Eagle's Glory

It is of course a rare honor for him to be respected by members of the imperial family.

"It would be great if you can understand my difficulties..." He smiled happily, "Then, now that all the obstacles between us have been swept away, the only thing I have left for you is With blessings, I hope you can hold a grand wedding amidst the cheers of Greek independence, and let everyone celebrate for you—"

"That day will come soon." Teresa said half shyly and half proudly, "And you, if you like, can also be a witness on the scene."

Faced with this sudden invitation, von Mayrhofen was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted.

"Thank you for giving me such an honor, I will attend, Your Highness!" Anyway, it was not a matter of violating the principle, so he immediately agreed.

In addition to being excited, he was also emotional.

More than ten years ago, Emperor Napoleon married Princess Louisa in a grand ceremony. As a fledgling diplomat, he still vividly experienced it. Now members of the Bonaparte family will marry Princess Habsburg for the second time.

He is not qualified to comment on whether this is right or wrong, but he hopes that the ending this time will be better than the last one. After all, in his opinion, the boy and girl are really a good match, even a little cute.

"Your Highness, can you forgive my presumptuousness?" He couldn't help asking.

Teresa looked at him with some doubts, "Why, do you want to give me some advice? Sir, I don't see that you have such a hobby..."

"I don't have the habit of being a good teacher, Your Highness, on the contrary, my job requires me to be cautious in my words and deeds." Von Mayrhofen replied solemnly, "The only reason I violated my work creed is because I treat you, Best wishes to the duke."

Now it was Teresa's turn to be surprised, so she nodded lightly, "Then please tell me."

"I firmly believe that the stage between you and the Duke will never be limited to a corner of Greece in the future, but no matter what achievements you and him have in the future, please remember that you are an Austrian, and only Austria will always I open my arms to you." Alfred von Mayrhofen suggested to Teresa solemnly but respectfully, "I am not trying to trick you into acting in the interests of Austria, but please bear in mind a Facts - fate is unpredictable, you need to prepare a way out for yourself and your family, if you maintain friendly relations with your motherland, at least you will not lose too badly."

Speaking of this, the diplomat has almost made it clear-he is advising Teresa, if she really takes the throne with that boy in the future, then don't do too much to Austria when governing. In this way, if forced to go into exile with the family, the family will also have a safe shelter.

Judging from the fate of Queen Marie-Antoinette and Queen Louisa, his persuasion also seems to be very realistic.

Teresa also listened seriously, and after a moment of silence, she answered solemnly.

"Sir, I admit that what you said is true, and I am indeed full of nostalgia and gratitude to my motherland. These gratitude are deep in my heart and will not fade with time. But I also have my obligations , I must put the interests of my future husband and my family first. If in the future, fate forces me to make a painful decision, then I will only endure the pain and make the decision I should make .

For me personally, I really hope we continue to be friends, but if you think I should always be friendly with Austria to save yourself a way out, then I also ask Austria to find a way to be friendly with me and not do anything to hurt me and my husband so that I am qualified and motivated to keep us friendly forever!After all, friendship is always supposed to be mutual, right? "

Then, Teresa sneered slightly, as if with a little sarcasm, "Your Highness has seen what you call the 'back road'. His mother took him to Austria back then, and he was indeed safe. We all know how he was treated - if you think I, like Louisa, would swallow it up and think it was 'preferential treatment', then you're wrong...I'd rather have my kid proudly with me Guillotine, and unwilling to make him grovel to the people he hates! If that's the only way Austria has prepared for us, I'll laugh and burn that way!"

Her Royal Highness's answer was both reserved and leeway, which highlighted her own subjectivity even more, so that von Mayrhofen secretly felt powerful after hearing it.

What a stubborn girl!thought von Mayrhofen.

In her mind, the empire should try to win her favor, and she didn't know whether to call it pride or arrogance.

Obviously, although she is young, her mind is unusually clear, and her will is strong enough.

She is a material capable of great things. If one day she can really become a queen, she will probably become a powerful person——

Still, that day seemed quite far away, and he didn't need to worry about it.

"I understand, Your Highness." He nodded. "I firmly believe that no matter what happens in the future, the Habsburg family will always have a place for you, and I will always have full admiration for you."

"Thank you." Teresa nodded, then stood up calmly, "Please come with me."

Von Mayrhofen stood up quickly, and followed the girl to another room. At this time, there was already a man with a strong figure and deep eyes waiting here.

