Chapter 10 Volume 1 Chapter 6-2

The Aspern-Essling battle was Napoleon's first disastrous defeat since he led the army. The French army killed 7,000 people and wounded and captured 29,753 people.The Austrian royal family and government, who fled from Vienna, were ecstatic and ready to return to the capital.Anti-French movements in various parts of Germany also took advantage of the momentum: Major Scheer led his Hussars to attack from Berlin; Colonel Derenberg led hundreds of peasants to Kassel; Saxony was captured, and Napoleon's vassal, the king of Saxony, fled; the Tyrolean peasants waged a Spanish-like guerrilla war in the mountains.All of Germany was agitated by Napoleon's defeat, posing a major threat to Napoleon's empire.

Napoleon in defeat did not lose his calm attitude and bravery.At the military conference on Robborg Island, Napoleon firmly opposed the idea of ​​withdrawing from Robborg Island.He believes that if he withdraws from the important place, his previous efforts may be wasted.He decided to stick to Luobao Island, strengthen the defense, recruit reinforcements, and wait for an opportunity to cross the river and fight again. At this time, a heart-wrenching event happened on Robborg Island, that is, the death of Marshal Lana.Marshal Lannes was the only person with whom Napoleon could have a heart-to-heart talk.During the eight days when Lana was on the verge of death, Napoleon visited him every day, and every time he left, he was heartbroken.Knowing that he was seriously injured and there was no hope of survival, Lana braced himself up and had a long talk with Napoleon.He first reviewed his achievements with the emperor, and then said in a firm voice: "I am not telling you these words to make you worry about my family. I don't need to entrust my wife and children to you, For I died for you, and your honor will command you to protect them. I will end with some harsh words of friendship to you, and I am not afraid that you will change your attitude towards them because of them. You have just done something Big mistake, even though it took your best friend, you still don't get over it, because you want too much. This desire will make you fail; Serving men, you have no regrets when they die. You are surrounded by sycophants; I don't see a single friend who can speak to you. People will betray you and abandon you; end this war as soon as possible .This is public opinion and popular opinion, and your power will never be greater than it is now; but you can be more popular and loved. Forgive this blunt statement of a dying man... this dying man loves you..."

At the end of this speech, the Marshal held out his hand to the Emperor, who held him tightly in his arms, weeping silently. At 5 o'clock in the morning on May 31, 1809, Lannes finally passed away at the age of 40. Although Lana's death caused Napoleon a lot of pain, it did not shake his determination to fight the war. At this time, only war lingered in his mind, and he wanted to use war to add honor and power to himself.He ordered the French army to intensify the construction of fortifications around the island of Robborg. In order to prevent the Austrian army from attacking, the island was equipped with more than 100 siege guns.Then vigorously repair and strengthen the bridge between Robborg Island and the right bank.During the three days of repairing the bridge, Napoleon braved the wind and rain every night to inspect and supervise the repair in person to boost the low morale.In view of the lessons learned last time, the French army set up wooden fences on the pontoon bridge and patrolled with light boats as sentinel boats to prevent the Austrian army from destroying the bridge by using the force of the water to exile heavy objects.The island also raised pontoon bridges, pontoon bridges and other river crossing equipment to meet emergency needs.In order to show its determination to stick to Robeaux Island, the French army renamed the island "Napoleon Island".At the same time, Napoleon issued an urgent order to mobilize the French troops stationed in Italy to Austria for reinforcements.

Napoleon traveled back and forth between Vienna and the island of Roburg, redeploying his troops and formulating future battle plans, while carefully reading reports from various parts of his vast empire.He was furious when he learned that Pope Pius VII and the Cardinal were promoting the Essling World War I as God's punishment for the world's oppressors, tyrants, and persecutors of the church. He firmly remembered all the actions of the Pope. In mid-June, the French army received rest and reinforcements. 170,000 troops and 584 cannons had been assembled on Roburg Island and near Vienna. Napoleon decided to launch an offensive.But before the decisive battle, Napoleon felt that it was necessary to solve the Pope's problem.He declared the city of Rome and the Papal States fully incorporated into the French Empire.As a result, Rome was occupied by the French army, everything that the pope had mastered for nearly 1,500 years was lost, and the pope himself was sent to Savona in southern France and imprisoned.

