Struggle in Russia

Most dangerous enemy? !

Li Xiao's words surprised Prince Alexander Gorchakov. Because to be honest, he didn't take Grand Duke Franz Joseph seriously. Because he was too young, and his mother was, for the time being, a Russian friend, there was nothing he could do with her.

Moreover, judging from previous contact, this grand duke has the problem of high-sightedness and low-handedness, and his overall view is not generally bad. Even if such a person becomes an emperor, he is still a mediocre character.

But Li Xiao said that he is the most dangerous enemy of Russia, and this evaluation is very high. Prince Alexander Gorchakov wondered what the reason was.

"As far as I know, the young Grand Duke didn't show many impressive qualities, except..."

After a short pause, Prince Alexander Gorchakov sneered: "Except for having a good skin and a slightly higher intelligence than his parents, everything else is just mediocre!"

Of course Li Xiao knew why Duke Alexander Gorchakov despised Grand Duke Franz Joseph so much. In essence, the Duke's evaluation was not a problem. But, shopping around is worth throwing away. For the Habsburg family with countless weirdos, having such a slightly normal successor is really worth celebrating with fireworks.

And it is precisely because it looks so normal compared with their parents, it also gave the Austrian courtiers an illusion that Grand Duke Franz Joseph must be better than his parents, and he was naturally willing to support him.

And that's bad for Russia. An Austrian emperor who has no overall view, is not open-minded, and does not know how to be grateful will inevitably cause huge losses to Russia at the right time. Especially now that Russia has suffered miserably for Austria, the Grand Duke Franz Joseph must bear in mind these humiliations and wait for the opportunity to retaliate.

And once the time comes, his revenge will inevitably be extremely brutal! And this was the fundamental reason why Li Xiao wanted to see him. As long as Li Xiao can confirm this, then he has to prepare early and dig a few more holes for the Grand Duke so that he can't take revenge to his heart's content.

After all, Li Xiao knows very well that within a few years the chance of revenge will fall into the hands of Austria. If Grand Duke Franz Joseph is allowed to use it, then Russia's ending may be even worse than in history, and it may lose the interests of the Balkans Lost completely.

"You are right, that Grand Duke may indeed be quite ordinary," Li Xiao said slowly, "but this kind of ordinary is relatively speaking, compared to normal people, he is ordinary, but compared to his uncle To my husband and father, he is not ordinary at all!"

Prince Alexander Gorchakov was taken aback for a moment, then thought of something, fell into thought without making a sound, and said after a while: "Your worries are justified, he really needs to focus on observation... If the Grand Duke is found to exist in your place The element of worry, what are you going to do about it?"

Li Xiao replied bluntly: "Prepare in advance and arrange more constraints for the Grand Duke so that he can't perform to the fullest..."

Speaking of this, Li Xiao also suddenly paused, and then lowered his voice and said: "I think we can provoke the relationship between the Grand Duke and his mother a little bit, if he knows the truth about not being able to become emperor immediately, what do you think he will do?" think?"

Prince Alexander Gorchakov thought about it for a long time, but it was not that he disapproved of this method, and he was not the kind of pedantic person who naturally would do anything for the national interest. But the problem is that he doesn't think it's particularly reliable to do so, because as far as he knows, the relationship between Archduke Franz Joseph and his mother is very good, so don't make a fool of yourself.

"Is the relationship good?"

In fact, Li Xiao didn't know much about the internal affairs of the Habsburg family. He just vaguely remembered that the relationship between Princess Sophie and Grand Duke Franz Carl was not very good. That's why it is inferred that the relationship between Grand Duke Franz Joseph and Princess Sophie is also average. Only then did I have the idea to provoke.

If, according to Prince Alexander Gorchakov, the relationship between mother and child is very good, then why does Princess Sophie try her best to push her idiot husband to the top position this time? You can push your son to do the same!

Prince Alexander Gorchakov sneered: "The Grand Duke Franz Karl has succeeded.

Princess Sophie is not a grand duchess but a queen, the treatment is very different! "

Li Xiao nodded, everything is for profit, maybe it is acceptable to Princess Sophie whether it is a husband or a son, but the grand duchess and empress are completely different concepts.

The grand duchess has a lot in the Austrian royal family, but how many queens can there be? For Princess Sophie, it must be more beneficial to be a queen, not to mention that after being queen for a few years, Franz Karl will be ousted from power, and then Archduke Franz Joseph will succeed.

Li Xiao shook his head, feeling that this Princess Sophie must be paid more attention to, maybe she just took advantage of the conflict between Duke Alexander Gorchakov and Schwarzenberg to safeguard her own interests, It does not harm the interests of Grand Duke Franz Joseph. In the end, the benefits are monopolized but cannot help Russia too much...

This result is definitely not what Li Xiao wants to see, but it is impossible to regret it now that it is done. The only thing that can be blamed is that he has too little contact with Princess Sophie and does not know the inside story of the Habsburg family. His inferences and judgments all rely on the information provided by Duke Alexander Gorchakov, which is after all Second-hand information is hard to say without subjective assumptions.

"It's useless to talk about it now," Li Xiao knew when to work hard and when to let go. It's pointless for him to continue to struggle with this issue, so he might as well do something useful: "Duke, you should arrange for me to spend more time with the Grand Duchess as soon as possible." And Archduke Franz Karl, I need more information!"

To be honest, Prince Alexander Gorchakov was a little hesitant about this. Although the false identity of the private secretary could fool things, if he made more contacts according to Li Xiao's request, he would sooner or later be betrayed.

Once many years later, when Li Xiao came into contact with Grand Duke Franz Joseph and Princess Sophie again, it would be a bit embarrassing. Moreover, whether it was Princess Sophie or Grand Duke Franz Joseph, there were many people around, and it was inevitable that spies or secret agents from other forces would get in.

Once these people recognize Li Xiao, the fun will be great, especially if Nicholas I knows the news, then I'm afraid it's not something that can be fooled casually to cover it up.