Chapter 375: Rift

William II remained silent, and Qin Tian thought about the suggestion for a long time. After a while, he said: "Everyone, just follow Oscar's advice! Tell the Austro-Hungarian Empire that the Empire supports their territorial expansion in the Balkan Peninsula and Italy, but the territories of Russia cannot be distributed to them. In addition, The war reparations Russia gave us can give them two billion marks. In this case, we have done our utmost to them!"

Qin Tian nodded. Although two billion marks is not a lot, if this problem can be solved, it is not bad. Anyway, the money came from the Russians.

"Your Majesty, even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be dissatisfied, it should be fine. After all, their role in this war is too limited." Bernhard von Bülow said the prime minister.

Qin Tian couldn't help laughing when he heard this sentence. Indeed, the role played by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in this war was too limited. Their greatest contribution is probably the sacrifice of a crown prince, which enabled this war to break out. Besides, what other achievements do they have? During the war, the performance of their army was very, very bad. If it is said that in the early days of the war, Germany still needed to rely on the Austro-Hungarian Empire to hold back the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, then now, they have no role in this regard. Civil strife had broken out in Russia, and the German Empire had benefited enormously from it. The military strength of the Kingdom of Italy is also very bad, and Germany doesn't care at all. Therefore, the German army only needs to make a breakthrough on the Western Front in future wars to win this war. Under such circumstances, Germany naturally does not have to give the Austro-Hungarian Empire too much face.

"Your Excellency, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the empire, go to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and try to make them understand the current situation." William II said.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Von Kidren Vacht nodded.

In this world, being a diplomat is undoubtedly a very prestigious thing. As long as you are not a diplomat from a small country, you can usually do well. Of course, the big eastern countries are an exception. A diplomat from a major eastern country is simply a doormat. In a powerful country like the German Empire, important ministers like the Minister of Foreign Affairs often receive the best preferential treatment when they travel to other countries on behalf of the empire.

Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, recently, there has been a rumor circulating here that the German Empire has left the Austro-Hungarian Empire and made peace with the Russians alone. The German Empire has obtained huge benefits from Russia, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire has nothing to gain after paying great casualties. This naturally made the elites of the Austro-Hungarian Empire very dissatisfied. They thought they had been duped by Germany. This also created a force hostile to Germany in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

However, those who were really in power in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, especially the emperor Franz Joseph I, were not affected by such rumors. Of course, if the German side really put aside the Austro-Hungarian Empire and made peace with Russia alone, it would make him a little angry. However, in his life, he has experienced similar things countless times. Most importantly, Franz Joseph I had a very clear understanding of the strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He knew that even if the German Empire really wanted to leave the Austro-Hungarian Empire behind, there was nothing they could do. Who made the Austro-Hungarian Empire so weak? It has the title of one of the great powers and strong industrial strength. But in fact, it is simply a strong outside. If it weren't for the help of the German Empire, they would have been defeated by Russia on the Eastern Front.

The Prime Minister, Commander-in-Chief and Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are all very aware of this. They are also desperately trying to dispel these rumors. However, it was not successful. Because the promoter behind these rumors is the Crown Prince Karl of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The German side reported that Franz Joseph I specially summoned Crown Prince Karl before the visit to Vienna by German Foreign Minister von Kidren Wacht. An hour later, Crown Prince Karl left Schönbrunn Palace with a gloomy face. However, those rumors disappeared without a trace the next day, as if nothing had ever happened.

At the end of January 1915, German Foreign Minister von Kiedren Wascht arrived in Vienna. Mario Weber, Prime Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, personally went to the airport to greet von Kidren Wachter, which was regarded as giving Germany enough face.

After arriving in Vienna, the first thing von Kidren Wascht did was to meet Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary on behalf of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany.

Although Franz Joseph I was not in a good state of mind recently, he cheered up and received von Kidren Wachter.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor asked me to apologize to His Majesty. During our negotiations with the Russian Bu Party, we did not notify the Austro-Hungarian Empire. For this, we are sorry. However, I hope Your Majesty can understand that it was the Empire's secret relationship." von Kidren Wachter said.

Franz Joseph I nodded: "Then, how does the German Empire plan to treat the Austro-Hungarian Empire? After all, we had an agreement at the beginning, and no one can make peace with the enemy alone."

"Your Majesty, the empire has indeed obtained a lot of benefits in Russia this time. However, the empire does not intend to give those benefits to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The empire has already made arrangements for those territories." Von Kidren Wa Hitter said.

Mario Weber's complexion suddenly became very ugly. However, Franz Joseph I did not change his expression. He seemed to know that von Kidren Wascht hadn't finished speaking.

"Although, in terms of benefits paid by the Russians, the Empire cannot give to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, in other respects, the Empire can compensate the Austro-Hungarian Empire. We can support the expansion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkan Peninsula and Italy. In addition, Russia pays us The war indemnity can also be distributed to the Austria-Hungary Empire with two billion marks. The Empire attaches great importance to the friendship with the Austria-Hungary Empire. We do not hope that our ally relationship will be affected by this. As for your country, how to choose , It depends on His Majesty and Your Excellency the Prime Minister." Von Kidren Wascht kicked the ball to Franz Joseph I's feet.

After a little consideration, Franz Joseph I happily accepted Germany's goodwill, and offered to express that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would always be an ally of the German Empire and would never change.