Chapter 328

According to the practice of continental Europe, the next step was to negotiate. Especially since the Vienna system was re-established, the French had to abide by this rule.

Ever since the diplomatic note from the French was delivered, Gafford had rushed to Paris and sent gifts everywhere.

It was still useless. The French bureaucrats were not stupid. They knew what they could accept and what they could not. It was better not to get involved in the assassination of the emperor.

Foreign Affairs Minister Cleo said with a frown, "Prime Minister, the gifts have been returned, but these people won't even let us in."

This was already quite subtle. There were even some who took the sugar coating and fired back the cannonball.

In other words, they accepted the gifts, stuffed something into the gift box, and threw it out with great fanfare.

It was impossible to expect them to do anything. At most, these things would make them calm down and give them less ammunition when they were clamoring for war.

There was no other way. In order to let the emperor see everyone's loyalty, slogans had to be shouted. Even the anti-war faction was now clamoring to teach the Kingdom of Sardinia a lesson.

The results of the investigation showed that someone had provided help to the assassins and revealed the emperor's whereabouts, but this person had not been caught yet.

In order to avoid suspicion, no one dared to make this political mistake.

Gafford said helplessly, "There's no result on my side either. Napoleon Iii used the excuse of recuperating and refused to see guests. I'm afraid this matter will be difficult to handle.

However, we have no other choice. Since the French don't dare to accept it, we can only send gifts to the representatives of the various countries. At this time, there's no need to save money.

If we feed them, even if it's just a word for us at the meeting, it'll be worth it. "

This was the most trashy method, but also the most effective method. Now that the Kingdom of Sardinia was unable to exchange interests with the various countries, it was even more impossible to influence the diplomacy of the various countries.

Under such circumstances, the only way was to bribe the representatives of the various countries. Now, the various European governments were very angry about the assassination, and at the same time, everyone did not want to see France continue to expand.

Even Gafford himself was very angry about the assassination. He did not have a good impression of these so-called patriots at all.

If possible, he did not mind killing those guys and ending it once and for all. Gafford was not prepared to argue with the French's request to punish the murderer, as long as it did not expand.

The only thing he could not tolerate was the Government of France's request to cede land. Originally, the unification of the Italian regions was still a long way off. If they were to cede the land now, there would really be no hope.

Cleo whispered, "Prime Minister, the French are also doing public relations. I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to compete with them.

Austria's representative, Martich, was a Lombard, a representative of the anti-Saxon faction in the Vienna government. The representative of the Government of Vienna is probably related to the secret agreement with the Organisation.

In this negotiation, I'm afraid we can't count on the Austrians. We even have to worry about France and Austria coming to an agreement to divide us. "

Lombardy is in Italy, but Lombards are not equal to Italians. To be exact, they were an independent race, a branch of the Germanic race that originated in southern Sweden.

During the movement for independence in 1848 the Lombards were divided between those who supported the government in Vienna and those who supported the revolutionaries.

In the 1848 independence movement, Lombard was divided. Some supported the Government of Vienna, while others supported the revolutionary party. There was no doubt that Martich supported the House of Habsburg for his high position.

During the last Aussian War, the invasion of the Sardinian army caused a disaster to his hometown. After experiencing the pain, it became inevitable for him to hate the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Facing such an opponent, Gaffer also had a headache. He did not know where to start if he wanted to fool them.

Talk about the unification of the Regions of Italy? He did not consider himself a member of the Italian nation at all, even if the Lombard culture was influenced by Italian culture.

But it didn't matter. The entire Lombardy Kingdom was now de-Italianizing and returning to the German cultural family.

After thinking for a while, Gafford said cautiously, "This information is very important. We must inform the British immediately. Tonight, I will personally go to the British embassy to discuss countermeasures. "

One French was enough to kill them. If another Austrian came, then there was nothing they could do. Other than looking for the British boss, there was nothing Gafford could do.

It was not that he was not strong enough, but the enemy was too strong, and the Kingdom of Sardinia was too weak. They did not even have the right to talk on equal terms.

Now that the British wanted to protect the Kingdom of Sardinia, it was not only because of strategic needs, but also because of the debt.

