Daming 1805

On February [-], A.D., Metternich's special plane arrived at Paris Airport.

The French Prime Minister, Duke Richelieu, came to greet him and gave Metternich, the prime minister of a large country in Europe and the West, the courtesy he deserved.

Then the two returned to the Palais Royal in Paris to meet French King Louis XVII, the former Prince Louis Charles.

Before Metternich came to France, he reviewed all aspects of intelligence in his mind countless times, considering and analyzing the current state of France and the court.

The current French court is in a state where the king has exclusive power.

Most ministers may be able to make suggestions, but they are unable to interfere with the king's decision-making.

Although Louis XVII did not lead France to victory in foreign wars, his actual prestige was not comparable to that of a powerful king like Louis XIV.

But through a series of means, he has actually mastered extremely high actual power.

Through force and power, he eradicated a large number of stubborn traditional nobles remaining from the Middle Ages and ensured his control over the aristocracy.

With reference to Ming Dynasty, he organized and completed a series of institutional reforms, ensuring his control over the court and bureaucracy.

It destroyed the already few local forces in France and further strengthened the centralization of France.

He once again enhanced the power and control of the king and the court from an institutional level.

Compared with other countries in Europe, France has a high degree of centralization and integration.

In the era of Louis XIV, the foundation of centralization of the country was completed.

At that time, the French king already had control that the Austrian emperor and the court could not even imagine.

Oh, it should be the Emperor of Austria-Hungary now.

The current king has taken a step further in this direction and has almost reached the level of using his fingers like an arm.

Metternich felt that even the King of Prussia did not have as strong a control over the country as the current King of France.

At the same time, France has maintained long-term cooperation and exchanges with Daming, and has received the most technical support from Daming among all European countries.

This directly improved the level of industrialization in France and also improved the living standards of ordinary French people.

He did indeed enhance France's overall national strength.

Now, his own governance and reform ideas have naturally been supported by most of the emerging bourgeoisie and ordinary French citizens.

In the current French court and people, his status and influence are second only to the Sun King Louis XIV.

He is now the monarch with the most actual authority besides the Ming Emperor.

When Metternich met Louis XVII at the Palais Royale in Paris, the other party was not wearing Ming-style ordinary clothes as usual.

He changed into a more formal French king's dress.

This dress is not the traditional French monarch's robe, but was redesigned by a designer from the Ming Dynasty Clothing Company.

It is said that the current Ming Emperor also provided design suggestions before he ascended the throne.

There are even rumors that this was what Prince Dashi personally designed for his close friend, but no one has any concrete evidence.

In fact, Zhu Jingyuan did not participate in the design of this kind of clothes, but Liu Muyu, Queen of Louis XVII, provided a lot of ideas.

Liu Muyu probably wanted to dress her already somewhat delicate husband into a doll.

The final design of the main body itself was completed by designers from Dashi Clothing Company.

The dress retains the main elements of traditional French monarchical attire.

It includes a heavy robe with bourbon royal pattern, multiple layers of silk and lace folding decoration, white stockings, red-soled leather shoes, and a swallow-tailed cross medal.

At the same time, it draws on the simple clothing style that has been popular in the past decade.

The main reason is that the outer robe is not as thick as the previous gowns, and the length is no longer at the floor-length level. It can move on its own without the need for a servant to carry it.

The current robe is more like some kind of cloak than a robe, which can be simply taken off and put aside.

The clothing style inside the cloak is also more regular and concise, similar to the design of a short windbreaker.

Of course, tight shorts and stockings have also been integrated, and the styles of shoes have also been replaced with new styles that are popular in society today.

On the whole, many Ming-style elements are also added, such as jade pendants and sachets hanging on the waist, and the hem of the windbreaker is a pleated skirt similar to the Ming Dynasty dragnet.

The decoration on the body is still gorgeous, with a large number of silk and pearl decorations embellished on it.

However, most of the decorations hanging on the body are soft, and the scale of the hard structure is also controlled to a size that does not hinder the wearer's normal activities.

