Austrian Emperor Franz received Prussian announcements and proclamations on board ship.
Franz himself was furious at the time:
"Bastards! These bastards! These liars!
"What about admiring the scenery in the Ming Dynasty? It turned out that I was rushing back in advance to prepare for action!
"To make the Habsburgs swear allegiance to the Hohenzollerns!
"This is a joke!
"This is absolutely impossible!"
But after all, Franz is an old politician who has been the monarch of a large country in Europe and America for many years.
Although he was very angry, he did not directly respond to Prussia's request in the end.
Instead, after venting his emotions, he immediately consulted his most important subordinate, Metternich:
"Sir, what should we do now?"
Metternich had already read the news, and it was Metternich who sent the news to Franz.
Metternich had already thought about it on the way here, and now he said it directly without hesitation:
"Your Majesty, all we can do now...is delay, as long as we can..."
Franz was stunned for a moment:
"Can I just drag it?"
Metternich said of course:
"Since His Majesty cannot accept becoming a vassal of the Hohenzollern, nor is he willing to become a vassal of the Ming Emperor.
“Austria is not ready for a total war, and with the current situation in Austria, it is difficult for us to truly defeat Prussia.
"So all Austria can do now is delay as much as possible..."
Franz continued to ask a little irritably:
"The current situation is already so critical, how can we delay it?"
Metternich reminded with a wry smile:
"Your Majesty, the current situation is not at its most critical yet.
“Right now, Prussia has only asked us for annexation, but has not yet issued a direct reminder of war.
“His Majesty the Ming Emperor has requested that national wars within the League of Nations must be initiated and executed in accordance with the rules of the League.
“Since Prussia has not raised any reminder of war, it does not dare to make a direct choice against us for the time being.
“More importantly, there was no word from the Lucians.
“This shows that Lucia is probably not preparing to fight with Prussia against us.
“Because Lucia’s primary goals should be Sweden, Norway, and the Ottomans, and their goal is the outlet of the Europa continent.
"There is no real point in trying to seize land from western Austria now."
Franz was obviously a little stunned, and then he thought that what Metternich said was indeed the truth.
Prussia must go through the alliance process, and the war must be officially announced.
The key is that Lucia has not participated yet, and Austria does not need to worry about the most terrifying two-front battle.
Franz continued to consult Metternich:
"Then how exactly should we delay it? How long can we delay it?"
Metternich said very seriously:
“We should first of all respond to Prussia’s demands, but also announce to the world our response and our demands.
“Austria can be united with Prussia, but Austria should be the main force, not Prussia.
“The country established after the merger of our two countries should continue to use the title of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Habsburg family should serve as the emperor of the empire.
"Prussia can be promoted to a true king and be loyal to the Holy Roman Emperor.
“However, Emperor Shinra does not interfere in affairs within the Kingdom of Prussia.
Franz was stunned for a moment:
"This kind of goal is certainly excellent, but it is certainly impossible for Prussia to accept it."
Metternich smiled dryly and said:
"Even if we know that Prussia cannot accept it, we must first respond like this.
"According to the common saying of Ming Dynasty, the other party is asking for a sky-high price, and we are also asking for a sky-high price, and then both parties will just pay back the money on the spot.
“For example, if we take a step back in the future, the Holy Roman Emperor will no longer also serve as the King of Germany.
“The Habsburgs could only serve as HRE Emperors, and the title of King of Germany could be given to the Hohenzollerns.
“Even the entire empire can be divided into two parts, the German Kingdom and other provinces of the HRE.
“German regions including Netanya, the core of Austria, can even be included in the Kingdom of Germany.
“The Habsburg family that rules this area can use their identity as Archduke of Austria to pay allegiance to the German King of Hohenzollern.
“But at the same time, the German king also owes allegiance to the HRE Emperor.
“In other words, the two families, Habsburg and Hohenzollern, use different identities to be loyal to each other and are each other’s vassals.
"On the basis of these conditions, we can take another step back, or put forward other concession conditions.
“The Roman Empire established by our merger can adopt the traditional model of two emperors co-ruling.
“Hohenzollern became the Northern Emperor and continued to rule the existing Prussian territories.
