Chapter 302: Bismarck.
Chapter 292: Bismarck
The idea of making a move on Bismarck had been on Franz’s mind for a long time, but unfortunately, there were so many people with the same name in Europe that until they came into their own, who knew which was which?
The identity couldn’t even be determined, so naturally nothing could be done.
By the time Bismarck’s identity was established, it coincided with his transfer from being the representative of the Kingdom of Prussia in Frankfurt to being minister to the New Holy Roman Empire.
The repercussions of going down and taking out a minister on his own turf were too bad. The political risk was too great, and Franz was not a risk-taker.
Now that Bismarck had been transferred to the post of Minister to Russia, the situation was different again. As long as he was careful, he could be killed, and even if there was trouble, it would be a headache for the Tsar’s government.
If possible, he did not mind taking out the Prussian three together. Unfortunately, the other two in the army, want to grasp the whereabouts of the difficult, can not storm into the barracks to kill them, right?
Franz didn’t think that his own assassination team was that good to go to the Kingdom of Prussia to assassinate other people’s officers, in case they were caught, that would be a tragedy.
The most threatening is still Bismarck, generals can fight again, in the era of hot weapons can not get rid of the constraints of national power. On this aspect, Franz does not wimp out.
In contrast, politicians and diplomats are the ones who dominate the destiny of the country. Now that Metternich is around and Bismarck is not in a high position, Franz is not worried about him getting into trouble.
But the “Chancellor of Europe” was getting old and would leave sooner or later, while the young Bismarck started to rise again after Wilhelm’s regency.
The ability of the candidates for the new Holy Roman Empire’s foreign ministry is only average, and Franz himself is not a master of diplomacy, so if he is not careful at any time, Bismarck will make an anti-Austrian alliance, then it will be a big problem.
Now the strength of the new Holy Roman Empire has not let everyone feel threatened, Britain, Russia, France and Austria are still relatively balanced, even if there is a gap between each other is not big.
But within the next few decades, France will fall behind because of its population, and the situation of the Russian Empire is still unclear, but Franz does not think that the delayed reform of Tsarist Russia will be more powerful.
Sooner or later, in this context, all countries will notice the threat of the new Holy Roman Empire, and once the power imbalance of the international order will have to change again.
Under normal circumstances, as long as France and Russia did not come close, Austria did not have to worry. But if the Kingdom of Prussia wants to come in to participate in a little, the situation is different again.
Now transfer Bismarck as the Russian Empire Minister of Foreign Affairs, which means that the Kingdom of Prussia foreign policy change, they want to repair the relationship with the Russians.
Prior to this, Bismarck had already repaired diplomatic relations between Prussia and Austria. It was not for nothing that Wilhelm Frederick Ludwig used Bismarck even though he hated him very much.
To Franz, this was a danger sign. Prussian-Russian relations were slow to improve, that is, he had been playing havoc with it, provoking confrontation between the two countries, in essence, Prussian-Russian conflicts were not irreconcilable.
……
St. Petersburg, Bismarck, who had just become the Imperial Minister of Russia, was still scratching his head over how to re-align with Russia.
Bismarck would not have taken over as minister to Russia if he had not been trying to bring about another alliance between the three Nordic courts. After all, it was only a flat transfer, not a promotion.
Bismarck ordered, “Prepare a car, I’m going to visit Crown Prince Alexander.”
Most of the Tsarist government officials did not have much goodwill towards the Kingdom of Prussia, although the relationship between the two royal families had always been good.
For unknown reasons, there had always been more pro-Prussian ones among the Russian tsars, and there had even been a brainwashed Peter III. Now Crown Prince Alexander, the future Alexander II, was also a pro-Prussian.
This alone was obviously not enough to make the Tsarist government change its position in the face of interest.
History has taken a turn, the Russians did not lose the hegemony of Europe, then the tsarist government could not abandon the Kingdom of Denmark, as the hegemon can not be no little brother, which has risen to the dignity of the hegemonic powers of the issue.
As long as the Kingdom of Prussia had ambitions for the two German states occupied by Denmark, there could be no détente between the two sides.
