War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Ludwig von Lens once again became the center of attention after a few months. Yes, it's this little-known young man again.

In fact, Count Pillersdorff had already made two preparations. He had just communicated with representatives who were closer to the Austrian side.

No matter what outrageous words Ludwig von Lens said, they did not represent the attitude of the Austrian Empire. The meaning was very clear: don't flatter him.

But the sudden appearance of the King of the Netherlands and the roar of Ludwig von Lens really made people feel a little overwhelmed.

Moreover, encounters between Dutch merchant ships and British pirates always give people the illusion that they have returned to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

In fact, the representatives of the German Confederation were also confused by the chorus on and off the stage. After all, most of the states did not even have territorial waters, and the last time they encountered pirates they might have been Vikings.

Although Count Pillersdorff has made peace with most countries, there are always a few surprises. For example, Prussian Foreign Minister Heinrich von Bülow felt that this was an opportunity to discredit Austria. Opportunity.

After all, not many countries in the entire German Confederation have naval organizations. On land, the Austrians can coerce members of the German states to fight for them, but what about at sea? Should those princely states be allowed to build their navies in the Rhine and Danube rivers?

So he stood up and applauded.

"The Austrian representative is right!"

The small states of the same faction as Prussia will naturally echo the sentiment, and then those states that have no position will see that the "eldest brother" and "second brother" in the German Confederation have spoken, and they have expressed their indignation and asked to help the Netherlands. Brothers demand justice.

The main reason is that these countries do not even have territorial waters, not to mention navies, and it is none of their business whether to fight or not. In addition, the number of German nationalists has increased rapidly due to the previous successive victories. After all, everyone likes to stand on the side of victory. On one side.

The representative from Bavaria, who did not mind the trouble, screamed the loudest, wishing he could go to Asia to kick the British in the butt right now.

The entire parliament hall suddenly became a mess, and the public mood was agitated.

In fact, King William II of the Netherlands and his ministers were not sure before coming, but it was great to have the famous "Ludwig von Lens" here.

At this time, King William II of the Netherlands felt that the time had come, and he ordered people to bring up several boxes full of gold.

But compared to old Kurdre's sincerity, the merchant king was obviously better at doing business. He only said that he would donate the gold in the box to the German Confederation to contribute to "everyone".

However, he did not mention the actual value of the gold inside. In fact, it was only worth five million florins.

This number is not small, but when averaged across states, it is really not that much.

Even five million was not a small number at the time. William II was very determined to come up with so much money.

After all, his lover Caroline told him that under normal circumstances, whether it was to obtain asylum from the German Confederation or to resolve maritime disputes with Britain, five million was far from enough.

William II naturally knew that what the other party said was true, but he was not prepared to pay the money himself. Instead, he asked the businessmen and nobles in the country to pay some blood.

After all, those people paid too little money to the royal family and the government, but they caused so much trouble to the Netherlands.

In fact, the corruption of the Dutch East India Company was equally serious, similar to that of the British East India Company, and its financial reports were always in the red.

For every one million in profits turned over, there will be three million in debt.

However, due to the increased management efforts of the Dutch government in recent years, they do not dare to go too far.

The senior officials of the Dutch East India Company were smart enough to report this incident to the government, but they actually wanted to throw the ball away.

But he didn't expect that William II would use his plan to directly ask the Dutch East India Company to resolve the matter, otherwise all of them would be dismissed and investigated.

Naturally, these leaders of the Dutch East India Company would not resign and hand over their power. They had no ability to deal with the British, so they could only plead with the king.

But William II pretended that he had nothing to talk about. The senior officials of the Dutch East India Company finally realized the seriousness of the problem. However, in order to prevent these people from jumping over the wall in a hurry, Caroline had already sent people to contact them.

In European history, it is not uncommon for ministers to find their mistresses to approve memorials when kings do not do their job.

So, these people approached Carolin, who naturally opened her mouth wide open. After that, one party asked for a high price, and the other party sat on the ground to pay back the money.

William II finally got 30 million Dutch guilders, and he was still very happy. After all, this was the first time he defeated those greedy villains.

Caroline was also happy because she had withheld twenty million guilders.

But Caroline did not get carried away because the next day a letter was placed on the table in her bedroom. The letter recorded in detail Carolin's income and reported data over the years.

At the same time, there was a letter written by Adjani. Of course, only the two of them knew the specific content.

Franz understood that such a high-ranking spy did need to be beaten, but it should not be too much. After all, it is not so easy to place such a person next to the King of the Netherlands.

As for the money, the amount was indeed staggering, but Franz didn't care. He cared more about Austria's influence on the Netherlands.

The attitude of the Low Countries towards Britain will greatly affect Britain's future policy.

Historically, the reason why the British could sit back and relax was not because of the decline of the Netherlands, but also because Belgium was willing to serve as the pawn of the British.

But at this time, the world had undergone some changes. France and the Netherlands, the two countries closest to the United Kingdom, had poor relations with it.

This forces the British to have to think more about their own safety. While wielding a big stick to "stir up", they must also be careful not to be pushed into the "shit vat".

Of course, Franz didn't know what was about to happen in Frankfurt at this time.

On the other side, Frankfurt, the temporary headquarters of the German Confederation.

In fact, usually people with the status of the monarch will not participate in such routine meetings.

However, King William II of the Netherlands chose to be present in person in order to express his sincerity. Coupled with the nationalist atmosphere and the large boxes of gold, the small states that followed Austria were also tempted.

After all, this kind of thing that has both face and dignity is not done in vain.

Then all these pressures were put on the chairman of the meeting, Count Pillersdorff. At this time, he really wanted to find a crack in the ground to hide himself so that no one could see him.

But it is a pity that Count Pillersdorff failed. He had to take a stand. If he did not take a stand, it would be equivalent to acquiescing to this result, and the Austrian Empire would still be tied to this chariot called nationalism.

But if Count Pillersdorf raised objections, he would make himself and Austria the public enemies of Germany.