Looking at the listless chief naval architect before him, Jerome Bonaparte slightly furrowed his brows.

He initially wanted to admonish Deco sternly for not taking care of his body, but considering Deco was working for the development of the French Empire Navy, the words of reproach turned into a gentle concern.

"Minister Deco, please don’t overextend your body anymore in the future!

Your body belongs not only to you but also to the entire French Empire!"

Deco, who had expected a reprimand from the Emperor, felt a warmth in his heart upon hearing the Emperor’s care. He quickly gave a smile and said to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, I am well aware of my body’s condition, so you don’t have to..."

Before Deco could finish, he suddenly felt a heavy sensation in his chest.

"Cough... cough... cough..."

Continuous coughing sounds emerged from Deco’s mouth. Facing Jerome Bonaparte, Deco quickly covered his mouth with his hand, then instinctively turned his head to one side to prevent saliva from splattering onto Jerome Bonaparte.

Seeing this, Jerome Bonaparte hurriedly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Deco, then called out towards the door.

Bashirio rushed into the room, and upon seeing the incessant coughing of Deco and the anxious-looking Emperor, he immediately understood the situation in the room.

"Your Majesty, I’ll go get a doctor right away!"

With that, Bashirio hastily left the room to seek a doctor.

Jerome Bonaparte stood up from the sofa, his eyes continuing to watch Deco’s coughing.

A terrible disease suddenly surfaced in Jerome Bonaparte’s mind.

Deco might have tuberculosis!

Jerome Bonaparte thought to himself with a grimace.

If Deco truly had tuberculosis, given his current condition, it would be difficult for him to continue as Minister of the Navy.

Although Deco was indeed crucial to the development of the French Navy, Jerome Bonaparte cared more about Deco’s health.

Tuberculosis, such a disease, would pose a death threat not only to someone like Deco, nearing fifty years old, but even to someone of mature age.

More critically, there was no effective treatment for tuberculosis in the 19th century.

Deco could only cultivate his health as best as he could, as this was the only way to extend his life.

However, such a method would be more painful than death for someone like Deco, who loved the navy more than his own life.

After a while, Deco finally stopped coughing and looked at Jerome Bonaparte again with an apologetic expression.

"Your Majesty, I am very sorry! It might be because I stayed up late yesterday, causing some anomalies in my body.

Just a bit of rest, and I’ll be fine!" Deco explained to Jerome Bonaparte, seemingly trying to downplay his physical frailty.

"Minister Deco, let’s wait for the doctor!"

Compared to your own diagnosis, I prefer to trust the doctor’s judgment!" Jerome Bonaparte responded softly to Deco.

Deco understood his reasoning was quite flimsy, so he could only agree to Jerome Bonaparte’s arrangements, while silently praying that he did not have any illness.

After all, the Empire would never allow a sick minister to continue working.

With the doctor not yet present, Minister Deco quickly changed the subject.

"Your Majesty, why have you called me here from the Ministry of the Navy?"

Jerome Bonaparte did not directly inform Deco about the naval exercise plan, but instead, he inquired, "Minister Deco, since we signed the Mediterranean Naval Agreement with the Kingdom of Britain, how far are we from reaching the set targets?"

"Your Majesty, the current number of ships in the Imperial Navy still exceeds the agreed fleet number with the Kingdom of Britain!" Deco chose to respond to Jerome Bonaparte with ambiguous wording.

Regarding those ’precious items,’ Deco was actually reluctant to sell them.

"How much is the excess? I need precise data!" Jerome Bonaparte demanded with indisputable certainty.

Deco slowly raised three fingers, showing a pained expression as he answered Jerome Bonaparte, "Approximately 30% excess!"

Jerome Bonaparte, hearing Deco’s answer, immediately understood that Deco had hardly strictly enforced the agreement.

Originally, in the Mediterranean, the difference between British and French battleships was only a few vessels.

However, after signing the Anglo-French Naval Treaty, the stipulated Anglo-French ratio should be 70% for Great Britain.

Currently, Deco’s navy exceeds the agreed number by 30%, which means the French Navy’s number still equals Britain’s in the Mediterranean.

Deco had not genuinely attempted to market the navy over the past year.

"You really know how to hide things!" Jerome Bonaparte said with a slight tone of reproach, "If I hadn’t specially asked, were you planning to keep those treasures of yours until they rust?"

