In September, during the harvest season, the city of Vienna is full of colorful flags and flowers, and the whole music city is filled with a romantic and festive atmosphere, and the Hofburg Imperial Palace in the heart of the city is decorated with a fairytale dream castle.

After the swift and easy defeat of Italy, the depression of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for nearly a century seemed to be swept away, and the Austrians, Hungarians, Czechs, Poles, Croats, and Romanians in the empire were all singing the praises of the great achievements of the Austrian Emperor Karl I, and the strength and prosperity of the empire. At this time, Karl I held a grand wedding ceremony for his young daughter Princess Elizabeth Charlotte, which made this once turbulent and turbulent century-old empire show the appearance of dead wood and spring!

At the invitation of Karl I, the German crown prince, the US Secretary of State, the president of Spain, France, the king of Sweden, the king of Denmark, Belgium and even the deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of Soviet Russia, the Turkish foreign minister and others arrived in Vienna by plane, and despite the recent tension in the British Isles, the heads of state were still invited, and the monarch of Ireland and Wales, Joachim I, King Edward VIII of England and the Scottish dictator Barriol, appeared at Vienna International Airport one after another, Their presence has naturally become the focus of media and public attention. In the eyes of the outside world, the current disputes in the British countries originate from a small harbor with only a few thousand inhabitants, and they are not irreconcilable contradictions, and there is no blood feud that must be avenged, so why can't the disputes be resolved in a peaceful way so that the imminent "British Civil War" can be avoided?

The day before the wedding celebration, the three heads of state sat together in an informal meeting, coordinated by the presence of Emperor Karl I himself.

When the three of them met, although there was no tension, with the current relationship between the three countries, the atmosphere was really a little awkward.

His Majesty Joachim I, who has been the lord of a country for the longest time and has the greatest international reputation, was the first to stir up the topic: "The Anglo-Saxon-Celts have lived together in the British Isles for thousands of years, and the ups and downs of the past have become history. ”

"Britons?" Barrio sneered, "If it weren't for the Germans' fear that Britain would become a unified country again, our great European god of war would have conquered England and Scotland and crowned the king of Britain under the banner of 'Britons do not distinguish between them'." ”

Instead of looking at Edward VIII's changing expression or making eye contact with him, Natsuki countered philosophically: "All assumptions are meaningless to history. The three of us, sitting here on behalf of our respective countries, are unshakable realities. As for the future, we are not prophets, nor are we creators, as long as we do well in the present. ”

As a staunch ally of the new United Kingdom, Edward VIII immediately stated: "His Majesty Joachim I is right, it is an established fact of history that our three countries are independent of each other, we cannot change the past, nor can we dominate the future, what we can decide is what to do now and how to do it." ”

Barrio was neither angry nor angry, but gently stirred the coffee in the cup and took a small sip with an elegant gesture: "Okay! Let's put aside the meaningless blood race arguments and talk about the present. In accordance with international practice, there is nothing wrong with China's declaration of sovereignty over the islands of the Shetland Islands and the surrounding waters, and it is also reasonable and lawful to cite the ruling of the League of Nations Arbitration Commission on April 3, 1945 on the question of the ownership of the Dodecanese Islands, and that China should terminate the lease ahead of schedule, recover the right to use Salom Bay, and give appropriate compensation. The series of disputes and even the threat of war caused by this really make me feel incredible, I really wonder what the justice of our time is? Where is the righteousness? ”

Natsuki sneered: "I think it is necessary to remind Your Excellency once again that the Lease Agreement on Salom Bay signed in 1939 clearly stipulates that the lease can only be terminated in advance if both parties agree, and Scotland wants to forcibly take back Salom Bay, which is a unilateral tearing up of the agreement, since it is a unilateral breach of the treaty, then our country has every reason to punish it in accordance with international practice!" ”

Barriol did not argue with this, but turned to the King of England: "Another question that puzzled me was...... The right to use Salom Bay did not involve England, so why did England send troops to exert military pressure on our country? ”

"Your Excellency's understanding is probably a bit biased." In a standard diplomatic tone, Edward VIII explained, "Since disputes with neighbouring countries tend to escalate into military conflicts, it is reasonable and reasonable for our country to respond in advance, adjust the deployment of its troops, and organize the necessary exercises, and there is nothing wrong with it." ”

Instead of being angry, Barriol teased: "As far as I know, since the end of the war in 1935, tens of millions of English people have vowed not to get involved in the war again, and for this reason the English Anti-War League has been formed. The public opinion is like this, Your Majesty can do it yourself! ”

"Your Excellency doesn't need to worry about our internal affairs." Edward VIII replied angrily.

