章節 39: F***ing Hell, Henry!

Ever since Felipe met with the previous King of Haiti, he saw the current King of Haiti tense and somewhat nervous.

Felipe could only get nervous by contagion, but he still kept a calm appearance.

He didn't feel worried that something might happen to him; after all, he had found himself a cult-like favouritism within the Kingdom. Felipe needed another party to help him start the colonization of Africa, a pig to ride until the finish line, and Haiti was that. Moreover, he was genuinely pleased with Henry initially. Still, his gut told him otherwise while his head was having a headache, not wanting to do more.

Felipe has to worry about the Brazilian Empire in the South American continent; it will most likely boil down to a war for the Amazon Rainforest. The Colombian Empire also owned the land; Said land would be mostly mountains, all of them protected to maintain the beauty of the Empire.

The Colombian Empire was looking more and more like the Holy Roman Empire map-wise, where the states of the Empire slowly began to shrink to places where there was only civilization. So, the Amazon Rainforest actually are Federal Property. With every claim of the Brazilian Empire on the Amazon, they were coming close to a war between empires.

Especially in the very South of Venezuela, it is just a strategic city/region to take over most of the Amazon Rain Forest, especially like iron mines up north. That region was also full of rare and precious metals.

All in all, Felipe was in a rush to create strength and power. When an Amazon War seemed like it would be inevitable, Felipe really needed to make everything work, especially an arduous task such as the colonization of another continent.

'Don't worry, don't worry, a Machine Gun can kill thousands in minutes.' Felipe said to himself as he was feeling overwhelmed. Images of the recreation of the Zulu battle against the British filled his mind. Then again, his internal calmness filled his head.

"It has been a while since the last correspondence," Felipe said before drinking red wine, which had been served with a presentation; it was a wine aged for 20 years, from 1799-1819. It was meant for special occasions, and the person's return that changed the Haitian Kingdom's fate was worth it.

Felipe could not deny himself to such novelty. He could imagine how crazy collectors would go if there was a perfectly preserved while from 1799. Usually, wine would not be meant for such aging, specially packaged in the 18th century, yet, it was excellent and delicious—up to now, Felipe's travel to Haiti was just full of food testing experiences, alongside a portion of disappointment.

"Yes…" The former King said as he looked at his son, and his son looked at him. The current King looked dejected and didn't want to look at either of them; a kid did something terrible.

"..." Felipe looked at the situation as he was eating some fancy cheese, not willing for the whole position to ruin his feast even though it was only 3 pm.

"Felipe… the reason my father has not written to you is because I have not let him." The current King as he faced the consequences.

"…" Felipe stopped briefly as he was about to drink some wine and then continued. This time, such expensive wine felt like a very cheap one. Felipe's hand was massive, making him weirdly hold the cup, making it hard to place it down, so he used his other hand to put the cup on the table, not wanting to waste the wine.

"Excuse me, what?" Felipe asked as he looked at Henry, who was not looking at him out of shame.

"After I stepped down as King, we had different opinions about the future of the Kingdom… Said decisions involve you?" The former King said as he was not expecting such an awkward situation.

Felipe was not stupid, and seeing one piece and another, he quickly put together the whole thing and understood what was happening.

"You wanted to make me Emperor of Haiti?" Felipe asked as he looked at the former King.

The old man nodded. "It is no secret that without your suggestions, this nation would not even be able to survive until today, much less thrive, so it would be better if Haiti becomes part of the Colombian Empire. Just like your General's Kingdom."

"I have no interest in ruling Haiti. There is nothing for me. All the gold has been exploited; any plantation would do very little. If this island is annexed to the Colombian Empire, it would only be a burden. The only resource that this island has is its human capital. Then again, there is no such thing as slavery. So it would just be a headache." Felipe said frankly, as he was already feeling annoyed.

If he were to accept Haiti as a very independent state, that would compromise the status of the Bolivian Kingdom. In the future, they would want to have similar status. That is just asking for trouble.

"..."

"My father thought of annexing the kingdom to your empire after the French started threatening to ask on the debt that the Republic of Haiti took and overcompensation for the deaths and loses." The current King explained.

The Republic of Haiti was no more, never less; it had its good run, with the very end, asking for help from France in their financial and economic matters. In a treaty, the Haitian Republic would pay 150 million Francs to France.

Around 2.44 billion dollars in 2020. Not a huge sum for modern countries, yet they were in the early 19th century. Such debt would greatly hinder the ability of Haiti to rebuild itself.

Nevertheless, help arrived too late, and the Republic had already fallen by the time they tried to help. Now France wants to cash in the agreement and ask for the Kingdom the money they agreed with the Republic.

Felipe knew about the treaty; Haiti took decades to fulfill it in his previous life, yet they fulfilled it.

Felipe read about it being made with the Republic of Haiti. Yet, he didn't expect the French to be so shameless as to ask the Kingdom of Haiti to take over it.

"What is the status of said threats and said debts?" Felipe asked.

"…"

After a long silence, the Current King once again began to talk.

"France is no longer asking for the debt of the Republic, but they are asking for compensation still. We are paying for it. Congress decided that war was not worth it. Moreover, the country had been through a bloody civil war… It is also a reduced one; instead of 150 million Francs, it is 90 Million Francs." Henry said as he was trying to justify himself.

"…"

"If we were part of the Colombian Empire, the French would not have asked such a thing." The old King scuffed.

Felipe realized that Henry would rather be in debt than part of his Empire. He would have still rejected the young nation. But he would have helped!

"Good god Henry, we are going to colonize another continent, and you are already being colonized again? And all because of your pride?" Felipe was really annoyed.

"We are not being colonized; it is just a debt. In exchange, they are giving us access to their markets in equal levels of benefit." Henry quickly defended himself, "I chose peace over violence."

"You have just been colonized! These types of deals we want to make with countries in Africa! We do nothing, and they inject wealth into our countries. They are money printing! You have become the money printing of the French! It is just colonialism with extra steps."

"But…"

"But nothing. Your main trading partner is France; you are now dependent on France and in debt with France for the most stupid reason. Compensation? That is the most stupid thing that I have heard. They should be giving Haiti Compensation for the amount of slavery they brought to the island! They violated the rights of men after all."

"But that was before the rights of men were published." Henry, despite being naïve, really was knowledgeable; after all, he studied in France for a while before becoming King.

"That is my point! War is war! Someone loses, and someone wins. No nation can answer for the past because everyone would be paying everyone. After all, the Romans Conquered France, Spain, Greece, and Even Fucking England. The Incan Empire waged an expanding campaign killing hundreds of thousands. There is only strength in this world. Only the strong eat the weak, and the weak can only be eaten. You just showed weakness to France; now they are eating you bit by bit." Felipe said as his rant began to be heard from outside the room.

"But they are a powerful nation."

"Then burn the Kingdom, burn everything if you need to. Your Kingdom was founded in that." Felipe said as he changed the tone. Moreover, the French can't handle this weather; they can't handle the mosquitos or anything."

"Umhu." The old just nodded.

"Ahh, what an annoyance." Felipe massaged his temple as he began to think about what to do.