what do you think sherlock

Chapter 72 The Masters of the Empire
Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor who single-handedly shaped the German Empire, has a messy moustache. Although he is wearing a straight white military uniform, it is still difficult to conceal his chubby figure.

Even so, his appearance is still unforgettable, and it seems that he can exude an astonishing power at any moment. Even if he is in the bumpy train carriage at this time, it also gives people a feeling that he is about to appear in the Imperial Parliament. The feeling of giving an imperial speech.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, why did you agree to the request of the British?" Bazel, State Secretary of the Imperial Foreign Office, asked curiously.

The emerging German Empire was a special dual system consisting of the huge Kingdom of Prussia and some smaller German states. The kings and grand dukes of the states also enjoyed the sovereignty of their territories, but on the international stage, they It is also represented by the monarch of the Hohenzollern dynasty and the king of Prussia who also served as the German emperor.

This dual structure makes the empire have two sets of bureaucratic systems, one is the state-level administrative officer team, taking the largest kingdom of Prussia as an example, the kingdom has a complete set of cabinet agencies, with Bismarck as the prime minister; the other The set is the civil service team at the imperial level, under the command of the Imperial Prime Minister's Office. There are eight general offices responsible for government affairs in different fields. The head of the office is called the State Secretary, but the head of this bureaucratic system is still Bismarck.

In other words, relying on Bismarck, who is both the prime minister of the kingdom and the prime minister of the empire, the two sets of political machines of the German Empire can be harmoniously combined, driving the supposedly scattered system of the imperial states towards the European continent. The position of the powerful country is advancing.

"I didn't agree to the request of the British, Bazel, I just agreed to talk to their prime minister.

"The reason why we are here is because we share the same interests as the British. The alliance of the three emperors has always been a loose mechanism. We can advance and retreat with the Habsburg dynasty, but St. Petersburg... that is another matter It is." Bismarck chuckled twice.

"You mean, we just met with the Prime Minister, but we won't really agree to any conditions?" Bazel is worthy of being the Secretary of State of the Imperial Foreign Office. He is quite insightful in the professional field, and he understands everything:
"But the meeting itself can put pressure on Russia, let them see some potential threats, and thus reduce their confidence in expanding friction."

"You are right, Bazel, if Germany wants to develop rapidly, it needs a stable international environment. We must find a way to mediate between several European powers, so as to avoid crises that are enough to bring Germany into the abyss " Leaning on a cane, Bismarck walked to the window and watched the scenery on the German land quickly pass away from his field of vision.

"But the British may not buy it. They may want us to promise more things. Although we won the war with France, if the opposite is Great Britain, I think whether it is the Imperial Navy or the Army General Staff, I'm afraid it's hard to give an optimistic estimate." Bazel said with some concern.

"No, on the contrary, Bazel, the British are ecstatic about our arrival, especially that Mr. Gladstone, he has been in a mess recently, whether it is domestic affairs or international affairs, he is in The political reputation in the eyes of the people has almost fallen to the bottom, and he is looking forward to something that can restore his reputation, and we are here to give him gifts, of course he welcomes us." Bismarck said meaningfully:
"Political creatures rely on political prestige to continue their political life,
"And a good story can bring good political reputation. At the most tense moment in Europe, the British Prime Minister and the German Chancellor suddenly met in Brussels. This is a good enough story for the UK and the world."

Bismarck said, turned to look at Bazel and said:
"Bazel, you have to remember that when it comes to diplomatic talks, sometimes it doesn't matter what is talked about, it matters more who talks with whom and where. The Art of Sex.” (Note 1)

*
*
Kingdom of Belgium, Brussels.

On the day when all the accidents happened, before everyone and the media could react, and before this breaking news shocked the whole world through the newspapers, the secret meeting between Gladstone and Bismarck ended in a hurry.

They didn't even choose an official hotel or venue as their residence. The teams from the two countries actually completed all the exchanges in one train carriage, and after the exchanges, they left Brussels immediately by train.

In a sense, the end of the talks was as unexpected as its beginning, and even at this time, neither party has announced the content and results of the talks.

This has plunged people in the know around the world into endless speculation.

Many people have speculated that Britain and Germany did not issue a joint statement immediately because they did not reach an agreement. However, as Bismarck expected, after the meeting, no matter what the outcome was, some existing The impact has already been done.