If I have a certain amount of patience, I can even wear normal clothes for work and travel, and directly participate in various ceremonies and rituals.

This kind of clothes gave Metternich a rather stunning look.

I subconsciously sighed that Paris, France is indeed the fashion capital of Europe.

The other kings here feel a bit like country bumpkins.

If people from later generations stand here and see the current image of the French king, they will probably think of the stage costumes of later generations.

In fact, his current clothes are of this style.

A circle of special soft lights was installed on the ceiling above the new king's throne.

I directly created several lighting effects on the stage.

That's why it looks so fresh and bright.

Metternich didn't dare to look too much, mainly because he wanted to confirm that the king was wearing Europa-style clothes, so he had to bow down respectfully.

If you wear Ming-style clothing, you don’t need to bend your knees, just raise your hands.

This is now a matter of course for the main ministers in the West, so most people even want their king to wear Ming-style clothing.

Louis XVII did not make things difficult for Metternich. After saluting and saying hello, he started to talk with a smile.

After Metternich finished talking about the greeting scene, he went directly to the topic:

"Your Majesty, through Denmark's greetings, you must have seen Prussia's ambitions and the threat of another war on the continent of Europe.

“On behalf of the United Empire of Austria and Hungary, and on behalf of the Habsburg royal family, I sincerely hope that your majesty, the greatest king of Europe, can take on the responsibility of maintaining peace in Europe.

"Austria hopes to work with France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Ottomans to curb Prussian expansion."

Louis XVII sat in his seat, gently knocked on the armrest of the throne with his right hand, and responded in a slow tone:
"I understand Austria's concerns about Prussia, but my suggestion is that Austria should first go to the League of Nations to find a solution."

Metternich immediately said:

“The League of Nations did not from the outset completely prohibit war between its members.

“His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has recently expressed his separate stance on the relevant regulations.

“As long as they abide by the rules of the alliance, countries within the alliance can go to war.

“So the League of Nations was unable to check Prussian expansion.

"Your Majesty, you should have read The Theory of Six Kingdoms, 'The land of the princes is limited, and the desire to tyrannize the Qin is insatiable.'" "Prussia is my tyrannical Qin in Europe."

“This is basically something that people with lofty ideals in Europa countries recognize.

"If the countries of Europa fight on their own and cannot contain them when they are getting rich, no one will be able to control them when they grow big.

“If Prussia attacks Austria and Austria is quickly defeated and surrendered, who will be its next target?

"Did you know that Italy is preparing for an alliance with Prussia?
"In this case, France is his natural next target.

“Instead of waiting for Austria to fall and become a support to Prussia, France could then fight alone against the power of Prussia and Austria.

"It is better to unite with Austria now and jointly fight against the power of Prussia.

“Furthermore, with France and Austria suppressing them from both sides, the Italians, who are accustomed to being left on the sidelines, did not dare to specifically turn to Prussia.

"If the United Kingdom can be brought into the camp, Prussia will have no chance of winning."

Louis XVII thought again for a few seconds, and then asked Metternich from another angle:

"We all know that Prussia's goal has always been to unify the German region.

“Therefore, there is a high possibility that Prussia will stop its foreign wars after annexing Austria.

“At the same time, even if France does not participate, Austria will still have to resist Prussia on its own.

"Even if Prussia can successfully annex Austria, Austria will consume its war potential on a large scale.

“The territories of various ethnic groups in Austria are now Austria’s burden and will become Prussia’s burden in the future.

"After annexing Austria, it is unlikely that Prussia will continue to fight abroad..."

Metternich immediately became a little excited and said:
"You are leaving your destiny to others to choose!

“I believe that no mature politician would do such a thing!

“More importantly, we all actually understand that with Prussia’s current state, the war cannot be stopped if it wants to!
"You should have received the news. After Denmark surrendered, large-scale parades and celebrations took place in major cities in Prussia.

