It had been almost a month since Russia took over the suzerainty of Romania, because of this incident there was another Ottoman coup d'état, and the original Sultan Aziz was ousted by the opposition.

Even the opposition, anticipating that Russia might intervene, sent people to surround the Russian embassy in advance, resulting in the failure of Aziz's remaining behind-the-scenes handy.

Fortunately, Aziz's ending was not the most tragic one, at least he did not lose his life, but he was temporarily placed under house arrest in Istanbul, and no one cared about him after the handover was completed.

The new sultan is Murad V, a 31-year-old who is Aziz's nephew.

Unlike his uncle, his anti-Russian position was much more determined.

The Ottoman transition of power had a significant impact on the situation in the Near East, but there has been a lot of news in Europe lately, resulting in very few people paying attention to this far-away eastern country.

The most striking news at this time was the coronation of the Pope by the King of Spain in Rome.

After Isabella announced her abdication, Alfonso only gave a succession speech in France, which can barely be regarded as a succession ceremony, and the real coronation ceremony has been delayed again and again, and it has not been completed until now.

He was also the first Spanish king to be crowned "God's crown" and "patron of Rome".

Europeans exclaimed that this was a precursor to the Spanish Revival.

In fact, Spain's international standing had improved significantly during this period, and after the dismemberment of Italy along with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Spain was re-regarded as a standard European power, almost on a par with Prussia.

Unless Prussia truly won the Franco-Prussian War and completed the integration of Germany, it could be said to be overpowering Spain.

The impact of the increase in international status was multifaceted, such as the British quietly increasing the number of troops in Gibraltar and the Portuguese preferring to work in Spain.

The main thing, of course, is that the anti-Spanish stance of South American countries is gradually dissolving, at least Colombia, Peru and Uruguay have sent representatives to Alfonso's coronation.

Countries such as Chile and Argentina did not send official representatives, but some liberals came, either as partisans or in private capacities.

Alfonso was very pleased with this, not that he wanted to return to South America or anything, it was too early to talk about that, the main thing was that he could find a way to do business with South America.

Prior to this, the South American countries had tacitly boycotted trade with Spain, fearing that Spain would take the opportunity to interfere with their independence.

But now that Spain's power seems to be growing again, everyone's minds inevitably come alive, and they all have the idea of hugging their thighs.

As for the issue of interference with independence...... To be honest, most of these South American countries don't care very much, one is that Spain simply does not have the strength to do so, and the other is that their independent life is not as happy as they imagined.

Since the first half of the year, many countries in South America have been under the rule of the "caudillo" system, which is a system in which large landowners rely on force to build estates and then exchange agricultural products for foreign industrial products, which can be called a military dictatorship with South American characteristics.

The rulers of these countries should still be constitutional, and they will build roads to some extent, but more to the detriment of the public and private interests and the maintenance of the rule, and coups d'état are the norm if they disagree.

There was almost no development in industry, not even in agriculture, and roughly calculated that the unit of agricultural output had fallen by at least 20% compared to when Spain left.

This life seems to be the same as it was under Spanish rule, so most of the people are not very concerned about the question of independence or not, the economy is the most important, it is best to be independent, and it doesn't matter if you can't.

It's just that most of the people in power now are Caudillo supporters, who are staunch anti-Spaniards, which makes Spain seem unpopular.

After a day of coronation, Alfonso was tired enough, but physically not tired, mainly mentally, who can withstand the hundreds of people he knows a day, not to mention a large list of names, but also to understand their identities and political positions.

Just as Alfonso was about to go to rest, the Austro-Hungarian Prime Minister Boist suddenly found him in a corridor.

The two of them found a room and retired the guards, so Boist was not at ease, he carefully checked to make sure that no one was eavesdropping, and then said: "We are going to do it on March 6th." ”

Alfonso bowed slightly, in fact, he had an idea when he heard that Boist would come to the coronation in person, and the two also made eye contact during the day, but they couldn't find the opportunity to be alone.

"Russia, you've got it?" Alfonso frowned, he had expected Austria-Hungary to act in April, and if Russia was too deterrent, it was not known that Austria-Hungary would abandon this idea, after all, the South German issue was not about the survival of the empire.

"No, how is it possible, we don't even dare to negotiate, because we are afraid of leaking the news." Boist smiled wryly.

There are only 6 people who know about the plan to start a war against Austria-Hungary, including Alfonso, and strict secrecy means that they cannot take any diplomatic action for this purpose, and once the idea of reaching some agreement with Russia is revealed, I am afraid that the whole of Europe will not know about it the next day.

"The Russians have been particularly slow to react, and they will not necessarily be in the heat of Prussia, as long as they can achieve their operational objectives within two weeks, the risk will be kept within an acceptable range," Boist said. ”

As he said this, Boist exuded a strong sense of self-confidence, apparently completely emerging from the shadow of the Brothers' War.

At this time, Prussia's garrison on the Austro-Prussian border was 190,000, and Austria-Hungary's was 210,000, which was almost the same.

But Austria-Hungary still has nearly 400,000 troops in other regions, some of which will be used to defend against Russia, and the remaining 200,000 will probably be able to quickly enter the battle.

And Prussia already had no field forces to mobilize.

That is, in a short time Austria-Hungary would have twice the superiority of forces over Prussia, which was precisely the source of Boist's confidence.

Alfonso asked: "Winning South Germany is a victory?" ”

"Take South Germany and make peace." Boist corrected.

Alfonso nodded, this group of people really dare to bet, one by one they think that they can defeat their opponents in a short time, Bismarck is like this, Na three is like this, and the same is true of this one in front of them.

In other words, if you want to gain benefits within the framework of the balance of power in Europe, there is an element of gambling to some extent.

"Is there anything I need to do?"

Boist shook his head: "No need for the time being, just keep the agreement to tell you, Spain only needs to let General Prim maintain military deterrence in Strasbourg, and the attack will be completed by Austria-Hungary." ”

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