In the following days, Charles was busy with internal consolidation of the Republican Party, while also helping the French with the logistics of warhorses, leaving him with no free time.
At the time, Charles thought that coordinating just three thousand warhorses shouldn't be a big problem, but once he started, he realized that transporting and coordinating these three thousand warhorses was several times more difficult than transporting three thousand people. Not to mention the bargaining when buying horses, and the series of issues involved in convincing others to buy horses.
Fortunately, the Aid to France Committee wasn't just him; there was a large group of congressmen, big merchants, and officials below him. The actual execution could be left to those below, and as the responsible party, he only needed to coordinate and resolve the difficulties that these people couldn't handle.
It was at this time that an incident occurred in the distant Louisiana, causing Charles to angrily throw away his Aid to France work and eagerly invite the French Ambassador again to lodge the sternest protest.
In reality, in Louisiana, it was just an isolated incident of harm to American westward expansionists. But Charles, with his excellent foresight, immediately decided to seize this opportunity to achieve his long-desired goal, so he simply used this to summon the French Ambassador.
The incident involved a team of Pittsburgh residents exploring the area who accidentally discovered a gold mine. According to Pittsburgh law, these individuals automatically had the right to one-tenth of the mine's output. Even according to Louisiana's regulations, they could reap a huge reward. But based on the principle of informing whoever offered the most reward, they happily sent someone to relay this news back to Pittsburgh, rather than informing the Louisiana authorities.
But while most of these people insisted on staying near the gold mine, the Louisiana colonial authorities, somehow hearing about the gold mine, sent troops to unilaterally confiscate the entire gold mine. The Pittsburgh adventurers naturally refused to easily give up their interests, and eventually, they exchanged fire.
The French colonial Government army in Louisiana was very weak and didn't send many people at the time, while these Pittsburgh adventurers were experts in burning, killing, and looting. After a struggle, several people from Pittsburgh died, and several from Louisiana also died. This outcome greatly angered the French colonial General in Louisiana, who directly sent a regular army to drive these Pittsburgh adventurers, along with the gold prospectors who had already arrived from Pittsburgh, away from the gold mine.
At this time, the laws of the Colonies and America did not dictate that after discovering a gold mine, the government would directly take ownership after giving a reward. Instead, they allowed prospectors to freely mine for gold, and the government would only collect taxes and shares from the gold found. The Louisiana General's actions completely violated these unwritten rules, immediately leading to a strong backlash from the Pittsburgh locals. They simultaneously sent people to inform Charles, while also notifying neighboring states to mobilize militias to prepare for an expedition against the French General in Louisiana.
"Mr. Ambassador, I believe this is a serious matter. If your country cannot properly handle this incident, American-French relations will inevitably be damaged! I may even be unable to restrain Pittsburgh from sending militias to Louisiana."
Charles bypassed the Department of State and directly protested to the French Ambassador.
Although the current heads of the Department of State, Monroe and others, were arguably promoted by him, Madison was still the interim President. Charles giving them instructions through Madison would certainly put them in a difficult position.
The French Ambassador was also very embarrassed.
The envoy sent by his country for assistance had just left, and then the colonial authorities of his own country made an unfriendly move towards the very entity they were seeking assistance from. Moreover, the most crucial point was that this entity was very powerful; if not handled well, it could lead to a war for France in distant America, and it would be a war with no chance of victory.
However, even if he wanted to stop it, he felt powerless. The governor and General of the Louisiana Colony were both appointed by the original Louis XVI. At the time, the Revolutionary Government, for situational needs, did not reappoint them but tacitly acknowledged their positions. Now, it seemed there were many problems. After all, they were not appointed by the Revolutionary Government, making it inconvenient to direct them. Therefore, Charles' protest could not make Louisiana reflect, and only he, the French Ambassador caught in the middle, had to bear Charles' wrath.
"Honorable Speaker, I am deeply regretful about what happened in Louisiana, and I hope it will not harm the traditional friendship between France and America. Please believe that the French people love the American people, and the French people wish to be friendly with the American people. The incident in Louisiana is merely the self-serving action of a few officials. We can only respect and regret their individual actions and cannot take responsibility."
