For a day or two, there were many envoys to Budapest, but to the disappointment of the Hungarian nobles, these people came from the major families of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Berlin and St. Petersburg continued to be surprisingly silent.

"It's ridiculous, it's ridiculous!" "The Austrian family actually wants us to withdraw from the race for crown prince on the condition that Hungary increase its seat in the central government, reduce the proportion of expenses that Hungary pays to the central government each year, and give me the title of Grand Duke of Budapest and Imperial Field Marshal!" ”

"And what did your grandfather say? Reject them in one go, or kick the messenger back to Vienna? Also mocking the Austrian family was Gerva's friend and companion in the army, Major Elva. This handsome young man was also a member of the Hungarian aristocracy, he was only a year older than Geit, and he was just as eloquent and likable, but he was far from the enviable abilities and opportunities of Geit.

Git held the wine glass, the red wine in the sunlight reflected as red as blood, and he shook the glass lightly as he said to Elva, "Humph! The old man was not so straightforward, he asked Punpe to talk to the envoy from Austria, which was destined to be a boring meeting that dragged out time! Look, when the week deadline comes, the faces of the Austrian family will be as ugly as they will be! ”

"That is, when our Majesty Getha ascends the throne, I still hope to be able to live in Vienna for a while!" Elva half-jokingly addressed it as "Your Majesty".

Git didn't seem disgusted by this, and he smiled at Elva's handsome face, "Well, our Elva will definitely kill countless Viennese girls by then!" If that ever happens, I'll make you my Commander of the Guard, I don't like talking to those old guys! ”

Elva knew that the old guy he was talking about was the commander of the guard assigned to him by his grandfather, one named Moka, 51 years old, and the other named Wissen. 49 years old, they not only look a little old-looking, but what is more terrible is that they always tell Ge that it is not safe here and can't go there, as if two portable nannies, Ge It is the least favorite thing on weekdays. Even when they came to this villa to meet up with friends, the two guys were vigilantly waiting outside with a bunch of guards, and no matter how annoyed they were, they would just say, "It's for your safety." Please don't worry Damen-sama! ”

Whenever she heard Git complain, Elva could only respond with sympathy.

In order to divert Gits from his depression, Elva said somewhat mysteriously: "Do you think the Germans will intervene in this matter?" ”

Git looked at Elva with his eyes, "What do you mean by this, the Kaiser is one of the candidates, how can he not intervene?" ”

"I mean, will the Kaiser send someone to negotiate with your grandfather and then come to some secret agreement or something!" "Of course, they can also not consult Hungary. Instead, they pay bribes directly to other families with voting rights! ”

"It's hard to say. The old man thinks that the Germans will send people, so he prefers to remain passive as he is now! I think the Germans are uneasy and kind, and so are the Russians! Git was saying. There was a knock on the door.

Then came one of his least favorite people, Captain Moka.

"What's the matter?" Ge looked impatiently at the visitor, who was a burly, brown-haired soldier who did look older than his actual age.

The man's voice was a little hoarse, and his tone and expression were very respectful.

"Your Excellency has sent someone, please go back immediately!"

"Oh?" Hearing that it was his grandfather's order, Ge had to put down the shelf just now, "Do you know what is going on?" ”

"It is said that an envoy sent by Germany has arrived!"

"Good!" Ge was so excited that he put down his glass and walked towards the door, throwing only one word to Moka: "Go now!" ”

Iva turned and walked out onto the balcony. Watching as Git boarded the carriage and left, draining the glass in one gulp.

Half an hour later, Greta returned to the exquisite building, which was not a royal palace, but had a refinement and popularity that could not be matched by the old palace - Emperor Franz had rarely visited Budapest since he ascended the throne, so the Buda Palace was largely empty all year round. However, Empress Franzdi, the former Princess Sisi, was very fond of Hungary, and the Hungarian nobles even spontaneously built a beautiful palace for her, but unfortunately the good queen did not have a good home - in 1898 she was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist on the shore of Lake Geneva.

As soon as he walked into his grandfather's study, he found that there was an indescribable atmosphere here. It's not saber-rattling, it's not harmony and relaxation, in short, the expression on everyone's face is a little strange.

