Now that Prussia had the upper hand on the battlefield, the negotiations were held in London at the insistence of the Berlin government.

At first, they wanted to put it in Berlin, but the Russians did not agree, and the tsarist government wanted to save some face.

The Russians were still not convinced, and they insisted on the neutral country for negotiations, proving that they had not lost the war.

This is self-deception, but it also involves political games. The alternative venues for negotiations were Vienna and London, and now the place for negotiations was London, which meant that the tsarist government was at a disadvantage in this round of political games.

With a "bang", the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire, Clarence Ivanov, threw a cup of coffee, which spilled all over the floor.

Since his defeat at the front, he has traveled to various European countries to seek diplomatic support, but the results have been very moving. The good name of the Russian Empire directly put most of the European countries in opposition to them.

Originally, they were ready to negotiate separately with the belligerents and use diplomatic means to break them one by one, but now, as the British intervened and summoned everyone to London, an anti-Russian coalition appeared.

The Prussians acted as the leaders of the alliance, and the British coordinated the interests of all parties and formed a joint delegation to negotiate with the Russians.

"Explain the situation to the domestic power generation and let the government make a decision as soon as possible."

Clarence Ivanov was still politically savvy and did not say to ask Alexander II, but let the government make decisions.

This meant that the top brass of the tsarist government had to resist the cauldron and take responsibility for the defeat of the war, and Alexander II was removed.

There is no scapegoat, and the failure of this war was originally the fault of the bureaucracy, especially the logistics part, and it was inevitable to liquidate it after the war.

The top levels of the government are also to blame, and many people will be implicated and dismissed. Including Clarence Ivanov himself, after the war had to go home to retire.

If you want to go home safely to retire, you must first maintain the power of the tsarist government. The slogan of the rebels is "clean the king's side, punish the corrupt ministers", they are all so-called corrupt ministers, and they will die when the rebels are in power.

Everyone is from a big aristocratic background, and it doesn't matter if you lose politically for a while, you can recover in a few years. It really doesn't work that there will be the next generation, and to keep the tsar is to protect its own interests.

……

At the Vienna Palace, Franz asked with concern: "Have the British figured out the purpose?" ”

The major belligerents gathered in London, and the diplomatic discourse gradually tilted in favor of the British, and the position of the London government was crucial to the negotiations.

In a way, the British were also robbing Austria of its interests. If the negotiations were to be separated, the negotiations on the Russo-Prussian War and the Turkish-Russian War would have to be approved by Vienna first.

Now that the negotiations are tied, Austria's influence in the Central Asian Far East is limited, and the diplomatic discourse has been pulled down.

Having missed this opportunity to expand his diplomatic influence, Franz is not worried, and it is not necessarily a good thing to increase his international influence in advance.

However, it was still important to figure out the plans of the British, and being led by the nose was not something that Franz wanted to see.

The Russians, the Prussians, the Ottomans, their road Franz had long been arranged, and now it was suddenly interrupted by the intervention of the British, and the future was again blurred.

The advantage of political foresight has now been exhausted, and Franz can only rely on his own strength to play political games.

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg replied: "The Government of London, in order to interrupt once and for all the threat posed to them by the British, is tentatively judged to have done four things:

First, to make Central Asia independent and to expose itself to threats from India;

second, support the Kingdom of Prussia to annex the Baltic Sea region, enhance the strength of this chess piece, and give them the ability to protect themselves;

Third, let Poland become an independent state, causing us trouble;

Fourth, to interrupt the expansion of the Russians in the Far East and ensure their dominance in the East. ”

Of these four points, only Polish independence made Austria uncomfortable, and the others were within Franz's acceptable range. The assimilation of Austria had been going on for many years, and Polish independence would have had some influence and was under control.

Even if someone does something, it's a big deal to be exiled en masse. It's not like Franz hasn't done this kind of thing, and if there is no problem, there will be no problem.

The trouble is that with the death attribute of the big waves, it is estimated that it will not be long before a territorial claim will be made to Austria.

During the Provisional Government, there were such cries, but they were busy waging war with the Russians, and they temporarily suppressed this idea.

After a moment of contemplation, Franz made a decision. Polish independence could not be stopped, and there was no need to interfere.

It doesn't matter if you shout slogans, Franz won't pay attention to them anyway. If you get impatient, you will directly use force to resolve the conflict.

It was unlikely that an armed conflict would break out in a short period of time, the gap in strength between the two sides was serious, and the Polish Provisional Government received a mess and did not have the courage to challenge Austria.

The future may be uncertain, and when they solve their internal problems, if someone behind them encourages them, they may do something stupid.

"If that's all we have, we can acquiesce. The territories of Prussia and Poland could have been larger, and the more they took it now, the stronger the desire for revenge of the future tsarist government.

With the end of the war, it is time for the Pop-Polish contradictions to occur, adding fuel to their fire. The Lithuanian region was also part of Greater Poland, leaving Polish nationalists to fight Prussia. ”

This is how international contradictions come about, you bury a nail of conflict, I bury a nail of conflict, and in the end, nails are everywhere, and international disputes arise.

Now leave Russia, Prussia, and Poland the hidden danger of conflict, and in the future, if you provoke the three countries, they will become mortal enemies.

The three countries fought each other, Austria's northern frontier was stabilized, and Franz could find at least one ally no matter how the international situation changed.

The only pity is that the Ottoman Empire did not perform well this time and did not complete the script designed for them, otherwise Franz would have gone to the Holy Land to be crowned.

