The news of Taixi in all aspects has been continuously transmitted back to Daming through the channels of the League of Nations, the diplomatic channels of the Daming Honglu Temple, and the news channels of the West Factory.

Zhu Jingyuan is basically able to understand the current situation in the Taixi Continent at any time.

After the morning of February 25 in the first year of the Great A.D., Zhu Jingyuan left several important officials behind.

In the small conference room next to the emperor's office, Lu Liang, the governor of Xichang, first reported the latest news:

A summary of the information from Italy and Prussia shows that Italy was eventually co-opted by the Prussians.

Now Prussia, Lucia, and Italy have officially decided to sign an agreement against France, Great Britain, and Austria.

At the same time, the Austrians, feeling threatened, wanted to co-opt the Ottomans to join them, as Lucia had made clear her cooperation with Prussia.

"Britain, France, Austria as a bloc, again signed another mutual defense agreement with the Ottomans.

"But there is not much interest in this matter in Britain and France.

"Because the Ottomans were Lucia's main target, and Lucia was far from France and England.

"There will be no direct conflict with each other in the short term."

Zhu Jingyuan sighed softly after listening:

"Italians are ambitious after all, probably because they have been too successful over the years.

"Now I want to get the land along the coast of the Great Qin Sea, and then I want to rebuild Rome.

"In this way, the situation in the Taixi countries is probably three against three.

"Then it will be up to Osman to feel the situation and the threat and make some decisions as soon as possible.

"But until Lucia gets rid of Norway and Sweden, they won't be a direct threat.

"By the way, how are Lucia doing in Norway? Have there been any major changes in the past two days? ”

Lu Liang immediately replied:

"By the last message in the early hours of this morning, the Lucians had occupied half of Norway and Sweden.

"At the moment, the speed of the Lucian front's advance has not been substantially hindered.

"It is expected that it will be captured in two months at most."

Zhu Jingyuan casually gave a summary:

That is, the Ottomans still have a maximum of two months of security.

"But now, if the Lucians were in a hurry, they might soon be able to start their war propaganda against the Ottomans.

"Because Osman is also a member of the alliance, Lucia also has to go through the process of attacking Osman.

"Make your attitude clear at least a month in advance.

"So Honglu Temple pays a little attention to it, and reports the situation at any time."

Shen Fu, the great uncle in charge of culture and diplomacy, immediately came out and bowed down and agreed:

"The minister has written it down."

When Zhu Jingyuan saw Shen Fu, he continued to ask another question:

"Mr. Shen thinks that if we now come forward to mediate the contradictions between Prussia and Austria through the platform of the League of Nations.

The Ming supported the unification of the German regions and proposed that Prussia and Austria merge to form a united empire.

Then, the existing monarchs of Prussia and Austria, who were also emperors of the new united empire, followed the traditional Roman model of two-emperor co-governance.

"The German regions of Austria were to be given over to the Hohenzollern of Prussia, and the wishes of the German people would be fulfilled

Prussia ceded a piece of the land it had acquired from Poland to Austria in exchange and compensation.

"What are the probabilities of Prussia and Austria accepting such terms of settlement?"

Shen Fu thought about it for a while and said:

"I thought that if it had been half a month ago, the probability of Prussia and Austria accepting mediation would have reached three or four percent.

"At that time, the attitude of Prussia and Austria to the unification was just being expressed, and the final preparations for war had not yet been completed.

"But it was already very difficult for the Austrians to cede Austria.

"So the success rate can't be very high.

"As for now, there should be only one or two percent left, or even lower.

"In the name of the War of Unification, Prussia has already made large-scale domestic sales of new state bonds, as well as large-scale loans to private capital in the country.

"At the same time, large-scale orders for military supplies have been placed, and the army of the whole country is ready to go.

"Austria has also completed the decentralization of power within its borders and has achieved a high degree of local self-government reform, which is irreversible.

"War has reached the point where it has to be attacked.

"Unless the Ming Dynasty directly threatens to force the two countries to cease all existing hostilities, the war cannot be stopped."

