Bismarck really did not expect that the problem would end up in Germany.

Bismarck didn't care at first, but it was just a dream of individual nationalism, and people in other countries were not also discussing their own candidates, and the Chinese ambassador's statement made the Germans more interested in this proposal, and the newspapers suddenly began to think that Leopold was the most suitable candidate, and they were superstitious about Bismarck's ability, thinking that Bismarck could persuade Britain and the United States to support Leopold.

At this time, Bismarck did not see Leopold as an option, or that he had never thought that Germany should have anything to do with Mexico.

Bismarck was very sober, after the defeat of France, Germany was already too strong, so strong that it became the object of vigilance of the British, and if it showed expansionist ambitions and began to expand overseas, then Germany would be the first to bear the brunt of the British continental balance policy.

Bismarck knew better that Germany's geographical location made it impossible for Germany to let go of overseas expansion, and France could expand, because when France expanded, Spain had already declined, Germany had not yet been unified, and there were natural conditions for French expansion. However, Germany, to the east is Russia, which is full of territorial thirst, and to the west is France, which is bent on revenge, where does Germany have the spare strength to expand abroad, especially at the risk of offending Britain and falling into the three great powers of Britain, France and Russia.

However, after the newspapers began to hype up the Leopold issue, many political groups also began to get involved, although Germany is a newly unified country, and Germany has not yet begun overseas colonization, but it does not mean that Germany does not have the call for colonization, and Germany has no colonial tradition.

As early as 1526, Anton Welcer and Bartolomeus Welser, a banking family in Augsburg, tried to establish a colony in Venezuela. In 1528 and 1556, they began to seize some privileges in Venezuela, no later than the colonial empires such as Britain and France. Even the Hanseatic League, which dates back to the Holy Roman Empire, had a strong tendency towards commercial colonization, expanding along the Baltic Sea before the discovery of the American continent. Prussia itself, was a product of the expansion of the Teutonic Knights into Eastern Europe.

By the 17th century, some German states also had colonies, such as the predecessor of the Kingdom of Prussia, the Duchy of Brandenburg, which formed the Brandenburg Africa Company in 1685 to seize the island of Altun off the coast of Mauritania, and later established colonies such as the Prussian Gold Coast and St. Thomas Island. However, due to the weak naval strength of Prussia, these colonies were successively divided by the Netherlands and Great Britain.

But there have always been non-governmental organizations to promote colonization, and they were previously affiliated with commercial states such as Hamburg, and after the reunification of Germany, they saw the strength of Germany, and their ambitions began to swell, and their voices became more emboldened.

The Hamburg Chamber of Trade and the Saxony Textile Association have published articles claiming to support the German prince to rule Austria, which has great prestige and economic value to the German Empire, and they believe that the reason why Germany's overseas trade has been suppressed by Britain and France is because of Germany's lack of overseas territories, and the reason why Germany's textile industry has not been able to develop is mainly due to raw materials. And Mexico does have good conditions for cotton cultivation and is now a cotton-producing region.

Bankers affirmed this, arguing that Germany itself could not provide sufficient raw materials for its textile industry, and that if Germany could not acquire tropical lands such as Mexico, or otherwise establish ties with tropical lands, Germany would have to send its real money to cotton empires like the United States. This is very detrimental to Germany's financial security, and in the long run, it will either lead to a decline in the living standards of the German people or a weak financial foundation in Germany.

These voices still could not sway Bismarck, because the textile, commercial and financial conglomerates in the German political system had not yet exerted significant influence, and it was the monarch, the Junker aristocracy, and the army that ruled Germany.

The greatest pressure on Bismarck was actually the monarch, the regent of Prussia, the king of Poland, the future emperor of the German Empire and the king of the United Kingdom of Prussia and Poland under the constitution, Prince Wilhelm also had ambitions for overseas expansion, or Prince Wilhelm was a typical Junker monarch, full of ambition for any land, when the ancestors of the Hohenzollern family came to Brandenburg, it was a saline land, there were few people, and no one wanted to come here to be king, They took the initiative to ask the Holy Roman Emperor for the territory, which eventually developed into the Kingdom of Brandenburg and Prussia, and now the German Empire.

The Hohenzollerns were not very picky about land, not to mention that Mexico was still a rich land. Historically, Prince William persuaded Prince Leopold to abdicate the Spanish throne with some reluctance. When Bismarck personally seized a colony in Africa for Germany, the elderly Wilhelm burst into tears when he heard the news, saying that he "can face up to the elector."

Therefore, when the public hyped the public opinion that Prince Leopold went to Mexico to be king, Prince Wilhelm couldn't help but be moved, and he also felt that Bismarck had this ability, so he discussed this issue with Bismarck.

