Lin Youde was in the large conference room of Schönbrunn Palace, looking at the important ministers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in turn.

Just looking at the aura, you can't feel that these middle-aged and elderly people are important ministers of a crumbling twilight empire, and people who don't know the way may think that the country controlled by these old people is still strong and powerful, and they play a pivotal role in the world.

This made Lin Youde quite surprised, he thought he would see a group of stupid and selfish old men.

Before Lin Youde could speak, Austrian Prime Minister Berchtold, who was sitting directly opposite Lin Youde, said to Ferdinand: "Your Majesty, foreigners can only observe the imperial meeting of our Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he ......."

"The Austro-Hungarian Empire is almost gone, so why bother so much." The fox standing behind Lin Youde said directly, originally she was a goddess and could get a place at the table like Sissi, but the fox insisted on standing behind Lin Youde, and at that time she claimed that "it is a tradition for women in Yingzhou to support their sweethearts behind their backs."

Lin Youde wanted to complain at that time, "Is this behind just a literal back?"

Now the fox's actions have actually been within Lin Youde's plan for a long time, and he already has a very full understanding of the fox's character, so this level of prediction is completely fine. Lin Youde's negotiation plan has fully taken into account the existence of the fox, and he plans to let the fox play the role of a spoiler, completely disrupt the other party's position, and then fish in troubled waters again.

After all, Lin Youde is not a person who is good at face-to-face intrigue, he already knew the boundaries of his ability before crossing over, and the experience of the past two years after crossing has made this understanding clearer.

He knew that he was a demagogue, and that he could easily incite those who were biased against him; He is also very good at debating and will not fall behind in the arguments that emphasize logic; But he is not good at convincing people who have a different position than himself.

Therefore, on this visit, Lin Youde did not intend to play any complicated skills in negotiations, that is, to let the fox come out to stir up peace, and at the same time exert pressure through hard power and the situation.

The battle at the negotiating table is only the tip of the iceberg, and the part below the surface is the key.

It was precisely because of such preparation that Lin Youde only made a symbolic surprised expression when the fox spoke, and the others were still very calm.

The Fox's straight ball was indeed very effective, and the Austro-Hungarian officials, including Prime Minister Bechtold, looked at each other and looked a little shaken. But at this moment, Sissi, who was sitting opposite Lin Youde, said in a calm and clear tone: "As long as I am still here, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will exist. ”

Sissi's words instantly stabilized the situation.

Lin Youde looked at the beautiful girl on the other side of the table, and the girl also responded with a non-humble gaze.

"Then it seems," the smile on the fox's face was terrifyingly murderous, "that can only make you die." ”

"I'm always up for any challenge."

At this time, Lin Youde said, "Okay, shut up, fox." ”

"Yes, yes, my dear is not happy." The smile on her face immediately became playful, and she stuck out her tongue.

Lin Youde looked at Sissi and praised in a sincere tone: "Miss Sissi is really a beautiful girl full of chivalry, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is really lucky to have a god like you." ”

"You're overrated."

Sissi's response still seemed unrelenting.

Lin Youde saw that he couldn't make any money on Sissi, so he turned to the important members of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"Gentlemen," Lin Youde smiled politely at the old gentlemen, "I am very sorry for the rudeness of my servants. But I want you to realize that Austria-Hungary is now in a very dangerous position, and it is unrealistic to expect to suppress the rebellion of the people. ”

"As long as you Germans—oh no, your masters, Germans, honestly do nothing, then repression is just an easy thing to do."

A curly-haired gentleman sitting at the far end of the long table said this, and Lin Youde recalled it for a moment, and found that he did not have the gentleman's information in his mind - maybe there were, but it did not match the man's face.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire had a peculiar composition of government, with three entities, the central government, the Austrian government, and the Hungarian government, which shared the functions and powers of the entire imperial government. In Vienna, on the other hand, ministers belonging to two different governments were often present at the Imperial Council.

What is even more peculiar is that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would allow some nobles who did not hold actual government positions to also participate in government meetings, so it is really difficult for a foreigner to recognize everyone at the table at once when the whole meeting is prosperous.

After the gentleman finished speaking, he still looked at Lin Youde, as if he was waiting for him to respond.

Lin Youde said directly and honestly: "Excuse me, who are you?" ”

The fox let out a very exaggerated laugh, and Lin Youde raised his hand and made a gesture to make her quiet, and she stopped.

The gentleman had an amused expression on his face, and he awkwardly introduced himself: "I am Franz, Grand Duke of Carinthia......"

