Fox of France

In fact, whether it is Metternich or Nathan Rothschild, they are actually very practical people. Of course, they all know that the crown of the "Holy Roman Emperor" does not actually have much practical significance. With this crown, Austria has the power to intervene in the Rhine region. But in fact the Rhine region is already the sphere of influence of the French, and the Austrians simply cannot reach in.

And considering that the Rhine region is basically the land of heretical Protestants, under the current circumstances, Austria will not even intervene in the Rhine region, let alone intervene. Even if Austria opens its mouth now, those heretics in the Rhine region who carried out land reform with the support of the French will definitely answer in unison: "Shut up, we are discussing the republic system!"

So, at least for now, the meaning of this crown has been reduced a lot. But after all, this is the glory of Habsburg, so it is really a bit to abandon it like this... Besides, although this thing is not very useful when interfering in European affairs, at least in Austria, this crown Still have a certain effect.

Unlike France, even France during the Bourbon period, Austria is a country with a particularly large feudal remnant. Bourbon France has at least managed to centralize power. Although the dukes, marquises, and the like in France also have fiefs, these fiefs are already under the direct control of the royal government. In fact, the lords are no longer what they used to be. The power to stand on your own as a king.

But the centralization of power in Austria is not particularly good, and the domestic lords still have a very high degree of autonomy. Under such circumstances, the hat of "Emperor of the Romans" certified by the Pope is still very useful. Besides, giving up the crown is a huge sacrifice no matter what, so how can you just let it go? Even if you want to let it out, you have to pay more!

However, this kind of thing, Metternich can not decide. He could only write a letter immediately after sending Nathan Rothschild away, and send it to Vienna by carrier pigeon.

By this time, there was already a cable telegraph between Vienna and Paris. But because the operator of the cable telegraph is French, even though there is a secret language, Metternich always feels uneasy. A year ago, Metternich deliberately sent a fictitious and misleading document to Vienna through the cable telegraph system, and then carefully observed the actions of the French, and found many suspicious things. So the Austrian embassy began to use carrier pigeons to deliver the most confidential information. Although the carrier pigeon is slower than the telegraph, it is far more reliable after all.

After watching the carrier pigeon with the letter box on his leg fly into the sky, Metternich turned around and prepared to visit some friends and let them find out what the French said. Metternich knew that it was impossible for him to make Napoleon give up his ambition, but at least he had to check his mouth and see if he could get the French to increase their money.

But at this moment, there was the sound of flapping wings in the sky again. Metternich turned his head and saw a gray carrier pigeon landing, and a small bird was tied to the foot of the carrier pigeon. Bamboo tube.

Two days ago, when the incident just happened, Metternich immediately notified the country of what happened in France by telegram, which probably sent him new instructions from the country.

The staff who managed the pigeons removed the letter box sealed with wax from the pigeon's leg and handed it to Metternich. Metternich checked some of the seals and confirmed that the letter box had not been opened halfway. Then he went back to his office with the mailbox, took out the letter, compared it to the secret language book, and read it.

This letter was indeed about this incident. In the letter, it first reported the situation of the investigation in Vienna and the response. The Austrian government has shut down that nonsense newspaper and arrested the editors of that newspaper for "insulting the leaders of friendly countries". Prepare to be sent to court and punished severely. This is also normal, after all, these guys talk nonsense, which makes people from allied countries inexplicably surprised.

The letter suggested that Metternich take immediate measures to inform the French media that the Austrian government attaches great importance to the traditional friendship between Austria and France, and resolutely crack down on the practice of using Austrian territory to conspire against France, and express Austria's goodwill to them to resolve this trend.

"Why are these guys in China so slow?" Metternich thought, "This matter is obviously caused by the French on purpose. What's the use of this alone?"

But even so, this action and this posture still have to be done. Metternich thought for a while, then called the secretary and asked him to arrange a press conference quickly. As for Metternich himself, he immediately went to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express the goodwill of the Austrians to the French government.

Metternich and French Foreign Minister Talleyrand are old friends. Of course, this old friend does not mean that they met a long time ago, but that the two have made a fortune together and have many reliable common interests.

After the two met, Metternich informed Talleyrand of the Austrian government's actions, and conveyed to Talleyrand the traditional friendship between Austria and France, hoping that this incident would not affect the friendly attitude between the two countries. .

Talleyrand also said that France also attaches great importance to the friendship with Austria, and appreciates the Austrian government's move to maintain the friendship between the two countries. The two countries are now and will be friendly neighbors in the future.

Talleyrand's official language did not satisfy Metternich. He knew that at this time, the more official language, the more troublesome things might be. It's just that Metternich has not yet been authorized to bargain with the French on the crown issue at this time, so he has not yet been able to talk to Talleyrand about asking the French to add money. He could only vaguely express to Talleyrand that he hoped that the French would not be in a hurry, and many things could actually be discussed.

The next day, Metternich held a press conference at the Austrian embassy. At the press conference, Metternich informed the newspapers attending the meeting about the actions of the Austrian government. Finally, he said that because of this incident, many French media had misunderstood Austria. He hoped that the actions of the Austrian government this time would help everyone resolve misunderstandings and further deepen the friendship between the two countries.

After reporting the news, it was time for reporters to ask questions. The first to stand up and ask questions was the reporter of "Kommersant".

"Mr. Ambassador, we have noticed that the newspaper you mentioned has just been banned due to illegal activities. In fact, similar illegal activities have been carried out in your country for several years. Why did your country not take such measures until now? ?”

"Ah, you know, those guys are very cunning, and they have always adopted a strategy of playing around the corner. Like France, we also want to protect the freedom of the press, and those fake news media are best at taking advantage of loopholes." Mette Nirvana replied.

At this time, the reporter of "The Sun" stood up and asked: "Mr. Ambassador, we know that earlier this year, our country uncovered an assassination plot against His Excellency the First Ruling. It is rumored that these assassins entered our country , have lived in your country for a long time, can you give some explanation for this?"