"Mr. Treville, I beg you not to mind my fiancée's gaffe just now."

When Charles arrived in a room in the depths of Schönbrunn Palace, the young Emperor Franz-Josef once again apologized for the princess's careless gaffe, "We are happy to make friends as passionate and courageous as you, and we are also willing to work hard for the friendship between France and Austria." ”

This emperor, as history has written, was courteous, but lacked enthusiasm. But even so, Charles is not disgusted, after all, even if there is no enthusiasm, it is still proud to be able to get the favor of an emperor.

"Me too." Charles replied very sincerely, "I am willing to give all my zeal, and even my political reputation, for the friendship of two great nations." ”

"Thank you." The Emperor nodded to him, then stretched out his hand to the middle-aged man sitting on the sofa next to him. "This is Count von Pochaenstein, a seasoned diplomat of our country with great diplomatic experience, and I think he can be an adviser to our talks."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Monsieur de Treville, and I have long admired your great name." The handsome, middle-aged man with a bearded face and an extremely handsome man stood up from the couch and held out his hand to Shire, "His Royal Highness Prince Schwarzenberg is really unwell, so I have come to talk to you on his behalf, and I hope it will not make you feel unpleasant." ”

Charles knew the man, so he wasn't upset.

Count von Pochaenstein, a well-known diplomat with a long history in the Austrian diplomatic community, has served as ambassador in several places. He also served as ambassador to Russia from 1848 to 1850 and was trusted by Emperor Franz-Joseph and Chancellor Prince Schwarzenberg. He is expected to succeed Prince Schwarzenberg after his death. In charge of the diplomatic power of the Austrian Empire - that is, Emperor Franz-Joseph felt the significance of his meeting with him, and did not have the confidence to deal with the Charles on his own, so he brought his confidants over.

That's fine.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Count." Charles held out his hand and shook it at the handsome diplomat. "It is a great honor to be taught by someone as experienced, talented, and prestigious as you."

After a few polite words, the three of them took their seats next to a coffee table.

At first, Charles didn't speak. And patiently put the saccharin into the coffee in front of him, and then gently stirred it with a spoon, as if that was all his job. Emperor Franz-Joseph and the Count were not so calm, and after realizing that Charles did not intend to speak, they looked at each other covertly, and then the Emperor made a gesture for the Count to speak.

This is not because there is a difference in their determination, but because the strength and status of the two countries are different - France is now in a superior position, and Austria is in a disadvantaged position. So it wanted to take the opportunity to spy and see what the French were up to in the dark, thus allowing Charles to take the initiative.

"Mr. Treville, I would like to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to you." With a very kind smile. The Earl bowed to him slightly, "We are very grateful for your help in London, thanks to your reminder. We only noticed what a vast fog we found ourselves in...... Well, in the spirit of friendship between the two countries. Can you do one more good deed and bring us out of the fog again? ”

When I was in London before. Charles managed to meet with the Austrian ambassador to England, and then seized the opportunity to convey to Austria that Britain and France had reached a tacit understanding and that they would unite against the Russians.

If he had anticipated, the news did cause a great stir within Austria, for it implied that the general peace in Europe, which had lasted for nearly 40 years since the Napoleonic Wars, was in danger of collapsing - and that it could happen at any time.

The Austrians didn't care if there was a big war in Europe, but they cared a lot about whether they would benefit from it, or at least not be involved. And this naturally requires more hints and guidance.

After receiving the news from Charles, Austria mobilized almost all of its diplomatic resources to gather and verify the relevant intelligence, and then, after a long analysis, they came to the conclusion that there was indeed some tacit understanding between Britain and France, and that some kind of measure was indeed being taken against Russia.

But further information is difficult to determine, because both countries seem to be secretive about the matter, and they do not know exactly how they will deal with Russia, or the scale and location of the struggle.

That being the case, it makes sense to continue to extract more information from de Treville.

"I'm not a particularly good guide, because I like to be emotional sometimes." "As far as I am concerned," replied Charles, "there is no reason for the two Catholic powers to be hostile, nor for any reason to take a position of conflict, so I will always hope that Austria will always be on our side—just as I would like France to always be on Austria's side." ”

Emotional?

The Emperor and Count of Austria snorted in their hearts almost at the same time. Where can there be any sentimental talk about this thief, who has been famous in Europe at a young age?

However, although his words were very evasive and almost sarcastic, they were spoken with enthusiasm, and the Count had to nod his head in accordance with his tone.