Having subdued the Pope, Napoleon immediately proceeded to the final military preparations.At this time, Grand Duke Charles was also rectifying his troops and mobilizing his troops, preparing to switch to the offensive when the French army crossed the river again.Archduke Charles carefully chose his defensive positions.The left wing of the Austrian army extended southeast from Wagram, and deployed three corps and most of the cavalry in a section of about 7 kilometers.The right wing of the Austrian army also started from Wagram and extended southwest along the highlands until it reached the bank of the Danube. Its front was about 13 kilometers away, and four armies were deployed.At the same time, Archduke Charles also sent some troops to the Aspern area to occupy the outpost.The reason why Grand Duke Charles deployed in this way was to rely on the highlands and rivers to form an arc-shaped defense line like an energy-concentrating shield, waiting for France to take the initiative to attack.Once the French army fell into his arc of defense, he could swing his army and attack the French army from both wings to wipe out the enemy.However, such a deployment has created a fatal weakness, that is, the troops are divided equally, and there is no reserve team for emergency use.In order to make up for this shortcoming, Archduke Charles urgently ordered his younger brother, Archduke John, to rush to the battlefield to participate in the battle as soon as possible.At that time, Archduke John led 15,000 people stationed in Bratislava, east of Vienna, about three days away from the battlefield.At this time, Archduke Charles made another misjudgment, that is, he believed that the French army was still crossing the Danube from the island of Roburg as it did last time. Therefore, he still set the main defense direction of the Austrian army at Aspern.

However, Napoleon, who had been fighting for a long time, would not act according to Archduke Charles' vision.It was an unshakable principle in war that this outstanding European general had long established, that is, never to do what the enemy might expect.In order to let the 100,000 troops cross the river secretly and quickly, and strike the enemy at places they did not expect, Napoleon and Marshal Masséna put on soldier's clothing and conducted careful surveys along the island of Robeaux.They personally checked the Danube's riverbed, flow velocity, coastal terrain, and enemy deployment, and took great pains to choose a place to cross the river.In the end, Napoleon decided to choose the crossing point downstream, that is, about 4 kilometers away from the last crossing point.

Napoleon put forward a new plan: use part of the force to conduct a feint attack on the front of Aspern and Essling, attract the main force of the Austrian army to this direction, and use the main force to cross the river at the newly selected ferry. On the evening of June 30, Napoleon ordered a division of Masséna to start crossing the river at the former site of the pontoon bridge in front of Aspern and conduct a feint attack. The feint attack went smoothly, and the French army crossed the Danube with almost no resistance.Subsequently, a pontoon bridge was erected here with great fanfare and a ferry was opened.The Austrian army stationed at the outpost of Aspern did not actively counterattack, but continued to reinforce the fortifications, because they followed the plan of Archduke Charles to lure the French army into the arc of the Austrian army and fall into a trap.

On the night of July 4th, the French army decided to cross the river. At 21:00, the cannons of the fort on Robeaux Island fired at full force, and the Oudinot Army and the Masséna Army, about 15,000 each, took boats from the southeast of Roborg Island to the left bank to seize positions and rush to build six pontoon bridges.That night, there were lightning and thunder, and the wind and rain were blowing. It was very difficult for the French army to build a bridge against the wind and rain.However, it was this bad weather that helped the French army a lot. The Austrian army never expected that the French army would choose such bad weather to cross the river, so they did not take strict precautions.The French army succeeded in smuggling.At dawn the next day, most of the cavalry of Davout's 3rd Army and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Army Corps had crossed the river.Although Austrian Roldo's avant-garde army had fortified here, their forces were scattered and their fortifications were not as strong as those in Aspern.Facing the French army falling from the sky, they panicked and fought for a few rounds before retreating hastily.Two hours later, at 8 o'clock on the 5th, 90,000 French troops crossed the river.

Grand Duke Charles was shocked when he heard the news that the French army had crossed the river and that Roldo had been defeated.At this time, his left wing was already facing the serious threat of the French army crossing the river. He originally wanted to lead the main force to help the left wing, but he considered that if the main force moved away from the position to attack and advance, there would be no chance of winning, and it would be difficult to push back the French army; At the bridgehead, the Austrian army will also be bombarded by artillery fire from Robborg Island and suffer losses.After thinking about it again and again, he decided that the main force was still on the defensive in the original formation, and lured the French army to continue approaching as planned, so as to drag them into a trap.

The French army crossed the river smoothly, advanced gradually, and spread out in a fan shape in three directions: left, middle and right.At around 6 o'clock in the evening, the French right-wing troops finally advanced to the front of the Austrian defensive position.It was suggested to Napoleon that, as it was getting dark, he should not attack until the next day. But Napoleon believed that the 15,000 Austrian troops of Archduke John might come for reinforcements at any time, so he should seize the opportunity to launch an attack immediately.As a result, the French army hastily launched an attack, but made little progress and suffered heavy casualties.In the end, the Saxon division in Bernadotte's army was the first to fail and retreated.As soon as they retreated, they immediately exposed the Davout army and Oudinot army on the flanks. Napoleon saw that it was difficult to win, and the sky was completely dark, so he had to order to stop the attack.

