Berlin, Schulenburg, Prime Minister's Office, morning.

Delbrück, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, hurriedly walked into Bismarck's office, and after closing the door casually, he whispered to Bismarck, "Your Highness, an urgent telegram from Director Stiebel." ”

Chancellor Bismarck immediately put down his work, quickly took the telegram, and read it carefully.

"Your Royal Highness, Your Royal Highness, from infallible sources of information (the details of which were brought back by the courier), have obtained from within the French government, the exact information of the near future is as follows:

1. (Emphatic point) The French are continuing and secretly increasing their troops to the German-French border, and by the end of 1879 they will assemble ninety percent of the French standing army, about 450,000 men, to the center of Nancy, to Verdun in the north, and to the Belfort line in the south.

2. France has learned of the details of the German-Austrian alliance and is secretly contacting the Russians.

3. The recent colonization plan of the French will concentrate on the Anbei and Nanqi regions, and it is expected that there will be secret military plans for the Qing Dynasty. ”

Chancellor Bismarck just saw the first news, his eyelids jumped involuntarily, and he scolded angrily in his heart, "Sure enough, he is an old and cunning liar, who talks to me about Franco-German reconciliation on the one hand, but on the other hand there is such a big secret operation going on." There is a continuous plan to increase troops on the German-French border, what do you, a peasant under the Alps, want to do, and have another Franco-Prussian war? Bismarck grabbed the white-handled revolver at hand, and thought quickly as he played with it.

"If you follow the rate of wealth accumulation at which the French repaid the Franco-Prussian War 5 billion francs in three years, there are still these 450,000 soldiers .... Damn it! Bismarck rubbed his head and calculated, "You must know that Napoleon III led only 350,000 men in the Franco-Prussian War. If he really completes his plan to increase his troops, when they are fully capable of another war, no one can guarantee that these French stupid chickens will not be hot-headed! ”

"My strategy after '75 was to find something to do for the French to colonize, not always thinking about revenge on Germany, so I have been encouraging and supporting the French to go all over the world to find colonies, in order to find the bastard Grevy a theoretical fulcrum to publish his colonial policy in the French parliament, I have tried my best to introduce Paul Leroibaulyu to him! Now it seems that the colonial intentions of this bastard are only superficially perfunctory, and in fact he is still a nationalist who wants revenge on Germany! The prime minister pulled the trigger of the pistol in his hand fiercely.

With the crisp sound of the trigger, "Wait, what if, what if this information is fake?" The chancellor put down the pistol in his hand, "It's fake and I take it seriously, so what will happen to Germany?" ”

"Let me send more troops to the Franco-German border, and in the end the two sides will remain in a standoff? This is no different from the current situation between Germany and France. But the French were not slow to accumulate wealth from the colonies of the Americas, Africa, and Asia, and if it dragged on like this, it would be a bit dangerous for Germany without colonies in the long run. Listen to Moltke, let's do it to the French first. ”

"Let me send more troops to the Franco-German border, and then we will fight another Franco-Prussian war? As for the war, Moltke's General Staff had already planned for France, and according to Moltke's deduction, the 250,000 German soldiers on the German-French border could resist a sudden attack by twice as many French troops, and could hold out for at least two months. So, even if I were to increase my troops immediately, the existing Imperial Army would be able to hold back the French. Moltke assured me that the Army would mobilize another 1 million men to the front in 35 days, and that the German Army would maintain 1.3 million men in wartime, more than the total number of Prussian troops during the Franco-Prussian War. ”

"The question is, do you really want to choose war, do you want to do it?" Bismarck banged on the table and pondered the question.

"If the Reich had acted against the French first, how would I have to coordinate diplomatically? Who will be Germany's allies? Austro-Hungarian... No, no, no. They deal with a Balkan and I need to step in to protect their interests. Since the Kingdom of Sardinia, the men of the Habsburgs have not dared to fight the French, and I really miss Prime Minister Metternich, even if the Habsburg women are in charge, maybe they can form an anti-French alliance again. Chancellor Bismarck shook his head and concluded, "Even if Germany and Austria form an alliance, Austria-Hungary will at best be neutral." ”

"The Russians .... Far away and implausible, in 75 when I was ready to deal with the French, he stabbed me in the back, especially that damned pan-Slavist Ignaev, this bastard has always hated Germany and advocated a Russian-French alliance against the containment of Germany, coupled with the neuroticism of the Romanovs and the character of greedy for French extravagance.... Not only could I not count on them to help me, but I also had to prevent them from being bribed by the French to stab me in the back. The old prime minister grabbed the revolver again in hatred.

