Both Frederick III and Bismarck were surprised that Jochen agreed to marry Austria-Hungary. From Frederick III's point of view, a German princess as the crown princess of the German Empire was the best choice, which was conducive to greater unity between the various states within the German Empire. Historically, Wilhelm II's wife was the daughter of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and Heinrich's wife was the daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse, that is, Alex's sister Elenie, but because Eleni was two years older than Jochen, and because her aunt did not die at this time, Alex was not taken to her grandmother, so her family did not approve of her marrying the British prince Albert Victor, so Alex, as the princess of Hesse, was naturally the best choice in Frederick III's mind. Frederick III was ready to be angry at Bismarck's self-assertion, but his son actually agreed, and suddenly felt like a punch was hitting the cotton.

Bismarck, on the other hand, did not expect that the crown prince would approve of his arbitrariness. From that debate in 1879, Bismarck remembered the prince who was only 11 years old and was able to talk in front of everyone. And as time went on, the prince continued to display his amazing talents, so that when he became the crown grandson, Bismarck even had the idea that 'maybe this is a better choice'. But soon Bismarck also saw the nasty thing about genius - their perceptiveness and stubbornness. On the Austro-Hungarian question, the imperial grandson's thoughts were completely opposite to his own, which led to the unpleasant quarrel of 1887, and what made Bismarck even more unhappy was that the imperial grandson was finally proved to be right; The same is true on the issue of colonization, perhaps unbeknownst to the emperor himself, his "naval economics" has attracted quite a few capitalist industrial giants, and his steady colonial development and division of the Junkers in favor of foreign expansion have allowed him to win quite a few allies, and the abundant resources found in Cameroon have emboldened him to pursue a colonial policy diametrically opposed to his own. Bismarck had to admit that His Royal Highness Crown Prince Joachim was worthy of the title of "God's treasure to the Hohenzollern family." But for Bismarck, a genius with "keen vision, decisive judgment, and astonishing luck" was not a happy thing when he clashed with his governing philosophy. Bismarck, therefore, was well aware of the Crown Prince's views on Austria-Hungary - a burden that could not be shaken off, and it was surprising that he had now agreed to marry Austria-Hungary.

Faced with the doubts of the emperor and the prime minister, Jochen half-truthfully explained the reason for his choice: "Austria-Hungary is now our ally, although I don't think this ally can actually bring much benefit to the empire, but we can't get rid of him now. Marriage to England did not bring much benefit to the policies and circumstances of the Empire, for you were already the son-in-law of England. And the princesses of Hesse could not do much to help the empire, so if you had to choose between these three options, Austria-Hungary would be the most advantageous. Of course, Jochen's reasons are not the only one. After the suicide of Rudolph, the future crown prince of Austria-Hungary, Ferdinand became the heir to the empire, and his marriage with Sophie, the duchess of Hornberg, made their children have no imperial inheritance, so Mary, as the princess of Austria-Hungary, also has the inheritance of the empire, and his own and Mary's children may become the emperor of Austria-Hungary, and even Jochen has a bolder plan, and he must also have a wife who is a princess of the Habsburg family.

But even if Bismarck nodded, Frederick III nodded, Joseph I nodded, and Jochen nodded, if he wanted to marry Germany and Austria, it would not be smooth to succeed. Marriage is such a thing, I'm sorry for Qiong Yao if it's not bloody.

At the same time the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace

"I'm not married! I don't want to marry in Germany! ”

After communicating secretly with Bismarck, Joseph I also decided to tell his daughter the news. Also in the emperor's study, the same question of marriage, but Joseph I was firmly opposed by his daughter Mary.

"Do you hate the German crown prince so much? You got along very well last year. Joseph I persuaded him bitterly.

"I don't hate His Highness Joachim, but it has nothing to do with me marrying him. I've got a sweetheart! Mary called out to her father.

"Franz Salvatore is not for you." Joseph I said lightly.

