The long-simmering Mexican Civil War was at a time when the situation in Europe across the ocean was becoming more and more stable.

Over time, Germany's puppet government delegation and economic regionalization policies gradually showed results, with unemployment in Britain falling from 80 percent to less than 10 percent after the war, and riots against the German occupation forces and the government of Robert I decreasing month by month; Under the German government's policy of both soft and hard measures, the situation in France, Belgium, Poland and other regions has gradually stabilized.

Behind the peace in Europe, the three German armies did not relax their preparations for war. The first phase of the Army's refit work is in full swing; the Navy has successively replaced a number of old cruisers and destroyers launched before 1906 in accordance with the planned schedule, while the Air Force has focused its work on developing new types of aircraft, and a large number of old aircraft have either been transferred to civilian use or sold to the United States, Japan, and other countries at low prices, in the hope of adversely affecting the development of the local aviation industries of the two countries.

On August 6, 1917, the Austrian Emperor Adamas personally led a delegation to Berlin, and Chen Tian personally went to the Berlin railway station to greet him.

As soon as he got out of the car, Adamas enthusiastically walked up and shook hands with Chentian.

"Your Majesty the Kaiser, long time no see!"

"Uh, yes, Your Majesty the Honored Emperor, long time no see!"

Chen Tian no longer remembered the last time he met the Austrian Emperor, perhaps at a high-class banquet in Vienna, or in Berlin, in short, after Adamas ascended the throne, he had not seen this "merry man".

"Your Majesty is so young, and with such great achievements, it is really willing to bow down!"

Adamas's flattering words showed his true colors, but they also made Chentian a little more sure of his intentions.

"Isn't Your Majesty just as young?" Chen Tian smiled and walked side by side with him to the car on the other side of the red carpet, although it was a visit from the monarch of a neighboring country, the reaction of the citizens of Berlin was not very strong, there were far more soldiers standing outside the train station than spectators, and most of the lieutenants were some curious people and Austrian expatriates and businessmen. The atmosphere created by three or four thousand people was okay, and the military band performed hard.

Chen Tian didn't have to worry about "snubbing" the emperor next to him.

On the way from the station to Gonglu Palace, Chen Tian and Adamas sat in the same car, although they were not old acquaintances, the two still chatted without a word, from the weather and scenery to the latest plays staged by the Vienna State Opera, from African anecdotes to coffee and cocoa in the Americas.

"When it comes to the history of cocoa, we have to start with the Americas more than 1,000 years ago......"

While Adamas was talking about his cocoa, Chentian's thoughts drifted quietly out of the car window. In the long river of history. What is the relationship between the size of an empire and the longevity of its rule? Is it bigger and stronger, or bigger and harder to rule, or is there a suitable golden line?

After the annexation of central and northwestern Poland, the annexation of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia, the Duchy of Caniola, the Duchy of Carinthia, the Duchy of Salzburg, and the Coastal Provinces, the territory of the German Empire has expanded to 760,000 square kilometers, and the total population has risen from 67 million to 79 million before the war.

Such a huge political territory has brought great wealth and resources to Germany, but it has also brought considerable problems and troubles to the government's local management. The acceptance of the French colonies alone took a year. The government has sent more than 3,000 officials and more than 20,000 soldiers. In total, nearly 1 million marks were spent, not including the funds invested in reassuring the people and public works in the later stage; More than 20,000 officials account for the power and resources used by the African colony of LinkedIn. The number of garrisons is more than twice that number; After occupying most of India and Sri Lanka, the German government sent more than 800 officials and maintained a garrison of 12,000 troops within six months.

As for the Austrian Emperor next to Chentian, after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his country had become a purely landlocked country. Austria was nominally an independent empire, but there were still more than 100,000 German troops stationed on its territory, and heavy industrial areas and large and medium-sized arsenals were also in the hands of the Germans; The Austrian standing army was reduced to 120,000 men, only a tenth of the height of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and they ostensibly obeyed the orders of the Austrian Emperor, but in fact many of the middle and high-ranking generals were bought off by the Germans. Finally, the Emperor's Baron Condra was merely vacated in the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Army.

