Time flies by, and in a flash it is 1860. The first event of the year was the visit of Nicholas I to God.

If it happens in other European countries, this is also a small problem, isn't it just a change of emperor, life goes on as usual.

It was different in Tsarist Russia, and the change of Tsar also meant that the foreign policy of the Russians was about to change.

As the hegemon of the European continent, the foreign policy changes of the tsarist government will certainly affect the international situation, and the Vienna government must take measures to deal with it.

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg analyzed: "According to the information we have gathered, Alexander II was not as strong in character as Nicholas the Great, and he was more adept at the art of compromise.

Alexander II's political position was different from that of Nicholas the Great, and he advocated more radical social reforms and opposed hectic foreign expansion.

The Foreign Office judged that Alexander II might compromise with the British and stop supporting the Indian rebels in exchange for a compromise between Britain and Russia.

Without the support of the Russians, the Indians would not have been able to hold back the British, and it would not be long before the rebellion would have been suppressed.

In two years at most, the British will be able to pull out of India. It is uncertain whether the strategic focus of the British will be to return to the European continent or launch a new round of colonial expansion.

Against this background, the French should have accelerated their actions in the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The government in Paris has succeeded in persuading Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and other countries to withdraw their troops from the Kingdom of Sardinia. According to the agreement, after the arrest of the murderer, we will also withdraw from the kingdom of Sardinia.

As long as France and Russia reached an agreement and the Russians withdrew their troops in the Kingdom of Sardinia, the British would be left alone, and the rest of Europe would not have the confidence to become enemies of France.

It is not difficult to convince the Russians. Alexander II wanted to carry out social reforms, and the biggest problem was the lack of funds. As long as the French were willing to provide a loan, the tsarist government would sell the kingdom of Sardinia. ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Karl shook his head and said: "The London government will not stop and provide loans to the Kingdom of Sardinia, although the previous governments did it, but the British government has provided guarantees for the loans after all."

It is impossible for the British Parliament to take on this debt, and it is even less likely that the capitalists will abandon this loan, let alone the interests behind it.

Now the Kingdom of Sardinia is a dumping ground for their industrial and commercial products, with millions of pounds of export trade every year, and they are reluctant to let go.

Once the French occupied the Kingdom of Sardinia, all their privileges were gone, and the loans became rotten debts.

Now the English have lost half of the market in Sardinia, almost to the limit of what they can bear.

Unless the French take advantage of the fact that the English have no time to take care of the Kingdom of Sardinia, they will quickly cut through the mess and create an established fact of the occupation of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

It is a pity that the Paris government could not make up its mind, and they feared that the direct occupation of the Kingdom of Sardinia would arouse everyone's jealousy, and even trigger an anti-French war. ”

This is the aftermath, Napoleon left a glorious era for the French, and also put the French in the spotlight, and any action they made on the European continent was watched by everyone with a magnifying glass.

Napoleon III could not accurately judge the true position of the countries and chose to seek stability. The encroachment on the Kingdom of Sardinia, ostensibly alleviating the fears of the nations, was in fact of little use.

Whether or not the Kingdom of Sardinia was annexed, the nations feared them in the slightest. No action was taken, mainly because of interests.

If the interests are not enough, and without the leadership of the big countries, how can a small country make a first bird?

Of course, this is only a bystander. If Franz had sided with Napoleon III, he would have also chosen to seek stability, even more so than he would.

Italy has never been easy to develop, and even if you want to expand on the European continent and push the border line to the Rhine, you have more potential for development than you do in Italy.

Stabilizing the fundamentals will be a dead knock on North Africa, and with the national strength of France, it is not a problem at all to include Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco into the mainland.

The importance of the African continent was already seen by Napoleon III. After succeeding to the throne, the pace of expansion was intensified. If it weren't for the distraction of the Kingdom of Sardinia, it is estimated that Austria would not have been the largest colonization area in Africa today.

Prime Minister Felix disagreed: "The French are not wrong in their choice, at the current rate of cannibalization, even if the British withdraw back to Europe, the French can eat half of the Kingdom of Sardinia."

Even if the rest of the territory is saved, it will be their meal in the morning and evening. Slowly, the British will find out that the Kingdom of Sardinia is actually more than worth the loss.

As for the losses they have suffered, they can be made up for elsewhere. As long as the balance between Russia, Austria and France was not broken, the British continental policy was realized, and there was no need to worry about the tiny kingdom of Sardinia.

It's just that the French are very ambitious, and once they occupy the Kingdom of Sardinia, I am afraid that they will also plot against the rest of Italy, and then we will be in a lot of trouble. ”

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg came out with a surprise news: "Perhaps we can make a big deal with the French and cede the Italian regions to them!" ”

Everyone's faces changed greatly, France + Italy is completely a giant.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Karl objected: "No, giving the whole of Italy can indeed be exchanged for the French acquiescing in our unification of Germany, but there are also the British and the Russians."

The strength of the Kingdom of Prussia is not weak, and the barely unified German Federal Empire is also not a small strength, and it is difficult for us to achieve a quick victory.

Unless we win over Britain and Russia, one bad operation is that France and Austria join forces to challenge the entire European continent, and we have little chance of winning. ”

This proposition is indeed very tempting, but unfortunately the risk is too great.

Franz is not worried that the Franco-Austrian joint challenge to the European continent will fail, and now that the Russians are not in a state of external strength and middle strength, without the main force of Mao Xiong, the odds of victory are not low.

