Chapter 479 What is a welcoming party?

Chapter 479 What is a welcoming party?

Chapter 479 What is a welcoming party?
Paris was burned to ashes during the war, but Versailles escaped the bombing.

Alfonso I insisted on signing the treaty in the Palace of Versailles in revenge for the humiliation of William I being crowned emperor in the Hall of Mirrors.

Shao Quanzhong came to Versailles not to participate in negotiations, but to make behind-the-scenes deals with rulers of various countries.

Negotiation is a tiring job. The person in charge of the negotiations was Rong Hong, the Foreign Minister of Daxia, who arrived earlier than Shao Quanzhong.

The major belligerent countries participating in the negotiations included Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and others. Türkiye, which withdrew from the European war first, did not come.

Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, which later joined the European war, sent people, as did Belgium, Luxembourg and Albania, which were victims of the European war, and the unexpected beneficiaries of the war, the newly independent Poland and Finland.

Daxia withdrew from the European war early, but it must come. After all, everyone knows that Bulgaria, Romania and Russia are actually behind Daxia.

The negotiation process was boring. In short, the new German Prime Minister Caprivi tried his best to reduce the reparations, claiming that Germany had been exhausted from the war and could not afford to pay no matter how much money you asked for.

The Americans were very open and announced that they would give up their demand for reparations from Germany.

Well, when the American soldiers arrived in Europe, they only participated in one battle, which was to encircle the German army. Basically, there were no casualties, and their contribution to the war was very small. They just wanted money, but the compensation was not much, and the relationship between the two sides was not good.

The Americans had already made a lot of money from selling supplies to Germany, so they didn't need the money from the compensation. We will still do business in the future, right? Let's save some face.

The French are completely the opposite. They hate Germany to the core.

Not to mention the shame of the Franco-Prussian War, this European war was mainly fought in France, and the north of France was razed to the ground. Paris was destroyed, and almost all French intellectuals died on the battlefield. This is an irreconcilable feud.

Therefore, Alsace and Lorraine must be taken back, and the compensation must be as high as possible, so that Germany will not be able to recover for a hundred years, and then hundreds of millions of feet will step on it, and it would be best if Germany would never be able to recover.

Britain's attitude was more moderate. Although Britain was bombed, the losses were much less than those in direct battlefields. Moreover, Germany had been weakened and its strategic goal had been achieved. Germany was too weak and it did not meet their strategic goal of maintaining the balance of power in Europe.

However, appropriate compensation is still necessary. After all, Britain owes the Americans a lot of money, and it cannot pay it back unless it gets it back from Germany.

As for the purpose of Shao Quanzhong and Yung Wing's visit - Daxia wanted nothing and came to support the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Italy demanded that Austria-Hungary take the port of Trieste, the outlet of the Adriatic Sea. Count Andrassy did not speak, but Yung Wing stood up first.

Italy jumped back and forth in this war, and only turned against the United States at the last moment, becoming the victorious country. Such a dishonest country still wants land? No way, no way.

The Spanish Royal Navy, led by Liu Buxian, has been stationed in the port of Trieste. If your Italian fleet dares to come, I will fight it.

As for the army, the port of Trieste is occupied by Romania. What qualifications do you have to claim a place that you didn’t conquer?

Poland wanted to take some land from Czechoslovakia, but was silenced by Yung Wing.

You are a puppet regime supported by the German occupation forces. You gained independence by taking advantage of Germany's defeat. How can you call yourself a victorious country? If you can restore your country, you can just recite the great mercy of Jesus Christ. Do you still want to take advantage of us without moving a single soldier?
Both Russia and Romania showed noble style and said that they should learn from the magnanimity of the Federation and did not want the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or any reparations.

Lucia didn't care, but His Majesty Carol of Romania was willing to swallow it. According to him, the 100,000 square kilometers of Transylvania must be taken, and Romania had been eyeing it for a long time.

