People are in good spirits on happy occasions, and this phrase could not be more appropriate for Kaiser Wilhelm II before Christmas in 1914. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 On the Eastern Front, the German army not only held the fertile East Prussia, but also counterattacked into Russian Poland, seizing tens of thousands of square kilometers of land west of Warsaw; On the Western Front, the German army won through the Battle of Paris and the Battle of Rouen, the German army advancing rapidly westward had occupied important cities such as Caen, Cherbourg, and Le Mans, and the advance troops of the 1st Army were approaching the number one military port on the west coast of France, Brest; On the Northern Front, the German Navy extinguished the last hope of the British Navy to reverse its defeat at a "small" cost, and in a little time the German High Seas Fleet was able to sail again in a strong formation, and the British could only pay tribute to their lost glory in memory; On the southern front, Austria-Hungary was not only defeated by the Russian army, but also ravaged by Serbia, a "small country", and was completely out of temper, the Serbian defense line that the three Austro-Hungarian armies failed to break, and the two German corps only took a few weeks to solve the problem, and the huge contrast in military affairs made the German Empire's dominant position in the German world even more unshakable.

In front of the bearded ruler of the Empire, Natsuki maintained a low-key and humble posture as always. In such a solitary setting, the two of them only piggybacked on a few words about naval affairs and went straight to the point.

"In the interest of preserving and expanding Germany, it is very necessary for us to promote Ireland as a monarchy, and for them to elect a member of the German royal family to be king. But, Your Majesty, Ireland will face difficult and complicated situations after independence, and my gift for numbers has made me adept at mechanical design, commercial operations, and military strategy, but these are of little help in governing the country. I don't think there is anyone in the whole of Germany who is more qualified to rule Ireland than you. ”

Natsuki's straightforward approach surprised Wilhelm II, after all, the Germans are straightforward characters, unlike Orientals, even if they are hungry in their hearts, they have to shirk one or two things. According to William II's understanding, Natsuki's statement means that he really does not have much confidence in sitting on the Irish throne.

If you don't consider cause and effect, just because William II is so ambitious and self-conscious, he will never think that the crown on his head is too much and too heavy, but his staff and important ministers of the empire still have the most basic common sense in politics and diplomacy, and the disadvantages of having William II as the king of Ireland are definitely much more harmful than good, and if other members of the royal family are elected to sit on the throne of Ireland, there will be much less resistance in terms of international political public opinion. It is for this reason that Wilhelm II chose his talented and prestigious young son, Joachim, to entrust his younger brother, Prince Heinrich, to lead the conversation, and the deeper consideration may be to make the prince willingly withdraw from the competition.

In order to secure the throne of a country with millions of people, but with a backward domestic economy and prominent political contradictions, personal ability, will, determination, prestige and reputation are very important factors. If these factors are weighed in depth and detail, then Prince Joachim is indeed the most suitable person for the German royal family, but there is no need for and no real investigation and analysis by those who have the decision-making power, because from the overall level of the German Empire, it does not matter whether the people who go to rule Ireland can make the country rich and powerful, as long as it is enough to ensure that Ireland stands in the international camp dominated by Germany.

In other words, with German force as a guarantee, any of Wilhelm II's sons could do the job.

The reason why the German emperor chose his youngest son, Joachim, was not only his personal preference, but also the result of the struggle between various parties.

In Natsuki's view, the reason why he was elected by the German power class to be the king of Ireland was not because of the support of the majority of those in power, on the contrary, it showed that his roots in the country were too shallow. Although he has never expressed his willingness to enter the political circles, the merits and prestige he has accumulated now are already quite an astonishing amount of political capital, whether he stays in the military circles or enters the political circles, or whether he eats both, he is destined to be invincible. For their own or potential interests, there are many who want the Hohenzollern genius to leave Germany, and making him king of Ireland should be the most high-sounding way to do it.

Obviously it was the result of being squeezed out, but it fulfilled Natsuki's ultimate ambition of not being willing to live under others, he should have hid and snickered, but after repeated calm thinking, if he went to Ireland as an "exile", his future fate would still be indirectly in the hands of others, and even simply become Germany's puppet and spokesman in Ireland, and he would never be willing to become such a character.

