Although Crown Prince Edward was playful and lustful, he was not stupid. When the head of state spoke to him about business, he immediately listened solemnly, "Please tell me..."
"Wake up, my crown prince, I am here today to talk to you about this Chinese visit. The biggest threat I am talking about is none other than the two men in front of you!"
"The nearest one is Prussian Bismarck, and the far one is the Chinese Xiao Letian!"
Hearing Benjamin's decisive voice, Crown Prince Edward couldn't help but froze, "This? How is this possible? Prussia and the Chinese? Hahaha, are you kidding?"
"No! I'm not joking. Do you really not read all kinds of intelligence about Prussia? From the very beginning of this ambitious country's industrial development, I have felt a faint threat..."
"A small landlocked country in Europe is still facing the fragmentation of Germany as a whole, but it can cultivate politics internally and martial arts externally, and has strengthened both its military and industry..."
"Look at Prussia. It has become a big construction site. The total mileage of roads and railways has surpassed France and became the second largest in Europe... Of course, we don't need to mention the extreme example of Tsarist Russia where the area is too huge. Let's talk about Europe. Among the advanced countries in central and southern China, Prussia already has the strength to challenge France!"
"How many years has it been? When Napoleon was alive, Prussia was just a small country, trembling under French artillery fire. But in just a few decades, they won two wars in a row, the Prussian War and the Prussian War. Austro-Prussian War!”
"Now they are targeting France with their aggressive troops, and they want to fight the Franco-Prussian War again? What do they rely on? Isn't it the abundant coal and iron resources in the country, or the strength accumulated by desperately developing industry?"
"Industrial strength is the backbone of a country! Now look at these factories in the West End of London. Do you still hate it? These factories are the steel backbone of an empire. Without them, we would be just a second-rate country in Europe!"
"Yes, yes... Prime Minister, please don't get excited, okay? I admit that you are right... Come here, bring the accompanying Mazar and unfold it for the head of state..."
When the nobles went hunting, they were accompanied by attendants and guards. They brought wooden portable folding horses and unfolded them for the two of them to sit down.
"Führer, I admit that Prussia has been a bit aggressive in recent years, and the two wars were fought beautifully...but is it too early to say that they are a threat to our British Empire now?"
"You know, Prussia doesn't even have a dark blue navy now, but just a few small offshore defense ships, it wants to challenge the status of our British Empire? I don't believe it... and the Prussian royal family has always been on good terms with our British royal family. Originally, They're just relatives! It's not as serious as you said..."
"No?" Benjamin sighed, "Your Highness! There is no friendship between countries, only the interests of Chi Guoguo! What if it is a relative relationship? Compared with the hegemony of the empire, even the closest relatives of father and son will have trouble. questionable!"
"I have a deep worry. I always feel that something is wrong with France... It seems that Bismarck is coming. I really don't have any evidence to verify my judgment, but I just have this hunch..."
Edward really couldn't understand where the head of state's concerns came from. The British intelligence agencies had already conducted very detailed intelligence investigations and subsequent deductions.
Almost everyone believes that there is a 45% chance that the Franco-Prussian War will actually start, and that it is more likely that the two sides will resolve the issue through gunpowder-filled negotiations.
After further in-depth analysis, these British elites believe that even if a war breaks out, there is a 75% chance that it will be a small-scale border conflict. A short-term, high-intensity exchange of fire breaks out between the two sides, and then the result on the battlefield becomes the negotiation table. Each chip on the table.
If we continue the analysis, once a full-scale war breaks out between Prussia and France, it will be a national-level war mobilization, with both sides investing more than one million troops in a national-destroying war... If this low-probability possibility really happens, then Prussia has only a 30% chance of winning, while France has a 70% chance of winning.
This was all analyzed before the war. There are not many differences within the British high-level. What these cunning British politicians hope is a tie between France and Prussia. They hope that both sides will waste their national strength through war, so that The gap in strength between them and Britain is even greater.
But today, Benjamin made a completely different judgment. The crown prince did not believe these judgments, but he still had to listen out of respect for the prime minister.
"Well, I believe that the head of state's concerns are reasonable. I will think about it carefully...but what can I do if I think about it? You know my situation very well. My mother will not let me interfere in such national affairs. …”
"I know, I know your difficulties, Your Highness... And what I want to tell you today is not only the threat from Prussia, but more importantly, Xiao Letian, the head of state in the East. To deal with him, you only need to use a little influence. enough!"
"Who? Xiao Letian... Hahaha, you are really funny!" Crown Prince Edward held his belly and laughed, "I just wanted to say that you are afraid of Bismarck and Prussia, which is somewhat reliable. , but you say that a small warlord in the East is a threat to the empire? I don’t agree..."
Benjamin frowned, not feeling any dissatisfaction because of the Crown Prince's laughter. Instead, he softly said some truth, which actually made Edward's face change.
"My dear prince, you have to look at many issues together. If you look at Xiao Letian alone, there is indeed no threat, but now we must take Prussia into consideration. Two strong hands can sometimes be very dangerous!"
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