"Because he was only a member of a branch family of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, wasn't he? So I should marry a German crown prince, right? Or the prince of Bavaria? ”

That's right, that's the case. The woman has a sweetheart, so she refuses to obey the political zhì marriage, and then reconciles. Both eloped, were captured by their fathers, and finally died for love. Come on, this isn't the Golden Theater at 8 o'clock in the evening.

In 1886, Marie and Franz Salvatore, as in the history of Jochen's previous life, fell in love with a fateful encounter. Without the intervention of Jochen, a third party who had absolutely no good fruit to eat at the Golden Theatre at 8 p.m., the two would have had to go through a long four-year struggle and finally marry Franz Salvatore at the cost of Mary giving up her inheritance to the Austro-Hungarian royal family. The Austro-Hungarian aristocracy disapproved of the marriage, preferring the princess of the empire to choose the prince of the Kingdom of Saxony of Germany or the Duke of Braganza of Portugal. But as the favorite of the Austro-Hungarian Empress Elizabeth, known as "my only child", Mary was supported by her mother, who stated that Mary could even marry a chimney cleaner if she wanted to, and because of Elizabeth's partiality, the relationship between Mary and her sister and brother deteriorated. But the current situation is different, Mary's marriage partner is the crown prince of Germany, the first power in continental Europe, and it is the iron-blooded prime minister, the Bismarck who won the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War.

"The German Empire is now the largest power on the European continent, and its power is thriving. Moreover, Germany was an ally of Austria-Hungary, and during the Austro-Russian crisis of 1887, Germany maintained a wait-and-see attitude, and the Reich was under great pressure. The Reich needs the support of Germany, and the German Crown Prince of Joachim, you and his children will become the Emperor of Germany in the future, which is the greatest support for Austria-Hungary. And Joachim's reputation has always been very good, and your cousin Ferdinand has a very high opinion of him. Handsome, talented, self-disciplined, and you don't hate him, this is the best marriage partner. Joseph I tried to persuade his daughter.

"For the sake of the Empire, for the sake of winning over allies, so sacrifice my happiness, right?" Mary fought unwillingly.

"Franz Salvatore and you have only known each other for two years, and you haven't been together for long, how can you be sure that he will give you happiness? You should know that the whole empire does not approve of your relationship with Franz Salvatore, and no one supports your love. ”

"But my mother will support me." The girl struggled for the end.

"Then your mother will be against all the nobles of the whole empire, because no one will want to offend Germany for the sake of the Salvatore boys. Don't trouble Elizabeth anymore, know how Gisela and Rudolph felt when she said you were her only child? ”

Silent, realizing that she might really have no possibility of resisting, Mary could only use silence to make a silent protest, although she still stubbornly looked at her father, but the tears that slowly welled up made her vision begin to blur.

Seeing his daughter crying, Joseph I sighed helplessly, and then comforted softly: "I know that your age is the time when you are full of longing and thirst for love. Because my relationship with your mother used to be so hot and strong. But marriage is not enough to have love, but also to have mutual understanding and tolerance. I still love Elizabeth now, but we can't get along with each other to feel like we used to be, which is why your mother won't want to come back for so long, because it's a cage for her. Maybe you love Franz now, but when your marriage is not blessed by no family and is opposed by everyone, do you really have the confidence to say that you must be happy? Joachim had a good reputation and, unlike his English uncle, he had great self-control and action. I would even go so far as to say that there is no peer of his age in the royal family of all of Europe. Maybe he's not the most desirable option for you, but he's definitely the best. ”

Mary didn't speak, still pursing her lips and letting the tears run down her face. Then the study fell into a deathly silence.

After a long time, Mary spoke: "You have won, father. I'm willing to exchange German friendship as if it were an object, so you can rest assured. I need to be alone for some time, please don't bother me again. Then he turned and left the place where he didn't want to stay for a moment.

And Joseph I looked at his daughter's stubborn back, sighed, and then buried his body deep in the seat, pressed his temples tiredly, and then spit out the inscrutable words: "I'm sorry......"

On October 5, 1888, Germany and Austria simultaneously announced that the German Crown Prince Joachim and the Austro-Hungarian Princess Marie were engaged, and that they would be married in 1889.