Although Ziano is also corrupt, he is also the best official among his colleagues in Italy.

In fact, from the time of Germany's annexation of Austria, Ziano recognized the danger that Reinhardt's war intentions posed to Italy and the possibility of a re-outbreak of world war.

As a result, Ziano also negotiated with German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop on several occasions on the issue of avoiding war.

However, since Reinhardt had already decided and decided that Britain, France, and the Soviet Union would not live in peace with Germany, Ziano's proposal to Ribbentrop to avoid war negotiations had been of no avail.

It was then that Ziano was convinced that Reinhardt "was dragging Mussolini with him to take the risk of war."

At that time, Ziano proposed the famous "plan for hegemony" for Mussolini, and even quite a few times during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang put forward the feeling of "Longzhong pair".

On the one hand, he dissuaded Mussolini from prematurely participating in the battles proposed by the Germans, such as the Polish campaign, and at the beginning of the French campaign, in fact, Ziano was pulling Mussolini into the war.

On the other hand, Ziano actively cooperated with Mussolini to occupy and annex the weaker countries around him, in order to strengthen Italy's military power.

In fact, Ziano has secretly sent a large number of spies to countries such as Greece, and has been secretly bribing some government officials in these small countries. Ready to annex them at any moment.

Ziano saw it clearly than Mussolini, and he knew that if Italy wanted to dominate, it must not follow the route of continental center contention. Conversely, recreating the majesty of the Roman Empire can also be achieved by packing up some simple small states.

As long as Italy takes the European and African lands on the Mediterranean coast and turns the Mediterranean Sea into an internal lake of Italy. Becoming the hegemon of the Mediterranean is only one way to achieve hegemony.

To this end, Ziano cooperated with Mussolini in arranging the armed occupation of Albania. He then wisely consolidated Italian rule in Albania by means of both grace and power, and skillfully used the Albanian elections to grant the Albanian crown to King Vittorio Emmanuel III of Italy, thus essentially completing the Italian annexation of Albania.

Of course, this is also a back shot from Ziano.

Perhaps, it was not clear at the time, but now, the effect of this hand is particularly significant!

Ostensibly, Ziano's move was to use the king's name to cement Italy's annexation of Albania. But in fact, it also invisibly strengthened the position of King Vittorio Emmanuel III of Italy.

Because the current king of Italy is not only the king of Italy, but also the new king of Albania at the same time.

Therefore, even if Mussolini had moved his mind to depose the king, he would have to weigh the consequences of doing so. With Mussolini's strong desire to conquer territory, he would never allow Albania to fall into chaos and even break away from Italy to a certain extent because of the loss of its king again.

Therefore, Vittorio Emmanuel III also understood that Ziano was actually his benefactor.

Now that Ziano is meeting the king, he is also sure that the king will not embarrass his great benefactor, at least he will change his favor. What's more, replacing Mussolini, who is also domineering, is also a great thing for the king, and it is in his interests.

Of course, Ziano's means and turf are more than that.

During the period when he was with Mussolini, Ziano made positive suggestions for Mussolini in a planned way, so that Mussolini accepted his suggestion, made personnel adjustments in various government departments, and replaced a large number of important party and government officials.

In doing so, it undoubtedly consolidated Mussolini's dictatorship and strengthened his rule.

But on the other hand, it was not easy for the bureaucrats seeking to rise to prominence and meet Mussolini directly, and most of those days flocked to Ciano to seek the desired high position from the first adviser to Mussolini through various channels.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to consolidate Mussolini's rule, Ziano directly bought a large number of people's hearts, and for a while he was in power and opposition, and entered the peak of his political career.

Even Mussolini's most proud mixed cabinet was privately called the "Ziano Cabinet" by many Italian officials.

These preparations cannot be made overnight. In other words, as early as the beginning, Ziano has been leaving himself behind and paving the way.

In a sense, he was more scheming than Mussolini.

Naturally, Mussolini was the leader of Italy, but Ciano was more of a shepherd.

He was secondary, claiming to be Mussolini's subordinate and son-in-law, but in reality he was a key figure in the shadows who influenced most of Italy's political decisions.

Because what Ziano did fundamentally was always in line with Mussolini's interests, Ziano and Mussolini often represented the same kind of thinking at the top level in Italy, and ordinary officials would not make a detailed distinction at all.

"Ziano's words are Mussolini's meaning." This is the habitual thinking of most Italian politicians.

But on the flip side, Ziano was simply using Mussolini's name to do what he wanted.

Yes, he consolidated and expanded the power of the Italian fascists for Mussolini. But he was not all for Mussolini, but to a certain extent, for the country of Italy.

Now, Ziano feels more and more that his rift with Mussolini has widened. And as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he felt the treachery of the German fate Reinhardt more than anyone else in Italy!

On the surface, Reinhardt "sincerely" complimented the Italian leader's plans for a new Roman empire, and encouraged Italy and the British to fight to contain the British Mediterranean Fleet on behalf of Germany, thereby relieving the German navy of the pressure when landing on British soil.

And when Italy lost in Africa, the German army sent reinforcements of only two divisions in batches, and it also came with the condition of requisitioning 2 Italian infantry divisions and 1 armored division!

This abacus is better than a thief!

As Foreign Minister, how could Ziano not see the deception and methods of the Germans in every German-Italian deal.

Sadly, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini was a self-righteous fool who even thought he could take advantage of the Germans.

And Italy's number two person, Deputy Prime Minister Rossi, is an out-and-out pro-German. During Mussolini's hospitalization, he deepened his cooperation with the Germans.

In this way, Ziano feels more and more that in Italy, the only one who still has the ability to influence the situation and change the status quo is only him, the "shepherd" in the shadow.