After listening to this, Zhu Jingyuan said with satisfaction:

"That's good, then let Honglu Temple contact Lucia, Prussia, Austria, France, and Britain, and say that the Ming Dynasty will come forward to mediate Prussian-Austrian relations.

Then Mr. Shen personally went to the headquarters of the League of Nations, and in the presence of all the members of the League, he came up with a compromise condition.

"That's what I just said, the Austro-Prussian merger to form a united empire, and implement the co-rule of the two emperors.

The Ministry of Rites came forward and publicized it in the main media to explain the attitude of the Ming Dynasty.

"It is necessary to make it clear to the people at home and abroad that in any form of national war, it is the broad masses of people who suffer.

"The fundamental attitude of the Ming Dynasty and the League of Nations has always been to avoid war as much as possible.

For this reason, both the Ming Emperor and the Ming court suggested that the two countries resolve the current dispute between the two countries through peaceful negotiations.

"If both countries don't accept it, then make their responses and decisions public.

"It means that Daming and the alliance have done their best."

Shen Fu agreed seriously with a smile on his face:

"The people of the world must be grateful for Your Majesty's mercy, and the ministers will arrange it as soon as they return, does Your Majesty have any other instructions?"

Zhu Jingyuan thought for a while and said:

"As I said before, remember to make good use of video, audio and photographic equipment, and let the Ministry of Rites Archives keep records.

"Don't worry about the cost, it's something to treasure in the future.

"In the future, television will enter thousands of households, and in the future, different people will be able to directly witness the past history through video and audio recordings.

"Past history is only recorded with a pen and a knife, and it is easy to be affected by the emotions of the people who recorded it.

"And the video and audio recordings are real, as long as the whole thing is released, there is no doubt about it."

Shen Fu responded quite seriously this time:

"The minister must keep in mind that he must use images and sounds to record data."

After the meeting, Shen Fu immediately returned to his office and summoned the relevant personnel to arrange the work.

Prepare the things asked by Zhu Jingyuan as quickly as possible and start to implement them.

In the early morning of the second day of Taixi, diplomats from Prussia, Austria and other countries received news from the Daming Honglu Temple and the League of Nations.

These people did not dare to delay, and immediately went to inform the prime minister of their country, and asked the prime minister to inform the monarch again.

King William III of Prussia summoned his own principal ministers for consultation:

"What does Da Ming mean by this? How to mediate at this time?

"Can't the old gentlemen of Daming see that it is impossible for us to stop?

And on this, Da Ming did not directly give any direct warning.

"Didn't say that if we didn't accept mediation, then they would directly send troops to intervene in Yunyun......"

Chancellor Stein first stated his thoughts:

"The minister thinks there are two possibilities, one is that Da Ming really doesn't want a large-scale war to break out in Taixi.

"The second is to erect an image of pursuing peace and striving to maintain world order, and wanting a good reputation.

"If the relevant news is then widely publicized in Daming and Europa, it may be the second type.

"Of course, it may also be in both directions, and the Ming Emperor may indeed not want a war, and at the same time make a good reputation."

The Chief of the General Staff, Gneisenau, followed suit:

"There is also a possibility that they are preparing in advance an excuse to take the initiative to enter the war......

"The Ming Dynasty is also mobilizing for war, and although it may be relatively low in proportion, the scale is far larger than that of all Europa countries.

"Daming now has 10 million armed forces, and it may be increased to 20 million after the mobilization is completed.

"At the same time, the level of equipment and training is not lower than ours.

"Today, we and Lucia and Italy combined are not the opponents of Daming.

Of course, the Ming people also understand this.

"So this level of strength is also the basis for the other party to have nothing to fear.

"That's why they don't interfere too much in our operations, and they don't care much about our military operations in Tessie."

When Wilhelm III heard Stein's analysis, his mood was slightly relaxed.

After hearing Gneisenau's analysis, he panicked a little:

"That'...... What is the possibility of Daming entering the war?

"Under what circumstances might Da Ming enter the war?"