After the Austrian War, the economy of the Kingdom of Sardinia collapsed, and it relied on British capital to survive. The Sardinian government naturally borrowed, and now the Kingdom of Sardinia could be said to be a semi-colony of the British.

Customs, salt taxes, tobacco and alcohol taxes, railways, and ports were all mortgaged to the British. Once the Kingdom of Sardinia was finished, the tens of millions of pounds that the British lent would all be lost.

Unless the Government of London was confident that they could make the Fao and France pay back the money, the British consortium would not tolerate the Kingdom of Sardinia being finished.

There was no doubt that whether it was Napoleon Iii or Franz, they would not be fooled.

This was an invasion, not an inheritance. It had always been the inheritor who inherited the debt. No one had ever heard of an invader who had to bear the debt.

Tens of millions of pounds were involved, and the British's reputation was not good. To be precise, as long as it involved interests, the British's reputation was not good.

…

On the other side, Martich and the French Foreign Minister of Auvergne were having a good conversation. Under the premise that the Government of Vienna supported the Government of France in annexing the Kingdom of Sardinia, it was difficult for the two to not reach an agreement.

In return, the Government of France promised to open a number of overseas colonial ports to supply the Austrian Navy.

Previously, the Government of Vienna had reached an agreement with Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. Coupled with the agreement with the French this time, the Austrian Navy had the ability to enter any ocean in the world.

Strategically, this meant that the Austrian Navy's globalization strategy had taken another step forward.

Of course, the French would gain even more. Now, as long as Napoleon Iii could withstand the pressure from the European countries, he could swallow the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Then, they could slowly suppress the rebellion. Anyway, the French had rich experience in rebellion, and if they communicated with the Italians, they might be able to burst forth new sparks.

It did not matter if they could not withstand the pressure, at least the Anglo-French alliance was broken. The arrogant French could not always be the British's lackey, especially after harming their core interests.

Especially after harming their core interests, no matter how pro-British Napoleon III was, the two countries would still oppose each other politically and diplomatically.

In the British Embassy in France, the atmosphere was very strange.

In order to support the Kingdom of Sardinia, the British Foreign Minister, Thomas, personally came to attend the Paris conference, and he arrived in advance.

Thomas asked seriously, "Prime Minister Gaffer, are you sure what you just said is true?"

He had to be cautious. If the two countries of Fao and France reached an agreement to divide up the Kingdom of Sardinia, they would be passive. The Government of London could do nothing but shout a few times.

The only way was to act in advance and destroy the Fao and France's alliance, or unite with the European countries to pressure and force the two countries to make concessions.

Either outcome was not what the Government of London wanted to see. As for the Kingdom of Sardinia, their outcome was very obvious. It was nothing more than a matter of how much they would lose.

If diplomacy failed, they would lose everything; if diplomacy succeeded, they would lose a lot of money. It was impossible to assassinate the emperor without paying a price. They still had to give face to the French.

Gaffer said with a sad face, "Mr. Thomas, how can I joke about this kind of thing?"

This was the worst situation, and he did not want to see it. How could he make it up out of thin air? They did not know that Vienna had arrested the assassin of the Charcoal Burning Gang. Otherwise, the two of them would not be confused about the Government of Vienna's actions.

Without this excuse, even if Franz wanted to plot against the French, he would not be able to do it so smoothly.

There were many voices in the Government of Vienna that opposed condoning the French, and even Franz could not ignore everyone's voices.

After the assassin was arrested, the situation was different. For the sake of political correctness, everyone stood against the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Thomas paced a few steps, then said, "There must have been a change in the Government of Austria. Not long ago, our ambassador in Vienna sent news that the voices in the Government of Austria who advocated limiting French expansion were still in a dominant position.

With that old fox Metternich around, it was impossible for him not to know the threat of allowing France to expand.

In the last Austro-Sardinia war, Austria had the chance to annex the Kingdom of Sardinia, but they gave it up. This is enough to prove that the Government of Austria has no ambitions towards you.

The Government of Austria has not changed at all, and none of the cabinet members have changed. It is impossible for the political position to change so quickly. "

Thomas's analysis was very thorough. The political position could not be changed at will, and this was accompanied by the philosophy of governance. Under the stable structure of the Government of Austria, it was even more impossible for the government to change its policies.