"You all call Franz why." The fox interrupted the archduke, "This is Franz and that is Franz, Franz Franz Franz...... I can't tell the difference. And where is Carinthia? Ah, angry, what, are you going to throw gloves at me? ”

In Europe, taking off gloves and throwing them in someone's face means to duel.

There is probably no man in this world who dares to throw gloves at the gods.

The Grand Duke of Carinthia bit his lip and looked angry, and at this time Lin Youde said: "Your Excellency, it seems that your territory is in an underdeveloped mountainous area, so you don't understand the special system of a modern industrial country. The modern industrial state needs to be functioned by workers, and if all workers decide not to serve the state, the whole country will be paralyzed, including the state's war machine. ”

"Our Senki troops are ready to move and are enough to suppress any rebellion." Another nobleman who didn't have the number in Lin Youde's mind spoke.

"So, may I ask this gentleman," said Lin Youde, "who will transport these Miss Zhan Ji and their equipment to the combat area?" ”

"They can go to these areas on their own, it's just to suppress the rabble, even if they use their mental energy to move." The nobleman continued to speak in a haughty tone.

"It seems that this gentleman," said the fox, with a tone of disdain, "is also a man of seclusion, and does not care at all what is happening in the world outside his own house. The German warriors had already tried to slaughter the workers, but the results were not as you might think. ”

"That's because those workers have the support of the war queens of the southern states behind them."

As soon as the nobleman said this, Lin Youde said in his heart: "You really said so. ”

He suddenly lost interest in this game of words, which had no unexpected developments at all, so he decided to go straight to the showdown.

"Gentlemen," Lin Youde glanced at the people in the room, and then deliberately glanced at Emperor Ferdinand, who had been silent, "gentlemen, I am tired of this meaningless game. Let's talk about some practical issues. The masses now revolting in Lower Austria, Burgenland, and other provinces of Austria-Hungary are mostly Germans, and if your country had suppressed them with Croatian troops and caused bloodshed, the German Republic would have intervened to protect the Germans. ”

"This is war," said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the central government of Austria-Hungary, "and the League of Nations will not allow such a thing to happen." ”

"It's not a war," Lin Youde shook his head, "the German Republic will continue to support the Germans in your country to protect themselves." In addition, we will impose economic sanctions on your country and freeze your assets at the Deutsche Foreign Exchange and Development Bank. As you are well aware of your country's economic situation, your country will face complete collapse once economic sanctions begin. Germany doesn't need to go to war at all, just sit back and wait for you to go bankrupt. ”

Everyone looked at each other, and no one opened their mouths to refute Lin Youde.

Lin Youde leaned forward a little and continued: "Gentlemen, let me make a more constructive suggestion. The workers and peasants are asking for nothing more than wages and food, and if you can provide these two things, then all problems will be solved. ”

"Oh, looks like Mr. Lin is going to provide us with these two things?" The Austrian government's finance minister seemed to feel that his counterattack was so subtle that he hit Lin Youde to the point, so he had a smug smile on his face.

Lin Youde replied calmly: "If you have food, I can indeed provide it to you." After all, there is such a thing as grain, and no one can conjure it out of thin air if the harvest is not good. As for money, the issue is more debatable. Ladies and gentlemen, don't you think it's strange that your factories are still intact and your mines haven't been hollowed out, so why would your government be poor like this? Obviously, something is wrong with your economy. ”

"And the root of the problem," the fox said again, "is that all of you here are too ugly to eat. ”

"No, no," Lin Youde waved his hand, "Of course, your ingenuity is one thing, but the economic problems are very complicated. Gentlemen, your economy needs to be reformed. ”

"We're already reforming." It was the Minister of Finance who spoke.

"But it clearly didn't work. Let me give you a more effective reform package. First of all, after you followed Germany's example in lifting the gold standard, the depreciation of the krona has been going on for a long time, and high inflation has made the krona a complete waste of paper. ”

In fact, the krona was not so bad, but Lin Youde didn't care about this, anyway, the gentlemen in front of him probably didn't know the situation of the krona in the Austro-Hungarian domestic market in detail.

"So you need a new, more stable currency to replace the krona, otherwise all economic reforms will be avoided. And your government's prestige among the people has fallen to the extreme, and it is estimated that the government will not be able to fully trust the people if it issues any new currency. So I am here to solemnly recommend to you the currency issued by our Deutsche Foreign Exchange and Investment Bank," as he spoke, Lin Youde took out a paper mark from his pocket, raised his chin and smiled, and looked at all the important members of the Austro-Hungarian Empire present, "We have a good reputation and have a high reputation among the people of your country, and the paper mark will definitely be trusted." ”