The shocking idea of the British directly shook the Berlin government.

The annexation of the German Confederation was something they dreamed of, but reality did not allow it, and in order to avoid being mixed and beaten, the Berlin government was very careful to suppress this year.

I didn't expect the British to bring it up, but this time it was not the Pop Confederation annexing the German Federal Empire, but the German Confederation annexing the Poppo Confederation.

The order has fallen off, and the nature is different. The Russo-Prussian war continued, and the Berlin government had no confidence to negotiate conditions and had to give up the dominant power.

Wilhelm I had a headache, compromise is not as simple as it sounds, Europe is a place of law.

Although the Federal Empire of Germany is jokingly called the "Comedy Empire" by the people, it is also an empire that everyone recognizes, and the Pop Confederation is now only an ordinary state that has joined it.

Moreover, in this context, who knows whether the other side will take advantage of the fire to rob, for example: demand the disintegration of the Pop-Polish federation and join in the name of Prussia and Poland.

Or further separate the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein and weaken the power of the Kingdom of Prussia.

……

Foreign Secretary Jeffrey Friedman advised: "Your Majesty, judging by the current situation on the battlefield, we are in an extremely disadvantageous situation.

The Belarusian region was lost, most of the Lithuanian region fell, the Volyn region, which had been captured earlier, ceased to exist, and the enemy was less than 150 kilometers from Warsaw.

Our soldiers are brave and our officers are excellent, but these are not enough to bridge the gap in strength.

The disparity in strength between Prussia and Prussia is huge, and it is difficult to win the war with our strength alone.

The experience of the last Russo-Prussian War taught us that in order to deal with the Russian Empire, it was necessary to have enough allies to attack from different fronts, disperse their forces, and make their logistics more difficult.

Unfavorable performances on the battlefield have made our former allies intimidating. Now it is necessary to bring together a strong ally to increase everyone's confidence, and the Federal Reich of Germany is undoubtedly the best choice. ”

War Secretary Filipbaldo asked, "Jeffrey, are you going to betray the country?" ”

"Do you know what it means to join the Federal Reich of Germany?"

With an extra boss on his head, life naturally can't be so free. Regardless of the fact that many states in the German Confederation do not buy the accounts of the central government, in fact the central government still has a lot of power.

For example: issuing currency.

No matter how loose a country is, it is impossible to allow the emergence of multiple currencies, and the central government is waving the banner of "for economic development", and it is difficult for the states below to refuse.

Of course, it's not impossible. As long as they learn from those small states and simply use the international currencies such as Aegis and the British pound, the central government will not be able to do anything about them.

It doesn't matter if these small countries are educated, they have limited market capacity, they don't have the ability to print money, and the losses caused by using foreign currencies are limited.

For the convenience of trade, the use of international currency, when engaged in overseas trade, directly used for settlement, but also save an exchange fee.

It was different in the Pop Federation, no matter what currency was used, it had to pay a large amount of seigniorage, and the government's revenue was greatly affected.

Economic losses are secondary, and politically they have to be pointed at. The central government does not interfere in the internal affairs of the state, which was first proposed by Franz, and it was valid for the first few years, and it has not been interfered with later.

It is nothing more than the Vienna government doing something very stealthy, by enacting laws and promoting the independence of the judiciary, reaching in.

Nominally, the central government has no right to interfere in the functioning of the state government, but the judiciary has the power to arrest corrupt officials within the state.

If this effect is not big enough, then what about the taxes paid by the state and the finances allocated by the central government?

The pit was dug in advance, and no one knew in advance that there would be surplus funds to maintain the central government's expenses while maintaining the central government's expenses alone, including customs duties, seigniorage, colonial revenues, and taxes on tobacco and alcohol.

This is an inevitable result, the central government does not bear the administrative expenses of local governments, does not need to invest in infrastructure for the state, and the fiscal revenue supports the emperor and several thousand bureaucrats of the central government, except for the bulk of military expenditures.

In addition to a part of the surplus funds invested in scientific research, the remaining funds are allocated as opportunities to meddle in the internal affairs of the state.

If you have money in your pocket, you will be tough when you speak. At the beginning, these revenues were limited, not enough for the central government, and they needed to be shared by the states, so they naturally did not dare to offend the uncles below.

Now that the central government has a lot of money, the state has to consider the central government's opinion if it wants to apply for central financial allocation.

Something similar could happen in the Federal Reich of Germany.

Although they only receive seigniorage, they also spend less. Because in the beginning, the power of the central government was restricted, and the army was supported by the states themselves, and they only needed to support a group of civil servants and the emperor.

Jeffrey replied unhurriedly, "Of course I know what that means, but do we have a choice?"

What are you afraid of?

As long as we win this war, with our strength, will it be possible for Hanover to help us not succeed?

Don't forget that the Federal Empire of Germany is based on the Holy Roman Empire, and if we have enough allies, we can change the central government.

