"The people from the Austrian embassy have already arrived on the ship, and they will follow you to the Crimea. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo”

Gaston reported to His Excellency the Minister in a simple and straightforward manner.

Charles nodded slightly, then looked up again and looked at the shore.

At this time, the frost and mist were still permeating the sea, and the cold wind mixed with the fishy smell of the sea made it difficult for him to breathe.

The fog also obscured the view, hiding the continent beneath the gray-white skyline, and it was only then that Charles finally had the realization that he was in the middle of the ocean, and this realization caused him some unease.

Of course, these uneasiness did not come from leaving France, but from the fact that he did not have much attachment to the vague "France", but from the instinctive fear of the sea of a man who had always been on the continent.

Even though he knew that this was a calm Mediterranean Sea and never had to fear the wrath of the sea god, Charles still couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, and the slight swaying of the ship in the sea breeze only deepened this feeling.

But even so, he had to do his duty.

"Okay, I got it." After a moment of silence, Charles finally calmed down, then turned and followed Gaston off the deck back to the cabin.

Although he was already trying his best to control it, his steps were still a little vain, obviously not yet adapted to maintaining balance in such a storm, if it were an ordinary person, I am afraid that he would have provoked the ridicule of these sailors on the ship for many years, but now naturally no one would ridicule His Excellency the Minister for this matter.

The ship was large, and the cabins were naturally divided into multiple levels, and Charles and his attachés were in the best cabins among them, and when he arrived at the cabins that belonged to him, the guests who had been waiting here for a long time finally breathed a sigh of relief and stood up and bowed slightly to Charles to welcome him.

This is a young man who is also dressed in civilian clothes, but he is much more dignified in a black coat and tie than the overly smiling Gaston, and his demeanor is polite and reserved, revealing the peculiar temperament of a public official who has been immersed in the bureaucracy for many years.

This young man was none other than Richard von Metternich, son and heir to the prestigious Prince of Metternich, who was now an official of the Austrian Embassy in France.

Because of the shadow of the Prince, he ushered in a glorious future early, and suddenly became famous in the diplomatic circles, and came to serve in the very important embassy in France, and Richard himself naturally did not want to live on his father's shadow alone, and wanted to do something for himself and the Austrian Empire.

Befriending the Minister of Trevil is part of this business, and following the Minister to the Crimea is also part of this business. Although it was destined to be a grueling errand, and perhaps even a little dangerous, Richard, with the strength of a young man, saw it as a pleasant journey.

"Richard, long time no see!" Charles warmly opened his arms to him and greeted his "friend." ”

"Yes, Charles...... I didn't expect us to be able to travel so far together. Richard smiled and hugged his friend as well, "I think it's going to be a great experience." ”

His voice, though as loud as the rest of his age, was still a little lacking in breath when he listened closely, but not because he was not enthusiastic, but simply because this young man, who had grown up in Austria and the interior of Germany, had an instinctive aversion and fear of the sea like Charles.

"Of course it's going to be pleasant." Charles replied without hesitation, "This is a journey of victory and glory, and the Russians are already trembling before France, and with a little more strength, they will not be able to hold it!" ”

Although in private, Charles and His Majesty the Emperor would murmur about the progress of the war and would accept it as soon as they wanted to, but in front of outsiders, they seemed confident and did not doubt the final victory at all, and only in this way could they strengthen the confidence of others and show their strength.

"Although the situation of the Russians is not good, they are a huge empire after all, and they have abundant resources and manpower." Compared with Charles's impassionedness, Richard seemed a little reserved, obviously not easily impressed, "After all, they are fighting at home, as long as the war continues to be consumed, after all, Britain and France are more uncomfortable......"

Immediately after the initial greetings, the two engaged in a secret bargain and began to fight almost without a gap.

The first step in the confrontation is naturally to exaggerate the advantages of France and belittle the advantages of France, and this is directly related to the importance of Austria, if it is the former, then Austria's support is the icing on the cake, a pleasant embellishment but not a decisive factor; If the latter is the case, it means that Austria has the power to influence the situation and is in a position to claim more benefits for itself.

"I agree with you, Richard. It will always be somewhat convenient for Russians to fight at their doorstep. Charles smiled, then made a gesture to sit down, "However, the whole rotten system of Russia cannot play to their advantages, and even only plays the opposite role. I have no intention of denying the bravery of the Russian soldiers, but their bravery did not help, as evidenced by the successive victories of the Anglo-French forces......"

