The elderly man and the young man on the train were none other than Prince tternich, who had once dominated Europe for more than thirty years, and his son Richard tternich.
Why should he be here when he was supposed to be serving as an advisor by Emperor Franz Joseph’s side, and in the company of Richard tternich? This involves the diplomatic divergences of the Austrian Empire.
After Felix Schwarzenberg suffered a sustainable stroke, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Austrian Empire changed from Felix Schwarzenberg to Count Baur, and Austrian foreign policy changed accordingly.
During the era of Felix Schwarzenberg, the foreign policy of the Austrian Empire was based on ensuring the safety of the Austrian Empire itself, with the strategy of weakening Prussia, while also wooing and suppressing France and Russia to maintain the balance of power in Europe.
This diplomatic strategy undoubtedly required superb diplomatic skills. Looking at the entire Austrian diplomatic field, besides Felix Schwarzenberg, the only person capable of mastering the delicate balance was Prince tternich.
However, after Felix Schwarzenberg’s stroke, tternich, who was supposed to succeed Schwarzenberg as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, still could only participate in the empire’s diplomacy in an advisory capacity.
The fundantal reason is that Prince tternich’s political foundation was completely destroyed during the storm of 1848, and now, apart from enjoying the treatnt that an old minister should have, he has nothing. It can be said that neither faction in the current political arena of the Austrian Empire is willing to see tternich make a coback.
In their view, the era belonging to tternich has ended with the European revolution.
If it weren’t for Felix Schwarzenberg’s "vigorous protection" during his stroke, tternich would not have been able to participate in any political activities.
Even with Felix Schwarzenberg’s protection, tternich only obtained the power to advise and implent, not the power to formulate specific policies.
Of course, this power was not held by Count Baur either. In tternich’s view, Count Baur was rely the Emperor’s echo, and the Emperor’s diplomatic strategy always wavers.
This wavering diplomatic thinking has cost the Austrian Empire opportunities for diation.
When negotiations with the Ottoman Empire broke down, and news of France’s suspected mobilization ca, Emperor Franz Joseph woke up as if from a dream and asked tternich for his strategy.
With the two camps already taking shape, tternich could only first go to Paris to test the attitude of the Emperor of France before making further plans.
To avoid excessively provoking the Russian Empire, the Austrian Empire did not include tternich in the list of envoys sent to France for diation.
Instead, Prince tternich boarded the train to Lombardy just as it was about to depart.
On June 13th, tternich and Richard tternich switched to the Sardinian train heading to Nice.
Upon entering Sardinian territory, Prince tternich was constantly gloomy after hearing the discussions of travelers at the Sardinian train station.
Sitting in the carriage, Richard tternich asked tternich in a low voice why he was worried.
"I seem to have made a mistake!" Prince tternich sighed and said to Richard tternich beside him.
"What?" Richard tternich asked curiously.
"Back then, I focused too much on France, to the point of forgetting the Apennine region! I should have foreseen that the Apennine region would be like Germany was at that ti..." What Prince tternich ant by "like Germany was" was the surging Italian nationalist movent.
To address the revolutionary issues that could erupt in France, tternich not only returned all the territory of the Sardinian Dynasty to Sardinia but also handed over the Republic of Genoa to Sardinia, turning Sardinia into a dium-strength nation.
With the rise of Italian nationalism, the Sardinian Kingdom beca increasingly restless!
Once a vassal of Austria, Sardinia quickly aligned with France.
Not only Sardinia but even the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies also leaned towards France, not to ntion the Pope State.
Nowadays, the entire Apennine Peninsula is shrouded in the shadows of France and Austria.
If either of these two beasts attacks the other, then the entire Apennine would likely suffer a catastrophic disaster.
Of course, there is also the possibility that one of the states in Italy might unify the entire Apennine Peninsula with the help of one of these beasts.
In that case, the situation for the Austrian Empire would beco even more difficult.
"Father, it’s not your fault! At that ti, no one could have foreseen what would happen decades later!" Richard tternich consoled his father, Prince tternich.
"We are not only tasked with diation as we head to France but also with making peace with France!" Prince tternich said worriedly to Richard tternich, "If a conflict breaks out between Austria and France, Austria might lose Lombardy and Venice, which we’ve worked so hard to acquire! At that point, the entire fate of the Austrian Empire would be plunged into chaos."
"Yes!" Richard tternich, though not understanding what specifically worried tternich, did not hesitate to follow his father’s instructions.