Natsuki waved his hand: "Okay, it's rare for the three of us to sit alone, let's talk about it!" Over the years, Scotland, England, Ireland and the United Kingdom of Wales have invested considerable manpower and material resources in the field of armaments, and have maintained a considerable standing army, resulting in a significantly higher proportion of military expenditure in government revenue than other European countries...... The funds that should have been invested in economic construction and social development have been used to build guns and artillery, and the government is under heavy pressure and even in high debt. As Lord Barriol said, a strong Germany will not allow Britain to reunite, and we are pitted against each other, against each other, for what? At best, it is the gain or loss of a city or a county, what is the point? ”

Barrio smiled coldly, but did not speak.

"Since my accession to the throne, I have never had any ambition of expansion, and I have worked tirelessly to protect the independence and integrity of England, and to ensure that the people of England can live in peace and prosperity, and the glory of the British Empire has become a story for us." Edward VIII turned to the Scottish dictator, "We respect the independent sovereignty of the Scottish Republic and are willing to live in peace with the Scots, rather than relying on our numerical superiority in the internal affairs of Scotland, or trying to cobble together the old territory of the Kingdom of Britain." ”

"Yes, of course you can make the Scots live with dignity and order, if you wish, but in the same way, if you or your successors are willing, you can make the Scots tremble before your army at any time. Don't be in a hurry to deny it, throughout history, people's ideas are constantly changing, and after the princes ascended to the throne, they have followed the original strategy of governing the country less, and implemented more new strategies and new ideas. Barrio retorted eloquently.

Natsuki folded his hands: "I think we have to admit that from a philosophical point of view, your point of view is logical, but this concern of yours is not impossible to solve. Wouldn't it be nice, for example, that we could work together to reduce armaments, strictly control the size of the standing army, and accept the supervision of the League of Nations, so that no one has the ability to wage war? ”

Barrio replied: "It sounds very good, but I would like to ask your Majesty a question: If ten years ago the three of us had reached an agreement on joint arms reduction, would you still have had the opportunity to join forces with Austria-Hungary to crush Italy and plunder the huge war profits from the pockets of the Italians?" When the opportunity arises, will your country choose to give up, or will it quickly rearm and plunge into this war of great significance? ”

Natsuki thought for a moment: "Frankly speaking, we may not go to war, but will provide a large number of weapons and equipment to Austria-Hungary to help them win this war. ”

Barrio sneered: "That is to say, the new United Kingdom will produce enough weapons and ammunition to equip hundreds of thousands of modern troops in a very short period of time, such as two or three months, four or five months, but it will not be directly used to arm its own army." What does this mean? This means that your country, which has far more war potential than our two countries, will quickly assemble a very strong army in the event of a conflict between us, while we can only organize a militia armed with sticks, knives and forks. From this point of view, the agreement on arms reduction is in essence an unequal treaty that binds the weak! ”

Natsuki responded unhurriedly: "You are right, any agreement on joint arms reduction is one-sided, hypocritical, and lacks real binding force, and its significance can only be to reduce the total military investment in a certain region or the world for a specific period of time, and increase the investment in economic and social development accordingly, if a country is bent on expansion and annexation, no agreement or treaty can stop its ambition." In fact, this goes back to what I said at the beginning, we can only be responsible for our country during our tenure, and when we are 100 years from now, we cannot control what will happen to the country and what will happen to the world, and we cannot decide. ”

"Round and round, your intention boils down to one thing: to continue to retain the right to use Salom Bay and the other island ports covered by the 1939 agreement between the two countries." Barrio deliberately slowed down, "As we announced to the public, we are not unwilling to accept this request, provided that our reasonable request is met. ”

During the bilateral meeting, the representative of the new United Kingdom offered to provide three times the financial compensation in addition to the rent agreed in 1939 and to settle the Scottish residents whose life had been disturbed, but the Scottish side refused. The Scottish government insists on sharing no less than 30% of the profits from the new United Kingdom's oil exploitation in the northern North Sea, but it is unclear how much time, money, manpower and material resources Ireland and the new United Kingdom have invested in these offshore fields.

Because of this, Natsuki sneered: "The North Sea is a huge treasure trove, containing endless resources, if you want, just explore and mine. It is impossible for us to give up the results of years of painstaking research and the hard work of countless people. This is a matter of national dignity and the will of the people, and we cannot make concessions! ”

Barrio shrugged: "In order to safeguard the dignity of the country and the will of the people, we will not give in no way." In fact, the conditions we have put forward have already made great concessions and sacrifices. ”

Natsuki got up and said, "Okay! You have your persistence, we have our bottom line, and no one is wrong. What kind of trajectory we will leave in history, let future generations comment! What we say today and what we do tomorrow is enough to have a clear conscience! ”

Barrio said unyieldingly, "Good! No matter what your majesty decides, the unruly Scots will be with you to the end! ”

(End of chapter)