I have to have the final say on this issue. The generals standing behind me are all members of the Fenian Society supported by Bulgaria. They are against it. If I want to continue to be king, I have to listen to them.

Forget it, forget it. It’s good enough that my family can continue to be rich and prosperous without having to do anything. Why do I need a bicycle?

Britain, France and the United States have never sent a single soldier into the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so they have no say in this matter.

However, Britain wanted to maintain the balance on the continent, which meant that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to be weakened and as a defeated country it had to accept punishment.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire had to listen to the British big brother, so it ceded Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia to Bulgaria.

Montenegro said nothing, but Serbia refused to give in. King Milan Obrenovic jumped up and said, "I have been eyeing these territories for a long time. Now that we are the victorious country, these territories should belong to Serbia."

No one supports him. Serbia was forced to flee to the island with only 100,000 remnants. These territories are now occupied by the Bulgarian army. It is impossible for you to leave without any evidence.

Obrenovich settled for the second best, demanding that the Bulgarian army withdraw from Serbia and Montenegro, and that he return to the country to govern.

That’s no problem, Shao Quanxiao said, we will withdraw our troops immediately, I will withdraw as soon as you come back.

Obrenovich was very proud. As soon as I returned, Serbia separated Bulgaria from the occupied territories. Are you ruling them in two parts? After a long time, they are still mine.

No one paid attention to Obrenovich's little tricks. In addition to ceding territory, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also had to limit the number of soldiers. Count Andrassy immediately said that there was no problem. He disbanded most of the troops and invited Daxia to send troops to garrison. We will pay for it. Is that enough?
The complicated negotiation process is frustrating to talk about, and even more troublesome in reality. After two months of talks, the negotiations finally came to an end.

On July 1878, 7, the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Germany lost Alsace and Lorraine, while Silesia and Upper Silesia were taken away by Poland. The indemnity including interest was 15 billion gold marks.

The first payment of 10 billion gold marks was to be made before the end of the year, and 20 billion gold marks would be paid annually thereafter.

This amount of money was far beyond Germany's ability to pay, but France insisted on passing it. With Shao Quanzhong's support, the Austro-Hungarian Empire only lost the southern Slavic part, and did not even have to pay any compensation.

At the same time, at the suggestion of Federal President Hayes, the participating countries established the League of Nations to coordinate the actions of various countries and avoid further wars.

The strange thing is that the founding country, the Federation, did not join the League of Nations because Congress disagreed. We want to make money from Europe and do not want to interfere in who fights who in Europe. Going to Europe to join forces with others is like working for someone for nothing without any benefit.

The League of Nations finally included five countries with the final say: Britain, France, Italy, Russia and Brussels, with its headquarters in Geneva.

The Versailles affair is over, and everyone goes back to their homes. …………

On July 1878, 7, Shao Quanzhong and Count Andrassy returned to Vienna.

After Count Andrassy reported the results of the meeting to His Majesty Rudolf and Regent Empress Mother Sissi, he found Shao Quanzhong.

"Marshal, thank you for your support. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was saved. I am responsible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's failure in this war. I have submitted my resignation to Your Majesty. From now on, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is in your hands."

Count Andrassy took the responsibility for signing the treaty of defeat and walked away, which was quite manly.

Two months later, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had changed a lot. Romania and Russia had withdrawn their troops, and the streets of Vienna were filled with soldiers wearing Austrian uniforms.

After four months of continuous transportation, three million Daxia soldiers had all arrived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and occupied the entire territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The last person to arrive with the three million soldiers was Zhang Siwen, the advisor of the Privy Council of Daxia.

His Majesty Rudolf appointed Zhang Siwen as the Privy Councilor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to carry out a comprehensive reform of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and strengthen the rule of the Habsburg family.

When Shao Quanzhong's car drove through the streets of Vienna, what he saw were long queues at numerous registration points.

Retired Austro-Hungarian soldiers lined up here to register, each with excitement on their faces.

Your Majesty has issued an edict that every soldier who has participated in the war will be allocated permanent farmland granted by Your Majesty. We poor soldiers will become local landlords.