Wilhelm II apparently did not see through Natsuki's thoughts, and he explained in a straightforward manner: "I am old, and I am exhausted from dealing with the affairs of this country every day, and I have no energy to intervene in the affairs of the Irish. Besides, if the German Emperor or Crown Prince were to wear the crown of Ireland, the whole world would probably think that we were trying to annex Ireland. Now that Britain has been defeated by us, we don't need to bear that kind of infamy. Jochen, you are our number one hero in defeating the British, the Irish have always hated the British, so they are emotionally more willing to accept you as their ruler, all you have to do is continue to maintain their good opinion of you, and the rest of the things are completely unworrying, Germany will always be your solid backing. ”

Xia Shu said politely: "But I never thought that I would become a king one day, and I don't know how to be a king. ”

"Is it hard to be a king?" Wilhelm II asked himself and said, "Maybe!" Kings are the most special profession in human society, some lead countries to strength, just like our ancestor King Frederick, and some push countries to destruction, just like those mediocre tyrants. With your ingenuity, Jochen, I believe you can be a good king, and all you need is time, experience, and permanent support from Germany. ”

"When the parties cease fighting, Britain will certainly find ways to provoke an Irish civil war. As far as I know, there is a considerable number of people in the north of Ireland who consider themselves British, who oppose Irish independence, and many of whom have joined the British army against us. If the German army had withdrawn from Ireland, the strength of the Irish army would probably not be able to withstand the rebel army supported by the British. ”

Seeing Natsuki's sad face, Wilhelm II immediately promised him that Germany would never withdraw its troops from Ireland, but how reliable this promise was, Wilhelm II himself did not know how reliable it was. Judging from the law of historical development, even if Germany becomes the hegemon of Europe and the number one power in the world through the victory of this war, it will not be able to act arbitrarily on the international stage. According to the secret agreement between Germany and the Irish Independence Organization, after the independence of Ireland, Germany would only station troops in rented ports and military bases. If the future armed conflict were confined to the interior of Ireland, the possibility of Germany directly entering the war was not high.

Xia Shu observed his words and induced him step by step: "Your Majesty, if you must let me be the king of Ireland, when I am overthrown and removed from power in a few years, I hope that Your Majesty can restore my rank and position in the German Navy." ”

Wilhelm II had never seen Natsuki so unconfident, he thought for a long time behind his desk without saying a word, and finally showed his hole card - as long as Natsuki became the king of Ireland, the German government would fund the establishment of a complete set of military industrial production lines in Ireland, from rifles and machine guns to artillery and ammunition, and provide Ireland with a huge interest-free loan for twenty years, as well as the establishment of a military circulation mechanism between Germany and Ireland, that is, allowing German soldiers to serve in the Irish army on a voluntary basis, During this period, they will retain their military status in the German army and can return to the German army at any time.

As for the assets under Xia Shu's name, except for shipbuilding, aviation, and combat vehicles involving core military technology, the rest can be freely circulated according to his personal wishes.

This series of conditions is not much different from Natsuki's expectations, it seems that Wilhelm II not only gave such a rich "gift" out of love for his young son, but also because of his excessively prominent military exploits and reputation such as the naval god of war and undefeated genius, I am afraid that it has posed a substantial threat to Crown Prince William, who is the legitimate heir, in order to avoid internal friction in this thriving empire, it is reasonable to have more "gifts".

Having figured out the hole cards of the German emperor, Natsuki began to play his cards. The Friedrich shipyard and Hubert Aviation were undoubtedly the most strategically valuable assets of his industries, and since they could not be transferred, and the focus of his future development had to leave Germany, he simply offered to sell these enterprises to the German government in exchange for weapons and equipment that were much less than their net market value, including German ships and aircraft.

At first, Wilhelm II was still a little hesitant, and when he heard Natsuki explain that after the transfer of these weapons and equipment to the Irish army, they were actually still in the hands of the German royal family, so he relented, but limited Natsuki to choose only those weapons and equipment that did not greatly weaken the German military strength, and the ships must be more than 10 years old - from the date of service, all the first-line capital ships of the German Navy were excluded, The strongest ships that met this limit were the Deutschland-class ex-dreadnoughts and the Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers.

Natsuki has no objection to this, because it is foreseeable that before Ireland gains independence, the British government will definitely carry out a thorough cleaning of Belfast's shipbuilding facilities, dismantling what can be dismantled, destroying what cannot be dismantled, losing this important shipbuilding center, Ireland does not even have the ability to build a cruiser, even if the German government generously provides first-class capital ships, they have no way to carry out routine maintenance and repair, and only two or three purchased capital ships cannot form a truly combat-ready naval fleet.

(End of chapter)