The "he" in Holstein's mouth is Joey's eldest brother, Prince William.

According to William's honest thoughts, he had no entanglement with faraway Chile at all, nor did he have a relationship with Finney. At best, he is just the closest blood relationship with his father and younger brother who came up with this thing.

But in the heart of the old emperor Wilhelm I, it was not so simple.

After confirming that Marshal Mandolfil had re-entered the service and assumed command of the Black Hawk Legion, the old emperor clearly instructed the old marshal that he should choose his grandson, Prince William, among the three regiments under the Black Hawk Legion, preferably in the position of commander of the Germanic regiment.

Let his second heir to the throne have enough military experience, especially if he has seen blood on the battlefield, for his heir to the throne, when he commands the Prussian officer corps in the future, he can not be afraid of the killing spirit of these battlefield elites.

The sword in the hand is like an arm, instead of cutting himself helplessly, this is the old emperor's expectation of William.

Deliberately when his son Crown Prince Frederick entered the palace to see His Majesty, the old emperor alone proposed to his son the arrangement of William, considering that this is the responsibility and obligation of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Frederick of course agreed with his father's opinion.

In the afternoon of the same day, Crown Prince Frederick specially called William to his study and told William that he was going to join the army, and that he was going to a distant and unknown Chile to participate in a war, William's reaction was greatly unexpected by Crown Prince Frederick.

"Father, going to the front should be the responsibility of the soldiers and lower-ranking officers, but I am a prince and should stay in the base camp of the homeland and command them."

"Willy, a person who has not fought on the front line and has not seen the cruelty of war cannot stay in the base camp at home to command the war, this is the mandatory requirement of General Scharnhorst when he set up the General Staff."

"Father, I may not be able to stay in the base camp, but the title of the commander of this infantry regiment does not match my status. I'm a prince, a prince of the Hohenzollerns, the second in line to the throne of the Empire, and I just made me the commander of an infantry regiment, I have a good reason and an identity to be the commander of this legion. ”

"Willie, as a commander of a legion, needs to have experience in commanding others, needs to be able to coordinate various relationships, needs to have the ability to accurately deal with all kinds of complex situations in the war, decisiveness, patience and bravery, all of which are indispensable." Crown Prince Frederick looked at his conceited son in front of him and patiently explained.

"Although the size of the Black Hawk Army is only equivalent to a regular Prussian division, this does not mean that it is less complex than a Prussian army, as an expedition to South America, the commander of the army must also have a wealth of political wisdom and diplomatic experience to deal with the interests of the empire in Chile."

"Willy, you're not up to the position of commander right now. It seems to me that in order to get acquainted with everything about the Prussian army, one should start from the grassroots level of the army. If it were me facing this opportunity, I would rather start with the commander of a company. Actually, Willie, that's what I did. ”

"Moreover, joining the army is also the responsibility of every man in our Hohenzollern family, a nobleman should pick up the sword and sword in his hand and face the enemy head-on, Willy, you should be brave enough to take on this responsibility!" Crown Prince Frederick looked at his son with a look of hope, hoping to get an affirmative answer.

"Father, I have always been fearless, and I have never been afraid to take up a sword, much less to any enemy." William retorted dissatisfiedly.

"It's just that I think that as a member of the Hohenzollern family, our natural responsibility is to be the ruler of this land, and our natural responsibility should be to be the commander of the Prussian army, and if I can't lead this army, I can't rule my army, then I'd rather do nothing." William said arrogantly with a beard of horns, which was already quite large.

"And, father, I am already the colonel of the Brandenburg Dragoon Regiment, and it is a great insult to me to be the commander of an infantry regiment of the Prussian National Guard!"

"Willy, this is an order from His Majesty the Emperor! All you need is execution! You should not be afraid to go to the front to do your duty! Crown Prince Frederick could not convince his son, so he had to move out of William I, hoping to force his son to accept the position by obeying the emperor's orders.

"Father, as I said, I'm not afraid of anything, I just think it's unfair to me, so I'll go to Grandpa right now and ask him to take back this stupid order." After a chic bow, William went straight out of his father's study.

Crown Prince Frederick's face darkened, and he could not say a word more as he watched the departure of his conceited and arrogant son.

In the evening of the same day, William confided in his close friend, Count Philippe Chu-Oilelenburg, over his father's dispute over going to Chile to join the army.

In Count Oylenburg's view, the future of this world should be determined by the wisdom of diplomats, not by the soldiers who crawl in the mud, and at most, the generals in beautiful uniforms may have some qualifications to decorate the façade of diplomats.

For his dear Prince William, he definitely raised his hands and feet in favor of the decision not to go to that desolate place in Chile to fight for life and death.

"My dear William, you are right in your decision, your father's actions are entirely governed by the ideas of British liberalism, and he always wants to interfere in those places that should not be dominated by Germany." Oylenburg said as he handed William a glass of red wine.

After watching William drink the red wine in his glass and drink it vulgarly, Oylenburg smiled and continued, "Diplomacy, diplomats are the ones who govern the world, and the invisible hand, war is just an extension of diplomacy." ”

"So, my dear William, the power of the words on our lips is always greater than the power of the weapons in our hands."

