Flowers, Swords and France

While Charlotte and Agnes were talking about the loan, Charles was also chatting happily with Ambassador Bismarck in the restaurant downstairs.

By this time, both of them had finished their meal, and the servants brought after-dinner snacks, as well as shaved ice dipped in chocolate sauce. On this hot summer night, when the crushed ice cubes in the cup were put into their mouths, the two people who were full of wine and food felt an indescribable sense of comfort.

The physical comfort also caused the two people's spirits to lose their usual sharpness. They no longer had the same tit-for-tat confrontation as before. Instead, they started chatting with smiles like real friends.

"Everyone says that French people are good at enjoying life. Today, I saw that it is indeed the case. Your life is really enviable." Bismarck complimented and put a large spoonful of chocolate shaved ice into his mouth, and then didn't care at all. Chewing figuratively, "No, no, no, not just your life, age, family, power, everything about you is enviable, extremely enviable!"

"There is no technical content in your compliment." Charles replied with a smile, "Let's think of something more creative."

"It's true because it's not said in a bombastic way." Bismarck continued to compliment, "I think it's hard for you to hear a diplomat express his feelings so directly, right?"

"That's true." Charles picked up the wine glass and took another sip for himself. "Well, I thank you very much."

"Although I can't completely know how much effort you have put in to obtain this enviable everything, I can feel it." Bismarck suddenly raised his head and looked at Charles, "And in order to defend everything that has been obtained, I'm afraid you have to spend more effort Blood. And you are destined to walk on thin ice, because you had nothing at first, so you could move forward without hesitation; but now you are destined to worry about gains and losses, because everything you gained cannot be easily lost... Now that you are a minister, you must consider all aspects, right? "

"You are right, so right." Charles nodded, "When we were in the opposition, we could have no scruples, but now that we are in power, we...we must occasionally be the same as those we defeated. It doesn’t feel good to act, but it has to be the case.”

He knew in his heart that Bismarck must be making excuses when he said this, but he was not in a hurry and waited calmly for his next words.

"So, can I think that His Majesty the Emperor does not have strong feelings of revenge against the Russian Empire?" Bismarck asked indeed, "Is his call for peace to Russia really serious?"

After a pause, he lowered his voice and said, "If France really wants to start peace talks with Russia as soon as possible, we in Prussia would be very willing to act as a middleman to mediate. If you need it, I can set up a negotiation for you. A communication channel to Russia, because when I was in Frankfurt, I had a good relationship with the Russian minister stationed there..."

Prussia was sandwiched between major powers, so it had always hoped to gain political capital by playing both sides of France and Russia. Bismarck's words did not surprise Charles, and he naturally would not let the other side succeed.

"I am very grateful for your enthusiasm for us, sir. But I am sorry that we now have other channels of communication with the Russians, so we do not need you to send messages to them yet. In addition, we must also consider the thoughts of the allies, After all, we have an agreement with the British and decided not to sign a peace treaty with Russia alone, so this kind of communication must be cautious and coordinated with the allies." Charles replied with a smile, "Of course, if there is such a need in the future, we will. I’ll ask you to help.”

This implicit rejection made Bismarck a little unhappy, but it was not beyond his expectation. He already understood that although the minister seemed very friendly to him, he refused to give in on key issues. There is nothing pro-Prussian about it.

Minister Treville is one of the most relied-upon ministers of the French Emperor. His attitude undoubtedly indicates a very bad tendency and will greatly affect his work. After all, he is trying to maintain the friendship between Prussia and France. He came here to be an ambassador because of his connections.

"I heard that you have a very good relationship with little Prince Metternich, right?" After a moment of silence, he changed the question, "The Austrians are now so in step with France, presumably because of Prince Metternich's Influence...?"

"This is indeed a reason, but... the main reason is that the Austrians are tired of the Russians and feel the pressure brought by the Russian expansion, so they are eager to find a backing for themselves to rely on, and France happens to "I have the strength to provide such support." Charles immediately replied, "Of course, personally, I do like Richard...he is very easy to talk to."

"Richard is indeed a good young man. He has some qualities that everyone likes. Personally, I am also willing to be his friend..." Bismarck's tone became a little strange, "But, Your Excellency, I I think you should not put personal feelings above national interests, and your friendship with Prince Metternich cannot affect your judgment, right?"

"Where did you start talking about this? I never thought that I had been similarly affected, otherwise I would not have angered Emperor Franz Joseph like that." Charles smiled bitterly, "Please don't worry, Austrians Can't control my mind."

"I hope so, Your Excellency, otherwise it would be too bad." Bismarck seemed to have made up his mind and spoke directly, "Austria is a stubborn country. They should have withdrawn from the stage of history long ago, but they are still alive now. They are taking their ancestral industries and causing headaches for the whole of Europe. Austria is France’s traditional enemy, and I think there will be a serious conflict with France sooner or later, unless it is willing to disappear!”

"I don't think so." Charles immediately shook his head. "Austria doesn't have a common border with us now, does it? I don't see any reason why we have to break off."

"Even if there is no border, wouldn't there be conflict? So now France and Russia don't have an inch of land bordering each other, why are they fighting?" Bismarck asked, "Unless your eyes are blinded by emotion, otherwise you will see When the Austrians arrived, they blocked the French advance. They maintain an area that occupies the entire northern Italy, making it impossible for France to control it. If it cannot control it, France will be trapped! I dare to predict that France will definitely have a fight with Austria there. Maybe you don't want it now! I believe it, but you will remember my words in the future!”

Charles was silent, as if thinking about Bismarck's words.

In the original history, this was indeed a prophecy that came true. Not long after the Crimean War, France went to war with Austria in the name of protecting the Kingdom of Sardinia, a vassal state, and was completely defeated after paying a huge price. Austria suffered the humiliation of defeat and huge territorial losses.

Today, he is absolutely unwilling to see such a thing happen again, because it means the failure of his foreign policy.

"And what about us? The same goes for us! Austria blocks all the paths forward for Prussia, and is also using its incompetence to harm every German! Any German who loves the nation will hope that Prussia will remove the Austrian poison from this Therefore, unless Austria voluntarily withdraws from Germany, Prussia and Austria will have a duel, even if it is not today. It will be someday not too far in the future." As Charles was thinking, he finally decided to show his cards, "And I think that Prussia and France will have common interests in attacking Austria, and the two countries can. If you can unite and act together and force this country to obey our arrangements, you will have made a great contribution to France, won't you?"

"This is not the achievement I want." Charles finally spoke as if he had come to his senses. He looked at Bismarck with his head held high, "I do not agree with any Prussian action to unilaterally change the status quo of Germany. You know Yes, Germany is a nation that has endured too many disasters. They should enjoy a peaceful time instead of bleeding because of your ambitions..."

"The Germans' problems will naturally be solved by the Germans themselves. There is no need to bother any foreigners to give them advice." Bismarck interrupted Charles impatiently, "Sir, Germany is indeed too miserable. In the past two centuries, they have been divided. They are killing each other. Because of their own weakness, they can only watch helplessly as the iron hooves of foreigners wreak havoc on their own land. This status quo cannot continue forever. Go down! Germany must be re-condensed and become a solid country. Only in this way can it defend the German people, and only a bloodshed once and for all can do this. Yes, sir, the commonality of the German people. The power brought by wishes is unstoppable. Austria must either obey voluntarily, get out of the way after being beaten hard, or be crushed into powder!”

In front of Charles, Bismarck proudly made this declaration. It was undoubtedly very harsh, but it was also powerful enough - especially when he knew that this man could really make it happen.

"I always feel that you are not just referring to Austria." Charles frowned. "You make me feel oppressive."

"Of course, this is only against Austria. We only want to defend Germany and do not want to compete with other nations." The severity on Bismarck's face was immediately replaced by a smile, "As long as you stand by our side and be a friend of the German nation, I can assure you that the French and the Germans will remain friendly for generations to come and work together to create a beautiful and prosperous Europe!”

Ciel was silent again.

He knew that there was no need for him to argue with the ambassador.

He already saw Prussia as the centerpiece of the German national renaissance, and he firmly believed that this must be achieved as soon as possible. He can do anything for this.

Ciel himself believes that for his own benefit, he must stop the other party, so the two people's positions are extremely opposite, and there is nothing that can be reconciled.

So, what we have to do now is to be his friend, and then find an opportunity to strangle him at any time.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"I understand what you said, and I will think about it carefully." After a moment, he picked up the wine glass and raised it to Bismarck, "Then let's drink to the friendship between the two great nations."

"Cheers." Bismarck also picked up the wine glass and drank it in one breath.

After nightfall, Bismarck finally said goodbye and left, and at this time Agnes and Charlotte also came to Charles.

Charlotte briefly explained Agnes's request to Charles, especially the fact that Agnes had rejected her proposal and therefore had no guarantees.

"...Charles, now that the situation is like this, are you willing to lend money to your uncle?" Charlotte asked.

However, to her surprise, her husband had been staring at the quilt on the table in thought.

"Charles?" Agnes, who was nervous, couldn't help but walk to his side, "Do you have any difficulties?"

"No... no, there is no difficulty." Charles, who was sitting on the chair, finally came back to his senses, and then smiled bitterly at Agnes, "I have no opinion, your promise is already very powerful to me, as long as you guarantee it, I agree to lend money to my uncle. But... Charlotte has the right to supervise the use of the loan, we can't tolerate others taking our money to squander, do you think it's okay?"

"Oh, of course! No problem." Agnes finally felt relieved, and the whole person relaxed a lot, "Thank you, Charles."

"In addition, I have one more thing to say... In politics, for a handle, you can only threaten once. I was caught once , I admit the compensation, but when I pay, it means that this handle has been resolved. "Charles looked at Agnes seriously and carefully warned her, "If you want to use a handle as a cash cow and continue to blackmail and extort, it will only make the trust between each other completely lose its basis, and finally make everyone restless. "

"This child, he speaks so elegantly to his aunt, has he become stupid as a minister?" Agnes couldn't help but smile bitterly and pinched his face, "Okay, don't worry, I will never let him blackmail you, this is a loan, not blackmail, if he dares to tell anyone about that matter, I will beat him to death, after all, I am your subordinate..."

"Don't say subordinates... It's so embarrassing." Charles couldn't help laughing.

"By the way, you seem to be in a heavy mood, is it because of that person just now?" Agnes asked in a low voice. "I also think that person is a bit annoying and scheming."

"Don't ask, aunt... just let me relax." Charles sighed, then hugged Agnes and put his head in her arms. "At a certain moment just now, I really wanted to ask you to kill this person for me and make him never return to his country. But... forget it, I have more important things to do, don't take it seriously."

"Silly boy..." Agnes stroked his hair. "Okay, just tell me if you need anything."