"Your Majesty, it’s not my fault!" Minister Deco exclaimed to Jerome Bonaparte, as if he had been greatly wronged, "I also wish to sell off the navy in my hands as soon as possible, but no country is willing to take them!

Each ironclad ship is the heart and soul of the Empire, I can’t just sell them off cheaply!"

After listening to Deco’s explanation, Jerome Bonaparte at first surprisingly agreed with him.

However, upon second thought, Deco’s words were somewhat untenable.

Setting aside regions outside the Mediterranean, even the countries within the Mediterranean Region, such as the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Spain, have a certain pursuit of naval fleets.

The Ottoman Empire needs to rely on the navy to maintain peace in the Black Sea Region and to protect the fruits of the Crimean War.

Although the Kingdom of Spain, after industrialization, has significantly lagged behind the average of Europe, they still require certain warships to maintain their remaining colonies!

If they were to build them on their own, given the current corrupt government of the Kingdom of Spain, the price of building one ironclad would be enough to buy two or three.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Spain simply does not have the technology to build ironclads.

In all of Europe, only Britain and France possess this technology, and the truly mature ironclad technology is exclusively owned by France.

The current Kingdom of Britain, under the persuasion of Jerome Bonaparte, has moved towards more (cannons) and thicker (armor).

To reverse this direction would take at least several years.

If Deco’s price is fair, the Ottoman Empire and Spain would gladly pay for warships.

"Minister Deco! Since you think you can’t find a market for the French warships, I do have an idea, if you’re interested!" Jerome Bonaparte squinted his eyes, a sly smile playing at his mouth.

Seeing the emperor in front of him, much like a fox, Deco understood that the warships in his hands probably couldn’t be kept.

"Your Majesty, please tell me!" Deco forced a compliant expression onto his face, despite the feeling of bleeding in his heart.

Jerome Bonaparte tapped the map on the table and said to Deco, "I want to conduct a military exercise in the Mediterranean!

At that time, I will invite military officers from various countries to observe this naval exercise!

As long as this military exercise succeeds, we won’t have to worry about selling any warships!"

Deco looked at the sea area pointed to by Jerome Bonaparte’s finger, revealing a surprised expression. After a moment, he finally responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, do you intend to use the military exercise as a pretext to land on Sardinia Island?"

"Of course not!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and replied to Minister Deco, then continued, "I just want some people to understand that your father will always be your father!"

Deco immediately understood Jerome Bonaparte’s meaning and quickly stated that he would organize an excellent naval exercise in short order.

"Hmm!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded in satisfaction.

Subsequently, Deco inquired about which military officers Jerome Bonaparte intended to invite.

Jerome Bonaparte selected military officers from the Kingdom of Spain, the Ottoman Empire, the Austrian Empire, the Russian Empire (Government of Alexander II), the United States of America, as well as the king of the Kingdom of Patagonia.

Initially, when Deco heard Spain and Austria, he was not surprised.

However, when he heard about the United States of America and the Kingdom of Patagonia, his expression immediately became confused.

Especially regarding the so-called Kingdom of Patagonia, Deco hadn’t even heard of it before.

"Your Majesty, what is the Kingdom of Patagonia?" Minister Deco quickly asked Jerome Bonaparte.

"A country established by natives in the South American Region!" Jerome Bonaparte responded to Minister Deco.

"Can they really afford to buy warships?" Deco couldn’t help but ask Jerome Bonaparte.

"I can assure you, they are able to afford it!" Jerome Bonaparte replied confidently to Deco and then added, "Because the leader of this country is called Friedrich Bonaparte!"

Minister Deco instantly understood Jerome Bonaparte’s meaning. This so-called country established by natives appeared to be just a shell colony of France.

He wondered when the Emperor had reached out to the natives there to obtain land ownership!

"If the King of Patagonia is the Crown Prince, then I have no objections!" Minister Deco replied with a smile to Jerome Bonaparte, "His Highness has a wealthy father!

Even if he can’t afford to pay for the fleet, I think Your Majesty wouldn’t stand idly by!"

"Ahem... ahem," Jerome Bonaparte feigned a couple of coughs and sighed lightly, "Alas! Because I am a father who loves his child, even if I have to exhaust all my resources, I must get the big toys Friedrich wants!

And don’t forget, when the time comes, the French Empire must also send some experienced naval officers!

A kingdom needs talented officers to build a strong navy!"