I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 580: Save Me from Wasting Time

The sun had completely set below the horizon.

In Schönbrunn Palace, Talleyrand seemed indignant on the surface, but in fact he was secretly proud as he left the Grand Gallery with Leopold II and went to dinner together.

Before he came to Vienna, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had instructed him to use the order scam as an excuse to ask Austria to use francs to settle part of the trade in the Southern Netherlands as compensation.

However, relying on his eloquence, he not only obtained the franc settlement rights of the Southern Netherlands, but also got Tuscany to accept franc settlement - the Grand Duke of Tuscany was the son of Leopold II and a vassal of Austria, and would definitely obey the arrangements here.

In addition, the two places will also reduce some tariffs on French iron products, paper products, alcohol and other goods for a period of one year.

In addition, Leopold II also told him an important piece of information - the mastermind behind this order scam was a Dutch banker named Henry Hope, and all the money, including the deposit, was paid by his bank.

Of course, this news was told to Leopold II by the British.

The matter has become so serious that the British are also worried that Austria will find out that they are the ones behind it, which will seriously affect Anglo-Austrian relations.

So they sold Hope to take the blame. And the order scam was indeed the idea of ​​Hope, and he really provided a large sum of money for it, so the Austrian intelligence system could not find any flaws no matter how hard they tried.

After the dinner, Leopold II finally sent away Talleyrand, the "plague god", and immediately returned to his study to deal with the government affairs accumulated that day.

As the last competent monarch of the Habsburg family, he had largely stabilized the situation in Austria by relying on his pragmatic ideas and hard work.

Soon, he saw in the pile of documents on his desk the matter of the Silesian war to be discussed at tomorrow's cabinet meeting. He immediately looked up with a haggard look in his heart and sighed.

The next day.

In the mahogany hall with a calm decoration style, a group of core senior executives from Vienna engaged in a very fierce dispute.

The subject of the debate was naturally whether to make an armistice in Silesia.

Because the British had made the arrangements in advance and Walter's anti-French faction had also carried out a lot of "alliances", the voices supporting the armistice quickly overwhelmed the other side.

However, among those who supported continuing to be tough on Prussia was Kaunitz, a secretary of state with great political influence.

The Austrian Secretary of State is equivalent to the chancellor, the first person under the emperor. If he insists on attacking Silesia, even Leopold II will find it difficult to force a ceasefire.

Moreover, it was politically correct for Austria to recover Silesia. Kaunitz would often talk about the humiliation of the Seven Years' War and the restoration of the glory of the Holy Roman Empire, and he almost single-handedly resisted many ministers who advocated for an end to the war.

After the meeting had lasted for more than half an hour, Baron Turgut and Interior Minister Kobzl looked at each other and began to implement the Duke of Leeds' plan.

"Count Kaunitz, it is obvious that our country can no longer sustain a full-scale war with Prussia," Thugut said loudly.

The Home Secretary immediately agreed: "That's right, we should never fight a war that is doomed to fail just for our personal political future."

"What took away your courage?" Kaunitz immediately retorted, "Under your Majesty's new policy, our country's financial situation has improved greatly, and our manpower is more abundant than ever before.

"Now is the best time for us to completely defeat Prussia!"

The so-called "New Deal" of Leopold II actually cancelled most of Joseph II's reforms, so that the aristocracy no longer resisted the government, which gave rise to the illusion of "revival". Baron Turgut looked at Kaunitz and said in a cold voice: "You are gambling, and the chips are the future of Austria! And you don't have any winning cards in your hand!"

"No, I am sure of victory." Kaunitz glanced at him contemptuously, and then said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, we will definitely be able to take back Silesia in this battle!"

As a veteran politician, he had made adequate preparations beforehand.

The Hungarian Parliament of Nobility, the Bohemian Parliament, the Transylvanian nobility, and even the Romanian nobility in the south all expressed their willingness to provide money and manpower to support him in advancing the war in Silesia.

It can be said that this is the most united moment Austria has had in recent decades. He is naturally full of confidence.

Baron Turgut immediately said, "You are just shouting empty slogans."

Kobzl also said sarcastically: "Even if the front line really loses, some people will find other excuses to cover it up."

"No, there is no excuse!" Kaunitz was also a little excited and said to Leopold II, "Your Majesty, I am willing to take responsibility for the war in Silesia. As long as you let me do it!"

Tugut and others immediately showed smug smiles, they were just waiting for that moment.

"Count Kaunitz, how will you be responsible if we fail to retake Silesia?"

Kaunitz hesitated for a second and said in a deep voice: "I will resign as Secretary of State and leave politics from now on."

He looked at the ceasefire group again and said forcefully, "But what if I win?"

"I am willing to accept any punishment from you." Tugut also responded sharply.

Soon, when Thugut and others no longer objected, Leopold II reluctantly authorized Kaunitz to plan a new round of offensive in Silesia, and even gave him the power to select front-line officers.

After the meeting, Vienna's newspapers immediately began to publish a large number of news such as "Count Kaunitz insisted on continuing the Silesia war and said he would resign if the war situation was unfavorable."

The whole of Vienna was in an uproar. People took to the streets and sang praises to Kaunitz loudly, as if he had won the war.

The nobles spread the word about Count Kaunitz's heroic performance in cabinet meetings, and even gave him the nickname "Natural Enemy of Prussia".

The high-spirited Kaunitz soon began to prepare for war.

A series of material and troop movement orders were signed by him and sent to all parts of Austria. Marshal Lacy at the Breslau front also resumed the bombardment of the Prussian positions under his orders.

However, what he did not expect was that the very next day after his order was sent to Budapest, the Hungarian Parliament of Nobles passed a resolution vetoing his bill to "increase special war taxes."

The Bohemian Parliament did not veto the bill, but citing the freeze at the beginning of the year as an excuse, it demanded that the special tax could only be levied from the middle of next year.

At the same time, Hungarians, Bohemians, and Slavs all sent troops to Silesia without delay. In just one month, Marshal Lacy's army increased to 16.

(End of this chapter)