"The official excuse he used was that he wanted to meet the heir of the man he most admired, but I think he must have other intentions, Your Majesty."
"What do you think his intentions are?" Aigron deliberately asked Prince Talleyrand.
Prince Talleyrand paused for a moment, seeming to consider his next words in his mind. After a moment, his dim old eyes revealed a hint of wisdom, and then he spoke in a low voice.
"Although this prince did not reveal too much about his true thoughts, I think he hopes to exchange your sympathy for the Kingdom of Sardinia through his old friendship with the Bonaparte family, and then secretly help him become an enemy of Austria.
cause……"
"In other words, does he hope to get help from me to deal with the Austrians together?" Aigron was not surprised, but asked calmly, "Has he forgotten that my mother and my wife are both Ha
Princess Busburg? How could he place such hope on me?"
"Hahaha... No doubt he must remember this, but what does it matter?" Prince Talleyrand replied with a smile, "Since ancient times, marriages between royal families have not been able to prevent countries from going to war. Savior
The royal family of Iraq has also been married to the Habsburg family many times, and even Prince Albert himself married a princess from the Tuscan branch of the Habsburg family."
As if afraid that Aigron would not understand, he explained in detail, "The prince's father-in-law is Archduke Ferdinand, the second brother of Archduke Karl (this man died in 1824). After all, you and he married cousins respectively.
Where’s the brother-in-law——”
Suddenly reminded by Prince Talleyrand, Aiglon couldn't help laughing.
"So, what this prince wants to plan is for the two sons-in-law to backstab the Yue family? Hahaha... interesting."
"This is indeed very interesting, Your Majesty." Prince Talleyrand chuckled twice and quickly returned to his serious expression, "But it is also of great importance. Whether you are willing to respond to his proposal or not, you
Everyone should be prepared in advance.”
Under the guidance of the prince, Aigron also became serious. He first asked his prime minister, "So, how do you think we should react if the Kingdom of Sardinia really wants to carry out their anti-Austria cause in various ways?"
Woolen cloth?"
"Your Majesty, because of your early experiences, you may be a little aggrieved towards Austria, but I advise you that any war against a powerful country at present will be harmful to you, because it is likely to trigger a new war.
"Anti-French alliance." Under Aiglon's inquiry, "We are not ready to be involved in a large-scale war between great powers. We should wait for the opportunity and let the jealousy between countries make them fight with each other.
Then you choose to take the chestnuts from the fire."
"I understand what you mean, so you want me not to listen to the prince's advice and continue to maintain friendly relations with Austria?" Aigron asked. "I can do this. After all, I don't intend to go to war with Austria.
See you, at least not for now."
"No, that's not what I meant -" Prince Talleyrand suddenly shook his head, denying Aiglon's words.
Aigron stopped talking, but looked at the other person, waiting for the prince to express his true opinion.
This time, he didn't wait long. Prince Talleyrand seemed to have thought it over carefully, and he started talking non-stop in an instant, "I have been dealing with Metternich for almost 30 years, and I know him very well. Then
He is an old cunning man, a master of juggling. He has always been treacherous. In order to please the late emperor, he took the initiative to propose a marriage and married your mother. On the other hand, he was secretly preparing for a war with France, and in the end he added insult to injury.
, and let the empire fall with it. For such an old cunning man, it is meaningless to talk about kindness and justice. If you want to gain his friendship, you can only pinch his neck and make him ask for your help."
Prince Talleyrand raised his wrinkled hand and made a strangulation gesture, and his face became murderous, "According to this reason, just because we want to be friendly with him, we should try our best now."
We need to give him a stumbling block, let him feel the pressure, and let him understand that he needs something from us, and then you will find that he is really a very, very lovable old thing——"
Aiglon quickly understood what Prince Talleyrand meant.
"In other words, what you mean is that we want to play a double-dealing way, not only encouraging the hostility between Sardinia and Austria, but always maintaining the ability to use this as a bargaining chip to blackmail Metternich; at the same time, we are always ready to use this as a bargaining chip to exchange for Metternich.
Tene’s friendliness?”
