[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rise-of-the-empire-spain":3,"chapter-rise-of-the-empire-spain-rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-48":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rise of the Empire: Spain",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2364976,4632,"Chapter 48: More Terrifying Than Prussia","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-48",48,"\u003Cp>Gao Da was in a wonderful mood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This banquet resolved the problem Gao Da most wanted to solve: establishing an institution that united all the nobles to ensure Gao Da’s influence over the entire nobility.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the nobles present were only a portion of Spain’s entire noble class, most of the dukes with higher status and influence were on the scene, except for those who were far away or delayed by matters, such as the Duke of Serrano, who was far away in Cuba.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is believed that once the news of the establishment of the Royal Council is announced, it will attract more nobles to apply for membership.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also an opportunity for the nobles to declare their stance. Those nobles who eagerly applied to join the Royal Council were naturally those willing to support Gao Da.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for those unwilling to declare their stance to join the Royal Council, it was equivalent to them being unwilling to support Gao Da, and their loyalty to Gao Da remained questionable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Gao Da was creating the Royal Council to win over a portion of the nobles, in France to the north of Spain, the dialogue between Prussia and France regarding peace talks was also drawing to a close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, according to the draft of reparations signed by Prussia and France, the French government only needed to pay Prussia two hundred million francs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This reparation was not harsh, and for France, it could even be paid off immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But with the development of the situation within Balicheng, the terms of the peace talks soon underwent a transformation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the French National Defense Government suppressed the first uprising of the citizens of Balicheng, it did not completely dispel the increasingly intense opposition of the citizens of Balicheng toward the National Defense Government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially after learning that the National Defense Government might cede French territory, the citizens of Balicheng were furious, one and all, and completely lost all trust in the National Defense Government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The angry citizens of Balicheng gathered once again, erupting into an uprising even larger than the last.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the National Defense Government suppressed it very promptly, for the angry citizens of Balicheng, there was no other choice at this time but to resist firmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The low-morale troops of the French National Defense Government had no advantage at all when facing the emotionally charged National Guard of Balicheng; in fact, many government troops felt no hostility toward the National Guard, but were instead as close as brothers, repeatedly passing on intelligence favorable to the National Guard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were two strategically important high grounds within Balicheng: the Montmartre Heights and the Chaumont Heights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Large quantities of cannons and other weapons and equipment were stored here, and the National Defense Government naturally would not allow the weapons here to be obtained by the insurgent army of Balicheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when seizing these two high grounds, a mutiny occurred within the National Defense Government’s own troops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Claude Martin Lecomte, who was responsible for attacking the Montmartre Heights, not only failed to complete his mission but was instead executed by his own soldiers in a mutiny.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason for his execution was that General Lecomte had once ordered his soldiers to open fire on the National Guard of Balicheng and ordinary citizens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the uprising in Balicheng raged on, the French National Defense Government discovered with horror that its own army seemed somewhat disobedient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The National Defense Government’s army was originally composed of insurgents, and the composition of the army was very complex. Although capitalism controlled the discourse of the National Defense Government, there were also a large number of soldiers in the army with various ideologies, such as republicans and democrats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the treacherous capitalist National Defense Government, these soldiers clearly supported the newly risen National Guard of Balicheng more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the situation intensifying, the Prime Minister of the French National Defense Government, Thiers, was so frightened that he dared not stay in Balicheng any longer and chose to move the National Defense Government to Versailles, more than ten kilometers away from Balicheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why Versailles? Because German troops were still stationed there. For the officials of the French National Defense Government, their fear of the insurgent army of Balicheng was greater than their fear of the German army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the Germans would at most make them cede land and pay money. But those insurgents in Balicheng would send them to the guillotine and hang them from lampposts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for which was more important, the loss of national interests or their own personal safety, for these French officials of the National Defense Government, there was no need to think at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bismarck, who was preparing for the German Empire’s coronation ceremony in Versailles, smiled. He did not expect the French to provide such an opportunity; wasn't this giving benefits to the soon-to-be-established Germany for nothing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bismarck would not let this good opportunity slip by, and the Junker nobles within Prussia would certainly not let this good opportunity slip by either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prussia was a rather special country, and the Junker nobles held extremely high influence and status in Prussia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If one were to say that France was a country that possessed an army, then Prussia was an army that possessed a country.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the reason why the Prussian army was brave and skilled in battle, but it also influenced Prussia’s diplomatic strategy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did the nobles fight for? Naturally, it was to raise their titles and fight for more land for themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How to fight for more land for themselves? Naturally, by snatching land from France and then having it divided up by the numerous Junker nobles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the nobles were not philanthropists; they did not fight hard for the Prussian King Wilhelm I without expecting a reward, it was just that the reward needed to be paid by the defeated nation, France.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could Bismarck ignore the highly influential Junker nobles within Prussia? Of course not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the Junker nobles repeatedly pressured Wilhelm I and Bismarck, demanding more land from France, Bismarck finally spoke to Thiers again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because of a previous miscalculation regarding our country's losses in the war, I hope to renegotiate the terms of reparations with your government and sign a new reparation treaty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This matter concerns the interests of tens of millions of people in Prussia and Germany, so I ask you to consider it carefully. Of course, I will guarantee the safety of your government and ensure that the uprising in Balicheng does not affect Versailles.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bismarck’s meaning was very simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Either agree to more reparations and cede more land, and the Prussian army could guarantee the safety of the French government in Versailles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not, Prussia might very well hand the French government over to the insurgent masses of Balicheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that case, the fate of the French officials could be imagined. The last time the masses of Balicheng rose up, they directly executed the king; were the identities of these officials more noble than the king’s?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under Bismarck’s coercion and intimidation, even if Thiers was unwilling to renegotiate the reparation terms, he had to nod and agree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, that group of rioting citizens of Balicheng would really hang them from lampposts; the citizens of Balicheng were far more terrifying than the Prussian army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps the citizens of Balicheng could not have imagined that their uprising would instead make the government even more cowardly, even willing to cede more land in exchange for Prussia’s protection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even if the citizens of Balicheng knew, they would likely only resist even more fiercely. Because such a cowardly government could not lead France forward; France should establish a fairer democratic republic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First update, asking for support!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of this chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1295,"2026-06-25T09:27:12.995Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","927f0a7c5394a88f7f92d6b408259caa4b82894dd9c34b29ec3e802092de9cb7","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-49","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-47",493,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frise-of-the-empire-spain-cover.jpg"]