The proposal of the British caused an uproar in the upper echelons of the German federal government. Although after the purchase of the Rhineland, the shortcomings of heavy industry were compensated, and the comprehensive national strength of the "comedy empire" has grown considerably.

It is a pity that the Federal Empire of Germany was not a unified country after all, and the question of the alliance of the states within the Confederation against the central government has not been resolved for a long time.

The Kingdom of Hanover did not have an overwhelming preponderance, and George I was not a master of great talent, so the question was put on hold.

(Note: George I of the Federal Empire of Germany, George V of the Kingdom of Hanover)

The German Confederation Empire, which could not complete internal integration, naturally lagged far behind the Popol Confederation in strength. Personally, George I had not the slightest interest in the British plan to "swallow the elephant".

A group of small states in the country can make him disgraced, and if there is a Pubo Federation, then it will be necessary?

Once the Pubo Confederation joins the German Confederation, it will immediately become the most influential state within the empire, and Hanover's position will inevitably be impacted.

George I: "Do you think the proposal of the British, do you think it is feasible?" ”

It was evident that he hesitated. The comedy empire also had to use the power of the British to fight against Austria and guarantee its own independent status, and it was obviously not advisable to reject the British outright.

However, the risk of accepting the Popo Federation was too great, and even if Queen Victoria gave a guarantee, George I did not dare to fully believe it in the face of national interests.

Prime Minister Tolben Hoffmann: "Your Majesty, the British's proposal may seem tempting, but in fact it is full of dangers, and if we don't do it well, we will fall into the crosshairs."

Internationally, France and Austria do not want to see us merge with the Pop-Polish Federation, and their rash action will certainly cause their dissatisfaction and may even lead to armed intervention.

The many states in the country have their own calculations, and it is not beneficial for them to join this war, and it is impossible for the Imperial Diet to pass it.

In such a complicated situation, if we bypass the Imperial Diet and forcibly admit the Poppo Federation, it is likely that the empire will be divided.

In addition to these risks, it is the Pubo Federation itself that is even more troublesome. They are too large for us to have the ability and the impossibility of digesting the Popo Federation.

With the advantage of size, it is a matter of time before they are anti-customer-oriented, and this is not a guarantee that can be solved, unless the Pubo Federation can be split. ”

Foreign Secretary Steve Lee: "The stakes are really high, but it's still an opportunity. Once we miss it, it's hard for us to go further.

Everyone knows the situation in Europe, the Russo-Prussian War is a small episode, and the future will definitely be a three-country game between Britain, France and Austria.

Other countries can choose neutrality, but we can't. Austria's ambitions have never been hidden, and what is even more infuriating is that many people in the country have been fooled by nationalism and are eager to join Austria immediately.

The only way out of this crisis is to make the empire strong. Only when the empire is strong can it prove nationalism wrong and dispel their unrealistic illusions. ”

Tolben Hoffman shook his head: "Lee, you're still too idealistic.

I admit that the annexation of the Poppo Federation is tempting, and frankly I am tempted, but the problem now is that we simply can't do it.

Even if the British were able to convince the French and contain Austria, we were able to persuade the states of the country to agree, and the chances of annexing the Pop-Po Confederation were less than 10 percent.

Don't ignore the disparity in strength, the Poppo Federation looks miserable right now, but they have twice as many people and five times the size of their territory.

After the merger of the two countries, it is very obvious who will annex whom.

Moreover, the cruelty of the Russo-Prussian War is also an urgent reality. By accepting the Popo Federation, we must help them win this battle.

After the war, we had to spend a lot of money to pay off their debts and help them rebuild after the war, and our gains were only an illusory dream of a great power.

If you really pay such a big price, in order to gain the status of a great power, it is better to cooperate with the Austrians. At least we don't need our lads to go to war, and we don't need the government to tighten their belts to get by. ”

The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional.

Deep down, George I had already planted the seeds of doubt. "Suspicious" is an imperial instinct and is not a derogatory term here.

Suspicion is suspicion, and it seems that George I is still unfazed on the bright side, and he seems to be unconcerned.

Foreign Secretary Steve Lee: "Your Excellency, you are right. We really don't have the ability to swallow the Popo Federation, and the price to pay for participating in this war is indeed very high.

But it doesn't matter, the Pop-Po Confederation has never been a member of the German States, so what do we want them to do?

