Metternich knelt down on one knee this time and performed the most formal traditional Thai-Spanish etiquette for Louis XVII.
At the same time, I shouted my thanks and blessings with a little excitement:
“On behalf of the whole country of Austria, I would like to express my gratitude to His Majesty, the greatest King of France, for his full support for the just cause.
“Your mighty and righteous name will be forever recorded in the annals of human history for future generations to admire.
"I hereby sincerely wish His Majesty a long life and good health."
It’s not that the Thais don’t know how to kneel down.
But according to Thai and Western tradition, the ceremony of kneeling down on one's knees is used to worship God, and it belongs to the category of religious etiquette.
Secular rituals should be distinguished from religious rituals.
After all, even a king cannot override the status of a god. Their king can only ask his subjects to kneel down and bow to him.
The original reason why Macartney was unwilling to kneel before Qianlong may have been because it was a religious etiquette for him.
As a result, later generations interpreted various logics and secrets for propaganda and political needs.
Louis XVII responded directly to Metternich's compliment:
"Thank you Mr. Metternich for your blessing, and I also wish His Majesty and Mr. Franz of Austria good health and long life.
"Then, regarding cooperation against Prussia, I need to continue to communicate and discuss with my ministers. We need time to make various plans and adjustments.
"Sir, you can go and rest for two days. We have a certain plan here, and we will discuss it in detail with Mr. Zhao."
Metternich was basically relieved, but he had other thoughts:
"Dear Your Majesty, I understand what you mean.
"But I believe that stopping Prussia's atrocities should not be a matter only for our two countries.
"So I hope that while France is discussing and preparing internally, I can continue to persuade His Majesty the King of England to join."
Metternich was really anxious.
Now that the Frenchman was off, he immediately wanted to take the Englishman off again.
Louis XVII did not stop him:
"Okay, then Mr. Hardship will be the liaison person."
Louis XVII arranged for several French diplomats to go to England with Metternich to find George IV.
Then let Duke Richelieu summon the main ministers and generals to the palace to hold an emergency royal meeting to discuss the follow-up response plan.
Louis XVII knew Ming's intentions better than Metternich.
Louis XVII knew Zhu Jingyuan far better than all other European politicians.
The Prussians and Lucians may have suspected that Zhu Jingyuan was afraid of war, but Louis XVII would never think so.
Even most of the upper-middle-class political and military officials in France and Britain did not think so.
Louis XVII knew that his best friend only regarded war as a means, not an end.
He just won't start a war for the sake of war.
If the war is profitable and has a high success rate, he should take the initiative to participate.
After the end of the World War, the Anglo-French Yinzhou War that broke out immediately could be said to have broken out under his direct promotion.
Louis XVII can now even imagine that his best friend may deliberately allow Prussia and Lucia to continue to grow in Europe.
When the entire Europa continent was in chaos, Ming Dynasty entered the war under the banner of punishing the people.
Then in the process, completely destroy the existing royal family and social order in Europe.
Annex the entire Europa continent and completely unify the world.
Louis XVII even suspected that his best friend had already had such a plan fifteen years ago.
Otherwise, why would he deliberately give Prussia a fat colony?
It now appears that Prussia's Mozhou colony may be the most fertile colony besides the Ming Dynasty's South Mozhou.
My best friend's vision and judgment about oil are never wrong. Wherever he says there is oil, it is there.
It's hard not to doubt his original intentions.
But if the Ming Dynasty fully realized this plan, it would certainly not be a good result for Louis XVII and the French aristocracy.
If the Ming Dynasty conquered the entire Europe by force, there is a high probability that the existing royal family would have no chance of retaining it.
Even if it could be preserved, it would definitely become a mascot with no rights.
Therefore, Louis XVII wanted to work hard and maintain his actual power as much as possible under various circumstances in the future.
Louis XVII indeed regarded Zhu Jingyuan as a spiritual friend.
But just like Zhu Jingyuan himself, it is impossible to only consider the other party's personal interests in political affairs.
We must put our own national interests at the center of our arrangements.
At most, it is just to give the other party some extra care and preferential treatment when it does not harm the interests of the country.
In the view of Louis XVII, the direction France can work towards now is actually the one proposed by Metternich.
That is to say, unite with Austria, Ottoman, Britain, etc. to contain Prussia and Lucia.