Upon seeing Theresa, he immediately saluted Her Royal Highness, and Theresa immediately introduced him to von Mayrhofen.

"This is the Count of Monte Cristo. Your Highness intends to let him go to Istanbul with you to carry out that secret mission."

The Count of Monte Cristo?

Von Mayrhofen thought for a while. He had been a diplomat for many years, but he had never heard of this title before.

It seems that it should be bestowed by the young man himself.

Logically speaking, this so-called "count" is worthless at all, and European countries will never recognize it, but right now, because the two sides are allies, von Mayrhofen will not care about such trivial matters.

"Mr. Count of Monte Cristo, it's a pleasure to meet you." He greeted the other party respectfully, "Although it's the first time I've seen you, I believe that your lord will entrust you with such an important task, and your ability must be very high." Extraordinary."

"You are flattering me. I just uphold my loyalty to His Majesty, so I worked hard and made some trivial achievements." Edmond Dantès replied calmly.

Although Austria would never admit that the young man was 'Your Majesty', von Mayrhofen pretended not to hear it and did not make any rebuttals.

"When can you leave?" he asked.

"I'm ready. As long as you leave, I can leave immediately." Edmond Dantès replied immediately.

He looked like he was gearing up and was very motivated.

Of course, Von Mayrhofen was not interested in pouring cold water on the other party. In fact, he himself hoped to rush back to the ambassador as soon as possible and tell him all the achievements of his career.

"Well, since you are ready, we will take a sailboat to Istanbul tomorrow, and you can go with me." Von Mayrhofen immediately gave the answer, "However, if you don't If you mind, I suggest you feel wronged and pretend to be my servant, so we can save a lot of trouble."

"Of course." Edmund Dantès nodded nonchalantly, "As long as I can complete the task, I don't mind pretending to be anything."

"That would be great." Von Mayrhofen nodded.

Next, Teresa had someone take the letter that Aigron and herself had drawn up a long time ago, and then handed it to von Mayrhofen.

"Sir, this is our letter to the ambassador, please convey it together." Teresa carefully told the other party, "Considering that both of us have concerns, we cannot leave a written agreement. These private letters Just take it as a proof of our promise—please believe that we take our promises seriously and will fulfill them without hesitation, and I ask you to do the same.”

Upon hearing the importance of the letter, von Mayrhofen quickly accepted it. "Don't worry, I will definitely hand them all over to the ambassador himself."

"Thank you." Teresa thanked the other party softly, and then passed a subtle look.

The worldly von Mayrhofen understood right away, so he took his leave, and Tereza was taken to rest.

This diplomat has already completed his mission, so he is relaxed and extremely happy at this moment.He was already thinking about what reward he would receive from the imperial government after everything was settled.

After he left, Princess Teresa stayed with Edmond Dantès.

Edmund Dantès knew that Her Royal Highness must have something to say, so he waited patiently for her instruction.

He didn't wait long, and Princess Teresa spoke leisurely.

"Mr. Earl, we have seen your loyalty to His Highness all along, and your bravery is enough to be a role model for everyone. I am as grateful to you as His Highness. Your Highness has given you such an important task, and it is enough to show respect for you." Your trust."

"I am very grateful to Your Majesty and your trust in me." Edmond Dantès replied quickly.

"However, please remember that your duty this time is not just to find a little girl and bring her back—you will be the representative of His Highness, facing the ambassador of a powerful European country."

"I will pay attention." Edmond Dantès nodded.

"No matter who you were before, you are now the Count of Monte Cristo, a real count...you deserve it." Teresa emphasized again, "We don't worry about your timidity, but we also Please take note that you should show the attitude you should have, you should be neither humble nor condescending, neither rude nor flattering, and I am sure you will do well... as you have always done."

In the end, Teresa smiled cordially at him, then raised her skirt slightly to salute, wishing him well and saying goodbye, "Mr. Earl, I wish you all the best of luck. I will wait for you to bring that little sister back."　　

226, ambassador

In the cold wind of late autumn, the Austrian ambassador to Turkey, Friedrich von Genz, was taking a walk in the small garden of the embassy after breakfast as usual to clear his mind.

During this time, for him, it was a bleak and turbulent day.

As Prime Minister Metternich had predicted, the Russian Empire did march.

In a religious sense, he should be happy, because this will be another time for Christians to punish the brutal and barbaric heretics, but as a diplomat of the Austrian Empire, he has to feel as much as the Prime Minister for the instability of the balance of power in Europe. worried.

