In contrast to Austria's calm response, the Berlin government was in a hurry.

The sign of the Pop Federation is still there, and the refugees are all citizens of the Pop Federation, and it is obviously unreasonable to intercept their own nationals from entering the country now.

But there is also a problem with not intercepting, with millions of refugees pouring in, jobs and the Berlin government not being able to accommodate even if it tries its best.

You don't have to worry about job placement, and it's easy to deal with housing problems, just a shack is a family, and you have become refugees and you don't have the qualifications to be picky, but you have to take care of food, right?

Stomach can't deceive people, millions of mouths are waiting to be fed, as long as they are let in, the Berlin government must find a way to feed them.

There is no doubt that this is a bottomless pit. Perhaps the Russians did not have to attack, and the refugees would be able to overthrow the Kingdom of Prussia.

Since the beginning of the Second Russo-Prussian War, Wilhelm I's physical fitness has declined rapidly, and the unfavorable news on the battlefield has pressed the old king who is almost out of breath.

Time has diluted William I's ambitions, and now he just wants to land safely. However, this is already a luxury.

The unique system of the Kingdom of Prussia dictated that once the chariot was activated, it could no longer stop. Anyone who tries to stop the chariot will be crushed.

The chariot, which had no brakes, could only be stopped when the horse was tired of running. As a coachman, Wilhelm I could only adjust the direction of the carriage and choose as wide a road as possible.

Wilhelm I dragged his old body and asked with concern: "What is the position of the European countries?" ”

There was no doubt that the number of millions of refugees had exceeded the limits of what the Kingdom of Prussia could bear, and the Berlin government was unable to resolve the refugee crisis and had to turn to the international community for help.

Foreign Secretary Jeffrey Friedman replied with a gloomy face: "The situation is very bad, all the countries of Europe have condemned the atrocities of the Russians, but few have been willing to take actual action.

At present, it is mainly the countries of the German region that provide us with substantial assistance.

Austria pledged to provide us with 5 million marks worth of supplies and 20,000 tons of food within a month for disaster relief, and the other German states together had about 30 million marks in material aid.

Our previous negotiations with Britain and Germany have also changed, and the position of the London government has changed again, and now their attitude is more inclined towards Hanover.

If we want to gain more support from them, we have to build North Germany with Hanover, and we have to sell some of our territory to Hanover in exchange for money to pay off our debts. ”

William I didn't have time to feel that he was still reliable in the moment of crisis, and he was stunned by the conditions behind him, which clearly ate them.

The establishment of North Germany can be led by Hanover, although it is a little difficult to accept it in my heart, but who is the Kingdom of Prussia is now down, and the territory behind it will be killed.

The huge debt owed by the Pupo Confederation will fall on the Berlin government in the future. To alleviate the debt crisis, the territory that needs to be sold is certainly not a star.

In order to gain dominance in North Germany, Hanover would also weaken the Kingdom of Prussia as much as possible, and being slaughtered was an inevitable result.

Frankly, if he could get through the current hurdle at all costs, Wilhelm I really didn't mind compromising with Hanover.

The problem is that Prussia is not the only one who has the final say, and the conditions put forward by Hanover have long broken through the bottom line of the Junker aristocracy, and they simply cannot accept it.

This aspect is somewhat similar to the Donglin Party at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Knowing that the Ming Dynasty will be finished if they don't pay taxes, after the reshuffle, they will also be unlucky as vested interests, but they are unwilling to back down half a step.

After Daming was finished, they found that the new master was not easy to serve, and it was too late to regret it at this time. Under the butcher's knife, these people quickly chose to compromise.

The current Junker aristocracy is similar, and it is okay to have a truce, but only if their interests are safeguarded first.

However, reality does not do it. No matter which one it is, it is impossible to come up with this sky-high price.

Here the matter is stuck, and the Berlin government does not dare to act if it wants to deal with the aftermath. Because the first person to wake up everyone usually doesn't end well.

William I asked, "What do you think?" ”

The room was quiet, and no one answered the topic, not because everyone didn't know how to answer, but because they didn't dare to answer at all.

Politics is cruel, and many times if you say the wrong thing, you will pay a heavy price, especially at this sensitive moment, if you don't do it well, you will become a "national thief" who will be punished.

Seeing that no one answered, William I sighed: "Today's words will be kept strictly confidential, only a few of us know, you can not admit what you said when you come out of here, if you have any ideas, you can rest assured and boldly say it!" ”

There is no way, this is the sadness of the "****ism" system. Especially after the First Russo-Prussian War, the Junker aristocracy grew stronger, and the Berlin government had to be influenced by it.

It is worth mentioning that these cabinet members, without exception, all have Junker aristocratic backgrounds, and they are theoretically the spokesmen of the interests of this group.

However, thanks to the power of William I, and the different interests of each other, the large group of Junker nobles also divided.

Now except for the radicals in the army, who are still thinking about turning defeat into victory, everyone else knows that the Popo Federation is finished, and if they don't save themselves, the Kingdom of Prussia will be finished.

