shadow of britain

Chapter 538 Good birds choose trees to roost in
The Germans can be properly divided into two classes: those with "von" in their names and those without. Those with this word at the beginning of their names are lucky, for it means that they are nobles and therefore belong to a high social class. Others without this word can make up their names with as many letters as possible, but they are still common people.

—John Lothrup Motley
On the boulevard of the University of Göttingen, Schneider happily flipped through the student file of the Austrian Prime Minister.

People who work in intelligence have this bad habit to a greater or lesser extent. They are very interested in prying into the privacy of others. They want to get to the bottom of even the privacy of ordinary people, not to mention a prominent figure in European politics.

Arthur, sitting on a bench and smoking a cigarette, suggested: "To be honest, I don't understand why Viscount Palmerston cares so much about Metternich, but in my opinion, his influence on Austrian politics is far less than that of Mr. Talleyrand on French politics."

"Hmm?" Schneider looked up at Arthur and said, "What do you mean? I admit that Metternich and Talleyrand are outstanding figures of the same level, but one of them is now the Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire, and the other is just the French ambassador to the UK."

"If you just look at the job title, that's true."

Arthur turned and spoke.

"But according to the information I have learned, although Talleyrand is only the ambassador to Britain, the main foreign policy of France at that time was formulated by him. And throughout his life, he was the guy who led the direction and was never completely controlled by anyone.

But Metternich was different. Although he was nominally the Prime Minister of Austria, it was because his line was the same as the emperor's. If he disagreed with the emperor in some aspects, then his position as Prime Minister would be completely useless.

Look at the reforms he brought about in Austria. To put it in a positive way, at least in name, the government was reorganized as necessary, the State Council and the State Conference were convened, and the new meeting format injected fresh blood into the dull atmosphere.

But what actually happened? Austria did not change anything. The State Council was established, but it could not be convened according to procedures. This was because the new meeting format was not popular with the emperor and the bureaucracy. Many reform initiatives eventually became an appendage of political struggles. The appointed officials were not very capable, but various corrupt bureaucratic practices prevailed.

This can be seen from Mr. von Krommel, with whom we have dealt. We dared to take the money because, for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we only wanted the result of Italy's chaos for a while, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not care about the specific process. In other words, although we took the money, we still got things done for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and we are still competent public servants.

However, for Mr. von Kromer, northern Italy was the core interest of the Austrian Empire, but he still dared to nurture the enemy and allowed Mazzini and others to start an uprising, and then used this to highlight his own wisdom. August, although we are all silkworms foraging on the big tree of the country, at least we are still spinning silk, but Mr. von Kromer only takes in and does not give out.

What does this show? It shows that the Austrian state machine is dying on the old track, but there is no one to guide it, no authority to stop it, everyone is doing their own thing, and everyone is relying on the law of inertia to move forward. Few people take their boss Metternich seriously, because they all know that Metternich is actually no different from them, and everyone's power comes from the emperor. "

Schneider couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "Arthur, you are right. In fact, you are not the only one who discovered this. Many people in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also think so. Although Metternich has a high reputation in Europe and the emperor cannot dismiss him at will, we also find that his influence on the Austrian emperor is always limited, and the emperor can't actually trust him completely. Do you know why I wanted to find von Krommel to make a deal instead of looking for someone else?"

"why?"

Schneider put away the files in his hand and stood up and said, "Because Krommel is a close confidant of Austrian Interior Minister Klofrath. There are two powerful people in Austria, one is Klofrath who is in charge of internal affairs, and the other is Metternich who is in charge of foreign affairs. Moreover, the two of them are very incompatible with each other. In terms of political affairs, their ideas are almost completely opposite.

Metternich was a typical conservative monarchist, but his royalist identity was not so pure. I don't know if it was because he studied in Göttingen when he was young. Although Metternich was a German, he did not like centralized management in administrative affairs and economics, but recognized the British model.

Mr. Klovrat, a fanatical advocate of centralized management, called for limited reforms and improved administrative efficiency. But on the other hand, Klovrat was extremely contemptuous of the traditional German-style management and often described himself as a "Bohemian patriot."