After several hours of fighting in this day, the Austrian army stubbornly held its position and caused great losses to the French army. Archduke Charles was delighted, thinking that Napoleon would repeat the mistakes of the battles of Aspern and Essling. At dawn on July 6, the fierce fighting between the two sides resumed.Napoleon ordered the French army to launch a fierce attack on the left flank of the Austrian army again, but was defeated again.Napoleon went to the battlefield to observe in person and found that the two wings of the Austrian army were stronger and had created a favorable situation, but the front was too wide and the center was slightly weak. Therefore, he immediately changed the battle plan, instead of attacking the left wing of the Austrian army with the main force, he used all his forces to attack the left wing of the Austrian army. Transfer to Wagram, the central part of the enemy, and implement a central breakthrough.In order to make the troops attacking Wagram have no worries, Napoleon ordered Davout's army to continue to attack the left flank of the Austrian army to contain the Austrian army.If there is progress, develop an attack from the right to Wagram, cooperate with the main action, and form a pincer attack posture against the enemy. On the morning of July 6, 1809, the horn sounded for the French army to attack Wagram.Hundreds of cannons fired together, bombarding the central position of the Austrian army.The legions advanced bravely under the cover of artillery fire.At this time, Davout's army had broken into the enemy's left flank and began to attack in the direction of Wagram.The left-wing Austrian army resisted tenaciously, and finally gave up their positions and fled due to heavy casualties.The defeat of the left wing put the central Austrian army at a disadvantage, and the central and right wing troops of the French army took advantage of the momentum to attack.The 26th Battalion of the Central Macdonald Corps formed a phalanx with a length of one kilometer on each side, and took the lead in sweeping towards the enemy's central position.Despite heavy losses, the Austrian center was eventually breached, and the troops behind followed.The Austrians were forced to retreat across the board.At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Archduke Charles was disappointed when he learned that the reinforcements he was looking forward to, that is, the troops of his brother Archduke John, were still more than ten kilometers away.So far, his plan to encircle and annihilate the French army with an arc-shaped defense line has basically failed. Although he has lured the French army into his net, he has no strength to pull the net up, and instead let the French army penetrate the bottom of the net.In the evening, Grand Duke Charles saw that there was no hope of winning, so he ordered a retreat across the board.The Austrian army withdrew from the battlefield in an orderly manner, and the spoils left to the French army were only 9 artillery pieces and a military flag. In the Battle of Wagram, the Austrian army suffered more than 32,000 casualties and more than 7,500 were captured. The loss was no less than that in the Battle of Austerlitz.However, the price paid by the French army was extremely high, and the French army lost 27,000 people.MacDonald was honored for his outstanding performance in this battle, and Napoleon gave him the Marshal's Scepter on the battlefield. For a whole week thereafter, the French army continued to pursue the retreating Austrian army. On July 11, Emperor Francis of Austria sent an envoy to request a truce. Napoleon readily agreed, but he put forward harsh conditions: wherever the French army had arrived at the time of the truce, even if only a few French troops arrived, the Austrian army must Withdrew, and until the final peace was signed, these Austrians were to remain as hostages in the hands of the French.Austrian Emperor had to agree to these conditions. Negotiations began, and a deflated Austrian emperor was ready to put up with anything.He now begins to curse those who prompted him to wage this war.He clearly remembered how Napoleon punished the Pope before the battle of Wagram, so what will be the fate of Austria after the battle of Wagram?He really didn't dare to think about it. The two parties started contract negotiations at Schonbrunn Palace.Napoleon's conditions were: Austria must cede part of the land to the French Empire, cede another part of the land to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Russia, and at the same time pay 134 million francs in war reparations, limit the number of troops to 150,000, and continue to implement the boycott of