“The common people and the bourgeoisie of Prussia are using their own strength to push their country to continue the war.

"The very structure of the Prussian state was itself a machine for war.

"Once it really started, unless it was completely defeated and collapsed, it would not be able to stop normally again.

"And there are basically no other possibilities for its future goals, first Austria and then France.

"France and Austria jointly containing Prussia is the most correct choice at present!"

After hearing this, Louis XVII nodded slightly:

“What you said is indeed reasonable, and I can understand your thoughts and concerns.

"But sir, please don't be too anxious. Austria is also our traditional big country in Europe and should be able to resist Prussia's attack.

“France certainly hopes that Europe can maintain peace, which is actually the shared philosophy of Ming Dynasty and the League of Nations.

“The League of Nations does not completely prohibit war among its member states, but only provides instructions for situations where war is unavoidable.

“The alliance’s purpose is still to avoid war as much as possible, and if it is really impossible to avoid war, to reduce the destructive power of war as much as possible.

“So, Austria should first try to coordinate its relations with Prussia through the alliance platform.

"During this process, unless Prussia voluntarily withdraws from the alliance, it should not dare to take the initiative to declare war on Austria, which would be the enemy of the entire alliance.

“As a member of the League of Nations, France of course hopes to contribute to maintaining peace in the world and Europe.

“Therefore, France is also willing to work with Austria to resolve the conflict between Austria and Prussia.

“If Prussia’s foreign war cannot be stopped, France is also willing to work with Austria to stop this behavior.

"However, all this must be carried out within the framework of the League of Nations and under the witness of the League leader."

Metternich couldn't help frowning after hearing this passage.

Are you, the King of France, just being official, or do you really have some kind of decision and commitment?

The current situation is urgent, and Metternich has no time to investigate carefully, so he simply asked Louis XVII:
"I'm very sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't fully understand what you meant.

“What do you mean by working with Austria to stop the war in Prussia?
"Can you send a warning through alliance channels that if Prussia declares war on Austria, France will fight with Austria?"

Louis XVII agreed directly without much hesitation:

"Yes, if Prussia insists on having its own way, France will stand with Austria and fight against Prussia.

"Of course, this is just the final bottom line situation. We should first work on the alliance platform to resolve the issue through negotiations."

Metternich was immediately overjoyed, and was a little surprised by Louis XVII's directness.

In fact, although Metternich had hope for France, he was not very sure about this hope.

Because France and Ming Dynasty are too close.

If France made up its mind to rely on the Ming Dynasty and try not to participate in continental affairs, once Prussia attacked itself, it would go directly to the Ming Dynasty for help.

Then there's really nothing you can do about it.

Because if France does that, it will not suffer particularly huge losses, and it may even be the method with the least loss.

Unless, Ming Dynasty intends to let the European countries lose each other.

It was not until France fought to the end, or even until France was defeated, that troops were actually sent to help Louis XVII restore his country.

Even so, however, Bourbon could choose to surrender early.

Let the French mainland not experience war.

Once France and Austria are occupied by Prussia, Ming Dynasty will have to intervene.

No matter how reluctant Ming was, he could only help France recover.

Otherwise, the reputation of the Ming Emperor will be affected.

After all, it was known to the whole world that the French king was a close friend of the Ming Emperor.

On the contrary, France stood with Austria in advance and took the initiative to participate in the war to stop Prussia. The losses may be immeasurable.

But the French king seems to have his own ideas.

Does France want Prussia’s local coal mines and colonial oil?

Or maybe the French king's existing prestige and reputation do not allow him to make the choice to surrender directly to preserve his strength?

Or does he hope that through this war, he will make up for the missing things in his own governing history?
Even though France's internal state is the best among European countries, it is not completely healthy and has many problems.

He also hopes to divert these potential conflicts through war?
But no matter what the reason for the other party's decision, it is a good thing for Austria.

Even if he only spoke verbally and said a few harsh words within the alliance, it might delay Prussia's decision to launch an attack.