Flowers, Swords and France

Charles's gunfire was not alone. At the same moment, a gunshot also rang out in a shooting range in Prussia a thousand kilometers away.

"Bang!"

Somewhere in the shooting range, a target fell down.

The guards surrounded the shooting range in twos and threes, but the pace of their military boots was extremely uniform.

In the distance, the cuirassiers were riding tall war horses and practicing formation and tactics on the playground.

Flying dust, neat queues, shining bayonets, and roaring gunshots all mixed together to form a unique aesthetic - tough, rough and violent. Isn't this what Prussia admires most? That kind of beauty?

It was this kind of aesthetics that turned Prussia from a small country into a behemoth in the original world, defeating the biggest enemy in front of it, and finally shaking the entire world.

The person who fired the shot quietly looked at the results of his victory without saying a word. Although this man looked over fifty years old, he looked very energetic. His face was rosy, and shrewd glances flashed from time to time in his eyes. Although his hair was bald in the middle, he still had an impressive mustache on his mouth, making him look energetic. He is Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig von Hohenzollern, today's Prince of Prussia, future King of Prussia and Emperor of the German Empire - if nothing changes.

"Perfect shot, Your Highness." After the person who fired the shot put away the gun, an old man wearing a military uniform and a medal next to him applauded, "You really have not neglected the skills of the past. "

This old man is Count Friedrich-Graf-von-Wrangel (1784-1877), the current Commander-in-Chief of the Garrison of Berlin and Brandenburg, and the future Marshal of the Empire. .

"Your compliments are rare." The prince smiled slightly, and then handed the gun to the attendant officer next to him. His movements were slow and reserved, "May I consider this an honor, my lord?"

"You are so humble." The Earl smiled lightly, "Don't be too modest. The whole country is waiting for you to shoulder the greatest mission of this kingdom."

"It is too embarrassing for you to say that. My brother is the king, sir." The prince replied rather coldly.

"With His Majesty the King's current mental state, you must show courage. Face the heavy burden you will eventually bear, Your Highness." The Count refused to give in. "This is what the whole country is eagerly looking forward to."

"The whole country?" The prince smiled sarcastically, and then took the loaded gun from the attendant officer next to him, "I didn't know that people now like me as the 'Shotshot Prince' again. …”

"The people will like you, as long as you show enough things to make them like you." The earl looked at the prince seriously. "You also know that as a monarch, if he wants to be loved by the people, he must either flatter the people like a girl, or conquer the people with an iron fist and merit. I am very pleased to see that you This is the latter path. You're just like a Prussian monarch! What's wrong with blasting the mob? Great! Didn't Napoleon do it too? As long as you do the same thing next, people will forget about the shrapnel you gave them. Your great achievements..."

In 1848, the surging revolutionary wave also reached Prussia. During this period, Berlin citizens and college students continued to make troubles, shouting inflammatory slogans and demanding that the king implement constitutional government. The demonstrations soon turned into armed conflict, as in Paris and Vienna, and citizens built barricades in the streets of Berlin. Declaring that unless their demands are met, they will fight to the end.

Under the fear of revolution, King Frederick William IV of Prussia first chose to make some compromises. He promised to give more rights to Parliament and the people, but after regrouping the army, he changed his mind and finally decided Suppress the commotion. He appointed his uncle, Count Brandenburg, as prime minister. Then orders were given to move the parliament out of Berlin, and finally the army was ordered to surround and dissolve the parliament in December.

After receiving the king's order, the prince and count strictly carried out the king's will. They dispatched a large army into Berlin to suppress the rioters. Because of this. The prince was nicknamed "Prince Shotgun" and the earl was called "The Butcher".

However, regardless of their reputation, at least they have successfully suppressed the riots and maintained the rule of the kingdom. In their view, this is enough.

"Okay... with your kindness, compare me with Napoleon." The prince interrupted the count's tirade, and then he glanced at the count curiously. "So, what exactly do you want to say to me?"

"I heard a bad rumor recently, Your Highness." The Count looked ahead expressionlessly, "Our King, His Majesty, plans to comply with the mob's call and amend the Kingdom's Constitution..."

The current King of Prussia has no heirs. Obviously, when the King is unable to govern the country, or after his death, the King's younger brother, His Royal Highness the Prince in front of him, will become the new King of Prussia - because of this, the Earl He would come to the prince and state his opinions to him.

Although Frederick William IV opposed the democratic National Assembly, he used the revolution as an opportunity to promulgate a new constitution and set up a bicameral parliament, with the upper house represented by nobles and the lower house elected by the people (although the members of the lower house were elected by the people) It is elected by the people, but there is a tax limit. Therefore, ordinary people could not participate in parliamentary elections, but even so, it was still opposed by the nobles whose interests were harmed. However, the king insisted on his opinion, and King William did not change after he came to the throne, so this Prussian constitution was still used in Prussia until 1918. The kingdom fell.

Sure enough, it's because of this. The prince raised his eyebrows calmly.

"I've heard about it too. It seems that this is indeed the case." The prince nodded vaguely.

"Didn't this already show some reason... His Majesty the King's spirit is no longer suitable for taking on important responsibilities?" The Count's tone became a bit harsh, "Didn't he realize that only Juncker is the king's king?" The foundation, when nobles gather around the king, then the country will prosper. The poison of liberalism will only destroy. Prussia, even a little bit, is terrible, look at what France has become! Ha! What is the use of that thing? From ancient times to the present, I only see one thing that can save the world. Bayonets. We used bayonets to knock France to the ground, not the Constitution, and we will continue to do so in the future!”