"I think you're right, sir. My country is a country that believes in God, and we deal with any country in accordance with this principle of tolerance, and we do not harbor ill will towards any country - and I personally admire France and sincerely hope that the two countries will have permanent friendly relations. ”

"That's great, sir." Charles was still smiling, and finally threw out the point as they wished. "As far as I am concerned, the fog is not planted by us, we are openly and honestly calling for peace and friendship among the great powers, and we do not seek expansion. It was a country that had been seeking to expand, and had struck discord and discord across Europe, that had cast a suffocating fog over the whole of Europe. And we, we want to sweep away the gloom for Europe. Let it breathe the air of freedom and be free from the fear of enslavement. ”

The Emperor and the Count looked at each other again.

De Treville said. It is tantamount to admitting that Britain and France have indeed reconciled their positions and decided to use force against Russia.

"Then, when will that day come?" The Count asked again.

"I can't give you a specific time, because our actions really depend on the actions of the Russians, and we are happy to stay with them in the European family if they are willing to change course." Charles replied rather implicitly, "But...... If the Russians are still bent on going their own way, then I have to admit it. A defensive war to defend European civilization and freedom is likely to be imminent. In the midst of the imminent struggle, I very much hope that your country will stand by us in defending the great European civilization. ”

After hearing the hint of "imminent", Emperor Franz-Joseph's brow furrowed again.

He knew that the young man in front of him was actually telling him that Western Europe, represented by Britain and France, was about to break with Russia, and that it was very likely that they would meet each other, and that there was really not much time left for him to think about it. He had to make a decision as soon as possible, whether he should side with Western Europe or with Eastern Europe?

It was not a very easy decision to make, and both Britain and France were very rich and powerful. Together, the two of them can cast a shadow over almost the entire world; And Russia is also an unambiguously large country in Eastern Europe, and is a famous steamroller. Its shadow fell directly on Austria through the border - not to mention in the terrible year of 1848. It was the Russian Tsar who sent a large army to suppress the Hungarian rebels. Anyway, they had some kindness to Austria at the time.

Both sides were powerful countries that Austria could hardly match, and both sides were difficult to offend, and it was really impossible to make a trade-off.

Treville's implicit direct request to him that Austria join the side of Britain and France and coordinate their positions against the Russians was a real problem for him.

"We have always believed that peace in Europe depends on harmony among the great powers and respect for the system built in Vienna." Seeing that the emperor was being forced into a dilemma, the Count immediately opened his mouth to take over the topic, "Our country treats every great power from a pacifist standpoint, and we cannot propose a system for the defense of peace in Europe while abolishing it with a fierce attitude and means. Besides, although the air over Europe is a little tense right now, I think that harmony is still the common pursuit of everyone, and no one wants to see disaster suddenly befall us, so we think ...... Even if the haze is to be swept away, it is better to use less drastic measures. ”

"Yes, I think so, too." After receiving the support, Emperor Franz-Josef immediately perked up, "Austria is willing to help the great powers mediate, defuse tensions, and jointly maintain peace for the sake of peace." ”

In other words, Austria, having weighed up, did not want to take sides and join either side in the "coming days", but wanted to sit on the sidelines and take advantage of the advantages of neutral countries to reap the benefits.

This did not surprise the Charles, it was a choice that suited the Austrian character - they didn't know what to do, so they simply didn't do anything.

"I understand your country's love for peace, because we are equally peace-loving." "If there was any other choice, we would have insisted on peace in the same way, and we would not give up our love of peace until the last moment." In the same vein, we welcome the fact that Austria can play its unique and important role in Europe as a great power and with the wisdom it used in 1815 to find a comfortable peace for each of us. ”

The Emperor and the Earl glanced at each other again, and this time, they were no longer as calm and calm as before, but there was a lot more hesitation and vibration in their eyes.

Because Tréville is so confident.

He had already hinted that France would not seek the help of Austria if one day it had to come to war with Russia, and that it could remain neutral as much as possible, although Austria had no intention of participating, but the feeling of being "excluded from the plan from the outset" always felt somewhat despised.

In other words, he was absolutely confident in defeating Russia, so he was not in a hurry to pull Austria into the water, but only wanted to make Austria friendly and neutral.

The British seem to have given him some assurances that the two Western European powers might have really decided to form a showdown with Russia.

But Russia is Russia after all!

No matter how strong the combination of Britain and France was, after all, if they wanted to fight Russia, it was destined to be an expedition, and the tragic example of Napoleon was still vivid, and the French could not forget it so quickly.

So, where did he get so much confidence that he didn't even talk about bargaining, and directly excluded Austria from the possibility of entering the war?

The Emperor felt that he had to make the matter clearer, for the stakes were high. (To be continued.) )