When the catastrophe comes, the first thing that officials in politics have to protect is their own interests. Of course, there are patriotic rituals, but for most politicians, they are second only to personal interests.

Seen by William I's scalp tingling, Prime Minister Melanie Griffiths replied worriedly: "Your Majesty, at this point, no matter how excessive the conditions are, we must talk."

It is not surprising that the British fell to Hanover, since they want to support the chess pieces, of course, they must choose the ones that are easy to control. Hanover is even more inseparable from them than we are to control North Germany.

In addition to this, debt is also an important factor. After the war, our fiscal revenues will certainly drop by a large margin, and our fiscal revenues will not necessarily be as high as interest in the next five years.

The British want to recover their debts, and the premise is that we have money in our pockets, so it is not surprising that we are forced to sell our land.

However, we owe too much debt, and if the Russians slaughter them again and sell all the remaining territories, we may not be able to pay off their debts.

If the British want us to continue to pay our debts, they must leave us enough capital.

Moreover, Hannover is limited in size, and they can't eat much, so it can be inferred that the price we need to pay should not be too great.

If the conditions with them are too much, we can also consider approaching the Austrians. Although the Vienna government may not welcome it now, we sent it to the door, and they certainly cannot refuse. ”

Melanie Griffiths, the prime minister, is the result of a compromise between all parties, and in normal times he is an eraser with little presence. But to become prime minister is not as simple as it seems.

This answer made William I's eyes shine, not that he couldn't think of these questions, but mainly because he was too old to have so much energy to think deeply.

Yes, the Berlin government still has a choice, and although neither path is easy, it is better to have a choice than not to have a choice. One more choice, one more bargaining capital.

Foreign Secretary Jeffrey Friedman shook his head: "Austria doesn't have to think about it, at most make a gesture of contact, and bargain with Hanover, the military is unlikely to agree." ”

Joining the Austrian-dominated HRE Empire, the biggest loss was not the government but the military, and the Vienna government generally did not interfere in the localities, but the army had to be held in their hands.

If you look at the other states, after the central government takes over the state army and is responsible for military spending, the government forces of the states are left with the police and militia.

Of course, the fact that the government of a state has no soldiers does not mean that the king has no soldiers. In addition to the immediate palace guards, the troops stationed at the local level were also under the command of the king of the state.

This is also the reason why the Vienna government was able to easily obtain the command of the army, but it only deprived the state government of the command of the army, and the king's rights were not lost.

From the king's standpoint, this is actually a kind of strengthening of the king's power. Military spending is still allocated by the central government, and it is difficult for the state government to influence it financially.

It's just that it's not that it's impossible, and if the state government is willing to take out the money, it can still maintain a certain amount of influence.

It's just that no state government is willing to do this, and no matter how much the command of the army is expanded, it is in the hands of the king and the emperor, and they can't interfere at all.

They are not ready to rebel, why should they maintain influence over the army?

Essentially, the political structure of the New HRE Empire was created by the emperor and the kings of various states, and the core was to maintain their own power.

Wilhelm I didn't mind, but the Prussian military didn't want to! In other states, the government suffered and lost control of the army; Prussia was the complete opposite, they were the army that lost control of the government.

If it were to be merged, the first thing the Berlin government would do would probably be to stop the appropriation of military spending and carry out large-scale disarmament.

If conditions permit, apply to the central government to disband the army, and politicians can do it.

There is a precedent for this, as the Duchy of Liechtenstein disbanded its army after joining the HRE. Don't ask why, people just don't want it.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gorman laughed: "It's not entirely impossible, if the military is defeated on the battlefield and suffers heavy losses, they will have no capital to oppose it."

As things stand, the odds of this happening are very high. The only trouble was that the army suffered heavy losses, and we lost the capital to negotiate with the Russians. ”

Politics is brutal, class interests are not equal to personal interests, and the Junker aristocracy suffered a heavy blow after the defeat, but it was an opportunity for politicians to seize power.

If it weren't for the fear that after the defeat of the war, they would lose the capital to negotiate with the Russians, and everyone present really didn't care about the heavy losses of the military.

William I was also very conflicted, on the one hand, he hoped that the army would be able to win a few battles and obtain the capital to negotiate with the Russians, so that the war could be ended with dignity.

On the other hand, he wants to use the war to attack the power of the military and let the government take the lead, so as to end the war as soon as possible, get through the current crisis, and keep his throne.

After a moment of hesitation, William I made a decision: "First the two families will contact together, and finally the decision will be made according to the situation on the battlefield."

Austria is on the move, and the Vienna government does not want to wade into this troubled water, and it is presumably unable to talk about any results. When we really get to that point, we can just go up to it.

Now the focus is still on talking to Hanover, and it is necessary to find out how much the British support them have, and what is at stake in our future position in Germany. ”

This answer was not unexpected, the Prussian army was too strong, and even the king was not capable of fighting against them.

Unless the Prussian army was defeated on the battlefield and the Russians directly occupied Berlin, the government had to take into account the interests of the military when making decisions.