Monday, Berlin, Schulenburg

The old prime minister had a rather unpleasant weekend, first of all, he underestimated his long-time rival in the Foreign Office, Sir Holstein.

In his carelessness and negligence in the early stage, the political director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who had always been against him since he entered the Prussian Foreign Ministry, had quietly woven a complex network of relationships within the court.

The trap he dug for this "gray wolf", the other party not only did not jump in, but with his hidden relationship, he also successfully handed his diplomatic plan to the emperor, and the plan to support Chile that he had carefully planned has now become a choice question of whether to support Peru or support Chile.

If Crown Prince Frederick had not immediately supported the Emperor's plan at noon yesterday, then the meeting with Crown Prince Frederick yesterday afternoon when he took the Chilean envoy to the Ministry of Economy would probably have been a tragedy in his diplomatic history.

The old prime minister, who was sitting behind the desk, angrily threw the whole box of matches, along with the good Upman cigars, into the trash can next to the table.

Secondly, yesterday morning's third negotiations with the Russians on the alliance of the Three Emperors also did not go well. Half a month ago, Foreign Minister Alexander Gorchakov, who had already come to Berlin to conduct secret negotiations with Prime Minister Bismarck, took advantage of the current national sentiment in Russia to bite the old Tsar's following demands:

1. If the Germans ask the Russians to support Germany in the German-French war position, then the Germans should also support Russia in the Russian-British conflict.

2. Even though Russia and Austria are both part of the Three Emperors Alliance, Russia still adheres to its interests in the Balkans and the Near East, and Russia opposes the inclusion of the above-mentioned regional issues in the Three Emperors Alliance, and does not accept the compromise of the above interests with Austria-Hungary.

3. If there is an eventual conflict between Russia and Austria, Germany must be neutral, otherwise Russia will take an opposing position in the Franco-German war.

4. The Three Emperors Alliance must support Russia's policy of Greater Bulgaria, in which Macedonia and Eastern Rumilia must be annexed by Bulgaria.

5. The Three Emperors Alliance must support the prohibition of warships of other countries entering the Black Sea through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, except for the countries bordering the Black Sea.

In addition to this, according to what was learned yesterday afternoon at a meeting with the crown prince at the Ministry of Economy, the new chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russians, General Shuvalov, made a new demand, which required the Germans to import not only grain but also industrial goods duty-free.

The old prime minister hated the revolver in his hand and secretly cursed, "Shameless and greedy bear! ”

The last unpleasant thing was that in April of this year, the German-Austrian Treaty of Alliance, which he submitted to His Majesty the Kaiser, Wilhelm I never ratified, because in the Russo-Austrian conflict, Austria-Hungary demanded the support of Germany, while in the German-French conflict, Austria-Hungary had to remain neutral.

This clearly partial-side pact, in the eyes of Wilhelm I, was simply a joke, and it was better to call it a declaration of war between Germany and Austria-Hungary against Russia than a covenant. Because of this German-Austrian alliance, the old emperor had not seen Bismarck for nearly a month.

Originally, Bismarck wanted to use the trap of the coyote to find an excuse to make trouble with the old emperor again, and see if he could sign the German-Austrian Covenant before the Three Emperors' Covenant. But I didn't think about it, but I was pitted by the coyote and threw a thorny Peruvian problem to myself.

The troubles created by the old rival Holstein, or the greedy and tough conditions proposed by Russia, in fact, in the mind of the weather-hardened old prime minister, this is not a big deal for the sky to fall.

Take Holstein as an example, the fighting between the two people has been fighting since 1851, when Bismarck became the ambassador of the Frankfurt Parliament, the two have been fighting non-stop, you have always dug traps, and I have been stumbling for almost 30 years, and the old chancellor has never expected to finish his work and kill the damned coyote.

Not this time, next time, the old prime minister thinks that he is a patient hunter, and he will always seize the flaws of the coyote and kill this annoying beast in the field of diplomacy with one shot.

For the greed and toughness of the Russians, the old prime minister has not found a solution after three rounds of negotiations.

Since the Russians negotiated terms on German-French relations, they demanded that Germany support Russia in the Russian-British conflict.

The old prime minister's countermeasure was, I will not force your support, but take a step back, and maintain goodwill neutrality between each other during the conflict between Germany, France, Russia and Britain.

Russia adheres to its interests in the Balkans and the Near East.

The old prime minister's method was that since the Balkans were the focus of the conflict between Russia and Austria, then Russia and Austria would draw a clear sphere of influence, and the Russians would want Macedonia and East Rumilia to return to Bulgaria, so they would agree with Austria-Hungary to take Persian Crimea.

As for the remaining Serbia and Romania, it is necessary to carry out national reforms, implement national autonomy, and establish self-reliance in areas where Catholic, Orthodox and Islamic believers gather, and finally avoid conflict between Russia and Austria as a result of conflict.

If the above methods cannot resolve the contradictions between Russia and Austria, there will really be a conflict between Russia and Austria.