Britain. Continental block policy for goods.Austria was not willing to make such a huge sacrifice. They bargained with Napoleon and repeatedly pleaded for a little relaxation of the conditions, but the victor would not budge.Negotiations have been dragging on, and Austria believes that once Napoleon has a new defeat in Spain, they will have a good chance to negotiate, so they are waiting for the opportunity.And what about Napoleon?Although he hopes to conclude a peace treaty as soon as possible in order to direct all his strength to Spain and Britain, he cannot easily let Austria go. He wants to establish prestige for his empire and make the whole of Germany bow to him.Therefore, no matter how much Austria pleaded or played tricks, it was of no avail.The outcome of the negotiations seemed to be getting closer day by day, however, an unexpected event prompted the signing of the treaty as soon as possible. Napoleon reviewed the troops in front of the Seanbrunn Palace at 6 o'clock every morning.On such occasions, many people always come to see Napoleon's presence. On October 13, 1809, just as the military parade was about to end, a well-dressed young man passed through the horses of the entourage and walked towards Napoleon on the horse.Seeing the young man behaving suspiciously, Berthier stopped him, and the young man said he would present a petition to Napoleon himself.Berthier saw a special expression in his eyes, an expression that seemed to have made some kind of determination, and immediately became alert.When the young man walked up to Napoleon again despite dissuasion, Berthier motioned for an officer of the Guards to go up and arrest him.The young man was captured without any resistance, and a large table knife was found from his body.Since all this happened in an instant, and everyone was watching the military parade intently, no one had noticed this scene. After the inspection, Napoleon ordered the assassin to be brought before him.The young man was only about 19 years old, with a fair complexion, and looked quiet and weak.He confessed that he was a student from Naumburg.Napoleon couldn't wait to know why this well-educated youth did this, and he asked eagerly, "Why did you kill me?" "Because you destroyed my country." "Did I hurt you?"" As hurts all Germans." "Did you see me for the first time?" "I saw you in Erfurt, when you met the Russian Emperor." "Did you try to kill me then ""No, I thought you would never wage war on our country again. I had great adoration for you. I came to Sean Brunn a week ago with the intention of killing you. But when I arrived, the parade It's just over. So, I put off my intentions until today." "Kill me in the midst of my soldiers, and how do you plan to escape?" "I know what the danger is, and I'm even surprised I'm alive." Napoleon was touched by the calm attitude of the young man. After a moment of silence, he turned his eyes to the young man again. The young man remained calm under his gaze.Napoleon continued to ask: "If I release you now, what will you do?" "I will wait for the opportunity to kill you." Napoleon was silent again.Then he said to himself: "This young man is either sick or crazy." The next day, Napoleon summoned the Minister of Negotiations with Austria, M. de Chambani, "How are the negotiations going?" he asked.Shambani said that the negotiations had been put on hold, and Napoleon continued: "I hope that the negotiations will be resumed immediately. I hope that for the sake of peace, I will not hesitate to pay Austria a few million less reparations, and make concessions on that point. I hope there will be an end, I completely leave it to you." Chambani immediately carried out Napoleon's order.That night, negotiators from both sides began discussing the terms of the peace treaty that had been put on hold. The next morning, October 14, M. de Chambani appeared at the emperor's morning court with the peace agreed upon.Napoleon glanced over it quickly, agreed to all the details, and praised his minister for so quickly fulfilling his wish.The treaty was thus concluded, the Treaty of Sean Brunn.This treaty was basically signed according to the conditions proposed by Napoleon, except that Austria's war reparations were reduced from the original 134 million francs to 85 million francs.The Austrian emperor endured the humiliation and approved the peace treaty.Grand Duke Charles resigned angrily when he heard the news. On October 27, the young man who assassinated Napoleon was taken to the execution ground.When he learned that the Austrian emperor had made peace with France, he trembled and was furious. On the execution ground, he shouted: "Long live freedom! Long live Germany! Kill the