Soon Franz saw how powerful Alexander II was. The news of the secret talks between Russia and Austria spread out unsurprisingly, but the content changed slightly.

This change directly made Franz grit his teeth and approve the loan, and the amount also went from 30 million Aegis to 50 million Aegis, and it was still an interest-free loan.

Of course, the Russians also came up with a new collateral - the customs revenues of the Ukrainian regions, avoiding a situation where they would lose their money.

If the Tsarist government had acquired Prussian Saxony after the war, the debt would have been written off, and the Tsarist government would have used Prussian Saxony to pay off the debt.

No way, the Russians are touting it too much. The big-mouthed Russian minister went around preaching about the efforts of the Vienna government to recover Prussian Saxony.

He also said that Franz had communicated with Alexander II by telegram on several occasions, and the two sides had reached a preliminary agreement that after the end of the war, the tsarist government would sell Silesia and Prussia Saxony to the new Holy Lotte Empire.

There is no doubt that this certainly received the tacit approval of Alexander II. Holding high the banner of Russian-Austrian friendship, the Russian minister repeatedly emphasized Franz's contribution, which was seen by the general public as an effort for the unification of the empire.

After all, the Paris Conference had divided the German regions, and it was already very difficult to reunify. At present, we can only take roundabout measures to slowly promote national reunification.

It is always a good thing to reclaim the land, and the nationalists rejoiced and sang along with the praises.

Domestic public opinion was mobilized, and Franz was roasted on the fire, and if he wanted to retreat, he would inevitably lose his prestige, and he had no choice but to carry this black cauldron.

Now he understood that the Tsarist government's promise to give Silesia to Austria was a decoy.

What would have happened if Austria had recovered Silesia after the war and watched the Russians annex Prussian Saxony?

Franz was the Emperor of Austria and the Emperor of the Saxon populace. Once this bowl of water is uneven, the hearts of the people below will be scattered.

It is not only the people of Saxony who are dissatisfied, but also the other states that are dissatisfied with the central government. When the time comes, the new Holy Roman Empire, which has been finally unified, will return to a state of fragmentation.

Franz now did not dare to bet that the Russians would lose the war, and that he would have to suffer this loss.

After all, this Prussian-Russian war was completely the result of his butterfly effect, and now that the Russians have the upper hand again, and they have strong strength, under normal circumstances, it will only be the Russians who will win the war in the end.

If it's just a matter of money, the deal can be considered to be a take-the-take. The tsarist government did not make indiscriminate quotations, and even some were on the low side.

However, in the Prussian Saxony region, the Russians have not yet gotten their hands on it, and this price is reasonable.

However, Franz knew that for the sake of Silesia, the Vienna government had already vouched for the Russians, owed a large amount of strategic materials on credit from the country, and now there was a loan of 50 million Aegis.

If it did not want to lose all its money, the best option for the Vienna government now was to support the tsarist government in winning the war.

Otherwise, these debts will not be able to be recovered until the Year of the Monkey.

For the sake of the face of the allies, the tsarist government is expected not to directly repay the debts, but they just don't have the money to pay back, and the Vienna government can still forcibly collect debts?

Once the Russians are defeated, not only the current debts, but also the old debts from the past, may eventually become bad debts. At least until the tsarist government's finances improved, they could not afford it.

Not only did it kidnap Austria economically, but it also completely broke down Prussian-Austrian relations. Now the Vienna government was almost openly supporting the tsarist government, and naturally stood in opposition to Prussia.

By the way, it also divided the Anglo-Austrian alliance, bringing the two countries to the opposite side again.

Britain and Austria share the same national policy on the issue of maintaining the balance in Europe, and since the establishment of the first Vienna system, Britain and Austria have been secret allies, and the two sides are only short of a paper alliance.

After the outbreak of the war in the Near East, relations between the two countries fell to a freezing point. However, because of their common interests, relations between the two sides soon warmed up again, and the two countries jointly promoted the establishment of the second Vienna system.

provoked Austro-Prussian relations and Anglo-Austrian relations, and this is not the end, Austrian-French relations and Anglo-French relations are also in the calculations of the Russians.

