In order to prevent being blocked again, he picked up the wine glass, looked around the entire ball venue, and then walked to the corner with the least number of guests in the venue.

Ferdinand, the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was sitting on the sofa in that corner, drinking the wine in his hand with an indifferent expression.

Lin Youde came to him and asked politely, "Can I sit next to me?" ”

"Of course, I've heard that this palace is about to be yours, and you can sit wherever you want." Although Ferdinand's words were a little teasing, Lin Youde didn't care.

Everyone is the last emperor, and he is depressed enough, can't he be teased.

After Lin Youde sat down, Ferdinand continued: "Thank you that your servant did not kill Sissi, when she swung her sword at Sissi who fell to the ground, I don't think even a god can save the last knight of the Austro-Hungarian Empire." ”

"I'm not a killer for my own sake, so I really don't dare to take your gratitude to me." Lin Youde paused, and then said sincerely, "I actually envy you and your country for having such a loyal knight. ”

"Isn't your servant also a loyal knight?" Ferdinand looked a little surprised.

Lin Youde shook his head with a smile, he raised his glass and said to Ferdinand, "I wish you all the best in the new life you are about to start." ”

Ferdinand's smile looked a little helpless, but he still raised his glass, accepted Lin Youde's blessing, and responded, "I wish your empire to prosper." ”

"I'm not going to build an empire." After clinking glasses, Lin Youde said, "I am well aware of the enthusiasm of Europeans for national independence, and it is too difficult to build a single country in Europe. ”

In Europe in the 21st century, almost all multi-ethnic countries have disintegrated into mono-ethnic states, and even Britain, which is isolated overseas, is about to lose Scotland. The red, white and blue flag will lose the St. Andrew's Cross representing Scotland, which is not too ugly if that is the case, but the blue background will be removed from the existing flag on the basis of the existing rice flag, but it is said that the British will add the St. David's Cross representing Wales. Lin Youde has only one impression on the rice flag that replaced St. Andrew's Cross with St. David's Cross: it was ugly.

At this time, Lin Youde suddenly wanted to send a task force to Britain to incite Scottish independence and Irish independence, which may be much more reliable than the implementation of the sea lion plan.

But before Lin Youde could carefully consider the feasibility of this plan, Archduke Ferdinand said: "You say that you do not intend to establish a unified state? Then I don't understand, do you want to build the Rhine Confederation after the great Napoleon? ”

It feels very strange to hear the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire call Napoleon "the great XX" - Lin Youde sighed in his heart while answering Archduke Ferdinand's question: "No, Your Excellency, I do not intend to follow Napoleon's example. He was indeed a great conqueror, but his actions were more than a hundred years behind his time. In my plan, I will build a coalition across countries and ethnicities, bringing together people with different cultural and regional perspectives with ideas and economics. For me, force is only an auxiliary, the economy is only a means, and what matters is cultural radiation and ideological radiation. ”

"Can culture still radiate?"

"Yes." Lin Youde said in a very confident tone, "With the development of technology, the means of communication will become more and more advanced, and the effect of cultural radiation will become stronger and stronger." Of course, that era will probably not come in a few decades, so in the near future I will still use the economy and the military as the main means to promote my ideas. But you won't see a new HRE or a new Mediterranean Rim Empire, you'll see a super corporation that crosses borders, a complex industrial complex with great power.

"This consortium can mobilize thousands of industrial workers to join the army and become a new force if necessary, and in peacetime it can use its strong production capacity and funds to intervene in the economic and even political situation of the world."

"Is this your NERV, I thought it was just a ......" Ferdinand seemed to be unable to get used to Lin Youde's ambitions for a while, he shook his head and asked again, "What if your industrial complex is banned by public power in a certain country?" ”

Lin Youde didn't answer, but showed Ferdinand the weasel's signature smile when he greeted the chicken.

"Okay, I see." The Grand Duke looked a little sentimental, "So you overthrew us just because we hindered your expansion within Austria." ”

No, Lin Youde actually just planned to go through the script of the previous time and space at first, and just now he said that these are actually ideas that gradually formed later. After the crossing, Lin Youde often did this, generating new ideas and concepts when implementing the original plan, and he generally did not hesitate to whitewash these concepts as his own pre-existing ideas, so as to highlight his prophetic prescience.

So at this time, he nodded affirmatively: "Yes, that's it." If you don't ban our expansion, I'll help you get rid of the moth in the country and rebuild the economy. However, it will be more difficult to preserve the imperial system. ”

Ferdinand sighed: "The centuries-old legacy of the Habsburgs was ruined for such reasons. ”

"I don't agree with that." Lin Youde decisively retorted, "It seems to me that from the moment Austria-Hungary was founded, you were dying a slow death. ”

"Well, I agree with you." Ferdinand's broad shoulders drooped as his commoner wife, who had not spoken all along, spoke softly to comfort him.

