Shadow of great britain

In the eyes of ordinary people, when an Austrian diplomat gets information about Young Italy, he will most likely rush back to the Austrian embassy to report to his superiors.

But there was no trace of anxiety on Mr. von Cromel's face. He just picked up the document and glanced at it, and then continued to slowly divide the steak on the dinner plate with a knife and fork.

Not only that, he even kindly told the two friends across the table: "Why don't you do it? Have you lost your appetite today? Or do you, like the Duke of Wellington, like to eat colder beef?"

Such abnormal behavior naturally attracted Arthur's attention.

Of course, there are people in this world who value steak more than anything else, such as Mr. Thiers.

But such people are in the minority after all. An Austrian diplomat did this mostly because of reasons.

Arthur turned his gaze to Schneider, who knew that this guy's eyes were also full of hesitation.

He also couldn't understand why von Kromel could be so calm.

unless……

He has more conclusive information, and it's the kind that even the British Foreign Office doesn't know about.

Arthur became interested. He didn't leave in a hurry. Instead, he tied his napkin. While holding the knife and fork, he started the conversation with compliments: "Your intelligence ability is really beyond our expectations. You I actually know that His Excellency the Duke likes to eat cold steak. I used to think that only his closest friends could know about this weird habit of his.”

"It's nothing."

Von Krommel cut off a small piece of beef and put it in his mouth.

"Our ambassador to France, Count Antholet von Apponi, had participated in the Congress of Vienna in his early years. The ambassador's wife stole the show at that banquet-style meeting, whether it was His Excellency Talleyrand's niece-in-law or May Even Mrs. Turney could not cover up his brilliance. At that time, everyone called her 'Holy Teresa'.

And she is also very influential in the music industry. Did you hear "Nocturne" played by the pianist in the restaurant? The first and second pieces of Nocturne No. 27 were specially composed by Mr. Chopin for her. Such a lady is naturally highly respected by everyone, and it is not difficult for her to know the Duke of Wellington's little quirks.

And if the madam knows, it means the ambassador knows. If the ambassador knows, I, the cultural counselor, will naturally know too. The composition of the intelligence system is very complex. We obtain massive amounts of information from different channels every day, including both important and unimportant information. Some are real and some are false. Of course, as a senior intelligence officer, I am no longer at the elementary stage where I can be deceived by false information. "

Von Cromel's words were quite tactful, but both Arthur and Schneider heard his subtext - he did not believe this intelligence, and believed that the two British guys in front of him had no good intentions.

It is true that British people rarely have good intentions.

And choosing to pursue a career as a diplomat shows that even in the UK, the moral limits of these two people are low enough.

But such unwarranted suspicions and attacks still broke Schneider's heart.

Schneider put a hand on his heart: "I swear in the name of God, Your Excellency, this information is genuine."

Von Cromel ate his meal calmly: "You can't do this, August. You are responsible for everyone's work. Don't tarnish the reputation of God. To be honest, I receive at least the least amount of money every month." There are seven or eight similar reports, either saying that there is a rebellion somewhere, or that an uprising is brewing somewhere. August, Arthur, I know you two may not be intentional, but it is not a good habit to trust the reports of informants. , that will only bring you endless trouble.”

Seeing his appearance, Arthur added: "This information was not obtained from an informant. I think it is at least 80% credible."

Von Krommel wiped his mouth with a napkin, and his dry lips shone a lot under the oil: "Really? Could it be that Mazzini told you personally?"

"That's not true." Arthur said, "But that can be regarded as a core member of Young Italy."

"Hmm..." von Cromel thought: "So you also sent people to Young Italy? Are you interested in the Apennines?"

"Not interested." Arthur swung the glass: "But you know, I became friends with Heine. So it was inevitable that I would have some contact with his social circle. I think, Heine and Young Italy It shouldn’t be unusual for members to have contacts, right?”

"That's true." Von Cromel nodded: "I'm not surprised that he said he has a relationship with the toilet. But, even so, I still can't believe your news. I don't think the French government, or, more directly, It is said that King Louis Philippe of France had the courage to sponsor an expedition against the northern Italian states, unless he no longer wanted his throne."

Schneider, who was immersed in eating, suddenly raised his head: "Have you caught Louis Philippe?"

"No, I don't like the word handle because it's often used in conjunction with conspiracy."

Von Cromel said easily: "The accurate statement is that the archivist of the National Library in Vienna accidentally discovered an old letter among the documents in our collection. The name of this letter written in 1805 The author is a young French aristocrat who was exiled abroad because of the French Revolution. He made a humble request to the great Austrian Empire: he wanted to join the most capable army in Europe and serve for the Third Anti-French Alliance. ”

When Arthur and Schneider heard this, their eyes became playful.

Needless to say, this young French nobleman in 1805 was probably named Orléans, and now, 28 years later, he is already the king.

Schneider sipped the red wine in his glass: "No wonder Metternich was so restrained when the July Revolution happened, and repeatedly assured the Russians that he believed that the French Revolution would not pose a threat to other European countries. I remember at that time The Russian Tsar once thought that Metternich might be suffering from a mental disorder, because Metternich was much more active in suppressing the revolution than he was. "

As the king of France, he had planned to join the anti-French alliance army. This news was much more explosive than Louis Bonaparte's working as a policeman in England. If the Austrians chose to publish this document, Louis Philippe would be 100% ruined.

And this also explains why, when the July Revolution of 1830 occurred, Metternich, a well-known old conservative in Europe, not only did not criticize the uprising in Paris, but instead continued to criticize the stupid ruling measures that led to their downfall. Charles X.

