Chapter 211 The Time Is Ripe

On March 16, 1853, Prime Minister Felix arrived in Munich, after a week of negotiations that ended in failure.

The Bavarian government clearly opposes rebuilding the Shinra Empire, and Felix's diplomatic efforts fail.

Under the pressure of public opinion, the Bavarian government proposed to reopen the Federal Parliament on March 27 to decide whether to rebuild the Holy Roman Empire.

On March 28, Prime Minister Felix also gave a speech at the University of Munich, publicly responding to the Bavarian government.

"I have a dream that in my lifetime I can see the unification of the German region. It is the real German national unity, not the nominal German Confederation, which is a joke.

Today is a bad day, the Bavarian government has closed the door to rebuilding the Holy Roman Empire, and all our efforts have failed.

It seems that my dream is still a long way to go. If I can't see it, I hope you can continue to walk. As the elites of the German region, this is your responsibility and obligation.

We all know that rebuilding Shinra is the best option for the unification of the German region, and this is the only way to achieve national unification in a short period of time.

Many German states have been divided for a long time and have formed their own systems, which determines that it will be difficult to achieve real reunification, and it cannot be accomplished overnight.

Let the federal parliament vote? In fact, we all know that this is not an activity for the minority to obey the majority, nor is it a game for children to play house.

Rebuilding Shinra requires the support of all the states. If someone disagrees, we reluctantly merge into an empire, which will eventually break down due to many conflicts.

We all know the consequences of coercion. Switzerland became independent, Belgium became independent, the Netherlands became independent, and Luxembourg became independent. This is their own choice. We do not need to study the historical reasons today.

Now if we don't do well, a new wave of independence will emerge. Do not doubt that there are already international forces planning to split Germany, and they have even colluded with forces within Germany.

Therefore, I had to be cautious, for fear that I would become a sinner of Germany if I made one wrong move.

A unified German empire must be an empire recognized by everyone. If this cannot be achieved, then this is just a federation, not an empire.

I know that many people who oppose the rebuilding of Shinra feel that the empire is too loose, the local government has too much power, and the central government has too little power. This kind of system does not suit everyone's appetite.

But there is one thing that everyone should pay attention to. If you want to gain the approval of all the people, you must not bleed, at least not too much blood.

If a civil war broke out due to unification, and everyone was killed in a river of blood, would they still be able to sit together peacefully after the war?

The answer is no. Under the guidance of people with a heart, this hatred will soon take root and sprout, and eventually lead to division.

 …”

Felix entered the state and started the mouth gun mode.

The officials of the Bavarian government under the stage are already angry, but they are not easy to attack. Diplomatic etiquette is still required. Although Felix is ​​mad, he does not scold the Bavarian government by name.

If they stand up to stop the speech, doesn't that mean they have a guilty conscience?

Besides, the emotions of the students have already been mobilized, so let's stimulate it at this time. God knows if there will be any second-year teenagers calling for revolution.

This is not without precedent. More than 90% of the revolutions in Europe were initiated by second-year-olds who shouted casually and then followed blindly.

For example, the February Revolution in France, the March Revolution in Vienna, the March Revolution in Berlin, etc., these revolutions did not have a strict organization in advance, and when they shouted slogans in their blood, everyone followed them blindly.

Since the Bavarian government made the decision, they have stepped up their vigilance to prevent the second-year teenagers from causing chaos.

For example, there are now more than three-digit police officers in the University of Munich. The name is to protect the safety of Prime Minister Felix. In fact, this is also monitoring the people he comes into contact with.

You must know that Prime Minister Felix is ​​now the most unstable factor in the Kingdom of Bavaria, and his status is too high. The Bavarian government can only hope that he will get out of here soon.

As much as the government hates him, the people welcome him, and most Bavarian people have great respect for the pacifist Austrian prime minister.

About an hour later, Felix stopped speaking and entered the interactive communication session.

A young student said excitedly: "Dear Prime Minister Felix, I would like to ask how we can ensure that the Holy Roman Empire can treat every country fairly?"

Felix has answered this kind of question many times along the way, and he repeated it again:

"This problem is very simple. It depends on the system and a fair system. I don't believe in the so-called rule of man, because people are selfish and inherently inclined, and only a fair system can solve the problem.

This system will be jointly formulated by all states and publicized in the whole country, and everyone will judge whether it is fair or not. "

The bullshit mode was turned on, the applause from the field sounded, and the accompanying officials of the Bavarian government closed their eyes, as if they wanted to be invisible.

Another young student asked curiously, "Your Excellency Prime Minister, does such a perfect system exist?"

Felix replied without hesitation: "It doesn't exist!"

Ignoring the uproar at the scene, he continued: "There is no perfect system in the world. A system that looks wonderful today may be outdated tomorrow.

What we can do is to keep updating the system to make it more suitable for us.

From the origin of human society, the earliest tribal civilization, the matrilineal clan, then to the patrilineal system, and then to the age of slavery, the earliest state appeared...