"Fortunately, now that the Russians are reaching out to make trouble with the British, I still have the conditions to win over the Russians. If I ask the Russians to remain neutral between Germany and France, the Russians will certainly ask Germany to support Russia against Britain. To confront Germany against the British, uh.... That's the real headache! Even if they promised to support Russia against the British, the Russians remained neutral between Germany and France at best. But isn't this an addition to the British behemoth to the French? The Russians are really a cup of poisonous wine. Chancellor Bismarck shook his head, "The question is whether I drink it or not?" ”

"What if you look for the British as allies? The contradictions between Britain and France are not deep enough, a system that requires parliamentary authorization for war, and there are not enough contradictions or sufficient interests, Britain will not take action, and it is okay not to take action, but will the British just be willing to watch? At last year's Berlin Conference, the Englishman Sissel repeatedly stressed to me that the arbiter of the British's policy of balancing the foreign balance of the European continent hinted to me that I should either listen to the British or stand aside. ”

"Listen to the British, dream! Stand aside, there is no door! It is certain that the German attack on France certainly did not fall into the balancing category of the British. Bismarck gave his own answer.

"And what about letting the French attack Germany, letting the French fire the first shot? Just like the Franco-Prussian War, let the French take the lead in the first move, although militarily, Germany may suffer a little loss in the early stage, but at least in terms of public opinion, it can first block the mouth of the British and make them neutral, and then find a way to restrain Austria-Hungary and Russia, so that they can also maintain the necessary neutrality, and the rest is that Moltke's General Staff needs to redraw a new battle plan, drag the French in Alsace and Lorraine, and then surprise and flank the French, just like the last Franco-Prussian War. The old prime minister thought of another plan.

"If I really do this, I will drink the poisonous wine of Russia, and the Three Emperors Alliance is necessary, so as to isolate the French to the greatest extent. If you want to sign the Three Emperors Alliance and not be poisoned by the Russians, you must have a cornerstone of the alliance, and this cornerstone can only choose Austria-Hungary. ”

"Austria-Hungary must be chosen, on the one hand, Austria-Hungary is weaker and easier to control than the Russians, and both Germans are in power, and on the other hand, Austria-Hungary has an eye on the Balkans, at least not as big as the bear's appetite, even Prussia wants to eat it. So I had to push forward with the German-Austrian alliance, tie Austria-Hungary to the side of the empire, at least make sure that I got one point among the other four powers, and first of all, I had to make sure that I didn't lose. With the German-Austrian cornerstone, even if Austria-Hungary was reluctant to attack France, as long as he remained neutral and could contribute to the admission of the Russians into the alliance, then I could accept the attitude of the Viennese. ”

"With regard to the Russians, I must use the British to remind the Russians that if they get too close to the French, I will not mind continuing the German-Anglo-Austrian alliance formed at the Berlin Conference last year!" Bismarck made the choice.

"This is a fight against the Russians, in addition to fighting, to make the Russians willing to join the Three Emperors Alliance, it must be pulled! What will be the conditions for co-opting the Russians? On the first condition, I want to avoid being isolated, and the Russians are also afraid of being isolated, and now that they have an enmity with the British, and the German-Austrian alliance against it again, the Russians will be isolated, and the Russians don't want to see this outcome. On condition two, I want to isolate the French, and the Russians want to isolate the British. If my German-Austrian alliance is showing goodwill towards Russia, the Russians will definitely join it, and the alliance of Germany, Russia and Austria is a disguised isolation of the French and the British. ”

"To avoid oneself being isolated, and to isolate the common interests of the French and the British, this is the basis of the Three Emperors' Alliance!" Bismarck made up his mind.

