"Your Majesty, I think Cavour might have a major move soon!"

Faced with De Luy’s particularly correct statement, Jerome Bonaparte shrugged in response to De Luy.

"I certainly know Cavour will take action soon, and his next target is likely to be the Apennine Peninsula!

Now I only want to know if the French Empire can profit from Cavour’s next move!"

Regarding the question posed by Jerome Bonaparte, De Luy didn’t know how to answer.

Because De Luy currently has no knowledge of the actions Cavour is about to take.

If it weren’t for the intelligence Percy sent from London, De Luy wouldn’t even know where Cavour is now, let alone determine Cavour’s intention to cause trouble on the Apennine Peninsula.

Now De Luy could only learn about Cavour’s actions in London from the limited intelligence provided by Percy.

After a brief silence, De Luy replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, my apologies!

Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not focused on the Apennine Peninsula, so I cannot accurately predict Cavour’s next move!"

To prevent the Emperor from being infuriated by the inefficiency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, De Luy added, "However, based on my personal understanding of Cavour, he probably won’t put the Sardinian Kingdom in the vortex, only Giuseppe Garibaldi should be placed on the table!

That is to say, Giuseppe Garibaldi is very likely to become an important pawn for Cavour to stir the situation on the Apennine Peninsula!"

After hearing De Luy’s analysis, Jerome Bonaparte nodded slightly.

If De Luy judged Cavour’s actions based on the intuition of a diplomat, then Jerome Bonaparte judged Cavour’s actions based on historical trajectories.

Although current history is vastly different from the original, Jerome Bonaparte believed that choices made by people adhering to historical trajectories wouldn’t deviate much.

Just like the Kingdom of Prussia, suppressed consecutively by France and Austria, still has Von Bismarck who seeks to unify Germany.

Similarly, Sardinian Kingdom’s Cavour also demonstrates an unwavering attitude, determined to unify the Apennine Peninsula by any means.

Therefore, Jerome Bonaparte speculated that the collaboration between Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi would likely be similar to the original historical trajectory.

It’s just that this Cavour is more cautious than the Cavour of the predetermined history.

"If Cavour wants to successfully disrupt the Apennine Peninsula through Giuseppe Garibaldi, then Giuseppe Garibaldi must choose a state to attack just like in 1848!

Only by seizing political power in a state can the entire Apennine Peninsula’s power be shaken!" Jerome Bonaparte also said to De Luy, "Which state do you think Giuseppe Garibaldi would target?"

After carefully going through all the states on the Apennine Peninsula in his mind, De Luy answered Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty! If I were Cavour, I would definitely persuade Giuseppe Garibaldi to target the Kingdom of Naples first!"

"Why do you have this judgment?" Jerome Bonaparte scrutinized De Luy and then asked.

In history, Giuseppe Garibaldi indeed obeyed Cavour’s instructions to attack the Kingdom of Naples, but at that time, the Sardinian Kingdom had already become a dominant force in the Italian region.

Besides Venice in the hands of the Austrian Empire and the Pope’s Directly Affiliated District under the French Empire (the Pope’s administrative area had been completely lost, and the Pope lost two-thirds of his land), the entire central and northern Italian region was under the Sardinian Kingdom’s control.

Only then did Cavour steer Giuseppe Garibaldi to Naples, using Giuseppe Garibaldi to expel the Royal Family of Naples from Italy, allowing the Sardinian Kingdom to unify the vast majority of Italian regions.

However, the current situation is vastly different from history, the Sardinian Kingdom has not annexed the central and northern territories, and Central Italy Four Countries, Venice, and Lombardy are still under the direct and indirect control of the Austrian Empire.

Even if Giuseppe Garibaldi expels Naples, they would find it difficult to face the Austrian Empire’s army.

"Your Majesty, only the Kingdom of Naples on the Italian Peninsula has the possibility of being overthrown!" De Luy said to Jerome Bonaparte.

Immediately, De Luy described the current situation of the Kingdom of Naples to Jerome Bonaparte, as well as the living conditions of the people under its rule.

Upon hearing the current situation in the Kingdom of Naples, Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but laugh angrily.

In the past, he earnestly persuaded Crown Prince Francesco of Naples to treat his subjects kindly, and to adopt a constitutional stance like the Sardinian Kingdom, because only then would his subjects not oppose him.