For example, at this time, the media in London was already printing tomorrow's newspapers, and countless political writers were hastily received related jobs. Facing the fog of talks, they had plenty of articles to do.

Another example is that at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Alexander II lost his temper on a rare occasion. The emperor, who had always shown himself as a resolute and strong military reformer, burst into foul language all night in front of the members of the pro-guards. .

"Your Majesty, how should we respond?" Osya, the head of the Guards, knelt on one knee and asked.

Alexander II really wanted to put aside all the shackles and trifles, and immediately led the army southward to reach Tsargrad, which he dreamed of...

However, his rationality kept reminding him that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was in harmony with Russia, and Britain and France blatantly opposed Russia's southward expansion. If Germany fell to Britain or remained neutral at this time, then Russia would lose all possible existence. Chance.

So call it a day?However, it was difficult for the old tsar to swallow his breath like this.

"If we go south at the fastest speed, is it possible to create some kind of fait accompli before Britain, France and Germany react..." The old tsar deliberately emphasized the four words fait accompli.

"It's very difficult, Your Majesty," Osya's forehead was covered with dense sweat, "but we may be able to counter it in other ways."

*
*
Poland, Warsaw.

The city of Warsaw is still some distance away from the Russian border, but the temperature is not far behind.

At least it was colder than London and Cairo at this time.

In a busy station, Mansfield Smith walked to the ticket window carrying a suitcase.

"Hello, sir, how can I help you?" asked the ticket sales lady at the window.

"Honey, can you buy me a ticket to St. Petersburg?" Smith said in French with a thick Italian accent.

The ticket sales aunt looked Smith up and down, and after confirming that the other party was a handsome guy, she "reluctantly" forgave Smith's inappropriate words:

"What are you going to pay for a sleeper ticket?"

"Frank, is Franc okay?" Smith asked in a somewhat embarrassed tone.

The ticket sales aunt looked at Smith carefully again, and then said reluctantly: "Yes, I will exchange it for you."

After speaking, she took the coins from Smith, stuffed them into her wallet, and took out a few marks from her wallet to help Smith complete the payment. Finally, she handed over a 10 mark and a ticket gave Smith:

"Your change and your ticket."

"Thank you for your help," Smith said gratefully.

Leaving the ticket window, Smith walked towards the outside of the station. He still had to wait for about 3 hours, so he planned to find a place outside the station to kill time.

He first folded the ticket and put it in his wallet, and then took the mark that he got for change in his hand. A small string of characters could be vaguely seen on the edge of the mark. He unlocked the code behind the characters according to the agreed decoding method. meaning:

"The Narodnaya Volya." (Note 2)

*
*
London, 221B Baker Street.

"John, I feel that I have found what we want." Sherlock picked up a file and said to Di Renjie.

"What is it?" Di Renjie walked over curiously.

At this moment, there was a knock on the window of the room.

The two immediately turned their heads and saw a sturdy pigeon standing outside the window with a bread bag beside it.

Di Renjie immediately opened the window and Edward the pigeon flew in.

"Send the letter, send the letter," cried the pigeon.

Having had the previous experience, Di Renjie is quite familiar with this time.

He opened the bread bag, only to see a very normal letter in the bag.

"This...how did it suddenly become normal?" Although he was a little puzzled, Di Renjie picked up the letter first and checked it:
[Dear John Watson, I am very sorry to inform you that due to the urgent recruitment of third-order transcendents by the association, all academic gatherings this month had to be cancelled, and the specific recovery time will be notified later. 】

[Best regards, Stubbs. 】

Note 1: Adapted from Bismarck's famous saying - "Politics is the Art of Possibilities", and the book "The Art of Possibilities: 30 Lectures on Comparative Politics" is also recommended.

Note 2: Narodnaya Volya, an extreme opposition organization during the Russian Empire.

ps: The character prototype of Mansfield Smith is a famous intelligence officer with the same name in British history. He has made great contributions during the World Wars and likes to use C as his code name when signing documents, so he is also called Mr. C is also the character prototype of the British intelligence chief M in the 007 series of movies.

And ps: The first big plot is coming to an end recently, so I have a bit of a hard time writing it... (tears

(End of this chapter)