Of course, these worries are not enough to scare him at present. After all, he has experienced the most terrible and bloody events before, and the small scenes in the Balkans are not worth mentioning now compared to those back then.

He had been sent to Istanbul to fix this annoying mess.

As Prime Minister Metternich's confidant and friend, he has already enjoyed a certain reputation in the European diplomatic circles, and after he came to Istanbul at the order of the Prime Minister, he also received the courtesy of the high-level Ottoman Empire as a matter of course.

Right now, the desperate Sultan and his ministers are helpless against the current corrupt situation. The flames of the Greek War of Independence have not been extinguished for several years but have revived. Not to mention, the Russian Empire also took the opportunity to get involved and launched a war against the heart of the empire. marched.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire was in a new low period, with internal corruption, military weakness, and finances on the verge of exhaustion. Just suppressing the Greek uprising army had exhausted their financial and material resources, and how could they have the ability to resist the original Ottoman Empire? Unbeatable Russia?

Obviously, if only the Ottoman Empire itself was relied on, they would not be able to withstand the Tsar's army anyway.

In a panic, Sultan Mahmud II replaced his ineffective grand vizier Mehmet Selim Pasha and appointed his favorite minister Izet Mehmet Pasha to take over. What else can Zill change?He could only watch helplessly as the Russian army marched towards Istanbul, helpless.

Now that there is no hope for himself alone, Izet Mehmet Pasha can only turn his attention to the European powers. He desperately lobbied the ambassadors of the European powers, pointing out that if the Ottoman Empire collapses, it means that Istanbul will fall into the into the hands of the Russians, and that will mean that other countries will follow in their footsteps in the future and become victims of the insatiable Russians.

It has to be said that the grand vizier has grasped the key points and straightened out the essence of the problem-under the pressure of Russia, the survival of Turkey is no longer just a matter of its own family, but concerns all European powers No one wants to see that the fleet of the Russian Empire can enter and leave the Mediterranean at will, and no one wants its bloody mouth to swallow another piece of European land.

Because he does not want to see this situation happen, Ambassador Friedrich von Genz can only find a way to stop it.

His main attention was not on Sultan Mahmud II and his Grand Vizier. In his eyes, Turkey, which was like a candle in the wind, was not worth his energy.

However, in any case, Turkey is still an ancient empire that has ruled Constantinople and Asia Minor for hundreds of years. No matter how dilapidated the status quo is, it still has some heritage and is worth using, so he also suppressed the contempt in his heart. From the bottom of my heart, I used a superficially polite attitude to cheer up the Sudanese monarchs and ministers and encourage them to support the crisis.

This experienced and seasoned diplomat assisted Metternich in successfully hosting the Vienna Conference more than ten years ago, and helped the Prime Minister delineate the pattern of the current order in Europe. He has already understood all the subtleties of diplomatic conflicts among the great powers , Now it is easy to use diplomacy to persuade - or coax - the Sultan's monarchs and ministers.

According to the will of Prime Minister Metternich, he made two suggestions to the Sudanese monarchs and ministers. First, the Sudan should abandon the protracted and fruitless counter-insurgency war in Greece, and make every effort to shrink its military strength in order to try its best to fight against the Russian Empire's military front and win Buffer time; second, Sudan should use the time left now to ask the European envoys of the European powers to inform the governments of various countries as soon as possible, to understand their interests, and to express their willingness to accept the arbitration of the great powers.

It has to be said that his ability to play diplomacy is really strong. After being coaxed by him three times, the Sudanese monarch and ministers actually fully accepted the ambassador's suggestion after careful consideration.

For the Sultan and his subjects, the foundation of the empire lies in Istanbul. If it falls into the hands of the Russians, it will be the end of the empire. It is worth paying a price to keep it.

Although the rebellion in Greece is infuriating, at the moment of life and death of this empire, giving up the slow-moving counter-insurgency war, although uncomfortable, is also a bitter fruit that has to be swallowed.

Seeing that so many achievements have been achieved before formally intervening in the arbitration, the ambassador was quite happy in his heart, but on the surface he still pretended to be frowning, planning to squeeze more chips from the panicked Turks next.

Right now, although the situation is in decline, there are also opportunities. As long as we seize that chance, Austria may benefit from it.

And this depends on the means of the country's intermediary operation.

He is now looking forward to the news from Greece, because it is very important to him.

And just as his walk was coming to an end, he finally received the good news he wanted - the secretary he sent out, Mr. Alfred von Mayrhofen, had quietly returned,

He immediately returned to his office, and ordered his entourage to call von Mayrhofen to him.