No matter how many restrictions they have set now, we can all find ways to get around them in the future. Treaties can be torn up, laws can be amended.

When the time comes, this will be an internal affair of the Empire, and as long as there is a plausible reason, even the British will not be able to say anything!

As long as they want us to contain France and Austria, the London government will not do anything to us! The most urgent task now is to think about how to bring the German Confederation over. ”

Theoretically, as long as the Pop-Po Confederation joined the Federal German Empire, usurping Hanover's central government status would not be a problem.

The Berlin government can imagine it, and so can Hanover.

The snake swallows the elephant, which is the legendary "Ba snake", not all snakes have such a good appetite.

Hanover could not even handle a group of small states within the German Confederation, and was not an ambitious lord no matter how you look at it. Even if the Pop Federation sends it to the door, it is estimated that no one will dare to accept it.

Filipbordo was hurt, he was against it mainly because of the dominance issue, but the reality was hurt, and the Popo Federation was not involved.

This is the first time that we have been worried, and many years ago there were politicians who put forward the idea of "the integration of Austria and Prussia to jointly dominate Central Europe", but unfortunately Austria was unwilling to share the fruits with them.

There is no way, the pay and return are not equal, and Franz naturally cannot agree.

Even if the Berlin government lowered the conditions at that time, the result was the same, the dual empire was not fun, and Franz was unwilling to challenge the inferno copy.

Joining the Federal German Empire this time, the bottom line of the Berlin government is undoubtedly lower, as long as they win the war, it is a big deal to regret it in the future, anyway, Hanover has no strength to force them to fulfill the contract.

After a moment of silence, William I said slowly: "This time it was the British who pulled the string, presumably the London government has a way to make Hanover compromise."

The Foreign Office first contacted the British, and as long as it could pull the Federal Empire of Germany into the water, it could accept any conditions first, and wait until the war was won. ”

There is nothing wrong with it, the war was won, and the Berlin government was qualified to consider these issues; If the war is lost, the Popo Federation is doomed.

Even if Britain, France and Austria make a move, and the Kingdom of Prussia can be saved, it will be a reduced version, and it has nothing to do with them.

……

The Berlin government was worried, and so were the British. Sir Edward, in particular, who led the plan, regretted it as soon as he began to implement it.

Things are not as simple as imagined, and Her Majesty agrees to do the work of the royal family of the "comedy empire", but the London government must ensure that the royal family's position is not shaken.

It's all a small problem, isn't it just a promise, Sir Edward said it didn't matter.

After this war, the Pop-Polish Federation will definitely have to recuperate, and the Berlin government will not dare to play moths in a short time, and as for the future, it will be a matter for the government to worry about later.

The trouble is the special system of the comedy empire, it is useless to convince the emperor, and there is still the imperial parliament to restrain it.

"Convince these small states" is a very good idea, but it is not advisable to do it, and if you tell them, you will not be able to tell Austria?

What the "comedy empire" was infiltrated, even Franz did not know. Anyway, Aegis is the country's universal currency, and it has more circulation than the Rhine shield issued by the central government.

It's not that the central government doesn't want to ban it, the point is that it's a legal currency approved by the Imperial Parliament, and the emperor can't do anything about it.

Of course, the Vienna government also paid the price, opening up the colonial markets to the small states that voted in favor of them, and from time to time providing economic aid.

Although the two places are separated politically, they have long been integrated economically.

Against this backdrop, Edward found it hard to believe in the secrecy of these small states. As long as the rumors leak out, the "plan" can only be a plan, after all, it is much easier to do bad things than to achieve them.

Without the support of small states, it is not impossible to bypass the Imperial Council, but in the war that follows, don't think about everyone's contribution.

The armies of the "Comedy Empire" all belong to the state government, and the emperor can only command the troops of Hanover, barely scraping together a dozen or two hundred thousand troops, which is already the limit.

If the Imperial Parliament does not give face to the central government and then vetoes the resolution allowing the Popo Federation to join the Empire, then even material assistance will not be possible.

At most, the emperor went to war with the Russians alone with the Hanoverian army directly under him, and it had nothing to do with the German Federal Empire.

This little strength, and a little more casualties for the Russians, was not enough to change the outcome of this war.

Well, Edward admits that he thinks too much. So far, the Federal Reich of Germany has not given a reply at all, even if the Berlin government responded to his plan.

The effort is visible to the naked eye, but the reward is illusory. The legitimacy of the central government of the Comedy Empire has always been questioned by the public, and they usually have to be careful not to let the Imperial Parliament get the hang of it.

There are not enough interests to want people to risk participating in the tragic Russo-Prussian War, even if it is the British boss.

Now it's not that there is no other choice, and people can change jobs at any time. Now that there are many buyers, you can also sell it at a good price if you change one.

(End of chapter)