tyrant!" A gunshot fired, and the young man fell into a pool of blood. During this time Napoleon was obsessed with the idea of ​​assassination, and fearing a recurrence of such an incident, he hurried away from Schönbrunn without waiting for the ratification of the signing of the peace treaty, which he declared would be ratified in Munich. At the end of October, Napoleon finally returned to Paris. After the selection of the new Sean Brunn and the Treaty of France, the French Empire is even larger, covering the Baltic Sea in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the south, the Neman River in the east, and the Pyrenees Peninsula in the west.Napoleon was the emperor of the French Empire, the king of Italy, the protector of the Rhine League, the arbitrator of Switzerland, and the "sovereign king", the actual decision maker and ruler of the Netherlands, Naples, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and other countries. Members of his family also became direct rulers of these areas.The main countries on the European continent, Austria and Kyrgyzstan, bowed their heads to Napoleon and obediently.Tsarist Russia also compromised, only trying to protect itself.The power of Napoleon's empire reached its peak. Napoleon, who had risen to the pinnacle of power, was no longer the little general he used to be, and his feelings for Josephine began to waver and hesitate a bit.In his letter to Josephine, he no longer heard the voices of the former generals calling for his beloved wife. What he spent a lot of time describing was only the war, and he even prevented his wife from visiting him at the front.Josephine has long been aware of her dangerous situation: because she cannot have children, the moment of divorce may come at any time.In order to delay the coming of this moment, Josephine obeyed him, but she still couldn't arouse his enthusiasm for herself.Josephine was worried all the time.A beautiful woman in distress is often lovable, and Napoleon began to comfort her as a protector, pity her, and persuade her to have more entertainment and relax.As a result, a brand-new emotion quietly grew in the married life of the couple for many years. It was a kind of warmth, a sincere, deep and friendly friendship, not love, and this new emotion was constantly expanding and spreading.It didn't take long for the flirtatious Josephine to live that kind of dissolute life of love between men and women again.Napoleon began to advise her, then became furious, and finally let it go, because at this time Josephine was still charming, but after all she was a middle-aged lady, and the emperor who was admired by thousands of people had no interest in her.Napoleon was surrounded by groups of young and beautiful women, and he was deeply attracted by these youthful bodies.The emperor's romantic affairs kept spreading, and Josephine had no choice but to wash her face with tears. Although Napoleon had been intimate with many women in his life, few of them got his true love. In 1804, in the palace of his younger sister Carolina, Napoleon met a girl who specialized in reading newspapers. The girl was named Iriano. She was eighteen years old, tall and slender, with a pair of beautiful black eyes and a personality of her own. Vivacious and dressy, Napoleon was fascinated by her grace, and Ilianor soon became the emperor's mistress.Soon, she was pregnant. Napoleon was very happy and rented an apartment specially for her. She gave birth to a beautiful boy in the apartment.Iliano thought that she could improve her status by giving birth to a son for the emperor. Without Napoleon's permission, she hugged her son and came to the palace to meet the emperor.Napoleon was dealing with official business at the time, and when he saw her coming uninvited, he was furious, and ordered the servant to tell her on the spot that she would never be allowed to see him without his permission.Since then, Iliano lost the favor of Napoleon, and the child was handed over to others to be raised. The fate of Napoleon's mistresses was mostly the same as that of Iliano, and the good times did not last long.However, a woman he met in Warsaw, Poland in 1807 really moved Napoleon.This is a young lady who is only 18 years old, and her husband is an old man who is over sixty years old.At a grand ball held by Polish nobles for Napoleon, Napoleon fell in love with her at first sight.The woman, Marie Lasinska, has beautiful blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin that are particularly alluring. She is not tall, but she has a beautiful figure and a seductive charm.Napoleon went up to her and talked with her.This lady was quick in thinking, eloquent and eloquent, and there