"The Habsburgs became the Southern Emperor and continued to rule the existing Austrian territories.
“The people-to-people exchanges will open borders to each other and gradually reduce tariffs and customs inspection procedures between the two countries to form de facto unification.
“Continuously negotiating conditions like this is continuing to delay time.
“These responses and the subsequent negotiation process must be as open to the world as Prussia’s notification.
“It is also a public statement of attitude to the outside world and the public.
"Austria and the Habsburg family will continue to adhere to the orthodox claims of the HRE and Germany.
“Above all, Austria also remains interested in unifying Germany.
“And Austria is more orthodox than Prussia.
"This proactive attitude of the empire should help stabilize the chaotic situation within the empire..."
Franz nodded repeatedly as he listened, feeling that what Metternich said was very reasonable.
Even if there is a merger, Prussia cannot be the dominant one.
Asking for a high price and paying back on the spot. This type of negotiation may last for many years.
However, the negotiations will eventually end.
Moreover, Prussia may not give Austria the opportunity to keep turning around at the negotiating table.
So Franz directly expressed his concerns:
“Negotiations cannot go on forever, and delays will eventually come to an end.
"After the negotiations finally break down, what should we do when the delay can no longer continue?"
Metternich felt that he had made his monarch approve of his ideas:
“It is true that we cannot delay forever, but as long as we can delay for a few years, the international situation may change even more.
"At that time we may have the opportunity to make other choices. In Ming terms, this is actually delaying and waiting for change."
Franz was stunned for a moment:
“The current situation on the Europa continent... can indeed be regarded as a crisis, and there will indeed be new changes in the next few years.
"But will this change be beneficial to us? Will it help us maintain the survival of our country?"
Metternich explained his more in-depth analysis with a serious expression:
“The two most dangerous countries in Europe right now are Prussia and Lucia.
“Prussia’s main target is undoubtedly us, and Lucia has many more targets.
“If we comprehensively rank them according to the benefits to Lucia and the difficulty of the attack, the order is roughly like this.
“First came Sweden and Norway in the north, then the Ottomans in the south, then Prussia and Austria, and finally the Ming Dynasty.
"Lucia and Prussia seem to have a good relationship now, but there are also conflicts between the two.
“This conflict may even be higher than the conflict with us in Austria.
"If our situation with Prussia can be maintained at a stalemate, the Lucians will have achieved their war goals against Northern Europe and the Ottomans.
"At that time, we can try to cooperate with Lucia and attack Prussia together."
Franz was silent for a while:
"How come we...Lucia is willing to cooperate with us to attack Prussia instead of cooperating with Prussia to attack Austria?"
Metternich said very bluntly:
“This matter cannot be completely determined now. We can only try to change Lucia’s choice through diplomatic means and actual exchange of interests.
“First of all, if Lucia achieves her two-stage war goal and Prussia can only stalemate with us, then Lucia will despise Prussia.
“At the same time, our strength will also be reflected, which is the prerequisite for Lucia and us to cooperate.
“Then the lands of Prussia were more attractive to Lucia than to Austria.
"In terms of terrain alone, the Great Plains in northern Prussia is more suitable for large army operations than Austria, which is surrounded by mountains.
“This was a key driver in Lucia’s choice to work with us.
“If Lucia succeeds in capturing Constantinople, then they will be able to enter and leave the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea normally.
“At that time, it was more attractive for Lucia to turn the Baltic Sea into Lucia’s inland sea than to seize land inland.
"Finally, there's the diplomatic effort we need to make to make Lucia think that's actually attractive."
Franz listened to Metternich's analysis and said sadly:
"After talking about so many things that may happen in the future, the key is that we must be able to resist the Prussian attack now!"
Metternich said directly without concealing it:
"Yes, we must be able to resist the Prussian attack, at least we cannot collapse at the first touch.
"Otherwise, even if the conflict between Lucia and Prussia breaks out in the later period, it will be difficult for us in Austria to effectively participate in it.
"But your Majesty does not need to worry too much. Our domestic situation in Austria is not good, and our current army does not have the strength to launch an attack.
“But if we just pursue local defense, we can actually do a lot of things.
"I am referring to politics here, not military matters."