"Of course Germany will not commit itself to an alliance with Russia against Britain, but in exchange for the necessary benefits, I will suggest that the Russians do something in Bulgaria, and I don't like that Battenberg fool of the Hessians anyway. If necessary, I will get the Austrians to give up the Bulgarian sphere of influence, and I believe that this reward will be enough to draw the Russians into the Three Emperors' Alliance. For the rest, I need to persuade Austria-Hungary to be a little more restrained on the Romanian and Bulgarian issues, and I think that Russia and Austria can also smoothly form an alliance. ”

“..... After the Franco-Prussian War, everyone was wary of Germany, and it seemed that a unified Germany was really a double-edged sword. Bismarck sighed in his heart.

"I have sacrificed so much, what if the French don't fire the first shot and demonstrate with me in a sit-in? How can I force the French to fire this first shot? If you want to force the French to shoot, then you have to let them see the opportunity for a possible victory in the military adventure, so I will turn a blind eye to the increase of French troops, and if you are willing to be friendly with France, I will shout with you! ”

"Since the French like the nationalist vengeful left, I will encourage such people to come to power, and let the right wing of the liberals and republicans quickly step down, and a barking French poodle is better than this silent Grevi Dubin."

"In the end, I have to think of a way, I have to poke the money bags of the French, and make some trouble for the French financially, economically..."

Chancellor Bismar looked up at Delbrück, who was sitting in the corner of his office, silent, and asked, "Rudolph, I remember that today the Imperial Palace is going to have a ball, and I have not been invited?" ”

"Your Highness, we have received it a long time ago. But didn't you say that you weren't interested in what Crown Prince Frederick had to do, so I refused. The head of the office, Delbrück, replied.

"You go find a reason and tell the Imperial Palace that I'm going to this ball tonight. Rudolph, remember, the reason must be decent! The old prime minister advised.

"Yes, Your Highness." Delbrick nodded in understanding, "In addition, as for the detailed report of the Imperial Palace Salon yesterday, they have already rushed overnight, Your Highness, do you want to take a look at it now?" ”

"Rudolph, in this report, is there any rebellious remarks in the imperial womb?" The Prime Minister asked.

"Your Highness, Crown Prince Frederick's speech has reverberated strongly in the scientific community, and there is nothing out of the ordinary in his remarks." After a pause, Delbrück said, "But where is the crown princess, there are some remarks that are not quite in line with the policy of the imperial government. On the whole, however, after a bitter dispute between the Crown Princess and the Socialists, an understanding of cooperation was reached for a limited period of time. In order to repay the crown princess's past support, the Socialists were willing to give the crown prince a period of time to clean up the domestic economy. ”

"Fierce arguments? The crown princess and her friends of the Socialist Party? Why, do you know why, Rudolph? The old prime minister asked, staring at his office director.

The stump said that some of the Socialists had put forward some radical plans for social revolution, which seemed to have completely annoyed the crown princess, so she threw them out. What exactly is the content of this plan, the stump is still ordering the sparrows to investigate. Delbrück replied respectfully.

"Well, that's what we expected." The old chancellor raised his eyebrows, "At least this Englishwoman is a well-informed person at the national level, and knows that this group of socialists will not engage in the economy at all, but will only incite strikes to destroy the German economy." ”

"Rudolph, what else do you have in your hands?" The old prime minister noticed that his chief of staff still had a stack of reports in his hand.

"Ahem, Your Highness, this is from the stump, about Prince Waldemar's speech at the salon yesterday." Delbrück looked at the old prime minister a little hesitantly and said, "Actually, when this report came into my hands, I took a cursory look at it, and I couldn't believe that this could be the idea of an 11-year-old child." ”

"His Highness Waldemar's thoughts? What can a child think, like his father or his mother? Bismarck asked with a low face.

"Your Highness, I can't see who the idea is coming from for the time being, judging from the content of the speech, all of them support His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's views, but fundamentally speaking, there are still some shadows of the Crown Prince's liberalism and sympathy for socialism, after all, His Royal Highness the Prince is ready to fund Professor Mach's socialist theory." Delbrück replied respectfully.

"Put it here, let people pay attention to this child, he began to accept those crooked theories and heresies at the age of 11, can those things of socialism really have such great magic?!" The old prime minister complained in a low voice.