There is no shortage of crowns in Franz, but the religious meaning of Jerusalem is different! Recovering this place, Franz is a saint of Christendom, which will bring great prestige.

Now that the Ottoman Empire is still strong, Franz naturally will not do it. Jerusalem cannot bring in the enhancement of national strength, and the cost of spending hundreds of millions of military dollars for a false name is still too great.

It is also necessary to consider the international influence, and if a bad operation is not good, someone will pick peaches, which is completely more than worth the loss.

For example, in this Russo-Prussian War, the biggest victors were the British. Not only did they crush rival the Russian Empire, addressing the land threat to India, but they also propped up several new pawns.

The forthcoming Nordic Commonwealth, Poland, and several khanates in Central Asia were all pawns created by the British.

And the price they pay is just the loan that needs to be repaid. To put it simply, the Prussians helped the British fight a war, and they had to bear their own military expenses.

Because of the debt, the future finance of the Kingdom of Prussia will inevitably fall into the hands of the British, and if it is operated properly, it will be difficult for the Kingdom of Prussia to get rid of the influence of the British.

The harvest of the war ostensibly gave the Kingdom of Prussia a strong road. However, the road was still bumpy, and it was necessary to unite Poland and the German Confederation.

This is the same as the original time and space Prussia unified the Minor German region, and the difficulty is a fight.

It's not that there is no chance at all, at least the Russians are crippled, and they can't interfere with their actions for a dozen or twenty years, and there is no need to find a way to pacify the Russians.

As for France and Austria, the two countries are still the same as the original time and space, and it is impossible to solve the problem without a war. Neither Vienna, nor Paris, will watch a mighty Prussia rise.

Prime Minister Felix spoke: "Your Majesty, it is necessary for us to forcibly reclaim the Silesian region.

After this war, the power of the Kingdom of Prussia was bound to grow. In order to avoid the emergence of a strong Prussia, we must intervene.

If possible, it would be better to take back even Prussian Saxony in order to weaken the Kingdom of Prussia. ”

This was indeed a solution, as long as Silesia and Prussian Saxony were taken from Prussia, then the two Duchyes of Schleswig-Holstein that the Prussians had gained this time would be gone.

And that's just scratching the surface, as the value of these regions far exceeds that of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in terms of resources and industrial potential.

Then the Prussian kingdom will only gain the Baltic Sea region this time, and after subtracting the losses in the war, they will actually gain very little.

The Baltic Sea region is not small in size and has acceptable resources, but there is no main ethnic group. Unless the Berlin government is pluralistic, assimilation is a problem.

If this problem is not solved, the growth of the power of the Kingdom of Prussia will also be fat. Austria is now making a move, which can be regarded as a draw from the bottom of the kettle.

Franz thought for a moment and said: "It is not easy to achieve this step, and the Berlin government will not compromise easily. In the current international situation, it is not convenient for us to directly use force.

The possibility of getting the Kingdom of Prussia to make concessions by diplomatic means alone is almost nil. ”

This is a fact, the Berlin government is not a **** government, it is not so weak, and if it says that the land will be cut.

The use of force to force will damage Austria's international image, arouse the fear of European countries, and lead to diplomatic isolation.

So at the outset, Franz was not ready to take back Silesia, let alone Prussian Saxony.

Others are afraid that the Kingdom of Prussia will become bigger, but Franz is not afraid. It takes time to consolidate forces, and there is no doubt that he will not leave so much time for the Kingdom of Prussia.

Franz always believed that the best way to defeat the enemy was not to go to war; It's about constantly putting pressure on your opponent and enemies to make them make mistakes under pressure.

The Kingdom of Prussia risked this war as a sign that it could not bear the pressure. They have chosen to break the trade situation, the first step has already been taken, is the second step still far away?

Waiting until the enemy has made a mistake is much less expensive to pay before attacking. If there was no Kingdom of Prussia, what excuse would Franz find to attack the German Confederation?

You must know that the German Confederation is not safe, and most of the states have good relations with Austria, and there is no chance for Franz to solve the problem by force.

Internal problems are far more difficult to solve than external problems, and the emperor still has to have the will of the people. Even with the Kingdom of Prussia, if you can't win the hearts and minds of the people, then don't do it.

Franz didn't want to create a gang of chaotic parties and deliberately engage in sabotage every day. The lessons of history taught him that any emperor who neglected the people's hearts paid a terrible price in the end.

Prime Minister Felix replied: "It's not easy, but we need to try." Even if it can't be recovered in the end, the people must see the government's determination to reclaim their homeland. ”

This "populace" is clearly not just the populace, but also the Saxon government. Since the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, the government of the Kingdom of Saxony has been working to recover the Prussian Saxony region, and the Vienna government must also take into account the wishes of the Saxon people.

In addition to Saxony, there were many Austrians who were obsessed with Silesia, including many at the Vienna court, who advocated the recovery of Silesia.

Originally, the measure they took was to secretly support the Russians and take back these areas through the hands of the Russians. Now that the tsarist government was defeated, this plan went bankrupt.

These people began to lobby the Viennese government again, and it was clear that Prime Minister Felix was also affected, or rather he himself was a supporter of the takeback of Silesia.

Although there was little hope, he wanted to give it a try. If you fail, it's a big deal that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is busy in vain, and it's not a loss to do a show, and if you succeed, you will earn it.

After sorting out the cause and effect, Franz nodded his head in acquiescence.