War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Frankfurt, temporary headquarters of the German Confederation.

Count Pillersdorff lit a cigar to cheer himself up. Normally, routine meetings within the German Confederation were just a formality.

In the 28 years since its establishment, only one earth-shattering event has occurred, and yes, it happened to him.

Because Mingming was mysteriously involved in the Luxembourg crisis, he was scolded by Prince Metternich after he returned home. He was very old and really didn't want to do it again.

So as a seasoned politician, he must brace himself to listen to the boring speeches of these idiots.

Smoking was prohibited at the German Confederation Conference, and only Austrian representatives had this privilege. This stupid showoff seemed very necessary to the politicians at the time.

"My lord count, your Pilsner beer." Ludwig von Rens said carefully.

Count Pillersdorf was choked up when he saw Ludwig von Lens. The latter quickly patted the former's back and waited for a while before coming over.

Count Pillsdorf thought to himself, "Why is this guy here again? It is the secret police's negligence that he was not caught in prison!"

In fact, this kind of big German nationalist is really difficult to catch as long as he doesn't do anything extraordinary, and there are many people in the Austrian Imperial Government who think this approach is correct, and will help secretly.

As for the so-called secret police, these people all work with money, and of course the money is in Franz's hands. He will only let it deal with those "dangerous elements". Although Ludwig von Lens is very good at provoking Troublesome, but not a particularly evil person.

"Ludwig von Lens?"

"Yes, Count Pillsdorf. You have a very good memory. I was the one who accompanied you last time."

"Well... young man, you have beer. You can go buy a pig's trotter."

In fact, people in Germany eat pig's trotters, but the way they eat it is slightly different from that in the East. They like to eat roasted pig's trotters.

The method is simple and crude, just brush oil and bake on the rack, sprinkle some cumin and serve. Although it is very rough, it has a unique flavor.

The fried pig's trotters in Austria are a bit too much. The hydraulic presses used for industrial production in other countries are used by the Austrians to squeeze vegetable oil, so their edible oil production has always been among the best in Europe.

So there is a problem that everything can be fried, as long as there are bread crumbs and sugar sarnagas, they will be fried for you.

What Franz couldn't accept the most was that the fried pig's trotters were still sweet.

Closer to home, Earl Pillestover just wanted to send this young man away, because he always felt that being with this person might be unlucky.

Ludwig von Rens was a little surprised by the officer's words, but he still decided to run errands. After all, the other party was an eighth-level civil servant and a representative of the Austrian Empire, while he was just an "ordinary" college student.

After Ludwig von Lens left, the representatives of other surrounding countries were actually surprised by what Count Pillersdorff said just now.

It’s beer and pig’s trotters. Does he think this is camping?

However, due to the strength of Austria at this time and the prestige accumulated for hundreds of years, no one dared to stand up and accuse, even in whispers.

But this does not mean that everyone will not mentally connect the experienced politician in front of them with the foodie.

In fact, Earl Pillersdorf was feeling miserable. He just wanted to open an account normally and leave the house normally.

The regular meetings of the German Confederation are indeed very boring. They are just those small states quarreling over some inexplicable frictions.

Either this family's sheep gnawed that family's cabbage, or that family's businessman did business across the border without paying taxes.

There are also some debts that cannot be returned. For example, Hamburg lent Crommeburg 200,000 florins for turnover, but repaid the other party 200,000 francs a year later. There were loopholes in the contract signed by the two parties. This kind of thing is very troublesome.

Things in the Rhine River Basin are much more interesting. The Bavarians wanted to build a dam, but this aroused dissatisfaction from the Prussians.

Countries downstream are also dissatisfied with Prussia's massive discharge of industrial sewage. They say that people and livestock in their countries will lose hair and hair after drinking the black water.

If this continues, the people of their country will become real naked apes. Now, students in several schools have experienced collective hair loss, and they look like the European branch of Fengxian.

Count Pillersdorf sighed. It seemed that the Bavarians were very kind by just dumping excrement and garbage in the river.

The downstream countries asked Prussia for compensation, and Prussia asked Bavaria for compensation. Bavaria said that this should be blamed on Switzerland, or if Prussia cannot control the Rhineland, I, Bavaria, can take over for me.

In fact, even if Austria makes a judgment about such messy worries, those countries will not abide by it. Besides, the more chaotic the vassal states are, the better, so that Austria can maintain its dominant position.

At this time, Metternich still retained the ancient thinking of checks and balances. Count Pillersdorff was naturally appreciated by him because the two had the same views.

Even though Metternich gained a lot of new insights when he came into contact with Franz, the things engraved in his bones are still not easy to change.

Old people usually hate change, especially those who are successful and famous.

Metternich was a traditional diplomat who cared about the interests of the Austrian Empire itself, not the interests of the German Confederation or the German nation.

Therefore, maintaining a loose alliance is very important to him, and leading the Luxembourg crisis is a very dangerous approach and a meaningless waste. It is more likely to create enemies for Austria and should be banned.

If the German Confederation is too closely connected, it may cause unnecessary illusions in those small states, or it may involve Austria in the war like the Luxembourg crisis. This will be a heavy burden for the empire.

Earl Pillersdorf's slumber was suddenly broken by a voice.

"King Willem II of the Netherlands has arrived!"

Out of respect for the members of the royal family, even though Count Pillersdorf was a representative of Austria, he still had to stand up and salute.

Seeing the shrinking look of the Dutch King, Count Pillersdorf snorted with disdain.

"He is truly a merchant king. He looks just like those clowns."

As a traditional aristocrat, Earl Pillestover looked down upon those "upstarts". Businessman was always a derogatory term in his subconscious mind.

The opening remarks of King Willem II of the Netherlands while holding a manuscript were long and dull, making people drowsy.

Just as Count Pillersdorf was about to breathe a sigh of relief, King William II of the Netherlands suddenly said.

"The English pirates robbed our Dutch merchant ships and injured our citizens. As a member of the German Customs Union, I ask for your help.

The Dutch are also Germans, and the German Confederation should also include the Netherlands. We are all descendants of Germanic people.”

Earl Pillersdorf snorted again and thought to himself.

"Who would fall for this, trying to use the German Confederacy as a spearhead?"

Then a voice sounded behind him

"We will not sit idly by!"

The person who spoke was none other than Ludwig von Lens, who came back holding the pig's feet.