All the old prime ministers who start from the interests do not think that anything is untradable, and without the guarantee of absolute strength, the contract is waste paper. Therefore, the old prime minister was ready to give Austria-Hungary another "German-Austrian Alliance" as a guarantee of strength for the Austrians to fight for the interests of the Balkans and the Near East, and to use the German-Austrian alliance as the basis of the Three Emperors Alliance.

As for the British entering the Black Sea through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, another Crimean War, a hard blow to Russia's soft belly, and the death of another tsar, this is the most unsettling issue for the Russians. The old prime minister was ready to support the conditions of the Russians.

To sum up, that is to say, the conditions proposed by the Russians, the old prime minister has a way to deal with them.

As for the choice of who to support in the war between Peru and Chile, it was no longer a problem for the old prime minister, and Prussia could only choose its friend, Chile.

However, the biggest uneasiness and hesitation of the old prime minister came from his own emperor, from the old emperor who was always non-violent and non-cooperative with him. Wilhelm I has been becoming more and more incomprehensible lately, and although he is the pole of power in the German dualist system, all his power actually comes from the authorization of the emperor.

Since the appointment of Crown Prince Frederick as Minister of Economy in April, the old emperor's personality has obviously changed dramatically, and when it is necessary to make decisions, he is no longer as hesitant and capricious as before.

You must know that in the past, when it was critical to make a decision, the old emperor was often tossed by the contradictory opinions between him and the old prime minister, and he didn't know what to do, and even shed tears several times because of the old prime minister's strong force.

The old emperor was nearly twenty years older than Bismarck, but in front of Bismarck, he was like a wayward woman, and every time the two quarreled, it was the emperor who squirmed and obeyed the will of the prime minister.

The old prime minister's diplomatic troubles, if they were changed to before, the old prime minister would definitely immediately rush into the Charlottenburg Palace, and bully the old woman William I.

But in the last two months, the old woman in Charlottenburg Palace has obviously become an old man, Bismarck is crying, and the old emperor is smiling and handing over the handkerchief; Bismarck made trouble, the old emperor found a comfortable sofa, sat and laughed and watched the old prime minister make trouble; Bismarck was going to hang himself, and the old emperor patiently told the old prime minister about that, I don't know where to get the chicken soup for the soul, life, ideals, happiness, in short, how sweet and how to pour the old prime minister.

Therefore, in fact, it is not that the old emperor does not want to see the old prime minister, but that the old prime minister himself hides from the old emperor, and in the face of an emperor who always likes to talk to himself about life and ideals, and feeds himself chicken soup, no matter how strong the old prime minister is, he can't resist.

On the contrary, after the old emperor saw the book "Chicken Soup for the Soul" written by Joey from Empress Augusta, which was actually copied, he suddenly found that he was unstoppable to talk to the old prime minister with the truth in it.

One came and went, one advanced and one retreated, and now it became, and the old emperor was a little looking forward to waiting for the old prime minister to talk.

Joey knew that in order to escape the queen's grandmother's harsh court etiquette training, and in order to please the queen's grandmother, the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" that he copied by hand had such a great effect.

William I went from being silently obedient to being an emperor who was eclipsed by the glory of the old prime minister to an emperor who could talk to the old prime minister about life ideals and instill life beliefs and meanings.

Before, the relationship between the two was more dependent on each other, but now the old emperor, with his old Bismarck many years old, has become a one-sided life preaching, which makes Prime Minister Bismarck feel strongly that he seems to be not so important in the old emperor's heart.

"Emperor, doesn't he trust himself anymore?" This thought grew like a weed in the old prime minister's heart.

Disturbed! Loss! This is the real reason why the old prime minister can't control his emotions and often gets angry. In fact, there is no such thing as a foreign and political thing that can worry the old prime minister.

The old chancellor looked out the window at the late spring scenery on Friedrichstrasse, and his heart turned over and over again, "..... You are like an old man riding a horse, the old man does not believe in the horse, and the horse is not willing to be controlled by the old man. ”

"Smack!" Chancellor Bismarck slapped the revolver in his hand on the table and said loudly, "I have never been the only one who is at the mercy of fate, not at the mercy of fate." ”

"Since Your Majesty likes to talk about the philosophy of life and the goodness in human nature, then I will talk about government affairs and work with your son, His Majesty the future Emperor." The old prime minister got up and grabbed his coat, "I can't convince you, I don't believe that I can't convince the crown prince, it's a big deal that I will take over your shift as Crown Prince Frederick in advance!" ”

The old chancellor was about to go out when his chief of staff, Delbrück, hurriedly pushed the door open and walked in, holding an envelope in his hand.

Delbrück was stunned when he saw the old prime minister going out, as the director of the prime minister's office, he clearly remembered that the old prime minister had no plans to go out in today's work arrangement.

"Rudolph, hurry up and arrange the next trip with me, and immediately help me make an appointment with Crown Prince Frederick, I have an urgent matter to meet with him." The old prime minister looked at Rudolph, who had just come in, and said anxiously.

"Your Royal Highness." Delbrück raised the letter in his hand and said with a smile, "This invitation is from the Imperial Palace, and Crown Prince Frederick wants to invite you to the dinner. ”