Against such a backdrop, it is natural that Austria's visit to Germany will not be merely a friendly visit, as the newspapers say. In fact, Adamus and his government had expressed on more than one occasion the desire for the German troops to withdraw, because they believed that the conditions for a stable Austrian situation had been met in the secret treaty between the two sides, and that the German troops should also withdraw from most of Austria in accordance with the terms of the secret treaty.

However, controlling Austria's major industrial economic regions and containing Austria's military development had long been a strategy set by the German government and the high command, and how could it be so easy to return those industrial zones to the Austrian government. Therefore, every request made by the Austrian Government does not take a few days. When a terrible bomb explosion occurs in an industrial area, a town or near a German barracks in Austria, the German government will tell the Austrians with confidence: Look, the situation is not stable enough!

So after more than 18 months of being a powerless and boring emperor, Adamas finally decided to give up this vain title of emperor, and similarly, the Austrian imperial government was deeply disappointed and dissatisfied with the current status quo, so after internal discussions, Adamas and the Austrian government jointly made a decision: to join the German Empire as an ordinary state!

The German government did not respond directly to such a request at the outset, which had a bearing on national and international politics, but discussed it repeatedly in the Imperial Council, the Cabinet and the Diet.

At the time of the establishment of the German Empire, although Austria was also a fully German state, there was no one country with two masters, and it was undoubtedly a wise and practical choice to exclude Austria from the territory of the future German Empire when the international situation did not allow it and Prussia's strength could not achieve the annexation of the Austrian Empire. Today, Bismarck's problems no longer existed, Austria was no longer the Austria it had been, and even if it joined the German Empire, it would not be possible to rule it with Prussia.

Therefore. From cabinet ministers to parliamentarians, most of them were inclined to accept Austria as a new member of the Reich, and the final question was what status to give Austria and what privileges it was to be allowed to retain. Under these circumstances, the Austrian Emperor and his entourage were invited to Berlin for the real purpose of further negotiations with the German government on Austria's accession to the German Empire.

For Germany, the advantages of including a German country with a population of more than 6 million, a total area of more than 80,000 square kilometers, and a relatively developed economy into the federation far outweigh the disadvantages.

When Chentian returned to reality from his thoughts, Adamas still talked about the history of cocoa and chocolate, and claimed that he was ready to build the world's best chocolate factory in Vienna so that his people could taste delicious chocolate every day.

Since the Ao Emperor has spent so much saliva here. And this is such a peace-loving wish, so Chen Tian whispered to him: "I have a good suggestion for you, that is, put the cream, almond soft heart and other nuts in the middle of the chocolate, it will be much better than the combination of chocolate and praline!" This way, your chocolate factory will have no problem surpassing Swiss chocolate in one fell swoop! ”

"Really?" Adamas looked at the Kaiser in surprise, who had been silent all the time, and thought he was not interested in chocolate at all.

Chen Tian told him with a smile: "Of course, and remember to register a patent as soon as possible!" ”

In this way, the two arrived at the Gonglu Palace with their own thoughts, where the German cabinet ministers and government dignitaries were waiting for the arrival of the two emperors.

After a sumptuous welcome luncheon, the dignitaries of Germany and Austria sat down together. From tentative meetings to feasibility discussions. The level of enthusiasm on this issue is high on both sides.

The initial progress of the talks was also somewhat unexpectedly fast. Only three days later, the German and Austrian representatives entered into substantive talks about what powers should be ceded to the Reich Government after Austria joined the German Empire. Which should be retained by Austria. On these two extremely important issues, the differences between the two sides are gradually becoming apparent. The German delegates were only willing to allow Austria to retain the right to mobilize troops, customs, taxation, and postal rights, similar to those of the North German states, while the Austrian side wanted to receive a series of powers similar to those of the four southern German states, such as diplomacy, military command, railways, and telegraphs, in addition to the German rights to agree to the reservations.