The Vienna system was once again established, and the Kingdom of Prussia did not have the strength to break the rules. Regent Wilhelm Frederick Ludwig thought that the best time had been lost, and advocated that domestic development should be developed first, and foreign expansion should be abandoned for the time being.
In order to develop the domestic economy, it became imperative to mend diplomatic relations with various countries. It was against this background that Bismarck’s visit to St. Petersburg took place.
……
When he stepped out of the embassy, Bismarck felt uneasy, as if something was going to happen. However, a diplomatic meeting, since the appointment was made, can not let go of the pigeon.
Time passed by, and Bismarck entered the palace without incident, as if nothing had happened.
……
A kindly looking old man said seriously, ”Alexei, just now a message came from the inner circle, the target has already gone out, so you guys can get ready.
Everyone has only one chance to strike, regardless of success or failure, you must leave St. Petersburg tonight. Once the tsarist government is allowed to react, the consequences are clear to you all.”
Alexei said indifferently, “Got it Andrei, you’re still so nagging, you can rest assured that we’ll do our job. Just to make sure, we’ll block him at the gate, as long as he’s in the carriage it’s hard to escape death.”
The older man from Andree glared and said, “If you want to live longer in this business, put away your arrogance, Alexei.
It’s not just the people inside the wagon, the driver and guards are likewise hunted, and you should know the proclivities of the nobles.
The target this time is extraordinary. Scapegoats, I’ve already prepared. As long as you few don’t get caught red-handed, you’ll be fine.”
Seeing the seriousness of the old man’s words, Alexei’s relaxed look was gone. It wasn’t the first time they had been assassins, but it was the first time such a serious expression appeared on the old man’s face.
Alexei asked suspiciously, “I don’t understand, isn’t it just a Prussian diplomat, what kind of person has he offended that he has to spend a lot of money to get rid of him?”
The old man said in a serious tone, “I’m warning you once again, in our line of work, the more curious you are, the faster you will die.
It’s not easy for me to train a few of you, I don’t want to see you die young, after we finish this big job, we will each not owe each other, and you will be free men.”
Obviously they used aliases, the old man looked a lot older, but in reality it was all made up and his real age was not that old.
As a member of Franz’s intelligence organization, or specializing in killing jobs, Andre naturally couldn’t reveal his true identity anymore.
And Alexei several people, are Andrei trained killers, before this also borrowed the single of buying and killing people. This time the mission was very important, these developed outsiders, will have to be discarded.
Bismarck was a minister of a country, once assassinated in St. Petersburg, the Czarist government would certainly not rest, and without catching the murderer, they would not be able to explain to the international community.
This kind of thing couldn’t be related to Austria, so it could only be done by this kind of outsider who hadn’t been included in the intelligence organization yet, and anyway, even if it failed, these assassins wouldn’t know anything.
Buying a murderer, people would only think of Bismarck’s enemies, who knew that Franz, who had nothing to do with it, would plan this unrelated murder?
Even if you want to assassinate, at least assassinate a higher status existence ah, Bismarck even if it is in the way, obviously not qualified to be Franz special attention.
……
In the palace Bismarck and Crown Prince Alexander talked to each other, since the Prussian government is willing to soften, then the conflict between the two countries will be solved.
The Tsarist government also wanted to change the situation of isolation in the European continent, Russia and Austria alliance is obviously not enough, if you add the Kingdom of Prussia will be almost enough.
Once the establishment of the three countries alliance, the tsarist government’s hegemony of the European continent is solid, not like now just barely maintain the main hegemony of the name, the actual influence is limited to the northeastern Europe.
With the support of Crown Prince Alexander, Bismarck returned home satisfied that the first step towards improving relations between the two countries had been taken.
The carriage creaked on the snowy ground and moved slowly. Bismarck’s good mood is gone, the weather in the Russian Empire is too harsh, it is April, but there is still snow on the ground, which is very difficult for him.
Time passed, crossing street after street, and finally they reached home. Bismarck had just gotten out of the carriage.
“Bang Bang Bang ……”
Gunshots rang out, bullets were already flying towards him, too late to dodge Bismarck was hit.
After hearing the gunshot, the guards in the embassy rushed out, by this time the killer was nowhere to be found.
(End of chapter)