In the original history, this count, a rather thin old man, had experienced the Napoleonic Wars before and witnessed the final collapse of a giant and an empire. Eventually, he also experienced the sudden rise of an empire. What kind of mysterious and unpredictable life is this?

In the original history, the count participated in the Battle of Leipzig in 1813 and witnessed Napoleon's defeat and the destruction of the French Empire. He was then made Field Marshal by the King of Prussia in 1856.

During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he was 86 years old. He led troops to the expedition and severely defeated the French army in the Battle of Metz, forcing French Marshal Bazin to surrender on October 27. He had 3 French marshals, 6,000 officers, and more than 173,000 soldiers/sergeants, including 1,600 artillery pieces and 25 A large amount of supplies, including 10,000 rifles, were captured by the North German Confederate Army. France's losses were even higher than the disastrous defeat at Sedan.

The prince listened quietly to the count's argument without interrupting him. As a Junker born in Pomerania. One of the oldest generals in existence, he is qualified to praise and criticize His Majesty the King in front of the prince.

"The Constitution cannot replace bayonets, but it can bring us more bayonets, can't it?" After the count finished speaking, the prince gave his own comments coldly.

The earl looked at the prince with some confusion.

"Bang!"

There was another roar, and another target was knocked down.

This time, the prince did not hand the gun to his attendant officer, but held it horizontally. Look at the Count. "Dear Mr. Earl, this is a magical thing... It ended the entire long Middle Ages." He tapped the barrel of the gun gently, and the barrel made a crisp and soft sound, "After having this thing, No matter how weak a young man is, after several months of training, , we can also put him on the battlefield, line him up and become a part of an army... He can also use it to kill the bravest and most skilled warriors, all he needs to do is close his eyes and click the button. Trigger! That’s right, this thing is going to leave no room for knightly honor.”

The count still looked at the prince in confusion. It seemed as if he didn't understand what he was talking about, and didn't understand why he wanted to talk about the gun.

"So, isn't the situation very obvious? In the wars that are coming in the future, the fate of the country will be determined by battles, and what can determine the fate of the battles is which side gets more soldiers on the battlefield... Whoever has more will have the upper hand and be closer to victory." The prince looked at the target in front of him calmly, "If we want more people to willingly go to the battlefield for the country, we have to give them some rights, even if they don't. It's just superficial... Yes, sir, we need an army."

After hearing the prince's answer, the count fell silent.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"We need a large army, but this army should only be in the hands of the king and nobles... The army must first safeguard the interests of the kingdom, Your Highness." After a moment, the count spoke again.

It is enough that it is only in the hands of the king. How can the nobles compete with the king?

The prince replied coldly in his heart, but of course he would not say it with his mouth.

"Don't worry, no matter what situation my brother and I face, we will always be on Juncker's side." The prince handed the gun back to the attendant officer next to him. "In my lifetime, I will never let the nobility fall from the dominance of this country like the shameful France. Juncker is the pillar of our country's rule. We can see this very clearly."

After hearing the prince's decisive answer, the earl finally felt relieved. "It's great that you can see so clearly. Your Highness, you are indeed able to accept God's command and shoulder the greatest mission of this kingdom!"

"The greatest mission of this kingdom?" The prince took the loaded gun from the attaché's hand and looked at the target in front of him, as if he was thoughtful. "I'm afraid the Austrians won't see it that way."

"Who cares what the Austrians think now?" The count smiled coldly, "They can't even wipe out the rebels in their country, and they have to cry and beg the Russians to send troops to wipe out the rebels. What a pathetic empire!"

"However, it is such an empire that stands in front of us, making Germany fragmented and unable to become a whole. Now we have no way to force Austria directly. Emperor Franz-Joseph and Schwarzenberg have just come to power, and their will has not been completely worn out by the huge empire, so it is really difficult to confront them head-on now." The prince picked up the gun and aimed at the new target, "But if God really gives me a mission, I will eliminate their obstacles no matter what."

"Yes, you are right." The count bowed deeply and saluted the prince. "I firmly believe that the crown is waiting for you, Your Highness."

"But it can only be taken by ourselves." The prince replied, "The Hohenzollern crown can only be lifted up by Prussian bayonets. If you use other means to obtain it, what you get will only be a ridiculous illusion. In this regard, my opinion is no different from that of my brother. Isn't it so?"

On April 3, 1849, the Frankfurt National Assembly invited the King of Prussia to serve as the "Emperor of Germany", but was rejected by the king. Frederick William IV believed that he could not accept "the crown picked up from the ditch (meaning that he did not want this kind of nominal emperor elected out of thin air by others)", and as a result, the parliament was forced to dissolve.

"Nothing could be more right, Your Highness." The count echoed again.

Then, the old man looked up at the sky with high spirits. His dry and thin body seemed to contain endless energy, which was the infinite desire and passion of a country during its rise.

"Your Highness, this kingdom is vigorous and full of vigor. It will be unstoppable. The mission given to you by God will be completed. No one can stop us, Austria, Russia, France... They definitely can't stop us, just go ahead and do it, Your Highness." As if possessed by some soul, he suddenly said this.

"Oh... France..."

The prince muttered to himself, and then narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Bang!"