"Yes, in simple terms, it is like this, but the actual operation will be a little more complicated, but it is not difficult for me." Prince Talleyrand replied confidently, "Nowadays, Austria is actually divided into pieces, but it is just divided by the old emperor.
It is just combined with Metternich through various tricks. In order to maintain its huge family business, it has been exhausted mentally and physically - and if it faces an impact from the outside, it will be even more unable to do what it does. As long as the pressure is strong enough, they will
I need help from you."
What Prince Talleyrand said is indeed true.
Although France failed in the long war, at least at this moment, it is still big, strong, and powerful. After the baptism and tempering of the Great Revolution, a unified national consciousness has been formed, and its national composition is highly "homogenized."
The internal centrifugal force is very small, it only needs a little time to recover from the trauma, and it can quickly turn into that formidable monster again.
Although the Vienna Peace Conference carefully arranged a "cage" for France, on land, the Netherlands annexed Belgium, Prussia annexed the Rhineland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia annexed Genoa, acting as a "guard" to isolate France.
However, since France originally needs to recuperate, being "isolated" allows it to "watch the fire from afar" and wait for conflicts between other countries to break out.
More than ten years have passed, and the "cage" arranged by the Vienna Peace Conference is already teetering under the changing circumstances.
As soon as Aigron came to power, he worked with the British to separate Belgium from the rule of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, turning it from a "potential enemy country" into a "friendly neutral country". This was equivalent to giving itself a path of stability.
of the northern border, and a future partner.
But now, before he can exert his strength, the prison in the south seems to be crumbling.
Because of its own ambitions, the Kingdom of Sardinia not only did not continue to serve as the "vanguard against France", but instead regarded Austria as its main enemy, and even actively wanted to use France as a backing to oppose Austria! This made the people of Sardinia at the Vienna Peace Conference in 1815
Why is the love of Metternich so embarrassing?
It can only be said that human calculations are never as good as God's calculations. After all, international relations are not a game of chess on a chessboard. Each chess piece has its own will and will act in accordance with what they think is the "best interest."
At this moment, although Austria had barely survived the humiliation of being defeated by Emperor Napoleon several times, regained a large amount of lost territory, and seemed to have regained the prestige of the empire, in fact, during the short period of peace, it was in danger.
Most of the nationalities in the country are disgusted with it and hope to gain independence or at least greater autonomy; all the big countries around it feel its weakness, so they want to use force to seize its "ancestral property".
Within Germany, the slowly rising Prussia began to constantly try to challenge its authority; in the Balkans, the Russians were also pressing forward step by step; and in the south of the empire, even a "second-class power" the Kingdom of Sardinia was about to make a move.
, trying to tear off a few pieces of flesh from the empire's body.
All these crises, in history, finally ushered in a general outbreak - the Kingdom of Sardinia declared war on Austria twice in 1848 and 1859. The first time it failed, the second time it won with the support of Napoleon III's France.
The Prussians chose to retreat during the crisis of 1850, but soon defeated Austria completely in a short war in 1866 and drove its power out of Germany; and in the end, Russia and Austria perished together.
In the history of modern Europe, the Austrian Empire suffered the worst fate. Although other countries also suffered the humiliation of defeat and suffered heavy casualties in various wars, at least their basic fundamentals were preserved. Only the Austrian Empire was left with no bones left.
First, due to the defeat, they had to compromise with the Hungarians and turn themselves into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Then, they were not even able to save the country. They were torn into pieces and had no chance of reincarnation. The Habsburg family completely became a wandering royal family and could only live in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In exile, I recall the glory of the past with regret.
And in all this "bad luck", the Bonaparte family played an extremely important role.
Needless to say, Emperor Napoleon had to fight many times to cede territory to Austria and pay heavy losses as compensation; and after Napoleon III came to power, he and the Kingdom of Sardinia went to war against Austria in 1859, which also launched the first shot at the demise of the empire.
Facing his own domestic and foreign pressure, Napoleon III chose the "easiest" path and took the initiative to side with the Kingdom of Sardinia. Through the Franco-Austrian War, Austria swallowed the bitter fruit of defeat and lost its richest Lombardy.
.
It can be said that the Bonaparte family is the star of the Habsburg Empire.