"So in the matter of refusing your father's order, William, you are doing the right thing. You are an adult, your destiny is in your hands, and the fate of the empire will be in your hands, it's time for you to decide everything, remember that deciding everything, this is William's responsibility. The Earl of Oylenburg first praised William for his father's actions.

"I didn't go to Charlottenburg Palace to see the Emperor first, but I thought of us first, I believe in your best friends, I believe that we will always find some more strategic solutions for you, as your friends William, we are very happy." Count Oylenburg's eyes lit up, as if he were about to cry.

After delicately wiping his eyes with a handkerchief, Count Oylenburg's eyes were still shining, and he said, "It is not wrong to show your heart to His Majesty the Emperor, but it also requires strategy to express your heart, if you ..... If, William, you have something more important to do. ”

"For example, an important foreign affairs needs to be handled by His Highness." Holstein, who was sitting on the side, suddenly said, "Or, Your Highness's talent in diplomacy is far more surprising than in military affairs, I think Your Majesty the Emperor will also be more willing to see Your Highness, you go and use your strengths to the fullest." ”

"Diplomacy?" William frowned, picked up the Baccarat crystal decanter on the table, poured his wine glass again, turned the wine glass slightly, and asked the gray cardinal Holstein, "But I have not been exposed to any diplomacy, you know, the diplomacy of the empire is all decided by the prime minister." ”

"Your Highness, I heard an extremely secret rumor, in this diplomatic plan in East Asia, there is a prince of the Imperial Palace behind the back, I thought carefully about the princes of the Imperial Palace, this can only be Your Highness." Holstein said with a smile as he narrowed his eyes without the slightest smile.

"Although Prince Heinrich is far away in the Qing Kingdom of the country concerned, all orders related to the Qing Kingdom were issued from Berlin, so it is impossible for Prince Heinrich to be the one who took the initiative to plan this matter."

"As for Prince Joachim, although everyone in Berlin's scientific community now praises him for his intelligence and scientific genius, he is still a child after all, and diplomacy is a place where the wisdom of adults is contested, relying on keen experience, not the field of science that requires talent."

"So, in my opinion, an old diplomat who has been in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for decades, only the wise Highness is the one who came up with and promoted such a clever East Asian diplomatic strategy, which has benefited the empire a lot, that person!"

Gray Cardinal Holstein made his final conclusion with a smile.

"Yes, William, Lord Holstein is right, this matter must be your handiwork!" Oylenburg jumped up and echoed excitedly, "We will find someone to tell all Germans, especially His Majesty the Emperor, in detail about your contribution to the diplomatic strategy in East Asia." ”

"But, that's ....." William knew very well in his heart, for some time now, whether it was himself or his younger brother, he often went in and out of his father's study, and chatted non-stop with the old prime minister and Sir Grusen.

Looking at the hesitant William, Oylenburg put his arm around William's shoulders and whispered in his ear, "Hey, William, think about Vienna, if we can do this successfully, after graduating from university next year, you can take Elisabeth as a diplomat and travel all the way to Vienna via Hesse and Munich." ”

"Wilhelm, think about it, Vienna, the capital of music, this is where Elisabeth has always wanted to be! And Vienna's beautiful Elisabeth by her side, how can you not have you? Oylenburg whispered softly in William's ear like a sweet-talking devil.

Finally, the rumor circulating in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that a prince of the imperial palace was planning East Asian diplomacy behind his back gradually became clear, and the image of Prince William wisely planning this matter was finally displayed in front of everyone.

Under the vigorous praise of the military cabinet chief, General Albertier, the Charlottenburg Palace also quickly learned of William's glorious deeds.

In just one night, "Long live His Royal Highness Prince William!" The newspaper headlines, together with the explosion of gold coins from the Qing Dynasty, Japan and France, were on the front pages of major German newspapers.

His Royal Highness Prince William, a diplomatic genius of the Hohenzollern family, who manipulated the entire diplomacy of East Asia and made huge revenues for the empire, was successfully displayed in front of Germany and Europe.

Subsequently, in front of William I of Charlottenburg Palace, after being reminded and admonished by someone who cares, William, who has the aura of diplomatic genius in the new era, put on another face and confided in the old emperor about his lovesickness for his lover Elizabeth.

By the way, the Black Hawk Legion, which belongs to the nature of the National Guard, really does not fit his status as a prince, and he is also the colonel of the elite army of the Empire, the Brandenburg Dragoon Regiment. If he had to go to war as a colonel, then Prince William wanted the emperor to send his own Brandenburg dragoon regiment.

Condescension, this is not what a proud black eagle of the Hohenzollern family should do, Prince William will always be the most beautiful eagle flying high in the sky.

Looking at the grandson of the emperor who was both diplomatic, knew the meaning of love, and was a black eagle who never landed, Wilhelm I finally nodded and agreed, and Wilhelm continued to serve as the colonel of the Brandenburg Dragoon Regiment, rather than to participate in the upcoming Chilean war for the national interests of the German Empire.

Or, let William, who has a talent for diplomacy, learn the art of diplomacy with old Otto, which has also become an option and is placed in front of the old emperor.

As for what was gained, and what was lost, no one knows.