"Mr. Cavour, the Kingdom of Britain will never help the Kingdom of Sardinia in any war of aggression!"

Prince Albert's categorical remarks made Cavour feel a little disappointed.

Fortunately, however, it was all within Cavour's expectations.

After all, the current Kingdom of Britain is already the most powerful country in the whole of Europe, and indeed in the whole world.

Rash participation in a war in Europe that does not belong to Britain will only shake the hegemony of the Kingdom of Britain.

At this stage, no country can really threaten the maritime supremacy on which the Kingdom of Britain depends, not even the navy of the French Empire, and they are only able to outrank the Kingdom of Britain in technology by virtue of their first-mover advantage.

In terms of the number of naval fleets, the current fleet of the French Empire is simply not able to radiate all the seas, and he can only influence the Mediterranean region.

If the French Empire's navy was to achieve global success, the French Empire would have to spend as much money as the Kingdom of Britain.

However, the French Empire was unable to make such a determination, and their geographical location dictated that the center of gravity of the French Empire must be the army, and the purpose of the navy was only to protect its rights in the Mediterranean.

Therefore, although the Kingdom of Britain was afraid of the strength of the French Empire's navy, it would not rashly exacerbate the conflict in the whole of Europe because of this.

The forces of the Apennine Peninsula are intricately intertwined, and the slightest mistake can sink deep into the quagmire.

Only by maintaining the relative balance of the European continent can the fundamental interests of the Kingdom of Britain be truly safeguarded.

The prospect promised by Cavour was wonderful, but the price it would take to make it happen was something that the Kingdom of Britain was unwilling to bear.

"Your Majesty, I naturally understand your country's determination to maintain peace in Europe!" Cavour said to Prince Albert with a sincere expression, "But the current peace in Europe is not based on the principle of continental equilibrium, but on the mood of the Emperor of the French Empire!"

The current French Empire has a sphere of influence that goes beyond what was agreed in the Vienna Agreement.

Württemberg, Baden, and Bavaria did not need to rely on the French Empire, and Belgium and the Netherlands, which were supposed to be the vanguard of the anti-French Empire, had no choice but to cooperate with the French Empire.

His Majesty the Third Napoleon had now extended the influence of France into the reign of Emperor Napoleon, and his methods were more tactful than those of his uncle.

I fear that if the French Empire is not restricted, I am afraid that the Kingdom of Britain will be ......."

At this, Cavour suddenly closed his mouth, he knew that some words could not come out of his own mouth, and Prince Albert had to think for himself.

Prince Albert naturally understood the meaning of the second half of Cavour's sentence.

After the Crimean War, the French Empire, which had returned to the hegemony of Europe on land, changed the aggressive attitude of the Napoleonic Empire and turned to the use of monarchical friendship, economic support, military cooperation and other methods to increase exchanges with European countries.

As a result, the members of the South German vassal states (mainly the Kingdom of Württemberg and the German Bavaria), the Kingdom of Spain, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands were eager to cooperate with the French Empire.

During the cooperation between the two sides, the French Empire did tell them with practical actions that it was indeed beneficial to follow the French Empire

For example, when the Kingdom of Württemberg and the Kingdom of Bavaria wanted to issue railway bonds, the enthusiastic Perel brothers took over the task of guaranteeing the issuance of railway bonds on the Paris Stock Exchange.

During the military campaign between the Kingdom of Spain and the French Empire against Morocco, it was Jérôme Bonaparte who led the division of northern Morocco to the Kingdom of Spain.

The establishment of a coal and iron alliance with the Kingdom of Belgium has won unanimous praise from the miners in the Kingdom of Belgium.

……

The French Empire has shown the outside world with practical actions that the French Empire is responsible.

Compared to Britain, which chooses to stay out of the way when it encounters problems

The kingdom, the French Empire, can indeed be called a relatively qualified European ***.

As long as the French Empire had chosen to wage large-scale wars in Europe, as it had done during the Napoleonic period, it would have been difficult for the Kingdom of Britain to gain the favor of the middle powers over the French Empire.

Thinking of this, Prince Albert was a little resentful of Palmerston at the beginning.

Had it not been for Palmerston's insistence on completely weakening the Russian Empire, the diplomatic space of the Kingdom of Britain would have been much more flexible.

Poland, which gained independence from the Russian Empire, Austria from Russia, and Sweden, which received Norway from Russia, did not want to see the Russian Empire rise again, and they had formed a paramilitary alliance to defend against the Russian Empire

If the Kingdom of Britain had not chosen to unite with the Russian Empire to contain the French Empire, the three countries would inevitably have chosen to side with the French Empire under military pressure.

