"May I understand that the French, including His Majesty the Emperor, have no ill will towards the Italian territory of Austria?" Immediately after asking such a question, Richard von - concentrated his full attention, carefully examining the Treville Chancellor opposite, observing any of his moves. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

He was nervous, because he knew he was already on a small adventure.

A qualified diplomat must know what he can say on a certain occasion, what he can say, and he must keep in mind that there are some embarrassing taboos in the topic, so that he can not anger the person facing him.

And the question of Italy, which Richard is now raising, is a taboo topic in Franco-Austrian relations today.

In the time of Emperor Napoleon, Italy was the main battlefield of the struggle between France and Austria. As soon as the emperor rose to prominence in Toulon and Paris, he led the expeditionary forces of the Republic to the Italian battlefield, which he regarded as the place where he had gained fame and wealth, and after several years of war, he expelled almost all of Austria from Italy, and then divided Italy into two kingdoms, which were ruled by his adopted son Eugène and his brother-in-law Murat.

However, after the fall of the empire, after the exchange of interests and the final confirmation at the Congress of Vienna, Lombardy and Venezia returned to the Austrians, while Piedmont was given to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

This was a clever arrangement: Austria regained its traditional possessions and turned the Kingdom of Sardinia into a buffer state between France and Austria, while the Bourbons repeatedly reaffirmed after the French Restoration that they would no longer covet territory over Italy, and the Austrians were able to rule northern Italy in peace for decades afterward.

But after 1848, the situation was very different, and after a series of shocking changes, the head of the Bonaparte family unexpectedly became the emperor of the French Empire, regaining all military and diplomatic power in France.

The Bonaparte family already had an old grudge against the Habsburg Empire, and the emperor had participated in a secret organization against the Austrians in Italy in his early years, so he had a new grudge, and the combination of these old sorrows and new hatreds was enough to make the Austrian monarchs and ministers worried.

Originally, in the Austrians' own opinion, if they had to choose between France and Russia, they would of course prefer the "elegant and civilized" French, but this choice, mixed with the weight of Louis-Bonaparte, was very different, and no one knew whether the emperor would have the whim to give himself a conspicuous march into Italy.

Even more worrisome is that, perhaps sensing Louis Bonaparte's ambitions, the kingdom of Sardinia, sandwiched between France and Austria, began to seek to curry favor with His Majesty Emperor Napoleon III.

The idea of the Kingdom of Sardinia is of course easy to understand, they want to curry favor with the French to fight the Austrians, and then use the French power to expel Austrian power, free themselves from the status of a buffer state, and expand their own power in Italy.

At this moment, Vienna was not only worried about the Russians who had already marched, but also about the Sardinians and the French behind them, who seemed to be on the move.

Now the Russians are going to march to the Danube, to the Balkans, and if the French want to march to Italy, then they will be equally terrible scoundrels in the eyes of the Austrians, neither of whom is worth relying on and getting close to.

Originally, for the sake of the atmosphere of the secret conversation between the two men, Richard did not want to ask such a sharp question, but when Charles once again sang the old tune of Fao's goodwill, he decided to ask the Chancellor directly.

From his standpoint, he extremely hopes that France and Austria will be friendly, and he believes that this will be beneficial to both countries.

Although he, like other high-ranking figures in the Austrian Empire, feared that His Majesty the Emperor, who had old and new hatreds and was extremely adventurous, would continue to regard Austria as an enemy, after a period of contact, he developed a glimmer of faith in the Charles.

Previously, after several exchanges, he found that this young minister, who had recently made a name for himself in French politics, really sincerely hoped that Fao-Austria would be friendly, although this person was unfathomable, and what he said was not necessarily the same as what he thought in his heart, but Richard felt that he had to give it a try, even if the gamble would fail, it was destined to be worth a try.

This temptation was to see the sincerity of Chancellor Tréville, who was either a duplicitous false friend, and that all the "pro-Austrian" declarations were only lip service; Either it is a genuinely sincere Austrian-friendly faction, which deserves more resources from the Austrian Empire to make friends, after all, if Franco-Austrian goodwill can be realized, it will indeed be of great help to Austria's current situation.

Charles frowned slightly under Richard's nervous gaze, as if unprepared for the question - but Richard just wanted him to be unprepared, so that his reply would reveal more personal will.

"Richard, we are friends, and friends should be honest with each other, not to mention that you just gave me such a valuable gift. So, although your question is beyond the scope of today's discussion, I will answer you anyway. After a long silence, Charles smiled bitterly, looking a little embarrassed, "Let me be clear to you, our Majesty is indeed very concerned about the Italian question...... Hey, I won't go around in circles, he does not agree with the Austrian power in Italy because of some past experiences. ”

And so it was!