Lin Youde looked at the last emperor and his empress, and his heart was full of emotion.

Perhaps the shooting of Serbian militants in Sarajevo would have been a more fortunate outcome for Ferdinand, and at least a hundred years later, in 2014, a large number of Habsburg survivors would gather at his grave to pay his respects as a hero. And now, he will probably only become an eternal black spot on the Habsburg family tree.

"Your Majesty." Lin Youde suddenly spoke again, and replaced the "Your Excellency" that had been on his lips since the beginning with "Your Majesty", and even fools could see that he was asking for something.

Ferdinand looked up, and although he was depressed at this point, there was already a clear sense of wariness on his face. It seems that he, the emperor, is not in vain, and the instinct that has been tempered by decades of struggle among the nobles of the empire is still there.

"Your Majesty," Lin Youde lowered his voice, "I don't know, are you interested in participating in the great cause of NERV?" ”

"I heard you don't sell stocks." Ferdinand gave Lin Youde a soft nail very quickly, "Do you want to open up for me?" ”

"Of course not, but you still have a lot of influence in your hometown, and I can make you the head of our regional branch, and on the basis of the original agreement, allow you to have your own Honor Guard. NERV is not a very well-organized industrial conglomerate, it has a lot of parts that are free from the main body, how to manage these parts has always been one of the problems we need to face, if you can use your power to ......"

"Because you can't win over Sissi, why don't you win me over instead?" Ferdinand pierced Lin Youde's disguise and told him what he was going to do.

Lin Youde smiled, without this level of ability, Lin Youde would not promise a regional branch even if he wanted to win over Sissi. Since everyone said that Ferdinand was a virtuous king, but he was unlucky to be born in a dying empire, then Lin Youde really wanted to give him a chance to see if he really had the ability to be a virtuous king.

"Even if you join us, there is no guarantee that Sissi will lean towards us," Lin Youde said, "I think that after she recovers, she will take a stern look at everything we have done, and fulfill the important task you entrusted to her when you decided to abdicate." ”

Ferdinand thought for a moment and nodded: "You're right, it's not easy to win her over, she is the guardian of Austria. ”

After speaking, the last emperor fell into contemplation again, this time, he was silent for a long time, so long that the wine in Lin Youde's cup was drunk by him.

Finally, Ferdinand raised his head: "Okay, a regional branch, I'll manage it." ”

At this time, Lin Youde just wanted to shout loudly: Damn, I persuaded an emperor to be my department manager!

To be honest, Lin Youde didn't think so far before he came over, he really just wanted to hide from the annoying spirits who were tirelessly digging up the information about the new techniques used by the fox in the duel. It was also purely accidental that the topic would eventually be led here......

Of course, Lin Youde was very calm on the surface, as if all this had been expected by him.

He held out his hand, and after a few seconds Ferdinand took it.

There were still many people around who were paying attention to what was happening in this sparsely populated corner, so after Lin Youde and Ferdinand shook hands, a muffled discussion immediately sounded in the crowd.

Lin Youde didn't care about this, he took another glass of wine from the waiter who was passing by, touched the glass that still had half of the wine in Ferdinand's hand, drank it all, and got up to leave.

When she returned to her place, Viola opened her mouth and asked, "What did you say to Ferdinand?" ”

"I convinced him to run a regional branch for me." Lin Youde didn't hide it, anyway, in a few days - maybe tomorrow, newspapers with the news would be sprinkled all over the streets.

Viola looked surprised: "You...... Persuaded an emperor to run a regional branch? ”

"Former Emperor." Lin Youde corrected carelessly.

After saying that, he looked around the ball, but he didn't see the fox's conspicuous ears and tail.

"What about that guy?" Lin Youde asked Viola.

"As soon as you fled to Ferdinand's side, she ran away shouting, 'I can't hold my back'. You two like to throw trouble at me. ”

"I know I'm wrong." Lin Youde smiled and comforted his fiancée, "And, I see you just had a good chat with all the gentlemen and ladies." ”

"Pleasant ghost!"

While Viola complained, Lin Youde reached out and put his arm around her shoulder, which worked as well as usual.

However, the fox did not appear again for the rest of the dance.

Hybert led people to rummage through all the toilets in Schönbrunn Palace, and finally found a note that read: I'm going to capture a new force for my dear, don't worry, hehe~