt" said Alexander in a rather satisfied voice. He was not the Czar who had won the most territories for Russia but he was in the top three and he wasn't finished yet.

He looked at Bagration.

"Do work on that doctrine and let's create a Legion of those paratroopers." He smiled at both his generals. "No reason we let the French the monopoly of Roman terms. Piotr, you can use some of our transport airships to train your new recruits. I'll see if I can buy a few hundreds of those silk parachutes. I'm sure the Company has a few in stock."

–oOo–

–oOo–