"I agree with you, Charles. Under the leadership of your grandfather, the Anglo-French army did win many victories and drove the Russians into the fortress......" Richard also nodded, but seemed to be a little-for-tat, "but, even so, the main force of the Russians is still there, their will to fight is still there, and the fortress has always resisted stubbornly, and thwarted many attacks by the coalition forces, I think, any military strategist would think that the war has not yet been won or lost." ”

"The military strategist you are looking for is too unprofessional!" Charles suddenly laughed, "We have traveled thousands of miles to Crimea, and pressed the Russians to fight, winning all the way, dividing and encircling the Russian army, and we are still strengthening our front-line forces...... As a result, your experts are still saying that the winner is unknown? No, I think any perceptive observer will admit that the winner is clear, and that it is only a matter of time before the Russians make peace, and I ...... I used to have a task of listening to the Russians' demands for peace, and believe it or not, I believe that they will make peace anyway. ”

Charles's ridicule provoked Richard's slight displeasure, indeed, no diplomat wants a minister of another country to show off his might and show off his victory in front of him, but he knows in his heart that most of what the other party says is also well-founded, so it is difficult to refute it.

However, for the sake of his country, for the sake of the tasks given by His Majesty, he felt that he could not completely lose the initiative at the beginning.

"The Russians have a tenacious temperament, and they will resist desperately even if the situation is desperate, let alone not desperate yet." He calmly replied, "Perhaps they will sue for peace, but they will never make too big concessions, let alone beg until complete defeat." And what about you? I do not deny that we do have an advantage now, nor do I deny the strength of the Anglo-French alliance, but the alliance is an alliance after all, and each country will have different thoughts before, and if time continues, sooner or later there will be differences due to disagreement......"

"You are underestimating the British when you say that, although the British are usually chaotic, but they can always share the same hatred at critical moments." Charles still had a calm smile on his face, "The British parliament is chaotic, but they are very unanimous on major issues, and the war against Russia is exactly that...... The British won't cringe until they win all of them, because that's what they're aiming for. They were able to fight the French with indomitable spirit, and now they can win the victory against Russia with the same tenacity. What's more, the British have already promised everyone that they will not withdraw their troops until the Russians agree to their terms, isn't that arrogant enough? ”

Because there is no knot in the hearts of the majority of Bonapartists, Charles has no scruples about blowing about England, but it is also very convincing, after all, in this era, the strength of Britain and the tenacity of the British people are something that no one doubts.

While Richard was still pondering, Charles continued, "It's not just the British who won't back down, but the Turks? They are mortal enemies with the Russians for generations, and with our full support, what reason do they have to back down? And what about the Kingdom of Sardinia? How can they back down, now heavily dependent on the support of France and indignant at the Russians, who have been undermining justice in Europe? You see, Richard, there will be more and more of our friends, and those countries that were oppressed by Russia but were forced by the Russians to rise up and resist will now stand up one by one, inspired and helped by us, and courageously oppose the brutality of Russia, and their efforts must be duly rewarded, won't they? ”

Under Charles's words with a gun and a stick, Richard's face turned ugly.

This uneasiness was not because Charles was boasting about the unity of the Anglo-French alliance, but because Charles was referring to another country that worried the Austrians, the Kingdom of Sardinia.

At the Vienna Peace Conference of 1815, the greatest concern of Austrian diplomats led by Prince Metternich was how to restrain France and free Austria from the nightmare of a country that had been at war with the Austrians for three hundred years.

In order to achieve this goal, they abandoned Belgium and the territory along the Rhine, and handed it over to Prussia, which became a watchdog for Germany and the whole of Europe, guarding the door of the French eastward; In order to defend their northern Italian territories, they also deliberately handed over large territories such as Genoa and Piedmont to the Kingdom of Sardinia, making this kingdom a buffer state separating France and Austria.

This arrangement, by the standards of the time, was enough to give Austria peace of mind, and indeed brought Austria and France peace for decades, but time has changed, and now this former barrier has become one of the sources of trouble for the Austrians.

After the war, the nationalist ideas transmitted by France also took root in Italy, and the Kingdom of Sardinia slowly became the banner and spirit of the Italian nationalists, and the kingdom was willing to use this trend to pave the way for its own plans to expand its power, so that they finally united.

The Count of Cavour, who had recently become Prime Minister of Sardinia, was one of the representatives of this convergence of national and kingdom powers, a zealous nationalist and an ambitious conspirator bent on uniting Italy with the Kingdom of Sardinia.

If it was just a kingdom of Sardinia, it was not enough to worry the Austrians, after all, the kingdom was still relatively weak, but when Louis Bona became emperor of France, the emperor of France, whether out of his early experience but out of the desire to expand his influence, turned to the demands of the kingdom of Sardinia, either explicitly or implicitly.

With the support of France, the situation was completely different, and the Kingdom of Sardinia had gone from being a barrier between France and Austria and a frontier country against France to an ally of France and a frontier country against Austria, which was really unexpected.

In order to win over France, Sardinia even directly sent troops to participate in the war against Russia, which was almost a vassal state of France.

Because of this, Richard would have become so gloomy and embarrassed when Charles had hinted at it so.

And that's exactly what Charles needs, and years of experience have convinced him that sometimes scaring people is more effective than calming them.