"Your Majesty, it's been eighteen years."

Archduke Karl replied.

In fact, eighteen years ago, the meeting between the two sides was not pleasant.

Louis Philippe had just ascended to the throne of France through the Revolution, and Archduke Karl brought not a blessing, but a threat.

Austria, after all, was an imperial state, and it did not want an outlier around it.

However, due to the limited national power of the Austrian Empire at that time, and the fact that the Great Powers had their own agendas, those threats were only a joke after all.

Now, eighteen years later, they are on the same side, and the past is a laughing thing to be done.

"Please don't call me Your Majesty anymore, I'm no longer the King of France. The Count of Paris was, but they drove him out.

I'm just the Duke of Alsace-Lorraine now.

I can keep the power I have now, thanks to Archduke Franz."

Louis Philippe deliberately sorted out the wording, but it really didn't fit too well, so it seemed a little awkward.

However, he was still very grateful to Franz, after all, fleeing to Alsace-Lorraine did retain some of his power and avoid the same fate as Louis XVI.

Since Louis Philippe did not flee to England as he has historically done, and the French Provisional Government has been in a state of flux, they are eager to boost the morale of the former French king.

Repeated attacks and assassinations convinced Louis Philippe that the Second French Republic would not spare him.

So Louis Philippe did not turn down an invitation to Innsbruck.

Although his two sons are still in Algeria, it is simply wishful thinking to rely on that amount of troops to counterattack the French mainland.

"Your Majesty, this is what we should do. In this difficult time, it is more important for us to help each other than to fall into the trap. ”

"You're so right! Archduke Franz, I think you invited me here more than just to visit this industrial city, right? ”

"Of course. It's also for your safety. ”

"Huh, huh?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Along the way you came, we have excluded at least three batches of assassins for you. ”

Franz shouted outside the door, "Monsieur Bordeaux, please bring someone in." ”

After a while, Bordeaux walked in with a man who had been tied up with flowers.

"What is this?"

Louis Philippe still had this bit of the city, he just asked seemingly casually.

But this was expected by Franz, he said calmly.

"If you look closely, you must be familiar with this person."

Louis Philippe took his reading glasses out of the box and pretended to look at them nonchalantly.

But he quickly widened his eyes, and then said in a tone that trembled with anger.

"You're Girard?"

The tied man kept his head down and said nothing.

Girard Freys, one of Louis Philippe's most trusted captains of the guard.

"In Bern, they're going to send you up with a bomb at your hotel."

Colonel Bordeaux explained that, after all, it was an acquaintance who committed the crime, and if it was not explained clearly in time, I was afraid that it would be misunderstood by Louis Philippe as something else.

As soon as Bordeaux said this, Louis Philippe immediately remembered that there had been a lot of noise downstairs that night in Bern, and that there had been a shootout in the street afterwards, which had kept him awake all night.

And Girard Frey has obviously gone to England

Could it be that the British are going to assassinate themselves?

Louis Philippe was clearly overthinking, and Girard Frey was supposed to go to England to complete the task given to the latter by the former.

However, Girard Frey had long been targeted by the French Provisional Government, rebelling against him on his way to England, and learning of Louis Philippe's course of action.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. Please forgive me! ”

Girard Frey heard Louis Philippe's voice and immediately prayed as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.

The reason why Louis Philippe came close to him before was because the interrogation method of this era was basically torture.

Beating people to the point of confusion is just a routine operation.

However, Louis Philippe did not want to pity such a traitor, and for whatever reason, Girard Frey lived up to Louis Philippe's trust.

"Don't call me Your Majesty, go find your new master!"

Louis Philippe kicks Girard Frey away.

Bordeaux was also familiar enough to have the prisoners taken down, then exited the room and closed the door outside.

"These damn scumbags! I've already left France, and they still won't let me go! ”

"When you get here, you're safe for the time being. The clutches of the Second French Republic could not be extended for the time being.

But to solve the problem once and for all"

"You want to help me counterattack France? When I get back to Paris."

Louis Philippe's aged face showed an excited look, which left Franz speechless.

"I'm sorry, but my country is in a difficult situation at home and abroad, and I can't help you. But there is still a way to leave the French Second Republic without time for other care. ”

"What's the solution?"

"Woe to the East."

"Woe to the East?"

"That's right, Belgium was once your protectorate. But now the Second French Republic wants to annex Belgium. You don't want your daughter and your son-in-law to be displaced either, do you? ”

"This? What can I do? ”

Louis Philippe was clearly wrong again.

"All you have to do is give it to the German Confederation and everyone will thank you.

And henceforth you will no longer have to worry about the Second French Republic working against you, because whether the French win or lose in Belgium, they have no other ability to care about anything else. ”

"But once the war in Belgium is over, will I not be their first target?"

Louis Philippe said with some embarrassment.

"No, Your Majesty. Believe me, whether this battle is won or lost, the Second French Republic will cease to exist. ”

"Why?"

"Do you remember what excuse they used to remove you from power?"

"The agricultural harvest has failed, the industry has been depressed, the economy has been in serious decline, and a large number of people have lost their jobs and have no food."

"So has anything changed now?"

Louis Philippe thought for a moment.

"Nope."

"Then naturally someone will replace them."

"Yes"

Louis Philippe was still a little hesitant, he couldn't decide whether what was in front of him was good or bad.

"Whether they win or lose, they need a group of scapegoats. At least the Second French Republic will cease to exist

And we can solve the food problem in Algeria. ”

The preceding tirade did not impress Louis Philippe, who was not interested in the analysis of the situation.

However, Franz's last sentence speaks to his heart, and Louis Philippe's two sons are divided in Algeria.

But Algeria is a wilderness (compared to France), and if they can't solve the food problem, they will have to surrender sooner or later.