Richard tternich’s accomplishnts in diplomacy were far inferior to his father’s.
On the evening of June 14th, the train arrived in Nice. Richard tternich, along with tternich and several mbers of the delegation, took a carriage across the border into France.
Subsequently, Richard tternich and the others transferred to a carriage and arrived in Lyon, the southern transit hub, on the afternoon of the 15th.
In Lyon, Prince tternich made a new observation: many goods were being unloaded in Lyon, the streets were filled with patrolling mbers of the National Guard, and people hurriedly walked back and forth on the streets.
In tternich’s eyes, the entire city of Lyon had turned into a huge military camp.
As tternich left Lyon by train, he glancingly noticed soldiers at the Lyon military train station, as well as train cars loaded with supplies at the station.
This made Prince tternich even more pessimistic about the prospects of diation.
Under these circumstances, how could France be willing to heed the Austrian Empire’s call for diation?
For now, all they could do was take one step at a ti!
On the afternoon of June 17th, Richard tternich and tternich officially arrived in Paris.
The low-profile father and son, along with the delegation, quietly arrived at the Austrian Embassy in France.
The Austrian Ambassador was surprised to see Prince tternich and then shook his hand excitedly, saying, "Your Highness, what brings you here!"
"I am here on the orders of His Majesty! The goal is to diate relations between the Russian Empire and the French Empire. How are things currently with the French Empire?" Having just entered the embassy, Prince tternich inquired about recent French activities from the Austrian Ambassador.
The Austrian Ambassador conveyed everything he knew to Prince tternich.
Combining the information previously observed at the Lyon Railway Station with the Austrian Ambassador’s description, Prince tternich made a bold conjecture: France was already fully prepared for war!
"Your Highness, I do not believe the Empire can diate the conflict between Russia and France! Perhaps we should consider which side we should be on!" the Austrian Ambassador said worriedly to tternich. "If we don’t consider it, I’m afraid..."
"I know!" Jero Bonaparte raised his hand to stop the Austrian Ambassador from continuing. "Tomorrow, I will et with De Luy!"
While tternich and others were discussing Austria’s future, Jero Bonaparte at the Tuileries Palace also received intelligence from the National Intelligence Bureau.
The intelligence stated that the Austrian mission included not only Richard tternich but also Prince tternich.
"It seems that this ti, it’s not Richard tternich who has co for diation, but Prince tternich," Jero Bonaparte shook his head and said to Marcel Yale beside him.
Marcel Yale didn’t speak but quietly listened to Jero Bonaparte’s words.
"In this case, it’s fine! I just want to see what kind of surprises a hero of the last era can bring !" Jero Bonaparte’s lips curled into a smile as he continued to talk to himself.
He then turned to Marcel Yale, waved, and said, "Alright! You’ve worked hard too!"
"Yes!" Marcel Yale left Jero Bonaparte’s study.
On June 18th, when Richard tternich and Prince tternich went to the residence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs De Luy to visit, they encountered soone who shouldn’t have been there.
"Your Majesty!" Prince tternich and Richard tternich kneeled and saluted Jero Bonaparte.
"Mr. tternich, Mr. Richard tternich, please have a seat!" Jero Bonaparte invited tternich and Richard tternich to sit down.
After the tternich father and son were seated, Jero Bonaparte got straight to the point, "Mr. tternich, I know your purpose is to diate the conflict between Russia and France! I am very grateful for the efforts of the Austrian Empire for European peace, but I regret to inform you.
Your diation efforts are dood to be futile. If the Russian Empire does not halt their ambitions of aggression against the Ottoman Empire, the French Empire will never cease its march to war!
We will join the Kingdom of Britain in crushing the evil Russian Empire!"
Upon hearing Jero Bonaparte’s declaration of war, tternich’s face fell, and he said coldly, "Your Majesty, you remind of that person decades ago, who similarly refused my advice back then!"
As soon as tternich’s words fell, De Luy’s expression also changed.
Everyone present knew that the "person" tternich was referring to was none other than Emperor Napoleon of the past.
Back then, tternich advised Emperor Napoleon to end the war in respectable terms, which ant recognizing the interests of other nations and withdrawing from the conquered lands of France, in exchange for the House of Bonaparte’s rule over France.
Emperor Napoleon rejected his advice and stubbornly continued the fight, eventually ending in exile on an isolated
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