Chapter 365 The Last Gift [Update]

Frankfurt, the temporary parliament hall of the German Confederation.

Facing the silent "audience", Old Kuldre once again asked a question that went straight to the heart.

"You were all blind before, and now you are all deaf?!"

Still no one answered, because this was too heavy for the representatives present. Maybe because of one word, his political future will be ruined, or he will become the punching bag of the civilians of the entire Confederation, of course, it is possible that both.

Ludwig von Lens is a junior student at the University of Vienna. He is 1.82 meters tall, strong, white, blonde, blue eyes, and has a standard German appearance, but he is a real Czech and was born in Pretzburg, Hungary.

It stands to reason that a student is not qualified to be an attendant of the Austrian representative, but he is a hardcore royalist, which can be regarded as an outlier in the university.

(That's right! Austrian universities are the largest gathering place for anti-Austrians. And many college students choose to declare themselves liberals in order to be different.)

The Austrian imperial government will naturally favor such "loyal" high-quality talents, so Ludwig von Lens was allowed to be the attendant of the Austrian representative to the German Confederation.

Old Kuldre's words made the young man's blood boil. In fact, he always wanted to be a soldier. Because the salary was too low, he chose to apply for the University of Vienna to study law and become an official. It was also for his family and sister.

"What is the purpose of the German Confederation? Have you all forgotten it?"

Old Kuldre asked himself and answered.

"You forgot it! But I didn't forget it!

Members of the German Confederation defended each other and jointly defended Mainz, Luxembourg, Rastatt, Ulm and Landau, etc., which entered the German fortress!

Now our German fortress has been breached! What should we do!"

Old Kuldre shouted hoarsely, but still no one answered. The representative of Austria was an experienced politician, Count Pilesdorff, who had never had much presence, but was one of the core figures in the politics of the Austrian Empire.

Pilesdorff did not care about Luxembourg's request. In his eyes, Luxembourg was too far away from the Austrian Empire, and the cost of offending Britain, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands was too high. It was a completely unprofitable deal.

If Austria really sent troops to help Luxembourg, the biggest beneficiary would be Prussia. After all, the empire was not interested in the enclaves on the European continent after losing the Austrian Netherlands.

As a senior official of the empire, he naturally knew better than anyone that the seemingly peaceful situation in Europe at this time was actually undercurrents, and it might not take much spark to ignite the entire continent.

The expansion of the empire in Italy had already caused dissatisfaction among Britain and France. If it were not for the outstanding performance of the Austrian Navy in the Turkish-Egyptian War, I am afraid that the British would have threatened to blockade the Adriatic Sea long ago.

In fact, after the Turkish-Egyptian War, the Mediterranean Fleet formed by the British on Crete was to suppress Austria and France.

In short, Luxembourg is indeed pitiful, but this is not important.

"Fight back! Defend the country!" A solitary voice appeared behind Pillersdorf, which was beyond his own expectations, and of course beyond the expectations of the entire venue.

The person who shouted this was naturally Ludwig von Lens, a young man. Young people are easy to be incited, not to mention in the 19th century.

The voice on the Austrian side was not loud, but it was like thunder in the ears of the surrounding audience, because it represented an attitude.

As a result, representatives of states that had a good relationship with Austria immediately responded, because the Austrian Empire joined the German Customs Union and occupied an absolutely dominant position.

The Austrian Empire in this life not only has a high reputation among the royal families of various countries, but also has a strong influence among the people. Naturally, there are more small states attached to Austria.

The Austrian Empire was the first to express its position, which is a good opportunity to show itself.

"War!"

"War!"

"War!"

As for the princes of Saxony, Hanover, and Bavaria, they were eager to make Austria or Prussia lose face, and naturally joined the team of booing.

Prussian Foreign Minister Heinrich von Bülow was very annoyed by the Austrian Empire's actions, because Luxembourg was a protectorate of Prussia, how could Austria take the lead?

Or did Austria want to take back its own Austrian Netherlands? This would undoubtedly strengthen Austria's strength and influence, which would be greatly disadvantageous to Prussia.

So Prussia had to express its position. Heinrich von Bülow stood up, and the whole audience immediately became quiet, because whether to fight or make peace with the "Netherlands" depended on Prussia's attitude.

The representatives of the German Confederation were inexplicably excited at this time. The consciousness of a nation was awakening, and the mutual attacks on this land for thousands of years seemed to stop at this moment.

"Gentlemen! The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is the barrier of our German Confederation in the west, and has long defended us against threats from France and the Netherlands. Now that it is threatened, it is our duty as Prussia to protect it.

I will report to our King Frederick William IV and ask him to make the decision. I hope that all countries can help."

Heinrich von Bülow looked at the Austrian representative, Count Pillersdorff. The former felt that he had the upper hand, after all, Prussia would lead the war.

As a typical Junker noble, Heinrich von Bülow's views are completely opposite to those of an experienced politician.

Count Pillersdorff didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this time. Originally, a reckless young man pushed Austria to the forefront, and now Heinrich von Bülow actually used Prussia to block it directly.

This should be a good thing, but in this way, Austria will have to step into this muddy water, which may drag the whole of Europe into the war. He can already imagine the Prime Minister's furious look.

Count Pillersdorff did not express his opinion, but stood up and prepared to leave.

At this time, it was the old Kuldre on the stage who spoke. He was actually a very good politician, but being born in a small country like Luxembourg meant that it was difficult to do much. He knew the concerns of the Austrian Empire.

"Thank you, compatriots, but we are not asking for anyone's pity, but we intend to hire your army to take back what belongs to us."

At the signal of Old Courdre, other representatives from Luxembourg carried heavy boxes to the center of the venue.

"We have accumulated a sum of money thanks to the care of our compatriots over the years in Luxembourg, and I want to use it to hire you."

At this time, the boxes were opened, revealing the neatly arranged gold bars inside.

"This is the blood and sweat of 420,000 compatriots in Luxembourg, the hope of 950,000 Luxembourgers, a total of 120 million florins. Frohe Weihnachten!"

(Frohe Weihnachten (n)! means Merry Christmas, English Merry Christmas.)

This was the last time that Old Courdre slapped the German Confederation in the face, and it was also the retreat he found for his compatriots.