After the French refused to expand, Boist turned to the rest of Sardinia.

"The Kingdom of Sardinia annexed the Republic of Genoa in 1815, but their barbaric warfare has confirmed that they do not deserve this area.

We want to correct this mistake. ”

It is clear that the Genoa that Boist was referring to was not just the city of Genoa, but to the whole of Liguria.

The population of this region is around 800,000 and covers an area of 5,400 square kilometers.

This number does not seem like a lot, but the quality of the population in the Genoa region is high.

Historically, the full name of the Republic of Genoa is "the most honorable Republic of Genoa".

As Italy's premier independent city-state, Genoa had almost no agricultural population, while commerce, shipbuilding, banking, and construction were highly developed.

In the 19th century, when money and industry spoke, such places were almost the lifeblood of a country.

Sure enough, Baron Conrad immediately objected.

No, no, no, the previous cutting of North China and Italy was the newly annexed territory.

Genoa, on the other hand, was annexed in 1815 and had nothing to do with Italy's three wars of independence.

The locals have long accepted the Sardinian identity and show no signs of independence.

There is no doubt that Genoa is the native of Sardinia.

If he can't even keep his homeland, he, a baron and foreign minister, will be considered the end of the day.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Republic of Genoa is a thing of the past long ago, and the merger of Sardinia with Genoa was after the Napoleonic Wars.

Prior to this, Genoa was not an independent state, but the provinces of Apennines, Zenis and Mauntruti of the Napoleonic Empire.

The cutting off of Napoleon's empire was the consensus of Europe, and Genoa was unanimously transferred to us at the Congress of Vienna, and all the formalities were completely reasonable and legal.

As far as I know, His Excellency Metternich was present at the time, and that the matter was approved by His Majesty Franz I. ”

Baron Conrad's words are sincere, reasonable, and fully discuss the justice of the annexation of Genoa by the Kingdom of Sardinia.

But Boist was dismissive, and if it weren't for the fact that the Congress of Vienna was convened under their auspices, and the content of the conference was the legal basis for the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Italy, he would not have listened to so much nonsense.

The jurisprudence of the Vienna Conference, they can use it themselves, and you still want to use it for a defeated country?

"One of the original aims of the Vienna Conference was to restore the old states of Europe.

From this point of view, the Republic of Genoa should have been rebuilt at that time.

It was only the performance of the Kingdom of Sardinia that deceived His Majesty Franz and the European countries, which gave the Kingdom of Sardinia what it should not have given out of the sake of friendship and trust.

However, the Kingdom of Sardinia has betrayed this trust, so it makes sense that we should take it back. ”

Boist said lightly, directly denying the results of the Vienna Conference.

After speaking, without waiting for Conrad to reply, he continued: "Do you have any objections? ”

Naturally, there is no dissent, and peace talks with all friendly forces are fast.

If the British are invited, I am afraid that it will not be over in ten days and half a month.

And Conrad's chatter was of course ignored, and the Kingdom of Sardinia, from which even Genoa was dismantled, was on par with Belgium in strength, and no one cared.

Seeing that there was no objection, Boist continued: "Genoese independence will certainly take some time, and Austria-Hungary will oversee their independence process during this time, and assist them in organizing their parliament. ”

This is quite blatant, Genoa was an independent city-state for hundreds of years, and the city council was quite mature, where did Austria-Hungary need help.

Boist's implication was to reorganize the new city council, and the people who would come to power would have been all pro-Austrian, which would be tantamount to establishing a puppet state.

After saying this, Boist looked at Alfonso, after all, Spain was the great power that had the greatest influence on Genoa in history, and if anyone was most likely to question this, it was only Spain.

But before Alfonso could speak, the Duke of Gramont of France directly objected:

"I think the locals can form their own parliament to make sure that Genoa is rebuilt according to the will of the people.

This would prevent them from having the idea of reintegrating into the Kingdom of Sardinia. ”

Obviously, there is no room for snoring on the side of the couch, and Genoa not only shares a direct border with the south of France, but also has a large deep-water port that can accommodate dozens of large warships.

If it were to fall completely to Austria-Hungary, whether it was the deployment of warships or the entry into France through Genoa, the threat would be too great.

From Genoa, the army could touch Marseille in two hours and attack the port of Toulon, the home port of the Mediterranean Fleet, in four hours.

Even if France is in turmoil, there is no room for compromise.

"The city councils of Genoa currently only govern Genoa and do not have the capacity to govern the whole of Liguria in the short term." "Austria-Hungary was not going to take this opportunity to militarize it," Boist explained. ”

But the Duke of Gramont had no intention of compromising at all, and the borders with Spain and Italy did not matter much, and France fought both of them.

But it would be very dangerous to lose a buffer with Austria-Hungary.

France has already experienced the feeling of bordering a great power in the north and does not want to experience it again in the south.

The two immediately engaged in a series of debates on this issue, but neither could convince anyone.

Boist could not have treated France the same way he had done with the Kingdom of Sardinia, and if France had really felt a real threat, it would have been possible to start a preventive war in the south, perhaps after the Franco-Prussian War.

And Austria-Hungary really did not take advantage of this matter, Genoa was Spain's traditional sphere of influence, and occasionally the two sides had a disagreement, and France would replace Spain.

In short, it has nothing to do with Austria-Hungary in any way, and the former HRE is at most an important trade partner for them.

Seeing that it could not be resolved, the two sides immediately decided to continue the discussion the next day.

During the recess, Alfonso had a friendly meal with Emperor Franz and met the Emperor's younger brother, Archduke Ludwig.

However, he was unable to meet Gisela, and the Emperor claimed that she was "shy" and would arrange another time for them to meet.

However, Alfonso didn't care about this, his main regret was that he didn't meet the famous Princess Sissi, a possible mother-in-law in the future.

The other party has been going back and forth between Vienna and Budapest for several years, and it happened that he was in Budapest at this time, so Alfonso missed one of the two European beauties.

Thankfully, he was relieved by the Emperor's enthusiasm, and not only did they catch a night horse race, but they also agreed to go on a hunt after the meeting, so that Alfonso could fulfill his promise to Rudolph.