While Count Bauer was waving the gems and gold bricks handed to him by Habsburg to accept bribes, Manteuffel of the Kingdom of Prussia was also not idle.
In order to remove Maximilian from his position as Grand Duke of Warsaw, he successively approached Ambassador Gorchakov and Ambassador Neserrodie.
After hearing from them that the next meeting would continue to oppose Maximilian's appointment as Archduke of Warsaw, he began to visit embassies non-stop in an attempt to exaggerate the Austrian threat theory to gain support.
He first went to the Bavarian Embassy to warn the Bavarian ambassador that if the Austrian Empire succeeded in letting Archduke Maximilian succeed the Grand Duke, their influence in the entire Central Europe would be greatly enhanced.
By then, it will be difficult for Bavaria to maintain Germany's third place.
Faced with Manteuffel's provocation, the Bavarian ambassador humbly responded that the Kingdom of Bavaria had never wanted to be the third country in Germany. Bavaria believed that the German princes should help each other within the framework of the confederation and should not undermine each other.
Seeing that the Kingdom of Bavaria was not up to par, Manteuffel had no choice but to give up, and then he randomly found a reason to leave the Bavarian Embassy.
Watching Manteuffel leave, the Bavarian ambassador quickly sent his secretary to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Austrian Embassy to report the situation.
Between the Kingdom of Prussia and France and Austria, Bavaria is still clearly divided.
On the other hand, Manteuffel, who left the Bavarian Embassy, found the Earl of Clarendon, the British Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He also promoted the threat theory of the Austrian Empire to Count Clarendon. He told Count Clarendon that once the Austrian Empire integrated Poland, they would slowly weaken the influence of the Kingdom of Prussia in the German Confederation, thus achieving centralization.
Purpose.
After the Earl of Clarendon patiently listened to Manteuffel's arguments, he couldn't help but doubt whether Manteuffel's mind was clear.
In the view of the Earl of Clarendon, the more powerful the Austrian Empire appears in Europe, the more in line with the British Kingdom's offshore balanced foreign policy.
Because a powerful Austrian Empire is likely to cause France and Russia to jointly attack.
At that time, won’t the Austrian Empire have to plead with the Kingdom of Britain for help?
Although Count Clarendon had made up his mind to continue to support Archduke Maximilian as Archduke of Warsaw, he did not directly reject him like the ambassador of the Kingdom of Bavaria.
And responded to Manteuffel with an ambiguous attitude.
As the Prussian Foreign Minister, after hearing the ambiguous attitude of the Count of Clarendon, Manteuffel thought that the Count of Clarendon had changed his mind and chose to support them. He hurriedly expressed his gratitude to the Count of Clarendon and gave him the prepared gifts.
To the Earl of Clarendon.
[ps: During this period, Prussia’s diplomacy was basically at the level of being fooled around. It was not until Bismarck came to power that Prussia’s diplomacy improved.
However, after Bismarck stepped down, Prussian diplomacy returned to its original starting point.]
The Earl of Clarendon accepted the gift unceremoniously, and then gave Manteuffel away in person.
After leaving the British Embassy, Manteuffel felt that he had already won the support of Britain, and it should be a sure thing to win the support of France.
After all, the reason why the candidate for the Grand Duke of Warsaw was not confirmed was because Walewski suddenly stopped.
From this point of view, the French Empire's attitude toward Maximilian's succession to the Grand Duke of Warsaw was also in a state of uncertainty.
As long as Manteuffel can work harder, he might be able to win over the French Empire.
Ever since, Manteuffel, who felt good about himself, arrived at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Mr. Manteuffel, you are here early! The meeting starts tomorrow!" the State Secretary in charge of receiving Manteuffel reminded Manteuffel.
"I'm here to see Your Excellency Walewski!" Manteuffel said to the Secretary of State: "Where is Your Excellency Walewski now?"
"Minister Walewski, you are still in the Tuileries Palace!" the State Secretary replied to Manteuffel, "I wonder what you want to see him for?"
"I'm here because of Poland's problems!" Manteuffel begged the Secretary of State, "Can you please go to the Tuileries Palace and help me call Minister Walewski here!"
"This..." The State Secretary hesitated for a moment, nodded and said to Manteuffel: "Mr. Manteuffel, please wait here for a moment!"
After speaking, the Secretary of State ordered someone to take Manteuffel to a lounge, and he would take a carriage to the Tuileries Palace to tell Valewski the news of Manteuffel's arrival.
As for whether Walewski will come or not, that depends on him.
The carriage set off westward from the Quai d'Orsay and soon arrived in front of a bridge. After crossing the bridge, it continued north to the Champs Elysées and the Tuileries Gardens appeared in front of them.