Arthur pondered for a moment: "So, Klovrat is a nationalist? This is what Metternich hates the most!"

"is not that right?"

Schneider laughed and said, "You should remember what I just mentioned. Klovrat is a Bohemian nobleman. In his opinion, Metternich, a German, is actually a foreigner. He hates foreigners interfering in Austrian politics. He does not recognize the existence of any main ethnic group in the Austrian Empire. Germans are not more noble than Slavs and Hungarians.

If we must say that Austria has a main ethnic group, it can only be said that it is the real Austrians who were born in Austria, not the Germans. Therefore, he also strongly opposed the establishment of the Ministry of Home Affairs requested by Metternich. "

"Home Affairs?" asked Arthur. "But wasn't Klovrat the Austrian Minister of Home Affairs? It's very curious that he would oppose the department he was in charge of."

Schneider curled his lips.

"It is indeed unusual, but Croft is not opposed to everything. His main objection is to the plan to establish four ministers of state in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

According to Metternich's idea, the Austrian Empire would be divided into four regions according to the British national model and managed by four ministers, who would report directly to him.

They are:
Slavic Minister for Bohemia-Moravia-Galicia,

Austrian Minister for the German-speaking Alpine Provinces,
The Illyrian vizier for Carinthia, Carniola, Istria, Croatia and Dalmatia,

and the Italian minister in charge of Lombardy and Venice.

However, this plan was opposed by Klovrat, Saura and others, and Francis I refused to establish a Ministry of Justice and a Council of Ministers, so it became the current compromise plan.

The Austrian emperor emphasized the unity of the empire and hoped to weaken the characteristics of each region for the sake of the principle of unity. Therefore, he only set up three ministers to show respect for ethnic differences, but these three ministers did not perform their duties in most cases. "

Arthur nodded slightly and said, "Metternich seems to have some ideas, but the emperor may feel that such reforms offend his authority. Although he appreciates Metternich in most cases, this time the opinions of Klovrat and others are obviously more recognized by him."

Schneider sneered and said, "There's more to it than that. The biggest disagreement between Klovrat and Metternich is foreign policy. Metternich believed that in order to defend the northern Italian states within the Austrian sphere of influence, a large standing army must be maintained to prevent French interference. On the issue of the German Confederation, they had to guard against Prussia for the same reason.

Krofrat ignored the balance of power diplomacy. He was unwilling to let Austria become the leader of all Germans, and even more unwilling to spend money to protect the northern Italian states. He often used the huge military expenditure as a handle to attack Metternich. As the Minister of the Interior who knew the Austrian economy best, he believed that it was these huge expenditures that dragged down Austria's economic development and put the government into a debt trap. "

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly realized.

No wonder von Krommel agreed to help him and Schneider settle the matter without any hesitation that day. It turned out that the Austrian intelligence officer was not only greedy for money and kept the enemy for his own benefit, but also wanted to find fault with Metternich on behalf of Krofrath. If an uprising broke out in Italy, Metternich would have to dispatch troops to suppress it. This would definitely cost a lot of military expenses. When the bill was sent back to Vienna, Krofrath could openly take the IOU to Metternich.

On the one hand, Kromer was able to show his face within the Austrian intelligence agency. On the other hand, he had a great achievement in the eyes of the Home Secretary. Not to mention, he also received £3000.

Schneider winked at Arthur with a smug look on his face. "With this Italian uprising, even if we can't directly prevent the Austrians from uniting with Prussia and Tsarist Russia, at least Klovrat will help us hold back Metternich in Vienna and slow down their progress. As long as they hesitate for a moment, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pulls its hands out of Portugal, we will definitely have to play nice with them."

Arthur stood up and said, "August, I thought I really helped you a little, but I didn't expect that you had already planned it in your mind."

"That's not the case." Schneider shook Arthur's outstretched hand. "I'm talking about ideal situations. If things don't develop according to logic, I still need this student file to report."

