Carlo was in a wonderful mood.
This banquet resolved the issue Carlo most wanted to address: establishing an organization that united all the nobles, ensuring Carlo's influence over the entire nobility.
Although the nobles present were only a portion of Spain's entire aristocracy, most of the dukes with higher status and influence were there, except for a few who were far away or delayed by matters, such as the Duke of Serrano, who was in Cuba.
It is believed that once the news of the Royal Council's establishment is announced, it will attract more nobles to apply for membership.
This was also an opportunity for the nobles to declare their stance. Those who actively applied to join the Royal Council were naturally those willing to support Carlo.
As for those who were unwilling to declare their intention to join the Royal Council, it was equivalent to them not wanting to support Carlo, and their loyalty to Carlo was questionable.
While Carlo was establishing the Royal Council to win over some nobles, the peace talks between Prussia and France in northern France were also coming to an end.
In fact, according to the draft reparations agreement signed between Prussia and France, the French government only needed to pay Prussia 200 million francs in reparations.
This amount was not harsh; for France, it could even be paid immediately.
However, as the situation within Paris developed, the terms of the peace talks quickly changed.
Although the French Government of National Defense suppressed the first uprising of the Parisian citizens, it did not completely quell their increasingly fierce opposition to the government.
Especially after learning that the Government of National Defense might cede French territory, the Parisian citizens were furious, completely losing all trust in the government.
The angry Parisian citizens gathered once again, launching an even larger uprising than the previous one.
Although the Government of National Defense's suppression was timely, for the enraged Parisian citizens, there was no other choice but to resist resolutely.
The low-spirited French Government of National Defense troops had no advantage whatsoever against the highly agitated Parisian National Guard. In fact, many government soldiers harbored no hostility towards the National Guard; instead, they were like brothers, frequently passing on information beneficial to the National Guard.
There were two strategically important high grounds within Paris: Montmartre Hill and Butte-aux-Cailles.
These locations stored a large number of cannons and other weapons and equipment, and the Government of National Defense naturally could not allow these weapons to fall into the hands of the Parisian insurgents.
However, during the attempt to seize these two high grounds, a mutiny occurred within the Government of the National Defense Army.
General Claude Martin Lecomte, who was responsible for attacking Montmartre Hill, not only failed to complete his mission but was instead shot by his own mutinous soldiers.
The reason for his execution was that General Lecomte had previously ordered his soldiers to fire on the Parisian National Guard and ordinary citizens.
As the Paris uprising surged, the French Government of National Defense was horrified to discover that its army seemed somewhat disobedient.
The Government of National Defense's army was originally composed of insurgents, and its composition was very complex. Although capitalism controlled the discourse within the Government of National Defense, the army also contained a large number of soldiers with various ideologies, such as Republicans and Democrats.
Compared to the capitalist Government of National Defense, which was collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, these soldiers clearly supported the newly risen Parisian National Guard more.
Seeing the situation escalate, Adolphe Thiers, the head of the French Government of National Defense, was so frightened that he dared not remain in Paris and chose to move the Government of National Defense to Versailles, more than ten kilometers outside Paris.
Why Versailles? Because German troops were still stationed there. For the officials of the French Government of National Defense, their fear of the Parisian insurgent army was greater than their fear of the German army.
Because the Germans would at most make them cede territory and pay reparations. But those insurgents in Paris would send them to the guillotine and hang them from lampposts.
As for which was more important—the loss of national interests or their own lives—for these French officials of the Government of National Defense, it was something they didn't need to think about at all.
Bismarck, who was in Versailles preparing for the coronation ceremony of the German Empire, smiled. He hadn't expected the French to provide such an opportunity; wasn't this a free gift to the soon-to-be-established Germany?
Bismarck would not let go of this good opportunity, and the Junker nobles within Prussia would certainly not let go of this good opportunity.
Prussia was a rather special country; the Junker nobles held extremely high influence and status in Prussia.
If France was a country that had an army, then Prussia was an army that had a country.
This was the reason for the Prussian army's bravery and skill in battle, but it also influenced Prussia's foreign policy.
What did the nobles fight for? Of course, it was to raise their own titles and gain more land for themselves.
How to gain more land for themselves? Of course, it was by seizing land from France and then having the numerous Junker nobles divide it among themselves.
After all, the nobles were not philanthropists; they didn't fight hard battles for King William I of Prussia without expecting rewards. It was just that the rewards needed to be paid by the defeated nation, France.
Could Bismarck ignore the extremely influential Junker nobles within Prussia? Of course not.
As the Junker nobles repeatedly pressured William I and Bismarck, demanding more land from France, Bismarck finally spoke to Thiers again.
"Due to previous miscalculations regarding our country's losses in the war, I hope to renegotiate the terms of reparations with your government and sign a new reparations treaty.
This matter concerns the interests of tens of millions of people in Prussia and Germany, and I ask that you consider it carefully. Of course, I will guarantee the safety of your government and ensure that the Paris uprising does not affect Versailles."
Bismarck's meaning was simple.
Either agree to more reparations and the cession of more territory, and the Prussian army could guarantee the safety of the French government in Versailles.
Otherwise, Prussia might very well hand the French government over to the people of the Paris uprising.
In that case, the fate of the French officials was predictable. The last time the Parisian people revolted, they directly executed the king. Were their identities more noble than the king's?
Under Bismarck's coercion and threats, even if Thiers was unwilling to renegotiate the terms of reparations, he had to nod in agreement.
After all, those rioting Parisian citizens would truly hang them from lampposts. The Parisian citizens were far more terrifying than the Prussian army.
Perhaps the Parisian citizens also didn't realize that their uprising had made the government even more cowardly, even willing to cede more territory in exchange for Prussian protection.
But even if the Parisian citizens knew, they would likely only resist more fiercely. Because such a cowardly government could not lead France forward, France should establish a more just democratic republic.
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