The car arrived at Schönbrunn Palace but did not drive in. The palace gate was filled with nobles who came to Your Majesty to cry and complain.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was originally a country supported by the aristocracy. The emperor was just one of the biggest nobles and could not actually act arbitrarily. However, when the Daxia people came, everything changed.

Count Andrassy, ​​who had already resigned, was loudly scolding these nobles.

"You are so greedy. Do you know how much compensation Germany paid in the Treaty of Versailles? If it weren't for Marshal Shao's support and Daxia's protection, even if you put all your money and land into it, it wouldn't be enough to pay the compensation."

"Now your land and factories have been nationalized, but you have obtained bonds issued by the empire. They are all money, and you can buy shares in the factories."

"Haven't you seen how much money Daxia's factories are making? Those Daxia generals who bought shares in the factory have become the richest people in the world just by sitting back and taking dividends, right?"

"You just don't have the management rights of the factory. Would you manage it if it was given to you? If you join Daxia's unified planned investment system, the factory will definitely make money. Are you not satisfied with just sitting at home counting money? Get out! Get out now!"

Is Count Andrassy good at speaking? Perhaps. But behind him, the Daxia soldiers with bayonets and rifles in their hands are even better at speaking, and the nobles all went back obediently.

It’s not that the nobles are timid, the problem is that the original private soldiers no longer listen to them and have all gone to the Fenian Society to line up and wait for land distribution.

Are we, the nobles without arms, going to fight the bayonets of the Daxia soldiers with our rapiers?

With the support of three million armed soldiers and the sincere support of ten million Austro-Hungarian militiamen, Zhang Siwen implemented his policies well.

These three million soldiers are newly armed. They may not be able to fight a war. But will it be a problem to suppress the nobles and landlords who have no fists and no courage and no private soldiers and minions?

All the land and factories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire became the property of the Habsburg family. The land was distributed once and remained unchanged for twenty years, and then it was redistributed according to the number of people.

With control of the land given to the people, the Habsburg family was reborn and was sincerely supported by all the people.

Princess Sissi and Rudolf did not know how to govern a country, but they knew that in this way, the Habsburg family's rule would be ironclad.

Without Shao Quanzhong's three million troops and without the opportunity of defeat in the European war, how could the Habsburg family have become the dominant family among the nobility? Is that the final word?
Therefore, defeat became a good thing for the Austro-Hungarian royal family, as they took the opportunity to reduce the power of the feudal lords.

The nobles who were blocking the door dispersed, and Shao Quanzhong's Maybach drove directly into Schönbrunn Palace.

When Shao Quanzhong went to Versailles this time, Maria served as his secretary and translator, while Ping'er stayed in Schönbrunn Palace to accompany Princess Sissi.

Now that he has returned two months later, everything has been settled and Shao Quanzhong has fulfilled his promise to the Habsburg family.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire did not suffer much loss. Instead, it cleaned up its internal affairs, put the royal family in a dominant position, and greatly strengthened its control.

When Shao Quanzhong faced the painting of Franz I again, he straightened his back and bowed to the portrait, "Brother, I have saved your legacy, and your descendants will have a strong kingdom. I think I have done enough for you, brother."

When they returned to the guest room and sat down, Maria reported, "Princess Sissi invites you to visit the garden."

Well, now that the government affairs have been handed over to Sven, Shao Quanzhong can rest assured and has no worries, so he happily keeps the appointment.

In the summer, flowers in Schönbrunn Palace are in full bloom, springs are gurgling, and Shao Quanzhong enjoyed a good tour accompanied by two peerless beauties, Apple and Princess Sissi.

It doesn’t matter that Princess Sissi doesn’t know Chinese, because Apple knows German.

Back then, when Shao Quanzhong was in the cabin at the port of Barcelona, ​​having a long negotiation with Isabella II and her daughter, Ping'er was there serving.

(End of this chapter)