"Grandfather!" Git saluted his grandfather, Damen Ferenc, and quietly looked at the comer.

Sitting on the sofa opposite Damen were two people, one in military uniform and the other in a ceremonial dress. Without waiting for him to take a closer look, his grandfather, Damen, motioned for him to come to him.

"Let me introduce you to my grandson, Gitaffe Lentz!"

The two people on the sofa stood up, put on their military uniforms and spoke first: "It turned out to be the son of Geta, who has really admired the name for a long time!" ”

Look at it, good fellow, judging from this man's collar badge and epaulettes, he is actually a lieutenant general of the German Army! What's even more exaggerated is that he looks only four or five years older than himself, that is, about thirty years old. As far as Gits knows, there are only a few such young lieutenant generals in Germany, one is the commander of the German Imperial Guard, one is the commander of the German Expeditionary Force, the other is the commander of the German expeditionary force, and the other is the commander of the East Prussian cluster, Olge, these three are said to be not only the Kaiser's friends of life and death, but also all of them are talented.

Soon, Damen's introduction answered the question: "Come, Gerta, meet General Olge, he is the youngest and most distinguished commander of the German Army!" ”

"It's over!" In addition to the politeness, Olg shook hands with Gerta.

"This is Mr. Ambrosser, the Kaiser's envoy!" Damen then introduced the man in the black dress next to him, although the name was unknown, but with the name of the emperor's envoy, it seemed that it was not small.

The envoy was much more eloquent than Olge, and he was full of praise and said: "I have heard the name of Gongzi for a long time, and Gongzi is a rare genius in the whole of Europe in recent years!" Even His Majesty the Kaiser has often mentioned that I am honored to have the honor to meet you today! ”

Git smiled warmly, but he kept his attention on Olg. This is one of the most powerful figures in the German team.

Olg also apparently noticed that Ge had been looking at himself, and he just gave Ge a calm look back, plus a very calm expression.

"What a drag!" Gerit felt a little indignant, and then he sat down opposite Org at his grandfather's motion.

The attendant served him a cup of tea and left the room, where there were only four people in the large study.

"Two distinguished guests, please continue our conversation!" Damen made a "please" gesture, and it seemed that they had already begun a conversation before Getha arrived.

Ge hoped he hadn't pulled down too much. He looked politely at the speaker, the envoy named Ambrosser.

"As I have said before, His Majesty the Kaiser is optimistic that the son of Geta will become the new crown prince of Austria-Hungary, which will strengthen the alliance between Germany and Austria. As a sign of sincerity, His Majesty is willing to donate 10 million marks in his personal name as the funds for the activities of the childe! ”

Boy! Ge He secretly said in his heart, 10 million marks, equivalent to more than 20 million crowns, can be used to build a medium-sized warship! No wonder people say that the Kaiser's family property is very large, oil, military industry, shipbuilding, automobiles, all walks of life have objective investment, it is said that he is the richest German emperor in history!

But judging by Damen's reaction. He didn't seem to be interested in such a sum.

"Thank you very much Your Majesty for your support to our family. Once it is fortunate to become the heir of the empire, it will definitely uphold the principle of friendly relations between Germany and Austria for generations, and we will surely have more cooperation in the future that will be beneficial to both sides! It's just ......" Damen looked very embarrassed. "We don't need such a fund at the moment, so we can only thank Your Majesty for your kindness here!"

It was a surprise to Geta, no wonder the atmosphere here was so oppressive, it turned out that the Germans wanted to impress the Hungarian family with money, but his grandfather was not willing to accept it. Although it is not yet known what the true purpose of the Germans is, it is already expected that this will not be an easy meeting.

"Your Majesty will be very disappointed, after all, this is only his personal donation!" Ambroser repeated, then glanced at Git beside Damen.

Ge Ta's face still maintained the subtle expression of the aristocracy, and did not say anything about this question.

The German envoy looked back to Damen with some disappointment.

Gg doesn't speak, and Olg doesn't speak. There was a sudden silence in the room.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Greta glanced at the Olge-wearing Medal, the largest of which was the famous Blue Max, which was awarded only to a handful of high-ranking generals in Germany, and it is said that less than a hundred had been awarded so far. In peacetime, many German generals may not receive a single one until their death, which shows how precious it is.

