"This is a copy of the treaty, please look at it, Your Majesty." In the Winter Palace, Russian Foreign Minister Gilles sent the text of the Reinsurance Treaty to Tsar Alexander III.

"It's good that the Germans finally chose the right path, and they didn't offend the mighty Russia because of a weak ally." Alexander III nodded and said with satisfaction.

Although the content of this treaty is very different from that signed between Germany and Austria, and it can only be regarded as a preventive and even neutral clause, it is possible to maintain the status quo in the Balkans by relying on this treaty. Without the support of the Germans, Austria-Hungary was at a disadvantage in the Balkans, and they would not take the initiative to attack, while Russia, drawing its strength, could put all its experience on the decaying empire of the Far East. It is the last place in the world that has not yet been divided, and Russia is determined to win it!

"It's so big that it will take hundreds of years to conquer even if Russia tries its best, but at least we're going to keep it under control!" The Tsar pointed to the northeastern corner of the Manchu territory.

"We have solved the problems in Europe, but the fighting in the Far East has just begun, and we need to face Britain and that restless little country! It seems that they may have torn off a piece of the decaying empire of the Qing Kingdom before the empire can make a move! And our current military power in the Far East is simply not a deterrent to potential adversaries, and strengthening the Far East will require a lot of money and the support of our allies. Chancellor of the Exchequer on the side, Witte, said respectfully.

"Well, tell me what you think. Do you have a new idea? The Tsar, who was in a good mood, asked.

"We already owe the French bank 2.6 billion francs last year, and if we are going to build a railway system across Eurasia, we need more, and only the French can give us." Werther said tentatively.

From the point of view of his own work, the continuation of good relations with France is of great significance in order to improve Russia's fragile financial situation and meet the needs of His Majesty the Tsar's military expansion, but the question is, if he has just signed the "Reinsurance Treaty" with the Germans and is close to the French, will it cause a German backlash? So he could only say it in some kind of euphemism.

"The empire has given the French an order for 500,000 rifles, and this reward is already very generous, it is not that the empire cannot make rifles, and the French should understand what we mean." The Russian Prime Minister said with some dissatisfaction. As a conservative, he naturally hoped that the Russian-German friendship would be consolidated. And those domestic capitalists and the spokesmen of the capitalists naturally prefer to get a lot of loans from the rich French.

"It is necessary to maintain cooperation with the French, but in the case of the continuation of the Reinsurance Treaty, we should also ease our relations with Germany, which will give us a greater advantage in the process of negotiating with the French." Giles immediately came out to play the round.

"The Germans have what we need, and this is something that only Germany has, not the French!" General Makanov, who was relatively low in the ranks, finally spoke at the signal of the Prime Minister. "They came up with a hardened armor that is said to be 150 percent more resistant than ordinary nickel steel armor.

"This is handed over to the ambassador to Germany, Pavel. Shuvalov can deal with it, believing that he can convince the German central government to give us armor as a priority. Alexander III said calmly. In his opinion, the order of armor is an act of sending money to the manufacturer, and it will be convenient for the Russian government to come forward to negotiate, and if there is official help from Germany, it can almost be said that it is nine times out of ten.

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for Mr. Pavel to settle this matter alone. Because the company that produced this armor has a strong background, the Bavarian royal family has almost complete control over this enterprise, and they have already received orders from the Navy to supply at least 10,000 tons of armor steel to the German Navy in the next 4 years! In addition, they have received orders from the United Kingdom and Italy, and if we follow the order, we will be at the bottom of the list. Giles said with some embarrassment.

"The Wittelsbach family?" Alexander III couldn't help frowning, as a tsar, he naturally knew the relationship and historical origin between the Bavarian royal family and the Austro-Hungarian royal family. Whether or not new armor steel can be bought is a one-sided question, and whether the proximity between the two families will affect Russian-German relations is a more important question! A simple state does not have this power, but if a state and Vienna act together, then the German center may really want to reconsider the relationship with Russia, although the treaty has now been signed, but the relationship between the two countries has not actually improved, the trade war between the two sides has just ended, in fact, the relationship is still relatively fragile!

"I think it is necessary for us to make contact with the Kingdom of Bavaria alone, and they have designed a very good cruiser in addition to armor. I think it has a good reference for the development of our navy. In addition, from the point of view of maintaining the stability of the treaty, it was necessary to divide the Wittelsbach family between the Habsburgs. The prime minister said.

Although the "Reinsurance Treaty" guaranteed that as long as Russia did not move, then Austria-Hungary would not be able to get help from Germany in changing the layout of the status quo in the Balkans, but what should Austria-Hungary do if the main Russian forces advanced eastward? And this treaty is only a continuation, extended for 3 years! If Germany does not sign it after the expiration, will the eastward expansion that it has already prepared for half of it stop or not?

Although the Tsar recognized Bismarck's ability to control German politics, he was only a prime minister after all, and he was only a bystander after the opening of the Bundestag. The Kaiser's wife is the eldest princess of England, and now the relationship between Britain and Germany is also good. Austria-Hungary was Germany's younger brother, and Britain and Austria were not friendly to Russia. Russia is also very isolated now, and the tsar has not thought of Russia and France getting closer, but in that case, Russia will become enemies with Britain, Germany, Austria, and Italy! This is too much to pay!

"Let's get in touch first, and in addition, we can inform the ambassador in Berlin that the trade war between Russia and Germany can be considered to be over, and our tax rate on special steel can be lowered to the previous baseline." Alexander III thought for a moment and said that the Russians had always been willing to spend money on the construction of their army, and every battleship from 1890 onwards had used hardened armor. Historically, Harvey hardened armor was used, and this time, the Russians used the KC three years in advance! Well, now call Bavarian hardened armor!

And just when the Russians were thinking about how to bring Russian-German relations closer and ensure that no one disturbed them when they went east, the reaction of the Vienna side was much stronger than that of the Russian court! After all, the signing of the Reinsurance Treaty meant that Germany remained in a position of near-neutrality in the dispute between Russia and Austria, and in the Balkans, Austria-Hungary still had to face Russian pressure independently. This was undoubtedly a very bad result for the old King Fritz, who, when he saw the note sent by the German Foreign Office, said angrily: "Austria-Hungary has never had friends!" The Austro-Prussian war was like this! It still is! ”

The suicide of the prince in 1889, the crisis in Romania and the betrayal of Serbia had dealt too much blow to the king, and since the Austro-Prussian War, Vienna accepted the conditions of the Hungarian aristocracy for the 2-yuan empire, the old king felt more and more powerless and fragile of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Now the seemingly huge Austro-Hungarian Empire could not withstand the weight of other great powers, and before external pressure crushed the country, the empire could fall apart first!

"We have to change and find something to rely on!" The old King Fritz gritted his teeth and said, looking at the silent power in the north and the growing detachment from Germany in the Balkans, Austria-Hungary was once again pushed to the forefront!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976, Fengyu 15, this summer is a little hot to reward ~~~, the collection situation is still not optimistic-! Ask for collections, ask for recommendations, ask for clicks~~~.