was a trace of inner sadness in her speech and behavior, and Napoleon's love suddenly blossomed.The next day, Napoleon ordered Du Roque to invite the lady to meet him, but she refused.Napoleon was anxious about this.He sent her love letters one after another, expressing his impatience.The wife was finally tempted and agreed to meet him.Since then, she often had a tryst with Napoleon, and traveled with him, leaving her old husband in Warsaw.The husband, feeling badly wounded in honor and feelings, resolved never to see his deserted wife again. After the Battle of Wagram in 1809, Napoleon immediately sent someone to receive Mrs. Rasinska to Sean Brunn.Here, Madame conceived Napoleon's child. Napoleon sent her back to Paris and bought her a beautiful house.A few months later, she gave birth to a son.After Napoleon returned to Paris, as long as he was free, he couldn't wait to go to Laszinska to kill the time.Rasinska enjoyed a different treatment from other mistresses. Although the mistress bore Napoleon two sons, none of that was justifiable.His mighty empire must have an heir, and the lack of heirs has always troubled him.He once wanted to adopt the son of his younger brother Louis to himself, but at the moment when the Polish campaign achieved brilliant results, the news of the young prince's death came, and Napoleon was very sad.The premature death of the little prince strengthened his idea of ​​divorce, and Josephine seemed to feel that a catastrophe was imminent. She stayed behind closed doors for three days, crying to death. What Josephine dreaded finally happened. On November 30, 1809, Josephine dined with Napoleon as usual.Napoleon frowned and said nothing.As soon as I finished my coffee, I backed away from the screen.He walked towards Josephine, pressed her slender white hands on his heart, stared at the queen silently for a moment, and then said: "Josephine, my dear Josephine! You know that I have loved You alone gave me the only moments of happiness I have tasted in this world. But, Josephine, my destiny is greater than my will, and my most precious love must be surrendered to the interests of France." "Needless to say." Josephine yelled frantically: "I know you, I expected this move, but the blow is still so severe." Josephine couldn't speak anymore, and then passed out. For Napoleon, divorcing Josephine was not an easy task. After all, Josephine was the woman he truly loved in his life, especially in the first few years of marriage, Napoleon devoted himself to her.Even though there are so many mistresses around Napoleon now, he still has a sincere and deep feeling for her.During the days when they were preparing for divorce, Napoleon was with Josephine every day, and he said to her: "In politics, there is no heart but only the head." On December 15, 1809, in the emperor's spacious office, Josephine read out the statement of giving up the crown in front of all the ministers of the empire and the emperor's family.In a trembling voice she read: "With the consent of my dignified and dear husband, I hereby declare that, in view of my loss of hope of bearing children, and my inability to adapt to their political needs and the interests of France, I am willing to accept To show in the most steadfast way that I have committed to my husband a love and devotion never before seen in the world...” After reading this, Josephine became speechless and couldn't read any more. The royal secretary, Regnio, read it for her.Napoleon sat on the side without saying a word, motionless, his pale face was expressionless, his eyes were dazed, and he was even a little absent-minded.All day Napoleon was silent and sullen. The next day, Josephine was ordered to leave the Tuileries Palace at 2 pm.Under the colonnade of the Flore Staircase, the moving vehicles were parked.Josephine lingered in her royal residence, reluctant to leave.Everything here reminded her of that intoxicating moment.Just as she was gazing tearfully at these familiar furnishings for the last time, a door opened and Napoleon entered.Josephine sobbed and fell into his arms, and he kissed her so tenderly that Josephine passed out with excitement.When she woke up, Napoleon was no longer with her.Josephine realized that it was time to go, and with the help of her servants, she boarded a beautiful all-inclusive gold carriage and drove towards Malmaison.The emperor had generously given her the Château de Malmaison as his summer residence and the Elysee Palace as his residence in Paris.The sky was gloomy and gray that day, and the rain was pouring incessantly, as if all nature were weeping for the unfortunate woman. Soon, Napoleon held a council of ministers.After discussion, the ministers