It is even more impossible to count on the Kingdom of Prussia in Central Europe to fight against the French Empire.

The brief conflict that took place in Germany a few years ago had already made the Kingdom of Britain "see" the military strength of the Kingdom of Prussia.

With the exception of Jérôme Bonaparte, none of the countries considered the Kingdom of Prussia to be equal to that of Britain, France and Austria.

Considering the fact that the countries of Central and Western Europe had gradually turned the French Empire towards the French Empire, Prince Albert's attitude was not as decisive as it had been at the beginning.

"Mr. Cavour, I admit that there is some truth to what you just said!" Prince Albert first nodded in acknowledgment of Cavour,

Then he turned his hands out to Cavour and said, "But I cannot convince the British people to confront the Austrian Empire head-on for the benefit of the Kingdom of Sardinia!"

By the way, there is a good chance that it will also fight against the French Empire!

My attitude has not changed at all, and the Kingdom of Britain is willing to guarantee the security of the Kingdom of Sardinia without taking the initiative to invade other countries!"

Speaking of this, Prince Albert paused, and said with a meaningful smile on the corner of his mouth, "That is to say, as long as the Kingdom of Sardinia does not officially act to disturb the Italian peninsula, then the Kingdom of Britain is still willing to vouch for the safety of the Kingdom of Sardinia!"

Prince Albert's addendum doesn't seem to be much different at first glance than it did at first.

But for a man as smart as Cavour, Prince Albert's hint was enough to represent a loosening of the attitude of the Kingdom of Britain.

"Your Majesty, thank you very much for the selfless help that the Kingdom of Britain has given to the Kingdom of Sardinia!" Cavour got up excitedly and bowed to Prince Albert.

"Mr. Cavour, what are you talking about!" Albert asked Cavour with a deliberate look of bewilderment, and then emphatically said, "I didn't say anything!"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured!" Cavour reassured Albert that "the Kingdom of Sardinia will not cause trouble to the Kingdom of Britain!"

At this moment, Victor Umberto, who was sitting on the side, still did not understand what Prince Albert promised Cavour, which made Cavour so happy.

However, now was not the time to ask Cavour, and Victor Umberto could only wait for his patience to leave Windsor Castle before asking

After discussing important issues, Cavour shifted the subject.

Cavour began to talk about Prince Albert's interest, and before they knew it, the two talked about literature, which made Prince Albert, who already had a literary heart, smile from the bottom of his mouth.

As Cavour and Albert completely shifted the topic to the field of literature, Victor Umberto, who had never spoken, couldn't help but comment on a few sentences, which couldn't help but surprise Prince Albert.

"At your age, there are very few royals willing to devote their energy to literature!" Prince Albert couldn't help but praise Victor Umberto.

Victor Umberto replied shyly, "Your Majesty, you have overdone it!"

Subsequently, Albert asked Victor Umberto some questions about literature, and Victor Umberto responded to Prince Albert one by one.

Such a harmonious scene made a strategy suddenly come to Cavour's mind, and he decided to test Prince Albert.

When Prince Albert's question and answer with Victor Umberto was over, Cavour asked tactfully, "Your Majesty, I have heard that your second daughter is not yet engaged, is that true?"

Prince Albert immediately knew Cavour's subtext after hearing Cavour's inquiry, and he subconsciously glanced at Victor Umberto with scrutiny.

Victor Umberto straightened up slightly and accepted Prince Albert's scrutiny

I have to say that Victor Umberto does meet Prince Albert's standards from the outside, but the marriage between the royal families is not simply pleasing to the eye, it must be judged in time

Especially in an ambitious country like the Kingdom of Sardinia, it is difficult for the British royal family to marry with it without being influenced by the Kingdom of Sardinia

The upside, of course, was that the Kingdom of Sardinia could quickly change from pro-French to pro-British, thus undermining French hegemony in the Mediterranean.

After a brief moment of thought, Prince Albert decided not to reply for the time being, and that the matter would have to be decided in consultation with the Cabinet.

Otherwise, the Cabinet would have seen the royal family as bent on drawing Britain into conflict.

"Mr. Cavour, it's true that Alice (Victoria's second daughter) is not engaged yet, and we are also considering Alice's marriage!" Prince Albert replied to Cavour.

"If you don't mind, can you put our prince on the list of candidates?" Cavour bluntly asks about being Erbert

"This...... The Royal Family and the Cabinet will consider your proposal!"

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