Richard's heart twitched heavily, but it was immediately suppressed again.

Although this is very bad news, it is better to tell the truth than to lie.

It's a good start.

"I am not saying, however, that he was very disgusted with the Austrians, for it is not the same thing to have an opinion about the Austrian power in Italy as opposed to Austria as a whole." Again, Charles stressed that "at most he wanted to ask Austria to adjust the Italian sphere of influence......

"Shire, I appreciate your candour, but I must point out to you that this is not a matter that can be described by 'at best'!" Richard interrupted him immediately, and although he knew that it was not polite, he knew better that he had to express the seriousness of the problem in this way, and that he could not leave the French anything to chance. "For us, the territory of Italy is equal to that of the rest of the Empire, and equally represents the supreme national interest of Austria and the necessity of its existence, and there can be no condition in which the territory of Italy can be harmed only and not the Empire itself, so ...... We cannot negotiate with France, or Sardinia, or any other country in a calm manner the question of adjusting the Italian sphere of influence, it will never work! It is impossible for any country to continue to be friendly with us even after it has harmed our Italian interests. ”

"Oh, oh! Don't get so excited, my friend! Seeing that Richard said so seriously, Charles couldn't help but laugh, "I'm just talking about a fact that is not really important, in fact, you have to see that his current role is that of the Emperor, and he must act in the interests of the Empire, and he will not act according to some old ideas in his heart." Therefore, although he may have some resentment towards the Austrian Empire, in practical action he would not do anything unfavorable to Austria - the interests of the Empire required him to maintain friendship with Austria, and a man like me would prefer him to act with reason. ”

"I trust the sanity of His Majesty the Emperor, but I also know that we cannot pin our hopes on the sanity of any one person, especially such a successful adventurer." Richard shook his head slightly, and didn't seem to agree with Charles's words, "It's hard for a gambler who has been winning for a long time to stop because they're used to winning ......"

"There's no gamble worth paying for another empire!" Charles raised his voice and emphasized to the other party, "Friend, he is now the Emperor, and his priority is to maintain the rule of the Empire and maintain an existing order that is beneficial to him!" A groom who makes a revolution wants an emperor, but what about an emperor? Why did he make a revolution? Just to be a groom? Everyone understands this truth, every one of us understands it, and I will spare no effort to tell His Majesty the Emperor about the benefits and disadvantages, so that he can understand this! ”

This rhetorical question was so powerful that Richard couldn't help but nod slightly.

Indeed, judging from an absolutely rational standpoint, he could not find any reason why His Majesty Napoleon III should have trouble with Austria - even if he wanted to curry favor with the army, he could have ventured elsewhere, and it would have done France no good to take advantage of the Sardians.

However, despite his youth, his father's years of words and deeds have also made him extremely cautious. "What if Your Majesty really insists on going his own way and has to go against us?"

"If he did do that, I would be extremely opposed to his decision, and I would do everything in my power to implore him to change his mind, and in general, with the trust he had in me, he would do." Charles raised his head, looked at Richard very seriously, and then said word by word, "Of course, all in case, if everything is really irreparable, the Empire will be at odds with Austria, and Austria is not at fault, I will go out in protest and withdraw from the Imperial Court until the Empire changes its course and returns to the path of Fao's repair." ”

"Oh my God!"

Charles' sudden promise made Richard stunned, in fact, he had never expected to hear such a promise from Charles's mouth. "Charles, are you serious?"

"Seriously, and not on the spur of the moment." Charles nodded without hesitation, "You can write this sentence on paper and send it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna for a secret archive and send it to your Imperial Majesty. ”

"This ...... That's really ......" Richard's eyes wandered, apparently not taking the news for a moment. "Why do you want to do this?"

"First, I really want Fao-Austrian goodwill, and I can't tolerate the slightest hesitation; Second, the Franco-Austrian reconciliation is the cornerstone of French diplomacy that I have advocated for a diplomatic line, and to deny this is tantamount to saying that my entire line is wrong, and that I must take the blame and resign and leave the Reich Government with my mistakes. Charles remained unhurried, as if he were saying something that was not his own concern, "Thirdly, I am confident that I will be able to persuade His Majesty and the Imperial Government to take my advice." ”

"That's right......" Richard blinked rapidly, trying to hide his inner turmoil.