Franz was immediately worried and curious and continued to ask:
"Your Excellency, please tell me, what can we do at the political level?"
Metternich's mood was not very high at this time, and he sighed before speaking:
"Please delegate power to your Majesty and establish the Kingdom of Hungary. Your Majesty will also serve as the King of Hungary, but you will also establish a Hungarian Parliament to formulate laws in Hungary.
“At the same time, autonomous administrative regions at different levels have also been established in other ethnic gathering areas of a certain size within the territory.
“Choose the leader of a local traditional force to serve as the local governor and be fully responsible for local military, political and legal affairs.
“In other words, give these people conditions that Prussia will never give, and give them a self-system that Prussia will never allow.
"For their practical interests and identities, these people will try to mobilize all local forces to resist."
Franz was a little confused:
"Decentralization? China's two-thousand-year history has been moving from decentralization to centralization. The political changes in the European countries in the past few hundred years have also been towards centralization.
“After Europa fully came into contact with Ming culture, it accelerated its centralization.
“Now we are going to delegate power to the localities instead? Allow local autonomy or even allow locals to serve as local governors?
"Isn't this...reverse?"
Metternich explained helplessly:
“To a certain extent, this kind of behavior can indeed be regarded as retrograde, and it can even be regarded as drinking poison to quench thirst.
“But when it comes to really dying of thirst, even if we know that the wine is poisonous, as long as it is a chronic poison, we can only choose to drink it.
"After His Majesty refused to become a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, Austria now has no other choice.
"I can say frankly that the barriers between various ethnic groups in Austria are now difficult to eliminate completely and quickly.
"Now this kind of forcibly kneading surnames together has actually had the opposite effect.
“If you let the local people manage themselves, it is basically impossible to achieve the concentration of power of the entire country at the imperial level.
“However, at the very least, it should be able to exert its basic local strength, and the direct constraints between different ethnic groups can be basically eliminated.
“In the history of the Ming Dynasty, and in the history of our Europa, there were actually similar situations.
"The armies of the local separatist forces are actually better at fighting than the regular army of the imperial court, especially during homeland defense wars.
"Because the regular army can retreat backwards, but the local separatist forces can only hold on."
Franz fell silent upon hearing this.
A very painful struggle and struggle began deep in my heart.
Delegating power means reducing the authority of the court and the authority of the monarch.
It is very easy when you delegate power, but it is extremely difficult to take it back again in the future.
Especially the current situation in Austria. There are already a large number of unofficial local forces in the territory, which can be regarded as intertwined.
After the imperial court itself gave them official status, they immediately seized all local power.
It will be difficult for the royal family and the central court to intervene in the future.
However, this road seems to be the only way out for the Austrian Imperial Court and the Habsburg Royal Family at present.
Otherwise, when the Prussians come over, local ethnic groups that already have objections to the empire are likely to surrender directly to Prussia.
Especially... among the Germans in Austria, many young people already have their hearts set on Prussia.
Therefore, Franz did not respond immediately, but first asked Metternich for his advice on Austria:
“A new kingdom can be established in a place like Hungary, but what about Netanya in Austria?
"The local Germans, between Prussia and Austria, will probably choose Prussia."
Metternich relaxed after hearing Franz's question.
Although Franz did not directly respond to the previous suggestions, this kind of question already showed that he already recognized his own ideas.
Metternich smiled dryly and said:
“As for the Germans in Netanya, we can only take the initiative through publicity.
“We can directly aim at unifying Germany and recruit local compulsory soldiers composed of Germans.
“Although many of the local young people really want Prussia, the main reason is that Prussia has an offensive tendency.
"On the contrary, Austria just showed that it wanted to maintain its status.
“Now that Austria is deliberately showing an offensive tendency, coupled with Austria’s inherently higher legitimacy, it should be able to win back a large number of Germans.
“At the same time, after recruiting local young people into the army, they can be mobilized to other places.
"Soldiers can be assigned to different tasks according to their status."
Franz nodded slightly after hearing this, but still had some worries:
"Do we really want to use these troops to attack Prussia?"
Metternich continued to smile and said:
"That's part of the strength that was demonstrated during the negotiation process."
Franz understood immediately and nodded gently:
"Then do as you wish."
(End of chapter)
