After driving out Ferdinand, Franz summoned his staff to discuss the need for an alliance with East Africa, but he decided to discuss it with the Austrian government on the safe side.

"Why are we allied with an African country? Do you want the rest of the continent to see the joke! Truth be told, even an alliance of pagans in the Middle East has a much better reputation than joining forces with African countries, except, of course, Egypt. The Austrian Prime Minister said.

"But as far as I know, the Hexingen royal family of the East African Kingdom has a lot of energy in the empire, and they control some important areas of the empire's economy, such as railways, steel, food, and electricity, which are very important for stabilizing the kingdom's economy and political stability, if we don't choose East Africa, it will inevitably affect the relationship with the Hexingen royal family, and we also have our own practical interests in East Africa, so we have a basis for cooperation." The Chancellor of the Exchequer retorted.

"If the empire and East Africa are united, I believe that the Hungarian government will be the first to oppose it!" said the Prime Minister.

Franz agreed: "This is also the reason why I found you, cooperation with East Africa is indeed not conducive to international reputation, and if we form an alliance with East Africa, will it affect the international situation, and will Britain, France and other countries misjudge that we have ideas about Africa, so as to overreact." ”

"Your Majesty, this will definitely happen, every move of the empire is under the attention of other countries, if we show interest in East Africa, I am afraid it will cause a chain reaction, the problem is that we do not really want to colonize Africa, this is diametrically opposed to our general direction with the European continent as the core." The Prime Minister replied in the affirmative.

"Well, but the growth of the strength of the East African kingdom should not be underestimated, especially in terms of the navy, these Heixingen royal families have ordered many warships in Austria, and because of Princess Karina, the relationship between the two royal (royal) families is actually quite good."

"But this doesn't mean anything, the relationship between countries is still dominated by national interests, what are the benefits of our alliance with East Africa?" The Prime Minister asked.

Franz said: "We know too little about East Africa, and the location of East Africa determines that it has never been valued by Europe, but what is the comprehensive strength of East Africa?" How many layers of strength does the Heixingen royal family have to control Africa? ”

"Your Majesty! Don't you know? "In the Prime Minister's view, the Heshingen royal family and the Habsburg royal family are married, so the royal family should be very aware of the national conditions in East Africa, after all, the commanders of the East African Navy are their own people.

Franz shook his head and said: "I may have a general idea of the situation in East Africa a few years ago, and East Africa had a certain size at that time, but now too much time has passed. ”

"In terms of the ability of the Kingdom of East Africa to purchase steel and warships from Austria-Hungary, the national strength of East Africa should not be bad." The Chancellor of the Exchequer analyzed.

"That's different, the wealth of the Heshingen royal family and East Africa should be looked at separately, take the navy as an example, if the Rothschilds are willing to do this, I believe they also have the strength to form their own private navy, and many nouveau riche in the United States may also have this ability." The prime minister denied that in fact, in the eyes of the prime minister, the Heixingen royal family is also such an upstart, but after all, the Heixingen royal family is also a traditional nobleman, so it is a little different.

And why is the Heixingen royal family so rich, this question can be seen by looking at the enterprises set up by the Heixingen royal family in Germany, and the size of a Heixingen bank alone is comparable to that of the country.

For the wealth of the Heixingen royal family, in fact, many nobles are also envious and even jealous, but it is limited to this, first of all, the rules between the nobles cannot be broken, and secondly, the Heixingen consortium is not dead, his size is too large, and it affects the whole body, which is related to the food and clothing of millions of workers and farmers.

The characteristics of the Hexingen consortium are different from Jewish capital in that it really attaches importance to industry, which creates value for the Heixingen royal family at the same time, but also creates value for Germany and Austria, so the Heixingen consortium must first cut the knife on itself, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire obviously cannot accept this method, any wind and grass may hurt the muscles and bones of this ancient empire, and no nobles are willing to let 1848 reappear.

"So it's still the Heixingen royal family at all, and it's not an exaggeration to say that East Africa is the private property of the Heixingen royal family, the question is whether we choose to join the Heixingen royal family."