Underneath the blue Max are two Iron Crosses, which are more common, especially in times of war. After the end of the Great War. If you walk around the streets of Berlin, you will see at least a number of officers and soldiers wearing these medals, and when the veterans return home, at least half of the ranks will puff out their chests with pride and let their medals shine in the sun.

Compared with the medal on his left chest, Olge's right chest wears the battle medal of the ground shows that he participated in all the battles before and after, due to the distance and the fact that he is not familiar with the German battle medals, it cannot completely distinguish which medals represent specific battles, at least the Polish campaign, the French campaign and the British campaign. In fact, as the commander of the East Prussian Army, the German 8th Army, Olg participated in seven major battles and hundreds of battles of various scales, and the medals he wore were also correspondingly seven, namely the East Prussian Campaign, the Polish Campaign, the Seine River Campaign, the Boer River Campaign, the Bourmouth Campaign, the Birmingham Campaign, and the Scottish Campaign. For a general, it is indeed an enviable honor to be able to participate in so many major battles and achieve a record of complete victory.

Next, it was Ge's grandfather who was the first to break the silence.

"I wonder what Your Majesty thinks about his candidacy for the title of Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary?"

"Well, in addition to thanking His Majesty Emperor Ao for his appreciation, I can only sigh that my energy is limited!" The envoy's reply was clear that the Kaiser did not intend to get involved in the struggle for the throne of Austria-Hungary. He was willing to provide Hungary with funding, which, of course, would not be for nothing.

"It's a pity, it's a pity Damen said very contrivedly, "Ge is still young, if His Majesty is interested, I Hungary will definitely give it my full support!" ”

The envoy smiled, with a meaningful smile, noncommittal on the question.

At this time, Olg interjected: "Since the day the German Reich was founded, the relations between Germany and Austria were destined to be only allies!" As for Hungary, we treat it with respect and friendliness! From the point of view of an ally, we should probably support the candidate of the House of Austria, but as a friendly neighbor, we would like to see a British monarch rule over Austria-Hungary, and that Germany and Austria will continue to maintain the good relations that they have as they are now, rather than annexing each other or going to war! ”

Both Gerg and his grandfather understood and accepted Olge's more practical remark, and it seems that the impression that the German soldiers had never been good at deception had been deeply rooted in the minds of the people, but no one was naïve enough to take it as a basis for full trust.

"This is what the German people and the Hungarian people expect too!" Damen replied politely, and then he asked, "Your Excellency, if your country is holding a parliamentary election, do you think Hungary is entitled to private financing of one of your parties?" ”

"I'm sorry, I'm not interested in politics, my duty is to defend my country!" Olg replied decisively.

"So it is understood that you are also present in Hungary to defend Germany?" Damen stared at Olg closely.

"Yes!" Olg still replied in the affirmative, Austria-Hungary had a population of 60 million and a large number of army and navy, and such a major matter as the heir to the empire certainly had a lot to do with Germany's defense.

Ge was shocked in his heart, the talks seemed to have reached an impasse, and if this continued, I was afraid that there would be an unhappy result.

After half a minute of silence, Damen relented: "Well, since it is a good intention from His Majesty the Kaiser, and it is a private donation, then we will no longer refuse!" However, if Your Majesty needs any help in the future, please feel free to let me know! ”

"It's nature!" The envoy's taut face finally relaxed.

He also breathed a sigh of relief, and he also noticed that his grandfather and Olge's expressions were so cold and calm throughout, which he was quite envious, and this kind of general style can only be achieved by soldiers and old politicians who are accustomed to big scenes, no wonder the Kaiser sent such a general.

"General, since you have come to Budapest, it would be a pity not to take this opportunity to take this opportunity to explore around! Hungary has beautiful scenery in all seasons, and the hot springs in winter are famous in Europe! Damen said, and all three people, except for Olg, all eyes were fixed on the German general.

Olge said unhurriedly: "If you can provide a guide for Zaixia, Zaixia will not be very grateful!" ”

Looking at Olge's very serious expression, he was very confused. But his grandfather, Damen, was accustomed to seeing the scene, and he said happily: "No problem, Geta, let you accompany the general around!" ”

Olg nodded, looking like he was really going to stay in Budapest.