Gneisenau said directly:

"The likelihood of Daming entering the war is not high, and there is no change from what we initially analyzed.

"The purpose of war mobilization is first and foremost to defend, and then to realize their ideal of surrendering without a fight.

"In the case of Daming's direct participation in the war, I think it is still Lucia who declared war on Daming.

"Before we and Lucia take the initiative to attack Daming, Daming should not take the initiative to participate in our war.

"Especially now after this mediation, it will definitely not be, otherwise Daming will say it directly.

"If we don't accept it, then they will send troops.

"At the same time, both our intelligence system, and the actual reaction of the British, French and Ming.

All show that the actions of Britain and France were not supported by the Ming Dynasty.

"The threat to Austrian independence between the two countries was their own decision and had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty."

William III once again put his mind at ease:

"Then go ahead and prepare according to the predetermined plan.

"In addition, arrange for someone to go to the headquarters of the League of Nations to cooperate with the mediation process of Daming.

"But to make it clear, you have to get all the German regions, especially Austria,

"Austria...... It is impossible for the current Austro-Hungarian Empire to accept such conditions.

"So let the negotiations break down as soon as possible and start the war at the scheduled time."

As Zhu Jingyuan and Shen Fu and William III predicted, mediation was certainly not likely to succeed.

The Prussians thought they could get everything through war, so they could not accept a territorial exchange.

The Austrians, on the other hand, had already moved closer to France and England, believing that they would not lose the war, and therefore could not abandon Austria proper.

The negotiations, as William III had said, broke down quickly and as a matter of course.

The news spread quickly throughout the day.

Almost all cultural people, people who read newspapers regularly, and people who listen to the radio, know that the Ming Dynasty intervened to mediate, and as a result, the mediation failed.

Prussia and Austria rejected the terms of the merger of the two countries proposed by the Ming Dynasty.

Britain and France issued a counter-war threat, and if Prussia declared war on Austria, then they would declare war on France.

Lucia and Italy also gave the same threat, and if Britain and France entered the war, Italy and Lucia would also join the war.

Everyone already knows that a large-scale civil war with Tessy is imminent.

The prices of daily necessities in various countries have experienced a small increase in the past month or so.

But they were all suppressed by the royal families and the imperial courts.

On the eve of the imminent war, the government, which still has power, will not allow the private sector to soar wildly.

Even, in order to stabilize the situation in Prussia and Lucia, the imperial court also took the initiative to suppress the prices of various daily necessities.

This is to use all the power of foreign war.

The same is true of neighbouring Austria and France.

And Lucia is pushing the front in full force in Scandinavia.

It was not until midnight on March 15 that Prussia officially sent a message declaring war on Austria.

It was transmitted by telegram to the Ming Dynasty, the League of Nations, Austria and related countries.

It was transmitted through radio to large and small city radio stations.

Everyone knew that the war had officially begun.

At the forefront of the confrontation between Prussia and Austria, the Prussian air force and army artillery launched an offensive in the early morning.

The bombardment of the Austrian positions lasted six hours.

When the sky was dark, the ground forces, with armored combat vehicles as the main force, officially launched an offensive.

The Austrian local forces were more prepared than the Danish side, and were local garrisons directly organized by the local powers.

However, after all, the organizational structure of this army has undergone large-scale adjustments in the past two months.

It was still a little chaotic and not as well trained as the Prussian army.

On the battlefield, although it was not as defeated by a surprise attack as the Danes, it was instantaneous.

But it was also beaten by the Prussians, and basically had no power to fight back.

Moreover, Prussia's new tactics of air-ground co-ordination were still in force here in Austria.

Even if the besieged stronghold did not rout immediately, it was only a matter of time before it surrendered after losing its back route and supplies.

Prussia declared war on Austria, and the pressure of public opinion at the diplomatic level came to the heads of the French and British.

According to the pre-war commitments, the two countries were to declare war directly on Prussia.

At the same time, the Austrian ambassador to the two countries also came directly to the court and the monarchs of the two countries to ask for an audience, demanding that the two countries fulfill their promises.