On March 16, 1853, Prime Minister Felix arrived in Munich and after a week of negotiations, it ended in failure.

The Bavarian government was clearly opposed to the rebuilding of the HRE Empire, and Felix's diplomatic efforts failed.

Under pressure from public opinion, the Bavarian government proposed on March 27 to reconvene the Federal Assembly and decide whether to re-establish the Holy Roman Empire.

On March 28, Prime Minister Felix also gave a speech at the University of Munich in which he publicly responded to the Bavarian government.

"I have a dream of seeing the reunification of the German regions in my lifetime. It was the real national unity of Germany, not the nominal German Confederation, which was a joke.

Today is a bad day, the Bavarian government has closed the door to rebuilding the Holy Roman Empire, and all our efforts have failed.

It seems that my dream still has a long way to go if it comes true. If I don't see it anymore, I hope you can continue to walk, as the elite of the German region, it is your responsibility and obligation.

We all know that the re-establishment of the HRE is the best option for the unification of the German region, and it is the only way to achieve the unification of the country in a short time.

Many of Germany's states have been divided for a long time and have become self-contained, which determines that unification will be difficult and cannot be accomplished overnight.

Let the Federal Assembly vote? In fact, we all know that this is not an activity for the minority to obey the majority, let alone a child's play.

The rebuilding of HRE requires the support of all the states, and if anyone does not agree, we will reluctantly merge an empire and eventually break down due to many contradictions.

The consequences of coercion are clear to all, Switzerland became independent, Belgium became independent, the Netherlands became independent, Luxembourg also became independent, this is their own choice, and we do not need to study the historical reasons today.

Now if we don't do it well, a new wave of independence will emerge. There is no doubt that there are already international forces plotting to split Germany, and they are even colluding with forces within Germany.

Therefore I had to be cautious, lest I make one mistake and become a sinner in Germany.

A united German empire must be an empire that everyone agrees on, and if this is not done, then it is only a federation, not an empire.

I know that many people oppose the rebuilding of the HRE because they think that the empire is too loose, and the power of the local government is too large, and the power of the central government is too small, and such a system is not to everyone's liking.

But there is one thing that everyone should pay attention to, if you want to gain the approval of the whole people, you must not shed blood, at least not too much blood.

If a civil war breaks out because of reunification, and everyone kills a river of blood, will they still be able to sit together calmly after the war?

The answer is no, under the guidance of people with good intentions, this kind of hatred will soon take root and eventually go to division.

……”

Felix got into the groove and started the mouth cannon mode.

The officials of the Bavarian government in the audience were already angry and pale, but they were not good, diplomatic etiquette still had to be there, although Felix was spraying wildly, he did not scold the Bavarian government by name.

If they stand up and stop the speech, doesn't that mean that they are empty-hearted?

Besides, the emotions of the students have been mobilized, and if you go to stimulate it at this time, God knows if there will be a secondary school teenager shouting revolution.

This is not without precedent, more than 90 percent of the revolutions in Europe were launched by secondary school teenagers who shouted casually and then blindly obeyed.

For example, the February Revolution in France, the March Revolution in Vienna, the March Revolution in Berlin, and so on, these revolutions were not well organized in advance.

Ever since the Bavarian government made its decision, they have tightened their vigilance to prevent secondary school teenagers from rioting.

For example, there are now more than three digits of police officers at the University of Munich, which is supposed to protect Prime Minister Felix's safety, but in fact they are also monitoring the people he comes into contact with.

You must know that Prime Minister Felix is now the most unstable factor in the Kingdom of Bavaria, and his status is too high, and the Bavarian government can only hope that he will get out of here soon.

He was welcomed by the people as much as the government hated him, and most of the Bavarian population had great respect for the pacifist Austrian chancellor.

After about an hour, Felix stopped his speech and entered the interactive session.

A young student excitedly said, "Dear Prime Minister Felix, I would like to ask how we can guarantee that the Holy Roman Empire can treat every state fairly?" ”

This kind of question, which Felix has answered many times along the way, repeats it again:

"The problem is very simple, it depends on the system, a fair system. I don't believe in the so-called rule of man, because people are selfish and have natural tendencies, and only a fair system can solve problems.

This system will be developed with the participation of all states and will be publicized throughout the country, and everyone will jointly judge whether it is fair. ”

The mode was turned on, the applause from the audience rang out, and the officials accompanying the Bavarian government closed their eyes, as if to see out of sight.

Another young student asked curiously, "Your Excellency, does such a perfect system exist?" ”

Without hesitation, Felix replied, "Not existent!" ”

Ignoring the uproar at the scene, he continued: "There is no such thing as the perfect system in the world, and what looks wonderful today may be obsolete tomorrow, and what we can do is to keep updating the system to make it more suitable for us."

From the origin of human society, the earliest tribal civilizations, matrilineal clans then to the patrilineal system, and then into the age of slavery, the earliest states appeared......

