Paris, France.

The Bonapartists were adamantly opposed to the preconditions of the negotiations put forward by the German Confederation, since Alsace-Lorraine was French territory, so why should the French army have to withdraw from the region along with the German army.

However, Louis Philippe did not care about these trivial issues, and he would not suffer a loss by withdrawing both sides at the same time, not to mention that the coalition forces had already taken the lead in withdrawing from Alsace-Lorraine in order to show their sincerity in negotiations.

So Louis Philippe, without the approval of the Reichstag, agreed to the terms of negotiations with the German Confederation early on.

The Bonapartists felt humiliated to sue for peace without fighting, while the Orthodox seized the opportunity to criticize Louis Philippe for his weakness and incompetence, while the Orleanists were concerned about the king's increasing interference in the affairs of the state.

(Actually, the July Dynasty was a constitutional monarchy, but the king's power was not small, and he was not a complete mascot, and Louis Philippe could theoretically dissolve parliament, appoint and dismiss the prime minister, and bypass parliament and issue edicts.) ）

The Bonapartist and Orthodox factions were the traditional opposition within the July Dynasty, and their reaction was understandable, while the Orleanists were interest groups deeply tied to Louis Philippe and even the July Dynasty.

But since Louis Philippe's youngest son became engaged to the theoretical Queen of Spain, he was no longer the marionette of the financial capitalists.

After all, power breeds ambition, and once you have tried to have power, it is difficult to quit it.

However, Louis Philippe himself did not feel that he was weak, or even that he was suing for peace, but that he was only making some kind of agreement with the German Confederation.

As for things that are unconstitutional, if you do too much, you will get used to it.

In Louis Philippe's view, the Bonapartists were a bunch of fools who did not succeed enough to lose, especially Jean Durde's manipulation, which directly caused France to lose the province of Namur (the French-speaking part of Belgium), which made Louis Philippe even more convinced of this.

Those people who are nostalgic for the former glory of France all day long, why don't they go to accompany Napoleon?

The short-sighted Corsican dwarf would only betray his country and cede the lands of France to the Americans, while he, the real King of France, Louis Philippe, would take back what France had lost from the Americans and the Mexicans.

One is a traitor to death, the other is a victor who expands the territory, and in contrast, the Orleans dynasty is far superior to Napoleon's empire.

The delegation of the German Confederation sailed from Vienna to the French port of Toulon via Genoa in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

As soon as Metternich stepped off the ship, he was greeted warmly by the French, and the promenade of four guns and 140 cavalrymen was of high standard, but it was full of uncomfortable feelings.

Later, the Bonapartist officials ordered the "Marseillaise" to be played, and although Louis Philippe ascended to the throne with the barricades and the "Marseillaise" during the July Revolution of 1830, it was still a taboo for a kingdom.

With the impassioned "La Marseillaise" sounding, the Bonapartist faction achieved its goal of humiliating Austria.

But they seem to have forgotten one thing, and that is that the original name of the "Marseillaise" is "The Anthem of the Rhine Legion", and it also has a German name called "March to the Rhine", and even the first place where the song was sung was Alsace-Lorraine.

At this time, the face of Heinrich von Büellott, the representative of Prussia, became very ugly, you must know that the Rhine region at this time was the territory of Prussia, and Prussia was also beaten badly during the Napoleonic Wars, so this song not only insulted Austria, but also insulted Prussia.

The other representatives of the German Confederation were equally unsightly, and they all had a strong opinion of the piece, since the German region had been the object of French ravages for centuries.

Metternich was completely unmoved and calm, after all, he had experienced a scene that was 10,000 times more humiliating than this.

But in any case, this "Marseillaise" did temporarily unite the previous negotiating group of the German Confederation.

Later, the French official arrogantly introduced to the German delegation the "crystallization of French wisdom" -- a train with a speed of up to 30 kilometers per hour, and he deliberately added an accent to the word train.

Although the French officials said it seriously, the German delegates thought it was a joke and keenly captured the "joke", after all, telling a joke is one of the stereotypes that the Germans have left to the world.

Naturally, a group of people representing the country can't laugh too presumptuously, but the scene of holding back laughter makes the French feel even more uncomfortable.

"What's so funny about that? Don't you know that laughing in public is a sign of unculture? ”

The delegates of the German Confederation reacted to the insulting questioning of the French officials, and then their faces appeared with even more contemptuous smiles.

Prince Metternich didn't speak to the young French official at all, but went directly past him and whispered a few words to the French Foreign Ministry official who was in charge of receiving him on the trip, and then patted the other man on the shoulder.

The latter immediately sweated profusely, and even took out a handkerchief and wiped it back and forth on his bare forehead, bowing and thanking Metternich in the direction he had left.

The rest of the negotiation team did not have the qualifications and authority of His Royal Highness, and they replied one after another.

"The slowest speed of our trains in the German Confederation is 40 kilometers per hour, and the speed of the latest test car is close to 60 kilometers per hour. Frog at the bottom of the well! ”

"The crystallization of French wisdom!"

"Train!"

"Thirty kilometers is a fast speed!"

In fact, initially Germany and especially North Germany lagged far behind France in terms of railway and train technology.

The first steam railways in France were only four kilometers per hour, and before that they were even horse-pulled, but in Austria the situation was about the same.

When the first railway in North Germany opened, the Adler, the first train, had a speed of only eight kilometers per hour and a traction capacity of only 550 kilograms.

It's just that it was quickly replaced by more advanced Austrian products, which did not make much of an impression.

However, due to Franz's intervention, the railway technology in Germany climbed very quickly, and it was able to be on par with Britain in the early days, and then it was overtaking in corners.

The invention of the rebloated steam engine made the dream of 60 kilometers per hour easily a reality.

However, after reaching speeds of 60 kilometers per hour, Franz urgently cut back on his desire to use steam power to continue accelerating.

Because Franz knew where the upper limit of this machinery was, although the British had developed a steam locomotive with a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour, it could only run for a short time and was not practical at all.

Considering efficiency and practicality, Franz felt that sixty kilometers per hour would be enough, and the rest of the money could be used to study a newer mode of "internal combustion engine".

Of course, the steam train is not without research, but the weight can be relatively reduced, giving way to more urgent technology.

Although Franz did not know where the upper limit of the steam engine was, he had seen the kind of green train, which was fifty or sixty kilometers per hour.

In the era of the internal combustion engine, the speed of the train will be able to steadily exceed 100 kilometers.

At this time, the Austrian Empire's land area in Europe was only more than 700 square kilometers, only 700 kilometers from north to south, and 1,400 kilometers from east to west.

(End of chapter)