Since the carriage that the Secretary of State was traveling in had not been reported in advance, the carriage that entered the Tuileries Gardens went through another round of inspection before finally arriving at the Tuileries Palace.
The State Secretary got off the carriage and trotted into the hall to find Mokar, the royal steward.
"Director Mokar, where is Minister Valewski now?" the State Secretary asked last night while wearing rough clothes.
"Walewski is currently chatting with His Majesty in the guest room on the third floor!" Mokar replied to the State Secretary.
"Can you please call the minister out?" the secretary of state begged Mokar.
"What happened?" Mokar asked.
The State Secretary told Mokar that Manteuffel was visiting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was designated to discuss the Polish issue with Minister Walewski.
After listening, Mokar nodded and said, "Okay! I'll go and notify Valewski for you right now!"
Mokar quickly climbed up the stairs to the third floor of his home, and then arrived at a guest room with a closed door.
Through the crack in the door of the guest room, you can hear the laughter and laughter coming from the guest room. Mokar knows that it is really not good to enter at this time, but he has to do this if he is blind.
So Mokar knocked gently on the door.
The laughter inside the door stopped abruptly after the knock on the door. After a while, Jérôme Bonaparte's voice reached Mercald's ears: "Please come in!"
Mokar took a deep breath, pushed the door open and said, "Your Majesty!"
"Mokar, has something happened?" Jérôme Bonaparte, who was sitting in his seat, asked Mokar.
"Your Majesty, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is here to visit!" Mokar replied to Jérôme Bonaparte.
"Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?" Jérôme Bonaparte turned his eyes to Valewski and joked, "Valewski, your people are here!"
Valewski showed a slight hint of embarrassment on his face, and then said goodbye to Jerome Bonaparte: "Your Majesty, please allow me to leave first!"
Jérôme Bonaparte knew that the Secretary of State must have something to do with Valewski, so he nodded and replied: "Yes!"
Then, he added: "Alexander will stay here for now!"
"Yes!" Valewski stood up, bowed to Jerome Bonaparte and left.
On the way to the hall, Valewski asked Mokar in detail why.
When Walewski arrived at the hall, he immediately asked the State Secretary: "Is the carriage still there?"
"The carriage is still there!" the Secretary of State replied quickly.
"That's good!" Mokar nodded, and then returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a carriage with the State Secretary.
Valewski, who entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, once again asked as State Secretary, "Which room is Manteuffel in now?"
"plz follow me!"
Under the leadership of the State Secretary, Walewski arrived at the room where Manteuffel was located and met with Manteuffel.
The two shook hands "warmly" and then sat in armchairs.
Sitting on the chair, Manteuffel did not get to the point at the beginning. He first apologized for the conflict between the Kingdom of Prussia and the French Empire over the Duchy of Luxembourg more than half a year ago.
Walewski "magnanimously" said that these are old things and that he and Emperor Jerome Bonaparte had already moved on.
Manteuffel thanked France again for his generosity, and then got down to business.
"I am here this time to discuss with you the choice of the Polish monarch!" Manteuffel said to Walewski straight to the point, "I think the candidate for the Polish monarch should not be Archduke Maximilian!"
Later, Manteuffel gave his reason. Once Archduke Maximilian becomes the Archduke of Warsaw, the entire Poland will fall to the Austrian Empire, and the French Empire, as the founder of Poland, will gradually lose its influence in Poland.
force.
"Mr. Manteuffel, Grand Duke Maximilian is the candidate personally appointed by His Majesty the Emperor!" Walewski said to Manteuffel.
"I know that your country's purpose is nothing more than to hope that the Austrian Empire can serve as the vanguard against the Russian Empire!" Manteuffel said with a wise expression, "If I want to tell you, the Kingdom of Prussia can take over the Austrian Empire's position and resist Russia.
As for the empire, is the French Empire willing to replace the people of the Kingdom of Poland?"
"You?" Walewski looked at Manteuffel suspiciously. Judging from his expression, he really did not believe that the Kingdom of Prussia would resist the Russian Empire.
Manteuffel immediately told Valewski that the Kingdom of Prussia was jealous of Russia because it did not help the Russian Empire in the Crimean War, so it was difficult for the relationship between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire to return to its previous state.
Rather than continue to unite with the Russian Empire, it would be better to join the French camp.
As long as the French Empire is willing to agree that they will not let Archduke Maximilian serve as the monarch of Poland, the Kingdom of Prussia is willing to replace the Austrian Empire as a pawn against the Russian Empire.