After saying this, Schneider took off his hat and said a simple goodbye to Arthur, then he walked out of the Göttingen campus humming a little tune, holding the dusty file.

Arthur saw the British gentleman off and was about to refill his pipe when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the figure behind the curtain out of the corner of his eye.

I don’t know if it’s because the weather is too hot, but the curtains are sweating and there is a large wet spot on them.

Arthur saw this and slowly lit up his cigarette, then suddenly shouted, "Bismarck!"

"To!"

The figure behind the curtain was startled at first, then he stood at attention quickly, his posture straight.

Arthur found a comfortable position on the bench, sat down, crossed his legs and smoked a cigarette, and ordered in the tone of a Prussian officer: "Listen to my orders! Turn back! Target: the bench on the boulevard! Run forward!"

Arthur heard the sound of footsteps and just after taking two puffs of his cigarette, he saw Bismarck jogging to the entrance of the boulevard.

Bismarck came to stand in front of Arthur and reported loudly: "Sir, I am Otto von Bismarck, a second-year student at the Law School of the University of Göttingen, reporting to you!"

Arthur tilted his head and motioned for him to sit down.

But before Bismarck could sit down, he saw Arthur pull out a tobacco box from his jacket pocket, flick the lid open and reveal the tobacco inside: "Want some?"

Bismarck said seriously: "I can't."

"Really?"

"real."

As soon as Bismarck finished speaking, Arthur reached out to his pocket. The young man was startled and hurriedly covered his pocket and asked, "What are you doing?"

Arthur glanced at him and slowly took out a red and black oak pipe from his pocket: "I knew it. Why are you pretending to be a novice with me?"

Bismarck took back the pipe without blushing or beating his heart, and poured some tobacco from Arthur's cigarette box: "I just learned it not long ago."

Arthur watched him light his pipe expertly and took a deep drag. He took the opportunity to ask, "What did you learn from today's incident?"

"Cough, cough, cough!" Bismarck took a short breath and was almost choked by the smoke. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his nose and tears while saying, "You can't say this out of the blue every time. It's not good for your health."

Arthur stretched lazily. "How is it? This is the diplomat you yearn for, this is the diplomatic work you envy to death, don't you think it's not as noble as you think? Talking about other people's privacy behind their backs, digging up other people's dirty accounts, and looking for opportunities to report on others. To tell you the truth, we diplomats do this every day, and it's actually similar to the work of the student union in essence."

"Diplomat? You are a diplomat? Weren't you a policeman before?" Bismarck had just thought that this eccentric school supervisor was a little unreliable, but when he heard that he was a diplomat, Arthur's identity immediately became taller in Bismarck's eyes.

"That's right." Arthur leaned back on the bench. "Because I did such an excellent job as a police officer, I was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs couldn't tolerate me, so I was sent to the University of Göttingen to deal with you little bastards."

Bismarck heard his tone and was full of disbelief: "You are even more boastful than I am. How long have you been out of school? In just a few years, you have done so much work? I remember you were a researcher in natural philosophy, right?"

"Natural philosophy is my hobby. I can also play the piano. People in Paris call me 'Liszt from London'. This is the nickname Heine gave me."

"You? Liszt from London?" Bismarck was about to laugh, but before he could finish his words, he realized, "Wait! Why did Heine give you a nickname? Aren't you a London cop?"

Arthur rubbed his fingers at Bismarck. "If you have enough of this stuff, Heinrich will dare to say anything for you. I have always felt that he is the best student in Göttingen in the past ten years. This is not only a praise for his talent in writing poetry, but also an appreciation of his quality of choosing the right tree to perch on."

At this point, Arthur stood up and walked slowly in front of Bismarck with his hands behind his back. "Otto, do you think that as a sophomore with a scholarship, an outstanding graduate who is likely to get a letter of recommendation, and a student leader of the Gestapo, do you think it is necessary for you to disclose the conversation between Mr. Schneider and me just now?"

Bismarck just took a puff of his cigarette when he heard this. He looked at Arthur blankly: "What conversation? Didn't you just call me here?"

(End of this chapter)