It is enough for us to absorb the Duchy of Brandenburg, Schleswig, and Holstein, and the other non-German territories can be completely abandoned.

Now we don't need to do much, just stall for time and wait for the Russians to win this war, and then we will strike.

Britain, France and Austria will not allow the Russians to annex the Pop-Po Confederation, and when they intervene, we will take the opportunity to take back the territory of the German region, not only can we get the support of the British, but the Franco-Austrian reaction will not be so fierce. ”

Steve Lee's proposal was significantly more feasible than the British's plan. After abandoning the Popo Confederation and absorbing only the German states within it, the comedy empire did not have to worry about choking to death, and the risk was much lower.

If you open the history books, you will know that the Kingdom of Prussia was formed by the merger of the Duchy of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia.

The Duchy of Brandenburg was one of the German princes, and the predecessor of the Duchy of Prussia was the Teutonic Knights, because the domestic nobles were mostly Germans and were gradually assimilated.

No matter how it is assimilated, in the narrow sense of the geographical division, the area of the Duchy of Prussia does not belong to the German region, and it is reasonable to kick it out.

George I was tempted, and although the territory of these three German states was small, it was the best part of the Pubo Federation.

If he can get his hands on it, whether it is the strength of the country or his personal prestige, he will go further. And there is no need to take the risk of war with the Russians.

After recovering Poland and Lithuania, and annexing the Duchy of Prussia, if the tsarist government was not satisfied, Britain, France and Austria would be blown up.

It didn't take much to be able to pick a plump fruit, and George I really couldn't think of a reason to refuse.

After a little thought, George I said happily: "Lee, your plan is brilliant, you will surely be able to become a great diplomat, like Prince Metternich."

I'll leave it to you to tell the British that we agree to their plan, but the details will need to be negotiated.

Then you have a lot of work to do, not only to delay until the end of the Russo-Prussian War, but also to gain the support of Britain, France and Austria after the war.

Do you have a plan? ”

It is not difficult to delay time, excuses are easy to find, the Reichstag is the biggest back-breaker, and if it is really not possible, it can "leak the news" and terminate the plan by the hands of the Austrians.

The trouble is that after the war, Britain, France and Austria were not charitable, and it was impossible for them to work in vain, which required a price.

After a moment's hesitation, Steve Lee replied, "It will take the cooperation of the Russians, and the more greedy the tsarist government shows, the more likely we are to succeed."

If the Russians had stopped after regaining the lost territories and left a complete kingdom of Prussia, we would have no chance.

But this is impossible, the tsarist government paid such a big price for this war, and what did they take to make up for the losses without the spoils of war?

As far as I know, the Tsarist government mortgaged a large amount of territory to Austria, and it was very difficult for the Tsarist government to repay the money, and after the war they were likely to use the land of the German region of the Poppo Federation to pay off the debt.

This was not what Britain and France wanted to see, and Austria had taken the strategic initiative by taking these territories, and no one could prevent them from uniting the German regions.

On this issue, most European countries will support Britain and France. The Russians were only there to pay off their debts, not to see Austria unify the German regions.

This was our opportunity, and it was a good choice to strengthen our strength in order to prevent Austria from uniting the German regions.

Of course, this is not enough. In order to gain everyone's support, it is necessary to exchange interests, for example: we can sign a contract with the French for the supply of coal. ”

The value of land and land is also different, and the value of the same piece of land is also completely different for different countries.

Steve Lee judged that after the Russians won the war, they would use the territory of the German region to pay off the debt, mainly because this part of the territory was politically important to Austria and could be sold for a high price.

After all, after taking the territory of the Prussian German region, the road to German reunification will be left with the "comedy empire", and public opinion will form a general trend of unification.

Once the idea of great reunification is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, it can no longer be stopped. For Austria, the "general trend of reunification" cannot be measured by money alone.

In contrast, the lands around the Russian Balkans, Poland, and Ukraine have no political significance, and are dispensable to Austria, and it would be good if the Vienna government did not lower the price.

From the standpoint of the Federal Reich of Germany, if it was to maintain its current independent status, it was necessary to interrupt the general trend of Austrian unity.

In order to achieve this, it is necessary to annex the Prussian German regions and form a political structure between North and South Germany in order to calm the minds of the people.

This is also the reason why Steve Lee is confident that he will have the support of the European countries, Austria is strong enough, and then let them unify the German region, then it will be a proper European hegemon.