Immediately after entering, von Mayrhofen bowed to his superior.

"Mr. Ambassador, I have completed your mission, and now I am coming back to report to you."

Even at this urgent moment, Ambassador von Genz still retained his habitual reserve. Instead of answering immediately, he looked his subordinates up and down.

"You seem to be doing well—" he added a digression. "Is everything going well?"

"Yes, everything is going well!" Von Mayrhofen immediately replied in an excited tone, "Mr. Ambassador, I have met the Duke of Reichstedt and His Royal Highness Princess Teresa. They are very enthusiastic about me, and Expressing willingness to cooperate with the will of His Excellency the Prime Minister..."

While speaking, he took out the autographed letter jointly written by Aigron and Teresa from his arms, "This is their letter to you, and it contains all the promises we want!"

After finishing speaking, he bent down and handed the letter to the ambassador.

Ambassador von Genz received the letter, then calmly opened it and took out the letter paper inside.

The content of the letter was not long, and he finished it after scanning it roughly.

Yes, everything they want has already been obtained. No matter the sultan's monarch and ministers, or the young couple, they all chose to act at the pace they expected.

Very good...so good!

Although he was very happy in his heart, there was only a calm smile on the corner of his mouth.

Then, he put down the letter paper, then raised his head and looked at his subordinates with encouraging eyes.

"Von Mayrhofen, you have fulfilled the mission I entrusted to you excellently. With this merit, you will undoubtedly be able to receive the medal from the motherland."

"It's just what I should do," von Mayrhofen replied humbly, also hiding his ecstasy.

"In addition to meeting the Duke of Reichstedt this time, you also met the leaders of the Greeks. What do you think of them?" Ambassador von Genz asked again.

"They are generally very grateful to the Duke of Reichstedt, and believe that the independence of Greece cannot be separated from the support of the European powers..." Von Mayrhofen replied in a low voice, "So they are eagerly expecting the European powers to put pressure on the Turks, Get Turkey to back off their land and allow them independence."

"Then what do they think of the Russians?" the ambassador asked the crucial question.

Von Mayrhofen hesitated, then told the truth.

"As far as religious feelings are concerned, they tend to be Russians. After all, both sides are Orthodox Christians. However, this religious feeling is not higher than national feeling. Many people think that Western Europe is more reliable and can get more cultural and scientific achievements from it. In general, as the Russians march, the Greeks’ pro-Russian sentiment will inevitably rise, but as long as we and other powers show our position in due course, then not many people will be willing to serve the Tsar.”

Ambassador von Genz nodded slightly, as if thinking about something.

Obviously, the advance of the Russian Empire will inevitably be objectively beneficial to the independence of Greece, and then it will inevitably arouse a wave of pro-Russian feelings among the Greeks; therefore, in order to suppress this wave, Austria and the United Kingdom should express their support for Greek independence as soon as possible, At the same time, let your allies internally eliminate these forces that support the Russians.

"Okay, then you should write a report on what you saw and heard on this trip, give me a copy, and copy the copy to Vienna—"

"Okay." Von Mayrhofen nodded immediately.

Logically speaking, he should have resigned at this time knowingly and went back to rest, but he didn't leave immediately.

"Why, is there anything else to report?" So the ambassador asked again.

"The Duke of Lechstedt sent an envoy who pretended to be my servant and came with me." Von Mayrhofen told his superior cautiously, "On the one hand, he is trying to coordinate with you; On the other hand, he needs to perform an important secret mission and needs your help."

"What does he want me to do?" Ambassador von Genz frowned slightly, and then asked suspiciously.

Therefore, von Mayrhofen immediately made Egron's plan of "finding and buying Haidee, then bringing her to him, making her the Grand Duchess of Ioannina, and marching into Ioannina as a puppet banner", He told the ambassador exactly what he said.

"There is still this trick...?" Ambassador von Genz was amazed, and then he couldn't help but sigh, "Duke Reichstedt... is really worthy of Metternich's student."

This plan seems ordinary, but being able to come up with such a plan has already proved the young man's intelligence gathering ability and decisive ability-at least now he doesn't know that there is an orphan pasha left as a slave in the Sultan's court.

So smart and sharp, it's no wonder that he can become a master at a young age.

When the Duke was still in Schönbrunn Palace, he had already met the young man a few times. Although he thought the Duke was smart at that time, he still didn't quite understand why Metternich valued him so much. All the incidents have provided him with proof.