This series of social changes is all about self-repair and improvement of the social system. It seems to us today that the system is more advanced than it was in the past.

But in fact, if our ancestors had adopted the advanced formulations of the present, the German nation would have become history, and could not even be found in the history books.

Is this a problem with the system? Apparently not!

The social productive forces determine the production system, so we should not criticize the decadent and backward social system of the past, at least at that time, those systems met the needs. ”

Gone astray, there was no way that everyone's minds were too active, the problem was too tricky, Felix had to lead far away, and control the rhythm as much as possible.

……

"Your Excellency, after the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, Austria will become the new central government, is it unfair to the other states?"

A question from a young student brought the topic back again.

"You are wrong, the central government is formed by the states, and if Austria is the central government, who can this central government command?

As for fairness, I think it can only be guaranteed by a notarized constitution. The political discourse power of the big states and the small states is definitely different, and if they have to be the same, it will actually be unfair to the big states.

True fairness is only equal treatment, not privilege, and my ideal Holy Roman Empire is a world without privilege.

The amount you contribute to the country is the reward you get. This reward can be either money or social status.

In other words, it is to open the door to high society, even if this door may only open a small crack. Prime Minister Felix continued to flicker

True, false, true, true, but made his speech more convincing.

The cruelty of society is openly revealed, and there are no privileges in each state, but the disparity in the social status of individuals still exists.

This mode of speech is the result of painstaking research by the Austrian government's staff. It is necessary to be able to mobilize the emotions of the people, but not to let such emotions get out of control.

This is not a good degree, and if fanatical nationalism is detonated, Austria will not be able to eat and go around.

……

Because the Bavarian government was too vigilant, Prime Minister Felix made a few speeches before heading home.

There is no doubt that this diplomatic effort failed, and with the exception of a handful of German states that expressed support for the rebuilding of the HRE, most of the rest were implicitly opposed.

Especially after the Bavarian government openly expressed its opposition, there was a wave of criticism of the Holy Roman Empire in Germany.

Of course, the governments of various countries have not gone to the bottom of history, and the confrontation of local governments against the central government is also a stain on them, which is an absolute political mistake and cannot be raised.

Vienna

After listening to Felix's report, Franz found that the situation in Germany was much more complicated than he had imagined.

Most of the German people have a tendon in their heads, and once they recognize something, it is difficult to pull it back.

This meant that they had to be convinced, and without their approval, a unified Germany would be a dream.

One that is not done well is likely to end up as Felix said in his speech - the wave of independence broke out.

"Your Majesty, nationalism in Germany is developing very rapidly, and if national sentiment is stirred up now, there is still hope for reunification by political means." Prime Minister Felix proposed

Perhaps because he was too deep in the play, now Felix is really thinking about the issue of unifying Germany by political means.

Franz shook his head and said: "This is impossible to succeed, if we really get out of the Holy Roman Empire, Britain, France and Russia are afraid that there will be a truce soon, and they will turn around and look for our bad luck." ”

With the unification of the German regions, the European hegemony of the Russians was gone, the French dream of continental hegemony was broken, and the policy of the British continental balance was also bankrupt.

This is a conflict of core interests that concerns their future development and survival, and in order to avoid this from happening, they will definitely take action, no in case.

Even now, Britain, France, and Russia are at war in the Near East, in fact, the secret contacts between the governments of the three countries have never been broken.

Franz was sure that Britain and France no longer wanted to fight. If there is no way, they will most likely compromise with the Russians if they are forced to ride the tiger.

Now they want to compromise if the Russians make concessions, otherwise there will be no accountability at home.

Does the tsarist government want to continue fighting? The answer is no. The cruelty of war has awakened many people, and they are also difficult to ride tigers.

It's easy to say a concession, but it's hard to do! As soon as the tsarist government made a compromise, internal contradictions would erupt, and Nicholas I naturally wanted to finish a good fight.

Now that Constantinople is in sight, as long as he takes this fortress city, all the crises will be solved, and he will become the greatest tsar in the history of Russia.

As for other interests, the Black Sea Fleet is finished, even if it goes into the Mediterranean, they can't rely on swimming?

Annexation of the Ottoman Empire? Fighting a war also requires money, and the Russians have this military strength, but they don't have the financial resources to match.

They could even intervene in the German region while fighting a war. With the Kingdom of Prussia, Britain, France, and Russia only had to shout a few times, and the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved.

Pointed out by Franz, Felix immediately came to his senses. The HRE Empire is still far from the real empire, and it can slowly solve the problem without external threats, but the current problem is internal and external collusion.

……

Metternich spoke, "Your Majesty, the time is ripe for the next step. ”

Franz nodded in acquiescence.

Austria was not yet strong enough to start a war without a word, and if there was no reason for everyone to accept it, it would be a bargain for the Prussians to commit public outrage.

Mere political discord does not constitute a casus belli. Now it is necessary to add another fire to make the final historical characterization of the Bavarian government.