Chancellor of the Exchequer: "I personally support cooperation, because cooperation with East Africa will help stabilize the empire's economy, and I believe that the imperial navy is also in this attitude, and without the order from East Africa, the navy's two ironclads would not have been able to conjure up out of thin air." ”

Prime Minister: "Cooperation with East Africa is indeed beneficial to us, but East Africa is obviously seeking imperial protection in such an unusual way, and there must be a reason for the Heshingen royal family to do this, what is their reason?" ”

Franz was also stunned by this question, yes! Why didn't the Heixingen royal family mention this request before, but now that they have developed it, they have changed their attitude?

The Prime Minister continued: "This time it is the Kingdom of East Africa seeking cooperation, which means that they have a threat that they cannot deal with...... Britain, France, or Portugal and other countries that are more powerful in Africa! ”

"Most likely, East Africa clearly wants us to be a shield against external threats!"

"If that's the case, it makes sense!"

"Shall we do that, then? If it is really Britain, France and other countries that have intentions against Africa, will we be dragged into the water? ”

Franz was also silent, if it was really as the prime minister said, it was indeed a difficult choice.

Of course, East Africa faced such a threat, but it was not as serious as the Austrian monarch thought, and this was a miscalculation caused by improper intelligence.

"Is there a way to maintain friendly relations with the Heixingen royal family without being dragged into the water?" Franz decided to let his subordinates spend more brains anyway.

After thinking about it for a while, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said: "If this is the case, we may be able to cooperate with a limited amount of East Africa, and at the same time ensure that we do not get bogged down in a region of right and wrong like Africa." ”

"How to limit the cooperation law."

"We do not cooperate with East Africa in the name of the Empire, but only in the name of the Austrian government and East Africa, Austria cannot fully represent the Empire, so when there is a conflict between East Africa and other countries, the Empire can stand by and watch, after all, the attitude of Hungary also determines the direction of the Empire, and the Hashingen royal family cannot say anything."

The idea of the Austrian Chancellor of the Exchequer is that Austria will get the benefits, and Hungary will carry the pot.

"Ahem, don't say anything that is not conducive to unity in the future, but you Austrian government can do it alone in the matter of forming an alliance with East Africa." Franz said.

Prime Minister: "If so, it is indeed a feasible option, negotiated by us in Austria and East Africa alone, but not representative of the attitude of the empire as a whole. ”

……

June 1876.

The Austrian government signed the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance between the Kingdom of Heshingen and the Kingdom of Austria with the Kingdom of East Africa, and the two sides concluded a quasi-alliance.

The actions of the Austrian government have caused dissatisfaction on the part of the Hungarian side, what are you doing here? Why don't you consult with me?

The Austrian Prime Minister told the Hungarian Prime Minister: "This is due to the needs of Austria's economic development, and the common interests of the business community in Austria and East Africa cannot be ignored. ”

Hungary: "Then how is this treaty that you have concluded a quasi-alliance treaty?" Wouldn't it be enough to sign an economic treaty! ”

"In this regard, the Austrian government has its own intentions, and the content of the treaty will be limited to the Kingdom of Austria and will not have any negative impact on Hungary."

"In other words, the content of the treaty does not represent the will of the Empire!"

"Of course, if it represents the Empire, then I must discuss it with you!" The Austrian Prime Minister said with a haha.

This answer was quite satisfactory to the Hungarian side, which mainly prevented the Austrian government from representing the empire as a whole, so what was the difference between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the previous Austrian Empire!

If it was only the diplomatic activities of the Kingdom of Austria and other countries, Hungary would not have reacted much, after all, Hungary also has its own diplomatic department.

In fact, Austria-Hungary had three governments, the central government, the Austrian government and the Hungarian government, Austria and Hungary all had a certain degree of autonomy, so Austria could bypass Hungary and East Africa to engage in a nondescript form of alliance, so the two sides were considered to be allied, but not completely allied.

(End of chapter)