Once the French eat the bait given by the Russians, Anglo-French relations will also break down, and Austro-French relations will be directly finished. In any case, Franz could not sit idly by and watch the French annex the Rhineland.

Even if he could bear it, the nationalists at home would have pushed Austria into battle.

Franz was not afraid of a war with the French, the alliance for the common defense of the French was still there, and it was a big deal to organize an anti-French coalition, and the Vienna government had experience in this regard.

The problem was that, from the time of Metternich, the situation with Austria's allies throughout Europe had changed, and diplomacy could no longer be so calm.

True, now France and Austria are quasi-allies. Otherwise, Franz would not have remained indifferent to Napoleon III's annexation of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

A verbal promise can't be counted, and in the end it is still necessary to speak with interests. From the time of the House of Orléans, France and Austria have maintained quasi-alliances, the kind that can be allied at any time if needed.

There was a break during the Revolution, but with the advent of the Franco-Austrian Secret Treaty, relations between the two sides warmed up again for the sake of common interests.

Especially after the annexation of the Kingdom of Sardinia by the French, the relations between the two countries reached a new height.

At present, the pro-British faction in the French government is quite strong, and the pro-Austrian faction is actually not small at all, and it is not surprising that one person is pro-British and pro-Austrian at the same time, and politicians change their stance according to actual needs.

Napoleon III was also not a fuel-efficient lamp, and as a master of political struggle, how could the balance of power not be taken seriously?

A large pro-British faction was not in the interests of the emperor. In case one day they face up to the British, and they are all pro-British, who will they send to charge?

Although Napoleon III appeared as a pro-British, in fact, most of the people he promoted now were not pro-British, but mostly anti-British.

The same applies in Austria, where the anti-Russian wing in the Vienna government has always been strong in the context of the Russo-Austrian alliance.

Many politicians do not really want to be anti-Russian, but politically need them to be anti-Russian, which is to take sides, or political speculation.

After figuring out the calculations of the Russians, Franz could only sigh: how can a person who has left a great name in history be an idle person!

From the time of his accession to the present, Alexander II has been focused on the domestic and has been very mediocre in diplomacy.

This kind of performance is also in line with everyone's positioning of the tsarist government, after all, the tsars of the past dynasties were basically the masters of fighting strength but not wit.

After a long time, Franz also relaxed his vigilance against him. Diplomacy also requires talent, which has always been the shortcoming of the Tsarist family, and no later generations have said that Alexander II is diplomatic.

As a result, if you don't make a move, it's just that, and now it's a shock. At the same time, Britain, France, Austria and Prussia were calculated, and a group of small European countries were involved.

If the plan goes well, the end result will be: the rupture of Franco-Prussian relations, the rupture of Franco-Austrian relations, the rupture of Anglo-Austrian relations, the rupture of Anglo-French relations......

If the diplomatic relations of various countries are broken, then the opportunity for the isolated Russian Empire will come.

The ambitions of the tsarist government were never small, and how could it be possible to defeat the Kingdom of Prussia without biting a piece of meat?

In this context, it is necessary to divide European countries. This time, we started with France and Austria in order to cut off the possibility of countries interfering in the Russo-Russian War.

In addition to the fact that the contradictions between Britain and Russia are too deep, which are related to core interests, and the two sides cannot compromise.

Russia and Austria are allies, and Franco-Russian relations are not impossible to ease, as long as these two countries are settled, the European continent can no longer organize to interfere with the coalition forces.

The strength of the British is really strong, but it is a pity that it is all in the navy. With the pitiful strength of the British Army, no country would be stupid enough to form an alliance with them and run to fight the Russians.

This determines that John Bull must have an ally on the European continent, otherwise it will be difficult for them to gain a voice that matches their own strength.

After the war in the Near East, the British tried to interfere as little as possible in continental disputes, and there were also factors in this regard.

Against this backdrop, Anglo-Austrian relations and Anglo-French relations can still be maintained, even in the struggle for overseas colonies, when the non-governmental organizations of Britain, France and Austria often meet each other.

This time, Franz did not get angry, let alone retaliate immediately. After so many years as an emperor, his city is already very deep.

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