The problem is, it's just their wishful thinking. The French people may be willing to make this deal, but not Napoleon III, who was a penchant for convulsions.

In case you are caught, you will inevitably have to be disgraced, and if you don't do it, you will have to spit out a lot of benefits, unless you ......

Unable to think any longer, Franz immediately stopped the illusion. The international situation did not follow his command, and the ambitions of Napoleon III were just ignited and had not yet reached that point.

"Today's content is archived as top secret, and everyone can bury it in their hearts.

The international situation is ever-changing and beyond our control.

The unification of the German regions is still our core strategy, but we must be cautious about how and when to unify the German regions.

Any idea can be put forward and discussed, and what can't be done today may come tomorrow.

The most important thing now is development, and blindly breaking the international situation is not in our interests. Compared to European countries, we have a great advantage.

Population, territory, resources, these three core elements, except for the Russians, there is no country on the European continent that can compare with us.

The longer it drags on, the stronger the comprehensive national strength will be when these advantages are translated. Now the strength of the French is not far from ours, and in ten years the gap between the two sides will be completely widened.

It will be easier to talk about this when the time comes. Napoleon III will not be left behind by us, and if they want to catch up, they must expand externally. ”

In this era, information transmission is inconvenient, Austria's economic development data has not been disclosed to the public, and countries have not yet noticed the development advantages brought by population and territory.

However, this cannot be kept secret for long. With the increasing frequency of communication, it is sure to notice the changes in Austria.

When the time comes, Napoleon III will certainly not be able to do it. The French, whose backbone has not yet been broken in this era, will not tolerate being surpassed and gradually declining.

Either a war will be fought to curb the development of Austria; Either expand externally and increase strength.

This multiple-choice question is very easy to do, and there is also a hairy bear with more population, territory, and resources, which are all enemies of the French European hegemony.

It is obviously impossible to fight by force. The Russian-Austrian alliance has not yet been disbanded, and there is no chance of victory in military operations.

Even if Napoleon III did not want to expand abroad, fanatical nationalism would have forced them into battle. It's not external, it's internal.

At that time, the French government will have little choice. To lure it in, the possibility of a deal between the two parties is very high.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Karl reminded: "Your Majesty, the French are a great threat to us. At that time, even if we unified the German region, we would be sandwiched between France and Russia, and we would be very passive strategically. ”

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg explained: "On the contrary, when the triumvirate of Russia, France and Austria took shape to carve up the European continent, we were very safe.

As long as the British do not abandon the policy of continental balancing, we do not have to worry about being isolated. France, which annexed Italy, is not the current France.

Similarly, the Russian Empire, which annexed Northern Europe, was not the current Russian Empire.

The juxtaposition of three large empires is actually the most stable, and war will break out unless there is a problem with one family and the balance is broken.

As long as we make sure that we don't have the problem first, then the danger is still under control. Judging by the current situation, we are stable among the three countries.

The Russians are still in the process of reforming, and success or failure is unpredictable. If the reforms fail, the Russian Empire may collapse one day in the future.

Napoleon III was not properly enthroned, and many people in the country did not submit to his rule. This crisis would intensify with the annexation of Italy. ”

I have to admit that Wesenberg's strategic vision is still very good, but it is a little too radical.

This is not a big problem, and the cabinet cannot all be moderate, and Franz is also ambitious.

At just 35 years old, Wessenberg was able to stand out from his competitors. In addition to Metternich's strong recommendation, it is a superhuman strategic vision. This is the most important prerequisite for serving as Foreign Secretary.

Prime Minister Felix asked: "If the annexation of Italy is so dangerous, how can we guarantee that Napoleon III will be fooled?" ”

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg explained: "Your Excellency, Napoleon III has been fooled since the annexation of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

In the Austro-Saxon War, the capitalists and nobles who supported the Sardinian government suffered heavy losses, and the ruling foundation of the Sardinian government had long been shaken.

Later, they were saddled with huge debts, and now the French are mainly engaged in political co-optation, supplemented by military threats.

The influence of the Napoleonic family in Italy is not weak, and many Italians are still proud of Napoleon, and I have reason to believe that the local power of the Kingdom of Sardinia will turn to the French.

With the cooperation of these people, the rule of the French in the region could soon be established.

The lull is only temporary, though. It is impossible for the French to win over everyone, and they will definitely suppress some of those in power and cultivate cronies to take power.

These people will not be resigned to defeat, and they will not dare to do anything in the short term, forced by the threat of force from the French.

We only need a short-term calm in the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can create the illusion of destiny for Napoleon III.

We can also control some of the media and sing praises to him and deepen his awareness.

Once Napoleon III believed that the Italians would embrace his rule, the ambition to annex Italian regions could not be suppressed.

However, Italian nationalism has awakened, and once the French army is reduced or withdrawn, these guys who are unwilling to lose the political struggle will definitely jump out.

For example: to encourage patriotic youth to rise up against French rule, to finance revolutionaries, and so on.

Rebellion is also contagious, and if Italy is in chaos, there will be no internal stability in France. Without decades of recuperation, the French would not be able to digest the Italian region.

If it is done well, the French Empire itself will collapse.

Of course, if this is to be done, it will further stimulate the ambitions of the French, and they will only be stripped to death if they are allowed to annex more land. ”

Franz rejoiced that the Vienna government finally had a strategically minded careerist! Despite these operations, there is still some idealization.

But life is inherently, and if you can't even think about it, how can you succeed?