Napoleon in 1812
Chapter 113:

20. Thereisnosun rising forever – 1

“It’s been areally longtime. How haveyou been? How could younot contactmeearlier!…”

“AsI getolder, it becomesharder to maintain relationshipswith people. However, I always keepthe longingfor the years I studiedunderthe master.”

“Mymy… Are you sayingsuch a weakthingeven thoughyou’re still in yourprime? You’re notacting likea master.”

The two musicians, who were onceteacher andstudent, hugged eachotheraffectionatelyand greetedeach other after a longtime. Beethoven, whose earcondition had worsened, couldhardly understandhumanspeech evenwith a hearingaid on.

Therefore, they had to reluctantly share their affectionthrough writing, butthat alone could notprevent thetwo’swill to resolve their regrets.

Beethoventalked likethat fora long timeaftermeeting hisold teacher, and eventually found ayoungman standing behind Salieri withanawkward gesture.

“Is thisdedicated and politeyoungman astudent currentlybeingtaught by the master? He was praised for being thegod of Vienna’s music…”

“My student… That expression is too much. Just callita relationshipbetween a senior whosponsorsa brillianttalent and a junior whoisanexample forthat senior.”

A shining junior whobecame an example… This wasa Salieri-style praise that Beethoven hadheardwhen he hadbeen taughtbySalieri in thepast.

It meant thatthis young maninfrontofhim was talented enoughtoberecognized by Salieri and hadthe abilitytobecalled amaster in the future.

Beethoven, who knew how great hisold teacher’s eyes for peoplewere, showed great interest in the young man, who wasstiffasifnervous, standingbehind Salieri.

“I’m gladtomeet youand willstop being rude for notgreetingyou earlier. Franz Schubert, I’ve heard thatname a lot. Ifyou are thegod illuminating Vienna’s music, nodoubteveryonehas saidthis name.”

“It, it’s a great honor to meetyou, Kapellmeister! Theperformanceof‘Eroica Buonaparte’, whichyou directed here, willremain alegacy in our history.”

Beethoven knew his name! Franz Schubert tried to hide the cornerofhis mouth rising with emotion, while writinghis words in Beethoven’s notebook.

The meetingwith thegiant, who wasadmired andrespected, made thisemotional young man very unstable and excited. Salieri, whowas happilywatchingthe scene, added to Beethoven:

“Schubertisone of the young musicianswho worshipyour music very much. He proudlypraised your music in front of me, sayingthat your level was above Haydn, aswell as Bach and Mozart.”

“…Is thatso? It’sheartbreaking.”

Beethovensmiled, butthis conversationwas not very pleasant. It wasa great pleasure to be praised by someone, but howmuch didthis young musician understood to compareHaydn, Bach, and Mozart’s writing and music with his own?

There maybenodoubtabouthis talent as he wasrecognized by Salieri, buthewouldbea nuisance to Beethovenifhewas humiliatedsomewhere and pretendedtoknow him.

Didhenotice Beethoven’s inner thoughts? Salieri handed over asheetmusicwith a deepsmile.

Beethoven, who carefullyacceptedit, read‘Composer, Franz Schubert’ written at thetop and showedinterest.

“Isitthe music composed by Schubert? It’s afamiliartitlefor somereason… I’vedefinitely heard a songofthe samename.”

“I made thatsong, too. He composed a songwith thesame name, this timefor apianoquintet.”

Beethovensmiled at Schubert, whowas nervousasifhehad become a studentevaluated by ajudge, and slowlyunfoldedthe sheet music. Thesong seemedtobestillincomplete.

Nevertheless, this score containeda lotofelementsthat could interest Beethoven.

‘Piano, violin, viola, cello, contrabass… It’s avery fresh andunconventionalcombination.’

Usually, the composition of apianoquintet consistedofa piano anda stringquartet (two violins, one viola, and one cello), while Schubert’ssong excluded oneviolin and added a contrabass.

It wasa combination that emphasizedheaviness and grandeur ratherthan thecheerfulness unique to chamber music, butironically, the songitself was light andbright likepetals in the springsky.

From thefirstmovementwith rich colors andlyrical themes, the secondmovementreminiscentofMozart and Bach, andthe third movement as if the piano andstring instruments weretalking.

Justbylooking at thescore, he could hearharmony in hisdistant ears. It wasanextremely interesting and shiny song. Beethoven, who lost track of timereading thescore, sighed quietly and closedthe sheet music.