However, Francesco seemed to have completely ignored Jerome Bonaparte’s advice, continuing to stubbornly go against the will of the people of Naples.

The current Kingdom of Naples is like a nation perched on the brink of a volcano; a slight disturbance could unleash the fury of its people, overwhelming the entire country.

"It seems the Kingdom of Naples cannot withstand Giuseppe Garibaldi’s attack!" Jerome Bonaparte furrowed his brow and responded decisively to Mr. Luyis, "We must be mentally prepared for Giuseppe Garibaldi to occupy the entire Kingdom of Naples!"

Mr. Luyis remained skeptical of Jerome Bonaparte’s judgment that the Kingdom of Naples could not resist Giuseppe Garibaldi’s offensive.

After all, Cavour could provide no more than 3,000 troops in support of Giuseppe Garibaldi (Cavour actually provided only 1,000).

This number of troops is quite insignificant compared to the 40,000 standing army of the Kingdom of Naples.

"Naples itself still has nearly 40,000 troops; however poorly they might perform, they should be able to hold until the Austrian Empire supports Naples!" Mr. Luyis cautiously told Jerome Bonaparte.

"Mr. Luyis, the collapse of a regime often happens in an instant!" Jerome Bonaparte replied to Mr. Luyis, "Giuseppe Garibaldi doesn’t even need to face 40,000 troops, because these soldiers, like the people of Naples, generally show discontent towards the Kingdom of Naples’ rule!

They will not follow the king’s orders and oppose Giuseppe Garibaldi!

If the king’s orders are too firm, they might even switch sides and join Giuseppe Garibaldi’s army!

The King of Naples can probably only trust those Swiss Guards under his command!

However, the number of Swiss Guards is insignificantly small compared to the populace of Naples!

The Kingdom of Naples can hardly persist until the Austrian Empire’s reinforcements arrive! 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Moreover, whether the Austrian Empire is willing to dispatch troops to support the Kingdom of Naples remains unknown!

The Austrian Empire still hasn’t recovered from the economic crisis of two years ago!

If they forcibly mobilize, the Austrian Government might again have to survive on borrowed funds!"

Despite the Austrian Empire’s development surpassing its historical pace, the ensuing debts seriously trouble the Austrian Empire.

Especially after the economic crisis of 1857, the once-thriving industries of the Austrian Empire quickly turned into declining ones, with hundreds of banks and factories bankrupting, almost blocking Prague and Vienna with unemployed masses.

If Jerome Bonaparte hadn’t extended his hand to aid the Austrian Empire in 1858 ("aid" meant assisting the French Empire in pressuring the Sardinian Kingdom), the Austrian Empire would have been suffocated by debt long ago.

Even with the French Empire’s "aid," the Austrian Empire’s economy remains in a downturn.

The result of forced mobilization could only squander the remaining treasury funds.

More likely, they would have to borrow from outside to fight a decent war.

Currently, only Britain, France, and the Frankfurt Free City in Europe have spare funds to lend to the Austrian Empire.

However, Cavour has likely already secured partial support from the Kingdom of Britain, making it almost impossible for the Austrian Empire to borrow from Britain as easily as during the Napoleonic Wars.

Though the Frankfurt Free City, like the Austrian Empire, belongs to Germany, its influence extends beyond just the Austrian Empire; the Kingdom of Prussia also exerts considerable influence there, and any obstruction by the Kingdom of Prussia would prevent the Austrian Empire from obtaining a single gold coin from Frankfurt.

Excluding Britain and Frankfurt, the only remaining country able to support the Austrian Empire is the French Empire.

Thinking of the predicament the Austrian Empire is about to face, a schadenfreude smile appeared on Jerome Bonaparte’s face.

While aligning with the Austrian Empire is a fundamental policy for Jerome Bonaparte, he doesn’t mind causing some trouble for the Austrian Empire.

Maintaining a large but not strong Austrian Empire is truly in the French Empire’s best interest.

An overly powerful Austrian Empire might unconsciously unify Germany’s situation, while an overly weak Austrian Empire cannot suppress the Kingdom of Prussia.

Thus, Jerome Bonaparte must manage the balance carefully.

"Your Majesty, how would you like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cooperate with your actions?"

Mr. Luyis understood that Jerome Bonaparte already had a plan in mind; he only called him over to have the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinate.