Flowers, Swords and France

When Matilda entered the small reception room, Charles was already teaching Mary to recognize chess pieces.

When she saw that Mary's eyes were a little red and swollen, but her eyebrows and eyes had been relaxed, Matilda secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Miss Dillion?" Charles greeted her after seeing her, "Why are you here too?"

"Fran is sick after all, and needs to rest well. It's too tiring to receive us for a long time, isn't it?" Matilda replied, and then looked at Charles with interest. "So you like playing chess too?"

"Yes, yes. It's just a hobby."

"Oh?" Matilda raised her eyebrows, "Actually, I like playing chess too. How about we play a game?"

"Of course." Charles followed suit.

Mary gave up her seat and sat next to her to watch the chess game.

Charles's style of play is more stable. He likes to defend first and then attack. However, Matilda is unexpectedly a radical. She always prefers to use offensive strategies. However, her chess skills are not bad. Therefore, Charles soon abandoned his contempt and dealt with it seriously.

While playing chess, the two chatted.

"Speaking of which, this chess can really correspond to reality." Matilda made a move and then sighed, "A country has clear divisions between the upper and lower levels, each has its own duties, and its actions also follow a certain order, and then it fights with other countries through the combined strength..."

"This is a good summary of the object chess, Miss." Charles praised and then made a move.

"However, it would be great if governing a country could be as simple as playing chess! There are too many aspects involved. Sometimes, even if you know what is a good thing, you can't do it. My grandfather often sighs for state affairs."

Charles smiled. "That being said, if you can always keep a cool head when playing chess, it can also help in governing the country, right? At least the shame of the March Cabinet can be avoided."

[In March 1840, Thiers became the Prime Minister of France, and at the same time declared that he would take a radical line in diplomacy to show France's strength. As a result, he caused a diplomatic crisis. In July, the four major countries of Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia signed a secret treaty behind France's back, forcing the French-supported Egyptian Governor Muhammad Ali to surrender to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Ali finally surrendered. France regarded it as a diplomatic failure at the time. The public opinion was in an uproar, and the Thiers Cabinet had to be disbanded in October of that year. ]

Matilda didn't care when she heard Charles' words implying criticism of the current regime. After all, the political stance of the Marquis de Treville was no secret. She just smiled, "So you are also concerned about this kind of thing."

"Of course." Charles answered seriously, "My lifelong wish is to see the day when France dominates Europe."

"You boys always think about these things... That means war, right? And it seems destined to be a war with Britain." Matilda gave a simple evaluation.

"Britain is France's eternal enemy, isn't it? Think about it, how many times has France fought with it over the centuries! If it hadn't formed alliances with it many times, Louis XIV and Napoleon would have completed France's supreme achievements long ago."

"Then let's play a hypothetical game. It's a bit boring to just play chess." Matilda made another move and then suddenly proposed.

"Hmm?" Charles was a little confused.

"Hypothetically, if you were in charge of France, what would you do to achieve your wish? Let France and Britain go to war?" Matilda looked at Charles and took another step.

"What an interesting side game." Charles answered and then took a step forward. "Well, it's okay to play around. I think that in order to fulfill the vow, Britain must be defeated, but in order to strangle Britain, France should first make friends with Britain."

"Hmm?"

"Britain is too strong now. France should not challenge it rashly before it is certain. Instead, it should find the right opportunity to strike Russia first. If it can cut off the Russians' bear claws reaching out to Europe, I guarantee that the whole of Europe will cheer."

Matilda thought for a moment and nodded. "It seems to make sense."

Then she picked up a chess piece and made another move.

"At the same time, I think the most important task for France in the future is to try to make friends with Austria." Charles jumped out of his horse.

"Hmm? Austria?" Matilda suddenly laughed. "Is Austria that important?"

"Very important, Miss." Charles replied.

"But it has declined and no longer frightens Europe like it did a few centuries ago."

"That's why it's worth making friends with, otherwise we should have continued to fight it." Charles took a step and continued to emphasize, "The Habsburg royal family thought they were of noble blood, but inbreeding and closed education turned their descendants into a bunch of incompetent, unimaginative wretches. Yes, we all know that the current Austrian emperor is a wretched worm, not worth mentioning."

[Referring to Ferdinand I, the Austrian emperor who reigned from 1835 to 1848. He was born with low intelligence and had no ability to govern the country. 】

"But he will always abdicate." Matilda said slowly.

"Yes, and I'm afraid he will abdicate soon. Even a horribly conservative country like Austria cannot tolerate an idiot emperor for another ten years." Charles nodded and agreed with Matilda. , "But look at his heir, Franz Joseph is also a wretch, with an empty head and no idea of ​​power. I don't know how to control my subordinates. He only has the talent of a poor hotel owner. He just wants to keep the family business, but he doesn't know how to keep it. I dare say that he will be useless except for being in good health. Years later, this poor guy could only be remembered by a group of ignorant girls as the incarnation of a prince in fictional romance novels."