unanimously requested His Majesty to marry another wife for the happiness of the empire.The fate of most of them is closely related to that of Napoleon. They are afraid of the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty and hope that the Napoleon Empire will continue to exist. They believe that only the birth of the direct heir of the empire can make the empire live a long life.However, who to choose as the bride?The Napoleon of today is not the Napoleon of 15 years ago. Fifteen years ago, he lived in a small roof room and had to run around in search of a job.He is poor and his livelihood is difficult. It is not easy to marry a lady with considerable assets.But it is different now, he is the master of Europe, his power and honor have reached the peak, his bride must be a princess of a big country, only such a bride can be worthy of his identity and status, and only such a bride can Make his empire stronger and its foundation more solid.Apart from the French Empire, only Britain, Russia, and Austria can still be ranked among the great powers in Europe.Napoleon believed that France and Britain were engaged in a life-and-death war, and it was impossible for the two parties to marry; Austria had just been defeated by him, so he did not consider it for the time being; The Russian-French alliance can be further strengthened through the Russian-French marriage.As a result, Napoleon set out to choose a bride in Russia, and the French ambassador in Petersburg, Colancourt, was ordered to informally inquire about the situation of Alexander I's sister Anna.Soon, Coulaincourt was ordered to formally propose to Russia. Napoleon's proposal of marriage caused great commotion in the Russian court.Napoleon was disliked by most of the Russian court, and Napoleon was especially hated by Russia's landed aristocracy, a hatred that grew as the blockade of the Continent grew.They vehemently opposed the marriage.However, Russia did not dare to directly reject the European conqueror. Alexander I explained to Coulaincourt with flattering words that he personally hoped to see his sister become Napoleon's wife, but his mother wanted to postpone Anna and Napoleon's marriage. , the reason is that Anna is too young, only 16 years old. Napoleon was clearly aware of the intention of the Russian court to use this delaying tactic.In order to avoid the embarrassing situation of being rejected, Napoleon's goal turned to the Austrian princess.One day, Metternich, the Austrian ambassador to Paris, was called to inquire whether the Austrian emperor would agree to marry his daughter Maria Luisa to Napoleon?Metternich immediately said without thinking: Austria agrees to marry the young princess.Metternich knew better than anyone: Austria can only be preserved by taking advantage of the opportunity of marriage.If Napoleon had married an Austrian princess, he would have had a rift with Alexander, thus seeing Austria as a natural ally.For the sake of the national interest, the Austrian Emperor will not disagree. Until January 29, 1810, Napoleon had not finally decided which princess to marry.The ministers around him also had different opinions. The upper class who opposed the revolution favored the marriage with Austria, and hoped that the Vienna court would take this opportunity to demand that those who had voted for the execution of Louis XVI be punished.Those who participated in the revolution hoped to marry Russia.The two sides have been arguing endlessly. Sure enough, as Napoleon expected, Alexander finally expressed his rejection of the marriage.However, Napoleon was not dismayed, because the Austrian bride was waiting for him there. On February 7, 1810, Napoleon began to draw up the marriage contract.As soon as the marriage contract was drawn up, the Emperor of Austria was immediately asked for approval.Austria Emperor happily accepted Napoleon's marriage proposal.In Austria's view, this marriage is simply a salvation for Austria.People cheered enthusiastically, seeing this marriage as a permanent guarantee of peace, and people hoped that the recuperation of the mainland would never again be disrupted by Fao's hostile actions.Businessmen bought Austrian stocks one after another, and Austrian stocks soared immediately. On March 11, 1810, in a church in Vienna surrounded by people, Berthier replaced Napoleon and completed the engagement ceremony with the Princess of Austria.Afterwards, the 18-year-old princess drove to the land of France with a mighty convoy of 83 carriages.The French vassals she passed greeted her with unbelievable grandeur, and everywhere she felt that she was the wife of the master of Europe, her initial fear was gradually replaced by a