These series of social changes are all self-modifying and improving the social system. As we see it today, the current system is more advanced than it was in the past.

But in fact, if our ancestors adopted the current advanced formulation, the German nation has become history, and it cannot even be found in history books.

Is this a system problem? Obviously not!

Social productive forces determine the production system, so don't criticize past social systems as rotten and backward, at least at that time, those systems were in line with the needs. "

Going off track, there is no way that everyone's thoughts are too active, and the problems are too complicated. Felix has to lead far away and control the rhythm as much as possible.

...

"Your Excellency, after the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, Austria will become the new central government. Is this unfair to other states?"

The question of a young student brought the topic back again.

"You are wrong. The central government is jointly formed by the states. If Austria acts as the central government, who can the central government direct?

As for fairness, I think it can only be guaranteed by a notarized constitution. Big states and small states definitely have different political voices. If they have to be the same, it will actually be unfair to the big states.

True fairness is only equal treatment, not privilege. My ideal Holy Roman Empire is a world without privilege.

As much as you contribute to this country, you can get as much in return. This reward can be money or social status.

In other words, opening the door to high society, albeit a small crack. "Prime Minister Felix continued to flicker.

The truth is true and false, but it makes his speech more persuasive.

Publicly revealed the cruelty of the society, all states have no privileges, but the gap of individual social status still exists.

This speech mode is the result of painstaking research by the Austrian government staff. It is necessary to be able to mobilize the emotions of the people without letting them get out of control.

This degree is not easy to grasp. In case of a fanatical nationalism detonated, Austria will not be able to eat it.

...

Since the Bavarian government was too vigilant, Prime Minister Felix made a few speeches before embarking on his way home.

There is no doubt that this diplomatic operation failed. Except for a few German states who expressed support for the reconstruction of Shinra, most of the rest were implicitly opposed.

Especially after the Bavarian government publicly expressed its opposition, the German region set off a wave of criticism of the Holy Roman Empire.

Of course, the governments of all countries have not tried to deface the history, and the local governments' confrontation with the central government is also a stain for them. It is an absolute political error and cannot be brought forward.

Vienna

After listening to Felix's report, Franz found that the situation in Germany was more complicated than he thought.

Most of the German people have a single tendon in their heads. Once they have identified something, it is difficult to pull it back.

This means that they must be convinced. If they cannot get their approval, a unified Germany can be said to be a dream.

A bad operation, it is very likely that in the end, as Felix said in his speech - the wave of independence broke out.

"Your Majesty, nationalism in Germany is developing very fast. If national sentiment is aroused now, there is still hope for us to achieve reunification through political means." Prime Minister Felix proposed.

Perhaps it is too deep into the play, and now Felix is ​​really considering the issue of unifying Germany by political means.

Franz shook his head and said, "It's impossible to succeed. If we really bring out the Holy Roman Empire, Britain, France and Russia will probably have a truce soon, and they will turn around and look for our bad luck."

With the unification of the German region, the Russians' continental hegemony will be gone, the French's dream of continental hegemony will be ended, and the British's continental balance policy will also be bankrupt.

This is a conflict of core interests, which is related to their future development and survival. In order to avoid this from happening, they will definitely take action, no emergency.

Even though Britain, France and Russia are currently fighting in the Near East, the secret contacts between the three governments have never been broken.

Franz can be sure that Britain and France no longer want to fight. If it wasn't that they were forced to ride a tiger, they would most likely compromise with the Russians.

Now they want to compromise, the premise is that the Russians make concessions, otherwise they will not be able to explain at home.

Does the tsarist government want to continue fighting? the answer is negative. The cruelty of the war has awakened many people, and they are also difficult to ride a tiger.

Concession is easy to say, but difficult to do! Once the tsarist government made a compromise, internal conflicts would break out, and Nicholas I naturally wanted to fight a beautiful battle to end.

Now that Constantinople is in sight, as long as this fortress city is captured, all the crises of the tsarist government will be solved, and he will become the greatest tsar in Russian history.

As for other interests, the Black Sea Fleet is finished. Even if they enter the Mediterranean Sea, they can't rely on swimming?

annexation of the Ottoman Empire? Fighting also requires money. The Russians have this military strength, but they don't have the matching financial resources.

even he

They can also intervene in the German region while fighting. With the Kingdom of Prussia there, Britain, France and Russia only need to roar a few times, and the Holy Roman Empire will be dissolved again.

When Franz pointed it out, Felix immediately woke up. The Shinra Empire is still far from a real empire. Without external threats, the problem can be solved slowly. The current problem is internal and external collusion.

...

Metternich said, "Your Majesty, the time is ripe to start the next step."

Franz nodded, expressing his acquiescence.

Austria is not strong enough to start a fight at the first word of a disagreement. If there is no reason that everyone can accept, and then the public anger will be committed, it will be cheaper for the Prussians.

Mere political discord does not constitute a reason for war. Now it is necessary to add another fire to make the final historical characterization of the Bavarian government.