"Hahahaha..." Matilda was amused by Ciel's joke, then she lifted the chess piece and took a step. "You seem to hate Austrians?"

"No," Charles took a step back, and then replied easily, "Who would hate an incompetent wretch? I think this kind of Austria is a good Austria, and it should be well preserved as a natural ally of France."

"Huh?" Matilda didn't know why, so she took a step further, and then looked at Charles with inquiring eyes.

"France and Austria are both major Catholic countries. For the glory of God and to resist the invasion of pagans and the rebellion of heretics, shouldn't they be born to stand together and fight side by side?" Charles replied.

"Are you kidding..." Matilda laughed. "Who in the government would consider faith? I remember that our ancestors formed an alliance with Turkey just to weaken the Habsburgs."

"Okay, of course this reason is a joke." Charles also smiled, "But it is also a good excuse for publicity. There will always be people who need to believe it..."

"What's the real reason?"

"Obviously," Charles raised his elephant and took one of the opponent's pawns. "Austria is both strong but not strong enough. Say it is not strong. After all, it has such a large territory and a large population. After all, there is a legend that has been passed down for many years. It has a relatively effective administrative system, and it is a friend worth making on these grounds; it is said that it is strong. What? It is incredibly weak and powerless! Its rulers are incompetent and unwilling to make progress, and if you peel off the outer layer, you will find that it is just a combination of several parts that have been forcibly kneaded together. The body simply cannot fuse, and the internal problems alone are enough to languish it.”

"So what you mean is that Austria is strong enough to be an ally, but due to internal reasons, it will not become too strong to affect France's position?" Matilda answered as she spoke.

"You are really understanding." Charles glanced at Matilda approvingly, and then continued, "We must see that the real pillars of the Austrian Empire are 8 million Germans. They are the main source of officials and military officers in the empire. In addition, within the empire, the 8 million Hungarians are relatively obedient. . But with 16 million Slavs and 10 million Italians, this may not be the case... How much energy does Austria have to expend just to maintain this empire where the ruling ethnic group is in the minority? Therefore, because its strength is the lowest, Austria's requirements are also the lowest. , the easiest to be satisfied and the easiest to become dependent on us.”

"That makes sense."

"So if France wants to dominate Europe, it must eliminate the influence of Britain and Russia on the continent at the same time. It is too difficult for France to do it alone, and Austria will be France's potential helper in this great cause - —If used well. Of course, being friendly with Austria does not mean actively promoting its strength..."

"Then what should be done?"

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Encourage it to continue to maintain its rule over Italy, encourage it to attack Turkey and penetrate the Balkans, but Austria must not be allowed to continue to expand within Germany. If this happens, it must be stopped, even if it involves a war!" Charles picked up the car. Come.

General.

"Austria must not be allowed to expand Germany's internal territory and population?"

"Yes. Generally speaking, we should never allow anyone or any country to integrate Germany into one country. If anyone tries to do this, he should be..." Charles picked up the queen and ground her into powder. !”

Matilda looked at the chessboard.

"Oh, I'm about to die." She smiled, as if her failure did not affect her mood.

Ciel smiled back, "You're actually doing a good job."

"As for your point of view, judging from your narrative, it makes sense, at least it sounds that way to me..." Matilda continued to laugh.

"This is just a casual conversation while playing chess, not worth mentioning." Charles shook his head slightly, "It's just a kind of mental entertainment after dinner."

"It's not easy to be able to do this kind of thing as a mental pastime after dinner. How many young people like this are left in France today?" Matilda was still praising Charles, "Now among our peers, especially How many people among the nobility have thought about France like this? No matter whether you are right or not, at least you have done something more meaningful than gambling, horse racing, entertainment and banquets, right?"

"You're flattered." Charles still smiled back.

Matilda slowly put her pieces back into place. "Mr. Treville, it's really interesting to chat with you."

"I feel the same way, Miss Dillion." Ciel also slowly put his chess pieces back into place.

After putting away the chess pieces, Matilda raised her head and looked at Charles, her eyes wandering behind the lenses.

"Mr. Treville, I forgot to mention one thing. This is also one of my reasons."

"What's going on?"

"My sister Julie will hold a 20th birthday party at home in a few days. I'm here to invite you. Can you and your sister come here for the honor? If so, I will ask the servant to send the invitation when I get back. ”

Um? Ciel was a little surprised.

"You don't need to think about things like stance. This is a dance for us young people. It has nothing to do with the emperor or our stance." Matilda smiled happily, "Select one or two people to attend the dance for my sister. I think I can still do it, so I sincerely invite you and your sister to attend..."

Then she turned to look at Mary who had been silent next to her.

"Mary, you should also be free to attend then, right?"

"Eh? Me?" Mary came back to her senses after a moment, "Of course!"

Matilda looked at Charles again.

Everyone has mentioned this, so there’s nothing to refuse, right?

Charles only thought about it for a few seconds before answering, "Since I can receive such favor from you, of course Fran and I will attend."

"Okay." Matilda nodded politely, "Thank you."