sense of pride.She had never seen Napoleon. She didn't know what kind of person Napoleon was. She had only seen the image of Napoleon in British cartoons before.The cartoonist's Napoleon was a short, mangy, potbellied, vile fellow who waved his arms to the executioner on the bloody floor of the guillotine.She shuddered at the thought of marrying such a man.But now the people along the road respect and obey their husbands so much, she began to be proud of marrying such a husband, and she was even a little intoxicated. Napoleon greeted the new queen on the Compiègne road not far from Paris.Before meeting the new empress, Napoleon groomed himself to perfection: he sprinkled himself with perfume, and secured his legendary lock of hair on his forehead with pomade.He also quit smoking, fearing that the tobacco was blackening his nostrils.The princess's splendid carriage stopped in front of him, and he asked his attendant to open the door to announce his arrival to Maria Luisa.Then, he took the princess's hand and kissed it, and said, "Madame, I am very glad to meet you." After speaking, he got into the carriage and went to the destination with the queen.This first appearance left an excellent impression on the princess, and Napoleon behaved in a very gentlemanly manner.Louisa then said to others: "The emperor is gentle and charming enough as such a formidable general. It seems that I will love him very much!" At 2 pm on April 1st, Napoleon and the princess were in the A secular wedding was held at the Santa Cruz Palace.The next day, a grand religious wedding was held in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre. Queen Louisa has brown hair and expressive blue eyes.She is in full bloom, graceful and charming, full of youthful vitality.She is generous and a little shy in front of courtiers, but tender and amiable in her private life.She was obedient to Napoleon, very gentle and considerate.In their first conversation, Napoleon asked her what was said to her when she left Vienna, and the empress replied: "I will obey you and obey you in everything." Napoleon was very satisfied with this.There was little resemblance between the new Empress and Josephine, and Napoleon once compared his two wives: one (Josephine) with art and grace, the other (Maria Luisa) with naïveté, Simple fact.在生活中，前者的举止习惯始终是那样令人愉快和陶醉，简直达到无懈可击的程度；她专心于给人以良好的印象，她能够达到目的而又不让人察觉自己的用心。凡是能增加她媚力的艺术她都一一运用，且手法巧妙，别人最多只能略有揣想。后者却相反，她根本没有想到做出天真的样子也是有好处的。前者始终不露真意；另一个却不知世上还有掩饰隐讳之技巧，一切手腕对她来说都是陌生的。前妻从不公开索要东西，可是她什么都想要；后妻缺什么总是直言不讳地要，尽管缺东西的情况很少见。每当她拿到一件物品，立即会想到务必付钱。不过，话得说回来，她们两人都是温柔的贤妻，都非常爱慕自己的丈夫。 " 两位皇后性格上的迥异正是撩人的媚力所在，拿破仑对新皇后勃发出一种出人意外的恋情，他真心地爱上了这个奥地利女人。 １８１１年３月２０日，玛丽亚·路易莎为拿破仑产下一男婴，整个巴黎沸腾起来了，人们纷纷走上街头，相互祝贺，热烈拥抱，"皇帝万岁！"的欢呼声响彻云霄。当了父亲的拿破仑更是激动万分，他眼里噙着泪水，一会亲吻孩子，一会拥抱妻子，仿佛他一手创建的法兰西帝国会因此永固下来。没多久，这个男婴被封为罗马王，罗马市成为帝国第二个首府。 兄弟反目辉煌的胜利和无限的权力对他的精神面貌发生了巨大的影响，自信不知不觉地变成了自满自负，他说：“我的意大利臣民对我有足够的了解，该不会忘记我小手指头知道的东西比他们所有脑袋加在一起知道的还要多。"他听不进去大臣们的反对意见，而大臣们因恐惧不敢对他的意志稍加违抗又更助长了他的固执己见。他崇拜强力和成功到了玩世不恭的地步，“要主宰世界只有一个诀窍，那就是要强大，因为力量强大就无所谓错误，也没有幻想可言。这是赤裸裸的真理。”“争取成功吧！我只以行动的结果来判断人。"这些想法促使他要把战火永远燃烧下去。 新婚过后，拿破仑把更多的时间放在如何严厉实施大陆封锁政策上，他要让英国"窒息"而死，任何破坏这一政策的人，都将受到无情的惩罚：走私者一律枪毙，纵容走私的君主则永远罢黜，即便是自己的亲弟弟也不例外。 路易·波拿巴自１８０６年担任荷兰国王以来，素以仁政治天下，深受臣民的爱戴。现在，荷兰也必须参加拿破仑的大陆封锁体系，路易认为荷兰是个商业民族，如果完全割断同英国的商业联系，则荷兰的经济就会遭到彻底破产。而且这种经济上的大灾难在荷兰发生得远比其他地方要早，因为自从英国把荷兰所有的殖民地抢走以后，荷兰的贸易在很大程度上依靠向英国出售商品和从英国得到殖民地的商品。因此，路易·波拿巴对于荷兰沿海与英国人进行的走私买卖不闻不问。拿破仑得知此情后，大为震怒。１８０９年末，拿破仑把附庸国的君主都召到巴黎，路易也在其中，他要求这些君主们为"窒息"英国而牺牲自己。法兰西帝国的这些高级仆从们都唯唯诺诺，俯首听命，唯有路易一人不愿成为拿破仑的同路人，他顶撞说：“荷兰已经厌弃被法国当作玩物。"拿破仑对此大发雷霆，他警告说：如果荷兰不听话，就将它并入法国。 路易回到荷兰，立即去各省考察大陆封锁引起的疾苦。封锁的铁腕已使各省本来十分繁荣的贸易和工业部门一片萧条，路易感到再也不能坐视不管了，他开始用谨慎而恭敬的言辞向拿破仑进谏。１８１０年３月２３日，他致函拿破仑说：“如果您希望巩固法国的现状，获得海上和平，或者出击英国成功，依靠封锁体制之类的手段是达不到这些目标的。靠毁灭你亲手创建的王国、削弱你各个盟国、蔑视各国最神圣的各项权利以及国际公法首要的各原则，也是达不到目的的。相反，你应使他们成为法国的朋友，巩固和增强你的各个盟国，直至能像亲兄弟般地依靠它们。毁灭荷兰远不是袭击英国的办法，反倒会因为工业和财富全都逃避到英国而更加强迫力量。袭击英国的实际方法有三个，即：使爱尔兰脱离英国、占领东印度群岛、或者实地进犯。后两种方式最为有效，但没有海军是实行不了的。我吃惊的是第一种方式竟那么轻易地放弃了。按照优惠条件获得和平远比损害本国和友邦以图造成敌国瘫痪要可靠。” 这封信引起了拿破仑的极大不快。在这个时期，人们除了回答拿破仑的问话外，谁也不敢对他多说半句话。只有康巴塞雷斯作为他在执政府的老同僚，还保留了在公开场合进言的特权。不过，在拿破仑与奥国公主结婚以后，康巴塞雷斯的这项特权也消失了。 在同新皇后到北国的旅途中，拿破仑给路易复了一封长信，信中说：“我把你安置在荷兰王位上，是认为安置了一名法国公民，可你采取的措施恰恰同我期望的完全相反。我迫不得已禁止你前来法国，并占领你的部分领土。……路易，你统治不了多久。……从你一意孤行的途径上回转来吧，做个诚心诚意的法国人，否则，你的百姓将摈弃你，你将成为嘲笑的对象离开荷兰。国家须以理性和政策来治理，而不是其幻想的计划，那是低下和毒辣手段的产物。” 一支法国部队在特·勒佐公爵的指挥下开进荷兰，这位部队指挥比路易本人更像国王，他威胁说要占领阿姆斯特丹。路易看到自己的王权是那么脆弱和易失，荷兰的毁灭已在所难免，他决定放弃这个名不副实的王权。他向立法机构致送咨文后，发表了退位诏令。 拿破仑接到路易让位的消息后，颁布了一个特别法令，把荷兰并入法兰西帝国，并将其分为若干省份，各派地方长官治理。这时，又传来了汉撒同盟城市汉堡、不来梅、卢卑克走私猖獗的消息，拿破仑一怒之下，把这些城市也合并到法兰西帝国里。不久，拿破仑又以同样原因赶走了奥尔登堡公爵，奥尔登堡的领土进入了法兰西帝国的版图。 大陆封锁体系使北海和波罗的海沿岸国家遭受严重损失，法国同样也不得不吞下大陆封锁政策种出的苦果。由于英国的反封锁，法国原料极端短缺，市面很不景气，各个港口的贸易十分萧条。法国资产阶级被大陆封锁政策弄得精疲力尽，他们的经济力量远远赶不上拿破仑政治、军事扩张的需要，因此，他们开始要求拿破仑放弃大陆封锁政策，停止新的征服。 可是，拿破仑的狂妄野心并没就此受到抑制，他的心中又酝酿着一场新的战争。