It would be best to win the battle and divide the interests of Prussia and Lucia.
France's ideal goals in this direction are indeed the two points that Metternich had in mind.
The areas on both sides of the Rhine River in Prussia are rich in coal resources.
Then there is the Prussian colony in Mexico, which has rich oil resources.
Both of these resources are what France hopes to obtain.
Austria may not have much power to launch an attack, but after all, it is a big country in Europe and has famous generals like Archduke Karl.
At least it should be able to hold back most of Prussia's power.
In Louis XVII's view, France's army strength should be comparable to Prussia.
As long as Austria can play a containment role, France has a chance to win head-on.
Moreover, although it is said that it will cooperate directly with Austria immediately, the specific preparation time and the timing of sending troops are still controlled by oneself.
You can make a decision after observing the actual situation between Austria and Prussia.
France's verbal support and cooperation behind the scenes should strengthen the Austrians' will to resist on the battlefield.
France can deliberately let the two sides stand at a standstill for a period of time to consume the strength of both sides.
Reality is different from the game. After the melee between multiple countries ends, how much benefit one of the victorious countries can gain, and its actual contribution on the battlefield is of course very important.
But more important was the power the country still had when the war ended.
If a country tried its best in the war, spent almost all its resources, and suffered huge losses.
But at the end of the war, if he is no longer able to fight anymore, he will still not be able to get the biggest share when the spoils are divided.
Because he no longer has the ability to capture the most loot.
The melee on the western continent has lasted for thousands of years, and politicians from various countries understand this truth.
Even in the past world war armistice negotiations, Ming Dynasty won a complete victory at the negotiation table, which was also caused by this internal logic.
The countries of Europe are exhausted, but the Ming Dynasty can continue to fight.
If the European countries want to make Ming Dynasty completely give up and make peace, they can only provide enough benefits to satisfy Ming Dynasty's appetite.
But this does not mean that France should take the initiative to retain its strength to a large extent.
Although he should choose the right time to join the war, once he joins the war, he must try his best.
Otherwise, the war itself has been lost, and you will become the spoils of others, and you will have no chance to think about how to divide the spoils.
At the same time, there are also factors that directly affect the distribution of spoils, that is, the interests actually occupied during the war.
In fact, in the history of Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, the details of all the wars had similar manifestations.
The most extreme example is France in World War II. Because it surrendered early in the Blitzkrieg, its homeland did not suffer major damage.
After Free France took back its homeland, it immediately had a strong basic strength.
He is immediately qualified to follow the partition of Germany.
Red Lucia certainly suffered heavy losses in the war, but by the end of the war it actually controlled most of Europe.
The main reason that prompted the Allied forces to finally implement the landing operation on the Western Front was that they did not want Red Lucia to directly occupy the entire European continent.
It is much easier to implement things after the war than to exchange gains based on sacrifices.
Therefore, although you should be optimistic about the timing of the end of the game, you should exert all your strength as long as you end the game.
At the same time, Louis XVII knew in his heart that the Ming Dynasty would never give up its goal of unifying the world.
Even if he succeeded in stopping Prussia, Ming Dynasty should have other plans and plans to force the Thai and Western countries to merge with Ming Dynasty through other means.
However, the major countries in Europe and the West, including France, were not defeated by large-scale wars first, but were incorporated into the Ming Dynasty through mergers.
In the future, the actual status and royal power that these countries can obtain in the Ming Dynasty system can be guaranteed as high as possible.
That is to say, they were under the command of the Ming Dynasty militarily, they could not violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty politically, and they had to pay taxes on time economically.
However, the actual administrative and law enforcement powers are still in the hands of the royal family.
That is, the foreign surname is vassal state.
You can refer to the current two countries of Egypt and Persia.
But it is best to explain this kind of plans and ideas clearly to your close friends.
It's best to gain his understanding.
So before the Duke of Richelieu called the attendees to the meeting, Louis XVII first went to have a phone call with the Ming Emperor.
Louis XVII explained Metternich's visit and purpose very straightforwardly.
He also explained his thoughts.
He just didn't mention his guess about Daming's intention.
I just said that I hope to be able to play a role and show the strength of France.
In this way, even if you really join the Ming Dynasty's system in the future, you will still be able to gain a higher actual status.