He felt a very strong confidence in this young man, and he was convinced that his course was right, and that his majesty would do what he had suggested.

This self-confidence was so strong that he couldn't help but waver a little - after all, this young man was really on the rise, and he was indeed qualified to be confident.

It seems that this temptation was quite complete, Richard thought to himself.

"Very well, Charles, I will relay your words and your promise to Your Majesty as they are, and I hope that this promise will not be fulfilled until the day it needs to be kept." He stood up, and then solemnly walked in front of Charles, "In addition, I can assure you that we Austrians have no ill will towards France, and as long as the French extend a hand of friendship to the Austrians, then it will never fail." Like you, I promise by my future that if France is not at fault and Austria breaks with France on its own initiative, I will go away and go home and tending with my garden. ”

"When you say that, I'm afraid that one day we're going to plant flowers together in the foothills of the Alps." Charles burst out laughing, and then stood up himself.

"That's not going to happen!" Richard laughed. "But if you want to go, the doors of Austria are always open for you."

Because they were in a good mood, the two of them shook hands again.

Judging from Richard's face, Charles had overfulfilled the other party today, that he had received the answer he wanted, and that Austria's position had been clarified, and that after some conversation between the two of them, it was late at night.

Just when Charles thought that the other party was about to leave, Richard suddenly laughed meaningfully.

"Charles, do you remember that Mr. Bismarck?"

"Well, I remember that this gentleman and I visited your father's estate together at his invitation." Charles nodded immediately, "I've spoken to him a few times, and I think he's a smart guy and he's very positive. ”

"You see very well, he is indeed a smart and positive person, and he is too smart and positive." Richard's smile deepened, as if mocking.

"What does this mean?" Charles immediately asked.

Although he was very attentive in his heart, he pretended not to care too much on the surface.

At this time, Bismarck was just thrown to Frankfurt by the King of Prussia as a representative to the Imperial Assembly, although his status was quite high, but it was basically equivalent to being thrown idle and unable to participate in confidential affairs, so he was just an idle person, etc., and of course he could not be compared with an imperial minister like him, and it would be strange if he showed too much concern.

"This gentleman has been spying on France and Austria on every occasion, as if to ascertain what is the dark cloud over Europe, and he has been in close contact with the Russian representative in Frankfurt, and according to the information we have received, he seems to have been making suggestions for Russia to improve its relations with the European countries in order to ease diplomatic tensions."

"It's not too surprising." Charles thought for a moment, and then replied in a low voice, "Although I have not seen him much, I can see that Mr. Bismarck is not a man who likes to settle down, and that the Prussians have always had a good opinion of Russia—but I do not think he is particularly pro-Russian." ”

"He is certainly not a particularly pro-Russian person, and the Prussians are not pro-anyone but themselves." When it comes to Prussia, Richard's attitude is not so good, and he is particularly scathing, "The Prussians have always been like this, they like to play such tricks and exalt their own status, and this gentleman needs this even more, because he thinks that the delegates of the Reichstag condescend too much to him!" He wanted to do more, to play a bigger role, especially to play the role of arbiter in Western and Eastern Europe. ”

"What you mean is that Mr. Bismarck is not concerned with the easing of diplomatic relations between Russia and Western Europe, but only with the help of this tension in order to elevate his position and, by the way, to increase his influence in order to gain a ...... for himself in the future A more advantageous position? Charles asked calmly.

"Yes, the Prussians like to pretend to be great powers, and this gentleman likes to pretend to be big people, so it is normal for him to jump up and down and want to play a role that he is not worthy of at such a tense moment." Richard mocked Bismarck in a bland tone, "But, on the highest stage of Europe, the Prussians can only be spectators, and he, who was thrown into Frankfurt, is at best a spectator of spectators, and all his efforts are to put on a burlesque before us." ”

He was so vitriolic not only because the Austrians were disgusted with Prussian tradition, but also because he wanted to tarnish Bismarck's image in front of Charles, so that Charles would not make a good impression of the Prussian and his friendly attitude towards Austria.

"If he's willing to act, let him act." Charles thought for a moment, "Even if he wants to play a diplomatic conspiracy, it doesn't matter the big picture anyway. Or rather, it's even more of a good thing...... The more the Russians think that their situation is not very serious, the more they will get carried away. ”

"So would you mind if you would give him a lesson?" Richard suddenly asked, "For example, when we were negotiating with Prussia, we protested to the King of Prussia against his actions?" ”

"Don't do that now." After a moment of silence, Charles replied, "I'm useful to this man." ”