Louis Philippe of France had just ascended the throne in July, and at the end of August he hurriedly sent General Belliard to Vienna.

According to intelligence from the British Foreign Office, in the three meetings with Metternich in Vienna and in his audience with the Austrian Emperor, General Belial had been trying his best to convince the Austrians that Louis Philippe, who had been saved through the revolution, The new ruler who takes the throne will stand entirely on the basis of the Vienna Protocol and will not allow the revolutionary movement to spread beyond France and to the surrounding areas.

Moreover, Louis Philippe also wrote a personal letter to the Austrian court, in which he boasted that he was the protector of order compared with the fallen Charles X and was committed to maintaining stability and peace in Europe.

The Austrian Emperor and Prime Minister Metternich were obviously very satisfied with this letter, so it didn't take long for them to recognize Louis Philippe's government as the legal regime of France and actively develop diplomatic relations with the new government.

They were even faster than Britain in establishing diplomatic relations with France.

This approach made Russian Czar Nicholas I suspicious for a while. He wondered whether the Austrian Empire had compromised with the liberals. Could it be that the 'Holy Alliance' had collapsed like this?

These Austrians...

Could they...

Are you conspiring with France and Britain to overthrow a monarchy like mine?

Thinking of this, Arthur could only sigh that France indeed has a tradition in selecting rulers.

Except for the group of people who are most loyal to France, no matter they are traitors, dwarfs, foreigners, national separatists, etc., anyone can become the master of France.

But Von Cromel's words gave Arthur a wake-up call. When he left Scotland Yard, he asked Ledley to destroy all the archive files about Louis. Oh, no, it should be Said to have been burned by a mob in the London riots.

But because Arthur was so nostalgic, he still kept a copy of Louis' employment file, which also included the young man's employment oath.

Of course, this is mainly for commemoration. Arthur can swear to God with his heart like Schneider that he has no intention of using this thing for other purposes.

Um……

But when I think about it...

Arthur turned his head and looked around, suddenly feeling that the matter of Heine receiving French subsidies didn't seem that serious anymore.

After all, the current French King Louis Philippe is, strictly speaking, the leader.

As for his little brother Louis, he was considered to have eaten the royal food of his enemy. If he was serious about it, he would never be able to escape the label of the puppet army.

As for Heine, his plot is probably to hide in the concession, eat relief food from foreigners, write articles and make noises.

After such a comparison, even Elder's image suddenly became much purer.

In any case, Elder's feelings for the University of London are real. Although he is greedy, lustful and has a bad mouth, he cursed the Royal Navy as a piece of shit, but in the end he went to sea with the Beagle. It lasts for several years!

In general, according to traditional moral values, Elder is at best short-sighted.

However, the first three are missing a great virtue.

However, this also confirms von Cromel's statement that Arthur's social circle is indeed quite complex.

Arthur was wandering away from home, and Schneider chatted with von Cromel again: "If it is for this reason, do you think it is impossible for Louis Philippe to support Young Italy against northern Italy under Austrian control? It is indeed reasonable for Bangguo to launch an expedition.”

"Reason? What reason?"

Von Crommel seemed to have amnesia: "I just told you a little story. As for who the young French noble is, perhaps no one will ever know. Of course, if Young Italy really launches an expedition, perhaps we will soon be able to see the true face of the letter."

At this point, von Crommel suddenly frowned, paused, and then put down his knife and fork and said: "No, are you sure that Young Italy's expedition is aimed at Tuscany, Lombardy, Parma or Modena?"

The places mentioned by von Crommel are all Italian states under Austrian control.

Among them, the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia not only has Austrian garrisons, but also directly accepts Austrian management in terms of administration.

Although the Duchy of Modena, the Duchy of Parma and the Duchy of Tuscany are nominally independent, their rulers are all members of the Austrian royal family Habsburg family, so they are also regarded as Austria's traditional sphere of influence.

But just as von Krommel guessed, the Young Italy under Mazzini did not choose to start from the states controlled by Austria this time, but chose to start an uprising in the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont controlled by the Savoy family.

The new king of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, Carlo Alberto, had just ascended the throne. The new king was relatively open-minded and actively promoted some liberal reforms at home. Moreover, due to different concepts, his relationship with Austria was also very delicate.

When Carlo Alberto just came to power, the Young Italy and the Carbonari had high hopes for him, believing that the king of the Italians should shoulder the responsibility of unifying Italy.

However, no matter how they put pressure on Carlo Alberto in public opinion, the new king always turned a deaf ear and arrested some revolutionaries who were causing trouble in the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.

Such an approach instantly angered the Young Italy.

As we all know, the feeling of love turning into hate is usually deeper than the general hatred.

Mazzini and others chose the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont as the target of this attack, on the one hand because the military strength of the Kingdom of Sardinia was not as strong as that of the Austrians, and on the other hand because Carlo Alberto really disappointed them, so they had to teach him a lesson.

Arthur originally wanted to use the expedition of Young Italy to cause some diplomatic friction between France and Austria, and find something for Metternich and Louis Philippe to do before the Munich Conference this year.

Because the focus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this year is to solve the problem of the Portuguese civil war, according to Viscount Palmerston's idea, when Britain is unable to take care of other things, other countries should also have no time to do anything. Especially when Britain has just suffered a dumb loss on the Ottoman and Egyptian issues, it is necessary to find something else to discuss in the international news section of major London newspapers.

But what Arthur did not expect was that Louis Philippe's ass was not clean, and the evidence of his uncleanness fell into the hands of the Austrians.

So, if von Krommel wants to believe his words, he can only change his words.

He glanced at Schneider tentatively and asked casually, "How's the bank going?"