Looking at the French Ambassador's helpless expression, Charles only found it amusing.
It seems that when the French explain to countries they cannot offend, they always like to use this tone. They are indeed strange; sometimes they suddenly hate you to death, and other times they will turn to like you over a small matter. A typical French viewpoint is that individual actions must be respected, whether their own or others'. If they do things that make them feel good, harming the feelings of another party and drawing protests, they will instead feel that the other party is disrespecting their right to act. They do not care much about the actions and feelings of others; their own temperament is fickle, they can simultaneously accept the beauty and ugliness of those they like, and they hope that others do not have unshakeable positions. To put it extremely, they like to equate capriciousness with romance.
"Mr. Ambassador, if your country cannot restrain the Louisiana colonial authorities, we will be very regretful and will have to take some measures. The first is that we will no longer send military supplies to your country until the payment for the three thousand warhorses and other military supplies arrives."
Charles directly brought out the economic big stick.
Currently, the French Revolutionary Government's finances were already in deficit. In the later stages of the First Anti-French war, they had already borrowed a large amount of loans from American Bankers. Now, with the war paused, finances had improved, but this was mainly used to appease the interests of domestic revolutionaries. This warhorse transaction was also not a cash transaction, but rather on credit.
"How can this be?" The French Ambassador stood up in shock.
"Honorable Speaker, we simply cannot raise that much cash at once! Your Excellency, isn't there an agreement between France and America to pay for goods with bank loans, and then the Revolutionary Government will slowly repay the loans after a victorious battle?"
"That's right, sir, we can indeed accept bank loans, but given the unfriendly relations between America and France, such as Louisiana, our loans require collateral, and it must be a larger proportion of collateral than originally. Because the original collateral ratio is truly not convincing to us."
Charles stated his true demand.
Since the French in Louisiana are so restless, it's better to take it over quickly. As long as France agrees to mortgage Louisiana, he can legitimately send some militia to garrison it and guard his collateral. This would make both the current westward expansion and the future plan to annex Louisiana much more convenient.
Anyway, after several years of continuous loans, the French didn't have much liquid assets left to mortgage. As long as he increased the proportion that could be mortgaged, they would have no choice but to use Colonies as collateral. And in this aspect of collateral, he could pick and choose.
"Collateral?" The French Ambassador gave a wry smile.
Once upon a time, mighty France also had to rely on collateral to borrow money.
When he first borrowed from American Bankers, this Ambassador was still very proud, believing that it was a disguised way for the Bankers to make money for nothing, and that it wouldn't be long before the Revolutionary Government, after victory, could easily repay all loans using France's developed economy. But now that the First Anti-French war had ended, they found that more fighting was still to come, and indeed, as long as most of the European monarchies were not eliminated, this war would not truly stop. Therefore, the loans not only were not immediately repaid but instead accumulated more and more.
Fortunately, France's strength was evident. This time, when purchasing warhorses, they were also preparing to take out loans from American Bankers, and the collateral should have been symbolically collected. But now that the incident in Louisiana had occurred, and Charles proposed to increase the collateral ratio, the French Ambassador didn't know what to say.
He couldn't bring himself to say forcefully that France's credit was well-established and they could borrow money without collateral.
But he was equally unwilling to truly agree to increase the collateral ratio, because that would mean truly admitting that France's strength had weakened and that it needed physical collateral to obtain loans.
In the end, the negotiations were fruitless. Charles merely gave the French Ambassador an ultimatum, ordering them to respond within one month, otherwise, the shipment of military supplies to France would be immediately suspended.
The French Ambassador did not know if Charles would truly stop sending supplies to France, but he had to treat this ultimatum as real. He quickly informed the French Revolutionary Government of what had happened in Philadelphia via steam mail, while also beginning to lobby extensively in Philadelphia.
Others might not mind Charles' demand for increased physical collateral, and some even secretly supported it, but there was one important figure who was unusually concerned about this matter spearheaded by Charles.
Soon, an invitation from Interim President Madison arrived at the earl's castle, requesting Speaker Charles to meet at the Presidential residence at his convenience.