As a result, Bismarck resolutely told Prince Wilhelm that "for Germany, the possession of colonies does not mean strength, but a source of weakness." He told the prince that once Germany expanded abroad, it would be suppressed by Britain, and that Germany's geographical location could not be at the same time at the same time as the sea and land powers, otherwise it would mean disaster.

When Bismarck succeeded in convincing Germany that it was unrealistic to think that Mexico would send a king, the situation was further intensified.

The Mexicans have been pushing Maximilian to prepare to return to Mexico to inherit the throne, and Britain and the United States have expressed their support, but at this time China has put forward new requirements, China requires Maximilian to repay the huge debt that Mexico owes to China first, and Mexico owes too much money, 12 million taels of gold, equivalent to 84 million pounds, this level of debt, put on the big countries are very heavy, put on Mexico, almost bankrupt.

Chinese diplomats fear that Maximilian, a king without family and state support, is incapable of getting Mexico to repay China's debts, and that China cannot accept Prince Maximilian as king in Mexico unless it is clearly seen in this situation.

At this time, Bismarck's mediation plan was either to persuade Britain and the United States to help Maximilian pay this amount of money first, or he could only change people.

After communicating with Britain and the United States, Britain and the United States refused to pay this money, which is a huge amount of money, and if it was to give Mexico directly to either of the two countries, they would be willing to pay this money, but a member of the Habsburg family they supported, why should they let them pay.

Even in order to block China's infiltration of Mexico, Maximilian is not safe, because no one dares to guarantee how long he can do in chaotic Mexico, Greece is an example, the Chinese prince valued Greece, as a result, Greece has died a president, a king, and when the Chinese go to be kings, Greece will be calm.

Who dares to say that Britain and the United States paid this huge amount of money for Maximilian, and Maximilian would not have been suddenly assassinated in Mexico and let their investment go down the drain.

During this time, Bismarck's mediation was almost over, and suddenly the Chinese gave birth to another moth, which made him doubt the sincerity of the Chinese, worried that China just wanted to mess up the situation, and finally wanted to send a Chinese king to Mexico.

Bismarck's speculation was soon confirmed, and Juarez, who controlled the situation in southern Mexico, suddenly invited Prince Zhu Yong of the family of Zhu Li, the king of the Americas in China, to be the king of Mexico.

During this time, the situation in Mexico was very tense, the US military sent 10,000 troops to Mexico City, nominally Mexico City is still ruled by the Carlos family, and the China America Company has also sent 10,000 people outside Mexico City to confront the US troops in the city.

After Juárez gained a foothold in Oaxaca, he quickly persuaded the southern Carlos army, bribed, invited, and assassinated a large number of high-ranking officers, and controlled the Carlos army, which was dominated by 20,000 Indian soldiers, and also controlled the entire southern Mexico, from Oaxaca to Panama, which was under Juárez's control.

Not only did he control the area, but he also established a government, a parliament, a court, and then carried out land reform, and the land system in Mexico was mainly based on the large estate system, with the native whites occupying most of the land, and the Indians were numerous and lived in village communities, but some villages even had no land in the whole village.

The reason for this situation is nothing more than the fact that Spain itself is a feudal country, not a mercantile capital country like England and the Netherlands, so the feudal manor system was introduced. Another reason is that Mexico's long-term political chaos has caused economic instability, and most wealthy Mexicans put their money into the only stable asset, which is land. In fact, the output of these large estates is not as high as that of the mines and the capital factories of the United States, but it is better than stability, which is the reason why Chinese businessmen are keen to buy land after they have money, although the output efficiency of land is not high, but it is the most stable. In the absence of other investment channels, money enters the land, but it is only for the sake of hedging.

Some of these large estates were bought and sold legally, or they were Indian lands that were dispossessed by privileges of the upper class of whites, or land that had been given to the church by successive Spanish colonial governments.

Juárez did not discern that, even though he himself had benefited from the Church's education system and had graduated from a seminary, he confiscated all Church assets, distributed land to Indians and Mestizo peasants, and abhorred the usury exploitation that prevailed in Mexico, declaring the abolition of debts that had not been paid for more than ten years.

While attention was still focused on the question of the succession of the throne in Mexico City, when the U.S. military was unable to move south with the American Company, Juárez had already completed a revolution in southern Mexico.

Juarez, who had completed the revolution, announced that he would invite Juyong to be the king of Mexico and implement a constitutional monarchy. Zhu Yong immediately responded and announced that he had accepted Juárez's invitation, publicly stating that Juárez represented the largest number of Indians and Mestizos in Mexico, and that Juárez's invitation was the invitation of the Mexican people.

The actions of the Chinese suddenly made all Bismarck's previous diplomatic mediation efforts in vain.