“First of all… I havetoapologize to you.”

BeethovenaddedwordstoSchubertwho had a puzzledexpression.

“I didn’t like the wayyou tried to complimentmebyselling thenamesofmyseniors. Ifa young friendknowsa bitaboutcompositionand music, howmuch could he evaluate them? That’swhat I thought. But I realized it after seeing this score. That it was me whowas trappedina small world.”

If he wasa composer whocouldmake such asong, hehad alreadyestablishedhimself as a musician. Beethovenwas reflectingonhis reckless evaluationand foundationofsuch a person that he madeonly by looking at his ageand appearance.

Andfor Schubert, this was themost precious praise. As the young disciple, overcomebyemotion, was at aloss forwhat to do, Salieri watched withsatisfaction as his teacher.

“You understood it, too. About the huge possibilitiescontained in thisscore.”

“If it is completed properly, itwill surelybecome amasterpiece. If I can, I really want to inspectit.”

Schubert, who worshipedBeethoven, said yes immediately. No, rather, his eyeswere begging him to do it.

Beethoven once again looked at thesheetmusicand the cover with the title of thesong written on it: ‘Die Forelle’ (TheTrout).[1]It wasa very simple song name. Beethoven liked this score evenmore.

===

Almostall European countries, except Britain, Russia, Sweden, andsmallBalkans, showed their willingness to jointhe coalition at theStrasbourg talks hostedbyFrance.

Infact, itwas safetosay thatitwas ameeting involvingthe entire Europe, and as such, various issues, events, andnews stories arisingfrom themeeting could have had a big andsmallimpact on European society.

On thefirstday of the talks, France thatwas hostingthem wasdefeatedbythe Austrian-Prussian united front. The allies of theFrench wereworried that their influence, asthey ledthe formation of theUnion, was shrinking, but they werefortunate thatthe Union did notlead to a single state’s dominance.

To sum up thesecond day in a word, it could be expressed as the‘French Great Counterattack’. Nomatter whatkind of dark dealwas made, France appeased Austria, broke theunited front, andled the negotiation as it wanted. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Theatmosphere of thetalksrepeatedly went up and down likea seawith severewaves, and it wasa very interesting story fromthe perspective of the peoplehearing it. However, the atmosphereonthe third day wascompletely differentfrom thetalkssofar, andatthe sametime, itbrought a tremendousshockand impact to European society.

“France will apply certainstandards to distinguish the memberstates thathave joinedthe Union.”

Professor Moravia, whohad worked as theAustrianambassador in Paris andwas now a professor of politicaland diplomaticscience at theUniversity of Salzburg, had expected France’s ‘division of memberstates’.

“From the huge Empire that claims to be thesuccessor of the Roman Empiretothe city-states reminding us of ancient Greek polis. Memberstates varywidely fromone another. A ‘frame’ is neededtolead them welland achievethe ultimate purposeofthe Union. At thesame time, it is also agood means of reviving theauthority of the host countryand increasingits influence.”

As predictedbyhim and several other political scientists, Francetook thelead in presenting ratingsconsisting of chair country, vice chair country, standing states, federal states, and small federal states.

Someliteracygroups criticizeddividingthe ranks of member statesasifthey were reminiscent of the feudalclassofthe old system, saying that theywere notsuitabletodiscuss respect for human beingsand common development, but no matter howmuch they tried, they could not help but compromise withreality.

In away, it wasa betrayal of interest fora huge Empire anda small city-state to exercise the same rights withinthe Union, so most of themseemed to respectthe opinions of France, the hostcountry andchaircountry.

No, to be precise, allthe attention wasfocused on it because of the eventsthat occurred after that, so these issueswere less talked about.

Prussiaabruptlydisrupted the Strasbourg talks and eventually walked a paththat cannotbereversedwith France?

Foreign Minister KarlAugust von Hardenberg said‘France’s attitude toward ourcountry made us no longer need patience’.

Prussian foreignstaff, who raisedthe problemwith therating method, expressed harsh anger, saying, ‘TheUnionwas justa stepping stone forFrench dictatorship’.

Prussia is isolating itself. Whatisthe nextstrategy? Willtherebea brightfuture there?

Britain andRussia willbesmiling brightly at Prussia’sdeparture. Will anew coalition be formed?

Itwas truly ashockingincidentthat shook thecontinent thatPrussia declared that it would leave the Union altogether, nottomention withdrawing from the talks.