During the meeting, Adamas and his entourage frequently appeared at banquets, balls and cocktail parties of the upper class in Berlin, and also visited the cities and monuments around Berlin in succession, with the attitude of German-Austrian friendship and the German Auburn family, in order to gain the support of the German aristocracy, dignitaries and people, so as to increase the bargaining chips of the Austrian delegation at the negotiating table.

Thanks to the active activities of the Austrian side, the situation at the negotiating table between Germany and Austria has changed.

August 17, after the conclusion of the day's talks. Chancellor Batemann and Foreign Minister Stresemann met with the Kaiser.

"Many people think that it is acceptable to accept Austria as a North German state, right?"

Without waiting for Bateman and Stresemann to speak, Chen Tian said the meaning of today's day for them. "Yes, Your Majesty! The North German states were the first to join the Confederation, and although it is not an exaggeration to admit Austria on the same terms as the North German states, we did not have a strong enough basis at the negotiating table! In the opinion of the ministers of the Cabinet, it is still the ...... of the four states of South Germany"

Bateman's words were interrupted by Tatsuten before he could finish his words.

"I wonder if your Excellency is the Prime Minister of Prussia first, or the Prime Minister of the Reich?"

Bateman didn't know how to answer.

"Our empire is a constitutional German federal state, and Prussia dominates both the government and the parliament. In previous wars, the states also actively supported the military strategy of the Empire. However, this does not hide the many disadvantages caused by the retention of privileges by the states to the central government! The simple truth is that the greater the power of the state, the less power the central government of the empire has! In the present situation, it is impossible for us to take the liberty of curtailing the power that the states already have, which would cause national turmoil or even civil war! ”

After Chen Tian said this, he carefully observed the reactions of the two, and it was clear that Bateman and Stresemann had no objection to this. Immediately afterwards, Chen Tian said something that surprised the two of them:

"This time Austria's accession to the Reich Confederation is almost a foregone conclusion, but we must place strict limits on the powers they retain, which will be a good beginning to maintain and expand the power of the Reich's central government, and an important beginning towards true unification!"

"True Unified ......"

"Yes, true unity! Now the Austrian delegation has a certain advantage at the negotiating table, but this advantage will soon come to naught! All you have to do is stall at the negotiating table, and look, it won't be long before the Austrians will compromise! Now that they're in Berlin, we'll let them go! ”

Bateman and Stresemann looked at each other, and their eyes were complicated.

A week later, negotiations between Germany and Austria are still slow. At this moment, a shocking news came from within Austria: the Austrian 12th Infantry Regiment stationed in Krems telegraphed a nationwide uprising and called on the people to rise up against the Austrian government, which had repeatedly raised taxes. On the same day, 11 municipalities in central and southern Austria also declared their independence from the Austrian government, and the number of troops responding to the uprising increased rapidly, and within two days, with the exception of the Vienna City Defense Force and the Eastern Border Guards, most of the Austrian troops either declared an uprising or refused the Austrian government's order to suppress the uprising.

Faced with this situation, Adamas and his government had to turn to the German government for help in suppressing the uprising, but the German government refused this request on the grounds of non-interference in Austria's internal affairs. Adamas then offered that the German government escort them back to Vienna, but the German government politely persuaded them to stay in Berlin on the grounds that the situation in Austria was out of control.

On 27 August, the Austrian rebels approached Vienna. In the evening, the Austrian delegation headed by Adamas signed the "German-Austrian Merger Agreement", and Austria was declared to be incorporated into the German Empire, and since then it has become a state of the German Empire, called the Kingdom of Austria, and the first king is still the former Austrian Emperor Adamas.

Subsequently, Germany announced that it would send troops to assist the Austrian government in suppressing the rebellion.

In just three days, the Austrian uprising was put to rest.

Soon after, Adamas returned to Vienna as king of the Kingdom of Austria and after that attempted to carry out a major purge within the army, but was unanimously opposed by generals at all levels and had to give up.

After joining the family of the German Empire as an ordinary state, Austria was allowed to retain only the right to command the army, customs, taxes, telegraph and postal rights, and the right to railways and diplomatic rights were ceded to the central government of the Reich.