Napoleon laughed coldly. ‘For our dear cousin, the King of Prussia, I have little but contempt. Only when all seemed to go against me before Austerlitz was that coward prepared to throw in his lot with our enemies. The present war was caused by his folly and his ambition to humble France.’ Napoleon paused. ‘There can only be one fate for Frederick William and his nation: abject humiliation. We will strip Prussia of her present borders and offer to share the spoils with Russia. We will demand reparations, the scale of which will cripple her for years to come, during which time French troops will be garrisoned on Prussian soil. Furthermore, Prussia will be obliged to uphold the trade embargo against Britain, and declare war on Britain if I deem it necessary. Finally, I will require Frederick William to recognise the existing and any future kingdoms that I confer upon members of my family and other monarchs nominated by me.’

Napoleon smiled with satisfaction as he concluded his list of demands.Talleyrand was quiet for a moment before he responded. ‘Are you quite serious, sire? You propose nothing less than the dismantling of Prussia as it now stands.’

‘That’s right. Let it serve as a warning to any nation who even considers dealing dishonestly with France, and her Emperor.’

‘Is it wise to go that far, sire?’

‘Wise?’ Napoleon frowned.

Talleyrand shifted uneasily. ‘It appears to me that you are pinning your hopes on winning the Tsar over as a permanent ally, sire.’

‘Yes. So?’

‘Is that prudent? I think not. To my mind Russia poses the greatest of dangers to European nations. Her influence spreads from the Baltic in the north to Turkey and India to the south. Given time, I dare say the Tsar would consider swallowing up Poland, the Baltic states, and possibly Scandinavia. Unless those nations that lie in her path have the wherewithal to defend themselves, what is to prevent the Tsar from expanding his borders right up to the lands we claim for ourselves? Rather than allying ourselves with Russia we would be better off building an alliance with Austria, and providing Prussia with generous enough terms to swing their loyalty over to us, sire. Magnanimous terms for Frederick William could change Prussian opinion. Besides that, we would need to make sure that the Prussians retained sufficient military potential to discourage any further Russian expansion into Europe.’