Europe’s leadingmediareportedthis surprising factasa scoop, taking up the front pages of numerous daily newspapers. It wasnolonger an exaggeration to saythat warwas being prepared again around central Europe.

Although defeated by France, losing morethan half of its territoryand taking a heavy blowtoits prestige, Prussia’stradition and power built up beforeFriedrich the Great wassecond onlytoAustria in Central Europe.

Prussiastormed outofthe conferencehall, declaring the alliance invalid. It wasa major flaw in the existenceand legitimacyofthe Union.

People greatlycriticized Prussia’smove, fearing that the alliance gathered under theidealofpeaceinEurope would falter.

On the other hand, suspicions arose thatFrance tookthe initiativeinisolating Prussia, leadingtocontroversyamongfamous people.

“Huh… I didn’tknow thingswouldgothe way they do now. I didn’tknow Prussia would leave likethis.”

“Itisa scene that inevitablyoccurs at the negotiating table where many countries gather. It exploded onlyonthe third day, soitfeelsa littlelate.”

“Hmm… That’s a little disappointing. DidPrussia want to be morethan a standing state?”

However, sucha sharp reaction didnot comeout at the Rohan PalaceinStrasbourg. Rather, thepeople there stood on the side of France andcriticized Prussia for breaking thetalks.

Exceptfor those who were directly sentbythe state or the court because theyworked fromcountry to country, celebrities hada slightsenseofbelonging according to their nationality.

Thisproved thatnot onlyPrussianpeople but also anumber of people from England, the main enemy of France, had comehere.

In the first place, the factthat they attended the Strasbourg banquetitself was a tacit act of expressing supportfor the ideas andideologies claimed by France andNapoleon, so nationality and originwere notimportant here. In other words, they wereoriginally enthusiasticsupporters of Napoleon, sotheirpresencewas not a problem.

“Hesaid that he would explainthe unfortunate situation that happened at the last meetingand thathewouldexpress hisambitionfor how to lead the Union in this speech. His Majesty, the Emperor of the Empire, himself.”

“Oh, I’mreally lookingforward to that! Theonly peoplewho can enjoy such luxury areuswho havedecided to attendthe banquet.”

Outside Strasbourg, there wasalso a favorable atmosphere thistime, amidst the turmoil of news.

Strasbourg’scelebritiesonly expressedtheiranticipation of whatthe giant of the times would sayinhis speech. With their expectations, Napoleon’ssecond speech washeld in themain hall of the palace.

“I respect Prussia’s decision, they have the right to choosewhat they want. However, the conference willproceed as scheduled. Evenifa country is missing, the purpose of these talks to discusspeaceand ideal values in Europewill notfade.”

TheFrench EmperorNapoleonBonaparte was sayingthat he didnot careinthe slightest about thedeparture of Prussia. Rather, asifhehad waited, heexcludedPrussia from the Union andbegana newagenda and a new discussion.

Some might doubt whether thiswas apolitical conspiracyfrom Napoleon, but it was notapplicable to theenthusiastic worshipersgatheredhere. And here, ahistorical remarkbegan, thatwouldenterworldhistory beyondEuropeanhistory.

“Theleader who governs the state is only arepresentativewho receives and uses someofthe rights from the peopleofthat country. I haveneverforgotten thatfact since I became theEmperor. I am working hardnot to follow thefootsteps of the olddictators whose purposeand means are opposite of these rights… Atany time, thispowerwill definitely return to itsoriginalowners.”

“…!!”

“TheStrasbourg talks arejust a small beginning towardthe future. Please remember thatthe people whocan build thisbeginning are notme, nor other monarchs of Europe, but those whoform European civil society. Letthe trueowners of Europe watch thebirthofthe Union witha sense of ownership. I, the Empire, and themember states that are with me willfighttoprotect that glimmerofhope.”

It wasNapoleon’s speech, which would havea huge impact on theentire European civil societybeyond France.

“What did HisMajesty just say?”

“That means… In theend, even the position of Emperor…!?”

It wasn’tjust thecelebritieswho werelistening thatwere shocked. It might nothave been prepared in advance, becauseeven among Frenchbureaucrats, there was a clear signofsurprise.

“That is all.”

Inthe silencethat haddescended on the palace, onlythe lastsentenceofNapoleon, who wasthe onlyone witha calm expression, echoed.

TL notes

[1]Trout Quintet

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