Zhu Jingyuan was thoughtful after listening.
Prussia first defeated Denmark, then was preparing to attack Austria, and finally continued to attack France.
Why does this process give people an inexplicable sense of déjà vu?
In the original history, the process of German unification also involved the Prussian-Danish War first, then the Austro-Prussian War, and finally the Franco-Prussian War.
However, in history, the goal was to unify Little Germany, but now the goal is indeed Greater Germany, and even the new Rome.
As for Louis XVII's thoughts and selfishness, Zhu Jingyuan didn't take it to heart very much.
If you think about it from another person's perspective, you might plan that way yourself.
He took the initiative to explain to himself that he still wanted to maintain their personal relationship.
But politically we have to do whatever we have to do.
This is also a kind of honesty.
However, the main reason why Zhu Jingyuan didn't take it to heart was that he didn't think much of France in the first place.
At the same time, of course I have ideas about unifying the world, and of course I am willing to work hard to completely unify the world through force.
If the other party is willing to take the initiative to merge with the Ming Dynasty, then it is indeed a good result for the Ming Dynasty not to participate in the war.
So after Zhu Jingyuan listened, he was silent for a while, and then gave Louis XVII a promise, or an invitation:
“If France and Austria defeat Prussia and are willing to actively join as vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.
"Then Daming can give the Bourbon royal family the status and treatment of Prince Daming.
"You can also do the same as Mu Yi gave to Egypt, and you can promise to never change the status of France and never withdraw from France.
“In addition to having to cooperate with Ming Dynasty’s laws and reforms, pay tribute to the royal family on time, and cooperate with Ming Dynasty’s military operations.
“The actual local administrative and law enforcement power in France is still controlled by the Bourbon royal family.
“However, the Bourbon royal family and the main French nobles must intermarry with ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty for generations.
“While you’re working hard, you can think about this plan.
"Of course, if you fail in your struggle, you won't have such good conditions.
"It depends on how much you will fail, and then you decide how much territory you can keep in the end."
Louis XVII was stunned after hearing this, and asked with a little doubt:
“Your Majesty…with all due respect, do you think France and Austria are likely to be defeated?
"And your condition is that France and Austria defeat Prussia. If Britain also joins, wouldn't that work?"
Zhu Jingyuan said with a smile:
"It doesn't matter, as long as you defeat Prussia on your own without Ming's participation, I can fulfill my promise.
"But why does Britain want to join you, and why does it want to fight for Austria and Prussia?
“At the same time, are Prussia and Lucia capable of attacking the British Isles?
“And the future heir of Britain is the Ming Dynasty prince, so declaring war with Britain is basically equivalent to declaring war with Ming Dynasty.
“The main aims of both Prussia and Lucia were on the continent.
“Before they decided the outcome on land, they probably had no intention of landing in the UK.
"At the same time, Britain and France, you know in your heart the specific losses you suffered in the last world war and the Yinzhou War.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that we have lost a generation of young people, right?
“The new generation born after the end of the war have not grown up enough to join the army yet.
“Those children and young people born during the war may still be haunted by the painful experiences of the war that lasted for more than ten years.
“At the same time, your two countries are also the best in Thailand and the West.
“Although the development speed has slowed down compared to the golden decade, it continues to develop upward after all.
“Adults who have lived from World War II to the present, if they compare their situation with the more difficult Puru and Puru two countries, they will have no idea of war.
“On the contrary, the Prussians suffered minimal losses in the World War.
“They may even feel that during the negotiations to end the war, instead of suffering any losses, they gained more benefits.
“They are now in a worse state and have a stronger incentive to change the situation through war.
“They have also shown their strength now.
“In two days, we captured a country covering an area of tens of thousands of square kilometers.
"To be honest, I am very worried that your army will collapse when facing the Prussians.
“In my opinion, France’s best choice is to take the initiative to sign a vassal treaty with the Ming Dynasty now and become a formal vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Jingyuan's analysis made Louis XVII almost depressed.
Louis XVII almost instinctively began to reflect.
Is France really in trouble now? Is this generation really incapable of fighting?
Will it really collapse in the war against Prussia?
Was his decision to cooperate with Austria and try to cut off Prussia wrong from the beginning?
(End of chapter)