However, in this war, Emperor Napoleon III received almost nothing except the false name of "victory". On the contrary, he greatly weakened Austria, making it even weaker in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. He could only
He was quickly defeated. Then he had to face the Prussian army by himself, and ultimately ruined his empire.
There is no doubt that in this world line, Aigron can play the role of Napoleon III. As long as he is willing, he can also use his own strength to suppress Austria, so that Austria will eventually embark on the same path of destruction as in its original history.
roads, if he is willing to pay enough price, he can even witness the complete demise of the Habsburg Empire with his own eyes.
But, is it worth it? It's not worth it.
This is not because he is related to the Habsburg family. Although his mother and wife are both Habsburg princesses, "relatedness" is not as important as power in his eyes, as Prince Talleyrand said.
, marriages since ancient times have not prevented monarchs from various countries from attacking each other.
The key point is that in terms of benefits, this is not worth it, and may even be very harmful.
What does the Habsburg Empire mean now?
It means a multi-ethnic, weakened empire that must always face the pressure of the separatist forces of all ethnic groups; it means a divided Italy; it means a Germany where Catholic and Protestant princes are not unified with each other, and they are at odds with each other; it means a Germany that is blocked by the Russian Empire.
Stumbling blocks on the way forward...
What's so bad about this?
For Aigron, this is great.
Such a good thing almost perfectly meets his needs. Not only does he not want to tear it into pieces, but he also hopes to let it stay and live as long as possible.
It was not because of any kinship, but because of thorough practical considerations of interests that made him hope that the empire would survive.
At the same time, Eglund grew up in the Austrian court, and he understood the character of his grandfather and Metternich better than anyone else.
They are all fast-paced, cold-hearted people. Talking about feelings to them is a joke. They only focus on strength.
But because of this, it is easier for this kind of people to make friends, because they almost never act emotionally and only decide their stance based on interests.
Therefore, Aiglon strongly agrees with Prince Talleyrand's conclusion that "in order to be friends with Metternich, he must first pinch Metternich's neck."
"Your Highness, you are absolutely right... I deeply agree." After thinking for a moment, Aigron nodded and acknowledged the opinion of his Prime Minister. "Then, I agree with you and Alberto, who is about to inherit the throne.
The prince maintains close contact - and I agree that within a certain range, we maintain friendly exchanges and even assistance with the Kingdom of Sardinia. However, the bottom line of all this is that we will never go to war with Austria. I believe that,
You are the best person in the world to play this kind of game...so I entrust you to take the lead in this matter."
"Usually you are used to doing your own thing, but whenever something difficult comes up, you think of me, my dear Majesty." Prince Talleyrand said with both ridicule and a bit of sadness.
"As Prime Minister, isn't your job to help me solve my problems?" Aigron asked with a smile, "With my tolerance, you have so much power, of course you should get things done for me."
"That's what I say... But you can't throw everything away. Don't forget, you are Emperor Bonaparte, and I am just your servant. It is you who others want to see, not me -
"Prince Talleyrand spread his hands.
The two people looked at each other and smiled, understanding each other tacitly.
Prince Talleyrand's ability is well known to everyone; but Prince Talleyrand's "notoriety" is also known to everyone, which means that he cannot exercise power in his own name, he must rely on someone
Under a "righteous name", and then use it to endorse his authority. He is such a parasitic vine, always involved in things, but never liquidated.
King, Directory, Emperor... He has changed many masters, but it doesn't matter at all. As long as he has the power, he doesn't mind serving any government - of course, this government must also be wise enough and cannot go against the interests of the country.
act, otherwise he will throw it away without mercy.
At this moment, Aigron is the last "host" in his life. He also hopes that in the last afterglow of his life, he can fulfill his final personal ambition in the name of the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, I have been observing you for a long time. Although you are young and proud, you will not be swayed by emotions, let alone hold on to personal grudges in the past to affect your judgment. This is a very good thing.
I hope that even if one day I am no longer here, you can maintain your characteristics. In that case, this poor country can live in peace for decades!" After looking at each other and smiling, Prince Talleyrand said
He said to Aigron half as a compliment and half as a warning.
Then, he seemed exhausted and yawned lightly, then bowed to Aiglon and left, limping out of Aigron's sight on crutches.